It probably goes against the tenets of wisdom when it comes to genealogical searches but I'm about to take my McPherson search back to the old country. I know I probably haven't exhausted all the possibilities to locate records of them in Ontario but I'll be on the ground in Scotland. I want to see what I can find there.
Margaret Clark nee McPherson is the person I have the most information about although some of that is contradictory. The Canadian censuses were clear that her husband, Angus Clark, was born in Scotland. They weren't as consistent when it came to her birthplace. In 1881 there was just a dash written where the place of birth should have been, in 1871 Ontario was indicated and in 1861, PEI, if this was indeed Margaret. The name of the wife listed in the earliest census was hard to make out. I have a suspicion she may also have been born in Scotland.
What I do know from Alexander Matheson's letters is that Margaret was the daughter of Donald McPherson. It seems that when Alex was young and lived at home he had lots of contact with this Donald McPherson. Also, from the context of the letter, it seemed that the sister Alex was writing to would know the man too. In the 1851 census for Puslinch, Wellington County, Alex, his sisters, brother and father were listed as living next to a clan of McPhersons. Among them was a Donald McPherson, a widower aged 72. I have a feeling that may be Margaret's father. Unfortunately, his place of birth is listed as Scotland and nothing more.
It looks to be a daunting task to find out more about this Donald McPherson back in Scotland. Without a specific place named where do I start? Perhaps the 1851 census has more to tell me as there are other McPhersons listed surrounding Donald. Before him was Duncan McPherson age 30 with his wife and daughter. After Donald McPherson came John McPherson age 39 with his wife. Then came Alexander McPherson age 27, his wife and son. All of these McPhersons look like they are related. Searching Scottish records for Donald McPherson and sons of the right age might get me further ahead. Who knows, I might find the birth of Margaret McPherson while I am looking.
Sources:
Ancestry.ca
census searches from Canadian census collection
Letters of Alexander Matheson, 1895 – 1920, personal family
papers
Yes, genealogy can suck you in, can’t it. I find I have long periods of inactivity, then a qenealogical query comes in, or I stumble across something relevant, and off it goes again. But I have many other interests all jostling for my time and attention.
ReplyDeletePloughing back in my own tree, at some point, I found a direct ancestor had married into a noble family. Noble families tend to intermarry and their established genealogies are likely to have been published – heros, notables, and villains too, are likely to ‘have been looked at’ by others. It is a monstrous interconnected web that can be picked at for useful data like a picky bird selecting bits of nest-building material from a massive pile.
I have found a lot of family tree info in Ancestry and the LDS site questionable or that I know to be downright false, whether mistaken, hopeful guesswork that didn’t hit the spot, or deliberate sabotage, so discretion must be exercised.
As the tree grows, there arises evidence of more and more cross-pollination across distant branches – the individuals could have had no idea they were distantly related at the time.
I haven't found any gateway ancestors on my own tree yet but I know someone who did. He found the information on the lines that he was seeking on Tribal Pages. Have you tried that site? It might have less questionable info than Ancestry.
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