The Lakas Family - Lithuania to Cumnock to Chicago, USA

 by Roberta McGee

The Lakas Family - Lithuania to Cumnock to Chicago, USA

Antanas Lakas, a coalminer, was born in Kovno, Lithuania in 1882. He married Marijona (Mary) Baksauskas an Kairin, Lithuania and they had three children there before moving to 37 Townhead Street, Cumnock. Anton found work with the Garrallan Coal Company as a miner/hewer and the couple went on to have four more children in Cumnock. Tragedy struck in 1918 when two of their children died. Alexandria was only one year old when she died of measles. Three days later her brother Wencantas, aged two years old died of pneumonia. The 1921 census shows that they were still living at 37 Townhead Street. However, Antanas was 'out of work'. There was another Lithuanian, with the very British name of Charles Brown, boarding with the family. He was 43 years old, a Russian resident, who had also been working for the Garrallan Coal Company, but he was 'out of work' too. 

A few months later in June 1921, Antanas sailed out of Glasgow on the Cameronia heading for New York. He was alone, with $25 in his pocket, his final destination being to his brother-in-law John Baltrunas in Chicago, Illinois. Mary and the children joined him a year later. The sailed to New York on the Columbia. Mary and their five children were travelling under the surname of Liakaviciene. Antenas seems to have changed his surname too. He was now Anton Lekas Liakaviciene and their new address was 731 Jackson Street, Chicago, Illinois. On the Passenger List the name of the person in the old country was Kazemeras Baksauskas, a friend, 37 Townhead Street, Cumnock, where Mary and Anton lived while they were in Cumnock. 

                                                                            Passport photo

The family made their permanent home in the USA and became American citizens. The children Americanised their names. Jonas became John, Broni became Bernice, Learnovera became Laverne and Broneslofski became Bruno. On the US Naturalization Index it was recorded that son Anthony changed his name by Court Decree from Antanar Liakaviciene to Anthony Michael Lakas. 

Daughter Laverne, who was born in 1920 at 37 Townhead Street, Cumnock, disappeared in 1941. The family weren't overly worried because she had the habit of disappearing for long periods. In 1947 Frank Hertle, an itinerant handyman, finally confessed to police, because his conscience troubled him, that he had strangled her in 1941. He also confessed to strangling another woman in Chicago that same year.

Laverne's body had been found by police six years previously but she had never been identified. 

Lancashire Daily Post 24/3/1947

                                                            

Anton Lakas died in 1954 and his wife Mary died in 1956, both in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois and are buried in Saint Casmir Catholic Cemetery there. 

Image - TripSavvy

     

The Zilinskis

 by Roberta McGee

George Zilinskis (sometimes spelt Zelensky) was born about 1878 in Lithuania (Poland-Russia) and married Ona (Anna) Rudzeviclute  in 1897 in Garlecva, Poland. Their first child Steffina Agnes was born in 1903 at Kelme, Kelme District Municipality, Siaulial, Lithuania. George was a coalminer and by 1907 they had moved to Glengyron, Old Cumnock, where their son Anthony was born, followed by Levonas in 1908, Lana in 1910, George in 1913 and William, who was born in 1918 at Waterside Place.

Both George and Anna remained in Cumnock. George died in 1930 at Waterside Place and Anna in 1949 at 55 Keir Hardie Hill, Cumnock.

Their daughter Steffina Agnes sailed out of Glasgow on 9 March 1921 on the Columbia , arriving in New York on 20 March 1921. Her destination was to her uncle Antanas Rudzeviclute in Century, Barbour County, West Virginia. She was only seventeen years old and a few months later on 29 May 1921 she married John Edward Prutsok in Century. John was a miner who was born in 1895 at Lucerne, West Virginia. His parents were Austrian. 

Steffina’s Wedding - Cumnock Connections 

John and Steffina had three sons but sadly John died in 1935 leaving Steffina a widow aged 32 years. Steffina married again in 1941 to Russian born Michael Superfisky and spent the rest of her life in Barbour County, West Virginia where she died in 1963.

Anthony Zilinskis was born in Glengyron Row in 1907 and married Auchinleck born Annie Gibson Pooley in 1932 at Auchinleck. At some time he changed his surname to Rogers. Anthony was a motor mechanic and died in 1914 in Mauchline. 

Levonas (Leonard) Michael 'Scotty' Zilinskis was born in 1908 at Glengyron, Old Cumnock. He sailed out of Liverpool for New York on the Cedric arriving there on 17 September 1928. He gave his occupation as miner. Although his parents were still alive and living at Waterside Place, Cumnock, he gave his nearest relative in Scotland as his uncle Peter Kilvites, Beechwood Square, Auchinleck. His final destination in the USA was to his brother-in-law John Prutsok, his sister Steffina's husband, Century, West Virginia. 

On his Draft Card of 16 August 1940 he gave his address as Mellette, Spink, West Virginia and his employer was The Century Coal Co. Scotty joined the US Army on 2 September 1942 and was married that same year to Lillian Anna Hamilton who was born in West Virginia. He became naturalised in 1943. Scotty died in 1967 at Buckhannon, Upshur, West Virginia.

Image Cumnock Connections

A description of Century in the Cumnock Connections Tree presumably by one of Scotty's children

            

            The town we grew up in was called Century. The name originated because the

            company who opened the coal mine thought they had about a century of coal,

            plus it opened at the beginning of the 1900s. The Mine was Bethlehem 101. It

            was owned by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

            It was a very nice town with an elementary school and two churches;one Catholic

            and one Methodist. We rode a school bus to high school, which was about eight

            miles away. Very close knit community.

                    Scotty, front row centre, representing Bethlehem Steel in a first aid & mine rescue team

                                                            Image - Cumnock Connections

Lana (Ellen) Zilinskis  was born in 1910 at 54 York Street Lane, Ayr and married John Drain Brown in 1933 in Cumnock. However, they divorced in 1939. Ellen then married Hugh Loy in 1841 in Cumnock and she died in 1978.

George Zilinskis was born in 1913 at 13 Glengyron Row. On 22 March 1950 he sailed out of Southampton on the Queen Elizabeth  arriving in New York on 28 March 1950. Aged 36 years and single, he was en route to Century, West Virginia where his brother and sister lived. George was naturalised in 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio and died there in 1973.

William Zilinskis was born in 1918 at Waterside Place, Cumnock. He changed his name to William Rogers legally in 1939 at Cumnock. At the time he was a miner living at 55 Keir Hardie Hill, Cumnock. Sometime afterwards he went to Rhodesia to work as a miner. 8 July 1947 finds William, aged 29 years, arriving in Southampton on the Carnarvon Castle having departed from Capetown, South Africa, his country of last permanent residence being West Rhodesia and his proposed address being 55 Keir Hardie Hill where his mother was still living. William's mother died in 1949.

                                               William Zilinskis Rogers - Image mandyerogers

Five years later, in 1954, William was living in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and had acquired a wife, Tryphena Edith Rogers. He was a miner. Possibly he was a goldminer. It was at Kilgoorlie that Australia's famous Gold Rush took place in 1893 and goldmining remains a major industry. However, by 1968 he had changed his occupation and become a linesman. William died in 1977 at Geraldton, Western Australia and is buried at Utakarra in Greater Geraldton City.

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 Srickland 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 1897 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

William Tannahill

By Ron Sharpe, Fraserburgh, Scotland from extensive information provided by the late Marilyn Harrison, USA.

William Tannahill on the Cumnock Connection tree

from Marlyn Harrison

   

William Tannahill was born in Cumnock on the 8th of March 1819, the seventh child of John Tannahill, a Fenwick born weaver and ex soldier, and Janette Sharp, the daughter of farm servants James Sharp and Isabel McMillan.  Almost nothing is known of William's early life in Cumnock, except for the fact that he, along with his parents and eight siblings, emigrated to Canada in the early 1830s.

William, along with his siblings had worked hard to establish the family farm in Huntingdon, Quebec, and as he grew older, he had started courting Janette White who was living on the same settlement.

As time passed the couple decided to get married. The couple, along with some close friends travelled the twenty three miles across the border to the town of Malone, in Franklin Co., New York State, where they were married in the home of the pastor on the 17th of April 1844.

The couple returned to Canada and moved into their first home in Huntingdon. They remained there to establish their farm for a further ten years, and their first six children were all born there, John, Janet Elder, William, James, Annette and Ann.

In early 1856 the couple and their family decided that their future looked brighter across the border in the United States.

William bought a team of horses in Canada and drove them to the fledgling town of Bradford in Chickasaw County, Iowa. On arrival in the May of 1856 they bought 40 acres of land and started another fledgling farm. The journey from Canada must have been a huge expedition for the young family, as the distance between Huntingdon, and Bradford, Iowa was almost 1200 miles. Unfortunately, within a few months of living in their new home, fate dealt them a crushing blow when their horses were stolen. So, with no way to till the soil, or haul their produce, they were forced to give up farming altogether. But with a family to feed and care for, William had to diversify some way, and he managed to obtain work as a day labourer. But the work could be sporadic, and William diversified by sometimes,working as a carpenter, or by making a living as a shoe cobbler. He seems to have tanned his own leather and travelled around the local area making shoes for anyone who needed them.

The newspapers of 1860 only seemed to carry bad news about the situation in the southern states of America, and by April of 1861 the whole situation boiled over when confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and lit the fire that would claim thousands of lives and almost bring America to its knees.

William would have read about these political disputes, and they must have had a profound effect on him. He had only been a resident in America for around five years, and yet he felt the need to stand up and be counted.

On the 8th of July 1861 he was one of the first to enlist in Company B, of the 7th Iowa Regiment, of the Union Army. He was 41 years old, married and a father to eight children, with one more on the way. He was mustered soon afterwards on the 24th of July 1861 and he became Private William Tannahill. Life was never going to be the same again.

After a few months, William found himself and his comrades helping to set out battle lines close to the banks of the Mississippi river. And on the morning of the 7th of November 1861 he was in the thick of the fighting. He had always had a luxuriant long beard and it was "shot off" as he stood beside his fellow soldiers. The union army attack had been a sudden surprise, and they quickly overran the rebels. It was initially thought that the battle had been quickly won, but the enemy soon regrouped and counter attacked. By the end of the day William found himself in the custody of the Southern army.

William was one of 104 union soldiers who had been captured by the rebels that day. They were transported by rail in cattle trucks to  Columbus, North Dakota, probably for processing, the cattle wagons were so badly maintained that the prisoners were soaked to the skin from the leaking roofs. When drier weather appeared the men were carried out and laid over the railway sleepers and between the railway lines, to dry off in the sun.

They were then taken on to Memphis,Tennessee. It's written that they were given the chance of being released, but only if they would agree not to re-enlist. Not a single man accepted this offer.

They were then moved on to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then on to the infamous Andersonville prison, Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. This was to be their final destination for a while at least. The conditions of this prison camp were appalling. It had previously been a tobacco warehouse and was totally unsuitable for its new purpose. The windows were barred and had no glass, so it would have been extremely cold, but at the very least it was well ventilated. Space was very tight and one inmate told of having to sleep on the bare floor in a head to toe pattern with no blankets.

The food that was given to the prisoners, whether they were sick or well was said to be so bad it would have nauseated a carrion crow. However it must be remembered that the city of Richmond was more or less besieged, and food was in short supply for everyone. This meant that the Yankee prisoners were well down the "who should we care for first” group. One survivor lived on a quarter of a pint of corn meal a day.

There are many well documented stories from inmates, who recalled the conditions in the camps. One story described how the only drinking water available to the troops was being supplied from a putrid creek, which also served as a sewer for 35,000 prisoners. William, who had been brought up in a strictly religious home, was known to be a man of prayer. When some of the men were dying for the lack of fresh water, and seeing the men slowly walking towards the "dead line" to be shot, rather than endure the suffering. He called them together for prayer, asking for water. As the story goes, an hour after their prayer, the rain came and gave them the desperately craved water. Sometime later a spring broke through the sandy soil inside the stockade. The starving and filthy prisoners regarded this miraculous appearance of fresh water from the hillside as a miracle, an "Act of God".

William and many of his comrades were held in prison for around eleven months, this was probably because the rebels didn't want to be responsible for feeding them any more. And they would have known that these men were so sick, they would never again raise arms against the Confederacy.

In all the time they had been imprisoned they never had a change of clothing, and were wearing the same clothes that they had been captured in, but by now they were no more than rags, and in tatters. These prisoners had been subjected to starvation, exposure, filthy and wretched conditions. And notes from the time mention that William was one of only a few that could walk up the gangplank and out of the hellhole that he had been incarcerated in for almost a year. He was liberated from the Libby Prison in Richmond Virginia on the 19th of September 1862. The men were embarked on a steamer and shipped up to the Annapolis hospital in Maryland, via the James river. This would prove to be convenient for embarking the former soldiers, as a loading dock was situated close by the former tobacco warehouse, that had served as their prison. Most of the men were gravely ill, and they could not walk towards the boat that promised their freedom.

Only one wagon was available to convey the men and William gave up his place to those he felt were worse off than he was.

On reaching Annapolis hospital he was given a meal, probably his first since being confined, but because of the emaciated condition of his body, he was unable to consume it properly, and he became sick and died in the Annapolis Hospital, on the 28th of October, 1862. He was 43 years old.

William Tannahill's friend Andy Feldt, who had stood beside him when his beard was shot off at the battle of Belmont, and had shared the experience of being  taken prisoner and held at Libby prison with him, wrote to William's wife Janette, of his death. She had not heard from William since shortly before he went into battle at Belmont almost a year earlier. This last  letter was read as a tribute to Private W Tannahill, at a Commemorative Funeral Services held in his adopted home town of Bradford, Iowa on the 12th of December 1862.

Dear wife:

                    I hardly know what to write to you, as I do not know how you feel. I believe you feel as though you had a burden too heavy to bear; I do not doubt it, but you must try to keep up good spirits. Do the best you can and put your trust in that God who will not suffer anything to come upon them that trust him to their spiritual advantage. Hath he not said he will never leave nor forsake you?  And if it is so that I never come home He hath promised that he will be a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless. And now, dear wife, commit yourself and our dear children to the care of that God that never slumbers. If it is his will that I should come home we will praise his name and if not, let us be resigned and say, "Not my will, but Thine be done, O God!" Look forward to the time when there shall be no more parting, neither sorrow nor sighing, when all tears shall be wiped from our eyes. Put your trust in the Lord, for they that put their trust in Him shall never be moved nor put to shame. I hope the children will be good and kind to their mother.

Yours in Love,

William Tannahill

William Tannahill had another claim to fame, as the man who had three tombstones.

On his passing he was buried in the military cemetery at Annapolis and a military headstone was erected, but this was just one of three, that were erected in his memory. He left nine children.

George W. Tannahill was one of William's sons, and was a successful farmer and stockbreeder, as well as being active in US politics. George served as a representative in the Kansas State Legislature for three terms, in the early part of the twentieth century.

At some point George travelled to Washington to enquire about having the body of his father, moved from the military cemetery at Annapolis in Maryland, and brought to Nashua County Cemetery near the Little Brown Church, which he had helped construct. But he was informed that once a body was interred it could not be removed from the national cemetery. He returned to Iowa and arranged to have a headstone erected in memory of his father, along with carved inscriptions remembering his elder brother James Tannahill, and his baby sister, Ella, who died, without ever knowing her father.

When George's mother Janette died in March 1908, she was living in Phillipsburg, Kansas, and was subsequently laid to rest in the Iowa Union Cemetery, Phillips County, Kansas. George then arranged to have another headstone erected in memory of both his mother and father as well as his sister Ann.

The young boy who left Cumnock was well remembered by his family.

The Murdochs - Carpenters, Stonemasons and Bridge Builders in the Carolinas

 by Roberta McGee

In order to explain the connections between the carpenter/stonemason/bridge builder Murdochs who emigrated to the Carolinas in the 1800s we have to go back to Andrew Murdoch and Elizabeth Baird of Ochiltree Mill who married on 5th June 1784. They had at least seven children:

John Murdoch who was born in 1785 and who married Jacobina McCulloch

Andrew Murdoch who was born in 1788 - not verified

Alexander Murdoch who was born in 1789 and married Helen Peden

William who was born in 1792

Hugh who was born in 1793 and married Isabella Fernie

Margaret who was born in 1795 and married James Paterson

Sarah who was born in 1797 and married Arthur Miller

Andrew and Elizabeth's son Hugh emigrated to the USA in 1835 with his wife Isabella Fernie and their six children who were all born in Old Cumnock. Hugh was a cabinet maker and became an American citizen in 1848. According to the US Federal Census Hugh and Isabella settled in Fairfield, Connecticut where they both died - Hugh in 1864 and Isabella in 1867.

THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER MURDOCH AND HELEN PEDEN

Alexander Murdoch, the third son of Andrew Murdoch and Elizabeth Baird, married Helen Peden in 1810 in Ochiltree. 

Their first son was WILLIAM MURDOCH, who was born in the Knowe, Auchinleck in 1811. He emigrated to New York in the early 1830s, then moved to Raleigh to work on the North Carolina State Capitol. In 1831 a fire had destroyed the North Carolina State House and William Murdoch was one of a group of Scots-born stonemasons and stonecutters who were recruited to work on the new State Capitol reconstruction. He married Sarah (Sally) Colburn, the sister of a fellow stonemason, while working there in January 1838. The couple then moved to Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, where William worked on the construction of the massive United States Arsenal which, incidentally, was destroyed in 1865 by General Sherman's troops during the American Civil War.

North Carolina State Capitol, Raleigh, NC
Image - The Built Heritage of NC: NC University Libraries

Grant’s Creek Viaduct - Contractor Wm. Murdoch 1856/57
Image NC Architects & Builders

At the time there was a rapid expansion in railroad construction and William moved into planning and constructing stone bridges for numerous railroad companies. By the 1850s William and his family were settled in Salisbury where the railroad brought new prosperity and opportunities. He successfully continued with bridge building and other businesses. Between 1858 and 1860 he was involved in building the Gothic Revival brick Thyatira Presbyterian Church.

Thyatira Presbyterian Church - Image SHPO, Raleigh, NC

Everything changed on 12th April 1861 when Fort Sumter in South Carolina was bombarded by the Confederates signalling the beginning of the American Civil War. Over the next four years much of the infrastructure was destroyed and by the end of the war on 26th May 1865 the Carolinas lay in ruins. New railroads and bridges had to be built and this was where William's skills came into demand. 

The Ayr Advertiser of 24/2/1888 reports: 'Mr Murdoch has been a worker in stone for the last sixty years, and we do not think we say too much when we state that Mr Murdoch has constructed more stone-work than any man in the United States.' 

Read more details about William Murdoch's long and successful working life in the USA here.

William and Sarah had four children - Miriam, born 1838 in Fayetteville, who married Samuel H. Wiley, Helen Peden born 1841 in Raleigh and who sadly died aged two years old, William Alexander born 1844 in Charleston who became a medical student in Glasgow and eventually became a doctor in Waynesville, North Carolina and Lemuel who was born in 1846 in Graniteville, South Carolina and died aged sixteen years old in Chatham County, North Carolina.

In 1868 William and his wife Sally sold their house and lot to their daughter Miriam and her husband Samuel H. Wiley, a successful businessman, and the foursome replaced the old frame house with a large brick residence with Italianate features and a rooftop cupola. This became the home of both families and was known as the Murdoch-Wiley House.

The Murdoch-Wiley House
Image - NC Architects & Builders

William liked to travel and he visited Scotland a few times. The Glasgow Herald of 9/5/1874 reported his attendance at a meeting in Glasgow for the Glasgow Institution for the Deaf & Dumb and the Ayr Advertiser on reporting his Golden Wedding of 16/1/1888 wrote;

 

'Through frequent correspondence and occasional visits to his old home, he still maintains a warm friendship with many there.'

Ayr Advertiser 24/2/1888

William Murdoch died on 30th December 1893, his son-in-law Samuel Wiley died on 2nd July 1894 and William's wife Sally died on 14th January 1895.  Samuel and Miriam's daughter Annie Shannon Wiley married the Rev. John Fairman Preston in 1903 and they served as Presbyterian missionaries in Korea from 1903 to 1940. They were appointed by the Presbyterian Church in the US to serve in Mokpo, Kwangju and finally Soonchun from 1913 to 1940. Miriam decided to join her daughter in Korea and spent three years there arriving back in the USA in May 1907. Miriam died at her house in Salisbury, Rowan County in May 1912. 

Miriam's son William Murdoch Wiley was born in 1863 in North Carolina. In 1887 he married Marion Easton Paterson, by Declaration, in Glasgow. On his marriage certificate he described himself as a journalist living in Inns of Court, London. In 1900 he was a gold miner in Rowan and in 1910 he was a mining engineer in Manhattan, New York. Marion's father was Andrew Paterson from Ochiltree and her mother was Marion Merry from Catrine. So Marion E. Paterson was the grand-daughter of Margaret Murdoch from Ochiltree Mill whose parents were Andrew Murdoch and Elizabeth Baird! William and Marion went on to have a son Samuel Hamilton Wiley who became the American Consul in Oporto, Portugal and later in Cherbourg, France.

Another of Alexander Murdoch and Helen Peden's sons was HUGH MURDOCH, who was born in 1819. He was a joiner to trade and married Margaret McLaughlan (various spellings) in 1847 in Ochiltree. In November 1851 Hugh, Margaret and their two young sons, Alexander and John, set sail on the 'Harmonia' from Glasgow to New York. Accompanying them were Hugh's brothers Alexander and Andrew. Hugh obtained work with the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company and the family moved to New Bern where he supervised the building of a bridge over the Trent River. The family then moved to Morehead City, Carteret where he continued his work as a bridge builder and bridge inspector. Hugh fought in the American Civil War (1861-1865) on the Confederate side and after the War he bought a farm at Wildwood, Carteret County, Connecticut where he died in 1898 just over a year after celebrating his Golden Wedding.

ANDREW MURDOCH, who was born in 1828, was the fourth son of Alexander Murdoch and Helen Peden. He emigrated along with his brothers Hugh and Alexander in 1851. In 1860 he was living in Dutch Fork, Lexington, South Carolina. He had married Tirzah Theresa Epting and was working as a carpenter. Much of the town of Lexington was destroyed by Union Forces in 1864 during the American Civil War and on the 1870 census they were living in Fairfield, South Carolina where he was working as a house carpenter. By 1880 they were still in Fairfield and Andrew had moved into bridge building. Andrew died in Lexington, South Carolina in 1890.

ALEXANDER MURDOCH, who was the youngest son of Alexander Murdoch and Helen Peden, was born in 1830. He emigrated with his brothers in 1851. In 1859 he married Minnie Peterson and 1860 finds the couple living in an hotel in Salisbury. Alexander's occupation is given as bookkeeper. On 27th May 1861 Alexander enlisted in the Confederate Army firstly in Company 'H' of the 2nd North Carolina Infantry as a sergeant and from 1863 he was 2nd lieutenant with the 38th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.

A description of a  letter from Alexander to his brother (doesn't say which one) on 10th August 1863 is as follows:

'Description: Ordinance Sgt. Alexander "Sandie" Murdoch, Co. H, 2nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Camp near Orange C.H., August 19 1863, to his brother. Murdoch mentions that he has been on the sick list since the 26th July but not off duty. He has been making inquiries about John D. Scott and a man named Steel who were missing with varied reports of dead and buried together, only wounded etc. Murdoch then begins a narrative of the actions of the Iverson and Ramsay Brigades of Rodes'....

Musselman Library's Special Collections and College Archives Catalogue

Alexander Murdoch died from typhoid fever at the General Hospital in Staunton, Virginia, on 1st July 1864.

Moving on to Andrew and Elizabeth Baird's oldest son John Murdoch who was born in Ochiltree and who married Jacobina McCulloch in Ochiltree in 1809. Their eldest son was Andrew Murdoch of Gallowlea Cottage and later quarrymaster of Coalburn, New Cumnock. He married Agnes Wallace.

JOHN ANDREW MURDOCH was born in 1840 at Gallowlea Cottage in Ochiltree. He was the oldest son of Andrew Murdoch,  stonemason, and Agnes Wallace.  He married Margaret Kennedy Baird in 1868 at Ochiltree. Margaret was the daughter of farmer Thomas Baird who was born in Old Cumnock. He farmed at Nether Heiler and then South Logan Farm, Sorn. In 1871 he was a grocer in Main Street, Ochiltree and retired to Windyside Cottage, Glaisnock Street, Cumnock where he died in 1882. Margaret's mother was Margaret Kennedy, a farmer's daughter, born in Farden Farm, New Cumnock. 

John and Maggie had nine children. The 1871 census finds the family living in Back Street, Cumnock with their first two children, Margaret aged 1 year and Agnes who is only 6 days old. Daughter Isabella was born at Ayr Road, Cumnock in 1874 followed by Jacobina in 1875, Lizzie in 1877 and son John Wallace Murdoch in 1879. John's skills as a stonemason had him working on many important local building contracts including St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Cumnock with stone supplied by his father Andrew from his quarry at Coalburn. 

The family then moved to England and in April 1881 they were in Islington where John was working as a credit draper. Another son, Ebenezer, was born there that same year. Margaret's brothers James Kennedy Baird and Ebenezer Baird were also drapers in Islington. In October 1881 John, Maggie and their seven children emigrated to North Carolina, USA where their son William Wallace Murdoch was born in 1883. Daughter Mary Baird Murdoch was born in Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina in January 1891. According to the Irvine Times of 27/3/1891 John then spent three months in Scotland. He was, at that time, an overseer at Biltmore Estate and when he returned to Asheville he resumed his duties there. 

Biltmore Estate, which nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, was constructed between 1889 and 1895. The lavish 250 room mansion was commissioned by George Washington Vanderbilt II. a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family which amassed a huge fortune through steamboats, railroads and various other business enterprises. The project was immense and John, being such a skilled stonemason. was employed there for many years. John was also a champion draughts player.

Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald 18/1/1895

By 1887 John was in partnership with another ex-Cumnockian, James Colvin. He was the son-in-law of John Kay, Tanyard, Cumnock. Messrs Murdoch & Colvin secured some large contracts for the stonework on some of the bridges of the three C's road in Lancaster County, South Carolina.

Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald 28/10/1887

According to a newspaper report in the 1880s half a dozen young masons were selected by Andrew Murdoch of Coalburn to accompany him from Scotland to fulfil a contract in South Carolina. James Colvin and William Thomson arrived there in June 1880. George Davidson, Hugh Crawford (young mason from Roadside) and William Findlay arrived there in 1887.

Asheville had quite a colony of Cumnockians according to the Irvine Times of 27/3/1891:

Alex Colvin, James Colvin, Douglas McKinnon, William Findlay, George H. Davidson, Hugh Crawford, John Miller (son of Robert Miller, Tanyard) and Robert Mair. 

In 1891 John was employed as a street inspector. In 1900 John and Maggie were living in Asheville, Buncombe in a farm named Wallace. John was working as a stonemason. Maggie died of pneumonia in January 1901 in Asheville. She was 54 years old and left John her 25 acre farm in Hazel Township and two other properties in the city. Around 1894 John had transferred his property to his wife. When his brother David died in 1891 John was made executor of his Will. He was charged with mis-appropriating David's estate for his own use and a restraining order was made against him to prevent him from selling the land.  To safeguard his assets he transferred his properties to his wife declaring himself insolvent. A complaint was made against him and he was removed as executor of David's Will because he unlawfully disposed of the assets of his estate. 

North Carolina Estate Files 1863-1979 - March term 1895 - Complaint 

John A. Murdoch is charged with mis-appropriating estate to his own use and refused to account to HB Stevens, administrator, for about $10,000 or more. John had sold off 20 lots and was taken to court. He conveyed all his property to his wife and refused to give David's widow any money. Statements were taken from several acquaintances, eg George Davidson, Douglas McKinnon and James Colvin, saying that John had a drink problem both in Scotland and the USA and was so drunk at times that he was unfit for business. When his brother David died John took possession of all the rights etc of the estate. John borrowed $600 from his brother Andrew but never repaid him. He was unfriendly towards his brother's widow and her child and often cursed and abused her and told her she was not entitled to the legacies in her husband's Will. Lillie, David's widow, said there was enough money to pay the legacies to David's children in Scotland and to repay the $600 debt to brother Andrew.

On 29th September 1909 John's grand-daughter Catherine was shot by her father. She was only five years old and her father, hotel keeper Arthur Allen, was found guilty of second degree murder and received five years imprisonment.  John returned to Scotland in August 1911 residing firstly in Old Cumnock, then New Cumnock and finally moving to Inverleith Gardens, Edinburgh, where he died in 1919. His brother Andrew from Coalburn, New Cumnock was the informant on his death certificate.

DAVID MURDOCH, the younger brother of John, was born at Gallowlea in 1842. He was also a stonemason. In 1864 he married Mary Meikle at Rigghead Farm, New Cumnock. Mary's parents were Hugh Meikle, farmer and Marion Boyd. Their first child, Eliza, was born and died in 1864. Their second child was Eliza Meikle Murdoch who was born in 1865 in Ochiltree and their third child was Andrew Murdoch who was born in Rigghead in 1868. Three months later Mary died of puerperal mania, a condition linked to childbirth. 

After his wife's death David emigrated to North Carolina. He left the children with their grandparents and made a new life there. The name of his farm was 'Annandale' although in his Will he referred to it as 'the Jarrett Place'. In December 1886 David married Lillie Ann Brooks, who was 22 years younger than him. Their son David Scott Murdoch was born a year later. 

David died of consumption on 11th February 1891 and his funeral service was at Wallace Farm the residence of his brother John. In his Will David left his daughter Eliza and son Andrew, who still lived in Scotland, $3000 each. In 1894 the Asheville Baseball Club announced it had leased Allandale Field from the heirs of David Murdoch. The local newspaper, the Asheville Citizen, reported:

'The name has long attached to the grounds as the domain of the Murdochs'

In 1897 the Superior Court of Buncombe County requested that Eliza and Andrew appear in person at the Superior Court, Buncombe, to finalise the administration of David's estate.

Ashfield Citizen 1887

ANDREW MURDOCH, third son of Andrew Murdoch and Agnes Wallace, was born in 1845 at Gallowlea in Ochiltree. In 1861 he was living in Ochiltree with his parents and siblings. He doesn't appear on the 1871 census but in 1881 he is found visiting his late sister's family in Ochiltree. He had, most likely, been in Asheville, Buncombe Co., South Carolina. He had secured a large contract in the Carolinas and had selected half a dozen young masons from Cumnock to accompany him there. It was reported in the Irvine Times of 27/3/1891 that he had returned to Asheville after a year or more spent in Scotland and was intending to remain there. However, in 1901 he was back in Scotland living in Old Coalburn, New Cumnock with his father who was 84 years old. His father died in 1906. In 1911 Andrew was still living in Coalburn. In 1919 his brother John died in Edinburgh and Andrew was the informant on his death certificate, giving his address as Coalburn, New Cumnock. Andrew died in Dalricket Mill, New Cumnock in 1927 with his usual residence being Coalburn. His brother Alexander, who lived in Paisley, was the informant. 

Irvine Times 27/3/1891