Our Scotland Trip

Traveling – two words come to mind:  exhilaration and exhaustion! 

     After more than 25 hours of travel, Bruce and I arrived for the start of our Scotland travel on the evening of June 27. This is a trip that Bruce and his sister, Leslie, had been planning for months. Leslie and her partner, Nancy, joined us on June 30 in Glasgow for the rest of our 2 ½ week trip. We rented a car, arranged rooms at B&Bs around the country and saw much of Scotland. We made stops in Edinburgh, Pitlochry, St. Andrews, Inverness, Isle of Skye, traveled a scenic route around the north and down the west coast to Oban (to check out where the ancient McDougalls lived and see the castle), we had made stops earlier in Ayrshire and Berwickshire where our more recent McDougall (George) came from before arriving in Michigan (with the Muir family) in 1828. Then it was back to Glasgow to catch the flight home arriving July 13, tired but happy. My big disappointment is that Nessie didn’t show for me at Loch Ness. So – I settled for the t-shirt.

    I wrote in May about our upcoming trip to Scotland, Bruce’s YDNA project and my efforts to research the Buchanans and Laidlaws (his direct line) in Glasgow, Lockerbie and other areas of Scotland. As a reminder, the earliest couple we are seeking is: James Buchanan (1780- Bef. 1865) and Helen Laidlaw (1790-Bef. 1865) of Drysfesdale, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. Helen was born in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire. We found them and connected them with 9 other children – but not our Robert. He was the youngest and, well, probably got lost in the shuffle.

     We are quite sure that this couple is the parents of Bruce’s 2x-great-grandfather, Robert Buchanan, born about 1823-4. Robert lists a couple by the above names as his parents on his second marriage record and says on the 1851 and 1861 censuses that he was born in Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire (a Shire is like a County in the U.S.).

     A researcher in the that area, Erica, did some additional research for us and found more on the Laidlaws, but not really anything to help us document that James and Helen were Robert’s parents.

     The first day, before Leslie and Nancy arrived, Bruce and I met with Erica. She was delightful and we discussed our James Buchanan “brick wall.” Erica was able to find Helen’s baptism and identify her father and possibly even her grandfather Laidlaw. Erica showed us why James Bell, who we thought was the twin of the second Benjamin Bell born in 1822, was not his twin or even connected. We can certainly do more research on the Laidlaws in the future, but for now there is nothing further we can learn on the Buchanans. Erica is going to continue with some research for us and see if she can follow any of the other children of James and Helen, maybe something can be gleaned from those findings.

    We then did some driving around in the Dumfriesshire and Glasgow areas, finding the addresses we had noted from various censuses for the Buchanans. We probably didn’t see the original dwellings they had lived in – but got a sense of the areas. We also found the church (The Cathedral) that Bruce’s grandmother, Annie Mackie McAlister, probably lived near, possibly attended and certainly mentioned often. This is a Church of Scotland, or Presbyterian denomination.

    An exciting event on Saturday, after Leslie and Nancy arrived, was meeting two of Bruce and Leslie’s second cousins, Elaine (who came over from England for the day) and Elizabeth (Beth). We had a great dinner with them and got to know more about our Scottish family. On Sunday, we visited Bruce’s father’s only surviving first cousin, Margaret – 95 years young, sharp as a tack and such a delight. We spent a couple of hours talking to her and enjoying her memories of the family. (I think she could have easily talked for another couple of hours). Beth also gave Bruce and Leslie a small Bible given to their grandfather, David, in 1904, which ended up staying in Scotland all these years. What a treasure!

     On a current note about the YDNA project for Bruce, it is looking more and more as though Bruce and the other “outliers” mentioned previously, may have been among a group of the Scots who hundreds of years ago immigrated to the Ulster Plantation area of Ireland. Maybe James or his father (or grandfather) were from Ireland because of that, and eventually returned to Scotland but with a lot more “Irish” in their genes, as Bruce’s DNA is showing.

Search for Buchanans

Bruce and I are planning a trip to Scotland in late June. We will be traveling the countryside by car (praying we stay on the right – NO, left, side of the road), staying at B&Bs and small hotels. We will see as much of Scotland as we can. We both have ancestors from Scotland – but the names probably give that away.

    On the McDougall side, a young George McDougall accompanied the Andrew Muir family to the U.S. in 1827 and they were instrumental in the settling of Augusta Township in Washtenaw County, Michigan. It was said of the Andrew Muir farm, Shieldhall: “his chimney was the first that smoked” in Augusta Township. He and his wife, Mary Donaldson, had nine children (eight living when they emigrated as son, Gabriel, died as a young man in Scotland). They brought three with them (Mary, Sarah and Andrew, Jr.) and eventually three married daughters (Anna, Margaret and Jane) and their families joined them. We believe a son, William, and a daughter, Jean, stayed in Scotland. Many of the Michigan descendants (Campbell/Gardner/Rambo/Pearson and McLouth) are still in the Washtenaw County area.

    George McDougall, born in Moncton, Ayrshire, Scotland, married a Muir daughter, Mary, probably in New York, on their way to Michigan and settled in the same area. George eventually ran a flour mill in Ypsilanti. Several years ago, a distant cousin took George’s family back another four generations and the Muirs one generation in Scotland. They all came from Ayrshire, the same area where Robert Burns, the poet, had lived during his lifetime.

    The Buchanan line had not been researched until I did some initial work about 12-13 years ago with help from Bruce’s father, Stanley Mackie Buchanan. I was smart enough to ask Stan’s mother Annie Mackie (McAlister) Buchanan questions before she died.

    Bruce’s father was born in Scotland. His parents, David Buchanan (1887-1953) and Annie Mackie McAlister (1889-1986) were the first (and possibly the only ones from their family) to come to the U.S. David arrived about 1913. He served in the Army for a few months during WWI, before a heart murmur was detected. Because of his service, he was eligible to become a citizen. Due to the war, Annie had to wait until it ended in 1919 before joining him. They got married soon after she arrived. When she became pregnant and her time got closer, she went back to Scotland and Stan was born in Glasgow on 16 Dec 1921. When Annie and Stan returned about a year later, they remained in the Boston area where she and David had initially settled.

    Bruce is in a Buchanan Name Project with his YDNA, and has had additional testing done to determine his clan. For those who don’t know – YDNA follows only the direct line male ancestors while mtDNA follows only the direct line female ancestors. The Autosomal DNA test is for all relatives in between. Apparently, Bruce and five other men are outliers. They don’t fit into the ancestral groups or known clans within the project as of now and lots of investigation and research is going on.

    Following is a summary of my research to date:

James Buchanan   - died bef 1865  (hand loom weaver)
  +Helen Laidlaw     - died bef 1865    
         2   Robert Buchanan   ca 1823/24–1870 
              +(M1) Elizabeth Allan     1825-1864
               3      Helen Buchanan      1849-bef 1858
               3      Elizabeth Buchanan  1852 -
               3      James Buchanan  ca 1855-1865
               3      Margaret Buchanan 1856-1906
                       +John Benwood
               3      Helen Buchanan      1858 -
               3      Robert Buchanan    1860-1914
                       +Mary Anderson     1861-1913
                     4    Janet "Jennie" Buchanan  1883-1967
                           5    Hugh Buchanan  1910-1952                                   
                     4    Robert Buchanan    1885-1922
                     4    David Buchanan    1887-1953
                          +Annie M. McAlister 1889–1986           

                     4    Elizabeth Buchanan 1892-1968
                     4    Allan Buchanan     1894-1937
                            +(M1) Catherine Clark
                            +(M2) Clara Stewart 
                             5    Allan Buchanan  
                     4    George Buchanan    1897-1942
                              +Elizabeth Murray 1895-1924
                             5    Irene Buchanan    1924- 004
                                 +William Lauder    - 1974
                             5     Pearl Buchanan   1924-1983
                                  + Adam O'Neil
                      4    James Buchanan  1900- 1970
                             + Margaret Truman    - 1976
                            5     Living Truman Buchanan
                                   + Henry "Harry" Lynn   - 2008
                            5     Stanley A. Buchanan 1925-1974
                            5     Hilda Walker Buchanan  1929-2001
                            5     Living Buchanan               
                    +(M2) Helen Deans  1829 – Aft. 1910
             3     George Buchanan  1867 -
             3     Charles Campbell Buchanan 1869 -

     The first Robert listed above (#2), is Bruce’s 2xgreat-grandfather and was identified by birth/death and marriage records. His second marriage record and death certificate say his parents are James Buchanan and Helen Laidlaw. They were both deceased when he married a second time to Helen Deans, in 1865. Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire is where Robert says he was born on the 1851 and 1861 censuses. As noted above, I have identified a James and Helen (Laidlaw) Buchanan in the Dumfriesshire area. They had several children, but so far – no record of a son, Robert. I NEED a connection!

    On various websites and with the help of friends, I have found the following:

Buchanan – Dumfries  (Dryfesdale), probably Lockerbie

1806, Jun 15 (bp) – Archibald, son of James Buhannan, Dryfesdale

1808, Jan 17 – William, son of James and Nelly (Laidlaw) Buchannan

1810, Jan 14 (bp) – Agness, dau of James Buhannan, Dryfesdale, Dumfries

1812, Feb 01 – Archibald, son of James Buhannan, Dryfesdale

1813, Feb – James, son of James Buhannan, Dryfesdale

1815, Aug 13 – George born, son of James and N.__ (Ladlaw) Buhannan

1817, May 4 – Alexander Marti(ne?) and Benjamine Bell, sons of James Buchanan (Dryfesdale)

1818, May 17 – Archbald Buhannan, son of James and N. __ (Ladlaw) Buchannan

1822, Jun 14 – Benjamine Bell, son of James and Hellen (Laidle) Buchannan (Dryfesdale)

1822, Jun 14 – James Bell, son of James and Hellen (Saidle) Buchannan

(obviously these two are another set of twins).

1823-24 – (no record) Robert Buchanan, son of James and Helen (Laidlaw) Buchanan 

    So, are these all children of the same couple? I believe yes. Why wasn’t Robert registered like the others? One assumes the first two Archibalds and the first Benjamin Bell died since the name is repeated. Where did the name Bell come from? Maybe Helen’s mother or James’ mother was a Bell? The search goes on! 

WOW

(this was written on 2/15):

   I am heading for my writers group this morning. I went for my almost daily walk and wondered what I could contribute this month, or more likely, next month. What will I write about? I decided to talk about the writers group! I nearly ran the rest of the way home because I was so excited about it. Won’t they just love it!

   Yes, I am in a writers group, or a writers/editing/lunch group. Sometimes it is more writing and sometimes more lunch, well, if truth be told, it is always about lunch and some editing of the writing done that month by some or all of our members. We are a small group and think that works best for us. We are six strong women and we call ourselves WOW – Women on Wheels! More about that later.

   I met Susan about eight years ago after moving to Phoenix from San Antonio, Texas. I joined a local genealogy group and she was a member. We started a friendship. She eventually asked me if I wanted to join a writers group as they had just lost a couple of their members. I told her (of which she reminds me of quite frequently) that I didn’t have anything to write about. That possibility did NOT stop Susan. So, I said I would visit the group and decide then. Obviously, I enjoyed the ladies and joined – thinking that I was going to have to make up stories to write about – and fake the writing.

   As it turned out, I did have family stories to write about. I have certainly done more writing in these past seven years than I thought I had in me. I have published a few articles and started a blog for my family history and stories. I don’t get the writing done that I did in the early days of the blog, but still have many stories to go. And, I am writing my life story to share with my children someday.

   Each month we try to bring something we have written to be edited. We make a copy for each person and we take turns reading that person’s writing. We all have our strengths, weaknesses and areas of interest. I am probably the most fervent “genealogist” of the group and stick to family stories and the history of my family.

   Susan likes genealogy, but in reality she likes the genealogy because it gets her to the story she really wants to write. And find them she does. How many of us have two murders in our family history and a former Supreme Court Judge (Earl Warren) connected to one of them! She has published many of her family stories in a local Phoenix publication and one in northern California where her family settled for several generations. She self-published a book about ‘Horrifa the Witch’ for children, which was well-received. She authored a book about a young Arizona girl and her family from the late 1800s. This book won an award from the State. Denise is a former teacher for the blind and that is what she writes about, great stories about the lives she has changed.

   Ruth is a writer of wonderful stories about her family and always with a great sense of humor. She writes about chickens too. She has several books in her head, and we are working at getting her to put them on paper. Pris is another genealogist and is concentrating on writing about her family. She was left with information, stories and artifacts from her family which she is expanding upon. Her goal is a book for her children and grandchildren about their heritage. She also has published a few of her stories.

   Mary has inherited stories, diaries and information about her family too, especially from the early days of Arizona. She has written three ebooks of historical fiction about both the early days of the State and the LDS church. Her mother joined the church and Mary was brought up in that religion. She no longer practices the teachings of the church, but she has written about some of its history and beginnings in these books, with a fourth in the works. She is working on her life story too.

   We all wrote our own obituaries one month except one person, she was a little superstitious about doing it. We all have different editing strengths to bring to the table, even Denise who “listens” because of her blindness. It is amazing what she can catch that we don’t. Somehow it all works.

   We meet every month and have gotten to know each other quite well. We have been through a lot together. In those years, we have lost parents, husbands and, sadly, even children. We have celebrated, too - a wedding and the birth of great-grandchildren. We come from varied backgrounds but more similar than not. We are married, divorced and widowed. Some of us have children, some do not. We do a lot of laughing and have done our share of crying. Four are former teachers, one is a historian by education and worked for the State in that capacity. Me? I worked until my late 30s when children came along. I was fortunate to stay home with them and, as they left home, I pursued my genealogy. That still keeps me very busy.

    Why do we call ourselves WOW? We are Women on Wheels because we try to take at least one road trip a year - sometimes two. We have been to Tucson, Flagstaff, Coronado Island and Breckenridge, Colorado. There were many trips before and will hopefully be many more to come. We are ready for another getaway, so planning is on the agenda.