Land PatentsMargaret Hanna was born 9 September 1763 in Newry, County Down, Ireland.
She married John Cross there, and died in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, August 1, 1846.
She was the daughter of William
Hanna and Jane Wallace. She was married to Bernard CONOLLY (son of Thomas CONOLLY
and Mary?) in 1786 in probably Newry, Ire. Bernard
CONOLLY died on 15 June 1794 in Clones, Monaghan,
Ireland.4
Margaret HANNA and Bernard CONOLLY had the following
children: (These children stayed with Hanna's when
she remarried.)
- Jane Eliza CONOLLY, born about 1789, married James Scott March 1, 1813 in Clones, Monaghan, Ireland.
- William John CONOLLY, born about 1790, died in 1853.
- Richard CONOLLY, born in 1791, married Margery Thompson 13 December 1813, Clones, Monaghan, Ireland. He died 19 August 1822 at Clifton, near Bristol, England. (Rev. David J Conolly of Melbourne, Australia is a descendant of Richard and Margery.)
- Bernard CONOLLY, born on 29 September 1790 and died on 29 July 1791.
She was married, second, to Rev. John CROSS (son of Joseph CROSS) by 1798 in Ireland. John CROSS was probably born in 1763 in Londonderry, Ire. He died about September 1824 in Victor or Bloomfield, Ontario, NY.
Margaret HANNA and John CROSS had the following children:
- Eliza CROSS, born in 1798, Sligo, Ireland. Married Reuben Champion January 12, 1822 in Victor, New York. They had 10 children.
- Margaret CROSS, born in 1801, Sligo, Ireland. Married Howell B Norton about 1824, in New York state.
- Robert John CROSS (born on 1 October 1803).
- William Hanna CROSS, Judge, born on 6 March 1807 in Bethel, NY. Married Nancy Langdon March 12, 1832 in Tecumseh, Michigan. He died in Centerville, Michigan, September 29, 1886.
Excerpt from The Weekly Courier, 4 May 1895, Coldwater, Michigan. An article written by Dr. Wm. B. Sprague, titled Origin of Coldwater: "The Cross brothers" (Robert J. and William H.) "were purely of Irish blood. Their mother, Mrs. Margaret Cross, visited Coldwater at one time to see her son William, who was then (1836) in trade as partner of Judge Holbrook. For a day or two the writer had the honor of entertaining her at his house. The record of her life, as far as he has been able to learn it from an obituary of her and her son William, is very striking. With early advantages and a remarkable intellect by nature she was qualified to overcome many trials that befell her from the very first after she had attained to womanhood. She was of aristocratic and proud family styled 'the Hanna's of Newry' in the north of Ireland. Under the preaching of John Wesley, Dr. Thomas Coke and others, she became Methodistic in her views, was converted and joined the Methodist society in the place where she lived. Her friends were indignant at this. They were of the English church. Not long after she married a merchant" (Bernard Connelly), "who was also a Methodist and by whom she had two children (daughters); being a merchant, as he was, the hostility of her friends was somewhat lessened by that occurrence. But her husband died in a few years and she at length married again, and this time it was to a Methodist minister. The fatal die was cast and she was disowned by her relations and became ever after an outcast; her two children were taken from her. Mr. Cross, the minister whom she had married, was not then an itinerant preacher but engaged in some mercantile pursuit at some distance from Newry. Politically it was in dangerous times then. The Irish rebellion of 1798 had come and gone, but it was suspected of Mr. Cross that he had been rather in favor of rebellion, although he had never committed himself in any way on that question. Some of his patrons deserted him on that account, and altogether, with the free consent of Mrs. Cross, it was thought best to remove from the place, which they did, going to the city of Sligo, on the west coast of Ireland. Thence and long after, hearing much of this country and more congenial with their independent and democratic feelings, they determined to bid adieu to their native country and go in quest of a home in America. Mrs. Cross came first with the children while Mr. Cross remained at Sligo for a time to settle up his business and then put off to meet his family in the city of New York.
"After looking around some time they removed
either to Orange Co., NY., or to Sullivan county, where
they prospered many years, raising, meantime, quite a
number of children, of whom were Robert J. and William H.
Mr. Cross when considerably advanced in life, as was his
wife also, died, severing the main link that held the
family to that home. Some of the daughters had married,
and the rest of the family, with their beloved mother,
came to Michigan, settling as before said at Clinton. One
of the daughters had married Mr. Reuben Champion, who
came with his wife and children to Coldwater in 1836.
Both are gone now, but several of their descendants are
still residents of this city; another of the daughters
married and was living at Ann Arbor in 1836, with whom it
seems their widowed mother was living when she visited
her son William here at the time
mentioned....."
or Pen and Ink Sketches of the
Mothers and Daughters of the Church"
by Rev. George Coles
Published by Carlton & Porter 200 Mulberry Street, N. Y. 1
"Mrs. Margaret Cross, of Ann Arbor, Michigan .... This venerable lady was born in the town of Newry, North of Ireland, September 9, 1763, and died at Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 1, 1846, in the eighty-third year of her age.
"She was of an ancient and honorable Scotch family, bearing the name of Hannah, but descended in a direct line from Sir Malcomb, brother of Sir William Wallace. "At the age of twenty-three, Miss Hannah was united in marriage to Bernard Connelly, Esq., a gentleman of fortune, and a pious member of the Wesleyan body, whom she accompanied, soon after marriage, to a conference held by Mr. Wesley in London. On their way they were accompanied by Dr. Coke, and several Wesleyan preachers from Ireland. From these associates, she learned the necessity of personal regeneration, which, though educated in the Protestant faith, she had never realized before. During the session of Conference she made her home with the family of the Rev. Henry Moore, at Mr. Wesley's house, adjoining the chapel in City Road, and while kneeling at her bedside, after enjoying a season of prayer with the family, the Holy Spirit descended upon her heart, and created her anew in Christ Jesus. She then cast in her lot with 'the sect everywhere spoken against.' About six years after, she was left a widow, with three children, in which state she remained some time, rejecting advantageous offers of marriage, to the grief of her friends. Finally she married Mr. John Cross, a poor but pious man and local preacher. For this she was disowned by her father, and her children taken from her, and never allowed to live with her any more.
"Her choice in regard to her second marriage was considered by her relatives as an evidence of her incapacity to take care of her children. She never saw her father again, and she fled to America to avoid the numerous persecutions carried on against her. She had a small property in her own right, which she disposed of at an annual interest of about three hundred dollars, which she continued to receive for the last forty-three years of her life. Thus she was saved from want, yea, was enabled, by industry and economy, to give liberally to benevolent objects. She denied herself cheerfully all the superfluities, and even some of the conveniences of life, to advance by her gifts, as well as her prayers, the kingdom of Christ upon earth; and no doubt many will rise up in the day of eternity and call her blessed. In extreme old age her faculties were somewhat impaired, but, whatever else she forgot, she never forgot her Saviour. At the mention of his name her eyes would brighten with unearthly light, her countenance would become expressive and joyous, and her whole soul would glow with love to God.
She could say truly;
'My God, I am thine,
What a comfort divine,
What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine!
In the heavenly Lamb thrice happy I am,
And my heart doth rejoice at the sound of his name!'"
The following is from pages supplied to me by Charles
L. Woodward.2
"Tecumseh ........ Mr. Baughman was succeeded on
the Monroe Circuit by Rev. George W. Walker, in September
1827, who continued the appointment at Tecumseh, and
organized a Methodist Society, or Church, in January,
1828, consisting of Johsiah Wheeler and wife; Margarette
Cross; (etc......)
Margarette Cross was a noble-looking and noble spirited
woman, a true lady, from Ireland. She had been converted
in her youth, and was well acquainted with Rev. John
Wesley. She now a widow. Her husband was a local preacher
in Ireland under Mr. Wesley, and they had entertained him
at their house. She was a woman of sound and consistent
piety, always delighting to converse on religious
experience. She was a very intelligent woman, and has
gone to join the society of the blest above
.........."
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