Hanna-Hayden Families By WALTER S. FINLEY, CLEVELAND, OHIO Arms Argent, three roebucks' heads, couped, azure, collared or, with a bell pendent. HE Hanna family can be traced back to the thirteenth century, when Patrick Hannay built and occupied a castle, since known in history as Castle Sorby, which is still standing, but in a half ruinous state, and is located on the waters of the Mull of Galloway in Wigton, southern half of Ayrshire, Scotland. The Hannay family came into prominence about the time of the "War of the Roses," and some of the occupants of the Castle of Sorby wielded a commanding influence during that period. The Hannays continued to occupy and own Castle Sorby until the close of the seventeenth century, and when the male members of the family all emigrated to Ireland it passed, through intermarriage with the Lords of Galloway, into the possession of Sir Alexander Stewart, of Garlies, a grandson of Sir Alexander Stewart, who had married Margaret Hannay, a daughter and heir of Patrick Hannay, of Sorby. This Sir Alexander Stewart, who now came into possession of the seat of the Hannays, was in great favor with James VI, who knighted him in 1590 at the coronation of his consort, Queen Anne of Denmark. Sir Alexander married (first) Christian Douglas, daughter of Sir William Douglas, and (second) the Lady Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of David, Earl Angus, and widow of John, seventh Lord Maxwell (Earl of Morton). He died October 9, 1596, leaving five children. His son and heir, Sir Alexander Stewart, a man of great talent, loyalty and integrity, was elevated to the peerage, July 19, 1607, by the title of Baron of Garlies, and on September 19, 1623, was advanced to the Earl of Galloway. He married, October 16, 1600, Grisel Gordon, daughter of Sir John Gordon, of Lochinvar, and, dying in 1649, left two sons and a daughter. He was succeeded by his son, James Stewart, second Lord of Galloway, who, in his father's lifetime, had been created a Baronet of Nova Scotia. He was a firm adherent of the Stuarts and was fined four hundred pounds by Oliver Cromwell for his attachment to the royal family. He lived to see the Restoration, and came into great favor with King Charles II. He married, in 1642, Nicolas Grier, daughter of Sir Robert Grier, of Grierson, M. P., and had two sons and four daughters. His oldest son, Alexander Stewart, third Lord of Galloway, married Mary, daughter of James, second Earl of Queensbury, by whom he had six sons and two daughters. The oldest son, Alexander, became fourth Earl of Galloway. The second son, James, became fifth Earl of Galloway. The third son, John, was a brigadier-general and died, unmarried, at Castle Sorby, in 1748. The fourth son, Andrew, had died or been killed in the Darien expedition in 1699. William and Robert died young, unmarried. Castle Sorby, which appears to have fallen to the third son, John Stewart, brother of the fourth and fifth earls, about this time fell into disuse, or was not occupied by any of the Stewart family, and we find no further word of it in history since the death of its owner, in the year 1748. It still, however, is owned by the heirs of the Earls of Galloway, all of whom are descendants of Patrick Hannay, of Sorby Castle. The Hannays occupied many useful public positions. They were members of Parliament during several generations, and in 1630 Sir Robert Hannay was made a Baron. This Baronetcy is now extinct. (I) Thomas Hanna, the immigrant ancestor of the Hanna family of America, was born about 1720, in Lesarah Lock, County Monaghan, Ireland, a son of Robert and Elizabeth Hanna, and probably a grandson or great-grandson of the Hannays of Castle Sorby, in Galloway, Scotland. In 1763, with his wife, Elizabeth (Henderson) Hanna, and their six children, he came to America. Of the six children, John, the eldest, died at Newcastle, after the ship had cast anchor. The other children were: James, Robert, Hugh, Martha, and Thomas. With the Hanna family there came to America the congregation of the entire Presbyterian church of Ballybay, of which church the Hannas were members. They landed at Newcastle, Delaware, and the Hannas settled among the Quakers in Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. In less than a year Thomas Hanna died, and is buried in the burying ground of the Friends Meeting House at Buckingham. Elizabeth (Henderson) Hanna remained in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, until her death, in 1766. Of her remaining family, the two oldest sons, James and Robert, who were twins, were bound out to farmers in the neighborhood and remained in Bucks county until they were of age, when James went to Kentucky and Robert married, in Chester county, Pennsylvania. The remaining three children followed the tide of emigration into Western Pennsylvania, where Hugh and Thomas married and settled in Washington county, and the only sister, Martha, settled in Bedford county, Virginia, where she married Edward Saunders, only son and heir of James Saunders, who had represented Orange county, North Carolina, in the Provincial Congress which met at Halifax, April 4, 1776; and also in the Congress held in the same place, November 12, 1776. (II) James Hanna, one of the twin sons of Thomas and Elizabeth (Henderson) Hanna, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, March 2, 1753. He emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania, in 1763, with his parents and brothers and sister. After the death of his father, in 1764, James was reared in the family of a Presbyterian farmer in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. On April 4, 1782, at Havre de Grace, Maryland, James Hanna married (first) Hannah Bayless, who was born on a farm near Havre de Grace, Harford county, Maryland, August 13, 1761. She was of Huguenot descent. Her grandfather, Samuel Bayless, with his brother, William, came to America in the latter part of the seventeenth century and settled near Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Shortly after their marriage, James Hanna and his wife emigrated to Kentucky, making the entire journey on horseback, she riding on a pillion behind her husband. Here their nine children were born, and here they continued to reside until 1804, when they removed to Dayton, Ohio. Shortly after, on August 14, 1804, Hannah (Bayless) Hanna died and buried in the old Dayton Cemetery. James Hanna married a second time, by which marriage he had four children, three of whom died in infancy. James Hanna was a weaver by trade, but a farmer by occupation. In his religious life he was an orthodox Presbyterian, serving his church for fifty years as an elder. In politics he was a Whig. He died at his home near Dayton, Ohio, October 31, 1827. The Bayles-Bayless coat-ofarms is as follows: |