Parrish & McGinity Families of Indiana Co, PA

This is an update on these lines.

I went to the Court House in Indiana, PA on Friday, in an attempt to find out more about Abarilla Parrish McGinity, her husband James McGinity, and their son-in-law, Joseph Parrish.  In the end I walked away with tax records spanning approximately 1808 - 1834.

It's worth noting Joseph Parrish does not appear in the records until 1826 in Blacklick, Indiana, PA.  Where was he before this?  He would have been roughly 33 at this point, and should have been well established on his own.  Little is known however of his life prior to this time.  The only other records are the 1800 census where he is likely in the household of a John Parrish in Alleghany Twp, Huntingdon, PA (aged 0-10), and then in the household of a J. Parish in Springfield, Huntingdon, PA in the 1810 census (aged 16-25).

It's also possible he was one of the Joseph Parrish's near Joshua in the tax records.  Though that is highly uncertain and contentious.

Essentially what we have here is that James and Abarilla Parrish McGinity lived in Centre Twp, Indiana, PA from at least 1808-1815 at which point they moved to Blacklick, Indiana, PA.  This is approximately 15 miles from Loretto, where Prince Gallitzin was practicing and Joshua Parrish worshiping.

A rather interesting piece came from this research.  It was discovered that from 1816 - 1822, James McGinity's children were listed as "poor children of the township".  What I've learned is that this means they were aged between 5 and 12 who were unable to pay for school, so the township paid for their schooling.

From family lore we know at least one daughter had worked for a family in the area.  Now it seems likely it was certainly for economic reasons.  Is it possible another daughter, Margaret, was placed with family due to her family's economic conditions?  If so it could well explain why Margaret McGinity was baptized by Prince Gallitzin in 1823 at the age of 17 and why her godfather was John Parrish, son of Joshua Parrish.

Of course this is just another piece to the puzzle, however I think we're getting very close to the point where we can say with some certainty that Joshua and Abarilla were indeed related, and closely.  The question still remains however, how were they related?

Based on their birth years, Joshua in 1770, Abarilla sometime between 1772 - 1780, siblings seems highly likely.  However it is certainly possible they are related in another way.  Possibly uncle/niece or cousins.

Finally I felt I should wrap up who Joseph Parrish is in case it was missed elsewhere.  Joseph Parrish married Elizabeth McGinity, daughter of Abarilla Parrish and James McGinity.  Supposedly he was Elizabeth's uncle.  If so that would mean Abarilla's father was likely John Parrish.

Taxes Updated

Please note the taxes have been updated to reflect 1801-1852 (the year Barbara died).

Theories...

The more I look at this, the more I am beginning to believe the Joseph Parrish of Shirley Twp is likely Joshua's father.  I went to Fort Roberdeau this past weekend and spoke with a woman there who informed me that it was very common to move back and forth between the frontier and York, PA.  Prior to this I could not figure a reason for Joshua moving back east if his family was already in the Huntingdon/Bedford area.

I still have no proof as to this (besides the one random baptismal record noting Joshua's son John as the godfather of Abarilla Parrish McGinnity's daughter, a woman whom history says was raised in Huntingdon Co, PA, again a likely daughter of Joseph).

In the meantime, here's a photo of the plaque on the wall at Fort Roberdeau,

Updates

Please note, I have updated Joshua's tax records to include those from 1812-1828 in Cambria county.  The Bedford tax records from 1800 to about 1812 will follow shortly.

Finally I have made some small fixes to his list of children.  I have placed John Parrish as the eldest and George as second eldest.  The reasoning behind this move is due to the tax records combined with all the circumstantial evidence held previously.

Still Looking....

I just wanted to post and say that I am still looking for Joshua's parents.  I admittedly keep coming back to Joseph Parrish of Shirley Twp, Huntingdon, PA as a potential father/other relative.  I now have Joseph in Shirley from 1781-1789.  I'm uncertain where he was prior to that.  Shirley itself was formed from Dublin township in about 1780-1781.  However, Joseph does not appear in the 1779 tax records for Dublin.  And there are no records from 1780.  It's possible this was the time period he moved to Shirley.  And given that many from Shirley originated near/around Baltimore, it seems highly likely Joseph did as well.