I missed posting last week for the #52ancestors prompts because I got involved in looking for more information on the topic I wanted to discuss. This week, the prompt is "overlooked" and the suggestion is to write about someone who I have not researched much yet. So, let's look at my 3rd great grandfather, John MacWhirter.
John was born about 1827 in Greenoak, Scotland. Looking at a map of Scotland, I can already see one potential mistake. There is a place called Greenock a little to the west of Glasgow, but Google Maps doesn't know any place in Scotland called Greenoak.
I got the name Greenoak from a transcription of the 1871 census of England and Wales where John is listed as a resident of East Greenwich, London. But, since I don't have a Find My Past subscription, or a membership in any other site that would let me see the original record for that census, I can't verify it. FamilySearch has a limited transcript of this record there as follows:
He is listed in that census with his wife Sarah, four sons and two daughters. I'm descended from his son Thomas, who is listed on that census record at age 5, and born in Greenwich.
Sarah's maiden name was Turner. I don't have anything more about her in my database other than what I have on the census record listed above, but the FamilySearch tree extends her ancestry a bit further. I still need to review the documentation and add the information.
I have John's surname in my database listed as MacWhirter rather than McWhirter because that's how it has been written by my other family members, and the only other reference for the family that I've seen so far, the 1900 U.S. census. John's son Thomas, my 2nd great grandfather, was living in Chicago with his wife Ellen, one son and one daughter.
Interestingly, the 1900 census lists Thomas's mother's birthplace as Scotland, but the 1871 census record noted above says it was Ashburton, Devonshire. But how many times have we seen parental birthplaces listed incorrectly on the U.S. census? Way too often, if you ask me. Also note that Thomas listed his birth date in this census record as April 1860, while the 1871 census record notes that he was 5 years old.
I mentioned that I have three documentation sources for John but so far have only really shown two. The third is a record of the marriage between William Thomas MacWhirter and Ellen R. Duffay in 1889:
This record does not have an image with it on the FamilySearch website, and says that I can only see the image if I visit a FamilySearch center. There is one in my city, I just haven't set aside time for a visit there yet.
I am left with so many questions still. John's profile page in the FamilySearch tree lists a few more references for the births of his children, but not much more so far. The data that I'm looking for next for John includes:
- Am I looking at the records for the correct John MacWhirter?
- What were John's birth date and place
- What were John's death date and place
- What were John and Sarah's marriage date and place
- What were John's parents' names
- Did John or any other members of this family also emigrate to the U.S., and if so, when?
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