Author Topic: Who is this David Allan ??  (Read 876 times)

Offline Robneve

  • RootsChat Senior
  • ****
  • Posts: 295
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Who is this David Allan ??
« on: Thursday 01 November 18 20:17 GMT (UK) »
I have a David Allan in my Scottish ancestors who turns up in some Scottish legal documents as living in Natchez  between 1860 & 1864.   My Ancestry tree also shows a David Allan who arrived in Mississippi in 1837 and this would appear to be the David Allan who married Mary Ann Robinson in Ohio in 1839. His marriage cert. says he is from Natchez.  Subsequent Census reports show him and Mary Ann in St. Louis in 1850 and Carondelet in 1870.  The census returns say he was a "Steam Engineer". My David Allan from Scotland was a farmer's son.  I am trying to prove that these 2 "David Allan's" are the same person.   Any advice / assistance would be greatly appreciated.


Offline usaPetticrew

  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 151
    • View Profile
Re: Who is this David Allan ??
« Reply #1 on: Thursday 01 November 18 22:08 GMT (UK) »
Which Natchez?  In Mississippi, or in Louisiana?

The family of the 1850 census, in 1860 census is in
St Louis Ward 5, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri

No father David is shown. 

Margt A. Allen 45, David 18 bookkeeper, James 16, Alexander 11, Anna 7.  All b. Ohio except Anna b. Missouri.

The Margt could be Mary, just hard to tell from the page image.  She had some net worth, value of real estate was $30,000.

There wasn't any designation for her as widowed or married, which would have been helpful to know.

In that census, a David Alen, 54, b. Scotland is in Wallace Ridge, Catahoula, Louisiana, but he is listed as a carpenter.  He's in a household of unrelated males.
Petticrew, Pettigrew, Bedigrew, and all variants.

Offline usaPetticrew

  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 151
    • View Profile
Re: Who is this David Allan ??
« Reply #2 on: Friday 02 November 18 21:06 GMT (UK) »
An obit in this paper might help:

Database:  Newspapers.com

Newspaper:
Natchez Democrat
Natchez, Mississippi
Tuesday, April 24, 1883 - Page 2

Summary:

David Allan died, no date given, but burial date was "yesterday", i.e. April 23, presumably.  Allan had lived in Natchez for many years.  He was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, b. 1808.  He had his 75th birthday a few days before he died.

Since, on your other thread, you said your David Allan was b. Apr. 4, 1808, this could be your man.

Also, the death notice:

Newspaper:
The Weekly Democrat
Natchez, Mississippi
Wednesday, May 09, 1883 - Page 3

"Deaths within the limits of the city of Natchez:"
April 22, David Allan, debility, age 75 years.

In The Weekly Democrat, multiple ads, from 1879 to 1880, listed him as a mill-wright and engineer, and he owned a foundry.

Natchez Democrat
Natchez, Mississippi
Saturday, April 28, 1883 - Page 2

This notice said the Magnolia Foundry had been sold to James Orr.  "The foundry was recently the property of the late David Allan."


I had no luck searching for him in the 1880 census, in Mississippi.
Petticrew, Pettigrew, Bedigrew, and all variants.

Offline usaPetticrew

  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 151
    • View Profile
Re: Who is this David Allan ??
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 03 November 18 12:13 GMT (UK) »
Lucky you.  I found the conclusive evidence that David Allan of Natchez, MS, and David Allan of St. Louis, MO are the same man.

Missouri Judicial Records Historical Database:

Allan, David - Plaintiff
Cafferatta, Louis - Defendant

"Plaintiff did business in Natchez, Mississippi, presumed dead, property sold; mentioned Confederate lines, Lincoln's election, tuition for plaintiff's 2 sons; plaintiff's divorce 1858; deposition of plaintiff; Civil War"

You can see the complete 54 page case file at this link, by going to the bottom of the page and clicking through to the image.

https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/JudicialRecords/Detail.aspx?id=326648

Page 8 states Allan left Missouri in 1859, and that he was "engaged in business in Natchez when the rebellion commenced."  That rebellion was the American Civil War, which began 1861.

That explains why he wasn't listed with his family in St. Louis in the 1860 census.

Page 22 starts his deposition, taken in Natchez.  He stated that he is a millwright and an engineer.  He came to St. Louis in 1850.  Several more pages follow.


There were other cases naming David Allan, Jr.  See here:
https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/JudicialRecords/

You might find more about these Allans at other databases on the Missouri Digital Heritage site:
http://mdh.deepwebaccess.com/mdh/desktop/en/search.html

Petticrew, Pettigrew, Bedigrew, and all variants.


Offline Robneve

  • RootsChat Senior
  • ****
  • Posts: 295
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Who is this David Allan ??
« Reply #4 on: Saturday 03 November 18 15:09 GMT (UK) »
Thank you very much for all your hard work and please accept my apologies for the delay in replying.

I still have to go through all the legal stuff but, initially you have found some interesting material and a problem as well.  At first glance, it looks as if there were TWO David Allan's in Natchez Mississippi at the same time.  But for my desire to obtain hard proof of relationships, I would not have believed that possible.  My thinking being that Natchez was probably a small place and finding two Scottish people with the same name and born on the same year should be impossible.  Here is what I have to think about.  You have given me an obit for a David Allan who died April 23 with a birthday just a few days prior.  A perfect mach for MY ancestor indeed.  BUT the obit says  "Mill Wright" and "native of Edinburgh". There was a David Allan born in Edinburgh in 1808 and HIS father was a Mill Wright, but the date of birth was 12 July so hardly likely to have celebrated a birthday on or just before 12 April !!  My ancestor was born in Falkirk and was the son of a fairly wealthy farmer. Hence the long list of documents going back and forth between 1840 & 1860 or so concerning an inheritance.  I will go back to the documents I have and go through them again since Natcez lawyers are mentioned as well as a Power of Attorney.   Also until now I did not know there was a "Natchez". in Louisiana.

The St Louis David Allan that appears in several Ancestry Trees was the man I thought to be my ancestor although there was no real proof until the Falkirk Museum came up with  papers referring to David Allan in Natchez. The David Allan who married Mary Harper in Ohio did give his address as "Natchez"  The interesting thing about that is that (If my history is any good) Natchez was in Confederate hands.  Yet this David has a son (also David) who served in the Union Army from start to finish and is known to have traveled on the Mississippi river at one point.

To find a death or grave marker was exactly what I was looking for but your Newspaper obit is confusing unless someone somewhere has confused two separate "David Allan's".   Genealogy is fun isn't it ??


Offline usaPetticrew

  • RootsChat Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 151
    • View Profile
Re: Who is this David Allan ??
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 03 November 18 22:03 GMT (UK) »
You'll have to figure out that conundrum yourself.  The sale of the foundry just a few days after his death gives a clue that the David Allan who died 22 April 1883 was the millwright and engineer, and hence the same man as named in the St. Louis court case, also said to be a millwright and engineer. 

Who knows, maybe the obit said he was from Edinburgh because that was more recognizable to the readers than Falkirk, Stirlingshire.  In the general same neck of the woods in Scotland?

Here gives you historical population of Natchez, 6600 in 1860, 9000 in 1870.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez,_Mississippi

You lost me with the mention of Mary Harper.  I thought he married Margaret Robinson.

At that Missouri Digital Heritage site you can find Civil War letters to and from David Allan Jr. who did serve in the Union army and became a captain.  One of the letters was from his uncle Robinson, and in others David refers to his siblings as James, Alexander, and Anna.  This is the same family as in the 1860 census in St. Louis.

Yes, Mississippi was a Confederate state.  In the St. Louis court case file, David Allan Sr. states that he could not get through the Confederate lines to return to St. Louis.  He moved to Natchez before the start of the war, and at some point probably was stuck there until war's end.

The census records are problematic.  For 1860, 1870, 1880 I couldn't find even one David Allan/Allen in Mississippi who was b. Scotland, let alone two. 

Petticrew, Pettigrew, Bedigrew, and all variants.