Re: Early Settlers in Dale Co., AL

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Re: Early Settlers in Dale Co., AL
Posted by: Edward King (ID *****5522)	Date: July 04, 2005 at 15:19:55
In Reply to: Early Settlers in Dale Co., AL by Norm Brown	of 978

Norm,

I have to question your remarks about the name Arguta. I know that you are using the same explanation that has appeared in various articles over the years, is on the historical marker at Union Presbyterian Church and is now on web sites on the internet, but if you think about a little I believe that you will question it also.

Evidently someone heard the story that Arguta was named for a place in North Carolina and the closest match was Argura in Jackson County. According to an old newspaper article about Jackson County communities, the post office at Argura was in existence only in the first quarter of the 20th century. Furthermore, Jackson County is 200 miles from the Fairgrounds District in the northeast corner of Richmond County, North Carolina where these people first settled.

I realized that there was something amiss shortly after I first read the historical marker while on a visit to the area in 1986 and have been pursuing the matter ever since.
I believe that in orally passing the story of the naming of the community from one generation to the next, it was inadvertently changed from "where the settlers came from in Scotland" to "where the settlers came from in North Carolina".

A strong possibility for the origin could be the Gaelic "Airigh Ghuaidre". This was the placename of the croft on the Isle of Islay in the Hebrides where Dougald and Mary McFadyen were tenants in 1817.

Mary's brother, John McFadyen, and her father, Colin McFadyen were tenants there for a short while also according to the Rental Lists of 1811. They were my great and great-great grandfathers who also emigrated to Richmond County, North Carolina in 1818 along with others of the immediate family and also some extended family members.

I realize that which is already in print can't be retracted but my hope is that I can persuade historians to take a more realistic approach to this in the future.

Thanks,

Edward King

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Re: Early Settlers in Dale Co., AL Norm Brown 7/05/05

http://genforum.genealogy.com/al/dale/messages/868.html
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