Father: William Agnew
Mother: Anne Allen

Spouse: Ann or Alice Burns? - b: 1777/1778

Child-1: William Allen - b: 7/May/1792 - Hamilton Co., NW Terr.
                                     d: 15/Feb/1866 - Monroe Co., IL
                                    m: Margaret McCann - 1821
          2: Samuel, Jr. - b: ~1802 - Hamilton Co., NW Terr.
                                 m: Elizabeth Draper - m: Deborah Nixon - 1854
          3: Francis

Biographical Details:

Samuel Agnew was born about 1751 or 1752 in Ireland; however, it is evident from his surname that he was not of native Catholic Irish ancestry, but undoubtedly descends from Scottish settlers of the Plantation of Ulster and, therefore, was a Protestant.  Moreover, it is reported that he was a son of William Agnew and his first wife, Anne Allen.  It is not known when the Agnew family immigrated to North America, but it may be supposed that it was prior to 1800 since on August 21, 1799, Samuel Agnew of Campbell County, Kentucky, was party to a lease between himself and Rawleigh Coldston of Frederick County, Virginia, giving Samuel rights to a farm "for and during his natural life".  The indenture further indicated that Samuel was forty-seven years of age, his wife, Alice, was twenty-one and son, William Allen, was seven years old.  (According to various sources, Samuel had as many as four wives including Ann or Alice Burns and Margaret Gall, but this remains unconfirmed.)   Moreover, later census records indicate that William Allen Agnew was born in Ohio (then part of the Northwest Territory), which implies that the Agnew family had already immigrated by 1792.  Subsequently, a list of taxable property for Campbell County in 1811 taken by Oner Powell of Capt. D. Perry's Militia Company indicated Samuel Agnew, (1 white male above 21, 2 horses, mares).  Concomitanty, he was not found on the delinquent list of lands, horses, and negroes from Campbell Co. for 1811.  Evidently, the Agnew family moved to Hamilton County sometime after 1811.  Geographically, Campbell  and Hamilton Counties are separated by the Ohio River just to the southeast of the city of Cincinnati.  Samuel Agnew died in Hamilton County on February 8, 1813.  Accordingly, in 1813 probate records of Judge Spencer indicate that Ann Agnew was appointed  administratrix of the estate of Samuel Agnew with John Ludlow, Jesse Vandolah, and Thomas Worman as appraisers and Thomas Cooper and Martin Stewart as fellow bondsmen.  Likewise, in 1814 letters of guardianship were granted to Elijah C. Wilkins on the personal estate of Francis Agnew.  A bond of fifty dollars was executed by George Marshall as security.

Circumstantial evidence from civil and census records indicates that William Allen, Samuel, Jr., and Francis may be plausibly attributed as sons of Samuel Agnew, Sr.; however, many researchers also attrbute another son, Allen, and a daughter, Margaret Jane, to him.  Indeed, Allen Agnew was born in 1800 in Symmes Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, and evidently remained there until after 1850, but then moved to Union County, Illinois, lived with his son, Archibald, and died in 1866.  He was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Jackson County, Illinois, near the home of another son, Francis Marion.  Within this context, it seems unlikely that both William Allen and Allen Agnew would have been brothers; however, the confluence of names does suggest that they may have been more distant relatives.  Likewsie, there appears to be no credible evidence of a daughter, Margaret Jane, who purportedly married James Burns in Ohio.  Even so, it would seem that many members of the extended Agnew family moved from Ohio to Illinois, in the first and second quarters of the nineteenth century.  Indeed, archived military records indicate that they served in both the Mexican and Civil Wars.¹

1. Illinois Mexican War Veterans, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL, 2014.  ("llinois Mexican War Veterans", http://www.ilsos.gov/isaveterans/mexicansrch.jsp)
     AGNEW, FRANCIS  PVT  I  2 IL INF  ALTON
     AGNEW, JOHN  CPL  I  2 IL INF  ALTON
     AGNEW, WILLIAM S  SGT  I  2 IL INF  ALTON
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Additional Citations:

2. Deed Bk. B, Campbell Co., KY, pg. 138.

3. Probate Court Vol. 1, Hamilton Co., OH, pgs. 223 & 244.

4. Civil War Military Service Records, National Archives, Washington DC, (microfilm: roll M539_1).  (Database searchable online at Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, National Park Service, www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.htm, 2004.)

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