Into and out of Aboyne

In this journal, we’ve had many opportunities to explore the migrations that define the Cromar family’s history.

It turns out our “origins” in the Howe of Cromar may have been bookended by migrations both into, and out of, the Kirkton of Aboyne and environs. I say into, as I’ve discovered a fable of escape from the Massacre of Glencoe has been supported by three independent versions of that story documented in Scotland, Canada, and the United States. This may explain the origins of Peter Cromar, whose descendancy chart I completed last year. The chart revealed the other side of the migration story: that the extent of the Cromar Diaspora closely mirrored the Scottish Diaspora.

The Cromars’ first forays out of Aboyne were surprisingly early. These accounts led to some of the widest (and wildest) migration experiences recorded in Peter Cromar’s descendancy. That first deeper exploration was defined primarily by the Aberdeenshire origin of my family migrations. In this and future chapters, we’ll define them by destination.

Migration by destination

So, I’m describing this new strategy as a region-specific one. We’ll start with a region that is nearest and dearest to me, the Northeastern United States.

In the current iteration of Peter’s descendancy, we find nearly 650 persons documented who either emigrated or were born in New England or the Mid-Atlantic. A majority of those — nearly 450 — were associated with New England. This naturally makes Boston a major focus of our family history. Over 140 persons in the descendancy are associated with Boston, one of my favorite cities in the world as it happens. Of course, it has to be: I met and married my wife there!

This set of Cromar emigres — which happens to belong to my branch — doesn’t hold a candle to the massive migration we see to the West or Midwest regions of the United States, but it is larger than we find in many other regions, such as the South. And while I do have Southern roots on my matrilineal side, I don’t have quite as strong an affinity for this southern, more Sassenach lineage. Based as it is in stories of rapacious Jamestown settlers and seditious Confederate traitors, I’m frankly not terribly proud of it. But that’s another topic for another journal.

New England and the Mid-Atlantic

The migration waves we’re exploring here include Thuddie Cromar and Teenie Robb, my paternal great-grandparents whose lives we investigated in a series of posts. If you’re careful, you can find a listing for Theodore James 6.1. He’s about half-way down the long scroll in this database of Cromar migrants, under the USA tab.

Familiar territory

We know Thuddie’s line well. John Cromar 5.1 was his father, Charles Robb 7.4 his son, then on to my recently deceased father Charles Robb 8.2, and me: William Robb 9.1. My parents were raised and married in Virginia, but we moved all over the East Coast. We ranged from as far south as North Carolina to as far north as New Hampshire. And the wanderlust didn’t stop there. I moved from D.C. to Boston to Philadelphia as an adult, while my sister Paige moved from Florida to Connecticut to Ohio. It seems this peripatetic predisposition is in our blood. Recall that Thuddie took his family from Boston to D.C. to Richmond, finally winding up in Annapolis, Maryland.

But Thuddie has us beat by a long stretch: his migration started in Scotland and took him to New England. This is a huge decision for anyone. How and why did he make it?

It may have been made for him. Recall that Aberdeenshire Granite Men flocked to New England during this period. There was opportunity to be had in a growing country that was simply not available in Scotland, which was suffering a long economic depression. In Peter’s descendancy, it’s interesting to see he’s not the only Cromar to make this choice. Many of Thuddie’s cousins also emigrate.

So this begs a question: did Thuddie interact with any immigrant cousins? Did they know each other back in Scotland? And did they have any social or professional relationships on this side of the Atlantic?

To explore that question, let’s wind our history back to my great-grandfather, John 5.1, and his siblings.

Milnes in New England

Our tragically short-lived John had a brother, George 5.2, who enjoyed a long life to age 95. He made a professional sojourn to Fraserburgh at one stretch, but returned to Milton of Auchlossan and presumably died in or near Lumphanan, as we note his memorial at the Kirkton of Aboyne burial ground. This George had a daughter, Ann 6.1, who was apparently born out of wedlock. Ann’s mother, Elizabeth Ingram, gave birth to her in Banchory Ternan to the east of Aboyne, though Elizabeth’s family had roots in Tarland and Birse. We don’t know a great deal about Elizabeth, other than her employment as a domestic servant, a fact found on Ann’s birth record in 1858.

Ann’s father George is my great-grandfather Theodore’s uncle, making Ann his first cousin (and my first cousin 3 time removed). Given the family’s settlement pattern, I’m unsure how much they spent time together. She does not appear to be in direct adjacency to Theodore in Coull, but we can’t rule out some kind of relationship.

Descendants of Ann

Ann, presumably living with her mother, married Alexander Milne on 24 May 1879 in Monymusk, due north of Banchory. We know the Milnes as one of the strongest allied families to the Cromars, if not the strongest. Alexander’s family has deep ties to Donside settlements — Tillyfourie, Cluny, Insch, Auchravie Cottage. He is, for a time, a Granite Man, working as a quarrier, but later in life pivots to perhaps less physically stressful labor in a saw mill.

This couple made their home in Cluny first, then Insch, and finally Moneymusk. They raised a typically large Aberdeenshire brood of 15. An astounding number of these children emigrated to the USA. Henry Meldrum Milne migrated first to the Midwest, then South, while sister Jessie headed West. But the majority of Ann’s migrating children gravitated to New England.

More Granite Men

We remember that Theodore. born in 1868, began his stone-masonry work possibly as early as an apprenticeship around age 14, in the early 1880s. He later took his trade to America, emigrating to Boston in 1891. Ann’s sons and daughters, whose birth years span from 1879 to 1902, represent the generation just following Theodore’s generation.

These are all his second cousins, but many of them are only 15 years or so younger than him. At the time Thuddie is a journeyman stonemason traveling through New England and raising a family in Boston, these Milnes are following his lead. Perhaps he assisted them in finding work and settling in the New World?

Alexander Milne 7.2 and sons

Alexander E. Milne 7.2, born 20 September 1880 in Cluny, was 12 years younger than Thuddie and emigrated about a decade after him. We know he was in New England before 1903, based on his marriage record to Emily Mary Mackintosh in Barre, Vermont, on 14 May of that year.

Alexander’s occupation is listed on his marriage record as a blacksmith, but we know he was smithing for a quarry company in Cluny, Scotland. Based on the 1910 Census record, he was doing the same at a granite works in Barre. This may have been the Adams Granite Company, at which we find his son working later on. Arthur Clarence Milne 8.1 is described at Adams as a lumper, a quarryman who moves partially-finished or completed work. Arthur’s son Kenneth Edwin Milne 9.2 was in turn described as a “master mason” in an obituary, but this was not his occupation.

John Milne 7.3

John was born 29 September 1882 in Insch. Like his older brother Alexander, we’re not quite sure when he made his passage to the New World, but we know it was before 1908, since we find him marrying Jane Riddel (a.k.a. Jeannie and Jeanie) on 14 April in Barre.

Given their ages and the timing around the turn of the century, it’s entirely plausible that these Milne brothers emigrated together. If we assume they arrived when John was around 18, Theodore would be living at 22 Smith Street and perhaps even had been recently naturalized as a citizen, on 29 September 1900. He may well have assisted his newly-arrived second cousins with the process of breaking into the stone business.

If they were together, this could mean that Alexander was employed by the Hoyt & Lebourneau company instead of Adams. A draft card record for the younger John indicates he is a granite cutter for Hoyt & Lebourneau, at their stoneworks on Willey Street.

Thought H&L seems to be out of business today, several stoneworks still occupy large structures on the same road, perhaps having taken over the old stone yard.

There’s more. We aren’t quite done with the Milnes yet…

William Ross Milne 7.4

We find younger brother William Ross, born 1885 in Cluny, naturalized as a US citizen in 1912. Is it reasonable to presume he came over with his older brothers? If it is, and if we also know that naturalization is a process that takes a minimum of 5 years at that time, we might be able to pinpoint a hypothetical date for the migration at around 1902, given older brother Alexander’s marriage data. That would have made William a minor at the age of 17 at the oldest. So either Alexander, at age 22 or 23, was given guardianship over William, or William came over as late as 1907 at age 22.

Whichever way that played out, Parry & Jones, granite dealers in Brunham’s Meadow, hired William Ross as a stone cutter, as we can see in his draft card.

But there’s even one more, younger Milne brother to account for. This one is sporting the middle name of Cromar, as it happens.

George Cromar Milne 7.4

George is an interesting case. Most of these brothers have draft cards for World War I in the record, but only George seems to have served — and even then, he does his duty before being naturalized as a citizen. His draft card is issued in 1918…

… while his citizenship is not granted until 1919. This is a busy time for George, as he also married Alice Annabella Riddell on 24 August 1918.

His occupation was noted as “Solider” on this record…

… while back on his draft registration card, we note he was listed as an engineer living in Graniteville, employed by Boutwell, Milne & Varnum Company.

The “Milne” referenced in the company name is one George B. Milne, born around 1857 near Aberdeen. He journeyed to America in 1880, worked the trade in Maine, and arrived in Barre in 1883. In 1885, he started his own granite company and by 1889 he was owner of the famous Rock of Ages quarry.

Were our brothers related to this George B. Milne? It’s not outside of the realm of possibility. Then again, there are So. Many. Milnes. In. Scotland!

Unsolved questions

Since George B. seems to have blazed the trail in 1880, was he instrumental in helping other Granite Men make the migration, including Thuddie and these Milne brothers? We’ll need to dig deeper for this question.

And, regarding the brothers’ various careers in stone-working, what do we make of young George’s designation as an engineer? The term implies some level of education. If so, where and how did he get it? As a migrant, this is a tricky thing to accomplish.

Finally, are Milne cousins still kicking around Barre and environs? Well, we might find one hint in George Cromar Milne’s family. He had a son, Howard Leslie Milne 8.2, born in Williamstown on 7 June 1930, who had a family of his own. Out of respect for the possibility they may be living, I can’t name family members here. But there’s evidence I may still have a cousin or two in Vermont.

Buckners in Massachusetts and New York

Diana Craigmyle 4.3, the daughter of Robert Craigmile and Elizabeth Cromar 3.2, married a Sassenach, Benjamen Buckner, in 1799 in Aberdeen. From this union, she became the Cromar line progenitor for a large influx of Buckners who emigrated to Massachusetts. This came by way of her youngest son, James.

Bostonian Buckners

James Buckner 5.4

James Buckner 5.4 was born 15 May 1815. We don’t have a record of where, but his older brother Benjamin was born in Nairn, near the Moray Firth. He married Marjery McPherson at Saint Nicholas in Aberdeen on 31 July 1840. They proceeded to have several children, including Barbara Ross in 1843, James junior in 1845, Thomas in 1847, and Annie Louise in 1850.

According to the 1851 Census, James was an engineer living on Park Street in Aberdeen, and he probably saw better opportunity in the New World. It was sometime between 1851 and 1855 that this family emigrated to Boston. If we split the difference and assume 1853, this passage featured a family of 6 in steerage class, with children aged 10 through 3. Can you even imagine the hardship? What were these boats like?

These were the early days of passenger liners. In this era, the ships were a hybrid, illustrating the transition from sail to mechanical power. They were steam-driven paddle boats with power supplemented by the wind, and carried about 200 persons. Transit times typically exceeded 10 days.

We know the Buckner family endured this passage before 1855, because we have evidence of a daughter, Marion Eliza, born in 1855 in Boston. Two more children, Milton G in 1858 and May Florence in 1863, rounded out the family roster.

James’ legacy

James’ grandchildren continued the Cromar line in Boston:

• Eldest daughter Barbara Ross 6.1 became a Dillaway, and some Dillaways became Fitches. Most of them stayed in the Boston area, occupying such settlements as Cambridge, Winchester, and Salem.
• James 6.2 also had several children who remained in the Boston area…
• … as did Thomas 6.3.
• Annie Louise 6.4 became a Kelley whose children stayed in Boston and Hingham, while some of her grandchildren migrated to Maine.
• Marion Eliza 6.5 became a White, with most children staying in Boston or Providence, RI.

The fate of others remains out of the record for now. But it is evident that there is likely still a large contingent of Buckner descendants in New England centered around Boston. And it is very likely that when Thuddie arrived in town, he would have had many Buckner cousins potentially helping him make the transition to the New World. This speculation merits investigation in a future post. But we’re not quite done with the Buckners here.

Ann Buckner 5.5

James’ younger sister Ann married George McPherson, a cabinet-maker according to the record, on 18 September 1840 at Saint Nicholas in Aberdeen, just months after her older brother wed there. Like him, she and her husband raised a gaggle of children, including Diana 6.1 in 1841, Thomas 6.2 in 1843, Ewen Ross 6.3 in 1845, and George junior 6.4 in 1848.

It’s clear that between George’s birth and late 1851, this family of 6 emigrated, since we see the next daughter, Barbara 6.5, arrive on 8 September 1851 in Cambridge, MA. This raises the possibility that the Buckners and McPhersons might have traveled together in 1851, after the Census. If so, there’s 12 family members packed on the boat!

The McPhersons continue the line in New England:

• Thomas marries Isabella Bradley and sources indicate 5 children, many of whom stay around North Reading, Middleborough, and Cambridge.
• George marries Katherine Williams and their children stay in Athol, Cambridge, and Belchertown.
• John 6.6 has a son by Eudora Ward who stays in Medford.

Interestingly, the youngest McPherson, Annie 6.8, weds Joseph Appleton Ball in 1880. This family later moves to Radnor, near my home in Philadelphia. All the Ball children seem to stay in Philadelphia or Bryn Mawr — so I may have cousins in town that I never knew about!

Buckner line in New York

We close out the Buckner migration story with Jane Scott Buckner 7.3, the daughter of James 6.2, son of John 5.3. Jane was born in Old Machar on 30 April 1858. She married Hector Rose before or sometime around 1884. The Roses immediately emigrated to New York City, because we see their first child, Hector junior 8.1, born there in May 1885.

Hector senior was a slate roofer, not quite a Granite Man but certainly in the stone trade. We see this referenced in the 1900 Census:

The Roses, their children, and their grand-children seem to stay put in the area around Manhattan. We find branches in Queens, New Jersey and Long Island, with one stray heading down to Florida.

Essons in Massachusetts and beyond

One final line of migration to the Northeast is a relatively small one belonging to the Esson line in the descendancy chart. It’s worth a mention because we find another instance of Granite Men in the New World.

George 6.1 Esson, the son of Margaret 5.1 Cromar and Robert Esson, was a granite polisher born in Logie Coldstone in 1845. He wed Elizabeth Greig in 1872 at Saint Nicholas. We see a lot of action for the Cromar line at this noteworthy church!

We can pinpoint the Esson family migration to between May 1883, the birth of Margaret 7.4, and December 1884, the birth of George 7.5. Thuddie’s journey was hard on their heels in 1891. So, it’s tempting to speculate if these cousins had any relationship in the New World.

A missing father?

A passenger list quite curiously includes mother Elizabeth and children Henrietta Clark 7.1, Elizabeth Greig 7.2, William Gordon 7.3, and Margaret G. 7.4… but no father George!

It was quite common for the head of the household to precede the family, to get things in order for them prior to their migration. This is evidently what’s going on with the Essons.

Quincy

The family appears to have settled in Quincy, to the south of Boston. An entry in the 1881 Census in Scotland indicates George as a granite polisher. There’s reason to believe he is still involved with the trade in the New World, as Quincy is famous for quarries. George junior’s birth record confirms this with an indication of “Polisher” as his father’s occupation in 1885:

On 7 May 1912 at the age of 66, George 6.1 passed away at his residence, 25 Gilmore Street in Quincy. This is just a 40 minute walk away from the world famous quarries. His death record clearly indicates his occupation, as well as the physical toll it takes. Note the cause of death:

The Esson children largely stay in the Boston area, with the exception of George junior moving to Chicago. However, the line becomes quite fragmentary after this. A few grandchildren move on to the Midwest, while others go to Texas. There’s an adoption indicated among this group. And given the marriage patterns, there are probably few left carrying the Esson name.

Cromar descendancy map of the Northeast

With all this activity in the Northeast, it can be hard to discern if there is any pattern of relationship among these cousins. To figure this out, we’ve created — what else? — a map. The focus of this map is the early 1890’s the time that Thuddie arrives, and lasting through the time he leaves, around 1910 .