NEW!! Issue Number 1 of the Paregien Family Newsletter

The Paregien Family Page is a site intended to provide contacts for the decendents of Jacob McParegien and related lines.

There are many variations of the spelling of the family name. To begin with, apparently none of Jacob McParegien's descendents continued with the Irish/Scottish prefix, "Mc", on the front of their last name. Was that because of the widespread prejudice against the Irish in the 1800's? We don't know for sure, but there are nearly endless possibile "phonetic" spellings -- so be careful to cast a wide loop when doing research.

In any event, the known spelling variations include (but are certainly not limited to):

My mother, Evelyn Cauthen Paregien Spradling, and my sister, Roberta Paregien Fournier, helped immensely in the compliling of the data that went into the family history we self-published in 1974. Stan Paregien, Jr. has assisted this project by scanning many of the photos that appear here.

This is an on-going project. We love to hear from our kinfolk, and we especially like to receive more family information and photos.

Much of our family history is already lost. Please help us to discover and retain all that we can.

Our earliest known ancestor is Jacob McParegien. The "McParegien" spelling is found in at least three Federal land deeds in Jackson County, Ill. However, it should be noted that the "International Genealogical Index" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints has the spelling for Jacob and his son, James, as "Paregin". It has Jacob listed as "Jacob M. Paregin" (see Film # 1985215).

We believe Jacob McParegien was born in on April 12, 1816 in Warren County, Kentucky. But one family tradition has it that he was born in Northern Ireland and migrated to the U.S. as a stowaway at the age of 14 (about 1830).

Jacob McParegien married for the first time in about 1840, probably in Illinois. He had nine children by his first wife.

Until Oct. 18, 1999, we thought her first name was "Nanley" and we had no last name for her. However, the same document noted above (Film #1985215) says that he wife's name was "Nancy Morgan". And further research showed that she was born in 1821 in Warren County, Kentucky and died in Jackson County, Illinois.

Nancy Morgan's parents were Robert H. Morgan (Born March 19, 1786 in North Carolina and died on Sept. 7, 1855 in Jackson County, Illinois) and Hanna Moyers Myers (born about 1794 in Tennessee), who were married on Feb. 5, 1812 in Warren County, Kentucky (see: Ancestral File Number: 1LX1-WLN and 1LX1-WMV). Nancy Morgan had two brothers and four sisters. We think Nancy Morgan McParegien died on 12-19-1856.

Jacob McParegien then married a widow named Arys Murdon Parmley, of Jackson County, Ill. (near Murphreesboro). She had six children by her first husband, Daniel Webster Parmley, but three of her children died in 1850.

The Paregiens also are connected to such families as Cauthen, Whittle, Bogle, Morgan, Nolan, Fournier, Copeland, Parmley, Walters, McDaniel, etc.

Some of the geographic areas in which they lived have included Illinois (Murphysboro), Missouri ( St. Louis), Oklahoma (Wapanucka, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Stroud, Edmond, Coleman, Duncan ), Oregon (Cottage Grove) and California (Bakersfield, Fillmore, Piru, Santa Paula, San Francisco, Pioneer, Ventura, Visalia).

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