Folks, Recieved a note from Peter Whitlock <whitlock@cape.com> on 4 Dec 1999 (note enclosed at end of this note), and wanted to share his findings with the members of the list. Peter, I think your conclusions about your family's origins from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland are correct. Good detective work ! Don't forget to search the fulton-l list archives for Paisley. Bernard Butcher and Ken Mitchell from England have provided a lot of details about the Fultons in that area. Some of the interesting items are as follows: a) Fultons in the Paisley area in the 1200s b) Humphrey Fulton and his two sons established silk manufacturing in Paisley in the 1700s c) Paisley was a centre for the cotton industry, because the damp climate made the spinning process easier and because it was near to the port -- convenient for importing the raw materials and exporting the finished products. The Paisley print motif came from there. d) So many members of the Fulton family lived in Pailsey in the 19th Century that one Fulton historian remarked, “If you stand on any street and throw a rock, you would surely hit a Fulton.” e) Robert Fulton was age 33, born in Paisley, County of Renfrow [sic], Scotland. He sailed form Grunock [sic], Scotland on 10 Oct 1830 and arrived in Savanna, Ga 26 Nov 1830. He had resided in Ga ever since arrival and was a weaver by profession. Archibald Fulton arrived about the same time. f) John Fulton of Auchinbathie, a cadet form the old Grangehill family, was a staunch Jacobite. He acquired much wealth in contraband trade, which were transported inland on horseback, owing to the bad state of the roads; As he smuggled goods, he was shot in 1748, at the Shawswood on his journey to Edinburgh, with a great retinue of horses, carrying 'a cargo of smuggled guids, brandie, tea, tobacco, and silks'. His remains rest in the churchyard of Lochwinnoch with the bones of his forefathers." g) Fulton & Sons, Gauze Weavers, at 9, Watling Street, London, England. In 1789 and in 1795 the firm is shown as William, Robert & Henry Fulton, Gauze Weavers, at the same address. These are descendants of the Humphrey Fulton in Paisley. In 1789, Robert Fulton of steamboat fame wrote to his mom in PA and asked her to send mail to him at Henry Fulton's address at 9 Watling St, London. Roberta R. (Fulton) Hirth Harriman, New York 10926 FULTON web page at: http://www.frontiernet.net/~elisa96/hirth/fulton.htm *********************************************************************** Peter Whitlock <whitlock@cape.com> wrote: Hi Roberta, Thank you for the reply, and the links that came with it. Your questions spurred me on to doing a little more digging of my own. You asked: >You state that (Annie FULTON, 1843-1916, m. 1875 to Peter LEITCH, >1843-1888, ship's officer; their daughter Margaret Fulton LEITCH >(Whitlock) was your great-grandmother) and that Annie Fulton's parents >were Robert FULTON (no dates available) and Jane HAMILTON. Where was the family you described located and do you know their migration paths? A note I have that was collected by my grandfather says that the Robert FULTON I wrote you about was "manager of Coats (Thread) Mill," but a different note by a different relative connecting him with the same mill refers to it as "Coats mill, paisley" - meaning, I assume, paisley shawls. Unfortunately, I have no information on where this mill was. Margaret Fulton LEITCH (1880-1968), my g-grandmother, met my g-grandfather, Herbert Ashby WHITLOCK of Nebraska (1879-1961) near Glasgow, Scotland, where some of her family lived. They left for India together as Presbyterian missionaries, and married in Bombay in 1907. Margaret's family raised my grandfather and his brother through their high school years, while their parents remained in India. Margaret and Herbert moved to midwestern U.S. somewhere around World War II?, and later retired to California. Aha! I just now looked up "Coats Mill Paisley" on the web and found that the Coats Mills of Paisley, Scotland included a thread mill among other textile mills. The following quote comes from a web page about Thomas Coats (1809-1883): "Within the family firm, J & P Coats (his two elder brothers), he was a key figure in the expansion of the company not just in Paisley where it had been founded in 1828, but also in Europe and in North and South America. By 1910 around 10,000 people worked in the thread mills in Paisley..." (http://www.fenet.net/coats/hist.htm). Hmm, so perhaps that suggests he worked in Paisley, Scotland, or perhaps not. Wow! I searched the LDS Church (http://www.familysearch.org) records for a marriage record between Robert FULTON and Jane HAMILTON in Scotland, and found the following: " Robert FULTON Sex: M Marriage(s): Spouse: Jean HAMILTON Marriage: 18 Jul 1828 Abbey, Renfrew, Scotland" A second record gives the same names and date but changes "Abbey" to "Paisley." After the two record links, come several surname page links, but none actually seem to connect to this marriage. I have had mixed luck finding other relatives through familysearch.org so I know that this could be a different couple than the one I am seeking. Also, I think that 15 years between marriage and the birth of Annie might be a tiny bit much. Unfortunately, another familysearch check reveals that depending on this sort of information can be tricky: ANNIE FULTON Sex: F Event(s): Birth: 13 Jul 1843 East Kilbride, Lanark, Scotland Parents: Father: ROBERT FULTON Mother: MARGARET HUNTER Another Annie FULTON was born in Paisley, Scotland 1853 of William FULTON and Jane HOUSTON. Both of these two Annie's are probably red herrings. It appears the names Robert, Jane, and Annie FULTON were commonplace during the 1800's in Scotland. Here, however, is a familysearch record for Annie's marriage to Peter LEITCH: Annie FULTON Sex: F Marriage(s): Spouse: Peter LEITCH Marriage: 28 Jan 1875 Abbey (paisley), Renfrew, Scotland That is a perfect match for names and year with what my grandfather recorded, and it suggests that "Abbey" and "Paisley" are synonomous. And so my tentative hypothesis to answer your question is that all of the family I mentioned (Robert FULTON, Jane HAMILTON, and Annie FULTON) lived in or around Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland. The first family member to emigrate from Scotland was probably Margaret LEITCH. What do you think of my conclusions? I probably wouldn't have gotten here this quickly had you not asked. Thanks again. Best wishes & regards, Peter Whitlock