Rodman family genealogy

Of Ireland, and America

We read that, at an early period, members of the Redmond family in the county Wexford moved to the north of Ireland and became Protestants.

A member of that family, who was born in 1712, signed his name on a lease in 1745, as John Rodman; he died in 1781, and was designated on his tombstone as John Redman.[1]

In A Compendious View of Some Sufferings of Quakers in Ireland, by A. Fuller and T. Holmes, 1671, it is stated that: “John Rodman (a Quaker) being called into the Court at the assizes in New Ross (county Wexford), was, for not taking off his hat, committed to gaol by Judge Louder, where he was kept a prisoner three months, and then banished that country.”

That John Rodman was in 1655 banished from Ireland to Barbadoes, in the West Indies; but it is not certain whether he was of English, or Scottish, or Irish extraction. He died in 1686, when Barbadoes was under the administration of Governor Edwin Stead.

This John Rodman had two sons: 1. Thomas, 2. John; and two daughters—1. Ann, 2. Katherine. The two sons became educated, and practising physicians. In 1675, the elder son, Doctor Thomas Rodman (died in 1727, aged 87 years) settled in Newport, Rhode Island; going there from Barbadoes. Doctor John Rodman, the younger brother, went to Newport several years later.

In 1680 to 1690, a family of Rodmans resided in the north of Ireland. They are said to have been “new to the country, traditionally of English descent, and Scottish Presbyterians in religion.” Some members of that family emigrated to America; and some are still living near Coleraine, in the county Londonderry.

Notes

[1] Redman: See Notes on Rodman genealogy, by William Woodbridge Rodman, New Haven, Connecticut, 1887.