McClintock is a name that I had heard as a child that relates to a 1963 movie starring John Wayne as the main character, McClintock. It wasn’t until I started doing genealogical research that I discovered that I have McClintock blood in my family and how prolific the McClintock family was. There were groups of my McClintock ancestors that settled in other states besides Pennsylvania such as West Virginia and Indiana. As with a lot of our ancestors, some of the McClintocks probably relocated to other states for better work opportunities or the chance to obtain land.

My relationship with the McClintocks comes from my maternal side, as my great-great grandmother was Mary Adeline (McClintock) Lentz (1844-1923).

Here is Mary A. Lentz’s death certificate:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The informant was my great-grandfather George W. Lentz and Mary’s parents are recorded as James McClintock and Eliza Clark.

Here is a news article from 1873 regarding James McClintock (Mary’s father) and his heirs to his estate, and as you can see, Mary McClintock is mentioned as being “intermarried” with Franklin Lentz:

Courtesy of Newspapers©

Here is the 1860 Census for Carroll Twp., Perry Co., PA – Mary is 16 years old:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Eliza, Mary’s mother probably passed away by this time since she is not present in this census.

Here is what I found next…the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule for Perry Co., PA for 1860:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Eliza (Clark) McClintock died in March of 1860 from consumption. She was 58 years old.

Here is the 1850 Census for Rye Twp., Perry Co., PA – Mary is 6 years old:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Some interesting information is Perry County, PA was created on 22 March, 1820 from other counties, including Cumberland County, and was named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. Also, my wife and I live in Toledo, Ohio near Perrysburg, Ohio, also named for Oliver Perry. Here is a statue of the Commodore in Perrysburg:

Courtesy of Wikipedia

My wife and I have driven past this statue many times.

Cumberland County is very important in this research since the township(s) the McClintocks lived in were the same ones that eventually became part of Perry County.

I continued my research on James McClintock, Mary’s father.  I went to the 1840 Census and found him in Carroll Twp., Perry Co., PA with his wife and 8 children:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The ages of the children pretty well match that of the ones in the 1850 census for those born on or before 1840. Mary and her brother Oliver were born after 1840 and yet, there are 8 children in the household in 1840.  Obviously, there were other children.

Now, this is where it becomes a bit thin for records that show who was James’s father. It has been reported his father was John McClintock (abt.1767-abt.1845), married to Margaret Rhinehart.  I’ll show the censuses from 1810 to 1840 to show the age of children.

1810 Census – John McClintock – Rye Twp., Cumberland Co., PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The one male claimed in the 2^nd column (ages 10-15) in the row for John McClintock would be the right age for James, who was born in 1795. Notice the William McClintock living next door. 

In the 1820 and 1830 Censuses, there is a male, more than likely a son that matches the age of my James McClintock.

1820 Census – John McClintock – Rye Twp., Perry Co., PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

1830 Census – John McClintock – Rye Twp., Perry Co., PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

I next found John McClintock without any children living with him and his wife.

1840 Census – John McClintock – Carroll Twp., Perry Co., PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

I have not found a will for the John McClintock mentioned above. He apparently died abt. 1845 in Perry Co., PA.   Without any further records tying James McClintock to John McClintock as a son, we can only say it’s a possibility…a strong possibility, but none the less only a possibility.

Now, as I moved forward, under the assumption that the relationship between my John McClintock and James McClintock is father and son, I continued my journey looking for father and son relationships through this McClintock line. My next hope was to find the father of John McClintock. Many of the family trees I’ve looked at indicate that the father of the above John McClintock was a James McClintock (1720-1801), married to Barbara Dempsey.  My main source for this information comes from Alison McClintock who has provided a good amount of information on the Wikitree profile for John McClintock.

There is also a will for James McClintock (1720-1801).

The will of James McClintock, probated 20 Mar 1801, Cumberland County, PA, Wills, Vol. D-F, 1779-1803:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The heirs mentioned in the will are:

Barbara – James’ wife

Sons: William, John (this is possibly my John) & James

Daughters: Jenny, Polly and Nancy

Here are a few more records for this James McClintock (1720-1801).

1790 Census for James McClintock in Hopewell, Newton, Tyborn, and West Pennsboro Twps., Cumberland County, PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

1800 Census for James McClintock in Rye Twp., Cumberland County, PA:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The fact that there is a John McClintock living next door to James and that John has a son aged 0-5 years old, which places my James McClintock (1795-1872) in the right place at the right time gives more credence to the idea that we have fathers and sons here, but again, it is not definite.

At this point, all we have left are stories about the McClintocks that made their way to America from Ireland. This story is mentioned on Alison McClintock’s Wikitree page:

Courtesy of Wikitree

I now wanted to take a look at the reported brother of John McClintock (abt. 1767-1845), William McClintock (abt. 1750-1814).  William apparently moved to Monroe Co., VA (now WV).  According to Jack McClintic from the 5^th of Nov. 2000, this is what he knew about this line of the McClintocks:

Courtesy of Genealogy.com

I was able to find the above James McClintock in the 1810 Census in Monroe Co. as Jack McClintic said, there is a Joseph Parker living next door to James McClintock:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Here is the 1820 Census in Monroe Co., VA for James McClintick:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

Here is the 1830 Census in Monroe Co., VA for James McClintick:

Courtesy of Ancestry©

The above James McClintick (McClintock) is reported to have died abt. 1836 in Henry, IN.

There is another possible tie to the McClintocks “across the pond” to Ireland.  When I first began my research on the McClintocks, I came upon the name of author, Irish historian and T.V. presenter, James Bunbury, better known as Turtle Bunbury.

Turtle is one of the most welcoming and approachable people I have ever had the privilege of getting to know. He has always shown a deep interest and appreciation in the research of those that are related to the McClintock clan. Of course, that could be because he is also related to the McClintocks. The research that he has done and written about his McClintock family is by far unprecedented as far as I am concerned. If you are interested in Turtle’s work, here is a link to his website for McClintocks. Turtle and I are unsure if we are related, but the possibility is there.

Perhaps in the future, there will be a breakthrough in finding those records that will finally connect all of the McClintock descendants. Another tool that could prove useful is DNA testing. As for now, we will continue the journey of discovery for our McClintock ancestors to pass down to our McClintock descendants.

Stay tuned for the next post…A McClintock Discovery!

Sources:

Ancestry©

Newspapers©

Wikitree

Turtlebunbury.com®

Genealogy.com®

Featured Image: Carrol Township, Perry County, Pennsylvania (1863) – Courtesy of Old Maps

Acknowledgements:

Alison McClintock

Jack McClintic

Turtle Bunbury

Cheryl, my wife who keeps me centered and whose love I cannot live without!

Brian