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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: JillMD on Saturday 05 March 16 20:34 GMT (UK)
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This is my great grandfather, Richard Robinson and my pretty great grandmother, Elizabeth, on their wedding day (don't they look like a happy couple?). Richard was born in 1851 or 1852 in Scotland to a Scotsman and an Irish woman (!) and moved to the US in 1870. From the census, it looks like they lived in NYC and finally settled in Pittsburgh, with Richard working in the steel mills. In some census, he is listed as a laborer, but later as a chemist - which would support the stories of him having a hand in process of making pig iron stronger and some of the other family stories. Their children were Abner, Richard, Webster, Bessie (my grandmother) and Mamie.
I've been told he had 2 brothers; I'm not sure if they also immigrated, but I'd like to find the connection back to Scotland. Is this an impossible task? I'm not sure where to even start looking; the few Scotland search pages I've looked at are confusing to me, since I don't know where to begin or where he might have been born in Scotland.
Thank you for any help you can supply to point me in the right direction.
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I cannot help :)
but just wanted to say what a fantastic couple .
Eilleen.
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Thanks! I can't get over how tiny her waist is. I can really see the family resemblance - my mother looked very much like her grandmother. :)
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Believe I have found him. He appears to have arrived in the US 4 years later than he said - on Castle Garden site I found:
Richard Robinson (born Scotland) 23 Iron Worker arrived on 'Victoria' 23/9/1874.
I note he married Lizzie Scott 26/1/1882 Kings, New York.
Could find no birth/baptism entry for Richard in Scotland so looked at census.
1871 - shown bc.1851 Scotland and a boarder in Benfieldside, Durham, England - occup.Puddler (in manufacture of iron)
1861 - same place he is a 9yr old schoolboy with brother Robert Robinson 21 Puddler born Ireland
(cannot find rest of his family)
1851 - 55 South Square, Old Monkland, Lanarkshire
Ann Robinson widow 38 born Ireland
James Robinson 13 ditto
Robert Robinson 12 ditto
John Robinson 9 born Old Monkland, Lanarkshire
Dorinda Robinson 7 ditto
Andrew Robinson 5 ditto
Ann J. Robinson 2 ditto
William McFadyn 30 boarder Puddler of Iron born Ireland
Dorinda McFadyn 35 ditto
One of the US census I looked at gave Richard's birthdate as June 1851 so mother Ann was about to give birth to him.
I then found some trees online (some of whom I could see had some incorrect information) and a synopsis seems to be:
Parents were James Robinson bc.1810 Scotland d.end 1850/early 1851. When his daughter Dorinda married (to Isaiah Hughes) 12/8/1864 at Baptist Chapel of Highgate, Durham she states father James, deceased - he married Ann Jane Baird Farrall (or Farrell) presumably in Ireland as she and first 2 children born there. Ann died 16/4/1859 Old Monkland, Lanarkshire - she was shown as widow of Blast Furnaceman (his name not given on death certificate which I viewed on Scotlands People). She died of Peritonitis and shown to be the daughter of Andrew Farrall, farmer and Margaret McNee ??(hard to read). (Civil registration didn't start in Scotland until 1855 so unable to view James' death details). Informant of her death was son John.
Haven't followed all Richard's siblings but trees show Dorinda died 28/5/1924 Detroit, Michigan and sister Ann Jane married an Atchison Scott 5/9/1872 in USA, and died 1932 New Jersey. So clearly, some of his siblings did go to the US too but he arrived on his own.
There is a photo of his sister Dorinda on some of the trees I looked at. (Trees said father James died 1854 but his wife shown as a widow on 1851 census, and that Ann died 1858 in Preston, Lancs. England which is definitely wrong as she died in Scotland the following year).
As I said at the outset, there is no birth/baptism entry for Richard either on familysearch or SP, nor indeed for any of his siblings born in Scotland. He did in fact have 4 brothers and 2 sisters.
Annette
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Ohhhh my goodness! My heart's racing. That indeed has to be the right one. How can I get these links and pictures? My search so far had been limited to familysearch, and I'm new to it all; I can't believe how quickly you got this.
Yes, his wife was called Lizzie and I too found that her maiden name was Scott.
Why do I think this is absolutely correct? I have a sister, Dorinda Ann, so I'm sure it's a family name. Annette, my sister is going to be so thrilled when she sees this. She's been my catalyst to start hunting down the family and I've wanted to do this for her - she's a good deal older than me and not computer literate - I can't wait to call her!
So, how do I go about going further? What resources are best for finding more about the family in Ireland/Scotland? Is there a way to see the ship's manifest? Is there a site to look at immigration forms? Again, thank you!
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The stories of my great grandfather are happy ones - he must have been quite a character. I've heard that into his 70's he'd do handstands and cartwheels. He died of cancer, having kept a small vial of uranium or plutonium (I forget which, something cancerous, anyway) on his waist for years. He said he could get the phosphorus out of the bricks in Pittsburgh, and a load of bricks were dumped at his home. He boiled them in the kitchen, but nothing happened. When my grandmother, Bessie, got up in the middle of the night to use the outhouse, she thought the house was on fire. It was the phosphorus glowing on the ceiling. I wish I'd have met him, or heard more stories about him!
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Familysearch.com
Name Atchison Scott
Spouse's Name Ann Jane Robinson
Event Date 05 Sep 1872
Event Place Manhattan, New York
Father's Name Atchison Scott
Mother's Name Elizabeth Farrel
Spouse's Father's Name James Robinson
Spouse's Mother's Name Ann Farrel
Looks like both mothers of couple were possibly related. Also Seems likely that Lizzie/Elizabeth and Richard Robinson where siblings of this couple. Also think there maybe a family connection to the 1851 boarders and also the couple in Durham
Cas
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This is also from familysearch, but cannot get image to load for further detail
There are also other cenus with widower, Atchinson Snr, Jnr and dau Elisabeth/lizzie, if you do not have already.
New York State Census, 1855
Event Place E.D. 9, Ward 11, New York City, New York, New York, United States
Page 67
Atchison Scott Head, 33
Elisabeth Scott Wife, 32
Abner Scott son, 6
Atcherson Scott son, 5
Elizabeth Scott dau, 3
Margret Farland Mother-in-law 70
Possible death
Name Margaret Farrell
Event Date 08 Apr 1859
Event Place Manhattan, New York
Age 74
Marital Status Unknown
Birth Year (Estimated) 1785
There is also a possible death for Elizabeth Scott b 1823, died 14 March 1869
Cas
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Glad you are pleased. The sources I used are:
http://castlegarden.org (for immigration)
http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk (official site for Scotland - other sites have transcriptions only of some Scottish records but you can view original documents on SP. It is not a subscription site but to view anything you have to buy credits - cost £7 for 30 credits.
ancestry.com (I actually connect to ancestry.co.uk because of my location - if I try to connect to .com it automatically re-directs me to co.uk). This is a subscription site and I personally have a worldwide subscription. They have a vast array of records including members family trees. A word of caution regarding the trees - always double check information where possible as often certain details can be wrong like I found with the death dates/places given for Richards parents. Trouble is one person posts details and others connected to the same family come across it and blithely copy/accept the information as 'fact'. There are 2/3 trees for Dorinda which, as I mentioned before, include a photo of her.
Ireland research I am not that familiar with so others reading this thread will no doubt have far better advice to give you. When I 'dabble' the sites I use are irishgenealogy.ie and nationalarchives.ie (for 1901/1911 census - only Irish census available). Both of these sites are free but there are others for which you have pay. I have looked for James Robinson/Ann Farrell marriage there and couldn't find it on the site I use. The problem here is that right now you do not know where in Ireland you need to concentrate on. Irish records online are somewhat limited when you don't know where you need to be searching but more and more detail is slowly getting added so things should improve over time.
Besides familysearch another site to make a note of (in case you get any English ancestry) is FreeReg.com which as it names suggest is free. This is for baptisms/marriages/burials. No one site will have everything you need so, like me, you end up flitting from one to the other. Plus, of course, there are times when you simply cannot find what you need anywhere!
Hope this helps and good luck. Only experience will decide which sites you need.
Annette
EDIT: another site I forgot to mention is findmypast.co.uk (subscription)
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Hi JillMD ,
Lovely picture !
Ann Robinson , Richard's older sister is also living at Benfieldside in 1861.
Her name has been recorded as Robertson (not unusual for names like this to be misspelt or recorded wrongly, it was often the main householder who provided information to the enumerator).
Anne P Robertson age 13 born Scotland -----servant , living with the Oniell family.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M783-DYR
This caught my eye too - born at Old Monkland , Lanarkshire in 1862 Dorinda Robinson to father Richard Robinson and Elizabeth Wood. I would imagine these people could be related to your Richard. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQHN-3MG
Looby
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Hi again,
Still having a nosy at your Robinsons !
The Dorinda McFadyn listed on the Scottish 1851 Census with widowed Ann Robinson and her family could more than likely be Ann's sister-in-law.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT1C-93K
Above marriage is Dorinda Robertson and William McFadyen 11th March 1849 at Old Monkland , Lanarkshire.
Looby
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This caught my eye too - born at Old Monkland , Lanarkshire in 1862 Dorinda Robinson to father Richard Robinson and Elizabeth Wood. I would imagine these people could be related to your Richard. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQHN-3MG
This Richard bc.1825 Ireland and like James Robinson bc.1810 Scotland was a Blast Furnaceman per 1861 census and both living in Old Monkland.
Annette
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Wonder if this is the family on the 1841 Census.
Lanarkshire - Holytown, Bothwell
Address - Chapelhall.
ROBERTSON Robert M 55 Moulder Ireland
ROBERTSON James M 25 Labourer Ireland
ROBERTSON Ann F 25 Ireland
ROBERTSON James M 3 Ireland
ROBERTSON Robert M 2 Ireland
MATHEY William M 25 Jab Shanker Ireland
No relationships i.e. husband/wife/father/son etc were recorded on the 1841 Census and adults were supposed to round their ages down to the nearest 0 or 5 . Therefore the couple above could be aged between 25-29. Children below 15 were to be recorded with exact age. Do not ask me what a "Jab Shanker" is?? This could be mis-transcribed.....But if push came to shove and I had to guess- I'd say in was a job in a mine or pit .
Chapelhall is only a couple of miles from Airdrie and Coatbridge (The area known as Old Monkland)
Looby
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I can't begin to tell you all how grateful I am for all of the work you all went through to find this for me. It's so gratifying to find out about family. I appreciate all of the help and the links. I did a little research into my dad's family a few years ago and was told by someone to stay away from the ancestry site until I had some good solid information, because there's so much information there and could be overwhelming and sometimes erroneous. I guess it's time for a subscription, though I will continue to be absolutely picky about facts that I can double check. I'm anxious to see the picture of Dorinda.
The family resemblance, 3 and 4 generations later is remarkable. My mother looked like a darker haired Lizzie, my sister, my son and grandsons all bear resemblance.
I can see why this is addictive, and why it gives people such pleasure. I know I'm not done yet!
Are there sites to get ship manifests? Or were there so many people immigrating to the states that it was haphazard?
Oh! One other question - do any of you visually lay out the family through generations? I think this might be helpful to me; like a road map. Any tips? Excel?
Again, many, many thanks!
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You can view ships manifests on both Ancestry and FindMyPast but UK indexes online only begin in 1890. However, couldn't find Richard Robinson's arrival in US which is why I checked Castle Garden where I eventually found him.
Sending you a PM.
Annette
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JillMD, if you are in the US, be sure to check if your public library has anything to offer as far as genealogy sites. Some will offer free access to Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, and/or other databases.
There are lots of helpful links to sites with passenger lists, vital records, etc. here - http://www.deathindexes.com/sites.html
www.familysearch.org is a very helpful free site, and includes many passenger lists.
www.fultonhistory.com has many old newspapers from NY City and surrounding areas, and is adding newspapers from other states too. It can be hard to find people with common names, but an exact phrase search for Atchison Scott throws up a few results that may fit with that branch. There are helpful hints on optimizing your searches on that site here - http://whereyoucamefrom.blogspot.com/2014/01/tutorial-searching-fulton-history.html
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Thank you, Shelly - I'll do that! I also found out that there's an LDS library nearby.
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Ann Robinson , Richard's older sister is also living at Benfieldside in 1861.
Her name has been recorded as Robertson (not unusual for names like this to be misspelt or recorded wrongly, it was often the main householder who provided information to the enumerator).
Actually in Ireland, and parts of Scotland, Robertson and Robinson are interchangeable so quite possibly not mis-spelling or mis-transcription.