Robert St. Clair

NOT A DIRECT ANCESTOR Robert St. Clair is not in my direct ancestry. He is 1 step removed in the following ways: Son of Archibald St. Clair Brother of Margaret St. Clair

	Date	Location	Notes	Sources
Birth	bet. 1790-1800 probably bet. 1795-1800	PA; possibly Center Twp, Butler Co.	See source notes
Marriage			to Eleanor Wright
Death	before 1850

Ancestry chart segment

 Generation 6             Generation 7              
 
                                                 
                                                 
                       +-- Archibald St. Clair  
                       |   (????-???)             
 +--Robert St. Clair --+                         
 |  (????-????)        |
 |                     +-- Unknown
 |                                  
 |                     +-- David Wright
 |                     |
 +--Eleanor Wright ----+  
                       |
                       +-- Unknown                               
    
    Sources: 

Children

(children with Eleanor Wright)

Name	Gender	Date of Birth	Birthplace	Spouse	Notes	Sources
Mary Suzanah St. Clair	F		PA
Jane St. Clair	F		PA
David St. Clair	M	~1827	PA
Margaret St. Clair	F	~1829	PA		resided with brother Robert
Ann St. Clair	F		PA
Rachael St. Clair	F	~1832	PA
Ellenor St. Clair	F	~1833	PA
Robert St. Clair	M	~1835	PA		inherited the David Wright farm

Places of Residence

Location	Dates	Notes	Sources
Centre Twp., Butler Co. PA	by 1830

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1830 United States Federal Census, Center Township, Butler County, PA, pg.(No.4)-16 lists Robert St. Clair as head of family, with 1 M under 5 yrs, 1 M 30-40 yrs, 2 F under 5 yrs, 2 F 5-10 yrs, 1 F 20-30 yrs, 1 F 60-70 yrs. This corresponds to Robert St. Clair , wife Eleanor Wright, and an older woman,(possibly either the widow of Archibald St. Clair, or Eleanor Wright's mother). Children: 1 male under 5, David age 3; 2 females under 5, Margaret age 1 & Ann; 2 females age 5-10 years, Jane & Mary Suzanah. These age group assignments, where birth dates are unknown, are based on a birth order found in the will of Robert St. Clair.
2	1840 United States Federal Census, Centre Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 17. Census is not dated. Family headed by Mrs. Sinclair: 1 male 5-10, 1 male 10-15, 2 females 5-10, 2 females 10-15, 1 female 30-40, 1 female 70-80. This again appears to be Eleanor Wright and either her mother or mother-in-law. The children correspond to Robert(age 5), David (age 13), Ellenor (age7), Rachel (age 8), Margaret (age 11) and probably Ann.
3	1850 United States Federal Census, North Butler Township, Butler County, PA, Page 174, lists Ellenor St. Clair, age 49; David age 23, farmer, listed as head of household; Margaret age 21; Racheal age 18; Ellenor age 17; Robert age 19. All born in PA. Children Ellenor & Robert in school.
4	1883 History of Butler Co. by Waterman, p.340 "Archibald St. Clair, of Irish birth, settled one mile west of Unionville, about the year 1801. His children were John, Robert, Joseph, Archibald, Margaret (Hoag), Jane (McDavitt), Mary (Thompson), Rachel (Matthews), Elizabeth (McMichael). Mrs Hoag is the only survivor. Robert St. Clair married Eleanor Wright, and lived on the old Wright homestead.
5	1883 History of Butler Co. by Waterman, p.340 "About 1803, David Wright, a native of Ireland, moved from the vicinity of Baltimore, and settled where Robert St. Clair now lives. He was the father of the following children: Samuel, Margaret (Stevenson), Nancy and Sarah. None are now living. Samuel was an 1812 soldier. p. 341 "The name of David Wright appeared among the first settlers His death occurred in 1823; the farm is now owned by his grandson, Robert St. Clair, with whom his sister Margaret resides. Robert's father, also named Robert, purchased it of his father-in-law, David Wright, so the property has been in the famiy ever since its purchase, in 1804, of Philip and Peter Fryer, at what then seemed an extravagant price $8 per acre. Robert St. Clair, Sr. , was the son of Archibald St. Clair, previously noticed."
6	Will of Robert St. Clair Centre Twp., Butler Co.Pa 1833. Abstract from microfilm, Butler Public Library. Lists wife Eleanor, children Mary Suzanah, Jane, David, Margaret, Anne, Rachel, Eleanor, and Robert. Executors James I. Hoge of Slippery Rock, & Andrew Sprowl of Butler. Signed June 4, 1833 with signature of Robert St. Claire. Note: James I. Hoge was brother-in-law of Robert St. Clair
7	Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams]	N/A
8	1880 United States Federal Census, District 35, Centre Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 9. Census dated 9 June, 1880. Lines 18-20: Robert St. Clair, 45, farmer, single; Margaret A., 50, sister, keeping house, single; Emma J., 16, niece, at home, single, attended school. All and all parents b. PA. This indicates that Robert St. Clair the father of this Robert, was born in Pennsylvania.

Source notes

• Our only basis for birth date of Robert St. Clair is the 1830 census, which provides a ten year range of 1790 - 1800. The birthplace of Robert St. Clair is listed as PA by his son Robert, Jr. in the 1880 census. Robert St. Clair's father, Archibald St. Clair, arrived in Center Twp., Butler Co. PA in 1796, so if Robert were born after that date, then we assume Center Twp. as the place. We don't know where Archibald St. Clair lived in the America prior 1796., possibly eastern PA, or possibly the PA citation in 1880 is faulty knowledge/memory on Robert, Jr.'s part. In any case, if Robert, Sr. had been born in Ireland, Robert St. Clair, Jr. would surely have known that. We can assume an American birthplace, probably PA, for Robert St. Clair. Further, there is an 1850 census for an Archibald St. Clair, born in 1794 in Ireland. If he is the brother of Robert St. Clair, then Robert was born between 1795 & 1800.
• The biobraphical sketch from the 1895 History of Butler County, p. 340, of David Wright does not list Eleanor Wright as his daughter, although it does say that his homestead is now the residence of Eleanor & Robert St. Clair. Eleanor was in fact his daughter, as is clarified in the second entry re. David Wright on p. 341.

Conjecture

Research Wish List

• Where was the David Wright farm?
• Was Robert St. Clair born in Ireland? find 1900 census of one of his children. Implications for date of immigration of Archibald St. Clair.