McGrew Family Patriarchs
Robert McGrew
Robert McGrew was the first known McGrew to immigrate to America, He arrived in either New Castle, DE, or Baltimore, MD, from County Tyrone, N. Ireland, about 1726 with his wife Isabella, 5 sons, and several daughters-in-law and grandchildren. The families eventually settled in Adams Co., PA, about 20 miles from Gettysburg. Robert was born in Co. Tyrone in 1668. The names of Robert and William McGrew (probably a brother) are on a 1699 document listing the founding heads of households of the first Presbyterian church in Omagh, N. Ireland. William remained in N. Ireland and is the likely ancestor of McGrew's who subsequently immigrated to America from Co. Tyrone.
Robert's sons were John Robert, Finley, William, Alexander, and James. Finley and James married Quaker women and their descendants were Quaker for several generations. The other sons probably remained Presbeterian or possibly became Episcopalian. Many of Robert's grandsons moved to western Pensylvania around Fayette County and then to Ohio (Jefferson Co.). By the 1830's the families were spreading over much of the midwest. DNA testing of known descendants of Robert shows this line to be North West Irish in origin. Robert's ancestors probably migrated to western lowland Scotland from northern Ireland 1000-1500 yesrs ago. Robert's immediate ancestors likely immigrated back to the Ulseter plantations in the early to mid 1600's not knowing that their ancestors were Irish.
The best collection of information about Robert's descendant's on the Internet is probably the Blackburn Family database that contains the names of over 14,000 McGrew's. Robert's line can be found at
www.blackburn-tree.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I114&tree=blackburn
James A. McGrew
James A. McGrew arrived in Charleston, SC, from Co. Tyrone, N. Ireland, in September 1773 with his wife Jane (Lapsley) and 3 sons. Two sons were killed fighting for the Colonies during the Revolutionary War. The survivng son was Alexander McGrew who married Margaret Myers about 1792. DNA testing of a descendant of this line shows that James A. and Robert above were closely related. James A. was likely a cousin or nephew of Robert. Information about James A., Alexander, his descendants, and much other McGrew genealogy can be found in the on-line copy of C. J. McGrew's book about his ancestor.
contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH17&CISOPTR=17040&REC=5
Alexander MacGruar/McGrew
Alexander MacGruar/McGrew may have been born in Boleskineshire, Inverness, Scotland in 1707. He married Margaret (Tate?) probably in Scotland. He may have come to America in the 1730's with Oglethorpe but is known to have been in SC in 1752 when a son was born. He died about 1776 in SC. His sons were John (below), Peter Alexander, James, and William. DNA evidence proves that Alexander MacGruar/McGrew was not related to the McGrew's above who immigrated from Co. Tyrone. This line's DNA is Scots and of ancient origin. Alexander's descendants may be the most numerous of the Southern McGrew's. On-line information about Alexander and his line may be found at worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barjeanm&id=I0488
John (Flood?) McGrew
There has been some controversy among McGrew genealogists concerning the ancestry of John (Flood?) McGrew. Recent evidence from the McGrew DNA Project has proven conclusively that he was the son of Alexander MacGruar (above). Much contemporary information exists about this man, and none of the references use Flood as his middle name. He did name one son John Flood (and another John Jr.). He moved to the Tombigbee area of what is now Alabama about 1782.. He was probably a British sympathizer. One on-line source that contains several generations of family information is worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barjeanm&id=I3012
Thomas McGrew
Like John (Flood?) above there is controversy about Thomas' ancestry. Some say that Thomas McGrew was born about 1740 in Co. Tyrone where he married Margaret Curry. He probably lived in PA and MD before settling in SC. Another McGrew genealogist has source material in Thomas' own words that he was born in Chester Co., PA in 1732. Interestingly much of Robert McGrew's family was living in Chester Co. at that time. There is no record of a Thomas being born to any of them during that period nor is Thomas a popular name in that family. It is agreed that about 1807 Thomas and one or more sons moved to Tennessee and later to Kentucky where he died in 1833 (age 101 years). DNA testing of likely descendants in this line shows them to be NW Irish like Robert/Isabella's line but not closely related. An on-line source that has several generations of Thomas' descendants is
worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barjeanm&id=I6055
Andrew McGrew/Megrue
Andrew McGrew/Megrue was born in or near Baltimore about 1760. Nothing is known of his parents. He married Hannah Rust about 1784. In 1806 he and his family moved to Clermont Co., OH. About that time he changed his name to Megrue reportedly so people wouldn't think he was Irish. DNA testing on 2 known descendants shows that this line is unrelated to any other McGrew line and is Norse-Viking in origin. Much information about Andrew and his line can be found at
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ralphmcgrew44&id=I13
Patrick McGrew
Patrick McGrew was born about 1751 in Cumberland CO., PA. Nothing certain is known about his father. Patrick was probably a veteran of the Revolutionary War. About 1778 he married Martha Welsh or Welch. About 1786 he and his family moved to Brandonville, Preston Co., WV. Some of his descendants remain on the original property. DNA testing of a known descendant suggests their origin to be NW Irish like that of Robert and Thomas above but not closely related to either of them. Information about Patrick and some of his descendants can be found at
http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/monongalia/bios/mcgrewjames.txt
Other Patriarchs
There have been many other McGrew's who have started a line in the United States, however less is known about them. One patriarch is John McGrew (m. Margaret Baxter) who came to Ohio with his extended family about 1830 from Omagh, County Tyrone. His descendants lived near Cincinatti and Cleveland for many generations. He is probably descended from a brother or uncle of Robert McGrew above. Another is Alexander McGrew (m. Martha Kirk) who was born in Co. Tyrone about 1730. He was said to be a nephew of Robert McGrew (above). He came to the Colonies about 1750. He served in the Revolutionary War and lived near Pittsburgh. A third patriarch is Robert McGrew who married Dorothy Graham. He is thought to have come to the Colonies about 1760 with 2 brothers. He settled in western PA, and his descendants settled in KY. One well known descendant is William Reed McGrew of Grayson Co., KY.
Some of this information about our family patriarchs was taken from the McGrew Database obtained from C. J. McGrew.
Click the "Home" button on the left to return to the home page.
Last Modified: February 17, 2010