Stewart Gahagan's Research

Research complied by Stewart Gahagan Sr. in February, 2002 and posted with his permission.

Our Gahagan Family History

In about 1740-1748, our Irish ancestors, Thomas Gahagen Sr. and his wife Alice left Ireland and arrived in Philadelphia. They settled in Chester Co., Pennsylvania. It is likely that they were accompanied by their two sons, Thomas Jr. and Joseph.
One history states that Thomas Sr. was from Co. Wicklow and another states that he left Ireland from Co. Donegal. Most immigrants from Ireland in the eighteenth century were Presbyterians from the northern counties of Ireland, so Co. Donegal seems to be the most logical choice of our origins.
During this period the Irish Parliament passed several laws to "Prevent the Further Growths of Popery." The laws were mainly directed against Catholics, but also contained negative provisions, which also applied to the Presbyterians. The effect was to create a privileged elite (later called the Protestant Ascendancy) who were members of the established Church, the Church of England (Episcopal Church). Also, famines in 1726- J 729 and 1741, high rents, and payment of tithes convinced many Presbyterians that the long and dangerous journey to America was a better choice than remaining in Ireland.
The largest concentration ofMacGcoghegans (Gahagans) was in Coounty Westmeath, west of Dublin, During the seventeenth century the Geoghegans owned 15,500 areas in the triangle defined by Meath, Kibeggan, and Castletown, This was predominately (if not entirely) a Catholic Sept (clan) as witnessed by the number of Catholic Church leaders from the MacGeoghegan family. There are, however, Protestant Geoghegans in Ireland who reportedly migrated from Co. Westmeath to Co. DonegaJ.and Ulster around 1700, (see notes). That Thomas Sr. and Alice were members or relatives of this group has not been established nor has a connection to the Presbyterian Church been established, but these connections seem probable.
Benjamin Franklin estimated that one-third of the 350,000 residents of' Pennsylvania in the 1700's were Scotch Irish. Passenger lists of the many ships that arrived from Ireland to Philadelphia in those years were incomplete, inaccurate, or non-existent. Confusion also exists because many of these Irish immigrants were not literate so immigration officials in America recorded their names as best they could - probably phonetically in many cases. As of the writing of this history, the date and means of Thomas Gahagen' s arrival in America has not been established.
It is not known when Thomas Sr. died or where he is buried. We do have an approximate year of birth in 1715, in Ireland, and the year of death of about 1768 in Pennsylvania. Little is known about Alice. It is interesting that of their six known sons, three had the surname of Gheen, two had the surname Gahagen, and one the surname McGlaghin.
Thomas Sr. 's son, Thomas Jr. is your great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather. He was born about 1740 in Ireland. He married Christiana (or Christina) Young, who was Welsh. One history reports that Thomas Jr.. was a Scotch-Irishman who immigrated to Wales and married Christina Young, then later migrated to America. Regardless of birth and marriage discrepancies we can positively locate Thomas Jr. in the 1780 tax records for Hopewell Township, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, and in the first U.S. Census in 1790 in Franklin Co., Pennsylvania. This may be the same location as shown in the 1780 tax records since Franklin County was formed in 1784. Tax assessment records from Lurgan Township, Franklin County, locates Thomas Jr. from 1791-1795. He next was located in 1799 tax records for Huntington Township, Indiana county. From 1813-1815, he was taxed for 150 acres (probably a tenant farm). His name was crossed out in 1816 following his death in 1815.
James Gahagen, your great, great, great, great, great grandfather, was born in Lurgan Township, Franklin County, Pa. in 1790. His name first appears in the tax assessment records for Mahoning Township, Indiana Co. in 1816. He was assessed for 150 acres, which bad probably been the same land that had been his fathers. In 1833, he moved to Porter Township, Jefferson County.
Charles Gahagen was your great, great, great. great grandfather. He was born in 1827, in Indiana County, Pa. He was the third son of James Gahagen. Charles married Hannah Jane Wray. They had four sons. Their first son, your great, great, great grandfather, was Edwin Hull Gahagen, born in 1856 in Porter Township, Jefferson County, Pa. Our family has his bible, which was given to him at birth by his Uncle, Rev. Edwin Hull.
Edwin Hull Gahagen married lona Depp. They had three children, the first of which was Harry Clare Gahagen, your great, great grandfather, who was born in a lumber camp on Boone Mountain off Rt. 219 north of Brockway, Pa. in 1885. Edwin Hull's first wife, lona Depp died in 1894 at the birth of Ward who died later at 2 months old. An old photograph marked "barks woods camp" shows Harry Gahagen as a 3-4 year old boy with his father, Edwin Hull. This photo was taken about 1888. Harry Gahagen's name appears in the 1900 Census spelled with 'EN', rather than 'AN'. Harry Gahagen married Margrete Burdett Smith of Albion, Pa., on November 14, 1903.
Cloy Gahagan, your great grandfather was born in Punxsutawney, Pa, on March 17, 1907. He used the birthdate of 1905 to get a job because he was under age. He worked at Piney Dam, Clarion, Pa., where he met Pauline Stewart, whom he married. They eloped to Wheeling. W. Va. on Jan 26, 1927. Six months later they moved to Maryland, where he worked for Stone & Webster on the construction of the Conowingo Dam. After the dam was completed, he went to work for the Susquehanna Electric Co. that operated the Hydro Electric plant. He remained there until he retired in 1963. He died of old age in 1999.
Cloy and Pauline had two children, Joyce LaRue born in 1929 and Stewart Wesley born in 1931.
Note: -This history by Stewart Gahagan Sr. is concluded. Perhaps others in our family will want to add more information in the future.