KERR FAMILY CHRONICLES
© Christopher Earls Brennen

CHAPTER SIX
THE McREYNOLDS FAMILY

MacRanald, McReynolds or other variants are patronymic forms of the name of Keppoch Macdonells. John M'Rynald was a tenant of Eddirallekach, Strogartnay in 1483 and Donald McRanald appears several times as a tenant in Kintyre in 1506. Since it is a short distance from the end of the Kintyre peninsula to the coast of County Antrim there have been movements of people between the two since long before historic times. The records show that the McReynolds family have lived in the area between Cookstown and Stewartstown for a very long time. For example, in the 1666 Hearth Money Roll, a Hugh McRannell is listed as resident in Ballynagowan, parish of Ballyclog. This may be Ballynargan which is just east of Kingsmill. However our earliest known probable ancestor is John McRannells (McReynolds) with whom we begin our extensive account of the McReynolds family. There is no doubt that our ancestor, Martha McReynolds, belonged to this family. However her precise connection is tantalizingly elusive. After extensive study I believe that she was the daughter of Thomas and Mary McReynolds as described below. However there must be some doubt about this until definitive proof becomes available.

John McRannells, it is said, was was a direct descendant of Alexander de Insulus, third son of John, Lord of the Isles, and his wife, Princess Margaret Stewart, the daughter of King Robert II of Scotland and great granddaughter of Robert Bruce. The records tell of the baptism of a son, Johne, of Johne McRannald and his wife Kathleen, whose maiden name was Mcilstalker. The baptism took place on Aug.11, 1672, in Inveraray and Glenaray, Argyllshire, and is recorded in the parochial register of the county of Argyll. Legend has it that that John could speak the Scotch language better than English. As a young man he enlisted in the British Army and was sent to Ireland where he is said to have participated in the defence of the city of Londonderry during the famous siege in 1689. A story is told that he gave one of his fellow defenders a beating for allowing a rat they could have eaten to escape. Later, he is said to have left the army and migrated to County Tyrone with his two younger brothers. They settled near Charlemont and Moy. In 1703 he married Mary Preston, born in 1683 the daughter of Thomas Preston. They made their residence at Cloghog, County Tyrone. It was the first McReynolds home in the area and was constructed shortly after their marriage. Fire gutted the building in the latter part of the last century but it was rebuilt and is still occupied by a descendant, Adeline McReynolds. John and Mary had three sons, James, Benjamin and Oliver listed below. Mary died on Jul.15, 1713, at the young age of 30 and there is a gravestone inscription about 15 feet from the front door of the Clonoe parish church which reads:
"Here lyeth the body of Mary Preston, wife of John McCrannels, who departed this life July 15, 1713, aged thirty years; also Thomas Preston who departed this life January 11, 1705, aged 78 years.''

After Mary's death John moved to the townland of Coash in the parish of Killyman. He was married for a second time on Jun.18, 1714, to a Quaker, Elizabeth Shepherd the daughter of Solomon Shepherd, at the Quaker meeting house at Grange near Moy. It is said that the Quaker Church and "Old Grange House'' are still standing. Other marriages in the Quaker records from this period include those of Patrick, Susannah and James McRannell or McReynolds and they may have been John's close relatives. John and Elizabeth had four surviving children, Joseph, Elizabeth, James and Robert. John and Elizabeth lived about two miles from Dungannon. By this time John had accumulated considerable wealth having large farms and two mills, one in Killyman parish and the other in Clonoe parish. For some unknown reason the marriage failed and, in 1738, Elizabeth and her four children emigrated to the United States where they settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She died at an old age in the home of her son James in Appomattox County, Virginia. This American branch of the McReynolds family is described briefly in Appendix 6A. Perhaps because of his advanced age (he was 72) John remained in Ireland and lived with his children by his first wife. He died at a ripe old age at the home of a grandson in Stewartstown and is buried in Ballyclog parish cemetery.