Scribes in early days had only the sound of the voice as a guide in their writing; the vowels differed each time they wrote, but their spellings, though diverse, agree wonderfully with the modern Looney. The name as now used appears on gravestones in the family burial plot in Maughold Cemetery, Isle of Man, with dates of 1680. There are many very old stones so eroded that names and dates are not legible.

Persistent research, some by travel, most by correspondence, located the earliest records of the family (clan) in the north part of Ireland with the name spelled "Luneigh". Many were in County Antrim, near the east coast. From this area, the clan emigrated to the Isle of Man, and are found as land holders in all parts of Ireland.

The Isle of Man is described as being 12� miles wide by 80 miles in length out in the Irish Sea. Its coat of arms is pictured in three legs enclosed in a circle, with bended knees, and the words: "Kneels to England, kicks at Scotland, and spurns Ireland". There is a very curious feature about the (O'Looney) Looney family which no other Manx family can record. The feature is that all its members, at the earliest dates recorded (1579) are tenants of Eclesiastic lands. Before 1579, there is no record that they were tenants of the King. They were holders of the land of the Monastary, namely: 9 in Skinscoo, of Kirk Lonan; one on the very lands of the Monastary of Rushon, at Ballasalla, and two held farms on land in Kirk Patrick, called Bangar and Saul (Sabla). A dozen altogether, widely separated. One can only come to the conclusion that members of the O'Looney, McLooney, McLownye, and Looney families must have originally been closely connected with the Celtic Church in primitive times.

According to tradition among Virginia and Tennessee families, descendants of Robert(1) Looney, there were two brothers who came to the colonies in early 1700, and landed on the east coast.

John Looney and wife, Llewellyn, "a lady of Wales", and 14 sons, all bearing Bible names. They are said to have taken ship at London, England, and settled in Virginia; Robert with a land grant from the Crown (George the Second). After years of research by later generations, no John Looney with wife Llewellyn has been found... Several Johns among later generations, but no wife by name of Llewellyn, other than one mention in an old letter of Elizabeth Llewellyn, (Robert's wife).

Robert Looney and Elizabeth are first located in Philadelphia, by the birth of their son, Peter, in 1734. Land grants in Maryland, 1735, and in Virginia on James River in 1742.

Robert Looney, said to be the brother of John, and both traditional sons of Joseph, Isle of Man, was one of seventy families that entered the Quaker Colony by Morgan and Bryan of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1735. The Colony bought 100,000 acres of land near Winchester, Virginia, and among the purchasers is listed Robert Looney. Robert also received a patent dated 12 Nov. 1735, from the "Crown" (George II), for 295 acres on the south side (south bank) of the Cohongoronto (Upper Potomac) River, "near the Samuel Owens plantation". Robert also received a grant of 250 acres on James River, and 400 acres 30 July, 1742, on "Lunies" Mill Creek. This land is not far from Natural Bridge in what had become Augusta County in 1738, and became a aprt of Botetourt County, 1770. On the Upper James River, across the river from Buchanan, Robert purchased a large tract of land (1,500 acres).

The first record we have of Robert and Elizabeth Looney is the birth of their son, Peter, 1734 in Philadelphia. Seven sons and a daughter, (Lucy Jane?) were probably born in Isle of Man. (Family names of children on a separate page.)

The last name of Robert's wife is not known, but among the Miss Sallie Eugenia Brown's papers in Atlanta is an old letter, yellow and crumbling with age, she is called Elizabeth Llewellyn; also in that letter (piece of a letter) Robert's age was given as 1692-17--) presumably Robert's death date was not known at the time by the writer. Could the wives of John and Robert Looney have been sisters? Both ladies of "Wales".

In Robert's will, only his wife's name, Elizabeth, is used. His will was probated 1770, Botetourt County. (In Sallie Brown's notes, she gives Robert's age (1692-1770).)