Well... I'm not Scottish at all, after all...

[Joshua]

I've hit my wall with Ancestry.com and started doing real legwork.

I emailed a distant cousin and got a response back - found out the full backstory on my father's paternal line... except that he hit the same wall as me. I guess I'm going to have to fly to Maryland and dig in the records, in fact I have two Ancestors from two totally separate lines who must have simply "appeared" in Baltimore around the turn of the 19th century.

But, as it turns out, the Great-Grandmother Urquhart was a Great-great aunt... that "father" actually adopted his brother's children (am assuming he died prior to 1850, the year the children were adopted), and one of those children was my ancestor.

So, my most hardline Scottish ancestor is no more. However, I've still yet to discover anything past the 1800's for my dad's biological paternal line, and my mom's paternal line.

[GG]

Well, if all attempts fail, it is good to know that you don't have to be Scottish to wear a kilt.

[Father Bill]

I'll never know! The cossacks burned the records with the synagogue when my Great Grandfather and his son (my Gran'dad) were thrown out of Lithuania because they were Jews. They settled in the Glenbrasil area of Dublin and made their living going door-to-door selling pictures of the Holy Family. (I want you should buy a picture of some relatives of mine.) I was delighted this year to acquire from E-Bay a mennorrah from Glenbrasil, from about that time period. Who knows!

[Galician]

So, Father, are you going to get a kilt in the rabbinic tartan? Just asking.

[auld argonian]

Ancestry.com is sort of like Wikipedia....you haven't got the whole story just because you read the wikipedia entry about something.

"Just appeared in Baltimore"? Not uncommon, either...do any of us really think that all of our ancestors always trod the path of righteousness and always told the truth? You never know...could just be a screw up in the records or somebody hot-footed it outta Dodge for one reason or another and changed their name when they got to a new town. America: the place where you could re-invent yourself. Lots of instances where people decided to go by their mother's maiden name...has happened in my family. One fella in Denver, who did the bulk of the genealogical research back in the 1930's, took his mother's maiden name instead of his patriarchal...don't know why. The African American side of the family has the surname because they were emancipated slaves and took the surname of their former owner. (It may have been just for convenience but I consider it a high compliment to my indirect 19th Century ancestor...I guess that they held him in high enough regard that they didn't totally reject everything about their association with the family.) See...it's complicated.

It's entirely possible that patience will be your ally here...some things just don't turn up until the time is right; historical facts are often obscured until some new records or letters show up and straightens things out.

Admirable that you are pursuing this with such vigor. Certainly gives you some great excuses to go on some interesting trips to follow up leads. Sometimes the journey is more exciting than the destination.

Consider my case: Eastern European surname, mom is Scots on one side (Ulster Scots at that) and Irish on the other and identifies exclusively with the Irish. Any idea how much BS I get for wearing a kilt now and then? Yet I identify with the Scots because I appreciate what I can only refer to as their value system more than those of my other ancestors...who were great, don't get me wrong, but who seem to have had a different spin on things. Obviously, I'm an American; I will never really be a Scot but it hasn't hurt for me to think of the entepreneurs, inventors, artists, writer, soldiers and philosophers of Scotland as role models. Common for members of a diaspora to use the "founders" of their lines as reference points to guide them through this world.

So it's sort of a state of mind as much as it is a nationality or ethnic classification. I mean, don't get crazy here and start running around yelling "hoot, mon" and "whur's the haggis" or anything but you obviously feel some sort of connection here perhaps with the romantic idea of being descended from Scots (and it may turn out that you'll find that you are) but maybe it's also an admiration for the attributes that have distinguished the Scots throughout history and a desire to identify with those attributes.*

So enjoy the quest...you never know where it'll lead but discovery is always exciting.

Best

AA


*...and I acknowledge that, like everyone else, there have been the odd Scots who turned out to be right basterds...but generally they've contributed more good to the world than bad.

[Joshua]

Ancestry.com is sort of like Wikipedia....you haven't got the whole story just because you read the wikipedia entry about something.

"Just appeared in Baltimore"? Not uncommon, either...do any of us really think that all of our ancestors always trod the path of righteousness and always told the truth? You never know...could just be a screw up in the records or somebody hot-footed it outta Dodge for one reason or another and changed their name when they got to a new town.

Yep - this is the main reason why my next steps involve DNA as well as contacting Maryland genealogists.

America: the place where you could re-invent yourself. Lots of instances where people decided to go by their mother's maiden name...has happened in my family. One fella in Denver, who did the bulk of the genealogical research back in the 1930's, took his mother's maiden name instead of his patriarchal...don't know why.

My Dad (and myself, by extension) carry the maiden name of his mother, as he ended up being adopted by his maternal Uncle. So, same book, different story.

So it's sort of a state of mind as much as it is a nationality or ethnic classification. I mean, don't get crazy here and start running around yelling "hoot, mon" and "whur's the haggis" or anything but you obviously feel some sort of connection here perhaps with the romantic idea of being descended from Scots (and it may turn out that you'll find that you are) but maybe it's also an admiration for the attributes that have distinguished the Scots throughout history and a desire to identify with those attributes.*

Or maybe it's just that I'm in love with Strength Athletics and the Games were my first "taste"...

So enjoy the quest...you never know where it'll lead but discovery is always exciting.

As a man who obviously has been on the same walk, I admire your wise words in this thread. Thanks.

*...and I acknowledge that, like everyone else, there have been the odd Scots who turned out to be right basterds...but generally they've contributed more good to the world than bad.

There's a good book aboot that...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the...e_Modern_World

[Father Bill]

So, Father, are you going to get a kilt in the rabbinic tartan? Just asking.

Actually, I don't think I'd be elegible - I hear that they control that pretty closely.

[MacBean]

I'll never know! The cossacks burned the records with the synagogue when my Great Grandfather and his son (my Gran'dad) were thrown out of Lithuania because they were Jews. They settled in the Glenbrasil area of Dublin and made their living going door-to-door selling pictures of the Holy Family. (I want you should buy a picture of some relatives of mine.) I was delighted this year to acquire from E-Bay a mennorrah from Glenbrasil, from about that time period. Who knows!

Off topic, but I'd be interested in hearing more about Lithuanian Jews being thrown out (one of my sets of great grandparents fit that Bill).

[Father Bill]

Off topic, but I'd be interested in hearing more about Lithuanian Jews being thrown out (one of my sets of great grandparents fit that Bill).

Don't know a lot about it except that it's the history of the family. Watch "Fiddler on the Roof" for the sense of it.

Now, back to your regular show, still in progress!

[Lyle1]

There are numerous histories of Maryland and the early families that lived there. I also remember seeing some good websites relating to Maryland genealogy. Try finding the websites through Google, and try Google Books for your family and histories of early Maryland. Try a regular Google search for a few of your ancestors, too, if you haven't already ("john doe"). It is also quite possible that your family landed in another state, and moved to Maryland. A great many Ulster-Scots landed in Philadelphia, and then went to wherever the pickings looked good. If you find an ancestor's name on an early census in another state, then you can look for more detailed records in that state.

Good luck.