Hi Dave,
I am searching for the parents and ancestors of my great great grandmother, Ellen Forrest (b. Feb 1834 in Scotland, d. after 1907 in U.S.). I have precious little information on Ellen or her family, other than what I have gathered from the U.S. censuses, as follows:
The U.S. Federal Census for 1900, Erie County, Wales Township, (Ellen Stillman), shows that Ellen came to the U.S. in 1840.
(
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1TH266-11094-151251-86?cc=1325221&wc=MMPJ-3R8:1187708350)
I do not know from what port she disembarked, but suspect she may have come into the port at Philadelphia, PA. Since she was a six-year old child upon arrival, I would assume she came with her parents, but have not found her on any ship lists.
About 1856 Ellen married William J. Haslett (or Hazlett). The 1880 U.S. Census shows Ellen Hazlett is widowed and, along with daughter, Anna, lives with her brother, William H. Forrest (b. 1832 in Scotland, d. after 1892), a druggist, in Sheldon, Wyoming Co., NY.
As per a Dec. 3, 1881 letter of her son in law, Jasper D. Wooster, Ellen and daughter Anna were then living in the Philadelphia, PA area, where Anna and Jasper were married in October 1882.
By 1900 Ellen was back in Erie County, NY, had married 2nd, Robyns Stillman but was once again widowed and living in the household of Jasper Wooster (name is misspelled as Worster)
I have a photo of William Forrest (and possibly a photo of Ellen, although it is not positively identified), and postcards addressed to Ellen Stillman. I also have photos of Kate (or Kathryn) Forrest. Although I know Kate is closely related, I cannot determine whether she is a sister or a cousin because the U.S. censuses show both William and Ellen born in Scotland, while Kate says she was born in Ireland. Kate married Jacob Vanaman and lived in Philadelphia. Jacob was killed in American Civil War. Living with Kate in 1880 is her niece, Jenny Forrest (I have photos of Jenny too, but do not know who her parents are; she was born in PA in 1859).
I also have letters and postcards written to my grandmother from "Aunt Mary Forrest" (b. in Ireland in 1848), widow of James Forrest (b. Ireland in 1830) and two of her sons, Lester and Edwin, of San Francisco, California. I am guessing that this James Forrest is most likely a brother of Ellen and William H. and/or Kate.
I hope I haven't thoroughly confused you with all this and perhaps it isn't enough to go on but it's all I have. I read in one of your posts that records in Scotland prior to 1855 are virtually non existent and since my Forrests came over in 1840, attempts to find the names of William H. and Ellen together in Scotland have been futile.
I'm not very optimistic about finding the parents of Ellen and William but thought I would throw everything out there that I know in hopes that something would pop up. Is there any way to determine which clan my Scottish ancestors were associated with?
Thank you for all your help.
