|
|
William Hogg, son of Robert and Anna (McCoy) Hogg, was born about 1789 in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland. Ramelton, also known as Rathmelton or Rath Mealtain, translates in Irish to Mealtin's Ring-fort. William was one of a family of Scotch-Irish Covenanters who came to the US from Ireland about 1810 and settled in the Tuscarora Valley northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Mifflin County. The first white man known to have settled in the Tuscarora Valley, in 1754, was a Robert Hogg. William Hogg's family settled near the earlier Hogg family, and then moved to Butler County, and settled near other descendants of his. Despite the gap in time, the fact that the two families were so close together, suggest there may have been a familial relationship.
James Renwick Hogg said that his father told him of witnessing fighting in Ireland between the Protestants and Catholics during his youth. When surrounded by Catholics, the Protestants would come out of a building holding shillelagh's over the heads of the men in the front rank, while the front-rank men used their shillelagh's as clubs to batter the Catholics--whose preferred weapon was the broadsword. This may be a recollection of the fighting in Ulster after the foundation of the "Orange Order" in the 1790's when a series of feuds broke out and culminated in particularly severe fighting in 1798.
During the War of 1812, William and his brother Robert were both drafted into Capt Matthew Rogers' Co, PA Militia. They both entered the military service on April 10, 1813 at Mifflintown, PA. According to "The Pennsylvania Archives," this company began marching from Mifflintown on Monday, April 12, 1813, and marched to Bellefonte where they rendezvoused with other troops from Mifflin and Centre counties, then proceeded from there to their destination at Erie. James Renwick said they were primarily engaged in cutting timber and standing guard duty while Perry was building his fleet.
Sarah Richey, daughter of William and Nelly Richy, was born about 1801 in Ireland. Sarah's family seems to have arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Eliza from Londonderry (Ireland) on 12 May 1812. Several transcriptions of the passenger list exits. All show several members of the Ritchie family and W. or William Hogg. Sarah Richey and William Hogg were cousins, presumably first cousins, but what the family relationship was is not known. In 1817 William and Sarah married, and moved to Butler Co, PA, apparently before 1820. They settled in the northern part of that county, southeast of Harrisville near a crossroads that went to Murrinsville.
James Renwick's grandchildren recall their grandfather telling them about many relatives that lived in the area. There was an "Uncle Bob," also an "Aunt Molly" and an "Aunt Polly." One was married to a man by the name of McElwee and one to an Alexander McElvane, a Scots mercenary who was a veteran of Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. Other names recalled were Aunt Peggy Atwell, Stinson Hogg, and Flowrinda
A distant cousin told Ruth Hogg Crowe that she had heard that "Hogg" was not really the family surname. According to his story, when the Catholics were burning the Protestants at the stake in Ireland, a Catholic nun grabbed a young boy, who was about to be burned, and hid him under her habit. She later placed him with a family by the name of Hogg.
Sarah died about 1836 in Butler Co, Pennsylvania. William died about 1876 in Jackson Co, Iowa.
William and Sarah had the following children:
| Margaret Hogg | Born in 1818 in Pennsylvania. |
| Robert Hogg | Born about 1822. Died about 1860 in Jackson County, Iowa. |
| Mary Hogg | Born about 1828. Died August 16, 1874 in Jackson County, Iowa. |
| Isabella Hogg | Born about 1830. |
| James Renwick Hogg | Born in September 1833 in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Died February 16, 1923, in Ottawa County, Kansas. |
| Sarah Hogg | Born about 1836. Died about 1855. |
| William Hogg | Died February 1899, Jackson County, Iowa. |
|