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.

William Woodside

William Woodside was born in February 1822 in Livingston County, Kentucky, to Samuel Cunningham Woodside II and Sarah J. (Baugher) Woodside. He was taught farming as a child and after moving to Perry County, Illinois, continued to farm throughout his lifetime.

He married Margaret around 1848, probably in Illinois, although I could not find the marriage listed in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index. Various trees at Ancestry.com state her name as Margaret B. Cathcart. If anyone has the record of this marriage or proof of Margaret's name, I would very much appreciate hearing from you.

William and Margaret had 7 known children:

Agnes M. - born 1849 and died February 12, 1900 in Perry County, Illinois. She married James W. Sinclair on November 10, 1880 in Perry County. James died December 28, 1883 in Sparta, Randolph County, leaving her with 2 young children. Agnes remarried on November 5, 1890 to James P. Williamson.

Sarah J. - born September 24, 1851 in Perry County. She married Hugh Hood McCrary on December 8, 1897, also in Perry County. Sarah was his second wife and they had no children together. She was living at the time of the 1930 U.S. Census in Randolph County, listed as 78 years of age and a Widow. Family sources say she died on January 25, 1933 in Sparta and is buried in the Coulterville Cemetery.

Joseph C. - born July 1854 in Perry County. He married Naomi Ruth Whitaker on December 24, 1879 and had 4 children before Naomi died on August 26, 1896 in Superior, Nebraska. Joseph remarried on April 27, 1898 to Sarah Ann McIntyre, probably in Nebraska since that is where the first of their 3 children was born. Joseph died August 3, 1934 in Clay County, Kansas.

Samuel R. - born February 1858 in Perry County, Illinois. He married Elizabeth H. Orr about 1883-1884, possibly in Kansas. They had 4 children all born in Kansas. Elizabeth died between 1925 and 1930. Samuel died sometime after the 1930 U.S. Census for Johnson County, Kansas, where he was listed as 72 years of age and a Widow.

Mary F. - born about 1860 in Perry County and died May 8, 1941 in Coulterville, Randolph County, Illinois. She married Thomas Andrew Morton on February 22, 1909 in Randolph County. Thomas died June 4, 1939 in Randolph County. They had no known children.

Margaret E. - born April 4, 1864 in Perry County. She married William I. McBride on January 27, 1899 in Perry County but is listed as a Widow on the 1900 U. S. Census, living with her father in Swanwick, Perry County. No children. Family sources state Margaret died November 16, 1903.

William D. - born July 1867 in Perry County and died November 27, 1957 in Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois. He married Elizabeth about 1892-1893. While I could find no record of the marriage in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, family trees at Ancestry.com give her name as Elizabeth Craig Douglas with the marriage on October 5, 1892. These same sources state Elizabeth died July 15, 1956 and William died November 27, 1957, both in Randolph County. William and Elizabeth had 1 child, August "Gus" Woodside born May 9, 1895 in Coulterville, Randolph County.

William Woodside died on December 5, 1906 in Township 4, Perry County, and Margaret died May 7, 1888. Both are buried in the Coulterville Cemetery.

James Woodside

James Woodside, born in August 1829 in Randolph County, Illinois, was the 7th child of Samuel Cunningham Woodside, II and Sarah J. Baugher. He was a farmer all of his life in the Coulterville area. According to family sources he was also known as James "Strawberry" Woodside, although I have found no mention of the "Strawberry" name is any official records.

He married Margaret Cunningham on August 13, 1863 in Randolph County. Margaret was born November 1844 in Randolph County. They had 12 known children:

• Sarah C. - born June 1864 in Randolph County, Illinois. She married J. W. McManus on March 29, 1905 in St. Clair County. Nothing more is known.
• Samuel A. - born 1866 in Randolph County, Illinois. I could not find him after the 1880 census.
• William C. - born 1868 in Randolph County, Illinois. Again, I could not find him after the 1880 census.
• James A. G. - born December 1869 in Randolph County, Illinois. There is a James A. Woodside in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index showing a marriage to Lizzie Lewis on July 24, 1895 in Randolph County. However, I need to send for the marriage record to confirm this is the right James.
• David B. - born September 30, 1871, and died January 12, 1936 in Coulterville, Randolph County. He married Francis (Fannie) S. Curry on March 29, 1899 in Randolph County. They are both buried in Caledonia Cemetery.
  
• Robert George - born October 13, 1873 in Randolph County. He married Margaret (Maggie) May Adams on December 1, 1903 in Randolph County. Robert died sometime after the 1930 census.
• Renwick M. - born September 24, 1875 and died September 25, 1875 in Coulterville, Randolph County, according to family sources.
• Anna Belle - born July 14, 1878 in Randolph County. She married Mark O'Neill on February 18, 1905 in Randolph County. Anna died sometime after the 1930 census.
• John Reily - born July 13, 1880 in Randolph County, and died March 18, 1947 in Sparta, Randolph County. He married Rosina E. Manning sometime between 1910 and 1920. Various family sources state the marriage was December 13, 1911.
• Joseph Henry - born July 10, 1882 in Randolph County and died sometime after 1925. Nothing more is known.
• Walter Wallace - born November 4, 1884 in Randolph County. He married Rose Belle (surname possibly Green), date and place unknown. Walter died sometime after the 1930 census.
• Miller F. - born February 8, 1888 in Coulterville, Randolph County. He died June 6, 1926, place unknown, and is buried in Caledonia Cemetery.

James was still living at 70 years of age on the 1900 census but died sometime before the 1910 census. Margaret died sometime between 1888 and 1900, as James is a widow by 1900.