Nevin: A Brief Introduction to the Beginnings of the Name in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales and to the Family of John Nevin (1740-1814), Farmer, County Antrim, Ireland and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

by Hugh Nevin

This booklet presents a report of an examination of the 500 years of recorded generations of this Nevin family. Ayrshire, Scotland; County Antrim, Ireland; and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (USA), are primary locales visited or known by the writer. Questions occasioned by the 18th-century crossing from Ireland to America serve as a focal point for investigation.

The story begins by clarifying the confusion arising from having two unrelated Nevin families in western Pennsylvania, identifies the writer's family of origin, and describes the family historical sources available to him. Next is a section dealing with origins of the name, the role of the Celts, and evidence of Nevins in Scotland in the Middle Ages. A section on Ayrshire describes a Kilwinning, Scotland, Nevin family of record at the same time as the writer's first ancestors -- whether they might be related -- and whether both are thus related to the royal family, the Stuarts. The section outlining the family's American experience follows the journey from the greater Philadelphia area to the greater Pittsburgh area and eastern Ohio, with hints of the broader story. A final section describes the search to clarify the family's roots in County Antrim, unknown in the material with which the writer began.

Hugh Nevin, the author, may be contacted at hnevin@nycap.rr.com.