Thriller Thrusday - Disappearance of Francis Paterson

On Friday, January 21, 1921 in the newspaper, "Island County Times" from Coupeville, Washington the heading read "Aged Greenbank Resident Disappears".  This aged resident was my great grandfather, Francis Paterson.  He disappeared the day before Christmas. According to the article there were searches and inquiries but no clues as to his whereabouts. As he was living on an island there were not many ways to leave.  If he did leave, no one seen him go. Some feared that he wandered off into the darkness and perished.  But after many times combing through the area, no evidence was found.  Francis Paterson's disappearance is still a mystery.

One of the last photos of Francis Paterson

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Mother's Day

This is a day to honour and remember our mothers and all the mothers in our families. Here are a few of the remarkable mothers of Robert's and my family trees - our  great grandmothers. (All great grandmothers listed with married name, maiden name would be father's surname).

Elizabeth Paterson - Elizabeth was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland on March 12, 1858. Her parents were William Danskine and Agnes Findlay. She was the mother of seven girls and one boy. At 61, she died of the Spanish Flu on April 22, 1919 at South Cooking Lake, Alberta.

Edith Elinore Warry - Edith was the daughter of John William Smith and Sarah Everton Wakeman. She was born in Dorset, England on August 4, 1876. She was mother of one girl, two boys, and an adopted girl.  Edith was 70 years old when she died in Edmonton, Alberta in November of 1946.

Carolina Makie - Carolina was born September 17, 1887 in Oskar, Michigan, United States to immigrant parents. Liina was the mother of two girls, two boys, and her sister's son. Her parents were Sakaris Honkawaara and Briita Maria Riekki from Finland.  She died in 1966 in Rich Lake, Alberta at 79 years old.

Bessie Beatrice Belknap - Bessie was born August 2, 1888 in Keithburg, Mercer County, Illinois, United States. She was the daughter of James Robert Landers and Angeline Henrietta Littrell. She was mother to five daughters and two sons. Sadly only three daughters survived to adulthood. She passed away January 27, 1947 in Edmonton, Alberta at 58 years old.

Bertha May Foster - Bertha was born November 7, 1887 in Rockland, Kings County, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of Phillip Taylor and Lucinda Lutz, and the mother of five boys. She died February 2, 1982 at 94 years old. 

Ida Leota Loomer - Ida was born June 23, 1886 in Falmouth, Kings County, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of Edward Smith and Carrie Davidson, and the mother of six daughters and four sons. Before she was a Mom, she was a school teacher at the schoolhouse on the North Mountain by Aylesford. She passed away November 8, 1960 at 74 years old. 

Alice Stoddart - Alice was the daughter of George Randall and Martha Ella Foster. She was born February 8, 1881 in Harmony, Kings County, Nova Scotia. She was the mother of three daughter and four sons. She died at 62 years old on July 5, 1943.

Florence Odessa Lutz - Florence was the daughter of Thomas Palmer and Bessie Mapplebeck.  She was born in Rockland, Kings County, Nova Scotia on August 5, 1899.  She was the mother of 16 children, all surviving childhood. What a busy Mom! She lived to be 76 and passed away December 13, 1975. 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Write a Limerick!

Thanks to Randy Seaver  at Genea-Musings once again for a great challenge.  This was so much fun, I did three.

There was an old man from Scotland,

Who passed on the name Cumberland.

With preservation in mind,

He thought he was being kind.

And found the whole scheme to be grand.

There was a young man of England,

Who lost all of his money at hand.

To start all over,

He wished on a clover.

And sailed away to a new land.

There was a young woman with a book,

For ancestors of the past she looked.

For an old mystery,

Based on family history.

And found old great granddad was a crook.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

Another mission from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings.

I use RootsMagic 5 as my Genelaogy Management Program.  I have 10,018 surnames in my husband's and my tree.  My Surname Statistics List is 32 pages long.  Of those pages about 20 pages list surnames that occur only once. The most common surnames in our combined tree are:

Foster        324

Warry        172

Chute         151

Danskin      150

Nichols       142

Sanford      134

Fuller         131

Belknap      127

Lutz           122

Randall      120

Morton       114

Landers      107

Knox          107

Smith         106

Bristol        102

Loomer        93

Palmer         86

Taylor          83 

Tupper         77

Morse          75

Davison        75

Baldwin        66

Stoddart       65

Gates           64

Cleveland     63 

Carpenter     63

Wheeler       60

Humbert       60

Whitman      55

Johnson       55 

Easton         54 

Paterson      53

Most of these surnames are from Robert's tree, which are marked blue, my surnames are marked red, and we both have some surnames that appear in both our trees, marked in green.

Fearless Females - Family Document

March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.

At 12 Commonside Street, Airdrie, Scotland in the home of William Danskine, the grocer, and Agnes Findlay a baby girl was born. On March 12th, 1858 at 7:00 pm, my great grandmother, Elizabeth Danskine was born. Her father, William Danskine was present and registered the birth in Airdrie on March 26, 1858 with the registrar.

Fearless Females — Diary, Journal, or Collection of Letters

March 8 — Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.

Last year I posted about an memory book of my grandmother, Dorothy Paterson (Warry).  Since this is the closest thing that I have to a diary, journal or letters, I'll share another page. 

 

There's so much

bad in the best of us,

and so much good

in the worst of 

us, that it ill

behaves any of

us, to talk about

the rest of us.

E. Norman,   Aug 1919

Fearless Females - Marriage Records

March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

I have a marriage record for my great grandparents, Francis Paterson and Elizabeth Danskine.  They married June 11, 1883 at Commonside Street in Airdre, Scotland.  Francis was a widower, who work as a collector and treasurer clerk at the Gas Works, and Elizabeth was a spinster. Francis's parents were Johnston Paterson and Catherine Muirhead.  Elizabeth's parents were William Danskine and Agnes Findlay.  The marriage was witnessed by Francis's aunt, Kate Paterson, and Elizabeth's brother in law, John Aiken.

Fearless Females - Unique or Unusaual Female First Name

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I have a unique first name in my family tree, I've not come across another Jacqueline or Jackie.   But I've come across a few unique names for females on my Scottish side. Although most of the first names are quite common, it's the middle names that make them unique.  Names such as Agnes Gilchrist Danskine and Jemmia Findlay Danskine. What a wonderful way to leave clues for the family researcher, by adding maiden names as middle names.

Fearless Females - Photo of Female Ancestor

Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

Marion Bryce White

 

Here is another photo from my envelope collection with a name written on the back.  Marion Bryce White was the older sister of Jessie Paterson White, from my earlier post.  She was born October 26, 1875 in Airdrie, Lanark, Scotland and died July 8, 1945.  Like her sister, she never married. I love the umbrella, hat, and overcoat.  Both photos seem to be taken in the street, as they walked.   Was a family member trying to a catch a photo, to send to the relatives in Canada?

Fearless Females - Favorite Female Ancestor

Thanks to Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist for Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts for March in honour of National Women’s History Month in the USA.  It's a great encouragement to write about our female ancestors, who sometime get lost in the family tree. 

Do you have a favorite female ancestor?  One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

What a hard choice to choose one as your favorite.  It's like choosing one of your children as your favorite.  Each of them are unique and have their own qualities. Since I've been trying to focus my research on my Scottish side, a female ancestor who intrigues me would be my third great grandmother, Ann Hunter.  She married James Paterson, a spirit dealer, in Glasgow, Scotland on June 5th, 1810.  They have the following children, all born in Glasgow, Scotland:

James Paterson born May 1, 1811

Francis Paterson born December 12, 1812

Johnston Paterson born 19 February 1819

Alexander Paterson born 3 August 1823

Mary Paterson born June 7 1826

These are the children that I know about, there could be more as there is a gap in some of the birth years.  I don't know much about Ann Hunter.  I'm unsure of who her parents were and when she died.  It seems that both Hunter and Paterson are a common surname and Ann, a common first name.  I think she may have born in Glasgow, as her marriage record states she is a resident of Glasgow. Maybe the clue to her father's name is in the naming of her sons.  The Scottish seems to have a naming system.  I'll continue my search by looking over the Scottish birth and baptisms index on Family Search. 

Wordless Wednesday - Jessie Paterson White

Jessie Paterson White

In an envelope of photos that I received from my aunt and uncle, I found a few with names on the back.  This happened to be one of them and I knew exactly who this was.  Jessie Paterson White would be my 1st cousin 2x removed. Her parents were Ann Paterson and John White.  She was born June 10, 1877 in Airdrie, Lanark, Scotland and died December 12, 1943.  It seems that she never married.  Her family in Scotland and her uncle's family in Canada must have stayed in touch.

Sympathy Saturday - The Patersons in Scotland

My second great grandparents, Johnston Paterson and Catherine Muirhead were married in Glasgow, Scotland on July 2, 1837.  I found the following children born before the the introduction of General Registration in 1855 in the 1841 and 1851 census.

Johnston Paterson, circa 1838

James Paterson, circa 1840

Catherine Paterson, circa 1844

William Paterson, circa 1846

Ann Paterson, circa 1849

Francis Paterson, circa 1851

Edward Paterson, circa 1853

Johnston and Catherine had a daughter, Elizabeth, born August 20, 1855.  Now, this is a bonus year for the family researcher.  The Scottish 1855 registration has extra information, such as how many children living and deceased.  Here's were it was really sad to read.  Elizabeth was Catherine's 10th child.  So not counting little Elizabeth, in 1855, Johnston and Catherine had 4 boys and 2 girls living.  3 boys are listed as deceased.  One is probably James, as he is on the 1841 census but not the 1851 census.  So I'm missing two boys. I think that they may have died in Glasgow before the family moved to Airdrie about 1845, as they are not mentioned in the Monumental Inscriptions from Wellwynd Churchyard in Airdrie, Lanark, Scotland. 

Erected by Catherine Muirhead in memory of her husband Johnston Paterson who died 20th April 1891 aged 75 years.  Their children, George H died 29th February 1860 aged 2 years.  Elizabeth died 1st March 1868 aged 2 years.  Edward died 22nd April 1868 aged 14 years.  William died June 1870 aged 24 years.  The above Catherine 23rd August 1897 aged 73 years. 

After 1855 Johnston and Catherine have two more children:

George Hunter Paterson born December 27, 1857

Jessie Paterson born September 1861

They lost four more children after 1855, most of them before the age of 14.  How terrible for parents to see seven of their twelve children die. Of the five children that survive:

Johnston vanishes, his whereabouts are unknown at the time of Johnston's and Catherine's death. (This requires more research.)

Catherine marries John Greenlees in 1894. They have no children.

Ann marries John White in 1872 and they have seven children.

Francis marries Ewenina Kennedy in 1881 and Elizabeth Danskine in 1883. He has eight girls and one boy, (my grandfather).

Jessie never marries.

Out of twelve children, Johnston Paterson has one grandson to carry on the family name of Paterson-my grandfather, Johnston Cumberland Paterson. 

Workday Wednesday -Bank Treasurer

One of my best discovers has been finding out an occupation that my 2nd great grandfather, Johnston Paterson, had later in life. I found a book through google books while searching for "Johnston Paterson" and Airdrie, Scotland.  One of the first results was a little snippet of a book by James Knox called "The Triumph of Thrift: The Story of the Savings Bank of Airdrie".  It gave just enough information, that I was sure this was my 2nd great grandfather.  I found the book on Abe Books at a reasonable price, and ordered it.  What an exciting find.  There was actually a chapter about him, Chapter XIII, pages 83 to 85, called Treasurer Johnston Paterson, 1878-1884.  If I had not found this book, I may have not discovered that he was a treasurer.  On the 1881 census he is listed as a house factor. 

It seems that the author of the book, James Knox, knew my 2nd great grandfather and work with him.  Johnston Paterson task of treasurer was to look after the cash.  I learned that he was of great moral principles, quite religious and very old school business. Interesting enough the author mentions that Johnston didn't trust the safes in the bank and carried the cash home each night to put in his own burglar-proof safe.  Now he must have been a tough character, as he would walk home in the dark of night with a heavily loaded stick as his protection. Johnston worked as treasurer from the age of 64-70.  But it looks like he consented to have that safe brought to the bank after about three years.  What a great look into a small part of my 2nd great grandfather's life. 

The author of the book, James Knox, is listed on the title page as the Manager of Airdrie Savings Bank; Hon. Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire; Ex-Provost of Airdrie; Author of "Airdrie -A Historical Sketch". It is interesting to read the history of the bank, and about the people who worked for the bank.  There are a few photos, but too bad not one of Johnston Paterson. 

The Airdrie Savings Bank  was established in 1835 and is still in business today. It's the only independent Savings Bank in the United Kingdom.  

My Best Discovery in 2011

My best discovery in 2011 would have to be finding Aunt Betty.  In March of 2011, I posted the tragic circumstance of Vera Ellen Marsh Seaman dying shortly after giving birth to a baby girl.  Her daughter, Elizabeth Mary Seaman, was born November 3, 1920. I began my search by ordering records from Ontario, to discover the death date of the grandparents that may lead to an obituary. In the meantime I thought I'd look into Vera's brothers.  Causally looking through records online, I come across a border crossing record from Canada to the U.S. for her brother, Kenneth.  This is an amazing source, full of information.  It has dates of births, wife's name and maiden name, when and where married,  names of who is the travel party, why they are traveling, address of residence, name of his business and so much more. But most important his daughter's name and birth date. Mary Elizabeth born November 3, 1920. This has to be her.  Looking through more records, I discover that Kenneth ended up in Victoria, British Columbia and Mary Elizabeth Seaman marries Arthur Turner.  So I order death records and obituaries for Kenneth Seaman and John Turner.  After going over and over the information, I'm convinced that this is Aunt Betty.  But to really know, I'll need to talk to someone who knew her. I decide to make some cold calls.  Since there seems to be too many Turners in the area, I settle on calling the eight Seamans.  Prepared with a written prompt of what to say and encouragement from my husband, I begin to call.  The first Seaman is a very nice gentleman, who tells me a Seaman website. On to the next. After going through my prompt, I hear an elderly lady inform me that she knew Betty.  What excitement, someone who knew Betty. She is Betty's sister-in-law. She is kind enough to tell me all about Betty. Not only that, her husband (Betty's brother) calls me later to talk about Betty. Now the bittersweet part, that had us in tears.  Betty had just recently past away, while I was building up the courage to make the phone calls. She was 90 years old.