Volume 13 , Issue 20

Robert Craighead (1633-1711)

The Rev. Robert Craighead (1633-1711), was a native of Scotland. Robert obtained his M.A. degree from the University of St. Andrews, Feb. 15, 1653. Robert settled in Ireland where he lived 30 years. He was Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Donoughmore, 1657-1658. He was one of the "immortal thirteen" ministers who comprised the Presbytery of Lagan and was subsequently minister at Londonderry when the gates of the city were closed against the forces of James II. He escaped during the seige and made his way to Glasgow. He later returned to Ireland and died in Londonderry on Aug. 22, 1711.

Robert Craighead married Agnes Hart; baptized Dec 17, 1648 in Dunino, Fife, Scotland; Agnes was the daughter of Rev. John Hart and Agnes Baxter. John and Agnes were married on Apr 2, 1644 in Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh Midlothian, Scotland. Rev. John Hart received his M.A, from St. Andrews in 1637.

Robert and Agnes had children:

~ Thomas Craighead (1664-1739), married Margaret _? (1664-1738), in Scotland. She is the daughter of a Scottish Laird;

~ Katherine Craighead (1672-1754), came to America and settled on Martha's Vineyard with her brother, Thomas, and her husband. She is buried at Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard. She may have spelled her name "Catherine". Katherine Craighead married Rev. William Homes (1663-1746); Katherine and William had ten children. Rev. Homes and Katherine had an oldest son, Capt. Robert Holmes, a sea captain who married Mary Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's sister. This is also confirmed by an entry in Rev. William Homes' Diary which clearly states that his son Robert, born July 23, 1694, was married to Mary Franklin in Boston on April 3, 1716 by Rev. Pemberton. Rev. Homes also says, in his diary, that his grandson William Homes was born Jan 10, 1716-17 and was baptized in the Old North Church by Dr. Increase Mather the 13th of the same month.

However, in the History of Martha's Vinyard, Vol. 2, by Charles Edward Banks, M.D., published by the Dukes County Historical Society, page 48 in the Annals of Chilmark, under the heading Ministry of William Homes, the author states [concerning Rev. William Homes]: "While there [in Ireland] he married, Sept. 26, 1693, Katherine, daughter of Rev. Robert Craighead, who had been minister of Donoughmore, and who translated to Derry in the beginning of the year 1690, and continued there until his death, Aug 22, 1711. In the adjoining parish of Urney another William Holmes was ordained in 1696, and this led to a confusion of identity."

In a footnote, Banks concludes that Rev. William Homes as a graduate of Edinburgh University is mis-identified with this William Holmes of Urney, who was indeed a graduate of Edinburgh.

In Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and in the Biography of Benjamin Franklin by M. L. Weems, published by Uriah Hunt in Philadelphia in 1835, and in all other known biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Capt. Robert Holmes (spelled with the "l") is acknowledged to be Franklin's brother-in-law, but the name Craighead is not mentioned. Bank's History of Martha's Vinyard casts doubt as to whether Benjamin Franklin's brother-in-law was Capt. Homes (son of Rev. William and Katherin Homes), or another Capt. Holmes, who may have been a son of William Holmes of Urney. The Diary of Rev. William Homes settles this issue in favor of the former, and leaves only the mystery of how Benjamin Franklin misspelled his brother-in-law's surname as "Holmes" instead of "Homes."

~ Robert Craighead, Jr. (1684-1738), b. 1684 in Derry, Ireland. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, was a divinity student at Edinburgh, and studied at Leyden, Holland. He was ordained in Dublin in 1709. He was Pastor at the Capell Street Presbyterian Church in Dublin, jointly with Rev. Iredell. He was a Moderator of the Irish Synod, 1719. He died in Dublin, 1738.

Rev. Robert Craighead in relationship to this NW Okie is as a 3rd great grandfather of Samuel Geddes Craighead (husband) of my 2nd great grand Aunt, Nancy McGill.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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