Hi William, thank you for the information on John Douglas. Yes the John I'm speaking of married a native american woman and was on that ship and the records from my Great grandfather show him as a being a young lad that was supposed to be going to England. Somehow he ended up coming to America. Do you have more information on him before his trip to America? We have been on Ancesorty.com and seem to have built a tree leading all the way back to William 1. My great grandfather was William Willis Douglas, and my Grandfather Willis Granville Douglas

i would love to find out more about my family  my branch of the douglas family came from rotherham yorks my side of family ended up in lincoln because my grandfather and his brothers came to get work in the foundarys and i really know no more .    

My dad and I (along with some people on The Douglas Clan FB Group) are actively trying to piece everything together. My dad was able to do some more digging this past week and found out that one of my ancestors was actually in The War of 1812....which is pretty cool. Still trying to find that Douglass who crossed the Big Blue.

Good Afternoon William

As you will be aware the Douglas(s) were very fond of Border raiding and removing anything from England that could be herded or carried they were also not very fond of the English . At some point they occupied an area in England from Upper Weardale down to the coast at Hartlepool and north back up to Scotland. In Northumberland they had stiff opposition in the form of the the Duke of Northumberland and his merry band . In County Durham however they were up against the Balliols who try as they might could not get them out of upper Weardale  from were the Douglas's  harried and plundered the surrounding areas. There was a notable battle at Stanhope which almost resulted in the English King being caught and disposed of. (King  Edward  (Longshanks )) . My ancesters are stem from that time & Place the first record I can find is of John Dowglasse ( Douglass) who was born in Durham in 1595 In the Parish of St Oswalds, Durham City. By coincidence my own father was born and baptised in the same church in 1920. and I can trace my tree back to 1595. 

If I knew more about it and the ties the Douglass's have within I would find a way to write even just a little bit about it, but, alas, I don't. :p That's a great idea though.

Ref to the comment of the family line Hess Douglas. My great great grandfather married a Hess out of Germany, and he gave that as a middle sure name to my great grandfather Charlie Hess Douglas -That is all I know. I am still trying to get more info out of my father.

Kudos to you, William, for all your work on this!  I definitely wish to attend - wish I'd known about the 2009 gathering - thoroughly excited about this - yes, prices may be high, but why would we elect to miss the spectacle?!? 

SUGGESTION - can we get a hotel to set aside some rooms - those of us who are serious could then start booking now - not when it's too late!  Our motto is to be 'never behind' - correct?

Hi William Thank you for your message, yes I have run out of steam at present short of  a miracle I am stumped, do you have any suggestions where I can Look.Monica has been a wonderfull help she deserves a medal

Thanks William - I am the great great grandson of the Hon. Samuel Townsend Douglas (b. 1814 to Benjamin-6, Daniel-5, Robert-4, Thomas-3, Robert-2, Deacon William-1) of the Michigan Douglas line (Grosse Isle). Looking at the Douglas Archives website, my line doesn't even make it past Benjamin-6. How do we go about adding information?

Also - are you still looking for funds for your search to determine Deacon Williams lineage? Or have we resolved that? I would love to contribute to the effort - very interesting stuff! 

Hi William,

Thanks for the reply - I attach (hopefully) my family tree which shows how I go back to Deacon William of 1610. Not sure if that is helpful for filling in some of the blanks (I have some blanks to fill in myself!), but if that is the best way to expand my line in this database, than that would be great! If you need more info, let me know.

I'm off to London next week to attend the Olympics with my English wife and our three adopted brothers from Ukraine.

Cheers,

Dave

DOUGLAS%20FAMILY%20TREE.pdf

Dave%20Dannemillers%20Douglas%20History.pdf

p.s. is this you?

I274887

Hello William,

Seems to be lots of folks with that name as you know. lol  My William was born about 1834 in Eldrid Township, Jefferson County, Pa. I have lots of info on him and his family after 1870, they were living in Erie City, Pa at the time. They moved to Iowa, then to Kansas where he died in 1924. He married Ada Wright and they had 3 children Edith, Earl & Elward. I have no idea who his parents were, I think his father had the same name as I have found census records from Jefferson County. They show the family as Free Persons of Color with 6-10 persons living in the household depending on the year. I have also found bits of info on him in several books that have been printed regarding black, colored, negro etc. inventors, but nothing about his parents or siblings. His early life is my brick wall.

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

Be Blessed

L.K.

hi william,

                 no sir the only thing that i know are the stories my grandfather told me

about  james douglas and the douglas,s  be heading the englishmen that had taken thier home  while he was away . i was also told stories that our ancestors would kill the english men and thier horses no questions asked and that people were affraid to fight us . it was our job to protect scotland from the invading english while william the bruce fought in the northern part of the country , again this is just what i have been told over the years from my grandparents they also said we had two castles about 1 mile apart in  scotland, i am inclined to believe that i might be one of the last black douglas,s

Hello all, thanks so much for this website. I was born in Canada  - as I track my roots - my father and grandfather and I guess their ancestors were born in Jamaica. I've been told that my family is from Douglas Castle in Jamaica. William 'Captain' Douglas went to Jamaica and i'm a Douglas from that branch. I would love to trace my relation to Captain and I would love to know about where Captain came from and/or about his family. I would love to know more about my Scottish roots.  

Hi William,

I've left a comment for Julie Bryce as I see she was interested in the Cockpen bunch. What I've found is several generations associated with Dalhousie, with baptisms recorded variously in Cockpen, Newbattle and Carrington.

It's unfortunate that the Cockpen register only starts from 1690 for births, considerably later for marriages, but that's life. I see that a suggestion was made on the parentage of William Duglass (who married Janet Witherspoon) but don't know that source that comes from. I'll post some details of what I have - where? On my own comment wall maybe?

Thanks for the site!

Jenny

William:

I am a bit fuzzy on the dates for Hugh Douglas and Katherine Hume.  Hugh was born about 1700 and I assume Katherine a bit later.  I am related through their daughter Elizabeth, who married Robert Neilson.

Thanks for your help with the Douglas family.

Carl

William:

Forgot to mention that Hugh and Katherine lived in Ayrshire, Scotland.  Their son William named his estates in Fairfax County, now Loudoun County, Virginia, Garrallan and Montressor (or variations thereof).  These lands are located near the town of Leesburg, Virginia.

Carl

Hi William

Thank you so much for your prompt reply - I have become frustrated with my search on ancestry.com so was pleased to find this site by google search!  The information that I posted in my profile was gained from a publication which follows the history of James Crawford Douglas and his descendants in Australia and also his brother John "Douglas A Family History 1843-1981" published in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia in 1981.  The reference to the Douglas Homestead is a description of a photo in that book ... but I agree homestead is very much an Australian maybe even American description.

According to my research James Douglas and Elizabeth Douglas nee Crawford had  children Mary Ann b1834, Margaret b1838, John b 1840, James b1842, Jane 1845 and Alexander 1851. Ancestory.com has a record Griffith’s Valuation, 1848-1864 Record for James Douglas listing him with 65and 66

I had stumbled across the same census that you had and can offer the following explanation Alexander is James' Son and is listed as head of house - his wife Essie is listed as the last listing and their Children are in between - the Johnston's live next door and have obviously been long term neighbours as they were also listed in the Griffith's valuation record I mentioned earlier - it would appear that James, wife Elizabeth Crawford's family also lived nearby.

There is a distinct possibility that James was not born in Ballyhay - I am relying on other family trees on ancestory.com  and have not been able to track down a birth certificate as yet ... so the search for his ancestors is a bit tricky ... I am hoping that someone see's this post and can assist.  

Thanks again

Cheers

Ann-Maree

sorry William that should have read 65 and 66 Ballyhay

Hello William,

My maiden name was Morton and my father's family had already traced their family back to coming over with William the Conqueror.All the history was kept in a lovely leather bound book.In the early 70s all I remember from the book was that we were related to James Douglas 4th Earl of Morton and that he'd been beheaded. Armed with that bit of information my now husband and myself travelled up to Edinburgh and went in search of anything to do with James.We went to see the Maiden, went round the castle and Holyrood,we also visited Drochil Castle and took photos. In 1979 my parents divorced and I haven't seen my father or any of his family since. I got married in 1977 and became a Luff, since then all my researching has been on my mothers' family history.I now think  that I would like to learn a bit more about my fathers ancestors although I've now got nothing to go on.

                                           Sonia Luff

Hello William

Our Irish family:

Moses Douglas born 1740's (exact date not yet known), probably in the Lurgan, Armagh area. Married Catherie Marsden of Kinnegoe (Kinnigo), daughter of Robert Marsden of Kinngo, 24 April 1768. Date of death for both unknown.

Their children are as follows:

William Douglas (my ancestor): 1771 - 1860 , Kinnigoe, nr. Lurgan

John Douglas: 1773 - 1779

Mary Douglas: 1775 - ?

Henry Douglas: 1777 - 1852

John Douglas: 1779 - ?

Thomas Douglas: 1781 - ?

Margaret Douglas: 1785 - ? : May have married Thomas Corner 23 August 1813, 

Robert Douglas: 1788 - 1867

Moses Douglas: 1791 - 1873

Hillary Douglas: 1793 - 1849

THE FAMILIES OF THESE SIBLINGS:

Henry Douglas of 1777 married Mary McCabe and lived in Lurgan

• Jane Douglas: 1807 - 1827
• Catherine Douglas: 1810 - 1857
• Sarah Douglas: 1813 - 1878
• Mary Douglas: 1815 - 1877
• Moses Douglas: 1817 - 1878
• William Douglas: 1817 - 1842
• Edward Douglas: 1818- 1845
• Henry Douglas: 1821 - 1859
• John Douglas: 1824 - ?
• Ellen Douglas: 1827 - 1828

John Douglas: unknown if married etc

Thomas Douglas: unknown if married etc

Robert Douglas of Kinnego (per headstone in Old Shankill cemetry, Lurgan:

• married Mary (last name unknown) she died 1868
• Mary Douglas (dates unknown)
• John Douglas (1812 - 1878)
• Nathaniel Douglas ( 1815 - 1872)
• Jane Douglas (1825 - ? )
• Sarah Douglas ( 1831 - 1841)

Moses Douglas of Kinnegoe (Per headstone, Old Shankill Cemetry, Lurgan)

• Married Elizabeth (Eliza) dates and last name unknown
• James Douglas (dates unknown, married Hannah Graham who died young)
• Eleanor Jane Douglas (1824 - ?)
• Catherine Douglas (1826 - 1847)
• John Douglas ( 1826 - ? )
• Thomas Douglas ( 1829 - 1903) Married Jane Eleanor Cotter, had 7 known children, one of whom was Moses Douglas who married Jeannie Allen also of Lurgan.
• Mary DOuglas ( 1831 - ? )

Hillary Douglas of Kinnegoe (per headstone some place)

• Married Mary ( last name unknown: 1797 - 1880)
• Unknown Douglas
• Catherine Douglas
• Harriett Douglas
• Susannah Douglas
• Unknown female Douglas
• Isabella Douglas ( 1821 - 1897)
• Margaret Douglas (1822- 1880)
• Harriet Douglas (2nd one: 1831 - 1905), married Macoun of Kinnego
• Hillary Douglas ( 1831 - 1915) The inheritor of the Douglas lands in Kinnego, died unmarried and left the farms to his grand nephew Henry Anderson
• Moses Douglas (Rev., 1834 - 1913)
• Henry Douglas ( 1835 - 1921)

Haven't included the family of William 1771, as we are his line and have what we need. However, if you need that info can share.

Most of the early recoreds we found in the Shankill Parish records, so believe more clues to our family are in there. I do have more details on the families listed above, but would take a lot to type that out. All these families, for the most part stayed in Lurgan area (Armagh) and then the lines begin to dissapear, partly because male lines die out here and there and also because I have not been able to trace where other lines went to as the generations passed.

Let me know what more you could use. Wuld love to connect with anyone who has Douglas roots to Lurgan and who may relate to us  :o) (We are not the Grace Hall Douglas family).

1921

Hi William, I should add that Hillary in my Douglas line is a name given to males of the family. (Only know of one female Hillary and that is in another Douglas line descended from John Douglas of 1789, Lurgan ... a likely cousin of our William of 1771. We believe that his father was our Moses's brother, yet to be identified).

Jenni

my douglas ancestors the direct line.. sisters and siblings not directly in path please ask about and i will see what i can find..  

william's parents and his birth place are in dispute hoping to resolve this thru dna any one have ideas: 

William Douglas, I  born 

August 9, 1610  Ringstead, Northamptonshire, UK died

July 25, 1682 (71)  New London, New London, CT,  son  William Douglas, II born  April 1, 1645  Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, Usa  died  : March 19, 1724 (78)  New London, Connecticut, United States son  RICHARD4 DOUGLAS July 19, 1682 in New London, CT, and died February 26, 1733/34 son  William Douglas, Capt., Deacon (iii?)  Place of Burial: Ancient Cemetery, New London, New London, CT, USA Birth: January 1, 1708  New London, New London, CT Death: November 13, 1787 (79)  New London, New London, CT, USA son william iv Birth: February 2, 1731  New London, New London, CT Death: October 1, 1805 (74)  New London, New London, CT, USA son william v Birth: September 29, 1753  New London, CT, USA Death: September 17, 1822 (68)  Richmond, Chittenden, Vermont, United States son samuel douglas sr 1783 burlington vt  Death: 1870 (87)  douglas landing (or lousivlle) ny  son samuel douglas jr  1822 louisville ny  Death: 1897 (75)  St Lawrence, NY, USA son  Henry B Douglas 1870 st lawrence ny 1934 st lawrence ny his daugther  Marion LaPoint (Douglas) 1896 st lawrence ny 1992 st lawrence ny her son donald lapoint 1927 malone ny 2012 march 3 (RIP GRANDPA!)  burlington vt his daugther michelle ann lapoint  me..

Actually, this is how far I can go back on my genealogy:

Thank you for the kind welcome.   I am looking over the site and I have some comments to make for sure.

Yes..of Scotland.  My sister found our connection through Hopkins and Beggs.  I'm still fresh in all this but she stumbled upon our connection in her research.  It's very interesting to read all the stories.

Hi

I have tried to go back further

I am stuck at James Douglass born about  1730-1733 based on apprenticeship in 1747.

I have checked more records in England and Scotland, but there is nothing to tie any baptism to my James.

Assuming that the family myth is correct that we originate in Scotland then the best bet might be to trawl wills in the hope of establishing a connection. Ideas gratefully received. Bob

Hi William

Thanks for your welcome.

In answer to your question, my family still live in Scotland but I moved to France some 12 years ago and work here as a Translator (legal, technical documents, etc.).

My geneological research efforts are a bit sporadic but if anyone has any information about my great-grandfather (John Douglas), who left Rothesay about 1874 and reappeared ((age 41) in 1900, it would be welcome. I know he was in the USA (possibly Boston) and worked as an "engine fitter", but did he have a family there before starting our own back in Scotland?

The rest of my reasearches regarding his parents, siblings, etc., have all been reasonably straightforward with all the commonly used Scottish Douglas male forenames (William, James, John, Walter, Archibald) regularly cropping up, but the "lost" 26 years intrigue me.

Regards John Douglas

Thank you William!
I can see this is a very interesting site :) Looking forward to read here.

best regards Kåre

Thank you for the welcome, William!

I'm still working on my Breckenridge line, but my earliest known ancestor is John Breckenridge b. 1639 in Breadalbane, Scotland.

It's my understanding (and I'm very new to Scottish/Scotch Irish genealogy) from reading the "Septs of Clan Douglas" (Clan Douglas Society of North America) that this family is considered one of the Douglas Septs. It is my hope to further my research and find the exact connection to the clan.

Thank you for the welcome, William.  I will defintiely look into the Drysdale group.

William, incredulous as it sounds, I have reasons to believe it is true, or at least close to true, that John L. Drysdale lived to the age of 126. you will not find him on anyone's list, however.  I have tried, and am now wondering why not. 

In fact, this man is the very reason, if truth be known, that I have joined this clan group.  Although not a Drysdale by blood - in fact, it is my EX husband who carries that name, I have been researching family history/genealogy for our daughter for 5 years now, and this old fellow, John L. Drysdale, my daughter's 3rd great grandfather, is my dead-end as well as the greatest enigma in a family tree that now encompasses over 7,000 individuals.

My daughter, who always identified with the Irish side (from my Chicago-based O'Brien family), had no idea, until doing a high schol research project on the various "Celtic" influences in early American history and thus attending her first Highland Games festival in Jacksonville, FL, that the Drysdales were a sept of Clan Douglas.  So I am hoping that someone here may be able to send me off in the right direction. 

As for old John, I know when he died (1922) and where (and will be visiting West Virginia at the end of Feb to check out some things), and our US census documents for 1900, 1910 and 1920 all consistently identify his age.  Typically, according to those who reserach and validate other supercentenarians, when one is fabricating dates or is unsure, those dates change frequently.  That is not the case with our Drysdale progenitor.  He was very "sharp" until the end of his life, walking daily and swimming regularly, paying attenton to news and politics and taking pride in voting, even though he was in his 70s when he emigrated from Canada to the US.  He is one of those "not unheard of" extreme elderly to have had his eyesight restore itself and to have "cut a third set of teeth" - in his case around the age of 100.  I have also learned that the tendency to cut these "supernumerary" teeth is hereditary, as is the tendency towards extreme longevity.  So I am hoping these bioological facts may also help someone identify possible connections to Mr. Drysdale's origins in the Galloway area circa 1796. 

Supposedly, too, he ran away at age 7, stowed aborad ship and arrived in New York (abt 1804-05).  He was, of course, sent "home," but I don't know where that is.  He married at age 15 (circa 1811), had a son (name unknown), and he buried his first wife (also unknown) in Scotland when he was 16 years old.  He then "went to sea for 35 years."

I am wondering if the phrase "did duty for 20 years" implies he was a seaman in the Royal Navy and then continued as a mercahnt sailor for another 15 years? Apparently he participated in a whaling voyage to Greenland and was a member of Capt. Sir John Franklin's second (mostly overland) expedition to explore and chart the Arctic Coast of Canada and hopefully (finally) find the Northwest Passage.  That would have been 1825-27, so I have to assume he would have done so as an able-bodied seaman, though this could be an erroneous assumption on my part.  His name does not appear in Franklin's own published account of this journey (a best-seller in 1828), but then, as an "ordinary" seaman, the officers and "gentlemen" greatly discounted the personhood of those who helped keep them alive. 

I am trying to locate a mustert list for this expedition.  Much is known about Franklin's tragic final "lost" journey in 1845.  I have seen those lists and John Drysdale is not among them.  Not that it would have made any sense for him to have been there anyway, unless he walked out of the Arctic alone and never revealed his story to anyone.

So I have MUCH to verify in my search for old Mr. Drysdale.  His life is intriguiing, and he is the key to my daughter's connectig back to her origianl Scottish ancestors.  When she visited Scotland 6 years ago, she suddently realized that he

Sorry. I guess I got boxed out of that lengthy comment below.  Suffice it to say, my daughter learned that she obviously sports far more "Scottish heritage" in her genetic markers than she ever did from my Irish clan.  She is very proud of this, too.  And since she will deliver her first child this spring, I am doubly interested in pushing this research forward.

I welcome any comments, suggestions, or companions on this journey.

Best wishes to all,

Kate

I guess I should also repost this to the Drysdale group.

Thanks for adding me

I have little info to go on as I was adopted.....i will have to obtain more info first re birth/marriage certs

at the moment my only knowledge of oldest family member is my grandfather. William Lynn Douglass born oct 18, 1929 in san francisco CA. His fathers name was frank douglass. i have a family member i can get ahold of for more information, but at the moment that as far as i know but i definetly will be looking into it.

That website is for another researcher but also ends with Alexander and Margaret.  I also found a 3rd cousin that also cannot get past the Alexander and Margaret.  Anything you can help with would be great.  I you want the files I have let me know.  I think they are in my profile or blog.

Thank you for the information that has been very helpful , and thank you for allowing me to become a member .  Yes you are correct, it is the Douglas family from Dunbarton. and the link I am looking for is Archibald Douglas Bryce's Grandfather Archibald Douglas and his sister Janet Douglas. Who were their parents, did he have a title, where did they live?

Janet Douglas married Robert Hay on 1 Aug 1764 in New Kilpatrick Dunbarton. Does anyone know how he was ???

hi, william.Thanks for accepting me.My family Tree Links to James Douglas of Scotland.I have a brother named Robert and my son's name is Arthur.Family names here in Fiji is linked to most of the douglas names in scotland.my grandfathers name is Edward Douglas and my greatgranfathers name is charles rudolf douglas and my greatgrandmother is lilian edith Mcconell.I would also be very glad to know if i have families linked to me who lives overseas.Looking foward to know more of my family tree/geneology if i am linked to any of the douglas families because i was born here in fiji with family bonds overseas and would be greatful to meet families online...

Thomas Douglass New Fairfeild Conn. Born around 1750 son Ebenezer

Hi William thanks for accepting me and for the link. I have recently posted on rootschat so hoping someone can help me out there. Started working backwards and mapping the whole Douglas line from William Douglas, Lord of Douglas to hopefully make the connection. May take a while though.

Hi William Douglas,

 Well I have the DNA results! They are posted kit # 241410 an I2b1 Haplogroup. Please look at it... I know very little about DNA. Can you tell from this if I have "Black Douglas Blood" in me?

Douglas Sean Roe

I have absolutely no idea who I belong to clan / line wise but have always wondered and want to know more of my bloodline as I am one of the last Douglas left in my family

steve