The first McCullough ancestor for whom we have (undisputed) records is William McCullough, born between 1763 – 1767, probably in the York, PA area. We are 99+% certain that he was the son of James McCullough, of Fawn Township, York County, Pennsylvania but there has been considerable confusion on this issue over the years. Why? Because the descendants of two of his children gave significantly different versions of their history although agreeing on enough points to confirm they were speaking of the same father, mother and other relations.
The story according to Sheridan McCullough’s children
First the story originated from the children of Sheridan McCullough, pictured here at the time of the article. According to an article published in the Clarion Democrat, (Clarion, Pennsylvania, vol. LXXII, No. 12, November 2, 1911), the first of our McCullough family in America was Hugh McCullough, who arrived around 1748 from Northern Ireland and settled in Maryland. William McCullough, born there about 1763, had at least two older brothers, John and Archibald, and a sister Mary/Polly, who married John Hull, a decorated veteran of the War of 1812. William’s brothers served in the Revolutionary War but he was too young. William’s wife is named only as Miss Sheridan.
These descendants of Sheridan were around 80 years old at the time of the article. Three were born after the elder William died and the other three were only 3, 7 and 12 years old. Still, one would expect that they knew something about their grandfather and great-grandfather. We also do not know if the interviewer may have made mistakes in his notes and it is unlikely that the article was offered for corrections before being printed. Putting aside possible journalistic errors, we do know that the story of the children being direct descendants of Betsey Ross was a fable, although in that case, the motivation to make up a good story is more clear.
The story according to the descendants of Mary McCullough Hull
Although the Hugh tradition is fairly strong in the various branches of the family who descend from Sheridan, information acquired from the Hull/Cox family states that William McCullough’s father was James McCullough, not Hugh, and that the Mary McCullough mentioned in the Clarion article as a sister of William’s was in fact his daughter. No siblings of Mary are mentioned.
The wife of James is named as Nancy Weldon. She and/or her father were from England and supposedly came after the London Plague. William is said to have been born in York, PA and have married Rachel Sheridine, daughter of Thomas. Rachel is said to have died about 1828. William is mentioned as having been in Centre County, where both Mary and Sheridan married, and his death is said to have occurred in 1841 in Jefferson. In this version, Mary also is married to John Hull who was decorated for service in the War of 1812,
Comparing the stories
Since both stories mention Mary marrying John Hull and both have William marrying a Sheridan/Sheridine, living for a period in Centre, moving west and dying in Jefferson County, PA in 1840 or 1841, we can be fairly certain this is the same family. Both stories contain at least one proven error or falsehood. For the Sheridan story, it is that Mary Ross was a descendant of Betsey Ross. For Mary McCullough Hull’s descendants, it is that Nancy Weldon’s father – or Nancy herself – arrived shortly after the London Plague. The last major plague in London was around 1665 but Nancy’s father was probably born around 1700-1710. However, it is possible that his father was the immigrant.
The Hull story has Mary as William’s daughter, not sister, and this is likely correct. Mary was probably born between 1794 – 1796. William would have been about 30 but James (or Hugh) would have been 60 – 70 years old at that time – IF he was still alive. James wasn’t, in any case, as he died in 1788.
The primary differences are the birthplace of William (Maryland or Pennsylvania?), his father’s name (Hugh or James?) and William’s supposed siblings John and Archibald in the Sheridan story.
What does the research say?
Counties change names and borders over time!
When looking at records, it should be noted that Harford County was formed from the original, larger Baltimore County in 1773. Earlier records will show someone living in current day Harford as living in Baltimore. York County, PA, was founded in 1749 from Lancaster County, with borders later changing when Adams County split off in 1800. Therefore records prior to that date for locations in current York, including Fawn, will be found in Lancaster records. So someone immigrating in 1748 would be listed as living in Lancaster or Baltimore even though the actual location might have been current-day York or Harford.
The paper trail
Unfortunately, other than the mention of Hugh in this article, I have never found any other references to a Hugh McCullough – or Archibald – that could be linked directly to our family. There were Hugh McCulloughs and also a James Hugh in the Philadelphia area and even in the Baltimore area at about the right time. However, from their wills and other information gleaned a decade or so ago, no connection to William could be found. In addition, from what we know of the Mary McCullough who married John Hull, she was born between 1794 – 1795, when William would have been 30 and his supposed older brothers closer to 40. This is highly unlikely unless Hugh had had two different wives. No wife’s name is ever mentioned.
However, if James is the correct great-grandfather, he would have died long before any of these people were born and 13 years before even Sheridan McCullough was born. This would probably also be true for a Hugh McCullough unless he immigrated as a young child with his parents. Grandfather William died when the oldest of his grandchildren/Sheridan’s children was 12 and the youngest, including three of those pictured in the article and here, were not even born. This means that their information probably came from Sheridan and their mother Mary Ross, who herself had died 45 years before the article was written. Since even Sheridan had been dead for over 20 years at the time of the article, this information was very “old news” that could have well become garbled over the intervening decades.
Now that more records are available on-line, it is worth revisiting the question in a future post. For now, our working theory is that Hugh was not William’s father, although another connection such as uncle or perhaps grandfather may someday be found.
Hugh supposedly settled near Baltimore, Maryland, while James McCullough settled in Fawn Township, York, Co., near border with Harford County, Maryland. In fact, there was only one church on the area, serving both southern York and northern Harford counties, and we see many people crossing the border, even to live for several years.
It is in Harford County that the first documented reference to William McCullough (1768 – 1840) is found : his marriage to Rachel Sheridine in MD in 1796. The Hull’s birth-date for Mary McCullough pre-dates William’s marriage to Sheridan’s mother by two years, and census records tend to support this. We don’t know if this was a transcription error or if perhaps Mary was born prior to the marriage or was the daughter of an unknown first wife. However, since both stories talk about Mary McCullough Hull and her husband, only varying in how she was related to William, we can be relatively sure that there was a connection.
The Hull papers claim that Rachel Sheridine was Mary’s mother despite the difference of this date with the (transcripts of) the marriage date. The Hull papers also name James McCullough of York County as the father and Nancy Weldon, a woman of English parentage, as his wife. Mary named three of her children Rachel Sheridine Hull, William McCullough Hull and Rebecca McCullough Hull (Rebecca was Mary’s husband’s mother’s name), which goes too far to be a coincidence and supports the Hull version of Sheridan’s ancestors.
James died in York County in 1788, and in his will, names a William as one of his heirs. He also mentions sons John and Jacob, and daughters Mary, Margaret, Rebecca and Sarah. This Mary could have become confused with William’s daughter Mary McCullough Hull, and although there is no Archibald, there is a John who was almost certainly older than William and who appears to have served in the Revolutionary War, similar to the McCullough story. James refers only to his “wife” in his will, without naming her, but an Ann McCullough signs above the names of the sons and daughters, and is presumably the wife. Nancy was originally a diminutive for Ann and in the 18th century, the two names were often used interchangeably. This too fits the Hull story.
Conclusion?
At this point, there is very little to support the Hugh Story and there is nothing to dispute the James story. James had a son named William of the right age. William is reported as single in tax lists through about 1790, narrowing his age and also fitting with what we know. His location makes it possible that he would have found a wife in Harford, particularly since it is likely that they attended the same church. Several of the names and places are similar in both stories, making it likely that we are speaking of the same family and that there is some truth in both stories.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to follow William in census records until 1820, when Mary had already married Hull. The McCullough story only mentions that Sheridan was “a” son of William McCullough, making it possible there were other children. From census records, it seems likely that Sheridan had a slightly older brother, James. This too would fit the Hull story.
On the other hand, where there is smoke… It seems unlikely that Sheridan’s children made up the names Hugh and Archibald. John and Mary are common names, but Hugh and Archibald are much less so. Although at this point, it seems unlikely that Hugh was the father, there could have been a Hugh and an Archibald connected to the family in some way, perhaps even as the grandfather or a brother of James, since it is quite possible that James immigrated with his family. For now, though, our working theory is that James is correct. This is also one of the places where DNA might be able to solve the mystery. Let’s hope that the right McCullough cousin takes a Y-DNA test soon!