Baillie Marriage 1790's?

[Baillie 1799]

I know this is very vague but I am trying to locate a marriage between William Baillie and Margeret (maiden name unknown). To make this even more difficult I don't know the exact date or county. The only region I have is of the Highlands.

However, as common as both of those names were, if there were 30 marriages by William and Margaret Baillie from 1790-1800 it would be a great help for me to check into each one.

I do know they had a son Alexander born in 1799 and Daniel born in 1800.

I have searched the IGI. but is there a better resource that I could be looking for this marriage besides the IGI?


Thanks,
Dave

[SarahND]

Hi Dave,
Have you tried Scotland's People? (Link at the top of the page). Having said that, however, a search for a marriage between william bail* and marg*r*t between 1790 & 1799 gives only one result, and that looks to be the same one you get on the IGI in Cramond, Midlothian, in 1791. I take it this is not your couple?
Regards,
Sarah

[Baillie 1799]

Thanks Sarah. I appreciate your help looking that up for me. I'm not sure if I've seen that one before. It will definitely be worth looking into as well as the other one from Kinnell, Angus. Even though his wife is Mary.

I don't know how many children William and Margaret had total. I do know of two, Alexander born in 1799 and Daniel born in 1800.

I am really new to this. Where would be the best places to research birth records of a particular married couple like William and Margaret?


Thanks again, Dave

[SarahND]

Okay Dave, I'm trying to reconstruct your family from looking at your various posts. Sometimes it helps to backtrack (or fast-forward?!) a bit and look for clues. Were your Baillies the ones in Columbiana County, Ohio? I find Alexander and Daniel families there in 1850 & 1860. And Alexander and Margaret (who has a man in her household the right age to be Daniel) in 1840. If this is them, it at least gives us something to start with. If not, which county were they in?

One thing you have to think hard about is where you got the information that you already have. Is the "three brothers from the Highlands" the story that has been handed down in your family, or do you have some real evidence of these three men and where they were from? I ask because it seems like nearly every family in the U.S. has a "three brothers" story... so I have learned to question them! (I have a "three brothers from Wales" on one branch of my family, although there is only evidence for one!) If you could clarify where you got the information about when Margaret and the boys came to the U.S., and the fact that William was not with them, it might help put things in perspective. Do you think William died before they came over? Margaret is certainly on her own in 1840, if I have found the right person. And Nancy Baillie is in the same township, the head of a household. I take it from another one of your posts that she is John's wife?

Okay, enough questions! If you could confirm, or not, that I have the right family, I'll try to figure out where to go from here

All the best,
Sarah

[Baillie 1799]

That would be great. I really do appreciate the help.

Before I started with researching our family my Uncle, Wayne and his Aunt Lydia before him have all been working on the Baillie line. We have been able to find out a wide variety of information over the years, some have been very interesting and intertaining to say the least. However, once we get to Scotland it has been a huge brick wall for all of us. Probably alot of it has to do with circumstances with William that we can't figure out. We know for a fact the we are from the Highlands. But we have never been able to find a birth, death, marriage in any county or parrish to support that.

It is documented in a Presbyterian Church history book in Columbiana County, OH that Margaret Baillie (1769-1846) travelled to America with her 2 young boys Alexander (1799-1878) and Daniel (1800-1868) and along with them came her brother-in law, George (1771-1846).
Church Records also show John Baillie as a Charter Member in 1804 and buying land in Columbiana County in 1808. There is also land purchase in 1810 that George buys a piece of that same land from John in 1810.

I believe John was sort of a "scout" for the family who travelled and explored the New World first. No one knows why William did not travel. We do not know their trade in Scotland but they all were farmers here. I don't know any military history or stories from Scotland either but quite a few here in the States fought in the Civil War, were injured and one I know died in Nashville. We have a record of a Bailey fighting in every major war from Civil War to Vitenam.

I don't know a port that they left Scotland or arrived at the States. It was very common for those that settled in the "Scot Settlement" in Columb. County to arrive in Ports; Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore.

Could William have been captured at the Port trying to leave and forced to fight with the British against the French, maybe he died in a battle before they left, maybe desease, maybe caught be British and imprisoned, maybe something completely different and not in military at all. We have never been able to find any information on him except his name mentioned in a church record in Columb. County. We have never been able to find birth records for Alexander, Daniel, George, John or Margaret either.

I do know of all of the families that settled in the "Scot Settlement" in Columb. County and thought about tracing each of their origin in Scotland. Thinking maybe some of them may have know each other back in the Old Country. Didn't know how common that was though.

I know if I could just make that first little pinhole in the brick wall, I could then be able to really chip away and have a lot of fun with all of the information that is waiting for me there in Scotland. I just havn't been able to make that first break yet.

I really do appreciate any help and guidance you can't help with. I am very Novice with knowing what to look for and how I can go about it so I really do appreciate your help Sarah.


Thanks again,
Dave

[SarahND]

Hello, Dave,
Glad to know that I found the right people. My ancestors Edward and Adam Stewart were just over in the next county south (Jefferson) at the time your Baillies came, but they came from Maryland, so the trail from Scotland is even colder... I understand your frustration trying to make the jump back to Scotland. At least you know from the later censuses that they were born in Scotland and you have their ages.

I guess what you'll have to do is do a search on Scotland's People for all the Alexander and all the Daniel Baillies in the relevant time period. If you are lucky, their births will have been recorded and the records survive. Keep in mind that in many parishes only the father's name is given. Since you are only sure of the mother's name, it may make it difficult to be sure you have the right ones. I did some preliminary searches, from which you can gather quite a bit of information without, actually spending any credits, by changing the parameters and searching again to see how many hits you get. I used wildcards for the last name requiring a letter both before and after the 'l' and included the 'a' so as not to get "Bell"s of which there are way too many. I checked and there were none spelled with only one vowel before the 'l' (i.e. no Baley, Balley, Ballie or Balie).

There is only one dan* ba?l?* born in Scotland between 1798 & 1801. The mother's name , you'll be pleased to know, is Margaret. Going one by one through the counties, I see that he was born in Ayr. Similarly, going through the parishes, he appears to have been born in Irvine. This is looking like the contributed record on the IGI. Since the records on Scotland's People are all extracted from the actual records, this is looking hopeful. But, as you know, the father of that Daniel is James.
There is no Alex in Ayr, however, but they could have come there after his birth. There are 16 alex* ba?l?* in Scotland born between 1794 & 1800. So, with two credits' worth you could see a list of both the Alexanders and the Daniels, although you probably don't even need to check Daniel since it is clearly the same as the one on the IGI. But I think it's best to check her surname, since the IGI record is not extracted.

Now... about William and James. You say that you have seen William's name in the churchbook in Columbiana County. I assume he was mentioned as the father of Alexander & Daniel. What do you think of this fellow:
JAMES WILLIAM CAPTAIN BAILLIE
Spouse: MARGARET ROSS
Marriage: 16 JAN 1783 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

I know Edinburgh is not the Highlands, but if he was in the military, as this would seem to indicate, then he might have been quartered in Edinburgh no matter where he was from. Sure enough, this couple had two children in Ardersier, Inverness in the IGI (called Highlands now, although Ardersier itself is not very "high", being on the Moray Firth There is a military post there, though, which makes sense): David Ross Baillie in 1789 and Edwena in 1796.

But we still don't have births for Alex and Daniel And none of those 16 Alexes were born in Inverness... hmmm. Were they moving around with the regiment?

Well, got to go finish making dinner, but at least I've given you a few things to ponder! Hope this makes sense, I was rushing a bit
Regards,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Oh, I meant to add that I think your idea of checking the other Scottish families in Columbiana County is a good one. People often came to settle with their former friends, neighbours and relations.
All the best,
Sarah

[Baillie 1799]

OK Sarah. Now you are giving me goosebumps. This is really exciting stuff. I really do appreciate your help with this. You have shed alot of light on this. You have taken a little information and made alot of sense with it. It's really does help to know the history of the area at that time. I should probably do some reading on that. That would probably help me with differnt ideas wher to look for things.

You make alot of sense about the possibilty of the military. It has always been my gut feeling that William is somehow tied to the military, just never able to find any fact on it either. That would explain why the children's births are so difficut to find as well as their marriage.

Do you know of a good resource for military records that I might be able to look into for William?
Or a good history book for reading for that era?

Well, I have to tell you, you really have me reaved-up now and you know what I 'll be up doing all night. Yep, sitting in front of the computer searching for more Baillie's.

Thanks you again Sarah for all of your help. You have been amazing!

Thanks, Dave

[SarahND]

Hi Dave,
Unfortunately, I know nothing about the military, but there are others on this forum who do, so we will wait for them to step in.

In the meantime... now that dinner is cooked and eaten, I'm going to go out on a limb-- take the following with a grain of salt.
Back to the Margaret Ross theme... I note that in the 1850 census for Yellow Creek, Columbiana County (the same township where Alex settled), there is a man named Peter Ross born in abt 1794 in Scotland. Going to the IGI, one of the options for his birth is:

Petter Ross, Chr. 7 Feb 1793 Inverness, Inverness, Scotland
Fa: David Ross
Mo: Isabella Derryuall (written Dingwal in their marriage record)

If Peter's father David were Margaret's brother...? There are these two births:
David Ross, Chr. 30 Apr 1762 Inverness, Inverness, Scotland
Fa: David Ross
Mo: Margaret Ross

Margaret Ross, Chr. 19 Apr 1769 Inverness, Inverness, Scotland
Fa: David Ross
Mo: Margaret Ross

Now, these names are common enough that one shouldn't jump to conclusions, but I think it is intriguing nonetheless (and the birth date for Margaret fits!)

In case they prove to be relevant, here is the marriage of David & Isobel
David Ross & Isobel Dingwal
17 Aug 1780 Dores, Inverness, Scotland

Dores is on the eastern bank of Loch Ness (the opposite side from the main road-- we drove through it last November), just south of Inverness.

Well, that was fun! Hope it turns out to be of use
Sarah

[Baillie 1799]

What an interesting last couple of days!

I have been looking into the possibilty of Peter Ross and I have got to tell you Sarah. It is looking very promising.

I have looked into the church history books that tell about the original families that settled in the "Scotch Settlement". All of them arrived between 1802 and 1805. So far I have tracked about 50% of the families and all, without exception, came from INVERNESS.

It gets better. The church records book also lists the history of the Peter Ross family. Their daughter married a James McBean. James McBean name has popped-up in my family history before. Laughlin Baillie died in battle in the Civil War in TN in 1865. His wife died about 6 years before Laughlin went to war. Laughlin and his wife had one child John Baillie. Before Laughlin went to fight in the war, he named James McBean as the Legal Guardian of his son John incase anything should happen to him. I never could understand that decision and who James McBean was. If he was just a good friend of the family, maybe a close brother in the church? But now that you have shed light on the possibility of Peter Ross and Margaret Baillie being brother/sister . . . that's a horse of a differnt color! That would make Laughlin Baillie and James McBean 1st cousins.

I have talked to a contact in Columbiana County to see if there is possibly a will for Peter Ross. Searching for wills of other Baillie's in Columbiana County, I have previously only found a will for Alexander, but no mention of the Ross Family.

The verdict is still out on this until I can find a confirmation with a will or something in writing that might takes some time, but for now, this is looking very promising I think. You have been an amazing help and I will definitely keep you posted.



I stil have alot to learn with all of this. Especially on the Scottish side of research.


Thanks again for your help,
Dave