> From: "Aileen Foulis" <[email protected]> > Reply-To: [email protected] > Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 20:36:00 +0100 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ORKNEY] Parents!- who'd have 'em? > Resent-From: [email protected] > Resent-Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 12:36:42 -0700 > > Anyone want a father, going cheap due to his unreliable memory?:-) > > Mine has just wrecked my tenderly nurtured baby family tree by suddenly > remembering all sorts of things. > Like about six generations' worth of names, dates and places which don't > exactly follow his vague mentions of yesteryear, including a misnamed > grandparent (his, not mine) that has totally ruined several guestimates... > > Shouldn't complain - he did, after all, remember. Now all I have to do is > start hunting down Shearers, more Harcus's, track down Orphir, Kirkwall, > Flotta and Holm parish records....and buy more little cards to write > unattached details on... and... > > ---Aileen > > > ==== ORKNEY Mailing List ==== > Maybe this should be an object lesson for everyone to get as much information as possible while our elders are still around (and functioning!). Although my grandfather was proud of his heritage, he was not a terribly talkative person, and by the time it occurred to me to get our family's story straight, I had to rely on my grandma's version of it. . . Of course, even though she wrote it out (and it seems to be a couple dozen pages of stream-of-thought-type rambling), it isn't as helpful as it could have been, if someone had bothered to do this while granddad or great-granddad were still here to really fill in the blanks. At this point, I've been able to clear up some of her errors about my ggrandfather's origins, though I'm too ignorant to know how to proceed from here. Have been lurking on the Johnston and Orkney boards for a while, and am usually entertained by others' tales, but disappointed that no one so far has come close to mentioning anyone remotely related or from the same part of the country. Perhaps if I lay out what I know, someone will volunteer something useful: James Petrie JOHNSTON born May 5, 1864 parents: William JOHNSTON and Mary CAMPBELL residing on WALLS, Orkney Since my gf always said he'd come from HOY, I find it difficult to go back any farther; there are numerous Mary Campbells, and at least four William Johnstons listed from the general time period and on these islands. James P. JOHNSTON told of two brothers--both sailors; one apparently earned his living in the area as a seaman, the other went to Australia, where he owned a steamship line. Also mentioned a sister, but I have no names for any of the siblings, and my ggf lost contact with his family over time. As the farming/fishing life was harsh, he told how he also joined up as a sailor to find "greener pastures" (?!), and wound up in Chicago on May 11, 1888 (yes, I know I ought to be able to track the ship down). He and a shipmate wandered off to Iowa, where he married Eunice Hess of Hitesville, farmed a while, owned a creamery, and had 11 children. He was also a master mason. Since he died before I was born, I only had my grandfather's watered-down tales and speech patterns to relate to, and I suppose the strength of my Johnston traits and mannerisms account for identifying more with this part of my family than any other (there seem to be Johnston looks that no amount of additional gene pooling can counteract!). Not sure what it is I hope to accomplish by going back in time, but I suppose I can blame it on my reluctance to settle into mundane American mutthood. . . perhaps that's everyone's motivation in getting into their family trees--to feel part of something bigger and more important than our daily existence, as well as explaining the origin of many family oddities and customs. On the remote chance that someone might have something to flesh out this family (or even more remotely, wants to know who came after!), I'll thank you in advance. And go back to lurking. ;-) Jeanne Johnston Evans FL