I have been looking for my Great grandfather, Robert S. McKay for the better part of 60 years. It is said he was born in Fraserburgh, October 13, 1813. However, there is absolutely no record of Robert there. It appears as though he left Fraserburgh before the 1841 census. His middle name was, according to his obituary, STEPHENSON. I am beginning to wonder if Robert may have been adopted or fostered out to a Stephen or Stephenson family. I have found a James MacKay who married Elizabeth Stephen Oct 30, 1803 in Tyrie. I believe there is a family here somewhere, but I cannot prove it
According to Robert's biography, which he wrote he wrote for an OHIO USA County history; he left Aberdeenshire around 1836 to go to Manchester, England—I assume for work. He was a stone mason and Manchester was in the middle of the industrial revolution, and building was a major occupation of masons. In Manchester he married Emma Hurst/Hirst around 1845, and they had a child William Wallace McKay born 1845. The only record I can find of this family in Manchester is William’s birth record. Again Robert left Manchester before the 1851 census.
Robert went to Springfield, Ohio USA, in 1848. He was followed by an Archibald C. McKay in 1854. Archibald was a shoemaker who had married Jessie McBeath sometime around 1848. They had two children, a daughter Jessie b.1850 and a son Alexander Stephen b. 1848., who went with them to Springfield. Like Robert I can find no record of Archibald in Freaserburgh except on the 1851 census. He is on the 1860 census in Ohio. There is no record of the relationship of Robert and Archibald in either Fraserburgh or Springfield.
Does anyone have any information on Elizabeth Stephen, who married in 1803 to James MacKay b. 1784, Robert Stephenson McKay b. 1813, or Archibald McKay b. 1808? Does this story ring a bell with anyone? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
David