James Doragh and Jane Brown
My immigrant ancestors in the Dorroh line were James Doragh (or Daragh) and Jane Brown. James was born 25 May 1738 perhaps in Connor Town (Connor Parish) or Tully (Ballyclug Parish), two towns a few miles apart in County Antrim, in what is now Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. (The Public Record Office was destroyed in the Civil War in the 1920s. Wills and church records were destroyed, but the indexes to the wills survived. There are Doragh wills in Connor.) Jane Brown was also born in County Antrim in 1738. I am indebted to Henry Poellnitz Johnston, who found this data in the House of Records in Belfast and in the South Carolina Archives. [Johnston pp 231-233]

Their first four children were born in Antrim: Margaret ca. 1765, Nancy ca. 1766, William ca. 1767, and John in 1769. [Johnston pp 236-237, 245-, 300-]

In 1772, James and Jane and their four children (then aged 3 to 12) emigrated to America. As Protestants, they may have owned land in Antrim, which they sold to finance the emigration. If they sailed from Antrim, it could have been from Belfast, Larne, or Portrush. They likely sailed first to Liverpool, then to Charleston, which was then the capital of England's South Carolina colony. It's difficult to know which ship brought them to America, as the arrival records were lost when Columbia (by then the capital of South Carolina) was burned in the Civil War.

Descendants of James Dorroh and Jane Brown of Laurens SC

From James W. Dorroh, I have the following information about two possible ships: Only two ships arrived [at Charleston] from Ireland in this period, and both had sailed from Larne in County Antrim.

• The James and Mary arrived from Larne 18 Oct 1772 after a passage of about eight weeks. It was quarantined for smallpox and its passengers were not granted land until December and January. A George Daragh was on board; we don't know of any relationship to James and Jane. This was one of five ships chartered by Presbyterian Minister Wm. Martin to bring his church to South Carolina.
  
• The brig Betty (Capt. Abraham Woodside commanding) left Larne about 1 Aug 1772 and arrived in Charleston 7 Nov 1772. It is likely James and Jane were aboard.

James appeared before the South Carolina Council in Charleston and petitioned for land. On 8 Nov 1772 he was granted 350 acres on Duncan's Creek in Laurens District adjoining that of Roger Brown (a relative of Jane Brown Doragh?). Almost all of the Irish that settled in that district were from County Antrim. James then bought a horse and a slave, and named the slave Antrim. James left Jane and the children in Charleston, and took Antrim into the newly-settled wilds of western South Carolina, where they secured and cleared the land (between today's Greenville and Columbia), then returned to the capital for the family. Johnston describes the property on page 234. [Johnston pp 231-248]

Somewhere along the way, perhaps at the immigration station in Charleston, the family name was transformed to Dorroh. Even in Ireland, there are many spellings of what is essentially the same name: this link contains information on variations of the Dorroh/Dorough/Dorrough surname as provided by JWDORROH@aol.com.

James and Jane died in South Carolina: he 24 June 1820 (age 84) and she 22 October 1836 (age 98!). They were buried near the Friendship Church at a cemetery called Dorroh Fields. Johnston describes the cemetery, the church, and the Dorrohs' epitaphs [Johnston pp 242-243].

John Dorroh and Rebecca Jones
The fourth child of James and Jane Doragh was born John Doragh, in Antrim 16 March 1769, and was only three when his family emigrated to South Carolina, where he became John Dorroh. Rebecca Jones was born 27 August 1770. I don't know where Rebecca was born or when she married John.

John and Rebecca had five children: Sarah, Mary, Jane, James [Johnston p 300], and my ancestor William [p 307]. Around 1800 they migrated to western Kentucky, and to Alabama in 1817.

John and Rebecca died in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama: he in 1851, she in 1852. [Johnston, pp 237, 244, 247, 300, 307.]

William Dorroh and Mary Stone
William Dorroh was the son of John and Rebecca Dorroh. He was born 30 January 1797, in Laurens County SC. He was married 12 March 1818 to Mary "Polly" Stone, who was born 26 June 1799. They had four children: Jonathon Wesley (1819), Rebecca (1820), James (1823), and Caleb Clark (1828). The first child was born in Alabama; the others in Caldwell County, Kentucky.

William died 18 August 1834 in Caldwell County, in western Kentucky. Mary died 1 May 1876. [Johnston pp 307, 359.]

Related Links
Laurens County SC Genweb maps, cemeteries, local history, etc.
Darrow Family Genealogy Forum Includes name variations such as Dorroh

email john@jrhuber.com