WHELLANS family - Morebattle

[hdw]

By coincidence, I don't have any family connection with the place called Grahamslaw, but I did have an ancestor in Kelso with that surname.

Harry

[MonicaL]

Hi Morag

Welcome to RootsChat 

I'm curious, did Jane W and George marry in Scotland? I couldn't easily see a marriage for them.

Sad ending for her and George 

Monica

[morageckford]

George , by then a widower for the second time, came baclk to Scotland on a visit at the end of 1862 and returned to America with Jane, whom he refers to as a cousin.He sailed back to America that winter and married her in Kalamazoo in January 1863. He was 60 in February and in August his 19 year old son was drowned in a lake, then Jane and the baby died.
His first wife died giving birth to her second baby, the first one died too.
His second wife had his 6 children and they all survived.  She died of TB in 1860.
His third wife was Jane and his last wife also died before him.
So he outlived five of his children and four wives.

If you are interested in history, please read his memoirs 'From Kelso to Kalamazoo', it's an amazing collection of memories of a long gone way of life.

[brina]

I have just finished reading the book "From Kelso to Kalamazoo" and can strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about life in the 1800's.   There are so many interesting facts contained in this book and clearly travel and temperance were two of the main factors in George's life.

I was fascinated to read that George's parents had sailed to America in 1801 immediately after their marriage but returned to Scotland a short time after.   His father always dreamed of returning one day.

We have not yet solved the Whellans connection but perhaps one day we will.  I was also particularly interested to see that Jane and George decided to travel to Kalamazoo before marrying.   One would imagine that Jane would want to get married at home before embarking on such a journey.

If you live in the Scottish Borders your local library will loan this book to you.

[MonicaL]

Hi Brina

It is a pity that Jane did not marry in Scotland, it would have helped in identifying her family!

Monica

[brina]

Hi Monica,

You are absolutely right - things would be so much easier.   I am sure we will find out who Jean Whellans was but it is so annoying not to be able to identify her from the records we currently have.

Thanks for your interest in this thread.   It is people like you who can so often point us in the right direction or make suggestions to try things that have so far escaped us.   Sometimes it is easy to get tunnel vision when researching something and the obvious escapes us.

If I find out anything else I will post here again.

Brina

[morageckford]

Hello Brina

I'm pleased to hear that the book 'From Kelso to Kalamazoo' was a good read.

There must be a record of Jane's marriage to George Taylor in America, it would have been in Kalamazoo in January 1863.

Why not try emailing Kalamazoo Library? (Look on the web)

Hope this helps.

morageckford

[hdw]

There is an enthusiastic review of "From Kelso to Kalamazoo" in the latest issue of the Scots Magazine (August 2009). I scanned it onto my computer and tried to paste it in here but it didn't work.

Harry

[brina]

I hope that this works and is allowed.   It is the book review from the Scots Magazine.

By the way I have e-mailed Kalamazoo Public Library to ask for help in tracing Jane Whellans and George Taylor's marriage certificate.   Here's hoping I am lucky and if so I will share the information on this site.

http://www.scotsmagazine.com/bookReviews.asp


Jean