Ancestor of the Day: James McArthur (1731-1810)

If you know me, or have talked to me about genealogy to any extent, then you have probably heard me mention James McArthur, Sr. (1731-1810). James is the ancestor who features in my much told "stowaway story" -- yes, I have told the story so much it has its own name. I've begun to write the family history of the branch that includes James, so I have quite a bit of pre-written information on him. Below is a short excerpt from the family history:

My mother first told me the story of my father’s ancestor, James McArthur of Scotland, when I was ten years old. According to family legend, James boarded an unknown ship as a stowaway and hid in a barrel for at least part of the journey from Scotland to Virginia.[1] Years later, my first goal in family history research was to find out if this story was true and, secondly, to trace my ancestry to James McArthur. 

 I began my research process like many family historians, by working reverse-chronologically, beginning with myself. By this method I discovered that the McArthur family—who dropped the “Mc” in the nineteenth century and went by “Arthur” thereafter—were my ancestors through my father’s paternal line with the Martin surname. 

 The origins of this particular branch of the McArthur clan are hard to trace before the 1760s. The earliest known progenitor may have been James McArthur.[2] This James McArthur married Elizabeth Rodger of Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. A marriage certificate was issued to James McArthur and Elizabeth Rodger in Greenock on 3 August 1728.[3] James McArthur, the immigrant, may have been the son of James McArthur and Elizabeth Rodger. A baptismal record dated 11 July 1731 for James McArthur, son of James McArthur and Elizabeth Rodger names his birthplace as Greenock.[4] James McArthur is often cited as having been born in Glasgow, Scotland, but I have yet to discover a primary source to support this assumption. 

 James married Hannah Stuart in Burlington County, New Jersey. This means James was definitely in America by the year 1760. Several other McArthur researchers have heard the same stowaway story, be it through family lore or from written sources. These discoveries prompted a more in-depth search into the Scottish Central Lowlands of the eighteenth century to answer questions of why James McArthur may have wanted to leave Scotland for the colonies as a young, unmarried man. 

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[1] My mother heard the story from my grandfather’s cousin, Phyllis Sturdyvin Leonard (1928-2007), who had originally heard the story from her grandfather, Perry N. Martin (1876-1956).

 [2] As will be seen in the following paragraphs, not much documentation exists to support or discredit this theory.

 [3] Online database: Scotland, Marriages, 1561-1910. Salt Lake City, Utah. FamilySearch, 2013. 

 [4] Online database: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah. FamilySearch, 2013.

As you can see, I still have some questions about James. Was he a Jacobite? He would have left Scotland soon after the second rising in 1745 as a young man in his mid- to late-teens. He ended up fighting against the British in the American Revolutionary War, so it is possible. I also would really, really like to know if the stowaway story is true! I suppose it will remain a mystery, though.