About the project

Our project

Monday, 21 April 2025

Detroit, USA - The Motor City

 by Roberta McGee

DETROIT - THE MOTOR CITY

Ford Model A 1927-1931 - Image Wikipedia 

On 16th June 1903 Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in Detroit USA. His vision was to make cars affordable for the average working man. His most successful car was the Model T, or 'Tin Lizzie' as it became known, and to reduce its cost and increase production he implemented the moving assembly line in 1913 whereby, instead of working on a variety of tasks to build one car, each worker had a specific task and, as the product moved along the line, they would perform the same task repetitively during their shift. It was at the Highland Park Plant, Detroit, that Ford perfected the assembly line. He also introduced the $5 a day wages for an eight hour working day which was twice the wage other auto companies were offering. This revolutionised the auto industry. The following day 10,000 job-seekers turned up at Highland Park looking for employment. He also added a share of the company's profits to every worker's wage slip, introduced insurance plans, bonuses, savings plans and education & training plans and provided free citizenship education to the company's very large immigrant workforce. It was reported globally in the newspapers and was, no doubt, read by the folks in Cumnock.


10,000 men looking for work at the Ford Factory
Credit - The Henry Ford Museum 



Although The Ford Motor Company was the dominant manufacturer in Detroit, it was soon rivalled by General Motors and Chrysler. Subsidiary companies thrived such as paint manufacturers, makers of tools, rubber, glass, steel etc. Detroit became the heart of the American automobile industry and became known as 'The Motor City'. Immigrants flocked there to seek a new life. Edmond Jackson and James Strickland being two of them.

EDMOND JACKSON, who was born in Cumnock in 1899, and who lived in Bank Avenue, Cumnock, emigrated to Detroit via Canada in August 1926. He travelled with JAMES STRICKLAND who was born in 1900 at Templeton Place, Auchinleck. They gave their occupations as 'agriculturalists' and sailed on the 'Letitia'  from Glasgow on 6/8/1926, arriving in Quebec ten days later, then on the Canadian National Railway to Detroit where his address was given as 1815 Magnolia Street, Detroit. 

Edmond Jackson - internet 

The following year in 1927 in Detroit Edmond married Mary McVicar, who was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire. James Shankland was a witness on the marriage certificate. 

By 1930 Edmond, Mary and their two year old son Samuel, were living in Merrick Avenue, Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan and Edmond was a labourer in the auto industry. By 1940 he had become an American citizen and the US Federal Census shows Edmond, a labourer with the Universal Joint Co. who supplied parts to the auto industry, his wife Mary, 12 years old son Samuel and 8 year old daughter Mary, living in Mackenzie Avenue, Detroit. Edmond was only 45 years old when he died in 1944 in Detroit. 

JAMES STRICKLAND, who emigrated with Edmond Jackson in 1926, was born in 1900 at Templeton Place, Auchinleck. His parents were Daniel Strickland, a coalminer engineman, and Maggie Brown. They lived at Mansfield View, Auchinleck. 

James married Marguerite McGhee in 1929 in Detroit and in 1930 they were living with Marguerite's parents at Brooklyn Avenue, Detroit. He was employed as a body trimmer at an auto plant. James was divorced by his wife in 1939. He died of pneumonia in 1941 in Detroit. His death certificate shows his occupation at the time of his death as an auto worker in the auto industry. James has a headstone in Auchinleck Old Churchyard. 

THE BRADFORD FAMILY

James Bradford (sometime Broadfoot) was born in 1878 in Glengyron Row, Old Cumnock and married his cousin Catherine Elizabeth Bradford in 1900 at Kilsyth in Stirlingshire. They went on to have ten children, all of them born in Old Cumnock, before moving to Twechar in Dunbartonshire where, in 1925, William Baird & Co. had built some good quality houses for their workers. Sadly Catherine didn't get to spend much time there. She died on 25/11/1926 of cardiac failure during an operation. 

James and his children decided to move to Detroit after Catherine's death. Daughter Catherine  emigrated on 17/12/1927 to Aunt Nellie McManus, 451 Statefair Avenue, Detroit. Son Hugh, aged 21 years and a coalminer, was next, arriving in New York on 22/2/1928 en route to Aunt Nellie's. He was followed by his father James who entered the USA via Windsor, Canada and arrived at the Port of Detroit on 26/11/1928 his final destination being Aunt Nellie's also. Son James Clark Bradford also emigrated in 1928. On 16/2/1929 20yrs old Adam and his little sister 8yrs old Sarah sailed out of Greenock to join their father at 451 Statefair Avenue. The final members of the family, daughter Ellen Jane Galloway aged 28, her two sons , and her siblings Mary 16, Thomas 11 and William 13 all emigrated together, arriving in New York on 2/6/1929, their final destination being to their father James at 1957 Kendal Avenue, Detroit, where Ellen's husband Robert Galloway was also living.

Another James Clark Bradford, who was born in Glengyron, Cumnock on 3/2/1903 and was the son of Adam Clark Bradford, joined his cousins in September 1928 from his home in Kapuskasing, Canada, at 451 Statefair Avenue, Detroit. 

So, the family was together to celebrate their sister Catherine's wedding to Hugh Sweeney on 7/9/1929 in Detroit. 

Catherine and Hugh settled in Detroit and went on to have three children there. In 1940 Hugh was a welder in an auto factory. In 1950 he was an assembler in an auto factory, wife Catherine was a bartender in the Legion Hall and son Hugh was a machine operator, also in an auto factory.

Both Catherine and Hugh died in Detroit in 1970 and 1982 respectively.

After Hugh Montgomery Bradford, who was born in Old Cumnock in 1906, arrived in Detroit in 1928, he started work with the Ford Motor Co. He married Paisley born Agnes Newton McFarlane in  Detroit in 1934. In 1940 they were living at 1805 Eason, Detroit where Hugh was a wheel crib at the Ford Motor Co. Plant at River Rouge in Dearborn which is an inner suburb of Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. The 1950 US Federal Census shows the family now living in Redford, Wayne Co. and Hugh's employment is given as a wheel mounter in an automobile factory. 

Hugh and Agnes both died in Howell, Livingston, Michigan, Agnes in 1983 and Hugh in 1989. 

Ford Model T  assembly line Highland Park - Image Science Photo Library

Edward (Adam) Clark Bradford was born in 1908 at Glengyron Rows, Old Cumnock. He was a miner and joined his father in Detroit in 1929. By 1935 he was living in Columbine, Weld, Colorado and married Lillian Ehrlick in 1936 at Brighton, Adams, Colorado. The 1940 census shows he was still in Columbine and his employment was dropping cars in a coal mine. Later on that year he was living in Serene, Weld, Colorado where he was employed by the Rocky Mountain Fuel Co.

Adam died in 1974 at Humboldt, California and Lillian died in 2009 at Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Sarah Murdoch Nicol Bradford was born in 1920 in Old Cumnock. After the death of her mother 8 years old Sarah, accompanied by her 20yrs old brother Adam, sailed from Greenock on the 'Minnedosa' to meet up with her father again in Detroit. In 1935 she was in Serene, Weld, Colorado but by 1938 she was back in Highland Park, Detroit when she married Russell DeMaggio (known as Dominic). In 1940 they were living at Louise Avenue in Highland Park. Dominic, who was born in Michigan, was a toolmaker in the Ford factory in Highland Park. Sarah's brother Thomas was living with them. He was a glazier in an auto factory. In 1950 Dominic and Sarah were living in Kendal Avenue, Detroit, where Sarah's father made their home when they first arrived in Detroit in 1929.  They had three children by this time and Dominic was employed as a tool & die maker in an auto factory.

Sarah died in 2011 at Hudson, Pasco, Florida.

Ellen Jane Bradford married Robert Galloway, who was born in Ayr, in 1922 in Old Cumnock. Robert sailed on the  'Aurania' arriving in New York in 1928 his final destination being Aunt Nellie's at 451 Statefair Avenue, Detroit. Ellen and their sons, James 5 and Robert 2, emigrated on 25/5/1929 to join him and Ellen's father James at 1957 Kendal Avenue, Detroit. By 1930 the Galloways were living in the home of Ellen's uncle William Clark Bradford in Columbine, Weld, Colorado. William was the brother of Ellen's late mother Catherine Bradford and had emigrated to Montana as a single man in 1911. He returned to Scotland to marry Lizzie Shaw and together they emigrated to Roundup, Montana in June 1913. Tragically, Lizzie, at the age of 27yrs, died of Influenza and pneumonia in 1918 leaving William to raise two very young children. 

Ellen Jane Bradford - image various trees Ancestry

Robert and Ellen Galloway also had two sons but, sadly, history repeated itself. Ellen died in 1937 at Longmont, Boulder, Colorado, leaving Robert to raise their two children. Robert married again in later years and died in 1968 at Casa Grande, Pinal, Arizona. 

Mary Haggarty Bradford was born in 1913 in Old Cumnock. She sailed on the 'Cameronia' with her siblings on 2/6/1929 to join her father James in Detroit. She was only 17 years old when she married Alexander Findlay Strachan, who was only 5'3" in height, a year later in 1930 in Detroit. They settled in Highland Park, Detroit, Wayne Co.where Alexander worked for the Ford Motor Co. in their factory there. Alexander was born in Auchinleck and arrived in Detroit in 1925. His three brothers Durham, David and Gilbert had emigrated in 1923 and settled in Detroit. His older brother David Findlay Strachan had married Grace Montgomerie in 1912 in the Public Hall, Auchinleck. His wife and family soon followed him and settled in Dearborn, Detroit, the birthplace of Henry Ford. David worked in the Ford Company's Rouge Plant there as a foundry foreman. Eldest brother Durham Highet Strachan arrived in Detroit in 1923. He was a coalminer and had married Helen Gemmel Stirling at Blythswood in Glasgow. Helen was born in Lugar and was the widow of Alexander Millar who was killed in action in the Dardanelles in 1915. Helen and her family joined Durham in Detroit and Durham found work as a machine repairman with the Ford Motor Company at the Rouge Plant. Durham died in Detroit in 1953. 

William Clark Bradford was born in Glengyron Rows, Old Cumnock. He arrived with his siblings on the 'Cameronia'  and joined his father in Detroit. He married Philippa Helen Sladovich in 1935 at Highland Park. In 1940 they were living at La Belle, Highland Park. William was a factory worker with the Ford Motor Company and they had two daughters. Philippa divorced William in 1942 but they seemed to have reunited because in 1950 they were still living at La Belle and they had another child. William was then a stock clerk/ automobile mechanic with Ford at the Rouge Plant. After William retired they moved to Coopers City, Florida where William died in 1996.

Thomas Clark Bradford was born in 1918 in Old Cumnock and emigrated with his siblings on 2/6/1929 to join his father James in Detroit. In 1940 he was living with his sister Sarah and her family at Louise Avenue, Highland Park and was employed as a glazier with the Ford Motor Company at Dearborn. In 1941 he married Zarey Derderian at Highland Park, his occupation at that time being a production worker at Ford. He became naturalised in 1942, enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and was discharged in 1945. In 1950 he was living at Belleterse, Detroit with his wife Zarey and daughter Alice and was a glass polisher with Ford. Thomas died in 1882 at Lincoln Park, Wayne Co., Michigan.

Finally, James Clark Bradford who was born at Elbow Lane, Old Cumnock on 16/4/1902.  He married Annie Weir McMurdo in 1924 in Ayr. Annie was the daughter of Thomas McMurdo who lived at 75 Glaisnock Street, Cumnock. James was in the USA from 1928 to 1931 living in various places and in 1929 he was living with his father at Statefair Avenue, Detroit. Annie and their son James sailed on the 'Montrose' from Liverpool to join him, arriving at St John's. New Brunswick, Canada on 17/2/1929. However, for some reason their names were scored out and 'deported' written over them. James returned to Dunbartonshire where their home was and they had a further two children in 1934 and 1936. 

On 21/3/1952 James Clark Bradford arrived back at the Detroit Border Crossings, his destination being to his father James who had moved to Longmont, Boulder, Colorado. He stated that he had a wife Annie back home at 24 Annieston Road, Twecher, Dunbartonshire. However, he also stated that he intended to remain in the USA permanently. Another James Clark Bradford was also making his way to James in Longmont at the same time. He was the son of Adam, James Snr's. brother and was born 3/2/1903 at Glengyron Rows in Cumnock. He had originally emigrated to Kapuskasing, Canada in 1926 but in 1928 he had joined his cousins at Statefair Avenue, Detroit. He was single and employed as a machinist. 

James (b 16/4/1902) remained in the USA and married Mamie Mahan on 8/2/1958 at Royal Oak, Oakland, Michigan. On 25/8/1958 his petition for Naturalisation was granted at Detroit. It states that he was born 16/4/1902 in Cumnock, that he was missing the 3rd finger of his left hand, his address was Indiana, Detroit and that his wife's name was Mamie Mahon. His employment was given as 'crib attendant' which means he issued tools, dies etc, probably in an auto factory. His first wife Annie Weir McMurdo Bradford died in 1981 at Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire so they must have been divorced. James Clark Bradford died in 1984 in Macomb, Warren, Michigan. His name is engraved on his mother's gravestone in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. 

Father James moved to Colorado after his daughter Ellen died there. He married Violetta Jane Smith between 1940 and 1950 and the 1950 US Federal Census shows the couple living at Longmont, Boulder, Colorado. James was employed as a watchman with the State Highway Department and died at Longmont in 1958.

THE LINDSAY FAMILY

The Lindsay family and their eight children moved from Bangor, Ireland to Lugar just after 1871. 1881 finds them in New Row before they moved to 434 Brick Row where their mother Margaret died in 1907, followed in 1910 by their father Samuel John. Their sixth son Alexander had married Jeanie Campbell in Lugar in 1890 and they went on to have seven children born there. After their seventh child was born the family moved to Dalziel in Lanarkshire where a further son, Alexander was born. Six of their children were to emigrate to the USA.

First of the siblings to emigrate was Wilhelmina (Mina) Campbell Lindsay who was born in Lugar in 1899. She arrived in New York on the 'Baltic' on 31/7/1922. Her destination was c/o Mrs Holloway, Jericho House, Jericho, Long Island, New York. Mrs Holloway was the wife of one of the gardeners at Jericho House. In the 1920s wealthy families such as the Vanderbilts and the Graces bought up several small farms on Long Island and built large estates. William Russell Grace, twice Mayor of New York City and self-made billionaire, lived between New York and 'Gracefield'. Long Island. His children also had mansions there. Jericho House was the home of his daughter Lillian Grace Kent. 

Jericho House - Image Capt. James Suydam, NY.

Mina must have returned home for some reason because on 8/6/1927 she arrived again in New York, having sailed from Glasgow on the 'Cameronia' , her final destination being to her sister Euphemia Lindsay who was living at Lakeshore Road, Grosse Point, Detroit. Euphemia's wedding was four days later in New York.

On 3/6/1930 Mina married Englishman John Ayling in New York. John's brother was a butler for WR Grace in Park Avenue, New York and, probably through his recommendations, John found employment at another Grace estate at Long Island his employer being WR Grace's son Joseph P. Grace. Mina and John settled there with John working as a footman then head butcher. In 1972 they retired to Boynton Beach which is about 57 miles north of Miami, Florida. Mina died there in 1989 aged 91 years and John in 1998 aged 93 years. 

Mina's sister Euphemia Lindsay, who was born in 1896 in Lugar, arrived in New York on 23/10/1922, three months after Mina her final destination also to Jericho House. In 1927 Euphemia married Gourock born electrician James McCaskie in Brooklyn, New York, where they settled and raised a family. James was a superintendent with the Bethlemhem Steel Corps - Shipbuilding Division. In 1973 Euphemia and James retired to St. Petersburg on the west coast of Florida where Euphemia died in 1980 followed by James in 1992.

Two months after Euphemia emigrated her brothers James Campbell Lindsay and Samuel Lindsay followed. They sailed on the 'Baltic' to New York arriving on 18/12/1922. Their final destination was to their sister Mina's at Jericho, Long Island, before making their way to Detroit.  

James Campbell Lindsay was born in Lugar in 1888. He married Agnes McIlroy in 1912 in Motherwell and Agnes and their 7yrs old son Alexander followed him to Detroit in 1923. Their son Gordon Campbell Lindsay was born in 1928 at Highland Park, Detroit. In 1930 the US Federal Census shows the family living in Detroit where James is a painter in an auto factory. In 1940 James and his family were living in Elmhurst, Detroit where James was a research worker in a paint factory. Their son Alexander became an internal auditor/accountant with the Ford Motor Company at Highland Park and he was a staunch member of the Highland Park Baptist Church. James's other son Gordon became pastor at Five Points Community Church in Michigan. 

Highland Park Plant - Corbis Images

Samuel Lindsay was born in 1900 in Lugar. In 1925 he was living at Marston Avenue, Detroit and his occupation is given as inspector. In 1929 he is on a Passenger List sailing from Glasgow to New York and his occupation is given as motor worker. He made two Declarations of Intention to become a US citizen. The first one was in 1925. The second one was on 31/3/1937 in Detroit where his occupation is given as paint mixer. He's not married and is living at Broadstreet, Detroit. He was naturalized on 15/5/1940 in Detroit and his residence is given as Underwood, Detroit. The last sighting we have of Samuel is on his WW2 Draft Card where his address was given as 4011 Clairmont, Detroit (which is where his sister Margaret died a few years later). His employer is given as Murray Corps of America, 7700 Russell, Detroit. From 1925 until 1939 this company was a major supplier of complete bodies to the Ford Motor Company after which production switched to wings for wartime aircraft components.


Samuel Lindsay - Passport Photo

Margaret Scott Lindsay was born in 1892 in Lugar and married John Cochrane Anderson in 1917 in Dalziel, Lanarkshire where her parents and some of her siblings had moved to. John and Margaret emigrated to the USA in 1923 and in 1927 were living in Detroit. In 1935 they were still in Detroit.  The 1940 US Federal Census shows them living in East Cleveland, Ohio, where John was a paint supervisor with a paint manufacturer. Cleveland was the centre of the American paint and varnish industry. In 1942 they were living in Forest Hill, Cleveland and John was employed as a technical sales engineer until he died in 1958. 

Margaret died of cancer in 1945 at 4011 Clairmont, Detroit, which is the same address as her brother Samuel gave on his WW2 Draft Card in 1942. John then married Norma Louise Daugherty, who was 20 years younger than he was, in 1948 in Cincinnati.

Mary Ann Elizabeth Lindsay was born in Lugar in 1903. She emigrated in 1925 and she married Scots-born John Watson in 1929 in Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts. In 1930 they were living in Providence, Rhode island where John was a salesman with a Paper Company. By 1935, when their first child was born, they were back in Scotland, living in Paisley, Renfrewshire where they both died in 1975 and 1994 respectively. 

Like Mary Ann not all families who emigrated to the USA remained there. The Bryan family were another example.

GEORGE BROWN BRYAN was born in 1887 at Waterside Place, Old Cumnock. His father was Robert Bryan, a greengrocer, and his mother was Grace Brodie. Robert died in 1902 and Grace remarried and moved to Auchinleck. On 5/10/1921 George married Minnie McIntyre in the Public Hall, Auchinleck and their first child, Marion, was born in Sanquhar in 1922. 

By 1927 the family had emigrated to Canada where their second child, George, was born. On 28/5/1929 father George signed a Declaration of Intention to become a US citizen. This was the first step of a two part process towards naturalization. On the document George states that he left Windsor, Canada on the Detroit & Windsor Ferry and arrived at the Port of Detroit, Michigan on 20/10/1928. His address was given as 189 South Navahoe Avenue, Detroit and his occupation was given as Duco polisher. On the 1930 US Federal Census George, his wife Minnie and their two children Marion and George, were living in a rented house on Connors Avenue, Wayne, Michigan. George's occupation was shown as a stonecutter/mason. 

When the Great Depression hit Detroit more than 200,000 Detroiters lost their jobs between 1929 and 1931. People were being evicted from their homes because they couldn't pay their rent, jobs were few and food queues were long. Perhaps this was the reason George and his family decided to return to Scotland. They sailed back home on the 'Caledonia' , arriving in Glasgow on 8/2/1931. Their home address was Merry Cottage, Auchinleck.  In 1933 twins Robert and Euphemia (Effie) were born in Auchinleck and sadly their brother George died of scarlet fever on 10/12/1934 at 34 Lambfair Gardens, Auchinleck. 

On their return daughter Marion attended Auchinleck Primary then Cumnock Academy. She won a scholarship to Glasgow University and did her teacher training at Jordanhill College before taking up a post as an English teacher at Cumnock Academy.  'Wee Maisie', as she became known, was a formidable lady with her high heels, tweed skirts and her hair worn up in a French Roll and she stood no nonsense. Our classroom was at the top of the 'Wee Brae' on the Cumnock Primary side of the road. It was a port-a-cabin type of building. We'd sit there waiting with baited breath to see what kind of mood she was in that day. If she was in a good mood the door to the classroom would open and close gently and she'd quietly place her files on her table. On a bad day the door would fly open, close with a bang behind her and she'd march over to her table and slam her files down. We knew we were in for a bumpy ride that day!

However, she was an excellent, well-respected teacher so Detroit's loss was Cumnock's gain.

Maisie was 51 years old when she  married David Sharpe, a chartered surveyor, in 1973 in Cumnock.  She was nearly 90 years old when she died in 2012 at Windyhill Nursing Home in Ayr.



Credit Getty Images







No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.