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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Kincardineshire => Topic started by: deyman on Wednesday 18 August 10 00:24 BST (UK)
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My 2nd great grandmother (Barbary L Alexander) was from Dundee, Scotland.
I found her in an 1850 census fo Connecticut as a 15 yr old servant with 1 school year completed in US. As far as I know she came to US without family, but she may have but before Ellis Island. I think I may have found her in the 1848 census for Scotland (her name does not appear after that) with her parents as well is in familysearch.org. Can anyone help me?
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I'm sure that you've the info below.
I don't know which census the 1848 one is and would beinterested to hear about it.
The 1841 census on freecen shows the following family which seems to fit the bill
Civil Parish: Glenbervie Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: -
Folio: 1 Page: 4
Address: House On Mains
Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
ALEXANDER Peter M 35 Ag. Lab. Kincardineshire
ALEXANDER Eliza F 35 Kincardineshire
ALEXANDER Barbara F 6 Kincardineshire
ALEXANDER Margaret F 5 Kincardineshire
ALEXANDER David M 3 Kincardineshire
ALEXANDER George M 1 Kincardineshire
This ties in with the 1834 birth to Peter Alexander and Elizabeth Ross which you'll have from the IGI. The absence of a middle name to Barbara is of no consequence.
The IGI has 2 further chldren to the couple James b 12 Mar 1843 and William b 17 Mar 1845 - all births 'extracted'. Using the search facility does not bring up Margaret as a daughter of theirs - mybe a relative - or daughter? As you'll be aware the 1841 census does not give relationships.
Marriage for Peter Alexander and Eliza. Ross is 14 June 1834 - Fordoun, Kincardine.
I can't find this family on freecen for 1851 - can anyone see them elswhere?
Regards, Steve
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This is the same census, I found. Also the names you gave me are the same parents as what I found on familysearch.org. Peter Alexander was a common name in that area. Any idea where I can find who his parents were? Also I noticed you have the Alexanders as McDonalds. I have read they can either be McDonalds or MacAllisters. This part of my family has been the hardest ones to research. Even my U.K. Wilson wasn't so difficult :).
Any info greatly appreciated
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emmmm, I am not understanding the Macdonald/MaAllister part....are you saying that the family name Alexander, was also known as Macdonald / McAllister. Am interested as I have Macdonalds marrying McAllister from Montrose area.
Lynda
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Hello
Sorry, I don't understand your McDonald refrence either.
So, you basically have a Barbara Alexander who you think was born in Dundee or surrounding - the above is not too far away? However, she may have been a Barbara Alexander whose name was not registered - a not unusual occurrence before 1855 - and the family above may be totally unrelated. On 'your' Barbaras death entry is there any indication of parents names. What were her childrens names?
The marriage entry for Peter in the OPRs is unlikely to give you any other information other than the couple were 'of this parish'. You occasionally get a fathers name only. If he or Elizabeth died after 1855 and you'd followed them through census records to get a death 'window' their death entry would give parents names if the informant knew them.
In this instance if they can't be found on census records after 1841 there are two options - a catastrophic disease event which kills all the family - or scatters them far and wide due to parents death/s - or more like emigration. They were at least alive until 1845.
I'll take a step back and see if othes can come up with something.
Regards, Steve
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Kincardine's quite a bit a way from Dundee. Deyman what makes you say she was from Dundee?
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My great aunt, who is the granddaughter of Barbary told me she was from Dundee. Barbary married Tolman Hull Bradley and had 1 child from him....Alexander Tolman Bradley.Barbary died 11 mos 6 days after Alexander was born. She was in her mid 20's when she died.I am now waiting for a death certificate from Ct in hopes it will tell me more info.
When I typed in Alexander Clan (doing research for the family tartan), I read of the history of Alexanders,,,,some conflicting. Some say they came from Alexander the Great while other people claim either from McDonald or Mac(Mc)Allister.
In the 1850 Danbury, Ct census, as well as her headstone for her grave and from what the Danbury Historical Society found for me her name was actually Barbary.
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She died so young - such a shame.
Is there a marriage certificate for her and Tolman?
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I don't have a marriage certificate. I do have the date and town of where they were married thanks to the Historical Society. I knw the marriage cert would tell teh names but I would think the death cert as well (which is what I am waiting for).
Checking on the Scottish census using her parents same name, I know they outlived her, but don't know where or when they died.
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The family above from Kincardineshire - Barbara and her brother George are on the 1851 census listed at Rosehill in Kincardineshire, she is down as a house servant and he as a cattle boy.
While the transcript suggests there is only one year between them and we know otherwise, it does say she was born in Kinniff, Kincardineshire, so it seems highly likely it's the correct siblings, especially so when they are no longer listed as living with parents Peter and Elizabeth in 1851.
This now makes your 1850 American census find unlikely to be her because she is still over in Scotland at the time or would suggest this is not your Barbara's correct family.
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According to the census I found, which is the same as Steve sent on here, there is 5 yrs between George & Barbary.
There were so many census in Scotland, and so many having common names, it is easy to get confused.
I believe my info is correct as it also coincides with the info sent to me by the Historical Society.
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Here she is again on the 1861 census, now residing in Angus.
Barbara Alexander
Age: 26
Estimated birth year: abt 1835
Relationship: Servant
Gender: Female
Where born: Kinneff, Kincardineshire
Registration Number: 312
Registration district: Montrose
Civil parish: Montrose
County: Angus
Address: Chapel Street
Occupation: Domestic Servant
ED: 16
Household schedule number: 112
Line: 17
Roll: CSSCT1861_45
I believe the ages put down on the 1851 census were wrong, as can be seen above the age has now been rectified to reflect birth year 1835.
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Barbary came to the US in or before 1849. Unfortunately, I have the paper at home from the historical society that says what year she came here. In the 1850 Connecticut census she has already had 1 yr of schooling in the US.
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I'm not disputing that deyman, I just don't want you being misled regarding where she was born and who her parents were. I've just found the marriage extract for the Barbara Alexander whose parents are Peter Alexander and Elizabeth Ross. She married a James Hosie in Garvock, Kincardineshire 4th June 1869. So the family found on the 1841 census is not the correct family and not your Barbara, because your Barbara was already living over in Connecticut by then.
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Thanks for looking that up for me. So now I guess I will have to wait the 6 - 8 weeks before I get the death cert from Ct.
Oh well, I only found out about her 9 yrs ago....what is another few weeks to find out more?
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It's terrible when that happens, it's happened to me and I had to remove a few branches from my family tree because I went heading off in completely the wrong direction with family connections which had nothing to do with me.
I'm waiting for a couple of death certificates myself to confirm parents names for my mother's grandparents because I too have hit a brick wall.
Good luck! :)
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Yes, I have just done that with a branch of my own family. When you are brought up in a family that doesn't speak to each other or doesn't talk of the dead, it is hard to do the research.
However, thanks to my father's death (not that I am glad he died), I found memorial cards in Bibles that belonged to his mother from the U.K.
At the same time, as my mother & I were driving by a road we had driven by a million times, she told me I had a great aunt that lived on the road. One I never heard of but turns out to have been her fathers baby sister he hadn't spoken to in over 40 yrs.
I finally got to meet her 9 yrs ago and she was and is quite helpful in that side of the family history...including why my grandfather stopped talking to her.
I always thought I came from a no-where family until I started digging. Now I have to say I am quite proud of all my family heritage.
Thanks againg for your help!! ;)
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I just had a wee nosey on Scotlands People to have a look at Barbara Alexanders born between 1833 - 1837 (couldn't find any for Barbary).
There's one that caught my eye born 1836 in Kirkcowan, Wigtownshire - parents John Alexander and Sarah Fellows - but the reason they caught my eye is because it looks like John's parents are William Alexander and Barbara Love. Which made me think of your Barbara and her "L".
Sometimes children were given their grandparent's names, especially on the female side. Your Barbara could be named after her grandmother, hence the L for a middle name - Barbara Love Alexander. It's a really really longshot and I'd hate for you to be sent down another wrong path! Wigtownshire isn't even close to Dundee, and I haven't looked to find her on any of the censuses yet, but hey you never know ;)
Have to go to bed now but I'll see if I can track this Barbara down tomorrow for you.
Btw, I did stumble across a family of Alexanders who departed from Dundee on a ship called the Sir James Kempt. They arrived over in New York in August 1838. The passenger list shows a John Alexander and Mrs Alexander, two daughters aged 1 and 6, and a son aged 10. There's also a Joan Alexander on the same ship, with two sons aged 5 and 7 and a daughter aged 2 - no names for any of the children though :(
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I have noticed childrens middle names are sometimes a parents maiden name. To be honest I wondered what the L could stand for.
You are finding more things than I have. May I ask what site do you go through ?
Thanks again for your help.
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I'm quite new at this so the three main sites I tend to use are ancestry, Scotlands People and Family Search. When I start hitting brick walls I'll go further afield and see if the town/city the person is residing in has its own geneology site or historical site etc. and of course google comes in very handy now and again - just putting a name, town and date in can surprisingly bring up a link to someone else researching the same person and I've been fortunate enough in the past to discover some valuable information that way. And of course if all else fails I'll post here in the hope someone can help me :D
The info about the Alexander family leaving Dundee for NY I found on ancestry.
I'm taking a break from working on my tree just now while I'm waiting for a couple of certificates to arrive, so it's been interesting and fun being able to help others with their trees.
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I had been thinking all night about some of the points you told me. I was wondering if Barbary could have left from Dundee and not be from there...and you posted that thought this morning.
I will check on the Scotlands People. I never even thought about typing that in. Most of your other suggestions I have either tried or belong to.
I know a couple (now divorced) in the UK with the last name of Love. I think I will contact the ex-husband and see if he has Scottish roots.
Thanks for all your help and enjoy your rest....I have taken a few of those from my family name as well.