Alexander Blair Brick Wall Ireland Before 1837

[oldkid1943]

Further to my most recent post... Odds are that Alex (1837-1903) was not in a prominent/moneyed/propertied family, else why would he be striking out for the new world?  May even have worked aboard ship for his passage.  I want to correct something I said earlier... Alexander recorded his arrival in New York State as 1854 vs. 1856.  I have seen nothing to indicate he had any assets beyond his ability to work until he married Susan Hydorn who owned the farm on East Road, Oswegatchibe Township.  I visited the farmstead briefly in 2002 (I believe that's the year...) and the farm was owned and being worked by a young Amish couple named Yoder using horse-drawn implements as many of the Amish still do.  I was not able to see the inside of the house, nor take close-up pictures as 1. the husband was in the field working at the time, and 2.  this Amish sect forbids personal photographs.  Unfortunately, back when I was able to travel, I was to inexperienced to know the right things to look for and how to best spend my time.  There are few do-overs in the ageing game.  LOL

[oldkid1943]

Further on Alexander Blair (1837-1903)... My first post says: "he said he was born in Canada, likely due to legal immigration questions"... it came to me while re-reading this, that perhaps a more likely reason he is shown as being from Canada might be that it was the correct answer if the question by the census taker was "Where did you come to New York from?".  If that was the question, Canada would have been correct, just as some of my ancestors arrived in New York from Vermont even though their starting point was Lower Canada or Canada East.  Just thought I'd throw that in there...

[whiteout7]

Looks like he died 1903 and mother listed as Mary Syaland in extracted record-
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FD18-PQJ
Father isn't listed so he might have been illegitimate or informant didn't know father's name. In any case, death certificate itself needs checked to see exactly what is written for mother's name and if any other details are listed.

Wondering if the mother's name was Mary SAYLAND? (or Solland even Selland) not very common in Ireland? Perhaps she remarried in Canada?

[aghadowey]

All good suggestions IF I can ever come up with a good hint for a father's name.  Considering Alexander named his first son "Judson" (my G-Grandfather), the father's name may be Judson, but I have found no lead there in 17 years of research.  Alex did name his second son Alexander, who was called Alex.  Need someone to tell me if the naming convention in Ulster in that era was possibly first son = GRANDFATHER, second son = FATHER, and so forth.
Scottish/Ulster Scots naming pattern =
1st son/ daughter = father's father/mother's mother
2nd son/2nd daughter = mother's father/father's mother
3rd son/3rd daughter = father/mother
However, not all families followed a pattern and it's only when you can be sure of names of ALL the children, grandparents, etc. that it becomes clear that the family did follow this.
Also, once people left Ireland they started to pick 'other' names for their children- perhaps that of a friend or relative who'd helped them in the new country, etc.

Odds are that Alex (1837-1903) was not in a prominent/moneyed/propertied family, else why would he be striking out for the new world?
There are many reasons why people left Ireland (better prospects for land or money, family problems, sense of adventure, etc.) but in Alexander's case, if indeed he did so as a young child, it's likely he went with relatives.
It was not uncommon for the older children, especially sons, in a family to leave with the youngest (remaining) son/daughter inheriting the family property.

Wondering if the mother's name was Mary SAYLAND? (or Solland even Selland) not very common in Ireland? Perhaps she remarried in Canada?
Two issues here-
1. mother's name may be totally mis-transcribed and turn out to be a name found in Ireland, or
2. the name may be an error by the informant
This is why it is important to view the actual document which may also contain other clues

[myluck!]

If you do not already have the marriage record from 1894 for Alexander's second marriage, this is where I would start for a source of his father's name. It may if details hold further information.

repeating:
Alexander is shown as 61 on the 1900 census as married to a lady named Catherine aged 48
It gives his birth as Feb 1839; 57 years in USA; immigrated 1843



Naming patterns can help but also hinder as a child/children may have died, similar names meaning pattern loses consistency etc.

[oldkid1943]

"repeating:
Alexander is shown as 61 on the 1900 census as married to a lady named Catherine aged 48
It gives his birth as Feb 1839; 57 years in USA; immigrated 1843"
This is a dry well I have worn out.  There are no tracks through Canada of Alexander Blair of the right age.  There is no suggestion anywhere in my family that Alexander (1837-1903) ever had any connection to Ireland... He was illiterate, could barely sign his name.  There is no hint of any other relative in or around Depeyster, Oswegatchie, Heuvelton or for that matter, St. Lawrence County.  I have read mountains of newspaper transcriptions from 1840-1903, and have found no connection or mention of any Blair other than children and grandchildren suggesting a connection.  I chased Blairs born in Ireland from 1836 through 1840 with any connection with New York or Canada, and all are rejected.  Even the mother's name Syaland is suspect, as the only reference I have seen is on FAMILYSEARCH.ORG, and being a transcriber myself, much of the interpretations found there bear considerable scrutiny.  When I transcribe, I dump about half of the records because the image is so poor or the handwriting is too unreadable to use.  Transcribers don't always have that same integrity and carry on guessing what it might mean.  Remember, volunteers are not always the most reliable.  I always weigh what damage I may do by guessing. 
As I said earlier, I could perhaps save myself a lot of agro if I had a pile of money to throw at it, but then, what would I do with my time, and who can say purchased information is reliable anyway.
I continue to watch here for anything I may have missed, and will follow any lead within my resources.  Maybe I'll get lucky yet.
I'm convinced Alexander came out of Ulster, probably Antrim, perhaps out of the slums and/or sweat-houses, poor as a churchmouse, Da probably beat the sh*t out of him so he struck out from home, (you paint the narrative here).  Signed on as cabin boy or common labor for passage to Quebec, perhaps worked day labor for a couple of years and crossed into New York (the St Lawrence River used to freeze all the way across in the dead of winter up there.  It hadn't been dredged into the channel it is today).  The St. Lawrence River is less than a mile wide at Ogdensburg, Depeyster is approximately 12 miles, a half-day's walk in clear weather then and now.  Why Depeyster... Why not. 

[oldkid1943]

"Alexander Blair's second wife was Catherine Kennedy."

AKA Katie Kennedy.  She lived with her sister Ella Dolan on Barton Rd, Depeyster, NY
I have no further relevant info on her.

[myluck!]

Sorry to sound like a broken record but do you have the official record of their marriage?
From this you could find his father's name!

"There is no suggestion anywhere in my family that Alexander (1837-1903) ever had any connection to Ireland"
Do you doubt the census returns that state Ireland?

[oldkid1943]

"Sorry to sound like a broken record but do you have the official record of their marriage?
From this you could find his father's name!"

I have no access to records in New York.  I live in Texas, and have not prospered enough to fly to the area to search for records.  I came across a possible gold mine just yesterday... I learned this morning that I have a first cousin who is the Depeyster town historian.  I was aware of New York having local historians over ten years ago, but had forgotten.  I'm a ripe 73 years old now, and memory often plays tricks on me, as well as failing me.  A phone call is pending.
To the second question:  I do not doubt that Alexander Blair (1837-1903) was born in Ireland, was impoverished (he was illiterate), and likely came to US via Canada because he was living in poverty.  Even in Ireland at the time, children went to school if they had resources to do so.  Work was the only life he knew and the most likely scenario was he left home and never looked back, just as I did when I left Northern New York.  Some historian writing about that area in the '50s said words to the effect, "For Northern New York the depression never ended", and it was true.  I lived there in the '50s, in an orphanage, by the way.