The last few posts have been informed by a thoroughly researched exploration of the Scottish upbringing of my paternal paternal great-grandparents, Theodore James Cromar and Christiana Berry Robb, their lives together in the New World, and the ironic tragedy that awaited with the onset of the Great Depression. Were I to treat every generation as exhaustively, we’d need a couple of dozen more lengthy posts to cover the nine generations I believe I’ve uncovered on the Cromar branch. I wouldn’t be afraid of that if I had researched such a level of detail for every generation—and of course, for my grandparents and parents, I have. In fact, I would have started this blog in a more sequential manner, moving from parents down the line in a consistent reversal of time’s arrow, but Theodore and Christiana’s experience provides a better datum for several narrative purposes.

They are, for starters, the fulcrum upon which our family’s transformation from Old World to New rests. While this is reason enough, I also see their adventure as a migratory recapitulation, a cyclical echo of the mysterious origin story for the Cromar line that is the motivation for this blog. Recall that the family myth involves another migration tale, that of the enigmatic brothers MacDonald who, escaping some manner of persecution, visualized opportunity by inhabiting a new identity in a new part of Scotland that may have felt as foreign to them as New World shores did to my great-grandparents. The experiences that have shaped the Cromar identity are bookended by these brave stories of wanderlust and resettlement.

Having thus established a frame for the tale, let’s unwind the clock from Theodore’s birth and see where, and who, this may lead us to.

The current hypothesis

It’s not possible to write about people singularly, so as I’ve been focusing on Theodore and Christiana, we’ve met a few of the people in this diagram. On the descendant side, we’ve met their children Anne, Marion, Theodore Jr., and Charles. On Theodore’s ancestor side, we’ve come to know to John Cromar and Ann George, his parents. We also know a bit about Ann’s parents, Alexander George and Anne Anderson, who effectively raised Theodore. We’ve been briefly introduced to John’s father George Cromar, and a smattering of other names.

In the next few posts, we’re going to ride the crest of the wave, following the Cromar patrilineal progression:

• John Cromar 1823-1870 | Mercantile worker and granite polisher, married to Ann George 1836-1913, textile worker; Theodore’s parents, my 2nd great-grandparents.
• George Cromar 1792-1871 | Farmer and mill wright, married to Ann Meston 1802-1883, farmer’s wife; my 3rd great-grandparents.
• John Cromar 1755-1846 | Farmer, married to distant relation Ann Cromar 1751-1792, farmer’s wife; my 4th great-grandparents.
• Robert Cromar 1717-1798 | Farmer with interesting ties to academia, married to Jannet Dun 1714-1771, farmer’s wife; my 5th great-grandparents.
• Peter Cromar 1690-1770 | Farmer and possible refugee, married to Janet Bonar 1695-1789, farmer’s wife; my 6th great grandparents.

Making peace with uncertainty

This hypothetical chain is based on the following methodology:

• I am using Family Search information as a scaffold, with the full understanding that it is a crowd-sourced platform, although one without a paywall and correctible with documentation;
• I am using documentation of primary sources found through databases at Family Search and ScotlandsPeople, and other one-off documentary sources increasingly available at Internet Archive and elsewhere, selectively paying for access where needed, to either verify or modify the scaffolding above;
• I am supplementing documentation with information gathered from four individuals: 1) my father channeling 2) his grandmother, and 3) web links and personal correspondence with Paul Smillie in Scotland, who has access to the genealogy notes of 4) the now-deceased Ron Cromar. With respect to Ron, one can find a smattering of web links but these are breadcrumbs, not a meal.

Two remaining mysteries

Even with (or perhaps because of) this sensible methodology, uncertainty remains in two instances:

• George Cromar 1792-1871 | His parents are indeed a John Cromar and an Ann Cromar, but there are so many Johns and Anns kicking around the Howe of Cromar in the mid-18th Century it’s a Sherlockian challenge to verify the right ones. The search through all the Johns and Anns will be the subject of its own post.
• Robert Cromar 1717-1798 | It’s evidently clear Robert Cromar is father to a John Cromar, but documentary evidence linking Robert to Peter Cromar and Janet Bonar is sketchy and contradictory. There are many sources online that readily do this, but they are not backed by documentation. The assertion of this connection is apparently and tenuously tied to Ron Cromar’s notes, which may contain citations of which I’m unaware. A post will be devoted to the rationale behind hypothesizing this connection.

Though a chain may only be as strong as its hypothetical links, I’m confident enough with this one to publish it here. And should the research that is happening in real time, concurrent with the writing of these upcoming posts, end up disproving the hypothesis and breaking this chain, so be it. I am conscious of confirmation bias and guarding against it as best as one can. Whether it ends up proven or debunked, this hypothesis becomes the means by which I discover the origin of our family. It’s more important to me that this origin be authentic than it is the myth be validated—though how cool would that be?

Notes

Note from Ron Cromar confirming link between Robert 1717 and Peter 1690 »