1536–1537.  John Galbraith was born in the North of Ireland in—say—1640, and died probably in the North of Ireland. His wife was _____ _____ They had three children:

i. James Galbraith [#768]: He was born in the North of Ireland in 1666, and died in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 1744. (The dates are from his tombstone.)
ii. John Galbraith was born in the North of Ireland in—say—1668. From CGANA, sec. V, p.6: It appears that after coming to America, John remained several years in Philadelphia; some of his children settled west of the Sesquehanna River (now York or Adams County) and their descendants went to Kentucky. Two sons are known: John and James.
John: (b. ~1700 N. of Ireland, d. Oct. 1769 York County); will mentions wife Catherine and children William, Robert, John, Benjamin, Thomas (d. unmarried June 1778), Agnes (m. Stevenson), Elizabeth, Catherine, and Rebecca.
James: (b. ~1702 N. of Ireland, d. July 1772, York Co.); will mentions unnamed wife and children Robert, William, James, Jane, and Nancy.
iii. Robert Galbraith was born in the North of Ireland in—say—1670, and died in Pechstank (Paxtang) Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in October, 1738. Robert was appointed Overseer of the Highways for Pechstank Township in 1738 but died, apparently unexpectely, later that year. His wife is unknown but three of their children are:
John (c.1715–1757), married Jenette McCullough in the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia on October (7th month, old style) 4, 1742. His will mentions children Robert, Jennet, and Sarah.
James (c.1717–1770), married Rhoda _____; it is likely that their children were James and Robert (and not William or John or Patrick as is sometimes reported)
Samuel

There is no written record that head of this family was, indeed, named John. However, it is very, very likely that it was John because of the fairly rigorous naming convention in place at the time:

  1. The eldest son was named for his father's father; the eldest daughter was named for her mother's mother.
  2. The second son was named for his mother's father; the second daughter was named for her father's mother.
  3. The third son was named for his father; the third daughter was named for her mother, and
  4. The fourth son was named for his father's eldest brother (which, under these conventions, would be the same as the father's father's father); likewise for the fourth daughter.
Since all three sons in this family named their eldest sons John, it is a strong indication that the head of this family was John. If the convention were strictly followed, then the paternal grandfather of these three sons would have been James (and his father would have been Robert), and their maternal grandfather would have been John. However, this is only recreational speculation.

From CGANA sec. IV, p. 5, comes "In History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Donegal Township, p. 757, is written "Among the pioneer settlers when Lancaster County was formed in 1729 were the following, viz: James Galbraith, 1718, John Galbraith, 1718, Andrew Galbraith, 1718, and Robert Galbraith, son of John, 1718." From CGANA sec. IV, p. 5, it is specified that the above dates come from tax records.

John Galbraith is the oldest name recorded in The Descendants of John and Elizabeth Aikman Galbreath. He probably died before his sons emigrated to America, believed to be the first Galbraiths to do so. The introduction to the above manuscript includes the following.

From the note of the genealogist McKee we have the following: "James, on his accession to the throne, offered allotments to the Scots and persuaded the better class to emigrate, but Charles I succeeded to the throne and by all sorts of persecutions, fines, and confiscations, broke down their property. Rents on land were raised, reducing people to poverty. Rents raised further under Charles II and James II."

The Scots began emigrating to Northern Ireland and thence to America. By 1729 it is estimated that 6000 had come, among them John and James Galbreath (Galbraith). John stayed in Philadelphia, James pushed out into Conestoga, afterward called Donegal. One record shows arrivals as "James Galbraith 52, wife Rebecca, eldest son John 28, wife Janet 25, son Robert 3, son Andrew 26".


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