Sunday, May 22, 2016

Frasers of Fife: Documenting the Family Tree - Continued

Back in April I began the tale of the mysterious Family Tree that appeared from behind my father's furnace. Rolled snugly in a mailing tube and tucked behind the furnace in the basement of his home. He thought it was the IRONS family tree, turned out to be the FRASER family tree. You can read part one here.

Anyway, I started to create a public family tree on Ancestry dot com - cousin bait - with the information inscribed upon the mysterious tree. As a rule I keep the Ancestry Member Tree Hints turned off, but I do like to manually check them from time to time. This was one of those times.

Glad I did!!!

Found a fully built Public Tree called the Frasers of Fife with all the exact same people as my tree!

Exact same!

Exact!

Of course I contacted the tree owner immediately. (His initials are A.F. - same as mine!) And learned rather quickly that he too had in his possession a framed, hand inked John Fraser 1880 family tree.

What?!?

He is located in the UK and was equally as thrilled to learn of another tree .... in the States no less! He promised to send photos the following weekend.

And he did.


My tree  on the left   ~   A.F.'s tree on the right

Same tree!!!

His has withstood the test of time better than mine (probably wasn't tucked behind a furnace) and we are able to share bits from one another's tree where the shellac has cracked. As expected, my Irons branch (the most important branch to me) is badly worn, his is pristine! I am now able to fill in a few missing parts.

A.F. suspects that there are other trees out there. I know of one other, but have not been able to contact the owner. I came across a post from 1999 by a "P. H." to RootsWeb. She had in her possession a Tree and was trying to make contact with other family members. As the post was soooooo old, the email address is no longer valid. She does have a profile on Ancestry, but I have been unsuccessful in making contact.

I will continue to add to my own public tree on Ancestry, and have also begun to document every person on the tree through short blog posts. Cousin Bait!

Here's to hoping I am successful at flushing out other Tree owners!


By the way, A.F. and I are 5th cousins, by his calculations ..... 



©2016 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Finding Faulkner: Part Seven | Serendipity and A Crashing Wall


It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale. 


When I left the search for James Faulkner's parent's behind it was spring of 2011. I'd been hard on the trail since late 2007, with fits and starts. I continued to dabble, periodically. I checked all the usual places for any new records. I tracked down some 2nd cousins I had no idea existed. (they had never heard of James) I sent emails (and snail mail!) to genealogical societies and cemeteries. I tried researching the McBride's. I went back and forth as to whether James or William were the more likely brother for James' father.

I went round and round in ever more maddening circles.

The more I looked at the evidence, the more convinced I became that neither James or William could be my James' father. That left Joseph or Samuel. Samuel who had married Elizabeth Wilkin, according to the Bull Book.

I followed that trail for a while, but got nowhere, and more nowhere. Samuel and Elizabeth has seemingly just vanished. Not even a marriage record could be found.

I was getting really tired of banging my head against this brick wall.

Then on perfectly ordinary late December day in 2012 a new post to the OCGSNY yahoo group showed up in my inbox.

 "Hi all, Hope you've had restful holidays, wherever you may be. Over mine, I happened to notice on the FamilySearch website that they've recently added digitized images for over 8 million pages of New York State deeds and land records. (...) While the records are not *electronically* indexed or searchable, they ARE indexed on the actual images."

What the ....What?!?

A quick look proved that, indeed, the land records had been digitized! Not indexed, but digitized. And the original index books were digitized too!!! A late Christmas present had just been delivered to my door! Sure it meant hours of combing through images, but happily it's one of my favorite things to do! (seriously)

Busy with work until mid January, I resigned to return to the records when I had the time necessary to really dig in and look.

That time came in mid March 2013. I had a good week of nothing pressing and decided to sequester myself in the Cave and comb through all the land records. First stop, the digitized index books. I looked for every Faulkner listed, making special note of any James. There were well over two dozen entries for Faulkner and it's variations. I searched Ulster County, Orange County and Sullivan County since all three counties converged at almost the exact location the Faulkner's were said to reside.

Noting the liber and page of each entry, I searched both Grantors and Grantees. This was very exciting! I'd thought I'd have to travel to Goshen or Albany, New York to lay my eyes on such documents, yet here they were ..... in my home!

Coffee in hand and dogs at my feet, I came away with a good list of suspects. Almost two dozen of them! I must confess to getting goose bumps on several occasions as the names I was reading in the deed books were the same names I had become familiar with in the Blue Book. I almost felt like I was coming home. I knew these people - and here they were, being recorded at the actual time they lived! Talk about a genealogist's high!

Now on to the actual land records! The first half dozen or so were duds. Well, in the sense that they were not specifically who I was looking for. (Later, they would actually become useful.)

Then .........

On page 5, volume 66, Orange County Deeds 1839 - 1840 read the following:

(...) Between David Faulkner, James Faulkner and Martha Faulkner wife of the said James, all of the town of Grass Lake, County of Jackson, and State of Michigan, and Robert Faulkner and Sally his wife, of the town of Ontario, County of Wayne, and State of New York, and John M. Faulkner and Catherine his wife, of the town of Benton, County of Tioga, and State of New York, all parties of the first part and David Woodruff of the town of Wallkill, County of Orange, State of New York, party of the second part (...) parcel of land situated, lying and being in the Town of Wallkill, County of Orange, State of New York bounded as follows to wit Northerly by a lot of land formerly owned by John M. Faulkner, Westerly by a lot of land formerly owned by Robert Faulkner, Southerly by lands formerly owned by Col. William Faulkner, Easterly by the patent line of the Elinor Tract, of which this is a part (...)

The document was witnessed by Antoinette Faulkner, James and Martha's daughter.

It was exceptionally hard to read!
After running around the house, screaming like a lunatic, I settled down to allow it all to sink in.

The brick wall had started to crumble.

David! David was James' brother?! The David who lived with James in 1850? Of course! And it appeared he had two more brothers as well! Now we might get somewhere!

Back to my list, there were quite a few John Faulkner's, several Robert Faulkner's, but only one David Faulkner. I decided to look at that next.

Liber O, page 11, Orange County Deeds 1812 - 1814........


THERE.  IT.  WAS.

I sat in quiet disbelief. Tears streaming down my face. Hardly able to breathe.

That loud crash you just heard? The brick wall tumbling to the ground.


This indenture made the fifth day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seven, between Samuel Faulkner of the town of Wallkill, county of Orange, state of New York, Farmer, and Eliner his wife, of the first part, and David Faulkner son of the said Samuel Faulkner and Eliner his wife, of the second (...) if the said David Faulkner should die without lawful issue of his body begotten then the remainder over to Robert Faulkner, James Faulkner and John Faulkner sons of the said Samuel Faulkner and Elinor his wife (...) that certain lot, piece or parcel of land situated, lying and being in the town, county and state aforesaid, and being a part of the farm or lot of land upon which the said Samuel Faulkner now lives which is bounded as follows (to wit) Northerly by a lot of land sold by the said Samuel Faulkner to his son John Faulkner, Westerly by lands sold by the said Samuel Faulkner to his son Robert Faulkner, Southerly by lands of Col. William Faulkner, Easterly by the patent line of said tract of one thousand acres (...) 

much easier to read!

Samuel!!! Samuel!! It was Samuel! My fourth great grandfather now had a name! And his name was Samuel! ...... But who was Eliner (Elinor)? Nickname for Elizabeth? Or a different person altogether. And what about Robert and John M.? Looked like there was now plenty to keep me busy!

to be continued ..........


Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Finding Faulkner: Part Six | New York Confusion



It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale. 


In the spirit of full disclosure I must confess that the timeline in this retelling is askew. I decided it would be easier to follow if the retelling progressed in a chronological order. Truthfully, the order was more chaotic, something like: sideways, back-the-way-you-came, chase a rolling ball (in the wrong direction), screech to a halt, push a boulder up a hill, and leap over a canyon. My Orange County feelers had been out since 2008, but the information I was getting led me on goose chase after wild goose chase. Add my myopic searching technique and the fact that I was missing a big piece of the puzzle (the whole Michigan interlude), most of what I learned early on did me no good. I attempted to go from point B to point E directly.
 ~ I would not recommend trying this at home! ~

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

New York bound, I started to really dig into anything I could land my hands on. Full immersion seemed to be the order of the day. My first query was to the OCGSNY Yahoo group. That lead to a big discussion on the Sarah Wells/William Bull family and one of their famous "sons", James Faulkner, who married Catherine Bull. Not much else was know of him, but I did learn of the "Bull Family Genealogy" book, or the "Blue Book" as it is sometimes referred to. And a section on Faulkner genealogy. What?!? A Faulkner genealogy??? This seemed too good to be true.

And, it was. Sort of.

But before I learned that I, without hesitation, placed my request for the book through the interlibrary loan program.

The day it arrived was better than Christmas! The book was a good 5 inches thick and read like stale toast. But there were Faulkners in it!! Lots of them! And McBrides too! Surely I was going to find my answers here.

I toted that book to work for well over three weeks, sneaking copies of the relevant pages.

Then I started to recreate the family as laid out in the Blue Book. Only I was focused on the Faulkners and not the Bulls. A story for another time, let me just say it was very interesting to see an entirely new book emerge from the information contained within the Blue Book's pages.

Now that I had enough information to progress, I pulled out all the bits I had been compiling. I worked that big tree, I had email conversations with other researchers, including the Bull Family genealogist. (Surely SHE would have the answers!) Seems no one could identify James, my James. As it turned out, I was the one to introduce James to the genealogy world. Until I brought his existence to light he was on no one's radar. Least-wise not that I have been able to find, even to this day. Poor James.

My introduction of this new James Faulkner, married to Martha McBride, started a maelstrom of speculation on his parentage. The known Faulkner's of Wallkill were all Presbyterian (promising!) most were members of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church. I borrowed all the books I could find pertaining to these church records. There were a number of them, it turned out. Surely there would be a mention of a marriage or baptism. I soon began to see James turn up on Ancestry as a son of either James (who married Catherine Bull) or His brother Colonel William Faulkner. These were my top choices too, but the documentation was just not there. Why were other researchers including him in their families?

I needed to dig deeper. In one of the many Orange County history books I borrowed (before they were digitized!), the History of Orange Co , page 431 had this sentence: "Still further east the Faulkner family made an early settlement."  I found several other references to the family, all rather elusive, they were clearly not as prominent as some of the other early players in Wallkill. Seems their roll was more supporting than starring.

Frustrated. A bit dismayed, I soldiered on.

I found James on the Political Graveyard website. I found him in the Military Minutes of the Council of Appointment of the state of NY, three separate years. I could not find anything about his time on Staten Island or any real records from his actual war service, other than the War of 1812 Service Record Index. He was also listed in the Bounty Land Warrant Applications Index. INDEX-schmindex! Looked like I would have to order some records, and perhaps some films. Or take a trip to the National Archives. Truthfully, my mind was boggled at the thought, and I set that avenue of research aside. (Happily, this retelling has fanned those flames anew and I have put the record search back on my docket.)

My best source was the now defunct Scotchtown Highlander. Sal, the site's curator sent me lots and lots of information. (I recently found an archived version of the site at the Middletown Thrall Library.) It contained nothing more on James, however. And absolutely no hint as to his actual parentage. How could a man who was seemingly as involved, militarily and politically, as James not make the history books? I was spinning in circles and getting nowhere. The bits and pieces of Faulkner information I was able to acquire were not adding up. This was one tough nut!

I turned once again to Ancestry, and the trees to which James had been added. Contacting the tree owners, posting to message boards. The return? Zero. Zip. Nada. The tree owners had merely copied James from other trees (my tree unfortunately, before I took it private), no one had a source, a fact, that I did not have. It all pointed back to me.

Confusing the issue (because, why not!) Sal from Scotchtown Highlander sent me an abstract of a will of one William Faulkender of Wallkill, who died in 1784. He believed this was the original Faulkner, but could find no proof, other than this typed abstract. The name was not quite right. I had seen this floating around Ancestry, mostly tied to a Faulkender family in Pennsylvania. (There was no end to the confusion that was occurring at this time!) The will listed a wife named Mary (no last name), and four sons, Joseph (deceased), James, Samuel and William. This will did line up with what the author of the Blue Book had concluded; That a William Faulkner was the father of four sons with the same names as these Faulkender boys. But little more was written, as the subject was about the Bull family, not the Faulkner family.

This gave me four possibilities for James' father. There was nothing more written of Joseph, and all that was said about Samuel was that he had married Elizabeth Wilkin. I already had explored James and William, and although both were good candidates, the research had been done rather well for the Blue Book, there was not a James listed as a son of either of them.

Increasingly frustrated, and now confused I set out to begin research on Joseph and Samuel. "The quiet boys". The two who did not leave any noticeable mark on the record of time. Not an easy feat, it turned out. Hitting dead end after dead end, these men really did not leave any breadcrumbs! I found a mention, once, of a Samuel, nothing that would illuminate the search of course, and nothing on Joseph. Nothing. Posting to message boards proved fruitless. Even OCGSNY had no suggestions. Joseph and Samuel lived so quietly they became invisible.

Bear in mind I was searching for pre-1780 documents. And at a time when less was digitized. I had been digging in New York for well over a year with not much to show for it. Short of a trip to the Hudson Valley, which was not an option, I resigned to put the quest to find Faulkner on the back burner for a while.


to be continued .........


Saturday, May 7, 2016

Field Notes: Hindsight, Old Notes and Jumping the Gun


Hindsight is 20/20.

If it was a snake it would have bit me.

Well thanks, Captain Obvious!

Guess I jumped the gun on that one.

D'oh.

While gathering all my research notes in preparation for my Finding Faulkner series, I realized something. The answers had been there all along. Hiding in plain sight. Like Dorothy, I had always had the answer I was looking for, but I had not taken the journey of discovery, yet.

It was the reconstruction that illuminated this.

I had been searching for my elusive, nay mythical 5th great grandfather. When I began the quest, still wet behind the ears, in late 2007 I had very few facts but a lot of supposition and tenacity. Perhaps too much tenacity. And a very myopic research focus.

The battle (it often felt like a battle) waged on for nearly nine years. Nine long, hard, confusing years. I, apparently, took the scenic route .... on a tricycle .... with one wheel missing.

But I arrived. Triumphant. I could prove, after a reasonably exhaustive search (you ain't kidding!), who this unicorn was.

When I sat down to retell the tale I pulled out all the material I had gathered over the years. The reconstruction proved difficult. So much had transpired, most of it in nonsensical order. But that forced me to lay everything out and look at it, afresh with wisened eyes. The answer I had been seeking had been handed to me very early on, I had had it with me for the entire journey. The last piece of the puzzle.

My amulet.

But it required the entire journey to get it to fit together. Having the last piece without all the pieces in between did me no good.

The takeaway from this? Do your work. Don't give up. Relook at your early notes as you go along - there might be a clue you overlooked previously. Start with what you know and build on that. Having the roof does no good if there is no structure to lay it upon.

Would I have concluded my journey sooner had I worked more logically? Perhaps. I would certainly have had a more robust profile of each generation, gaining me the ability to cast a broader search net.

Hindsight.


Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Frasers of Fife: Generation Two | James Fraser and Mary MacLaren

1880 John Fraser Family Tree
6. James Fraser (Duncan - 1) born Kinglassie 1777, a Mechanic at Prinlaws

married at Duntocher January 17th 1800

Mary MacLaren birth unknown


Children of the union:


      i. Duncan Fraser born at Duntocher 1801, a Mechanic,  died at Leslie 1839, aged 38 years - a bachelor

      ii. Mary Fraser born 1803, died at Leslie December 1871 aged 68 - a spinster

24. iii. John Fraser born 1805, married Agnes Stenhouse

      iv. Isabella Fraser born 1807, died at Leslie July 1873, aged 67 - a spinster

      v. Jean Fraser born 1810, died March 1879, married August 1854, R. Thomson born Kinglassie, died 1874 - no issue

25. vi. James Fraser born May 10th 1815, married Jane Tod

26. vii. William Fraser born 1816, married Ann Nisbet



James died at Leslie, December 13th 1853, aged 76 years
Mary died March 28 1850, aged 74 years





~ all information provided here has been taken directly from the John Fraser family tree compiled in 1880 and as such is the only source for these writings - the objective being to record his work for further study and documentation ~ 


Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Frasers of Fife: Generation Two | Alexander Fraser and Janet Lockart

5. Alexander Fraser (Duncan - 1) born Milldeans, Kinglassie, November 5th 1775

married January 15th 1793

Janet Lockart born Auclamuir Bridge, December 4th 1772

Their residence during life being at Leslie


children born to this union:

17. i. Isabella Fraser b. February 18th 1795, married Thomas Johnstone

18. ii. Duncan Fraser b. March 29th 1797, married Helen Mowbray "Wellie Moutrie"

19. iii. Margaret Fraser b. November 26th 1798, married George Mackie

      iv. Janet Fraser born October 28th 1800, died January 5th 1802

20. v. James Fraser b. May 24th 1805, married Agnes Calander

21. vi. George Fraser b. April 30th 1807, married Jane Turpie

      v. Jean Fraser born June 25th 1810, died July 26th 1812

22. vi. Agnes Fraser b. September 6th 1812, married David Shields

23. vii. Alexander Fraser b. April 26th (no year), married Ann Young


Alexander died August 2nd 1849, aged 76 years
Janet died August 21st 1817, aged 43 years



~ all information provided here has been taken directly from the John Fraser family tree compiled in 1880 and as such is the only source for these writings - the objective being to record his work for further study and documentation ~ 

Monday, May 2, 2016

Field Notes: What's In A Name?


I was named for my father's grandmother. Or so the story goes. My brother got a combination of our mother's surname and our father's first name. Names are important. Names have meaning. I'm sure, if you have children, you thought for months about what to name him/her. Although traditional naming patterns are rare these days, we still name our offspring something important to us. We want them to be a member of our tribe, or we want to honor and remember someone special who has gone before us.

Our ancestors were no different.

Even if they did not subscribe to the traditional naming patterns of their heritage, they still choose meaningful names for their children. Often that meaning is obscured behind the veil of time, and we are left speculating on the meaning and origin when there is no direct correlation. 

I have a lot of Harrison's, Lloyd's and Anson's in my direct Faulkner line. Even more collaterally. The name Harrison, especially has been used across numerous branches of the Faulkner descendants, but I'm as yet unaware as to the origin.

While working on my Finding Faulkner series I was reminded of a mystery that has haunted me off and on over the course of almost a decade. Niggled at my logic. Kept me awake at night. (Genealogy geek - no shame in that!)

I have been trying to identify the purportedly eleven children of my 3rd great grandfather, James Faulkner. He was said to have eight daughters and three sons. I can only get to nine.  I am missing a son and a daughter. The other bit of information that bugs me is a man named Nelson Faulkner who purchased land adjacent to James, my 3rd great grandfather, in the Michigan Territory in the 1830's.

Nelson seems to appear out of nowhere. And vanishes just as quickly.

I have been trying to claim him as the missing third son for some time now. The Michigan patent, dated 1837, says that he is from Michigan, whereas James Faulkner's patent, dated 1834, says he is from New York. That's true. He was an early settler in Jackson Co, by way of Orange Co, NY.

(Wait! I thought this was a post about names? Now we're going to talk about land patents? Just wait.....)

As I said, I have been successful at finding nine children. Including birth years and places. The first identified child, a daughter, was born in 1812. BUT on the 1810 census James is listed with one female age 16 - 25 and one male under ten. Clue #1. (This older boy appears on the 1820 and 1830 census as well.)

Clue #2 would be the land patent. Although vague it does put Nelson as a resident of Jackson Co, Michigan in 1837. Whereas James and his family settled in Grass Lake (Jackson Co) in 1834. Meaning by 1837 Nelson would be a resident of MI if he had come with his family in 1834.

Clue #3 just sort of "hit" me when I was not paying attention. (Here it comes!) While relooking at the  names of my 2nd great grandfather's children recently, it sort of slapped me upside the head. IF Nelson was a son of James, then Harrison, my 2nd great grandfather, would be his brother. Harrison's known brother was named Anson. Harrison and his wife had three sons. Arthur Edward, Lloyd Anson, Louis Nelson. Coincidence? Maybe. Edward was the name of his wife's father. Anson, of course, was his brother. So, Nelson was .... ?

I still have some digging to do, but I feel just that much more confident that Nelson could actually be the missing third son. 

Have you considered the names of your ancestors and their collateral family? What's in a name could be more than it first appears. When stuck, perhaps a reexamination of family names may afford a clue. Just maybe you will find another piece of your puzzle! 


©2016 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Finding Faulkner: Part Five | Lingering In Michigan


It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.


The questions remained. Who were James and Martha's 10 - or 11 children, was Harrison involved in the railroad scandal, did James' really own a plantation in Tennessee, and who was Nelson?

I know I said I was staying put in Michigan, but upon learning that James originated in Wallkill, New York, I felt the compulsion to put out feelers. I found, and joined, the OCGSNY Yahoo group; learning of their existence from the now defunct Scotchtown Highlander website where owner Sal had pointed me to the Orange County Gen Soc. I posted my first query in 2012. (I told you this journey took it's sweet time!) Where I immediately received a flurry of interesting responses.

Holy BSOs! All of a sudden I'm off and running! The hints and possibilities at actually finding Faulkner burgeoned! I got so excited I lost sight of my trajectory temporarily. Requesting books from Interlibrary loan, making mad copies (good to work at an office with a copier - shhhh, don't tell), chasing my tail ....... and smacking, yet again, into a brick wall.

Alack, New York is an adventure for another day.

Back in Michigan I set in to discover all of James and Martha's children. Keeping in mind what had been written: "There had been born to them eleven children, eight daughters and three sons, nine of whom are living and mostly residents of this State." I first turned to the census records. Starting with 1850 (first year all household members were listed by name) I found James age 67, with five women:

  • Caroline, age 33
  • Nancy, age 28 
  • Antoinette, age 23
  • Henrietta, age 18 
  • Diantha, age 14 
all presumably daughters, and two men:

  • Anson, age 25  
  • David, age 81

Anson was most likely a son - but who's David? Another mystery.

Plugging all these names into Ancestry brought me myriad hints, and in short order I had good evidence of marriages and deaths for most of them. No additional record of a David Faulkner, however. That left me with 3 daughters and one son left to discover. (Factoring Nelson as a maybe and already knowing about Harrison)

The Seeking Michigan database is magnificent. I was able to find and download most of the children's death certificates - for free! All of them listed James and Martha as the parents - score!

With Deb's help (from the upper_midwest Yahoo group - see post here) I was able to locate two more daughters, Mary Jane and Frances Ann, and found additional supportive information on them to confirm they belonged to this family. One son and one daughter to go. (Fast forward to today, I am still unable to prove Nelson is a son of James and I'm no closer to finding that eighth daughter)

Interestingly, Antoinette Faulkner was listed as being born in 1825 - the same year Harrison was reported to have been born. Twins? I have not found a definitive birth date for Harrison yet - another piece of the puzzle still amiss.

The hunt for Nelson was proving futile. I found two land purchase records in 1837 adjacent to James. He did not show up in the 1840 census, unless he was still included in James' household. Then I found two land purchases for a Nelson Faulkner in Mineral Point, Wisconsin in the 1840's. Nothing else was turning up and I felt I was getting sidetracked. Nelson would have to be put aside.

Digging up more on the railroad scandal was also proving fruitless. There were records housed at the University of Michigan, but that would require a trip to their archives. I decided to leave Harrison behind as I focused on the third piece of the Michigan puzzle. James' Tennessee plantation.

I had not been successful in finding anything indicating a land purchase or sale in the state of Tennessee for James Faulkner. Only those Kentucky land grants,and those were highly doubtful.

Back to the census records, I located James in every U.S. census from 1810 to 1860. I found him in Wallkill, New York from 1810 to 1830 and I found him in Grass Lake, Michigan from 1840 to 1860. It was appearing that the plantation story was a myth. Employing a timeline I deduced that it would be nearly impossible for James to have actually lived in Tennessee for the length of time it would take to run a plantation. All of his children were born in Wallkill, as I had discovered on their death certificates, a time spanning nearly two decades.

However, to my deep dismay, I did discover that James was a slaveholder for a brief time. The 1820 census reports: "Slaves - Males - Under 14: 2; Slaves - Males - 26 thru 44: 1; Slaves - Females - 26 thru 44: 1" Ugh. This I did not want to see. There was also one "foreigner not naturalized" reported - I have yet to investigate this. By the 1830 census James' household consisted of 13 "Free White Persons" and one "Free Colored Persons - Males - 10 thru 23". So the story in Harrison's obituary had a glimmer of truth about it - but just a glimmer. By 1840 there were only 10 "Free White Persons" in James' household.

Feeling that my additional time spent in Michigan proved fruitful; bountifully so, it was time to push ever Eastward toward New York. Curious to see what the War of 1812 could tell me, and dig deeper into James' childhood; to his parents and that Presbyterian church. Voyaging further back in time, the Colony of New York in my sights.


footnote: My Faulkner male ancestors revealed in these writings will be treated to more in depth sketches at a later date.  

you can read all prior chapters here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Frasers of Fife: Generation Two | John Fraser and Ann Johnstone

4. John Fraser (Duncan - 1) born at Saline September 23rd 1770. A mechanic at Carlisle.

married at Carlisle 1803

Ann Johnstone birth unknown

Children of the union:

     i. John Fraser b. 1805 married Mary Sanderson. d. 1875 at Newcastle on Tyne ~no issue. A Stone mason.

      ii. Duncan Fraser b. 1807  Stone mason. Enlisted into  30th regiment at Bermuda. Died a bachelor aged about 33 years.

      iii. William Fraser  d. 1818 aged 9 years

      iv. Alexander Fraser d. 1818 aged 7 years

16.  v.  Hugh Fraser  b. December 25th 1813 married Ann Amelia Cleminston


      vi. Burns Fraser  d. 1818 aged  3 years

      vii. Margaret Fraser d. 1818 aged 1 year



John died June 1st 1842 aged 72
Ann died 1834



~ all information provided here has been taken directly from the John Fraser family tree compiled in 1880 and as such is the only source for these writings - the objective being to record his work for further study and documentation ~ 



editor's note: As I entered this information I was struck by the fact that four of this couple's young children all died in 1818. A quick internet search revealed there were outbreaks of Typhoid Fever and Tuberculosis throughout Scotland that year.