Alexander Ogilvie Stevenson & Barbara Stevenson from Banff, Scotland

[MonicaL]

Are these modern images connected to Auchanachie Farm, Fordyce www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=35151339 (Have to admit, I love photos and maps  ).

There are Wills & Testament entries (doesn't state what type  ) on SP www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk for both Robert and Isabella (Watt):

Robert Stevenson -20/02/1874
Isabella Watt (Stevenson) - 29/04/1873

I see the brilliant sunshine in the photographs and highlight the contrasts with Scotland.

Alex and nw_whiskers , weather in the UK, wild and mixed in this Olympic 2012. London this weekend is the hottest few days this year...too hot and humid with our UK house furnishings! Sunny weather in Durango too!

Alex, is this your granfather, el Ing. Alejandro Ogilvie Stevenson Torrijos? www.canal10.com.mx/?mod=historia

Monica

[MonicaL]

I do not have a subscription unfortunately...but very tempting for you both (and me, the adopted child!)...

Aberdeen Journal
Births, Deaths, Marriages and Obituaries
“... city of Mexico, June 14, Mr ALEX. - STEvENsoN, late of Banff, Seotand (sonof Mr RobertStovenson, Achanaeby), and now of the Hacienda ... ”

Source:  Wed 18 Aug 1858, Aberdeen Journal,  Aberdeenshire, Scotland
www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

 nw_whiskers, are you able to access this from local archives?

Monica

[MonicaL]

OK, I am excited  ...another online source...

Marriages:
At the British Consulate, City of Mexico, June 14, Mr Alex. Stevenson, late of Banff Scotland, (son of Mr Robert Stevenson, Achanachy), and now of Hacienda de Guajolote, near Mineral del Monte to the eldest daughter of General MORENO.
Wed 18 Aug 1858, Aberdeen Journal

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Monica & Alex,  The wills on Scotlands People are often just a list of items that turn out to be a bit boring according to what I have been told and cost 5 UK Pounds each but the THOUGHT is good.  I have used the Death Record Area a few times and it often turns up excellent pointers for us.  It is about Mort Cloths like the one for William Stevenson d 1771.  It is in George Stevenson-Marnoch 1748.rtf attachment and they are usually "one liners".  Unfortunately the OPR Death Records are far from complete but it one avenue of research that is there and should be used.
The Aucanachie pictures look good but if you zoom out a bit on the map you will also see Auchmore where Alex Reid b 1765 lived on the outskirts of Portsoy.  If you look a wee bit to the West you will see Durn House and then up the road to Mill of Durn & Knockdurn.  Douglas O Stevenson b 1875 was in about there after Alex O Stev's brother died (Robert O Stevenson *.rtf notes).  I will put the photograph of the Grave Stone up for you but the events on that are a bit sad.  A bit more to the West is Fordyce and I have the Stevenson connection to the War Memorial ready for that one.
On the Aberdeen Journal it may be better if I go into the actual physical archive for that one but you are correct it is a VERY interesting link.
You are doing a great job and it is appreciated,  nw_whiskers.

 

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Monica & Alex,  Now you can see why the Alex O Stevenson b 1830 male line has died out in Scotland.  Many were lost in WW II for our western freedom which we all value greatly but we also need to mourn for those who did not come back.  On the map you can see that the new cemetary is on the outskirts of Fordyce and the War Memorial is just inside the gate.  The attached picture is a family one and is further into this cemetary. The Old Cemetary is right into the village and is part of the ground that the Church stands on.  I have been searching for the relevant photographs but it looks like a trip to Fordyce to get them but you have the MI in text for now thanks to the work of William Crammond 1886.
It has been mostly hot, humid and sunny in Scotland today which is great if you want the plants to grow but it is not near as bright as Mexico or SanJose, CA or Alice Springs in Australia for that matter but it passes for me!
Best wishes,  nw_whiskers
 

[nw_whiskers]

Dear Monica & Alex,  A happier picture this time as all these head stones can get you down if you are not directly involved in picking over the family details.

On a personal note I discovered to my horror that I had reached 88.6Kg over my lazy winter at the computer but it is improving as I am now down to just over 85Kg which is great.  The only problem is that the Duke of York potatoes are ready in the garden and I love the taste of them as long as my wife does not boil then excessively and they go into soup.  Perhaps I will consider the 5 + 2 regime before next winter.  The 5 days sound good but 600 calories on the other two sounds like I will need more determination & will power. 

Sleep well and have a happy Monday at work,  nw_whiskers

Moderator Comment: Image of cert cropped due to copyright issues. Only small relevant sections can be added.

[A.Stevenson]

  Dear all:

   As promised, I had a field trip today and I have some photos to share with you.   Monica, great findings!   I think you gave us a great lead to find some info about Alexander Ogilvie b. 1830 and his time in Mexico.   I looked for this place, Real del Monte, and it's a mining town in Hidalgo state.  Looks like a nice little town and a good place to start looking for what happened with Alexander there.   I think you turned one of our family stories into a fact.  And you are right, its wonderful to be able to share with our relatives what has happened to us here, and to read/listen to what happened to them there.   I want to thank nw_whiskers for taking some time to do that.   It has been really nice sharing all this stuff with both of you.   
  I knew my Grandfather lived in Monterrey at that time but I didn't know the whole family moved with him.   I have an hypothesis to share, but I will write it later, as I have another one that I would like to share first.
  As I wrote before, there is a family story about my Great Grandfather returning to Scotland for a while with his children.   I believe our family left Durango for a while on 1913.   If you see the census Monica kindly shared with us, you can see that in 1930 Leonor had 17 years and was born in San Luis Potosì.   My Great Grandfather had a brother there.   Anyways, I tried to find they moved from Durango and found an interesting article here:   http://revistabicentenario.com.mx/index.php/archivos/la-toma-de-durango-una-mirada-femenina/ (Sorry nw_whiskers, it's written in spanish, I suggest you try using an online translator to read the full story)
   It is an account of the siege of Durango by someone who lived in town at that time.   Since March of 1913, Durango had issues with the "maderistas", a rebel faction that fought against the man that killed President Madero.   First they cut all the communications with the outside.   It was hard to find goods and food.   They tried to take city on April, but failed.   That's when local businessman funded a militia, called "Defensa Social".   Their objective was to protect their businesses and families.  As we know, back at that time Alexander worked at the Cerro del Mercado mine.   Perhaps he helped funding this militia.   Finally, the revolutionaries took the city on June and the city was plundered.   Business were burned, houses were robbed.  I believe this situation triggered another migration for my Great Grandfather and his family.   It looks like they moved to San Luis Potosì and lived there for a while.   But there is also this family account about my Great Grandfather returning to Scotland.   Do you know if this is true nw_whiskers?
   And here comes one of the pictures I took today.   Its from the tower of the Temple of Santa Ana.  This is very close, like one or two blocks, from where I believe Alexander lived at that time.   If you pay close attention, you can still see the scars left by the battle of 1913: there are bullet and cannon holes.

   My best,

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

   Dear All:

   Thanks to the census page Monica found, I spent some time thinking what where they doing in Monterrey.   So I started a little research to try to somehow explain that movement.   I knew Fundidora Monterrey bought a long time ago the mine at El Cerro del Mercado, but I didn't know the exact year until today.   
   Turns out Fundidora Monterrey bought the mine on 1920.   So Alexander Ogilvie now worked for them.   As you probably have guessed by now, Fundidora Monterrey headquarters were located on Monterrey, so I believe they spent some time there because Alexanders' job.   I found two more articles I would like to share with you.   This one has a paragraph about my Grandfather, Alejandro, in Monterrey: http://radiomty.blogspot.mx/   I will translate an excerpt from this article:

   "The third radio station, identified as X.E.F.B, was founded on April 4th, 1931, with the motto of "Quintanilla and Stevenson".   It was found by Gilberto Quintanilla and Alejandro Stevenson, with the advice of don Jesùs Quintanilla, Gilbertos' father."   By the way, I discovered this about three years ago.   I was studying at Monterrey (lived there from 2000 to 2004, and then returned from 2008 to 2009) and I did a thesis called "How to make a profitable radio station" for my Masters Degree.   I had to research a lot about the history of radio in Mexico, and I found that fact on a published book.  The climate in Monterrey is the worst thing I have endured on my life.   It's as hot as Mexicali, the place where Fernando lives, the climate changes very quickly, its very difficult to predict, and on top of that, it gets hit by hurricates, so flooding is a problem sometimes.

   So, on April 1931 the family still lived in Monterrey, so, when did they returned to Durango?  I have found another article, written by a local historian, about the history of radio in Durango:  http://www.elsiglodedurango.com.mx/noticia/138325.foro.html    Again, I will translate a little excerpt:

   "You may say that radio in Durango started with the X-2-A, located on Coronado Street 1003, on 1931, that transmitted daily from 20:00 to 22:00, but formally, radio started with the founding of XEE, "The voice of Durango", inaugurated on Wednesday, June 27th 1934, on 20 de Noviembre street 122 Poniente, home of Mr. Alejandro O. Stevenson Jr."

   I believe my Grandfather was behind X-2-A.  On Coronado Street lived some relatives for a long time, even I think my father lived with his parents on that street.   So by 1931 I suppose they returned to Durango.

   I'm attaching a couple of photos from my sunday excursion.  On one, you can see how does the mine in el Cerro del Mercado looks today from a nearby hill.   On the other one, you can see Durango from the same hill.   

   Hope you had a repairing sleep!

   Alex

[A.Stevenson]

   nw_whiskers:

   Thanks for sharing all this with us.  I'm very grateful and amazed by the quantity of info you have.   On your post you solved one question I hadn't posted:  what happened in our family in Scotland with the Stevenson surname?  Is still carried by someone?.     It's a shame and really sad we had some of our ancestors killed on WWII.   As you wrote, we should be thankful for their sacrifice, as they helped to stop a threat to the whole world, and we also should mourn or remember all the ones that didn't return to their homes.

   I still have more pictures to share with you.   As you wrote before, I am "shell shocked" with all the info you have posted.   I have plenty to read yet in order to catch up with you.   Also, I will start a checklist of info I should try to find over time.  I am very intrigued with Alexander Ogilvie b. 1830 time in Mexico.   Tomorrow I will post more photos.  For now, I will attach a picture of the Main Square, so you can see how does it look today.  It is a little late here and sleep is starting to win over me.   Right now we have a nice rainy night.  I believe it will help my sleep.  I hope you both had a great weekend!  Good luck with your daily activities!

   Best regards,

   Alex

   P.S.   Monica, another good read for you:  Battles in the desert, from Josè Emilio Pacheco.  A nice short story about growing up on Mexico City on the late 40's, early 50's.  By the way, you found the family business, we still work in the radio & tv industry.   Alejandro Stevenson T. its my Grandfather.   nw_whiskers, I have been gaining weight too!  My usual weight was 85 Kg, now I am 92 Kg.  I blame my work, I spent all the time sitting behind my desk.   I love cooking and eating, so a diet is very difficult for me.  Instead, I started playing basketball again.   Thankfully, my height is 1.90 m, so when I gain weight its not so easily noticed