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Hello all,

I'm a bit clueless on the FHC set-up, as I've never been to one and don't know whether they all have the same information.  I have a reference as follows: FHL microfilm #2025995 p172 no 335 - this relates to the marriage of my gg-g'parents John Pierce and Annie MacGregor (may be spelt McGreger in the marriage record) in Knox County, Nebraska, USA on 6 July 1886. If anyone is going to a FHC which holds a copy of this microfilm, I'd be extremely grateful for any information they were able to find.

Many thanks in advance

Anna

Is it just me, or does the newly released online census at ScotlandsPeople for 1851 list nobody at all living in Kilmarnock? I'm desperate for details of my Barnes family (family of Robert J. Barnes b abt 1820) who were having children in Kilmarnock at this time - I've posted in more detail about them below.  But a search of the new online census shows no hits for Barnes/Barns at all in Kilmarnock. Similarly, Wyllie, Hamilton, Mathie and MacGregor draw a complete blank for Kilmarnock, even using Soundex. (I *know* there were lots of Wyllies there!).

Have others had better luck?  Maybe everyone related to me took a day trip to Ireland on census day just to frustrate me...

Anna

Dear All,

I am new here, and wondering whether anybody can help me trace the background of my 3x great grandfather John MacGregor who emigrated to the United States in 1869.  I know from his Feb 1869 Dundee marriage certificate (to Mary Barnes of Kilmarnock) that he was qualified M.D. - he continued to practise as a physician in the US. The US censuses show that he was born in June 1831 somewhere in Scotland.

The marriage certificate tells me that John's father was also John McGregor, a farmer, deceased at the date of the marriage (26 Feb 1869).  His mother was Mary McGregor nee Stirling, and it does not say that she was deceased. I cannot find the death of a Mary M(a)cGregor nee Stirling in the Scottish statutory deaths database - it may be that she too emigrated to the US but there is no obvious sign of her there either.

The most likely candidate in the 1861 census is a John McGregor, unmarried, 29, b Kirkmichael, Banffshire who is a medical attendant at some sort of medical establishment in Edinburgh.  Does anybody here have any information as to who this John was? I don't want to be chasing after the wrong John - and IGI has a John McGregor baptised Kirkmichael Banff in May 1832, son of Alexander McGregor and Christina Macpherson and another in 1831 shown as being baptised to Donald McGregor & Elizabeth Petrie. It would be a big coincidence if either of those had become a doctor, but I'd love to know for sure whether or not the 1861 John is the right one!

Any information as to parents John M(a)cGregor and Mary nee Stirling would be greatly appreciated too.  I have nothing at all on them other than their son's marriage certificate (which shows that the marriage was performed according to the forms of the U[nited] P[resbyterian] Church, so the family may have slipped under the Church of Scotland radar). There may have been a Helen or Helena M(a)cGregor in the family who appears as a witness at John's wedding to Mary Barnes, but the first name is very hard to read.

Many thanks in advance for any tips at all!

Anna

Hi - I'm new here, and hoping that somebody here will be able to break down my Kilmarnock brick walls!

My 3x great grandmother Mary C. Barnes was born in Kilmarnock.  Her entry in the 1900 US census (she emigrated after marriage to John MacGregor in 1869) gave her birthdate as September 1842.  I cannot find any record of her birth or baptism on ScotlandsPeople; she married (in Dundee) according to the forms of the United Presbyterian Church so may not have been baptised in the established church.  Any help on her baptism would be greatly appreciated, as I am hoping that if I find out what her middle initial "C" stood for I might find clues to earlier generations.

I do know who Mary's parents were: the 1861 census shows the family in Kilmarnock, and they too emigrated in due course to the US.  The family that I know of is as follows:

Mary's father: Robert J. Barnes, b. abt 1820 in Ireland (per 1861) or Scotland (per later censuses). Occupation variously labourer/ironworks labourer/foundry labourer.

Mary's mother: Ann (nee Wyllie), b. Sep 1818 in Ireland (per 1861 and US 1900 censuses) or Scotland (per US 1880 census).

I have not found the marriage of Robert and Ann, but since Mary (their first child that I know of) was born in Kilmarnock in 1842 I am hoping that they married in Kilmarnock rather than Ireland since it is likely to be easier to trace.

Mary had several younger siblings that I know of:

(1) David Barnes b abt 1845 Ireland (per 1861)
(2) William Wyllie Barnes b Nov 1846 in Ireland (per 1861) or Scotland (per later censuses)
(3) Robert J. Barnes b Feb 1849 Kilmarnock
(4) Hannah Barnes b abt 1851 Kilmarnock
(5) Hugh W. Barnes supposedly b Mar 1855 Kilmarnock but I cannot find a statutory birth entry for him.
(6) Ann Jane Barnes b 31 Jan 1856 Kilmarnock
(7) James Banks Barnes b 9 Feb 1858 Kilmarnock.

This message has got rather long - apologies for that.  I would be most grateful if anybody had information or ideas as to how I can find out more about Mary's ancestors.  I have had no access to pre-1861 censuses but have exhausted the usual online resources (ScotlandsPeople, IGI, ancestry.com etc).

Many thanks in advance

Anna