Thomas Ross - Where did he come from, where did he go?.....

[Muriel]

Sally, you've done it again

Isabella did indeed marry Walter Gay. Of the 6 children only Walter & Flora survived and the rest died very young - I see I've recorded the death dates but not the causes of death. I did them very early in my search when I was still learning

I took a deep breath & signed up for a pay-per-view with Ancestry to have a look at the census images. They don't say much more than the index but both the Danforths & Thomas & Isabella are in Ward 6 in Springfield so they lived close to each other (the census doesn't seem to give addresses). I've not been able to find a death anywhere for Walter Gay. He doesn't show up in SP or, as far as I can see in FreeBMD in England or Wales either - son Walter moved to London, so I wondered if he ended up there if his & Isabella's marriage broke down.

There is a death of a Thomas Ross in Massachusetts in 1880 & I've asked someone from RAOGK to look at it for me to see if its my Thomas. There doesn' seem to be any record for Isabella's death but more digging may yield something. I think the presence of Isabella & Flora in Springfield (I think it has to be them) makes it almost certain that Thomas & Isabella are the right couple.

Next move is to try to find the marriage of Isabella & Levi, I think. The census shows that he was born in New York but doesn't give any birthplace for his parents.

Thanks again - I'd been hitting my head against the proverbial with this one for 10 years.

Muriel

[LesleyB]

Hi Muriel
Walter Gay - he may be listed as Walter Guy. I have a family of Guys who turn up frequently listed as Gay, and on one occasion Gaye, so I'm sure it works the other way around too. Your Walter caused me to check, but the Walter Guy I have was born in 1848, Cardross, so can't be your chap.

Best wishes
Lesley

[JustJean]

I took a deep breath & signed up for a pay-per-view with Ancestry to have a look at the census images. They don't say much more than the index but both the Danforths & Thomas & Isabella are in Ward 6 in Springfield so they lived close to each other (the census doesn't seem to give addresses). Muriel

Hi Muriel....not sure which US census year you were viewing but usually an address can be derived from the full page view in the first column. A street name is usually written in the length of the column vertical to the enumerated data. One of the next columns contains a house number but don't confuse this with the column that contains the number that the enumerated assigned as the order in which he visited the various addresses. If a page contains data from more than one street address then they will write in that street name in the same column and in the same vertical manner.

Hope this helps....hard to explain in words but easy to understand once you see one .

Best wishes
Jean

[Muriel]

Have you ever had the experience of a disembodied hand producing your credit card when you've just discovered a Walter GUY, right age, dying in Bonhill in 1873 on SP:?: Well, there he was dying in October 1873 of congestion of the brain (2 weeks), engraver, aged 41 married to Isabella Ross, son of Walter Guy and Flora Glen. The informant was his father (not present) who seems to have lived in Jamestown. His lack of presence may account for the wrong spelling of the name.

Heaven knows where Isabella & Flora were at this time - the family were in Hutchesontown in 1871. I think Isabella/e must have gone to family already in the US for her to have gone so quickly after Walter's death - unless the marriage was over before he died.

I've also had another look at the Ellis Island records for Agnes's visits home & it's amazing what you see with a bit more knowledge. On her return from visiting Glasgow in 1813 she says that she's lived in the US since 1885 and that she is returning to stay with her sister Isabelle Danforth! Proof positive that that marriage is the right Isabella (notechange of name!). Agnes is on the 1910 census in Springfield with her son David when she is a widow and matron of a day nursery. David, who was an engraver when he accompanied his mother to Scotland in 1904, is now a chauffeur with a "private family". Isabelle & Levi are in Worthington Town, Hampshire County, both aged 76. No sign of Flora. So far I've found no sign of the death of David May, between 1904 & 1910, or of Isabelle or of Agnes. I do know that Agnes paid at least one more visit to Scotland because my mother, who was born in 1913, remembered meeting her. She doesn't seem to be in the 1920 census, so perhaps that's when she was here.

Thanks for the tip Lesley & I'll have a further look at the census Jean.

Muriel

[LesleyB]

Hi Muriel

Walter GUY, right age, dying in Bonhill in 1873 on SP:

Was he yours? If so, we may have a connection yet (but it may be far back in the mists of Guy/Gay history) - my Guys are all Cardross, but Bonhill is not far away!!

Best wishes
Lesley

[Muriel]

Lesley

Walter is listed on the OPR as baptised 10 September 1832 in Bonhill, son of Walter Gay & Flora Glen but I've never looked further back than that. Be interesting if there was a connection though.

Muriel

[LesleyB]

Hi Muriel
The furthest back I have is John Guy/Gay (I think a master Cooper) & Jean Peacock who married I think around 1781 - they had 7 children I know of : Isbel, Susannah, Andrew, John, Alexander, Sarah Bain & Jane between 1785 - 1801. Both Alexander & Sarah named a child as Walter (of the others I only know what happened to Susannah & she had 4 boys, none of whom was Walter...) but it makes me think there is a tradition of Walters in the family. A look on IGI reveals Walters turning in in Luss, Cardross & Bonhill - again, I suspect some kind of connection there - maybe my John b. abt 1758 had a brother Walter? Who knows...?

Best wishes
Lesley

[SarahND]

Hello Muriel,
I've been out of internet contact for a week since I've been travelling (except for a brief moment when we discovered a wireless network that worked in the bathroom at a B&B ) . I've found your Thomas' death record in 1880:

Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts
Date of death: Sept 14th, 1880
Name and surname of the deceased: Thomas Ross
Sex and color if other than white: M
Age: 76 years 5 months
Disease or cause of death: Internal Hemorrhage
Occupation: Night Watchman
Place of birth: Scotland
Names and birthplace of parents: Alexander & Agnes (Jewitt), Scotland

Well... it looks like "Jewitt" to me, not "Stewart". I will post it in the gallery and see what you think.

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... p?pos=-829

Isabel (McDougal) Ross died in Springfield in 1896. Unfortunately, the image is not available, so I can't see the other details-- only an index entry.

Cheers,
Sarah

Gallery URL added - AndrewP

[Muriel]

Hi SarahND

Love the idea of you crouched in a bathroom with your laptop It's wonderful to have this confirmation that Thomas did die shortly after the 1880 census & to have the details. As I said earlier, I'd asked someone in RAOGK to look it up for me but I couldn't find Isabella's death - perhaps I was being too correct in giving her name, she does sometimes seems to have been called Isabel (e.g. on the OPR for her marriage). Will the image of her death be available for someone actually going to the records? If so, perhaps I could ask to change my request from Thomas to Isabella - I would dearly love to know who her parents were as she has eluded me entirely so far.

I could understand Agnes' name being picked up by a registrar as Jewitt rather that Stewart particularly if it was said by someone with a strong Scottish accent to someone who had an entirely different accent.

Thanks again for all the help, I feel I've had a really successful few days.

Regards

Muriel

[AndrewP]

Looks like Jewitt to me too. No sign of Stewart however you look at it.

All the best,

AndrewP