Two years ago, I posted the following on James1 Tytler, a Scotsman covered in the ODNB, who died in Salem, Mass., 1805. ------------- Neither the DAB nor the ANB has a biography of James Tytler, the "balloonist" and miscellaneous writer, who fled Scotland and his debts in the 1790s, dying at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1805. Both the DNB and the Oxford DNB, however, cover James Tytler's life. http://books.google.com/books?id=3DTcOkAQiS5NMC&pg=3DPA452&dq=3Djanet+rober= tson+tytler&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DX5eoU7eiIMTNsQT-yoDADg&ved=3D0CCsQ6AEwAQ#v= =3Donepage&q=3Djanet%20robertson%20tytler&f=3Dfalse The newer Oxford DNB account indicates that his wife was Elizabeth Rattray, not Young, as given immediately above, and that he had at least two mistresses after splitting with Elizabeth, of whom Jean Aitkenhead was the mother of his twin daughters. The Oxford DNB account apparently draws heavily on James Ferguson's 1972 biography, _Balloon Tytler_--Tytler had the distinction of making the first balloon ascent in Great Britain in 1784 in a balloon of his own construction. The DNB account above is correct in giving his parents as Rev. George Tytler of Fearn or Fern in the presbytery of Brechin, Scotland, by his wife Janet Robertson. The "Stirnet" website, in an account of certain Tytlers, shows the line of descent as: James Tytler of Corsindae (b 1646, d 02.04.1736) m. Jean Middleton (b 1646, d 1727) ----John Tytler of Aberdeen (b 1680, d 23.01.1762) m. Barbara Skene (b 04.07.1676, d 22.11.1723, dau of John Skene of Skene of that ilk) ---------George Tytler (b 1706, d 29.07.1785, minister of Premnay then Fearn) m. (22.10.1734) Janet Robertson (d 21.07.1795) --------------James Tytler (b 17.12.1745, d 1805, chemist, balloonist, 2nd son) I believe this pedigree could be substantially correct, and that it is probably based on a chart found in _Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica_ for circa 1917 (5th series, vol. 2?). Doing a Google search for the phrase "Barbara Skene Tytler" shows that "Barbara, 4th and youngest dau. of John Skene of Skene" occurs in this chart in Misc. Gen. et Heraldica, as does a snippet showing "James Tytler, [ ] balloon and [ ] ... eminent chemist [ ] 17 Dec. 1745 [ ] Salem, Mass., [aged] 60." http://books.google.com/books?id=3Dxl1IAAAAYAAJ&q=3D%22james+tytler%22+sken= e&dq=3D%22james+tytler%22+skene&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3D496pU8DTB8GfqAaPjIGoCA&= ved=3D0CD4Q6AEwBTgK http://books.google.com/books?ei=3D496pU8DTB8GfqAaPjIGoCA&id=3Dxl1IAAAAYAAJ= &dq=3D%22james+tytler%22+skene&focus=3Dsearchwithinvolume&q=3Dsalem _Memorials of the Family of Skene of Skene_ lists Barbara Skene, wife of John Tytler, as a daughter of John Skene of Skene by his wife Jean Burnett: http://books.google.com/books?id=3D7qDNAAAAMAAJ&pg=3DPA39&dq=3D%22john+tytl= er%22+skene&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DiuepU7TtCYyUqAbwo4LABg&ved=3D0CB4Q6AEwAA#v= =3Donepage&q=3D%22john%20tytler%22%20skene&f=3Dfalse _The Family of Burnett of Leys_ lists the parents of Jean Burnett, wife of Skene, as Alexander Burnett (m. to an Arbuthnot), whose mother was Margaret= Douglas, descended from King Robert III [if I'm correct]: http://books.google.com/books?id=3D7L3NAAAAMAAJ&pg=3DPA61&dq=3D%22john+sken= e%22+burnett+leys&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3D7uepU8GgE8qSqAaLiILwCA&ved=3D0CB4Q6AE= wAA#v=3Donepage&q=3D%22john%20skene%22%20burnett%20leys&f=3Dfalse James Tytler and Jean Aitkenhead had American descendants, I believe, one of them being Grace Mann, wife of George Swinnerton Parker, the founder of Parker Brothers games. The diary of William Bentley of Salem, Mass., for 1810 mentions, with other deaths, "William Rhue & wife, d[eath] of their own Child. Jane Tytler, wife of the celebrated James Tytler, d[eath] of her G[rand] Child Rhue." http://books.google.com/books?id=3Du3o_0-lf7R8C&pg=3DPA542&dq=3D%22james+ty= tler%22+salem&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DAJaoU-ePJMfIsATahIKYCA&ved=3D0CCwQ6AEwAA#= v=3Donepage&q=3D%22james%20tytler%22%20salem&f=3Dfalse See also: http://books.google.com/books?id=3DV4MsAAAAYAAJ&pg=3DPA116&dq=3D%22helen+rh= ue%22&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3DWamoU7GeJcmnsQTBo4G4Dw&ved=3D0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=3Donep= age&q=3D%22helen%20rhue%22&f=3Dfalse The following line of descent to Mrs. Grace Parker seems implied by the sources below (Cutter's _Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts_): James Tytler, d. 1805, [? married] Jean/ Jane Aitkenhead Helen Tytler (twin) = William Rhue/ Rue of Salem Susan F. Rhue = James Buffington Mann James William Mann = Eliza Jane McNeil Grace Eliza Mann = George Swinnerton Parker of Salem, founder of "Parker Brothers" http://books.google.com/books?id=3DqaK9Vz1UdDcC&pg=3DPA1464&dq=3Drhue+tytle= r+salem&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3D4JyoU5vtNKTMsQSOvYD4CQ&ved=3D0CCIQ6AEwAQ#v=3Don= epage&q=3Drhue%20tytler%20salem&f=3Dfalse http://books.google.com/books?id=3DOU0k2d8nl3IC&pg=3DPA1461&dq=3D%22james+w= illiam+mann%22+salem&hl=3Den&sa=3DX&ei=3D856oU-LvLuO_sQSu8YH4CA&ved=3D0CDYQ= 6AEwAQ#v=3Donepage&q=3D%22james%20william%20mann%22%20salem&f=3Dfalse ------------- This is still online at http://www.theusenetarchive.com/usenet-message-latin-help-please-26532377.htm ; I can't seem to get the soc.gen.medieval copy to appear. Also, the links in the copy above no longer work. The Tytler family chart in _Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica_, series 5, vol. 2, is now available on Hathi: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101038161426;view=1up;seq=294 The pedigree indeed shows the immigrant's grandmother as "Barbara, 4th and youngest dau. of John Skene of Skene of that Ilk" (who had at least one line from James IV of Scotland). The end of my original posting suggested a descent from Mr. Tytler of Salem to Grace Mann, the wife of George S. Parker, one of the "Parker brothers" of board-game fame. This ancestry seems to be confirmed in the 2003 study of the gaming brothers (Philip E. Orbanes, _The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers, from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit_): "Grace Parker had learned to play the role of a Yankee Gentleman's wife. She stood at George's side when her husband needed her assistance, but was required to walk behind him with the children whenever they strolled the sidewalks of downtown Salem. However, she had become a strong, talented woman who, despite her diminutive height, always stood her ground in arguments with him. She pursued her ambitions of tracing her family's roots through England and Scotland. Eventually, she would succeed in following them back to distant knights in the twelfth century. One ancestor, James Tytler, was the first Englishman [sic] to ascend in a hot-air balloon (1784). Tytler was also a founding editor of the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_. ..." https://books.google.com/books?id=A9IxOrv-R4QC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=%22grace+parker%22+britannica&source=bl&ots=ipJCf_DIlf&sig=IsC10UAuES1ZM96EF2Z2-S3mG04&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR9ryQhuTNAhVFSCYKHT6xANMQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22grace%20parker%22%20britannica&f=false It would be interesting to see her genealogical "studies." It seems distinctly possible that the knights she found were incorrect, while the accurate Tytler line from Scottish royalty went unnoticed.