Menu Items

 

 

976. Lady Katherine Fitzgerald (Married: Dr. John Cooper (#975) 1703/4; Lady Katherine was 16 years old when she married Dr. Cooper.) (Source of blue on this page is: The Wroe and Chancellor Families Compiled by William Clarke Wroe, 1992, p. 66-67)

Born: Circa 1687/88 of Sir Edmund Fitzgerald (#1,951) and Unknown Mother (#1,952)

Died: Before 1724

 

[She had no siblings].

 

Miscellaneous Information:

"Lady Katherine Fitzgerald, mother of Katherine (Cooper) Chancelor (#488), is generally regarded to be the 'Grand Maternal ancestor of the Chancellor Family.'"

" Written tradition dating back more than 200 years and well supported by Bible notations, asserts that Lady Katherine was the only child of Sir Edmund Fitzgerald, Knight of Glyn, Dublin, Ireland,who, probably by right of primogeniture, possessed a large estate of which his daughter was the sole heir. Sir Edmund had a younger brother, Richard Fitzgerald who, wishing to become the heir in the event of Sir Edmund's death, devised a plot to dispose of his niece, Lady Katherine. She was kidnapped while on her way to school and was given to a ship captain who had been paid to drown her at sea; however, the mariner could not carry out this foul deed and, instead, brought her to America. It is said that she was given for adoption to the Cooper family who resided on the Potomac River in Virginia. When kidnapped, she had three items with her; her Bible, which is reportedly still in possession of the Pagett family; a large doll which was owned by descendants in Ohio until it was stolen a number of years ago; and a lace loom, or frame for making lace, which is said to be still in possession of descendants in the mid-West.'

"(NOTE: Hildrith, in his History of America, says 'a regular trade was early established in the transport of young women and girls to America nor was the embarkation always voluntary; sometimes they were entrapped by nefarious acts, sometimes even kidnapped. Those who were kidnapped were for the most part maids of refined education, young, handsome and of uncorrupt lives.)"

"In 1892, Mr. Meade Randolph Pagett of Xenia, Ohio, wrote to Dr. Charles Williams Chancellor: 'So far as the date of Catherine Fitzgerald's landing in the country is concerned, I can furnish no accurate data; but circumstances lead me to believe that it was in the earliest days of the Colonies. Her Bible, which she brought with her, was handed down from generation to generation, until it came into the possession of my wife in the year 1844, a short time before we left Virginia. It was given to her by her mother, a granddaughter of John and Jane (Monroe) Chancellor, who remarked; 'This Bible is over 200 years old; it was brought to America by our great maternal ancestress, Catherine Fitzgerald." There is no flyleaf, date or record of any kind in the book to indicate its age or the time when it was brought to this country.'"

Katherine "died at, or shortly after, the birth of their only child, Katherine Fitzgerald Cooper)

Lady Katherine Fitzgerald and Dr. John Cooper had one child, Katherine Fitzgerald Cooper #488.

 

Contact person for this website is Susan Snyder: susanleachsnyder@gmail.com