When I set out to trace all of the descendants of James Callin, I made the choice to delve more deeply into the families of spouses than I usually see done in the older family history books. In the case of George Wishart, I did my best to discover who his parents were, and where and when they were born and died. In the process, I think I stumbled into a possible controversy in the research.
I started with Edna H. Malson, my 4th cousin, 2x removed, and after I walk you through ten pieces of evidence about her husband, George, and his parents, I'll explain the remaining mystery.
1. Edna's Obituary (see right): This establishes that we have the right person (Edna Hazel Wishart, brother's name "C.W. Malson") and some useful facts about George, which are confirmed by the marriage record in the Multnomah County, Oregon Marriage Index, 1855-1919 database.
- Name: George Wishart
- Married: 1 June 1908 in Portland
2. 1910 Census: I don't think it's too wild a leap to assume this record showing George and Edna Wishart living in Portland is the same couple we see on that 1908 marriage record, and we learn a few more facts about George.
- Birth Year: abt 1890
- Birthplace: New York
- Occupation: Baker
- Father's Birthplace: Scotland
- Mother's Birthplace: Canada
- Name: George Alexander Wishart
- Occupation: Baker (the card gives the company he works for and its address)
- Marital Status: Married (the card says "wife, 2 children" - which matches what we know about Edna and their daughters at that time)
- Birth Date: 1 Oct 1890
- Birth Place: "North Towndanda," New York, USA
4. California, Death Index, 1940-1997: this record matches what we now know about George, and gives us some new information:
Name: George Alexander Wishart
Birth Date: 1 Oct 1890
Birth Place: New York
Death Date: 4 Jun 1980
Death Place: Monterey
Mother's Maiden Name: Bailey
5. 1900 Census: conveniently, the Wishart family appears in North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York in 1900. George is listed (age 8, born Oct 1891 - close enough for our purposes) and we see his family listed:
- Father's Name: John Wishert (I chalk the spelling up to transcriber error - again, it's close enough for our purposes)
- Father's Birthplace: Scotland
- Birthdate: Oct 1854 (note that the 1900 Census dates tend to be one year off - this will be important later)
- Mother's Name: Anna Wishert
- Mother's Birthplace: Canada, England
- Birthdate: Nov 1868
- Children:
- Andrew Wishert, 12
George Wishert, 8
James Wishert, 7
Jessa Wishert, 1
- Older brother Andrew's date/place of birth is listed as Dec 1887, Canada; George, James, and Jessa were born in New York.
- John Wishart's immigration year (1878) and marriage year (1886) are given, and it says his parents were both born in Scotland.
- Anna's entry says "Immigration Year: 1878" - but it also says "Years in US: 12," which would be 1888.
Given these clues, I believe I should be looking for a marriage record for John Wishart and Anna Bailey (remember document #4) somewhere in Canada in 1886. I should also be looking for immigration records for John in 1878, and for both John and Anna in 1888.
6. Immigration/Arrival: two records show John Wishart arriving in the U.S.; one in the New York Port, Ship Images, 1851-1891 database, and the other in New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. Both show that a John Wishart, born "abt 1853," arrived in New York from Liverpool aboard the Baltic, a ship of the White Star Line, on 5 April 1878. They list his Ethnicity/ Nationality as English, but I'm reasonably certain this is still our guy.
7. Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928: two records in this database tell us more about George's parents. Taken together, here's what we learn from them:
- Name: John Wishart
- Birth Year: abt 1854 (Age: 32)
- Birth Place: Orkney Scotland
- Marriage Date: 5 Aug 1886
- Marriage Place: Woodhouse Township, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada
- Father: James Wishart
- Mother: Helen Wishart
- Spouse: Annie Bailey
- Birth Year: abt 1867 (Age: 19)
- Birth Place: Port Dover, Norfolk County, Ontario
- Spouse father: William Bailey
- Spouse mother: Mary Ann Bailey
8. Ontario, Canada Births, 1869-1913: this record provides one last piece of evidence that confirms what I said about the 1900 U.S. Census; in particular, I think
Name: Andrew Wishard Wishart (this is an Index Record, so I couldn't view the original to see which spelling is on the document)
Birth Date: 11 Dec 1887
Birth Place: Norfolk, Ontario, Canada
Father: John Thompson Wishart
Mother: Annie Bailey
9. 1871 Scotland Census: at this point, I think we know enough about John's origins to look for records in Scotland - and here's what we find:
Name: John Wishart
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854 (Age: 17)
Mother's Name: Helen Wishart
Where born: So Ronaldshay, Orkney
10. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950: and here's the crowning piece of evidence.
Name: John Thomson Wishart
Birth Date: 10 Oct 1853
Baptism Date: 20 Nov 1853
Baptism Place: South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland
Father: James Wishart
Mother: Hellen Thomson
Now, after all of that work, I'm left with one remaining mystery: where and when did John Thompson Wishart die?
There is an Oregon, Death Index, 1898-2008 record that shows "John T Wishard" died on 29 March 1942 in Marion [County], Oregon, but there is a Find-A-Grave memorial for another John T Wishart which claims that date of death:
- John Taylor Wishart
- Birth: 19 Aug 1869, Letham, Angus, Scotland
John was born in Letham, Dunnichen Parish, Angus and immigrated with his family to the United States in October 1871, arriving in Nebraska and settling in Nemaha Co., Kansas as a family unit. Many family members moved to Parkdale, Hood River Co., Oregon in 1885 and John along with them; he held a tract of land adjacent to his father and brothers in the Upper Valley Precinct, which he appears to have sold about 1895.
By the 1900 census John was located in Upper Trout Precinct, Crook Co., Oregon working as a laborer in a sawmill, and by 1910 he was in Ashwood, Crook Co., where he had his own farm and was a Stockman. Ashwood was redistricted into Jefferson Co., Oregon, and he is again located in the 1920 and 1930 census in Ashwood as a Stockman and farmer in stock grain. All census records record him as single, no children.
I do see a 1910 Census record for a widowed John Wishart, born abt 1854 in Scotland, living in Portland; this could well be our John Wishart since the other fellow was supposedly in Ashwood at that time. Our John Wishart was a sailor who lived in Canada and New York (all while this other John Wishart was growing up in Nebraska. I don't know how long our Wishart family stayed in New York before moving to Oregon, but our John and Annie had three sons and a daughter and the timing of the records we have would allow for Annie to move to Portland before dying in 1906.
The last record I have shows 77-year-old John Thomson Wishart arriving in New York from Glasgow aboard the Transylvania on 9 December 1930 after a trip to Scotland to visit relatives. I'd like to think he arrived home in Portland safely, and enjoyed many more years with his family.
I just don't have the evidence to support that conclusion.
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So, there you have a glimpse into my sources and methods. I'm not directly related to the Wishart family, but I hope I've helped clarify some things, and if anyone has an answer for my mystery, I'd love to tie up the loose end!
As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. You can comment below (anonymous comments are usually not as helpful), or email "mightieracorns" at Gmail.com.
We now have more ways to reach out:
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...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).
Until next time.... Happy Hunting!
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