Child adoption

[Suzy W]

Good Day

A little help please.  I have a child born 1912 in Glasgow Scotland.  His mother was only 16 at the time, she didn't list the fathers name only hers.  She later married and moved to Canada under her married name with her sister...no son listed with her on her travels.

Seems as if her son was adopted out and his name changed. from John McCallum to Stewart Harris in Ohio.  1920 Census records are all a lie, "step grandson" and states he was born in Cedarville, Greene, Ohio, which he wasn't.

A DNA match has confirmed this is the man in question. 

How does one go about looking for adoption records from 100 years ago?  Will it list his mother's name, date etc when it happened? 

[CaroleW]

Sorry - wrong info

[Suzy W]

Oh it looks like he was adopted in Canada.  Then moved to the U.S.

Name   Stewart Harris
Sex   Male
Age   6
Birth Year (Estimated)   1912
Event Type   Immigration
Event Date   24 May 1918
Event Place   Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, United States
Event Place (Original)   Niagara Falls New York
Record Type   Manifests
Line Number   1
Affiliate Film Number   m1464_351
Affiliate Publication Number   M1464
Affiliate Publication Title   Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954

[Neale1961]

His mother was only 16 at the time, she didn't list the fathers name only hers.  She later married and moved to Canada under her married name with her sister...no son listed with her on her travels.

What was the mother's name?
Who did she marry?
When did she move to Canada?
What was her sister's name?

[Neale1961]

Oh it looks like he was adopted in Canada.  Then moved to the U.S.

Name   Stewart Harris
Sex   Male
Age   6
Birth Year (Estimated)   1912
Event Type   Immigration
Event Date   24 May 1918
Event Place   Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York, United States
Event Place (Original)   Niagara Falls New York
Record Type   Manifests
Line Number   1
Affiliate Film Number   m1464_351
Affiliate Publication Number   M1464
Affiliate Publication Title   Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954

This child was born in Ontario and was travelling with his mother Mary.
There is a birth certificate for him in York Ontario. Father - Thomas Harris; mother Mary Stewart.
I don't believe he can be the one you are looking for.

[Suzy W]

Janet McCallum is the mothers name, she married a Arthur Goodyear from Canada in 1917.

Name   Janet Patterson Barbara Goodyear, and sister Jean Robertson Gulliver with her.
Sex   Female
Age   23
Residence Place   Ayr, Scotland
Marital Status   Married
Nationality   Great Britain, Scottish
Additional Person's Name   Mrs M Mccallum
Event Type   Immigration
Event Date   03 Aug 1918
Event Place   Ellis Island, New York City, New York, United States
Page Number   267
Series Number   T715
Affiliate Publication Title   Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York , NY, 1897-1957
Departure Port   Southampton
Ship Name   Olympic

Scotlands people has Janet as the mother of John born 1912, she used two names instead of adding fathers name, she used Janet Patterson and Janet McCallum. 

[Neale1961]

I would think that if an adoption took place, it was in Scotland, before the mother Janet left for the USA; and probably before she married in 1917.

Adoption was not legally formalised in Scotland until the 1930 Adoption of Children Act. Before that it would have been an informal arrangement.

What was the exact date of birth for the child, as seen on the Scottish birth certificate?

[shellyesq]

I wouldn't call the census records a lie, as the information could have come from someone outside the family or the person giving the information didn't know the right terminology for what he was to them.

I guess you would need to see if he traveled to Canada as Stuart or John and/or how the adoptive parent(s) came to Canada.  If they had taken him from Scotland to the US, it might have been easier or cheaper to get to Ohio by way of Canada.

[oldohiohome]

Oh it looks like he was adopted in Canada.  Then moved to the U.S.

Name   Stewart Harris
Sex   Male
Age   6
Birth Year (Estimated)   1912
...

This child was born in Ontario and was travelling with his mother Mary.
There is a birth certificate for him in York Ontario.

And his mother is listed under "Non-manifest debarred." Which doesn't sound good if you are trying to get into a country. I'd have to look further to see exactly what it meant, but it's late here now.

------
for reference
Stewart Harris in 1920
1920
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDYJ-P4M?lang=en

With grandparents named Spencer and parents named Harris. or maybe a brother and sister named Harris, unknown which one Stewart belongs to.
So another avenue of research wd be to learn more about them.

Weird that he was born in Scotland and ended up in the middle of Ohio.
And from briefly scanning the suggested documents at ancestry, it seems he never said otherwise than that he was born in Ohio. So he must not have known ??