Esther Hemphill

Esther Hemphill was born about 1795 in Ireland to Hugh Hemphill and Sara Lyons. Esther married William Semple in Ireland sometime before 1816. William was born about 1793 in Ireland. They immigrated to the U.S. from Liverpool, England aboard the ship Ivanhoe, and arrived at the port of New York on May 13, 1850.

Esther and William had 7 known children:

• James - born May 5, 1816 in Ireland, died July 24, 1902 in Van Buren, Indiana. He married Louisa about 1847.
• William J. - born March 1823 in Ireland, died July 2, 1904 in Monroe County, Indiana. He married Sarah Hemphill about 1869.
• Hugh - born about 1828 in Ireland, died between 1881 and 1900 in Indiana. He married Margaret Jenkins sometime before 1870.
• Sarah - born about 1829 in Ireland.
• Samuel - born March 1829 in Ireland, died between 1900 and 1910 in Indiana. He first married Ann about 1858 who died before 1870. He married second Sarah about 1872.
• Esther - born about 1832 in Ireland.
• David - born about 1834 in Ireland, died May 16, 1866 according to family sources.

Included on the passenger list with William and Esther are: Sarah age 25, Samuel age 23, and Mary Anne age 19. None of the U.S. censuses show a Mary Anne with the family, however, Esther listed above is about the same age. Perhaps they are one and the same with the name being written incorrectly. Or they had an 8th child (Mary Anne) and Esther and David immigrated later with another relative. James, William and Hugh Semple all immigrated to the U.S. separately from their parents.

Esther Hemphill Semple died on September 16, 1969 and William Semple died February 11, 1871 - both probably in Indiana.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

May your Blessings be many this Christmas season, and the time spent with your family filled with great joy.

Have a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.

Erma Walsh

James Lyons, son of Samuel

James Lyons was born about 1804 in Northern Ireland to Samuel Lyons; mother's name unknown. Family sources in Ireland say he was a carpenter and a farmer. He married Nancy Lamont, born about 1805 in Northern Ireland. James and Nancy had 10 known children:

• James - born about 1833, was a farmer who never married. He died in 1917 in Ireland.
• William John - born about 1834, was a farmer who married twice. He died January 21, 1890 in County Antrim, Ireland.
• Samuel - born about 1836, died young according to family sources.
• Mary Ann - born about 1840. Married Robert Biggart on January 10, 1860, in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland. They had 13 children, 3 of whom emigrated to the U.S., according to family sources.
• Samuel Lamont - born about 1841 and died 1915 in Ireland. He was a carpenter and farmer, and was married twice according to family sources.
• Robert Steen - born about 1842. He was a farmer and a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church. Robert married Isabella Trolland, daughter of Archibald Hart and Mary (Elder) Trolland, on August 29, 1872 at the Ballymoney Reformed Presbyterian Church, County Antrim, Ireland. Robert died in 1909.
• Nancy - born about 1844. Married Thomas Kelly on February 18, 1874 at the Ballymoney Reformed Presbyterian Church, County Antrim. Nancy died in 1935.
• Josiah - born 1846 in Ballymoney, Antrim, Ireland. He was a farmer. Josiah married Annie Boyd Lyons, daughter of Martial Lyons, on October 30, 1877 at the New Row Presbyterian Church, Coleraine, County Londonderry. They had 10 known children.
• Alexander Stavely - born about 1848, he was a Presbyterian Minister. Alexander married Margaret Jane Nevin, daughter of John Nevin, on August 27, 1878 at the Clarendon Street Reformed Presbyterian Church, Templemore, County Londonderry. Alexander died in 1908.
• Moses Chestnut - born about 1852, he was a shopkeeper. He married Jennie Dunlop, daughter of William Dunlop, on June 4, 1880 at the Ballywatt Presbyterian Church, Coleraine, Ballyrashane, County Antrim. Moses died in 1917.

James died in 1870 and Nancy died in 1862, in Ireland.

Which Lyons Is Our Direct Line Ancestor??

According to family sources in Ireland, a Joseph Lyons leased land at Drumaheglis, Ballymoney, in 1763 on the lives of 3 sons: James, born circa 1739; John, born circa 1741; Hugh, born circa 1744.

One of these sons - John - is believed to be the father of the following children:

• Samuel - born 1764, died 15 October 1863 in his 100th year [see previous posting]
• Elizabeth - nothing more known
• Joseph - living in Ballymoney in 1814
• Mary (?) - married a Mr. Chestnut [this name is probably not correct, see my note below]
• Sarah - married Mr. Hemphill [see previous posting]
• James - born 1777, died 1866; emigrated to South Carolina 1804/1805 [see previous posting]
• Other brothers

Above is taken from a hand-written family tree chart.

[NOTE: The Mary(?) mentioned above who married a Mr. Chestnut is probably not her correct name for 2 reasons - first, her name is followed by a (?) which would indicate the author was not sure of her name and second, my 3rd great grandmother Mary (Lyons) Smith was a sister to the above siblings but is not listed on the chart. It would appear that 2 daughters have been mixed up.]

I feel that the above information is mostly correct, as the other information on the family tree chart matches up with my research with just a few discrepancies. If anyone can shed any light on Joseph Lyons and his 3 sons, or can provide any kind of documentation, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Samuel Lyons

Samuel Lyons was born in 1764 in Drumaheglis, Ballymoney, Antrim, Ireland. He is the brother of Mary Lyons Smith, Sarah Lyons Hemphill, and James Lyons about whom I have previously written.

According to family sources, Samuel may have been married 3 times. He had 2 children who are believed to be from Samuel's third marriage:

• James - born about 1804 and died about 1870 in Ireland. He was a farmer and a carpenter. James married Nancy Lamont.
• sister - no more information is available

Samuel died at the home of his son James in Ballygan, Ballymoney, on October 15, 1863, in his 100th year. He is buried in the graveyard beside the Ballymoney Reformed Presbyterian Church.

The information on Samuel was provided by Leone Lyons in letters to the family. Samuel was her husband's great great grandfather.

Sarah Lyons

Sarah Lyons was born in Northern Ireland, circa 1770, exact date and place unknown. She is the sister of James Lyons (who I wrote about in 2007) and Mary Lyons Smith, my 3rd great grandmother. The parents are unknown at this time, however, some family sources seem to believe the father is a John Lyons.

Sarah married Hugh Hemphill, also born in Ireland, sometime before 1795 in Northern Ireland. They had 3 known children:

• Esther - born about 1795 in Ireland and died September 16, 1869, according to family sources, probably in Monroe County, Indiana. She married William Semple in Ireland about 1815.
• John - born about 1798 in Ireland and died after 1880, possibly in St. Clair County, Illinois. He married Mary Reid about 1823-1824 in Ireland.
• Matthew - born October 18, 1801 in Ireland and died December 18, 1865 in St. Clair County, Illinois. He married Matilda White in Ireland. Matthew and Matilda are buried in Marissa Cemetery.

Sarah and Hugh Hemphill both died in Ireland. Family sources say they are possibly buried in Coleraine, County Londonderry.

Lyons Family Connections

A little over a year ago I stated I would be adding to my Woodside tree the connecting Lyons families. Well, I got started with James Lyons and then got sidetracked again with adding more Woodside families. Of course, there is Mary Lyons who married into the Smith connection to my Woodside line, so I actually got two of them done.

For the past few months I have been working hard at putting some of my father's and my husband's family history into private pages at Ancestry.com and that has put me way behind on working on my blog. So now I am going to take a little time to put more info on the Lyons family onto my blog. I have received some new information from a new-found cousin and am trying to coordinate that with the information I have.

I hope the information I post will help someone else find what they are searching for. If anyone can add to the information I post I would love to hear from you.

Now to get started on the Lyons family.