Descendants of James McGinley (1799-1877)
Although it is unclear as to when the McGinley family first came to the Monroeville area, they probably arrived in the wave of Scots-Irish immigrants who came to Pennsylvania in the early 1800s; certainly they were here prior to 1830. James McGinley married Mary (Polly) Caldwell, settled in the area and began to raise a family. They were to have six children (Isaac, John, Ann Jane, Elizabeth, Sarah “Sallie,” and Rebecca.
James, and his son, John are listed as charter members of the Cross Roads Presbyterian church in Monroeville.
The oldest boy, Isaac (1821-1895), married Margaret McClintock and the couple moved into the McClintock farmhouse – a house to which the McGinley’s would give their name as one of Monroeville’s historic landmarks – “McGinley House.”
Isaac and Margaret had nine children (Mary Jane, Robert, Alvina, John, James, Angeline, Joseph, Sophia, and Ann). Many of McGinley descendents stayed in the area, and married with local families including the Beattys, the Griersons and the Householders. Ann McGinley would marry into another of Monroeville’s pioneering families, when she was wed James Snodgrass in 1884, while Robert (1873-1943) would marry Essie Myrtle Glendenning (1878-1957).
Today, the McGinley House, preserved as a museum by the Monroeville Historical Society, is open to the public as a typical example of a 19th century stone farm house.
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Sources:
19th Century Genealogical and personal histories of the Greater Monroeville area, unpublished paper. Paul Damon, 1986. Archives of the Monroeville Historical Society.