Mystery here... hoping someone can help me find a bit more documentation...
What I know:
My mother's mother's mother was Helen McGregor Seth, b. 1869 in Dumbarton. The (transcription of the) 1871 Scottish Census lists her in Dumbarton, parents as William Seth ("ship joiner at works") and Mary J Seth, b. 1844 (age 27) whose birthplace is listed only as "Subject, America British".
THAT was a surprise... but it made it easier to track the family and find Mary Jane as a child. The 1861 Census has a Mary Jane Jarvis (age 17, same "Subject, American British"), dressmaker and stepdaughter to head of household Charles Douglas; mother listed as Helen Douglas, whole pile of Douglas children. The family is living on High Street, Linlithgow.
Farther back - 1851 Census - lists her as age 7, same parents, brother William Jarvis, age 5, and for both, place of birth is listed as "British Subject, United States."
Other helpful online folk have confirmed: Mary Jane Jervis and William Seth married Dec 31, 1862, Helen McGregor Seth was born July 3rd, 1869. This family has had a VERY strong tendency for naming children after their grandparents. So I started looking for a Helen McGregor Jarvis who might have been Mary Jane's mother. There is also a David Jarvis Seth among Mary Jane's children... giving me a headstart on her father's name.
Some digging DID find me a New York Passenger List (arrival 31 May 1842) that includes David Jarvis (age 28, "wright") and Helen Jarvis (age 20) traveling with a Margaret McGregor (age 19) and Mary McGregor (age 9). (Her sisters?) They had departed Dundee (although it may not have originated there, and that's just the port, not necessarily a residence of any of the travelers.) In trying to research the ship, I found mention from the port recordkeeper in NY that the same ship had arrived a year earlier full of immigrants whose passage had been paid by the Glasgow Emigration Society, and who had arrived penniless, expecting to be given land, which was not at all the case. He notes that he arranged for some to work in the port, but some refused it.
An IGI lookup confirms: David Jervis and Helen McGrigor married Jun 4th, 1838, in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.
Back to the Census ... 1841 finds a David Jarvis (age 25) and Helen Jarvis (age shown as 26, but I think that may be a transcription error and what's written is '20', with the "0" being looped and mistaken for a "6"?) living on High St in Linlithgow, no children. He's listed as a Journeyman Joiner (Joiner J) and she as a dressmaker. So all of that fits.
However: I can find no record of either of them before their marriage. I can find no record of a family with children Helen, Margaret and Mary McGregor/McGrigor in Linlithgow or elsewhere. I can't pin down a David Jarvis in Dundee (why did they marry there?) I can't explain why they would have picked up and gone to NY, I can't find any record of them in NY, and I can't find any record of David Jarvis after his arrival. I can find no birth record for Mary Jane or William in the US. I can't find any record of Helen and her children Mary Jane and William returning to Scotland. I can't explain how Helen lived in the same place (High St. Linlithgow) with both husbands... but no other family. (Is High St. a long road? Maybe it's coincidence?)
I did, in trying to imagine the story, discover that there was a particularly bad cholera epidemic in NYC in 1849, but it's pure speculation to think that was a cause of death for David or the impetus for the family to return to Scotland. I can't even confirm that they stayed in NYC and didn't travel/live elsewhere while in the States.
I'm so intrigued... ANY suggestions on how to track down more info on this family - including help with any lookups you think might be helpful - would be appreciated!