Matthew Sutherland Rea

Abt 1730 - Bef 1812  (< 82 years)

• Name	Matthew Sutherland Rea
  Born	Abt 1730	County Down, Northern Ireland
  Gender	Male
  Died	Bef 28 May 1812	Amberson Valley, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States
  Buried	Rea-Shields Cemetery, Amberson Valley, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States
  Person ID	P44559587	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	18 Sep 2010

  
  

  Father	William Rea,   b. Abt 1710, County Down, Northern Ireland
  Family ID	F4685	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth
  Children	1. James Rea,   b. Abt 1750, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland ,   d. Abt 1830, Pennsylvania  (Age 80 years)   2. Jonathan Rea,   b. Abt 1750, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland ,   d. Bef 1830  (Age < 79 years)   3. Fanny Rea,   b. Abt 1771, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland   4. Margery Rea,   b. Abt 1772, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland   5. Robert Scott Rea,   b. 1773, Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland ,   d. 1844, Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, United States  (Age 71 years)
  Last Modified	18 Nov 2016
  Family ID	F2456	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Matthew was my emmigrant ancestor, arriving from Ireland probably during 1774. The list of ships arriving at the port of Philadelphia in 1774 is a short one, which includes only three from the port of Newry: 1774 The "Glorious Memory" departed Belfast, Ireland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland. 1774 The "Hannah" departed Londonderry, Northern Ireland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1774 The "Hope" departed Newry, Northern Ireland, and arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1774 The "Needham" departed Newry, Northern Ireland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1774 The "Peace & Plenty" departed Belfast, Northern Ireland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York. 1774 The "Prosperity" departed Belfast, Northern Ireland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1774 The "Renown" departed Newry, Northern Ireland, for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.1774 (June 21) The "Nancy" *1774 (September 29) The "Charming Molly" * 1774 (September 30) "The Union" * 1774 (October 29) "The Patty & Peggy" * 1774 (October 31) "The Sally" * *May not have come from Ireland It appears the Prosperity was the last ship from Ireland before the emmigration stopped. It is also possible that Matthew landed at New York or at the port of Elizabeth, New Jersey and traveled inland to Pennsylvania, but, there isn't any evidennce supporting this, that I'm aware of at this time. My best guess is that, living in Newry, where all five of his children were born (the last of them in 1773), it makes the best sense that they left from the port of Newry in 1774, aboard either the "Hope," the "Needham" or the "Renown." As there don't appear to be any lists of passengers names for these ships, I may never know which it was. All that is known about them is that the "Hope" had 200 or 220 passengers, the "Needham" had 300 passengers and the Renown was carrying 350 passengers. The following incidental background information on the Needham comes from the U.S. Department of Labor website: "On August 5, 1774, just a month before the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, the ship Needham landed in New York from Newry, England [sic], Captain William Cunningham, master. The ship's cargo was white indentured servants. On arrival they protested to the authorities that they had been kidnapped in Ireland and had suffered "bad usage" on the voyage across the Atlantic. Whereupon the city fathers ordered them discharged. The servants had gained their freedom, but Cunningham nursed a grudge, and later, as the notorious provost marshal of the British army in America, he confined captured Patriots to atrocious prison ships and jails." The Windham Herald, Sat Feb. 25, 1792: The life, confession, and last dying words of Capt. William Cunningham, formerly the British Provost-Marshal, who was executed in London, the 10th of August, 1791: "I William Cunningham was born in Dublin Barracks, in the year 1738. My father was Trumpeter to the Blue Dragoons, and at the age of 8 years I was placed with an officer as his servant, in which station I continued until I was 16, and being a great proficient in horsemanship, was taken as an assistant to the riding master of the troop, and in the year 1761 was made sergeant of dragoons, but the peace coming the year following, I was disbanded. Being bred to no profession, I took up with a woman who kept a gin shop in a blind alley, near the Coal Quay, but the house being searched for stolen goods, and my doxy taken to Newgate, I thought it most prudent to decamp; accordingly set off for the North, and arriving at Drogheda, where in a few months after, I married the daughter of an Exciseman, by whom I had three sons. About the year 1772, we removed to Newry, where I commenced the profession of a scowbanker, which is that of enticing the mechanics and country people to ship themselves for America, they are sold or obliged to serve a term of years for their passage. I embarked at Newry in the ship Needham for New-York, and arrived at that port the fourth of August, 1774, with some indented servants I had kidnapped in Ireland, but were liberated in New-York on account of the bad usage they received from me during the passage. In that city I used the profession of breaking horses; and teaching ladies and gentlemen to ride, but rendering myself obnoxious to the citizens in their infant struggles for freedom, I was obliged to sly on board the AAsia man of war, and from thence to Boston, where by my known opposition to the measures pursued by the Americans in support of their rights, was the first thing that noticed me to General Gage, and when the war commenced, I was appointed Provost Marshal to the Royal Army, which placed me in a situation to wreak my vengeance on the Americans. I shudder to think of the murders, I have been accessory to, both with and without orders from government, especially while in New-York, during which time there were more than two thousand prisoners starved in the different churches by stopping their rations, which I sold. There were also two hundred and seventy-five American prisoners and obnoxious persons executed, out of all which number there were only about one dozen public executions, which chiefly consisted of British and Hessian deserters. The mode for private executions was thus conducted; a guard was dispatched from the Provost, about half after twelve at night, to Barrack street, and the neighbourhood of the Upper Barracks, to order the people to shut their window-shutters and put out their lights, forbidding them at the same time, to presume to look out of their windows on pain of death; after which the unfortunate prisoners were conducted, gagged, just behind the Upper Barracks, and hung without ceremony, and there buried by the black pioneer of the Provost. At the end of the war I returned to England with the army, and settled in Wales, as being a cheaper place of living than in any populous cities, but being at length persuaded to go to London, I entered so warmly into the dissipations of the capiital that I soon found my circumstances much embarrassed. To relieve which, I mortgaged my half-pay to an army agent, but that being soon expended, I forged a draft for three hundred pounds sterling on the board of Ordnance, but being detected id in presenting it for acceptance, I was apprehended, tried, and convicted, and for that offence am here to suffer an ignominious death. I bet the prayers of all good Christians, and also pardon and forgiveness of God for the many horrid murders, I have been accessory to." - William Cunningham Given the description of Capt. Cunnigham's activities relative to Newry and the shipping of emmigrants to America, it is possible that Matthew was also an indentured servant when he left Newry for Philadelphia in 1774. It may also be, however, that, thanks to the actions of the city fathers of New York, the same ban on indentured servitude was extended to arrivals to Philadelphia from Newry, as well. Even if not, to the citizens of Philadelphia, such a practice would have been repugnannt and any indentured servants arriving there would surely have been absolved of their bonds of servitude in America. It would seem so, as I have not encountered any evidence that would suggest that Matthew was working off a debt to anyone. It is interesting, however, that this is probably how most of the Irish leaving for America at this time paid for their passage. According to genealogist Stanley B. Rea, who contributed to the book "Conocoheague Headwaters of the Amberson Valley," by Harry E. Foreman (1968), Matthew Sutherland Rea first settled in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary War, and later moved his family to the Amberson Valley in Franklin County in 1797. All five of his children were born in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. This would confirm that Matthew emmigrated from Northern Ireland in 1774. I have since wondered if it is possible that Stanley may have been in error; that Matthew had first settled not in Mifflin County, but in the area that would become Mifflin Township, Cumberland County in 1797. Mifflin Township was just east of the Franklin County line. It would make sense that the Reas settled in the area that straddled the county line, some of them in Franklin and some in Cumberland. I have no way of proving this, though. It's only a hunch that, to me, makes better sense when you consider how far Mifflin County is from the area. According to "Conococheague Headwaters of the Amberson Valley," Matthew Rea came to Franklin County from Mifflin County in 1797. However, the census proves this wrong. The 1790 census shows his son Robert Scott Rea living in Mifflin County, while Matthew and his adult sons James and Jonathan were living in separate households in Franklin County. What this shows, then, is that Matthew Rea moved from Mifflin to Franklin County before 1790. Matthew lived with his grandson, Robert Scott Rea, Jr., in his later years. The 1790 census of Franklin County shows Matthew Rea was living alone, his sons James and Jonathan living nearby. Apparently, Elizabeth had died by 1790. Matthew himself would have been about 58 at the time, given that my estimate of his birth year is correct, that is. "Conococheague Headwaters of the Amberson Valley" mentions that Matthew had five children and that "...the three sons" were named Jonathan, James and Robert Scott Rea. The two remaining unaccounted for must have been daughters, then. According t to West Conocoheague Presbyterian Marriage Records, 1769-1812, there were two Rhea women married at the church at Mercersburg, which straddles the Montgomery Township/Perry Township line. The earlier of these marriages was between Fanny Rhea anand John Hart, November 9, 1789. The other was between Margery Rhea and Thomas McWilliams, December 23, 1796. Assuming both women were over 18 when they married, Fanny may have been born about 1771 at the earliest and Margery would have been born around 1778. Since all Matthew's children were born in Newry, however, the latest Margery may have been born would have been 1774, the year of the family's emmigration. More likely, Margery was born in 1772, which would have made her 24 when she married. This fits perfectly; both women would have been the right age to have been daughters of Matthew's. As for the location of the marriages, a bit downstream from the Amberson Valley, at Mercersburg, it is very likely that Thomas McWilliiams and John Hart lived further downstream and walked or rode the short distance up the Conococheague to court the two young women. When the time came for the weddings, they were married in their husbands' community, where they probably settled, as well. In fact, I have found evidence of a Hart family living in Mercersburg at the time and afterward, which supports my theory that John Hart was a Mercersburg native. I have yet to find anything on the McWilliams family, though. Additionaal corroboration for the Rea-Hart connection comes from Volume A, page 327 of Abstracts of Wills and Administrations by Franklin County, Registered at Chambersburg, which shows that Matthew Reay and John Hart were witnesses to the will of George Ormsbay, which was dated December 5, 1793 and proved on March 3, 1795. This is consistent with the marriage date of Fanny Rhea and John Hart on November 9, 1789. At the time of Matthew and John's witnessing of George Ormsbay's will, Matthew and John would have been in-laws for 4 to 6 years, given the dates of the will, so it makes sense they would have both been called upon to be witnesses to the same document, having known each other, as well as George Ormsbay. The will was proved 17 years before Matthew's own death. According to "Concocheague Headwaters of the Amberson Valley," (Harry Foreman, 1968), there was already a Thomas Rhea in the Amberson Valley in 1767, some seven years prior to Matthew's arrival in Pennsylvania. Whether there was any relationship is unknown. Matthew's middle name has some interesting possibilities. It is evidently the surname of an ancestor, perhaps his mother's or grandmother's maiden name. It is also the name of a Scottish clan and one of the counties of northern Scotland, as well. Matthew's dates of birth and death are an issue of confusion. No birth date has actually been established for him, and there are contradictions in the date of his death, as stated by Harry Foreman in "Conococheague Headwaters of the Amberson Valley," which states that Matthew lived with his grandson Robert Scott Rea, Jr. in his later years, but, in another passage, says Robert Scott Rea (Sr.) and Matthew both died in 1844. Neither is likely, as Robert Scott Rea, Jr. didn't own the family farm until 1845, after his father's estate had been settled by a petition to the Orphan's Court. This would mean Matthew was still living after 1845. Even if he died in 1844, the same year his son Robert Scott Rea died, he'd have been approxiximately 112 years old. I have estimated Matthew's birth at around 1732, that'd make him 18 to 28 years old by the birth of James, his first child. It's not likely Matthew was born any later than this, as he'd have been too young to have fathered a child in 1750 to 1760. So, it's more likely the death date of 1844 is way too late, instead. I think it's been confused with his son's death date, thus, Matthew was more likely to have died between 1810 and 1820. This is corroborated by census data, which doesn't show a Matthew Rea in Franklin county after 1810. This would fix his death at sometime between 1811 and 1820. According to Volume C of Abstracts of Wills and Administrations by Franklin County Registered at Chambersburg, P Pennsylvania, there were letters of administration for a will of Matthew Rhea granted to Patrick McDowell May 28, 1812, so it is probable that Matthew died in 1812. According to Harry Foreman, in "Conococheague Headwaters," "The writer [Foreman] found evidence of Matthew Rea in Amberson [Valley] and knew that he was buried in the Rea Burial Ground." This would be the Rea-Shields Cemetery. As for Matthew's parentage, nothing is known at this time. However, I have discovered two possible prospects for Matthew's father or grandfather. There was a Newry merchant named John Rea whose will was probated in 1749 and there was also a William Rea, Esq. whose will was also probated in 1749 in Newry. I don't know when either of these men was born, but suffice to say they would have been at least old enough to have been Matthew's father, if not his grandfather. But, there is no furtrther data to go on. The source for these two is Ros Davies' County Down website (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/). According to the Freeholders records held by PRONI (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland), there was also a William Rea who registered his freehold in Newry in 1793. Of course, by then, Matthew was already living in America and was probably in his sixties by 1793, so this William Rea may have been too old to have been Matthew's father, though he could still have some relationship. http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/19039306/person/815457180