#1 Matthew Rhea

   #1

                                                  Matthew Campbell Rhea (1665-1689)

 Matthew Campbell Was my 9th great grandfather and was born in Argyll and Bute, Scotland in a time of unrest throughout the greater Isles. 

This region of Scotland was considered the Lowlands and also part of the southern islands.

My family had lived in this region for at least a hundred years , up to Inverary and even it's castle.
Many Campbell clan members were also living in Skipness and that area where Arran and the sound meet.

   Matthew considered himself a Protestant and his trade was usually as a shipmaster and merchant. And while it is not known if his birth was in Skipness or farther up the channel to Inverary, either way, he was a member of the Campbell family, one of the most powerful clans in all of Scotland, especially at this particular time. Once of age to do so, he assisted the Earl of Argyll (cousin Archibald Campbell Argyll) in raising men for the Duke of Monmouth against King James II. Being that King James was a staunch Catholic and one who hated Protestants, this war was a religious fight as well as a political one.

Eventually the Duke was captured and executed for treason in 1685 with the Duke of Argyll receiving the same decree. But those who followed or fought with him, these had cause to be worried about reprisals from the crown. Many fled their beloved Scotland, never to return. My great grandfather Matthew was given life in prison on the Isle of Man in Castle Peel though not confirmed. 

Apparently, he bribed his guard and somehow made it out of the cell, making it on a boat and relocating to north Ireland, near Derry. There, he changed his last name to Ruahd, Reagh, or Rhea, which in Gaelic means "red haired".

 It is said that he also took part in the seige of Londonderry in 1689 but so far no information of that has proven to be valid.

Matthew had three children with his wife, Janet Barten Baxter, herself an Irish born girl from Donegal .
They were William, Matthew jr and Archibald, Matthew II being in my lineage. This was the beginning of the Ulster-Scots or Scots-Irish part of my ancestry which is so prominent in the future of America. Many Scots made their way to Ulster, or northern Ireland, during the 17th and 18th centuries, some eventually boarding ships to the Colonies in America.

  Many of them settled in the Derry area and points east as there were more opportunities for wages and farming. From there, a ship could be taken to most points of the continent or America. 

  So, here I present the first of hopefully many blog posts about my family ancestry and the people who make up my family.  Please, let me know what you think here or on the Facebook page for this blog at 

                                                                 My Celtic Journey

                                                               Onward and upward!!