James St. Clair Sr.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Residence: Letter dated Februrary 26, 1965 to Mrs. J. S. WIlson from Mrs. Isabel I. Abel, librarian, 1762, Shrewsbury Township, York, Pennsylvania. James Sinclair of Shrewsbury was asked a head tax of 1 pound indicating he was a single man.

Note: Hopewell Township was taken from Shrewsbury Township after 1762.

Letter obtained from Historical Society of York County, Pennsylvania on 4 October 2022.

• Military Service: From Family Search org, 1776. James St Clair
United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors
Name James St Clair
Event Type Military Service
Event Date 16 Nov 1776
Residence Place Sunbury
Military Regiment Capt Nathaniel Vansandt's Company
Military Rank Private
Military Rank (Original) Private
Page 154
Fifth Pennsylvania Battalion

Citing this Record
"United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2M-8JBX : 16 March 2018), James St Clair, 16 Nov 1776; citing Military Service, , Citing various published state rosters, United States; FHL microfilm 102229253.

Source Reference
Pennsylvania. John B. Linn and Wm. H. Egle, M.D. Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol X : Lane S. Hart, State Printer, 1880

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Also referenced in a WikiTree.com page for James St Clair with a source North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000. Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book. Pg 11.

• Residence: From Returns of Taxables for the County of York, William Henry Egle, page 46, 1779, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. County of York, 1779
Hopewell Township

James St. Clair
Acres 100
Negros 0
Horses 0
Cattle 0
Tax 10 pounds

• Residence: From Returns of Taxables for the County of York, William Henry Egle, page 313, 1780, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. Hopewell Township

James St. Clair
Acres: 30
Negros: 0
Horses: 0
Cattle: 0
Tax: 5 .6 .0

• Residence: Township assessment lists, 1762-1849, 1781, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. James Sinkler Property Value Tax
Land 34
Horses 30
Cows 16 80 1 .13 .4
Mill & Land 90 90 1 .17 .6

Family Search org. Film # 008350826, Image # Film # 008350826.151: 1781: Transcript (all townships) 1781: Newberry, Warrington, Monaghan, Reading, Berwick, Straban, Cumberland, Windsor, Hellam, Hopewell, Shrewsbury, Codorus, Fawn, Chanceford, Dover, Manchester, Menallen, Germany, Tyrone -- 1783: Hellam, Windsor, York, Chanceford, Fawn, Hopewell, Shrewsbury -- 1784: all townships except Franklin, Manheim -- 1785: Germany, Berwick, Menallen, Mt. Joy, Huntington, Tyrone, Shrewsbury, Fawn, Chanceford, Windsor, Hellam, York, Shrewsbury, Fawn, Chanceford, Windsor, Hellam York, Manchester, Newberry, Dover, Warrington Monaghan, Codorus, Heidelberg, Manheim, Hopewell, Paradise

• Residence: From Returns of Taxables for the County of York, William Henry Egle, page 540, 1782, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. Hopewell Township

James Sinclair
Acres: 100
Negros: 0
Horses: 2
Cattle: 4
Tax: 3 .10 .0

James Sinclair
Acres: 100
Negros: 0
Horses: 0
Cattle: 0
Tax: 6 .0 .0

Two entries as shown above.

• Residence: From Returns of Taxables for the County of York, William Henry Egle, page 799, 1783, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. Hopewell Township

Saintclair, James
Acres: 100
Inhabitants: 9
Servants: 0
Negros: 0

Saintclair, to land
Acres: 100
Inhabitants: 0
Servants: 0
Negros: 0

Saintclair, William
Acres: 110
Inhabitants: 0
Servants: 0
Negros: 0

Note: The listing of "to land" is not defined in the book. James and William are most likely brothers.

• Residence: From History of York County Pennsylvania, by George R Prowell, Chicago: Beers, 1907. Vol. 1, p. 991, 1783, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. List of taxables of Hopewell Township in 1783 that included James St. Clair, 100 acres, (value in pounds) 85.

Note: It is not clear that the tax of 85 pounds is correct. It may have been 8 pounds and 5 shillings. The amount of tax does not appear in Returns of Taxables for the County of York, William Henry Egle.

• Church: Letter dated Februrary 26, 1965 to Mrs. J. S. WIlson from Mrs. Isabel I. Abel, librarian, Cir 1790, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. In an entry in a manuscript catalog of families of Round Hill (Hopewell) Presbyterian Congregation, 1794 - 1800, Hopewell Township, York County, Pa. [our reference 230-1] there is a note of a family of James Sinclair, Sr., and wife Mary, naming children James, Rebecca, Samuel, Jane, and Margaret.

Letter obtained from Historical Society of York County, Pennsylvania on 4 October 2022.

• Residence: From 1790 Census, 1790, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. Lists Jas Sinclair with one male over 16 years of age, two males under 16 years of age, and six (6) females.

Name: Jas Sinclair
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1790
Event Place: Hopewell, York, Pennsylvania, United States
Note:
Page: 336
Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number: M637
Affiliate Film Number: 9
GS Film Number: 0568149
Digital Folder Number: 005157141
Image Number: 00183

Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKR-CB6 : accessed 9 March 2019), Jas Sinclair, Hopewell, York, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. 335, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 9; FHL microfilm 568,149.

• Residence: From 1800 Census, 1800, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. Name: James Ssinelair
Event Date: 1800
Event Place: Hopewell, York, Pennsylvania, United States
Event Type: Census
Page: 1372,1373

1 Male of 16 years but under 26 years
1 Male 45 years and upward

1 Female of 10 years but under 16 years
2 Females of 16 years but under 26 years
1 Female 45 years and upward

Affiliate Film Number: 44
Affiliate Publication Number: M32
Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Digital Folder Number: 004956045
Microfilm Number: 363347
Image Number: 00198

Citing this Record
"United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRX-CXG : accessed 5 October 2022), James Ssinelair Jr, Hopewell, York, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. 1372,1373, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 44; FHL microfilm 363,347.

• Residence: From Indiana County Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present, by Professor J. T. Stewart, After 1800, Buffalo Township, Washington, Pennsylvania. James St. Clair, a Revolutionary soldier, was a native of eastern Pennsylvania, whose parents migrated from the north of Ireland. He moved to Washington county at a very early period.

Note: The statement that he moved to Washington county at a very early period is inconsistent with him dying in York County. This comment may be for his son Jame, Jr.

• Family History: From Indiana County Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present, Prof. J. T. Stewart, 1913, Pages 1575-1577, Page 620. The St. Clair family is of Scotch-Irish origin, a branch of the St. Clair family of Scotland, which was founded in the middle ages by Sir Walderne de St. Clair, a Norman knight, who married Margaret, daughter of Richard, Duke of Normandy. Their second son, William, settled in Scotland, and one of his descendants, William St. Clair, became prince of the Orkney islands under the king of Norway, and high chancellor of Scotland under the royal house of Bruce. In 1741 the St. Clairs exchanged their lofty title and island domains for the earldom of Caithness, which they still hold. The name has since become Anglicized to Sinclair. Two of the descendants of one of these earls through a younger son were Gen. Arthur St. Clair and his cousin James St. Clair, Sr., the former of whom was president of the Continental Congress in 1787 and commander in chief of the armies of the United States in 1791.

James St. Clair, Sr., was the great-great grandfather of S. G. St. Clair. His parents were natives of the North of' Ireland, and he was born in 1741 in eastern Pennsylvania. He lived nine miles from York, Pa., where he owned a valuable farm and mill, and he was not only a prosperous citizen of his time but an earnest sympathizer with the Colonial cause, serving throughout the Revolutionary war. His wife's maiden name was Miller. James St. Clair, Sr., died in York county in 1806, at the age of sixty-five years.

• Death: From Mill Record provided by Historical Society of York, Pennsylvania, 1806, Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania. Record for his mill indicates he still owned the property at his death as the 1811 land record list the property as belonging to "James Sinclair Heirs."

• Probate: Letter dated Februrary 26, 1965 to Mrs. J. S. WIlson from Mrs. Isabel I. Abel, librarian, 26 Feb 1811, York County, Pennsylvania. Petition sets forth that James Sinclair intestate left no widow, but had issue James, Samuel, Elizabeth wife of William Steward, Rebecca wife of Benjamin Jemeson, Mary wife of Adley Matson, Margaret, Jane wife of Samuel Sinclair, Isabella (deceased, wife of William Slemmens, left issue James Sinclair Slemmens aged about 9 and Elizabeth Slemmens aged about 11). OCD - K, 208.

Letter obtained from Historical Society of York County, Pennsylvania on 4 October 2022.

James married Mary Miller, daughter of James Miller and Unknown. (Mary Miller died about 1805 in Hopewell Township, York, Pennsylvania.)