Hugh Ross - Hugh Ross, The Jacobite

I found a comment on a tree:

Birth
8 Jul 1681 • Balblair, Ross & Cromarty, Parish of Tain, Scotland
Some suggest he could have been born as early as 1671? That would make him the oldest son of David I Ross. This would also predate David's marriage date of 8 Jul 1675.

I also see alternate parents of Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross & Margaret Graham

I think we need to find more records on the supposed father Capt. David Ross, 2nd Laird of Balblair

Private User comments, info ? Possible direct line for me

Arrival
abt 1716 • First in Antigua, then Virginia Colony, America, on ship Scipio from Liverpool. Read Jacobite Rebellion Ships and The Original Scots Colonists of Early America from media gallery, also, Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775.
After losing the Battle of Preston, Hugh Ross, and fellow Jacobites were captured by the British and transported to the America's, first landing in Antigua, and then on to Virginia Colony, America, on the ship, Scipio.

Private User any resources to suggest

I got rid of the alternate parents - they belong to the 13th century

I’m copying over comments from FamilySearch made in July

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LRLY-YTM

We know little about The Immigrant Hugh Ross. I don't see enough evidence of who he may be related to in Scotland or America.
The Ship Scipio was for Scottish prisoners who were part of the Jacobite rebellion from the searches I have done. The Jacobite rebellion according to Wikipedia was pretty much opposed by the Highland Clan Ross.
Most prisoners were young men and were sent to various places to serve as indentured servants for a number of years. Usually it was after that they would marry and have families.
I don't see any evidence he was married before and probably not to Lady Margaret DeBarlcay. Lady Margaret De Barclay was married to Chief Hugh Ross, 1st Laird of Balnagowan in the 1300's. That is an old error seen on a number of trees for Hugh Ross, father of William Ross of Martin, North Carolina. He is thought to be from Scotland by their tradition. I figure William Ross of Martin was a cousin to James P Ross of Rowan and Guilford, NC. The same for Isaac Ross, though not as closely related. Thanks to some for noticing a relationship of the three, which helps, but I think it is as cousins to various degrees from Scotland.
If the Immigrant Hugh Ross was about 21 years old when captured his birth date would be about 1695. The dates of 1781 or 1785 are dates often assigned to Hugh Ross, as the father of William Ross of Martin County, NC. That date is about 10 years later than records show for Hugh Ross, estimate 1671, father of William Ross of Martin County (see tree).

Who Hugh Ross, the Immigrant is pretty much unknown so far, though he is real and needs a place.

I do not think we know if he is related to James P Ross (or to Isaac Ross, of New Jersey and Union, North Carolina, or William Ross of Virginia and Martin, North Carolina who appear to be cousins to various degrees).

I did find a reference to a Malcom Ross who served in the Jacobite rebellion, but who was of the other Ross Lowland clan in Scotland. There were two main ones not related to each other. But the name Hugh sounds Highlander.

The comments made on FamilySearch were made by VLesterRoss, who I would think is the same person as Les Ross

Good to meet you. I descend from Abijah Ross of Glles County, a possible 10th child of James Ross of Rowan County. A 4th cousin DNA matched into that tree.

My family "story" has no tradition of Highland ancestry, it's lowland / Scotch Irish in the other Scots lines (Jackson, Cunningham, McElwaine).

I am uncomfortable with this unproven ancestry showing and am disconnecting Hugh the immigrant from David the laird. If more proof arrives they can be put back.

I'm also changing Margaret his wife's birth surname to unknown, de Barclay comes from the 13th century English Ross.

Source for the Isaac Ross family

Primary source of the Ross descendancy is "A Record of the Descendants of Isaac Ross and Jean Brown and the Allied Families of Alexander, Conger, Harris, Hill, King, Killingsworth, Mackey, Moores, Sims Wade, Etc." Compiled by Anne Mims Wright, 1911.

Isaac Ross, Sr.

Found information on Murdoch Ross

He was not the immigrant

Linking a fine piece of research

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/surnames.ross/10052/mb.ashx

Rev. George Aeneas Ross, M.A.
Erica Howton

My vantage point: My own direct connection to George Aeneas Ross who is/was credited with being the Fifth of Balbair. I cannot vouch for this title. I wonder if I'm a victim of having read a "spurious pedigree" :)

I guess my question is now was G.A.R. indeed born in Balbair and does this in any way connect him to the titled family?
I vaguely remember undoing a merge with the Virginia Rosses above mentioned. At this time it's hard for me to reconstruct anything that my help sort out multiple questions

Looking back through the changes: Perhaps Catherine Ross Thompson Claiborne would like to weigh-in with her perspective.

We clearly have multiple Ross immigrant families. I fear some branches may now have been improperly disconnected from their ancestors back in Scotland but I'm not speaking with an adequate knowledge base.

Hi Michael

To me Rev. George Aeneas Ross, M.A. is entirely legit!

And Hugh Ross, 'the Immigrant' is as bogus as they come in at least two internet incarnations!!!

:)

George Aeneas has a thorough and contemporeous biography in three countries. He was a second son so not an heir in any event, and there's something about having forfeited his inheritance for changing religions / trashing Presbyterians.

And there was indeed a 3rd son Hugh born 1681. He did not emigrate to America though as far as I can tell

Murdoch Ross

Since he died in 1775 he was not the Hugh Ross transported for being Jacobite, for whom there is no known death date.

I'll let the real Hugh Ross the immigrant emerge. :). My Ross certainty begins several generations down. But if we were directly descended from the lairds of Balbair, I doubt it would be such "news to me."

We're from Betsy Ross who was Quaker! (OK, that's not true either)

You may want to check on the title "fifth"

"His right to the Balbair estate was extiguished by his uncle's sale of the property in Scotland. {see 4th Balbair}"

1. The book about Isaac Ross and Jean Brown by Wright says that the parents of William Ross of Martin County, NC were Hugh Ross and Margaret of Elizabeth City, Virginia. Margaret remarried James Priest in 1702 by a marriage bond in Elizabeth City, Virginia. In 1719 Margaret Priest had a will in Elizabeth City that mentions sons Francis, Hugh, and William. Wright says that Isaac Ross is not directly related to William Ross of Martin, but perhaps over the oceans. Thus not brothers.
And a book including the Rosses of Martin County, Dickerman's House of Plant, 1900, online towards the end of the book says Hugh Ross and Margaret of Virginia could easily be the parents of William Ross of Martin. Dickerman was as was Wright a genuine family scholar.
2. Isaac Ross, James P Ross, and William Ross of Martin NC, listed as brothers do seem related (and that is an important observation) and they were in the same places. But Isaac Ross is not on the will of Margaret (Ross) Priest, 1719, Virginia, nor is James P Ross. They would have to be cousins of some sort.
I propose Francis Ross, Hugh Ross, ll, and William Ross of Martin as children of Hugh Ross. And Isaac Ross and James P Ross as cousins to some degree or another.
2. New but old stuff is online now. James P Ross seems to have had a son Francis Ross in Rowan who warranted land in Rowan in 1759 (MARS Catalog of NC) and was on the 1770 and 1780 census of Rowan. This matches with this family of Hugh Ross in Elizabeth City, Virginia. A John Ross was dcd in 1758 in Hampton, Elizabeth City, Virginia and mentions his brother James. I think that is probably James P Ross. No-one has been able to find such a source in Ireland and we now know this Ross familly migrated over the border into Northeast, North Carolina. The father of John and James would be Francis Ross by other things on the will, etc.
3. Isaac Ross according to Wright started in Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey and went through Virginia to Rowan County, NC and later to Mechlenberge NC, near the SC border. Two of his sons were on a deed in Granvilles, NC next to Rowan in 1762, two years after Isaac's death
What is interesting about this is that my own John Ross of Guilford by timing of events and comparison of signatures left Elizabeth City Virginia and was married in Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey in 1759, not to be confused with the other John Rosses of Middlesex. After that he returned to Virginia and was in Granville in 1760, the same granville as the sons of Isaac Ross.
And in Mechlenberg were some of the descendants of William Ross of Martin (Dickerman).
But what is also interesting is that this Andrew Ross, Surgeon (above post) who sold the Balblair property by the Colonial Families of Philadelphia was in Edinburgh and in Kingston, Jamaica. In Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ was Alexander Ross, who knew George Washington, whose residence was used as command station by George Washington (Wikipedia). Alexander Ross by the History of Middlesex was a Physician of Kingston Jamaica and was from Scotland. In the 1775 will of Alexander Ross in Middlesex, New Jersey he mentions his Jamaica property, sister Jean Ross, and John Ross of Philadelphia as handling some money to sister Jean. In 1777 the will of Jean Ross, "presently of New York" mentions Brother Alexander Ross in New Jersey, the Jamaica property, and John Ross of Philadelphia as one of the Ex's of her will.
4. This gives a connection of James P Ross, who was also in Rowan, Isaac Ross, William Ross of Martin, John Ross of Guilford, Hugh Ross and Margaret of Elizabeth City, Virginia, and lastly the
Balblair Rosses of Scotland, by way of two sons of David Ross and Margaret Stronach in America. That is John Ross of Philadelphia, son of George Ross, and by Andrew Ross, who had descendants in Middleses, New Jersey. The Piscataway and Woodbridge Rosses were connected by data.
I think Isaac Ross is more likely a son of Andrew Ross, son of David Ross and Margaret Stronach than of son Hugh Ross of the same.
A second connection besides all these associations is on page 22 of the 1882 book, Life and Times of Elder Reuben Ross, grandson of Hugh Ross and Margaret, that has a tradition that the Martin County Ross were directly from Scotland, and migrated to Pennsylvania and Maryland. And that they Scholars, Statesman, Navigators and Warriors.
5. Hugh Murdoch Ross is not mentioned by Reed in the book, the Earls of Ross and Their Descendants as being on that line. The one he mentions was dcd by 1702 in Scotland and was too old by my calculation of a sasine inheritance.

A question

Andrew Ross, 4th of Balblair died without issue and Rev. George Aeneas Ross, M.A. became “5th” in the genealogy.

Wouldn’t that mean Andrew 4th had no Brothers ?

We now show two Hugh sons of David 2nd of Balbair as there are conflicting dates & wives

Murdoch Ross

Hugh Ross, 'the Immigrant'

A Rootsweb entry with details and "later" dates for the children of David, 2nd of Balblair. Their Hugh b 1681 "no further record"

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=krepl...

I wonder who the other children of Andrew 1st Lord Of Balbair Ross were

Thanks. I prefer to believe what I see which is a very similar Alexander Ross, Physician of Middlesex, NJ, Kingston, Jamaica, and Scotland, whose sister has a friend in Edinburgh, and that the wills of Alexander Ross and Jean Ross in NJ and NY having John Ross of Philadelphia handling some of their affairs. I think that shows he had Issue not known about.
I don't know what to do about Hugh Murdoch Ross and Hugh the Immigrant Ross. Can you add them both. I am with Hugh the Immigrant in part because of the above comment. Don't know anything about Hugh Murdoch Ross. Do you have information on that?

The estate was sold so in Scotland I presume the title of Laird of Balblair would not be recognized. John Ross of Philadelphia had a letter from one who was involved with the estate in Balblair who said something along that line. Sometimes in America they carried the title of Laird/Lord if there father was. I can't explain that.

I mean the revised Hugh the Immigrant. Not the Jacobite.

Yes, I think we know nothing about "Hugh Ross the Jacobite" except the immigration record. Perhaps should make a standalone profile so he's not confused with Hugh Rosses with known families, will think on that.

I found and uploaded the will of Margaret Priest, who was the widow of Hugh Ross of Elizabeth City. A link is here:

https://media.geni.com/p13/5f/1b/99/98/5344484661320cfa/img_1074_or...

This is exciting!

Now I'm unsure on how the Hugh's fit together and into the Balblair family, as I'm seeing sets of dates 10 years apart for Margaret Stronach's children.

The Hugh Ross born 1681 cannot have been the Hugh Ross of Elizabeth City, of whom there is a court record in 1692.

So either the dates given for her marriage and children's births are wrong, or there's a missing piece, or something.

---

I'm seeing Elizabeth Mallory as the wife of Francis Ross (son of Hugh the immigrant) and mother of the 1st James P Ross. Is that correct?

You have been busy Erica adding things. Thanks for everyone's reply. It all helps a lot.
The 1781 date is a sasine inheritance of David Ross on which date he mentioned his wife Margaret. They didn't have a lot so they used these inheritance of land records as substitute dates. It is not the real date either for the marriage of David Ross to Margaret or the birth of Hugh Ross.
But it does give the order as Andrew, George, William and Elizabeth. We know Elizabeth is different than that. The source is the Earls of Ross... by Reed. I think the order of the children is different. The 1671 date of Hugh Ross in Elizabeth City, Virginia does match 1671.
But 1671 is consistent with the story by George Ross to his son John Ross of Philadelphia, the one who got the letter from Scotland. Young George about 14 went to live with his "eldest" brother Andrew, by the account a busy writer and lawyer of Edinburgh. That has to put at least 10 years difference between George and Andrew. Who were the eldest brothers as that is plural?

Yes, that is how I have it, Elizabeth Mallory as wife of Francis Ross. The Mallory's were an amazing family. And a couple of Ancestry.com have Francis Ross and Elizabeth Mallory married. The will of Margaret Priest you added had Francis Mallory doing something.
A new file for Hugh Ross the unknown Jacobite sounds good.

Private User you know we can’t mention “Mallory” on Geni without “Maven.” We’re thinking Elizabeth Ross is my great whatever grandmother.

Chapman has a summary of her estate in Elizabeth City County

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000070681420253&.

mentioning her uncle John Mallory in London

Elizabeth seems to be a bit of a puzzle - John Mallory, of London is her uncle, but she has no parents? Is she wife's sibling's daughter, then?

I notice we're not dealing with the Westerly, RI Rosses here....

A fourth cousin - also descended from Abijah Ross - DNA matched into the James P Ross Jr + Mary Mitchell descent. Hasn't been any hits on anyone RI at all.

I was just thinking Elizabeth Ross is niece on the Mary Mallory

Her husband's will leaves her & her heirs the property. His brothers & their kids get cash, except Francis Mallory, who stood surety for Ross & vice versa, according to Boddie

https://books.google.com/books?id=AyhusD7Hc2MC&lpg=PA119&vq...

Speculatively, since Francis Mallory and Elizabeth Ross were close, I wonder if there was a double relationship through his wife Ann Mallory

It was worthwhile to chase for Murdoch Ross

- the "Hugh" name is spurious
- the profile on Wikitree has some interesting sources, including descent to NY Ross family
- leaving him "stuck" on the David of Balblair family for the moment

I've spun off Hugh Ross, the Jacobite and returned Hugh Ross, 'the Immigrant' to his parents