By Joanne Ferguson
A family history of 200 years from Ireland to Ayrshire to USA.
Track them on the Cumnock Connections tree Mary Jane Bruce later Hadden then Coulter
Bruces from Country Antrim in Ireland. They moved to Kilwinning in Ayrshire about 1840
Alexander Bruce was born in County Antrim, Ireland, about 1790. He married Catherine Pollock. They had five children: Alexander Bruce (1812-1860); Samuel Bruce (1816-1858); Martha Bruce (1820-??); Stewart Bruce (1820 -1893); and Hugh Bruce (1829-1870).
Alexander Bruce married Mary Dougherty. They had three children: Mary Jane Bruce (1837-1918); John Bruce (1839-??); Martha Bruce (1842-1930); and Alexander Bruce (1849-1925). After Mary Dougherty’s death (about 1850), Alexander married Janet Grier in 1851 in Kilwinning.
Haddens in Cumnock, Ayrshire
John Hadden was also born in Ireland in 1839. He was the son of John Hadden and Janet Jenkins. Little else is known about him in Ireland. He is listed as a miner and as a boarder at High Row in Lugar in 1861. On June 12, 1863, he married Mary Jane Bruce in Auchinleck. They had seven children: James Hadden (1864-1916); John Bruce Hadden (1865-1925); Mary Bruce Hadden (1866-1947); Jane (Jeannette) Hadden (1868-1958); Alexander Hadden (1870-1907); Samuel Hadden (1872-1913); and Martha Hadden (1874-1953).
On December 7, 1873, John Hadden died, leaving Mary with six children and nine months pregnant with their seventh child, Martha.
Coulters in Cumnock
Widowed Mary married William J. Coulter about 1875 in Cumnock, although no marriage certificate can be found. They had four children: William Coulter (1876-1929); Andrew Coulter (1877-1939); Esther Black Coulter (1879-1930); and Bruce Lee Coulter (1882-1921).
Mills from Kilwinning to Scranton
Mary also had another son prior to her first marriage by an unknown partner. That son was Hugh Bruce (1860-??). Hugh left Scotland with David and Margaret Mills, who had adopted him. In the 1870 US census, Hugh is listed as Hugh Mills, living with Margaret and David in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and attending school. Margaret Mills died in 1877 and David Mills died in 1884, both in Scranton. There were no more traces of Hugh Bruce.
Her sons James, John, and Alexander Hadden had already left for Pennsylvania around 1888, although no immigration records can be found.
The Scots did not appear to be leaving the British Isles for religious reasons. The Scots were the first group to immigrate to America primarily for economic opportunity.
Mary Jane Bruce Hadden Coulter boarded the Spain in Edinburgh and arrived in New York on February 17, 1887. She was accompanied by the following children: Jennette Hadden, Samuel Hadden, Martha Hadden, William Coulter, Andrew Coulter, Alice Coulter (Esther), and Bruce Coulter.
