St Patrick’s Day 2018

From Cousin Barry whose Dad is my Dad’s brother and his Mom is my Mom’s sister; guess I am a wee bit Irish!
As St Patrick’s Day winds down, I hope there is still time to make a case for my Irish heritage. Five generations before my father, Donald Morton Little was born, the Little family name arrived in Botetourt Co, Va. It was at some time after the birth of David Little in 1735 in County Down, Ireland that John & Elizabeth Little arrived in Virginia Colony, making my father 1/32 Irish. Apparently a long line of farmers, John died there in Virginia in 1793, as did his son David in 1813. There were seven children in the next generation, the oldest child being another David Little. He moved west into Tennessee & was married to Charity Emaline Ross on 12/23/1832 in Roane Co, Tn. His son, Martin Fernoy Little was born in Tennessee but moved with his parents to Logan, Harrison Co, Iowa. Martin Little was married to Mary Magdeline Rowe. Their son, David Abbott Little was my father grandfather. Mary Rowe’s father was Abbott Rowe, who was born in Ireland, making my father 1/16 Irish from his side. On my maternal grandmother’s (Mabel Rose Stone) side, her maternal great grandmother was Ann Gleason, daughter of John Gleason & Hannah Sullivan (they had a son, Patrick). All Irish, making my father 1/16 Irish on that side. Added together, that almost 1/6 and possibly qualifies me for a bit of the blarney?
Oddly enough, not much more than 100 miles from where John Little settled, over in Cumberland Co, Va the family of Stephen Pankey was also starting out in America. But it would be over 200 years later in Denver, Co before the two families finally met. But that’s the topic of another post....