Erin go Bragh !

Ireland Forever! – Today we celebrate being Irish and the Feast Day of St. Patrick. We wear green today symbolizing the emerald shores of that mystical homeland, after all aren’t we all Irish today. Don’t we all love shamrocks, Reuben’s, corned beef and cabbage, colcannon, Irish soda bread, Guinness or green beer for that matter and yes those delicious minty Shamrock shakes at McDonald’s. Here in the United States we celebrate everything Irish today probably as much as they do in Ireland. You won’t find rivers dyed green nor beer dyed green in Dublin. I did some research and in Ireland today, they probably won’t be eating the tons of corned beef we Americans (or Irish-Americans) will consume. Even Bishop Thomas of our Toledo Diocese has granted the Catholics in northwest Ohio a dispensation from the “No Meat” on Friday rule! So today I may partake of a delicious grilled Reuben sandwich, I just have to exchange that meat eating for another form of Lenten penance. I’ve delved into genealogy for many years now and yes deep in my roots are some Irish ancestry, through my great grandmother, Mary Esther Harper Smith (her line is to Andrew Harper in Northern Ireland about 1699) and also through my Boggs (Smith) lineage. On my Grandma Proctor’s (nee Smith) side I have researched our Boggs family lineage back to 1667 to Londonderry, Ireland, that is twelve generations from me. My Boggs family migration from Ireland to America was filled with many moves from their arrival in Delaware to our current homes in West Virginia and beyond. So for St. Patrick’s Day…I thought I would share just a bit of my Irish roots. I’m proud of those roots and how they represent a family, my family, seeking out a better life in America. Let’s start at the beginning some 350 years ago on the shores of North Ireland…
James Boggs was born in Londonderry, Ireland about 1667 and died in New Castle County Delaware about 1740. He is believed to have been the son of John Livingston. John Livingston and his brother Hugh were Scots Presbyterians who were exiled to Ireland after 1660. Since they were forced to live in the bogs near Londonderry, they adopted the surname Boggs. James married in Ireland and his wife died there before 1724. In 1724, James and his children emigrated from Ireland to New Castle County Delaware, where James purchased 100 acres of land November 17, 1726. James’ will was dated February 9, 1736.
Francis Boggs, a son of James Boggs, was born in Londonderry, Ireland in 1702 and died in Chester County PA in 1763. Francis married Agnes —– in Ireland and the family immigrated to Delaware in 1724 with his father. In 1737, the family moved to Chester County Pennsylvania.
James Charles Boggs, a son of Francis and Agnes Boggs, was born in New Castle County DE about 1725 and died in Greenbrier County Virginia (WV) about 1805. He married Margaret Jane Sharp January 25, 1751 at Wilmington, Delaware at the Olde Swede’s Church. Margaret was born in 1729. The family lived in Chester County Pennsylvania until 1764, when they moved to Augusta County Virginia. In 1771, the family moved to Spring Lick Creek in Greenbrier County Virginia (WV), where James died about 1805 and Margaret died on April 20, 1816.
Samuel Boggs, a son of James Charles and Margaret Jane (Sharp) Boggs, was born in 1765 and died in Gallia County Ohio after 1832. He married Ellen Watts.
Mary Boggs, a daughter of Samuel Boggs and Ellen Watts Boggs, was born in 1787 and married David Grant on July 13, 1807 in Gallia County Ohio. Mary died on September 23, 1855. It is with this grandfather that I have been told we have a link to President Ulysses S. Grant, I haven’t been able to find that direct connection – but I continue to look, now how cool is that?.
Andrew Grant, a son of Mary Boggs and David Grant was born about 1822 in Gallia County, Ohio and married Anna Barbara Hodam. It is not known when Andrew died, but after the death of Anna Barbara he moved to Putnam County, West Virginia around 1850. Anna is buried at Bethesda Cemetery near Patriot, Ohio in Gallia County.
Phebe Bethiem Grant, the only child born to Andrew and Anna Grant was born on August 18, 1848 in Gallia County, Ohio. She was one year of age when her mother Anna died in 1849 most probably from an influenza epidemic. She married Columbus Monroe Smith on September 21, 1865 in Liberty, West Virginia. She died on July 22, 1930 and is buried at the Smith Family Cemetery in Liberty. Her son is my great grandfather Millard W. Smith (1866-1952) who married Mary E. Harper, that’s Millard and Mary in the picture (1869-1953) and lived their entire lives in the Liberty area. Their daughter was my grandmother, Erma I. Smith (1900-1981) and she married my grandfather, Sylvester V. Proctor (1898-1985) on July 20, 1921 and they had eleven children, including my mother, Vonda Sue Proctor (1942-2011).

So there you have it…I can actually proclaim that I am…blessed with a bit of Irish blood and spirit. Today in honor of my Irish roots I’m sharing a recipe, Reuben Calzone that is loaded with the flavors of those emerald shores… Erin go Bragh!