Saturday, June 4, 2011

Fergus/ Forgey


While combing through everything related to Forgey at Footnote I came upon a Forgey family unknown to me. I've tried to place all of the Forgey and Forgy families in relation to their immigrant line. Could not place this family at all. I found a progenitor of this family listed in a revolutionary war pension file. A John Forgey was named as a magistrate in Elbert County Georgia. I found him also named in a probate document in Rutherford County, North Carolina. I discovered that this family normally spelled their name Fergus. I also found out the family initially settled in the same area of Pennsylvania as my family, Cumberland County and Chester County. I had noticed Fergus families in Ireland sometimes went by Forgey too. I didn't know that happened in this country. This supports the origin of the name as a variant spelling of the name Ferguson .
I'll have to make note of this family so they don't confuse me in the future. I thought the revolutionary war pension file for James Fergus was fascinating. He kept a journal during his service and presented it as evidence to qualify for his pension. I copied a snippet above regarding his opinion of hospitals at the time. I thought that part was especially fascinating.


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