THE NAME AND FAMILY OF “SLOAN”
by Henry Bacon McKoy
The name of Sloan or Sloane is of ancient Celtic orgin, and it
is said
by some historians to have been derived from the name Sluaghan, meaning
“soldier” or “warrior.” One writer on the subject says, “In
Scotland
a Sloan is a covetous person,” but the derivation given above is more
generally
accepted. In early records the name is found in various forms of
Sluaghan, Slughain, Sluaighin, Slone, Slon, Sloyan, Sloyne, Sloan,
Sloane
and others of which the two spellings last mentioned are those most
frequently
found in America in modern times.
On branch of the family was represented in the early
seventeenth
century by Alexander Sloan, of Killileagh or White’s Castle, in the
county
of Down Ireland. He, like most of the family, was of the landed
or
merchant class and held the office of Receiver General to the Lord
Claneboy
of the taxes of that county. Alexander married Sarah, daughter of
the Rev. Dr. Hicks, of Winchester, chaplain to the Archisbhop Laud, and
had seven sons, James, Alexander, Henry, William, John, Robert, and
Hans.
Of these brothers Alexander, Henry, John and Robert died without issue.
James Sloane, eldest son of Alexander and Sarah, was a
lawyer and
a member of Parliament for the County Norfolk. He died in 1704,
leaving
issue by his wife, Mary Rumbold, a son named Joseph.
William Sloane, fourth son of Alexander and Sarah, resided
in Chelsea,
County Middlesex, England. He married Jane, daughter of Alexander
Hamilton, of County Down, and was the father by her of two children,
William
and Sarah, of whom the son married three times. His first was (?)
Barret, daughter of Dacres Leonard Barret, Esq. of Essex; his second
was
Hesther, daughter of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Knight and alderman of
London;
and the third was Elizabeth, the daughter of John Fuller, Esq., of
Sussex.
Hans Sloane, the youngest son of Alexander and Sarah,
became a physician
and attained distinction in his profession. He presided for
several
years over the College of Physicians and in 1716 was created a Baronet
by King George I. Sir Hans married Elizabeth, the daughter of
John
Langly of London and the widow of Fulk Rose, of Jamacia. Sir
Hans,
however, left only female issue, two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth,
surviving
him.
Another branch of the family was seated at an early date at
Kirkeudbright,
Scotland, and was represented about the middle of the eighteenth
century
by a Mr. Sloane (christian name uncertain) who was the father in 1750
of
a son, Ebeneazer Sloane. This Ebeneazer married Jane Brydson in
1772
and had issue by her of at least one son, named James, who was a
prominent
merchant at Glasgow, where he resided for over forty years.
While most of the Sloans and Sloanes of America are thought
to have
come from Ireland many of them were undoubtedly of Scottish
descent.
It is probable that in many cases at least, they originated through the
lines above mentioned, although the exact connections are not in
evidence.
On of the first of this name in this country was William
Sloan, who
came from Ireland to Rutland, Massachusetts, sometime before
1729.
He left a least on child, named Sarah, and probably had others as well,
although his records are not complete.
Several members of the Sloan or Sloane family settled in
Pennsylvania
in the the early eighteenth century, but their dates of emigration are
difficult to determine. One John Sloan died in Hanover,
Pennsylvania,
in 1741, leaving issue by his wife, Jean, of James, Robert, William,
John
George, Sarah and Cinquas.
As early as 1751, the names of John and Samuel Sloan appear
as adults
at Hanover, and in 1769 the names of Samuel, James, Archibald and
Alexander
are recorded. The exact connection between these lines has not,
however,
been ascertained.
One Samuel, of Pennsylvania, who died during the
Revolutionary period,
left four brothers -- John, James, Archibald, and William. The
brother
Archibald may have been he who married Margaret Sloan in 1759, and took
a second wife, Mary Crain {sic, Craig}, in 1766, but this fact is not
certain.
{!it’s not correct! fem}
Alexander Sloan (b. 1744) was married at Hanover before
1767 to Jean
Moor, by whom he had issue: John, Robert, Alexander, Isabella,
James,
William, and Jean. Of these, John married Elizabeth French, by
whom
he left issue in Ohio; Robert, who married in 1799 to Sarah McCormick,
who gave him six children, Eliza, Alexander, Isabella, John, William,
and
Mary; Alexander, who married Jane French (sister of his brother’s wife)
and died at Williamsport, Pennslyvania; James, who married Nancy
McCraight; and William, who died unmarried in 1818.
General Samuel Sloane, whose ancestry is not known, was
born before
1748, possibily in Massachusetts. He resided at Williamston in
that
colony and married Olive Douglas, of N.Y. Their children were
Olive,
Mary, Maria, and Douglas Wheeler Sloane.
David Sloan (ancestry unknown) was living at Shirley,
Mass., about
1750 and was the father of a son of the same name, who married Rachel
Gould
in 1774. Both father and son served in the Revolutionary War.
Samuel Sloan, of Massachusetts, whose connection, if any,
with the
above lines is not known, was married in 1760 to Mary Sigourney, of
Boston.
Their children were Mary, Andrew Sigourney, Samuel, Agnes, and Hans.
William Sloan, who was living at Lyme, N.H. at an early
date, removed
to Palmer, Mass., probably about 1760. By his wife Mary whom he
married
shortly before that date, he was the father of Joseph, Margaret, Mary,
John, and Sarah.
The Sloans of Virginia, probably a branch of the
Pennsylvania family,
were represented about the middle of the eighteenth century by one John
Sloan, who died 1830, leaving issue by his wife, Polly
Shiled{sic,Shields},
of Alexander, James, Mary, Robert, Jackson, Rachel, Mathew{sic, Martha}
and John. This family resided in Rockbridge Co. Va.
The patriotic, idealistic race, the Sloans and Sloanes have
shown
themselves to possess considerable ingeunity, determination of purpose,
leadership and executive, legislative and intellectual ability.
Among those of the name who served the American cause
during the
Revolutionary War were Lieutenant Alexander Sloan of Connecticut;
Lieutenant
Archibald Sloan of New Hampshire; Lieutenant David, Alexander, Allen,
Andrew,
Archibald, John Harket, James, Lawrence, Patrick, Robert, Samuel,
Thomas,
and William Sloan or Sloane of Pennsylvania; Captain Samuel, Lieutenant
Sturgin, Lieutenant Alexander, Captains George, David, David Jr. George
Jr, Ezekiel, Hugh, Israel, James, Captain John, Norman, Robert, and
Sergeant
William Sloan or Sloane, of Massachusetts. Bryant, David, John,
Thomas,
and William Sloan, or Sloane, of Virginia. Hugh and Stephen Sloan
of New York, Thomas Sloan of New York, and many more from the various
other
states of that period.
*************************
from "The Carpenter-Weir Family of Upper South Carolina" by Henry Bacon
McKoy, 1959. My copy is a poor transcription I found independantly of
the
publication. No sources were cited, however, I recognized the Pa. Sloan
info and material from “The Sloans of Hanover” by Ingle. If
anyone
can identify the sources, please contact me. Frank Mitchell |
