Story
According to Stacy Jackson of Hornell, New York (Jackson's History of Cameron Mills), "William Loughry was a native of Ireland, it is said, born in Ireland in 1743. The name Loughry was formerly pronounced Lawrey (Logthry). He resided for some time in eastern Pennsylvania, probably in Northumberland County, also in Luzerne County about ten miles from Wilkes Barre. The census for 1800 shows one of this name, undoubtedly the above, was a Pennsylvania soldier during the revolution.
The census for 1790 shows one William Lockry residing then in Luzerne County, whose family then consisted of one male child under 16 years of age, a wife and one daughter. This coincides with the traditions of the family as told by Mrs. Hanna Jones. "When William came to this country he went back in the woods ten miles from any house and cleared a space and built a log house to which he took his family which then consisted of a daughter and two sons, who were then two years of age. While he was absent from home shortly after they had settled there, one of the sons sickened and died. As the weather was warm, decomposition soon set in, and as the father did not return there was no help at hand. Mrs. Loughry alone dug the grave and buried her child." William must have been very young when he came to this country. He may have had some relatives already here. He seems to have been associated with some other Loghrys quite early. There were other Loghrys here before him but probably not related, or possibly only distantly related. According to Stacy Jackson, "There was a William Loughry and a Michael Loughry assessed for taxes in Tioga Point (now Athens), Pennsylvania for the year 1796, but both names were missing from the rolls in 1808." History of Steuben County, New York, mentions their names in Steuben County along with the name Andrew Loughry who was associated with Joseph Loughry in a sawmill operation at Brown's Crossing on the Canisteo River. William Laughry was assessed for $10.34 and Michael Loghry for $12, but both names are missing from the roll of 1808, when it is possible they had removed themselves to Steuben County.
Mrs. Hanna Jones says she is positive that Michael Loughry was not the son of William and Nancy Loghry but that they were related, and they formerly spelled their names differently. (Some of the same people spelled their names differently at different times.) William's son, Joseph, spelled his name Loghry on his will. The "U" seems to be optional as does the "ery" or "rey" on the end.
It is probable that William, Andrew, and Michael were related, maybe even brothers. They may have all migrated together to America at the same time. But there were other families of Loghry's, one here before William was born in Ireland. Though they may have been related, they could hardly have been close. William Loughry married Nancy Purdy, who was also of Irish descent, and to them were born a daughter Mary (John Moore) and two sons, Joseph who married Mary Santee and apparently a twin brother who died in Pennsylvania before the 1790 Census. William and Nancy Loghry and their two children all settled in Steuben County in the early 1800s, probably before 1808. Both are buried in the burying grounds at Brown's Crossing. Doris Loghry and Joseph Jacob Loghry visited this cemetery in September 1991. Some big floods have severely damaged the burying grounds, but Stacy Jackson and Leora Wilson Drake, town historians, Canisteo, New York, copied the markers in 1936. They noted that William Loghry was a revolutionary soldier. A note at the bottom of these records indicate that they were sent to the D.A.R. 11-1-1959.
For most references to this manuscript, the title used is History of Cameron Corners. I'm not sure what the correct name is.