An American Patriot The Scripture Tree Genealogy Humor About the Author Roark Message Board Donald's Genealogy Check Your IQ Southern Praise A William Roark Site Roark Gen. Forum Ancestry Search Ancestry Forum #1 Ancestry Forum #2 Fisher Family Pages Tn. Genealogy Society Gibson Co., TN, Gen. Carroll Co., TN, Gen. Find Family Name Info Russells/Roarks Ancestry Library Gen.'s Most Wanted Thought for Day Donald's Other Line - the Kelly's The KELLY Family Another KELLY Site Check Weather Conditions UpToMinute Weather For Milan,TN. Going on a Trip ... Check Directions and Map Using Travel Info and Maps History of Ireland Other Roark Web Sites Carl E.Fisher's Site Tracey Tousley's Site Roark-Conner Site Pat Vedner's Site Viki Andersen's Site KtGoneAncestral Site Links to other Donald Roark Web Sites EyeOfTheTiger Site HHS ClassOf1953 Welcome to my home page regarding the Roarks - for the most part ... then, to a lesser degree, the Kellys who are my other line. Please enjoy your visit. Also, please allow myself and others the chance to hear from you - while actually showing all of us that you did actually visit here. You can do this in any or all of the following ways: 1) Please sign the guest book that you will see when you click here. 2) Also, you are encouraged to visit and USE the message board that you will find by clicking here. Also, you will see the link icon to click for the message board at the very top of the left-hand column of buttons. On the message board, you can make comments or ask questions. Also, I hope that visitors will help answer any questions left there because there will be many of you who will know the answer(s) much better than I. 3) Please let me know if you have a personal home page and would like to be linked to this site. Or, if you know of any other Roark (or Kelly) links that would add to the enjoyment of this home page, please leave the address on the form that is available for adding links by 4) Please visit often and do all the other requests above as often as you would like. In any case, thanks very much for visiting this "one of many" Roark web sites. By the way, even if you don't sign the guestbook, please view those visitors who visited and who did sign by clicking here. Origin of the Name Roark The name Roark is quite intriguing to many and even rather unusual - some will say. In one account regarding just how the name came to be, it is popularly thought to have originated in Ireland in the 800's AD - with the Ro meaning "very" and arc meaning "swift and small". However, the more popular pronunciation of the name, Roark, seems more fitting to have been derived during or about the time of Noah which could be a second account. If the first account is taken as the unequivocal beginning, the original bearer with the surname "Roarc" died in 893 AD and handed the surname down to his descendents. This original Roark or Roarc had a son named Art or Arthur. The son, Art, was the first known son to take Roark as his given surname. Thus, as shown in the King's decree, he officially became Art ui Roarc when written in Gaelic. The "ui" has the sound of "O" and just as in the prefix Mac and Mc, it means "descended from"; that is - think of his name this way: Arthur "Decended from" Roarc. Therefore, some descendents from the original bearer of the original name "Roarc" continue to use the "O" prefix. A third account of the origin of Roark shows it to be derived over 2350 years ago. That is, if it can be established that the families of Milesuis and Hermon are our common ancestors. So, regarding the origin of the name, Roark - the jury is still out, so to speak. There are several variations of Roark: O'Roark, Roarke, O'Roarke, Roaire, Ruirck, O'Rourke, Rourke, Rourk, Ruark, O'Ruark, Rook, Rooke, Rorke, O'Rorke, Rork and O'Rork. However the spelling or pronunciation, historical accounts confirm the following: Roark- a royal lineage Hugh O'Rourke was a son of Feargal Sean O'Rourke with Feargal Sean being the grandson of the original Roarc, the "very swift". Feargal was also the 39th Christian king of Connaught. He died in 954 AD. Earlier, this particular O'Rourke clan had been given the northernmost valley of Connaught by decree of the King of Ireland. There the O'Rourke's shared this territory with their blood kin, the O'Reillys. During the 800's AD, the valley was found to be a natural stronghold from their enemies. Even today, several members of these two families can be found living in this beautiful valley. Not long afterward, Hugh was appointed to the position of high priest of West Brefney - Brefney meaning "hill country". His brothers, along with the respective O'Reilly Clan brothers, were also appointed to other positions in the kingdom with many of these positions being involved in and with the priesthood. All of these O'Rourke and O'Reilly brothers descended from the High Kings of Ireland and also from the Kings of Connaught. Look Who's Coming to Dinner!!! Following are three (3) accounts of Roark decendents coming to America from Ireland - or the first mention of them being in America. Records Show Roarks, and variations of that spelling, lived in America in Early 1700's. Furthermore, those with the spelling Rork and Roark, were - many times - actually members of the very same family. This happened in many other cases in all families - as our decendants left their homeland and either dropped a letter from, or added a letter to, their name. William and Sarah (Dorris) Roark line Information (in blue-bold text, below) was supplied by Eva Roark Wood - Thanks Eva ... William Roark was born in Ireland in 1757 - the son of Timothy O'Rourke and Sarah Parker.. Reports say that he became an orphan. The year that William left Ireland and came to America is uncertain - as far as is known now. After he had begun his new life in America, William Roark became a Baptist Minister and also served in the Revolutionary War, where he was a musician. He served with the Ralston County - 1st NC Militia. William Roark married Sarah Dorris in 1779 or 1780. Sarah Dorris was born in 1755 in Orange County, NC. Sarah was the daughter of William Dorris - born in 1715 and died in 1795 - and Mary Roake (is this Roarke??) - born in 1707. Both parents were born in Ireland - William Dorris in County Down. (Sarah Dorris also had a brother - named Joseph Dorris - who became a preacher.) In the early 1790's, William, Sarah and their only child, at the time, moved to what is now middle Tennessee (then it was still part of North Carolina). He received free land because of his involvement in the Revolutionary War. The land grants he received at that time were in Tennessee counties that are presently known as Sumner, Smith and Macon. William and Sarah continued to acquire other land also and owned land in both of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky. At that time the area in Tennessee was known as Smith County; now it is known as Macon County, TN. The land is also adjacent to those purchaed in Kentucky. The Kentucky land was known as Barren County then; now it is known as Allen, Barren and Monroe Counties (still in KY). William and Sarah had several children and as the children became grown, many of them moved and continued to move westward. Actually, some of them moved toward and/or into Carroll County, TN. These (Carroll County, TN) Roarks continued this author's line which you can see by clicking here or by clicking on the "Donald's Genealogy" button above in the left-hand column. Sarah Dorris died in Allen County, KY, Feb 11, 1832. William Roark's death is recorded as being Feb 11, 1832, in Allen Co., KY. and his will was probated in March, 1832, in Allen Co KY. Following are some added comments from Eva which add some interesting twists on William's departure from Ireland ... as she related them to this author: (First a statement from Eva, "I have always believed that this particular account - that follows - may be the way that William Roark happened to come from his birth-home in Ireland to America." ... then continues to write: William Roark's death is recorded as being Feb 11, 1832, in Allen Co., KY. and his will was probated in March, 1832, in Allen Co KY. William's Mother, Sarah Parker, had a brother whose name was John Wesley Parker - who became a preacher. William's mother and daddy and John Wesley Parker were all from Ireland. One version says that this John Wesley Parker - of course, William's Uncle - brought a group of boys to America with him. This group included William along with other boys named Michael, Charles and Timothy. There were lots of stories - from that era - that were circulated about children being taken from Ireland by a relative and stowed away on a ship. This happened over and over - again and again - because of the religious turmoil and uprisings at that time. Stories told over and over relate that this happened quite often - because of the persecution, actually execution, of anyone who converted to the Presbyterian Faith. Another interesting aspect of this is: That the name Roark went through many, many changes - in order for those who converted - to escape persecution. When converted they would either be removed from the country altogether or they would change the spelling of the name slightly and relocate to a different part of the Irish Kingdom and hide out. John Wesley Parker - a Presbyterian minister - spent his life rescuing these converts from the hands of the executioners. These particular boys were converted from the Irish Catholic faith to the Presbyterian Faith ... which was that of John Wesley Parker. In order to save their lives from the uprising against these conversions, John Wesley Parker brought or sent those that were converted to America by way of stowing them away on ships or bringing them - himself. Thady and Sara (Parker) Rork with son, Michael (The following information comes from the http://www.phaenom.com/roark/michael.htm website). Thady Rork married Sara Parker in the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pa., on May 17, 1738. Records show that the couple parented two children: Timothy b. 1740 and Michael b. 1745. This same Michael Roark (now with the "a") served in the American Revolution as a Spy for the Militia. His name can be found on the Grayson Co., VA, Roster. Michael moved from Virginia to Tennessee in 1792 according to his Revolutionary War Record Pension approval form on which Michael states, "I removed from the State of Virginia in the month of April 1792, and settled in Hawkins County, Tennessee in the Month of May ensuing, where I have ever since resided." Venturesome young Roark comes to America About 1802, a young Nathan Roark of Belfast, Ireland, ran away from home. He was only nine. He stowed away on a tramp sailing ship in Belfast harbor. After a day or so, he was very hungry and found himself asking the Captain for duties to be performed in exchange for food. Thus, the Captain grudgingly agreed and assigned young Nathan the task of scrubbing the deck of the ship. The ship's journey lasted for several years while going from port to port without returning to Belfast. After some years, it landed in Baltimore, Maryland, in about the year 1817. By now, young Nathan had grown tired of his life on the high seas and so decided to seek his fortune in America. So, at the ripe old age of 15, the venturesome Nathan Roark struck out on his own in this new found home. A few years later, this venturesome lad moved away from Baltimore and was found surveying in the Carolinas before moving to Kentucky. In Kentucky, there is a place that is called "Roark's Cave". Nathan is known to have married in about 1827. He is thought to have had four children: Thomas Jefferson; Felix; Shephen; and a daughter. There are certainly more accounts, than these three, of Roarks coming to America ... and this author would be glad to hear about those and describe those accounts here. Please leave a message about any others - on the message board or else when you sign the guestbook. These will be included also, if sufficient evidence is presented.