Fist Generation in America - Samuel Arbuthnot

In honor of Labor Day, Sept 2, 2013, I'm sharing the first generation of our Arbuthnot family that was recorded by Marie Scogland, an Arbuthnot descent from a Gold Hill, Colorado, family.  Labor and working hard has always been a core value of the Arbuthnots, so it seemed fitting to share our roots of this first generation.  Samuel and Ester's son Carson, and grand-sons Samuel, William, James and Charles (sons of Carson) who came to the Boulder, Colorado area in 1859.  Other grand-children also moved to Colorado in later years, including Carson's daughter Martha (who Marie Scogland is descended from), as well as the children of Samuel and Esther's other offspring.

This transcript below is taken from Marie Scogland’s notebook of family data sheets on our Arbuthnot family.  Her information was originally gathered for Laird and Lady John Arbuthnott for the first Arbuthnot(t) Family Association Gathering in Denver, CO.

Samuel Arbuthnot – Generation I

Samuel Arbuthnot, the first of our Arbuthnot line to come to America, was born in February 20, 1758. He is thought to have been born in Ireland. Samuel was a sailor and the captain of a ship. He came to America before or about 1790, as he is found in the 1790 Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania census in Armstrong Township, which is now in Indiana County. He came to America from either County Down, or County Cork, Ireland. There is an old painting, which has been handed down in the Arbuthnot family. It is said to be a painting of Samuel’s home in Ireland. The painting depicts a large house with numerous turrets and towers. It was a style built in the early 1700’s in Ireland and Scotland. It is thought that Louisa Arbuthnot Conklin had a copy made of the original painting, which Samuel brought from Ireland, and her niece, Ruth Arbuthnot Parker today, owns this copy. It is not known who owns the original painting today.

Samuel served in the Pennsylvania State Militia in Capt. John Craig’s company from May 3, 1791 until May 29, 1793. He served as a private in Captain John Sloan’s company from May 15, 1793 until December 1793. From April 1 to December 6, 1784 a Samuel Arbutton is listed as a corporal in Capt. John Sloan’s company. It is thought that this man is our Samuel Arbuthnot. His name in the 1810 and 1820 census is also given as Samuel Arbutton. The references on Samuel’s militia service are from the Pennsylvania Archives, 6 Series, Volume 5.

Samuel was first married to ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_________________________, probably in County Down, Ireland. One child, William, was born of this marriage in 1781. The only data on Samuel’s first son is that he came to America and later resided in Essex County, Caldwell Township, New Jersey. He is found on the 1830, 1840, and 1850 census there. There is an earlier record of naturalization for a William Arbuthnot in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in 1808, and it is thought that this man could be Samuel’s first son.

Samuel’s first wife was said to have fallen in love with the captain of the ship on which she came to America. She is believed to have eloped with him upon her arrival to America. It is not clear whether she divorced her husband, Samuel, but it is presumed that she did. However no legal record of the divorce has ever been found. Family information states that Samuel did not again see his first son, William, after the breakup of his marriage.

Samuel did not marry again until 1796. He took as his second wife Esther McMarlin of German Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Esther, born in 1779 in Ireland, was the daughter of John McMarlin. She was seventeen and Samuel was thirty-eight years old when they married. Family tradition states that they eloped on horseback from Fayette County, and that they at once went to Pine Township, Allegheny County and settled on a farm where they are known to have resided until their deaths in 1844 and 1852. But the first settlers came into Pine Township in 1796 and Samuel Arbuthnot’s name is not listed among them. In the 1800 census he is found still living in Armstrong Township in Westmoreland County. However, Samuel Arbuthnot is listed on the Allegheny County, Pine Township census from 1810 to 1840.

Samuel and Esther McMarlin Arbuthnot had eleven children. They were Alexander, David, Jane, Carson William, Sarah, Samuel, Robert, Mary, James Gibson, Martha, and Thomas Gibson. Samuel belonged to the Covenanter Church, the first church in the area, built in 1808. This church later united with the Hampton United Presbyterian Church, Gibsonia, Pennsylvania on Route 8 at the Pennsylvania Turnpike. When they abandoned the old church and built a new one, they retained the old Hampton Township church cemetery. This is where Samuel and Esther Arbuthnot are buried. Samuel died January 20, 1844 in Pine Township and Esther died September 28, 1852. Samuel made his last will on April 10, 1841.

In his will, Samuel left that part of his farm on which his house stood to his son Thomas Gibson Arbuthnot. Thomas continued to reside there after his marriage to Rhoda Orsborn in 1848. Shortly after his mother, Esther McMarlin Arbuthnot, died in 1852, the farm was sold. It was later bought by the state of Pennsylvania and was part of a large north side park. A lake was also made there.

Most of the foregoing account is taken from the notes on the Samuel Arbuthnot family compiled by Ruth Arbuthnot Parker, daughter of Dr. Charles Mertz Arbuthnot. Much of the data on Samuel Arbuthnot’s family came from his family Bible, later owned by Dr. Elsie Arbuthnot, daughter of Thomas Cary and Eliza Arbuthnot [cousins who married in Tama County, Iowa]. Further research by Phyllis J. Hughes, wife of Arbuthnot descendant Robert D. Hughes, was also incorporated into this biography.

Third revision, August 6, 1979.

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Pine Township is at the top of the County where Samuel and Esther settled.
From the book, History of Allegheny Co., Pa, 1876.

Pine Township of Allegheny County, PA.
From the book, History of Allegheny Co., Pa, 1876.