Alexander Ogilvie Stevenson & Barbara Stevenson from Banff, Scotland

[A.Stevenson]

   Dear nw_whiskers:

   I got out of work and right now I am outside the municipal cemetery. I'll take some pictures and I will send them later to you when I get back to my office.  Also, I have a new goal: finding George.  Lets see if I can find the man in charge of the cemetery and get some directions.  Last year I couldn't find this man and I had to take a long walk in the cemetery.  There is a place inside the cemetery called the "English Section".  According to a plaque I saw there, the English Section is the place where prosperous immigrants and their families were buried.   Right there you can find Alexanders' grave.   If I don't get any directions, I think there is a good place to start.   We have a sunny day here, with nice temperature, its going to be a nice walk! As I wrote before, I have visited Edinburgh a couple of times (2004, 2007) and I remember the weather.  It was summer and it looked more to me like autumn, cloudy, sometimes rainy, then a little bit of sun, rain again... Sometimes it seemed unpredictable to me.

   Well, its time to put my mobile down and start walking.  I'll post my findings later.

   Best regards,

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

   Monica:

   You have a very Mexican name!   Guadalupe!  I have a cousin with the same name and we call her Lupita.   I will send you my best regards on December 12th, el día de tu santo!!     You still living in DF?

   I'm glad you are finding our history enjoyable, lots of things have happened on every generation.   I don't know if you have read One Hundred Years of Solitude, by García Márquez.  In that book, every generation of a family lived a different reality and had very different experiences.  Well, this is something like that, so many things have happened that you probably could write a novel like the one of García Marquez.  Anyways, enjoy your weekend!!

   Many thanks again!

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

   nw_whiskers:

   Good news! I was able to find George!   I can't believe I didn't see him last year, he is on the left side of Catalinas' grave.  Here is the main entrance to the old municipal cemetery.   It was created on 1859, previous graveyards were absorbed by the city, so there is nothing left of them.  Couldn't find the man in charge, so I took a walk inside.

   My best,

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

  nw_whiskers:

   Here is a photograph from the "English Section" I wrote about on a previous post.   Here you can see in the middle of the caption a path and then three graves.  Starting from the left, a stone grave marker apparently without a name on it, then two white crosses very close together.   Well, from left to right that's George, Catalina and Alexander.   More images coming up.

   My best,

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

  nw_whiskers:

  This is Georges' grave.   I couldn't find it last year because the inscription is facing the opposite way from the rest of the graves on that row.   George grave looks old, so I believe its the original one.   You can read the following on his grave:

    "Jorge Stevenson, born April 1st 1868 on Brechin, Scotland and died December 1st 1905.  R.I.P"   By the way, Jorge is the spanish version of George.   No signs of a wife or children, so its still a mistery if he ever got married.

   My best,

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

  nw_whiskers:

  Another angle for George, Catalina and Alexander graves.

  My best,

  Alex

[A.Stevenson]

  nw_whiskers:

  This is my last picture from this excursion into the cemetery.   Is a close up of Alexander Ogilvie grave.   You can read the following:

  "Alejandro O. Stevenson, died August 11th 1936.  R.I.P.   In loving memory from his wife and children"

   Tomorrow I intend to take a walk around historical downtown, so expect more pictures.   I have three possible locations for Alexanders' house.  I have two certified addresses where my Grandfather lived on 1931 and 1934.  At that time Alexander was still alive, so its possible he lived in the same house.  The third location is just a street, and I can't verify the location precisely.  Its a vague memory from a relative.   

   By the way nw_whiskers, I have heard that story about Alexander Ogilvie b. 1830.  What I know is that he came to Mexico, married a generals' daughter, who unfortunately died giving birth to a son.  That hard loss made him return.   Does anyone in Scotland know where Alexander Ogilvie b. 1830 lived in Mexico?  If he married after 1858, there is a small chance that we could find his marriage certificate.  On 1857, according to a new Mexican Constitution, it became mandatory to register births, marriages, and deaths through the government.   Prior to that, church records are the only source, but they are lots of churches in Mexico, and I don't think they were very careful with that info.   The problem trying to take a look into the government archives is the fact that they don't have old records digitalized, that makes searching a little more difficult and lenghty.  Knowing the place where he lived or married would be very helpful.

   My best,

   Alex

[MonicaL]

Hi Alex

The photos look great and how wonderful that you and nw_whiskers are now able to connect all the generations after all this time.

nw_whiskers, unless I am missing it, I think you have Alexander Ogilvie Stevenson Snr. in the census for 1841 and then a gap until after his marriage in 1865, so in the censuses from 1871 onwards. It could well be those years that he left and returned from Mexico. UK inbound passenger lists only really start from around 1878 onwards so we cannot pick up on his return to the UK from those unfortunately. How would someone have travelled to Mexico in those days? Via the US, not sure.

With all the later names we have talked about, this looks to be the family's 1930 Mexican census entry. Alexander Jnr. must have been away from home that day/night - https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/SP8H-RKX

PS: We returned from DF many years ago but have gone back a number of times  I think for me the two main pieces that capture that era in Mexico that we are talking about are One Hundred Years of Solitude, by García Márquez (which yes I have loved) and also the film with Rupert Everett: Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Spanish: Crónica de una muerte anunciada) directed by Francesco Rosi.
 
nw_whiskers, if you are able to read this book (there is an english translation) or view the film, it will give you a real flavour of that era in Mexico when the Stevenson brothers were arriving and living there.

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Alex & Monica,  The pictures from Mexico are brilliant and most appreciated.  Does anybody in Scotland have a thought of where Alex O Stevenson b 1830 was in Mexico when he was out there is a difficult one.  I have a recollection of a Mexican saddle been spoken about by Charles Anderson who lived Arbroath but he had a stroke some years ago so that is probably a non starter.  Edith b 1891 married Uncle Moss Anderson so Charles is one of their sons.  Barbara Morrision nee Anderson is in her 90s so she is our next best hope or only on that front.  We reckon that Barbara took her mother Edith b 1891 to Mexico at one stage but that was a long time ago.  We will work on it!  I see the brilliant sunshine in the photographs and highlight the contrasts with Scotland.
A few notes on Robert Stevenson and Family to keep the pot boiling.  It takes you back to Alex Ogilvie Stevenson b 1830 before we digress excessively.  As an aside my linguistic skills are somewhat limited until I get into the computer ones and then it is a totally different matter but I do enjoy a challenge.
Best wishes,  nw_whiskers.