From Cumnock to Cumnock

by Roberta McGee

 

The origin of the name 'Cumnock' has been debated over the years and several interpretations have been offered.

                                    Com-cnoc  (hollow of the hills)  

                                    Com-oich   (meeting of the waters)

                                    Cam-cnoc   (bent or crooked hill)    

Source: Cumnock History Group           

The name Cumnock seems to be compounded of the Gaelic words com, a bosom, and conoc, a hill; thus signifying the bosom of the hill.  

Source: Family Search                                                   

'The name itself bears witness to an early origin. It would seem to be of Gaelic derivation, although opinion varies whether Cumnock means the hollow in the hills, the sloping hill, the meeting of the waters - or something quite different.'                                                        

Source: The New History of Cumnock - John Strawhorn p11                                                                                                          

People have had different reasons for leaving Cumnock over the years. Usually it was in search of a better life. Whatever reason made them take this huge step some never forgot their roots and they took a little bit of Cumnock with them in their hearts. Some went further and created another Cumnock in their chosen country. 

Australia

There is a small town called 'Cumnock' in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It was originally known as Burrawong Crossroads and renamed Cumnock in 1879. Some sources say the name was suggested by William Ross of Dilga Station who was born in Old Cumnock. However William Ross was born in Muirkirk and he emigrated to Australia in 1845. Another source says that it was named after John Strahorn who arrived in NSW in 1838. It also claims that he was born in Old Cumnock but records show that he was born in Mauchline. Read more about our Cumnock links in NSW, Australia and the Howat family in our blog here.

Canada

James Samson was born in Old Cumnock in 1824 most likely the son of John Samson and Agnes Young. In 1841 we find James living in Hillhouse Farm, Old Cumnock with his widowed mother and his siblings. By 1852 James was living in Nichol Township, Wellington County, Toronto, Canada. He purchased 7,367 acres of land there, and, in partnership with Argyll born John Muir, built The Red Lion Inn. He named the settlement Cumnock after the town of his birth. Cumnock is located north of Guelph and 5.8 miles from Fergus and was part of Nichol Township until 1999.

Later, James and John split and John Muir, in competition with James, opened his own hotel, naming it The British Lion. James Samson added a store to his growing list of businesses and opened the village's first Post Office. The village grew to include a blacksmith, a cheese factory, a shoemaker, a flax mill, a sawmill and a small number of houses but began to decline as the railroads came through the area and the traffic along the roads dwindled. 

"There's mauny a day I dream of the braes and the lochs of my auld land. Then I look to the waters, the trees and the stanes; and I keen I am hame in Fergus, in Upper Canada."  This was written by Thomas Young in 1836. I wonder if James felt the same about his adopted home?

James married Canadian born Emma Jackson and they had four daughters together. He died in 1853 in Cumnock and Emma died in 1919 in Fergus, Wellington County.

In Canada there is a mountain named after our town. Mount Cumnock is located in Jasper National Park in the De Smet region of Alberta's Rocky Mountains. It was named after Cumnock, Ayrshire by mountain surveyor Morrison Parsons Bridgland who would climb to the top of mountain peaks with his camera equipment and take detailed photographs of them. He was a lover of mountains and was a member of the American Alpine Club. He named many mountains and I cannot find an explanation why he chose Cumnock other than that it was named after Cumnock in Ayrshire. 

 

Mount Cumnock

USA

Further south in Lee County, North Carolina, USA we find another Cumnock. Like its namesake, Cumnock in North Carolina was a mining town. It was originally a 2,700 acre plantation owned by Peter Evans who purchased it in 1830. During the American Civil War (1861-1865) it was used by Confederate troops then captured by the Union Army. 

Evans's Plantation House surrounded by Union soldiers
Image - New Berne Historical

"The Cumnock Mine was part of the Deep River Coalfield which spanned about thirty miles from Moore County, North Carolina and followed the Deep River, Lee and Chatham County's mutual border. There were nine documents listed mines but the two largest and most profitable of the mines were Cumnock (Egypt) and the Carolina (Farmville or Coal Glen."

Source: deepriverhistory.com

Cumnock was originally named Egypt. There was a severe drought which affected most settlers in the area. Peter Evans, who owned the plantation, did not seem to have been affected as badly so the residents would make their way to the plantation to purchase corn from him as the Egyptians did from Joseph in the Bible.

Egypt Store - Image Larry Pickard

In 1870 the mine closed because it wasn't making a profit but eighteen years later it was re-opened by a new company and immediately went into profit. Miners from Pennsylvania and West Virginia moved south to work there. Half the miners working in the mine were black and about a quarter were foreigners, among them many Scots. The mine was prospering and the future looked good when disaster struck. In December 1895 an explosion ripped through the mine killing forty one men. The name was changed to Cumnock after the disaster to distance itself from the bad reputation that the Egypt mine had acquired. Different sources claim different reasons why the name Cumnock was chosen.  One theory is that it was named after an investor in the mine. Another theory is that it was named after early settlers whose hometown was Cumnock in Ayrshire.

Egypt Coal Mine

Even further south we find Cumnock in Louisiana. It is an unincorporated community in Washington Parish, seven miles from the north of Franklinton, Louisiana. I cannot find any information on where the name of this Cumnock originated. 

Image - Wikipedia Commons

The Surname of Cumnock

Sometimes the name Cumnock doesn't originate from our town of Old Cumnock but is named after someone with the surname of Cumnock.

Cumnock Hall, which is part of the Harvard Business School, the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, was named after Alexander Goodlet Cumnock and one of his sons, Arthur James Cumnock. There are links to Old Cumnock with this family although the 'Cumnock' branch never lived in Old Cumnock. 

Alexander Goodlet Cumnock - Image Find a Grave

Alexander Goodlet Cumnock's grandfather, Alexander Goodlet, was born in Old Cumnock in 1783 to parents Thomas Goodlet and Janet Wilson. Alexander was a weaver and married Margaret Chatham in 1808 in Leigh, St. Mary's, Lancashire, England, his work as a weaver having taken him there. Lancashire was known as 'The Cotton Workshop of the World'. Their first child Thomas was born in Lancashire in 1809. The family then moved up north to Paisley in Scotland where their daughter Margaret was born in 1815 and their son Alexander in 1820.

Paisley was a weaving and textile town famous for the production of Paisley shawls. The weavers were well-educated, well read and radical. Thomas was a weaver and a very successful singer and mimic. He was also a supporter of the temperance  movement and opened a coffee shop in Paisley High Street where many a lively discussion would take place. 

His sister Margaret married Robert McLean Cumnock in 1833 in Paisley and they went on to have six sons and one daughter born in Paisley. The Cumnock family then emigrated to the USA in 1849 and a further two sons and two daughters were born there. On arrival in the USA Robert and his sons found employment in the Lowell Cotton Mills in Massachusetts and the family went from strength to strength eventually building or operating cotton mills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Their son, Alexander Goodlet Cumnock, was a well-known figure in New England fabric manufacturing and he founded the Lowell Textile School in Massachusetts. He acquired the Appleton Mill in Lowell with a group of family and friends and headed the company until his death when his son Arthur took over the management of the business. In the 1900 US Census Alexander's occupation is listed as 'capitalist'. His son Arthur James Cumnock was described in his obituary as a textile industry leader, President of the Catlin Parish Company and a Harvard American Football star.

Arthur James Cumnock - Image Find a Grave

Moving west to California The Cumnock School of Expression in Los Angeles was a private school for women established in the autumn of 1894 by Mrs Merrill Moore Gregg who was a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Oratory, Evanston, Illinois for many years and who was first assistant of its Director, Dr. Robert McLean Cumnock, for whom the school was named. Later a second department of the institution was established -  a preparatory school known as The Cumnock Academy.

The Cumnock School of Expression  - Image Calisphere.org

Dr Robert McLean Cumnock, son of Robert McLean Cumnock and Margaret Goodlet, paid his own way through a private secondary school because his family could not afford it. He left the school for fifteen months to fight in the American Civil War before returning to graduate in 1864. He began teaching Elocution at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in 1868 and created a two year diploma programme when he formed The Cumnock School of Oratory. He was Dean of Northwestern's School of Communications from 1878-1913 and Northwestern University awarded him the degree of Doctor of Letters in 1919.

The Cumnock School of Oratory

                                                                                    

From Cumnock to Melbourne - The Howats from Glaisnock Street

 

 by Roberta McGee

'Melbourne was founded on wealth from wealthy graziers, successful gold miners and those known as Squatters who, although not owning the lands they occupied, drew incredible wealth from those lands via Agriculture and grazing, mainly of sheep'

(Source: Melbourne's Lost Heritage - Mansions and Estates)

DAVID WILSON HOWAT was born in 1814 in Old Cumnock. He was a joiner and in 1840 married Sarah Robertson, also born in Old  Cumnock. In 1851 David and Sarah, with their children Mary, George and William, lived in Glaisnock Street, Cumnock. In October 1855 the family sailed into Melbourne on the 'Octavia' to begin a new life a world apart from the one they left behind. 

With the influx of immigrants into Melbourne more houses were required. David Howat capitalised on this. He set himself up as a builder and was a very successful one. When he died in 1885 at William Street, Melbourne, he left real/personal estate worth nearly £10,000. His son David commissioned a series of four single lancet stained glass windows in the Union Memorial Church, Elm Street Hall, North Melbourne, as a memorial to him. 

Image - Cumnock Connections

David and Sarah had four children, Mary, George and William, who were born in Cumnock and David who was born in 1858 in Melbourne but who sadly died in 1865 when he was just seven years old.

MARY MAXWELL HOWAT  was born about 1841 in Old Cumnock and died in 1916 at 'Glaisnock', 458 William Street, Melbourne. Mary was a dressmaker and also housekeeper for her family. She gave her earnings from her dressmaker's business to her father to bank for her. Her father and brothers also paid her for domestic work and this was also banked for her by her father. This amounted to £809 which was repaid to her on her father's death. According to her Will, Mary kept a safety deposit box at the Melbourne Safe Deposit Box (Stock Exchange of Melbourne Co. Ltd). Her father had taught his family the value of money and she invested wisely. On her death she left real estate and stocks & bonds worth nearly £15,000. Mary never married and her Will describes her as a 'gentlewoman'.

458 William Street (turned into a restaurant) - image Melbourne Streets

William Street - Image Old Time Photos of Yesteryear Fb page

GEORGE HOWAT was born in 1844 in Old Cumnock. His first employment was with a company of Stock & Station Agents in Melbourne and he became a Stock Agent. He married Lucy Goodson in 1875 in Ballarat. He was the only child of David and Sarah's to marry. Soon after his marriage he opened his own business and specialised in pure stock, chiefly Shorthorns and Ayrshires. His business went from strength to strength and his success was reflected in the magnificent mansion he built in Royal Park, Melbourne. It was a two storey brick and cemented residence containing thirteen rooms, tower, glass conservatory and conveniences with brick stable, men's room and workshop. He named it 'Cumnock' after the town of his birth. He also owned Gulpha Street Station, Mt. Ridley, Bunker Hill Estate and The Quamby Station, Loch. George died at Gulpha Creek Station in 1919 and left an estate worth in excess of £80,000. 

‘CUMNOCK’

George Howat - Image Cumnock Connections

Image - Agricultural Society of Victoria Oct 1885 

George and Lucy had four children, sons David and George Jnr., and daughters, Elizabeth-Ethel and Sarah. David and George jnr. were both graziers and took over the running of the estates on George's death. Their partnership was terminated in 1943 and the properties sold. 

 

The Argus 27/3/1943

George and Lucy's daughters married well.

Elizabeth-Ethel married Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner whose father was pioneer pastoralist Franc Sadleir Falkiner, born in Tipperary, Ireland. The Falkiners were considered to own more freehold land than any other family in Australia. Her husband Franc Jnr was born on the Arafat, Victoria goldfields. He became an Australian politician and grazier and was a world famous stud breeder of merino sheep. He was extremely wealthy and Elizabeth became a very rich widow when he died in 1929. Elizabeth died in 1946 at their mansion on Bellevue Hill, Wentworth, NSW when she accidentally smothered herself. 

In 1921 younger daughter Sarah Howat married , at the age of 37 years, widower Dr Henry Alexander Hagen. Dr Hagen's father was the General Inspector of Aborigines. Sarah and Henry built and funded the Cumnock Private Hospital in Moore Street, Tralalgon in 1926. Tralalgon is in the Gippsland region of Victoria and they operated the hospital for about two years before it was leased out. 

The Cumnock Private Hospital - Image Traralgon History Fb page

It is interesting to note that David Hamilton Weir and his family also lived in Gippsland. David's father was born in Blackfaulds, Old Cumnock. David Jnr. was born at Waterhead, New Cumnock and emigrated to Sydney in 1838.

Youngest son of David and Sarah Howat was WILLIAM HOWAT who was born in 1850 in Old Cumnock, Ayrshire. He never married and died at 'Glaisnock', 458 William Street, Melbourne. William was a significant figure in Melbourne during the late 19th century.

He was an accountant and for four generations served as manager of the extensive Clarke estates owned by the Hon. Sir William Clarke, Bart., one of Australia's wealthiest men. Sir William was a stud breeder, philanthropist and agriculturalist. William was so trusted and respected by the Clarke family that he was appointed an executor in the Will of Lady Jane Clarke. The Clarkes were leading socialites and entertained lavishly in their magnificent homes of Cliveden and Rupertswood. In 1882/83 Rupertswood became famous due to hosting the first ever 'Ashes' series between Australia and England when the touring English cricket team went there to play a friendly game of cricket which they won. Lady Clarke took the balls, burnt them, placed them in an urn and presented them to the English captain as a trophy - the birth of the 'Ashes'.

Image - Cumnock Connections

The Howats showed that they never forgot their roots in Old Cumnock by naming their homes 'Glaisnock' and 'Cumnock'. This seems to have been a common thread with our emigrants. There is a small town called 'Cumnock' in the Central West of New South Wales. It was originally known as Burrawong Crossroads and renamed Cumnock in 1879. Some sources say the name was suggested by William Ross of Dilga Station who was born in Cumnock. However, William Ross was born in Muirkirk.  He emigrated to Australia in 1845. Another source says that it was named after John Strahorn who arrived in NSW in 1838. It also claims he was born in Old Cumnock but records show that he was born in Mauchline. See links to the Cumnock Connection Tree.

Cumnock NSW also has a Royal Hotel

Andersons from Auchinleck to Braddock, PA

by Joanne Ferguson

George Anderson Sr was born on 16 September 1892 in Lugar, Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland.  George emigrated to the USA in 1923.  He worked as a blacksmith in a steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  He married Mary McMichael Boyle in Scotland.  She was born on 25 Jul 1902 in Auchinleck, Scotland. George died on 02 Oct 1970 in Braddock, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.  Mary died on 02 Sep 1990 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

George Anderson Sr and Mary McMichael Boyle had the following children:

John Anderson was born on 16 Aug 1921 in Auchinleck, East Ayrshire. He married Jean Eileen Howat (great-granddaughter of William Howat and Margaret Brown who emigrated from Ayrshire, Scotland in 1867) on 28 Oct 1943 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA.  She was born on 20 Sep 1922 in Braddock, Pa.  John served in the US Army during WWII.  John worked as a weight master in the steel works in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  John died on 16 Apr 1975 in Braddock, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Jean was a housewife who died on 14 Dec 1979 in Swissvale, Allegheny, Pa.  

John Anderson and Jean Eileen Howat had one child.  John Anderson was born on 04 Sep 1946 in Pennsylvania. John served in the US Navy in Vietnam.  He married Joyce L. Sprague. She was born in Ohio. He died on 24 Sep 1998 in Braddock, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.  John Anderson and Joyce L. Sprague had the following children: Dawn L., Shawn E., and Brian C.

William Wilson Anderson was born on 20 Aug 1922 in Scotland. He married Lillian Kramer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1923.  He served in the Army during WWII and was injured in battle.  He worked as a weight master for the steel works. William Wilson died on 10 Nov 1977 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Lillian died in 1997 in North Braddock, Pennsylvania.  William and Lillian had four children:  Amy, Margaret, Christine, and William, Jr.

Father George Anderson sailed on the Columbia in March 1923 going to his brother Matthew already in Braddock.  His wife was living at 43 Darnconner. 

George Anderson, Junior was born on 08 Aug 1924 in Braddock, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He worked as an ash man for the local government in Braddock.  He served in the Army during WWII.  George never married and had no children.  He died on 13 Dec 1976 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Allan Boyle Anderson was born on 09 Apr 1927 in Braddock, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  He married Dolores Mekula who was born in June of 1926.  He was a salesman in a men’s clothing store. He served in the Army during WWII.  Allan and Dolores did not have any children.  Allan died on 22 Sep 2019 in Maryland, United States of America.  Dolores died in 2019 in Maryland.  Both are buried in Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Matthew Riggans Anderson was born on 16 Feb 1929 in Braddock, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was a laborer in the open hearth at the steel mill in Braddock. He married Janet L. Pici on 17 Sep 1960 in Winchester, Virginia. She was born about 1934.  At the time of his marriage, Matthew was a supervisor for military affairs in Virginia.  Matthew died on 24 Jul 2015 in Carlsbad, San Diego County, California.  Matthew and Janet had one son, Matthew Eric.

Agnes Boyle Anderson was born about 1937 in Pennsylvania. She married Ray Edward Curtin in 1961 in Ohio, West Virginia.  Ray was born on 20 April 1929 and worked in the steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  He died on 7 April 2014 in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania.  Agnes and Ray had two children: Kevin and Sharon.

Jane Riggans Anderson was born on 16 Aug 1942 in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  She married John Harold Lynch on 03 Jan 1974 in Winchester, Virginia. He was born on 03 May 1928.  John joined the Army and served in Vietnam during that war.  John retired from the Army of the rank of E6.  John died on 27 February 2011 in Swissvale, Pennsylvania.  Jane died on 27 Dec 1996 in Swissvale, Pennsylvania.  Jane and John had one daughter, Heather.

The sons and son-in-law of George Anderson and Mary McMichael Boyle served gallantly in the Army and Navy, defending their new country in WWII and Vietnam.

 

From Cumnock to Pennsylvania and Ohio

by Joanne Ferguson

link to William Howat on Cumnock Connections tree

William Howat was born in Cumnock in 1841, the son of William Howat and Jane Hamilton.  William married Margaret Brown in Scotland in 1862.  He studied surveying at Edinburgh University.  Margaret and William had two daughters, Elizabeth and Jane, in Scotland.  In 1864 after going to America and returning to Scotland, he emigrated to America in 1867 with his wife and daughters, Elizabeth and Jane.  He settled near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his family where three more children were born: Bella, William and John Brown.  

William Howatt, Sr. studied civil and mechanical engineering and took a position with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Baltimore, Maryland.  His skills in Baltimore were highly esteemed.  Here is a newspaper clipping from his 50thWedding Anniversary celebration that details his work in Baltimore.

Sadly, Jane died at the age of 11 and Bella died at age three in Driftwood, Pennsylvania.  Both are buried in the Driftwood Cemetery.  William Howat, Jr. was fatally injured in a railroad accident at the age of 31.

William became the superintendent of the department of public works in 1882.   He went to Baltimore in 1890 to help Baltimore with a tunnel, then returned in 1896 to Braddock County.  He worked in Braddock until 1909.  Margaret Brown died on July 13, 1915 and William Howat died March 16, 1916.  

William, Sr. and Margaret’s Children

Both Margaret and William had moved to Ohio to live with their daughter, Elizabeth Howatt Carr.  

Elizabeth’s husband, Thomas, had died in 1913.  Thomas was a brick layer.  Elizabeth and Thomas had four children:  Margaret, Robert, Elizabeth, and Ida.  

Their second child, William, married Caroline Geyer in 1892 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.  William worked for the railroad as a machinist near their home in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.  William died in an accident at the railroad yard.

William and Caroline had three children:  William, Margaret, and John Brown Howat.

John Brown Howat married Ida Boyle in August 1897.  John was the owner of a hardware specialties store making nuts and bolts in Sharon, Pennsylvania. 

                                                                                    1908

John and Ida had no children.  At his death in 1954, John’s occupation was listed as a construction engineer on his death certificate.  Ida died a few years later in 1957.

William and Margaret’s Grandchildren-

Elizabeth Howat and Thomas Carr’s Children

Margaret Carr married George Maxwell on October 29, 1912.  Margaret worked as a bookkeeper at a bank and moved back to live with her mother after George’s death in November of 1914.  Margaret and George had no children.

Robert William Carr was a salesman in a hardware store.  He married Janet Flynn in 1923.  By the 1930 census Robert was the owner of the hardware store.  By the 1950 census, Robert was the vice president of a hardware manufacturing plant.  Robert died on July 22, 1955.  Janet and Robert had no children.

Elizabeth Thomasina Carr married James Foster and they had two children:  James, Jr. and Margaret.  James was the owner of a garage in New Castle City, Pennsylvania, and later became a real estate and insurance salesman.  James and Elizabeth had two children:  James B. Foster and Margaret J. Foster.  James died in 1965 and Elizabeth died in 1981 in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

Ida Jane Carr married Henry Noville Boucherle in 1922.  Henry was a plumbing engineer in Youngstown, Ohio.  Ida was a bookkeeper at a bank.  They had two sons:  Thomas and Robert.  Henry died in 1939 and Ida died in 1969.

William, Jr. and Caroline Geyer Howat's Children

Margaret Howat married William Cloyd Gibson in November 1912.  William Gibson worked as a clerk for the post office in Braddock.

Caroline Geyer lived with Margaret until her death in 1945. Margaret died in March of 1950.  William Gibson died in September of 1952.  

Margaret and William Cloyd Gibson had no children.

John Brown Howat married Jennie Elizabeth Miller in 1922.  John was a postal clerk in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  They had one son, Jack.

Jennie Elizabeth died in Braddock in 1957. John died in November of 1978 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

William Howat married Hannah G. Flaherty in Petersburg, Virginia on February 21, 1918.  William worked as a plumber.  Hannah died in 1957.  They had three children: an infant who died in 1921, Jean E. Howat, and William Cloyd Howat.

William and Margaret Brown Howatt's Great Grandchildren

Ida Carr and Henry N. Boucherle’s Children

Thomas Carr Boucherle married Zetta Jane Murray in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 24, 1948.  Thomas was a heating engineer at a retail heating and plumbing company in Youngstown, Ohio.

Robert Boucherle was an architectural draftsman in Youngstown, Ohio.

James B. Foster and Elizabeth Carr’s Children

James B. Foster, Jr.  married Yvette Lapeyre Mitchell in 1942 in Lawrence, Pennsylvania.  James was a real estate broker in New Castle, Pennsylvania.  James and Yevette had three children:  James Byers Foster III, Susan L. Foster, Sherry Anne Foster, and William Mitchell Foster.

James died in January 1995 and Yevette died in 2018 in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

Margaret Foster became a nurse and emigrated to Brazil for a period of time.  On her return, she worked as a nurse for the Gulf Oil Corporation in Pittsburgh and was a hostess for Capital Airlines.  She married William J. Schelien  who worked as a supervisor for Jones and Laughlin Steel for 41 years.  He passed away in April of 2004.  Margaret died in 2016 in Pennsylvania.  William and Margaret had one child, Elizabeth. 

John Brown and Jennie E. Miller Howat’s Children

Jack William Howat married Julia Green in Pittsburgh in 1944.  Jack worked in the banking industry in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  They had three children. 

William and Hannah G. Flaherty Howat’s Children

William Cloyd Howat lived in Braddock, Pennsylvania and worked as a lockman for the water locks.  He was not married.

Jean E. Howat married John Anderson on October 28, 1943 in Braddock, Pennsylvania.  John was the son of George and Mary Boyle Anderson from Auchinleck, Scotland.  George and Mary emigrated from Scotland in 1925 to Braddock, Pennsylvania.  John was a weight master at the steel works in Braddock.  Jean and John Anderson had one son John Cloyd Anderson.

links to https://langscotsmilecumnock.blogspot.com/2024/04/George%20Anderson%20and%20Mary%20McMichael%20Boyle.html

Drapers

By Kay McMeekin

When doing our recent farm research,  we noticed that many farmers sons were becoming drapers particularly in England.

There were travelling drapers as well as shop workers.

A draper sold cloth and was often an outfitter as well. 

The definition of “Scotch Draper” was someone who sold goods door to door with payments to be made in instalments. They were also known as travelling drapers and credit drapers. (from https://www.cottontown.org/Other%20Industry/Pages/Retail-Trade.aspx)

Dumfries and Galloway Standard - Wednesday 17 January 1877

Ayr Advertiser 1883

John Weir 1836-1890 of Sykeside farm Cumnock was a draper in Rotherham, Yorkshire

William Howat of Polquhirter and brothers David and James were drapers in Preston, Lancashire in 1881.

Three Baird of Watson sons went to Lancashire, and Robert Baird's brothers-in-law John and Matthew McKerrow were also drapers in Lancashire.

Another related line of McKerrows were drapers William McKerrow in Wigan and Ormskirk.

Banffshire Herald - Saturday 16 July 1898

This article from the Western Mail - Wednesday 02 April 1930 throws some light on the situation.

DRAPERY TRADE. 

HOW TO ATTRACT THE BEST RECRUITS. 

Sir Sydney Skinner, president of the Drapers' Chamber of Trade, presiding at the annual meeting of the chamber at the Cordwainers' hall, Cannon Street, on Tuesday, said stressing the need for attracting the right sort of ability to the drapery trade, 

"In the old days we used to get the sons and daughters of farmers. A farmer always used to put a boy or girl into the drapery trade. Some of the must successful men and women we have in our business to-day are farmers' sons and daughters. We do not get so many now, and I believe this is largely due to the fact that mothers to-day have a fear of sending their daughters to the big towns. I myself am reinstating the 'living-in' system, because I am going to try and re-attract that type of boy and girl. I ant not going to let them come to London and be at the mercy of some woman who runs a lodging-house and will fleece them. It is because the 'living in' system has been abolished that many mothers are no longer sending us their girls. The drapery trade gives a boy or girl coming up from the country a wonderful opportunity for progress such as very few other trades or professions will offer them."

The migrant miners – Barrowmans from Stirling to New Zealand via Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.

by Alexandra Watson

Barrowman is a “weel kent” name in Cumnock and has various historical associations.

Robert J Barrowman (1847- 1924) is best remembered as the builder of the Royal Hotel in 1892 which still has a commanding role in the town.

Alexander Barrowman (1842 - 1913) journalist and poet was very well known in Cumnock in his day. (The late Bobby Grierson was interested in Alexander and documented his tree on Cumnock Connections). There are not many obituaries that say:

"It is not too much to say that Mr Alexander Barrowman was one of the the most prominent figures in the contemporary history of Cumnock and we make bold to say further that the town held no finer brain than that which he possessed." 

Source: Cumnock Chronicle 1913

With such an unusual surname, one might be forgiven for assuming that all the Cumnock Barrowmans were from the same family. However, Robert J Barrowman’s lineage goes back to an Irish migrant Daniel Barrowman who married a Jane Pollock in Lanarkshire at the beginning of the 19th century and in comparison, Alexander’s family were originally from Airth in Stirlingshire. What both families had in common was that the mining industry played a major part in their family's migrations and success stories.

Of course, other Barrowman families may also have come to the area but this essay deals with the story of the Airth Barrowmans.

The Barrowmans of Dunmore and Airth

This account follows the emigration story of the father and brothers of Alexander Barrowman who died in Cumnock in 1913.
Located on the River Forth 6 miles north of Falkirk, is the small village of Airth. As early as the 16 century it was a trading port, known for shipbuilding, agriculture, fishing, salt production, and coal mining. 

Source - Falkirk History Club - Airth.

This branch of the Barrowman family appears in the earliest Airth church records from the 1600s. The family grew to be quite numerous in the area but by the 1841 census, the name appears to have died out. 

Source -Scotlands People 

By 1841 there are several Barrowman families (born in Airth) now living in and around Lanarkshire and many are miners. William Barrowman and Susannah Cairns were married on 15 August 1774 at Airth and continued to live there for several years. However, their son John Barrowman moved to Shettleston, Glasgow, and died there in 1829.

John Barrowman married Margaret Matson on 5th August 1803. They had 11 children, all lived to adulthood, and at least 3 of whom emigrated to America.

We are following their 6th child Thomas Barrowman, born 1813 in Shettleston in Glasgow.

Thomas Barrowman 1813 - 1881