John McAllister & Elizabeth Mckenzie

I have some evidence that John McAllister & Elizabeth McKenzie were the parents of James McAllister and would therefore be my wife's 3rd great grandparents.  I believe there was little doubt that they were from Northern Ireland, probably from Tyrone county.  An internet reference claims that they lived on a farm in Tyrone and then moved to Banbridge in Co. Down.  James was married in Banbridge so that is quite possible.  At the time of John's birth (1798), Northern Ireland, which is also known as Ulster was part of the Kingdom of Ireland. 3 years later in 1801, Ireland and England were united to form Great Britain.

The parents of Margaret Todd, James Mcallister's wife are unknown.  Her father's name may have been William.

McAllister is a surname from Scotland and northern Ireland that is the anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Alasdair, meaning son of Alasdair. Alasdair is the Gaelic form of the first name Alexander. According to [ancestry.com], as of 1920, it was most prevalent in the northeastern, southern and western parts of the United States. In the United Kingdom, it was most prevalent in northern Scotland as of 1891.  The Mc Alisters for the greater part owe their ancestry to the Scottish clan of the Mac Donalds. The name is derived from the personal name Alexander. The Mc Alisters arrived in Ulster as Gallowglasses at the invitation of the MacDonnell's. Today the greatest numbers of the name are to be found in counties Antrim, Londonderry, Fermanagh, and Dublin, otherwise the name is widely dispersed.

McAllister Family Crest