I don't know if many of you are interested in history but I thought I would post this as my very small home town in N.Ireland( Population 16,000) has a great legacy with the early years of the USA. I mean you lads have parking lots bigger than my home town...

The  grandfather of President Woodrow Wilson was born in my home town in 1787 and he emigrated to America in 1807.

John Dunlap printer of the American Declaration of Independence was born in my home town in 1746 and emigrated aged 10.

There are many others, I just found this very interesting as I'm very interested in history myself. Here is a link to many others but to be honest I haven't a clue who they are. Maybe another history buff knows who they are.


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Lefty...!

I've come across Sir Guy Carleton, but a prior accomplishment to the stated information about him on that site.  I believe as governor of Quebec, which reads:

Murray's successor, Sir Guy Carelton, continued in much the same direction.  He continued the council form of government, and the Quebec Act of 1774 ratified it.  Like Murray, he believed that French-Canadians must be "inspired with a cordial attachment and zeal for the king's government."  The mixture of French and English legal practices caused such confusion and "chicanery" that in 1767 Carleton recommended revoking the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and leaving the "Canadian Laws" intact for the time being, or at least a modified version of them.  English criminal justice would remain but French civil law would continue with respect to issues such as property, inheritance, matrimonial rights, and paternal authority.  The Quebec Act of 1774 entitled Roman Catholics to practice their religion, provided a new oath of office that was inoffensive to Catholics, and stipulated "in all Matters of Controversy, relative to Property and Civil Rights, Resort shall be had to the laws of Canada."  Carleton interpreted this to restore the entire body of French civil laws, even in commerce.  "In this way," writes historian Peter Moogk, "the British goverment's humane pragmatism combined with one governor's naive enthusiasm for the French regime to bring about a continuation of French civil law in the Old Province of Quebec and in its successor, the modern Province of Quebec.*


He seemed instrumental in maintaining traditionally French that area within Canada.  Seems an unusual situation today, but perhaps that is how it came about to be.



*1763, The Scratch of a Pen, chapter: Endings and Endurance in French America.

Kevin_M wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2009 at 4:04pm:

He seemed instrumental in maintaining traditionally French that area within Canada.  Seems an unusual situation today, but perhaps that is how it came about to be.

Thank you Kevin for this information...!

It is quite a unusual that today they still speak French in areas of Canada , but even more unusual for me is that a Strabane man may have played an integral role in this little piece of history.


Lefty..!