This is a bit off track from the Civil War memory line of writing, but bear with me and I’ll get back to that.
I couldn’t help but post about Irish ancestry today. Yes, I suppose one could say it’s one of those “ancestral obsession days.” Many of those who have Irish ties go crazy and most of those who don’t … well, they find Irish as a state of mind. On a personal note, St. Patrick’s Day makes my mind wander to thoughts of two branches in my ancestral tree – to the Dorraugh family and the Quigley family.
The Dorraugh family, as best as I can tell, found themselves in Virginia sometime in the early 1800s. I haven’t been able to narrow things down as to how, when or why they came across, but my Dorraugh branch quickly made the Old Dominion their home while others from the same line appear to have continued into what is now West Virginia (and later further into the west). My line of Virginia Dorraughs ended up in the service of the Confederacy. In fact, I have a distant uncle who (a member of Co. D, 7th Virginia Cavalry, the Laurel Brigade) recalled, in later years, being on the picket line when word came of Lee’s surrender.
As for the Quigley family, that line is traceable a little further back – at least to a James Quigley, who was born in the early 1700s. Though able to go back at least 100 years more than my Dorraugh line, as with the Doraughs, I can’t find “when, where or why” when it comes to the origins of the Quigley family in Ireland. I think the most interesting thing about this tie to the Quigleys is actually that my given name, Robert, is descended through the family from James Quigley’s son, Robert Quigley, who was born in 1744. It’s a strange descent through the family, but the given name was actually passed along from daughters to their sons. Curiously, I think few realized in my family that the name had come so far, but I can trace a clear line of descent from Robert Quigley through his daughter to her son, Robert McKinney; from Robert McKinney, through his daughter to Robert Blocker Moore. Though this son died at a young age in the mid 1850s, the name wasn’t lost, but was reestablished by a brother, John Howard Moore, in one of 
his sons, Robert Moore, who was my great-grandfather. When I realized that the name had made its way down the family tree to me, I couldn’t resist the opportunity, on a beautiful day in late April 2006, to visit the grave of the first (that I know of so far) of those to bear the name Robert. The trip from Virginia through the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania to Shippensburg and the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church Cemetery near Southampton Township was one that still holds very pleasant memories for me.
All of this ancestral chatter makes me think a little more on the idea of historical memory and how it evolves in all of us. I admit, I was quick to be bitten by the family tree bug in my youth and I greatly enjoy the practice still today. However, when does ancestral identity become so dominating that it redefines sense of purpose in who we are and what we do? For that matter, when does identification to ancestral ties lead some people to look back at historical events with historical blinders?
On another note, I see that Civil War Journal is back on the History Channel on Tuesday mornings again and tomorrow’s episode is about Alexander Gardner; that’s probably one of the better ones. Despite the good news. I have to say that I am also disappointed that my annual dose of The Quiet Man can’t be had. I can’t find the movie anywhere today among the 200 + channels I have on Dish Network!
Lynda Mong (Bloomsburg, Quigley)
March 27, 2009
Hi Robert,
My dad and I are doing research on the Quigley clan, and we have information you might be able to use that appears to tie in with your linage. I am a descendent of an Isaac Quigley (b. Jan. 1734) and Jane Coleman (his second wife) and their son, a Robert Quigley (b. May 1775). Isaac and your Robert Q. (b. 1744) appear to be cousins. Your Robert Q.’s father James (b. 1710 Ireland d. 1782 PA, m. Jeanette) was the younger brother to Isaac’s father Phillip Quigley (b. 1703, d. 1751). They had an older brother Daniel also. Phillip immigrated thru Philadelphia between 1728 and 1733, so perhaps James came with him. My dad had found information back to Isaac previously. Thru this website:
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~davidca/family/dat155.htm#19
we have found the information I’ve described to you. When I sent this link to my father, he recognized the author of the genealogy as someone he’d contacted years ago in regards to the Quigleys). Your line appears to go from James to son Robert Q. (m. Elinor Mary Jacobs) to daughter Dina Quigley (m. Maj. Joseph McKinney) to son Robert McKinney (m. Catherine Baker) to daughter Kate A McKinney (m. Cyrus W. Moore). This website shows two sons for Kate and Cyrus, Robert and William. This would be the generation of John Howard Moore, but this genealogy doesn’t have him listed. Does that tie in with the information you have? I enjoyed your commentary about the names – In Isaac’s line there are Roberts’ all over the place. I hope this helps in your search!
cenantua
March 27, 2009
Hi Lynda, Thanks for commenting and sharing the information! From Robert Q., the name Robert bounces, courtesy of daughters, through the generations. As you point out, Robert Q.’s grandson, Robert McKinney, married Catharine Baker. One of Robert McKinney’s daughters, Catharine, was my third great grandmother; she is one in the same as the “Kate A. McKinney” that you mention. The 1903 book, however, has some information wrong after that. She married Cyrus S. Moore (not Cyrus W. Moore as the book indicates… which is interesting because the author of the book interviewed Catharine McKinney Moore for this information!) and one of their sons, John Howard Moore, was my second great grandfather. I think that he is just listed as “Howard Moore” in the book. If you have any additional information about the latter generation Quigley lines I’d be interested in hearing about them. Thanks!
Daniel Moore
October 28, 2009
Looking for informatiom on a James Quigley who married a Jane Moore daughter of Lewis Moore od Berkley co wv.
cenantua
November 3, 2009
Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell in my family tree.
Jennifer Dorraugh
August 12, 2011
I too am from the Dorraugh Family Tree. I am having a horrible time tracking anyhting past Sarah Hamm Dorraugh. Any suggestions