McKown History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name McKown or a variant listed above, including:

McKown Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Hugh McKown, who landed in South Carolina in 1810 3
• Moses McKown, who landed in South Carolina in 1810 3
• Thomas McKown, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1844 3
• John McKown, who arrived in New York in 1864 3
• William McKown, aged 13, who immigrated to America, in 1897

McKown Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

• John Vantier McKown, aged 22, who immigrated to the United States from Liverpool, in 1903
• Thomas McKown, aged 32, who landed in America from Glasgow, in 1904
• Wm. McKown, aged 19, who landed in America from Belfast, in 1905
• Patk. McKown, aged 26, who settled in America from Dundalk, Ireland, in 1907
• Selma McKown, aged 43, who immigrated to the United States, in 1909
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

McKown Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

• James McKown, aged 4, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Salus" in 1833

McKown Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

• Miss Mary Ann Mckown, (Kean, Diffen), Irish servant who was convicted in County Tyrone, Ireland for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Edward" on 1st January 1829, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4
• Catherine McKown, aged 23, a domestic servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Bucephalus"

• Anna K. McKown (b. 1972), American actress from Charleston, South Carolina, known for Carnival of Souls (1998), Kalamazoo? (2006) and Close to Danger (1997)
• Jackie McKown, American actress, known for Her Name Was Torment (2014), Bath Salt Zombies (2013) and Heart Attack (2013)
• Clarence William "Bill" McKown Jr. (b. 1953), retired United States Navy captain
• Hamilton McKown Twombly (1849-1910), American businessman, a graduate from Harvard University in 1871, he was financial advisor to William Henry Vanderbilt, he sat on the Boards of Directors of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, owner of the Vinland Estate, Newport, Rhode Island