reaching back

I am not a genealogy expert and neither was my father. I remember dad, in his last years, sitting at the dining room table with papers of names, dates and places. He had made posters of charts of time-lines and trees. He was trying to reach back, put the giant puzzle together, only with genealogy you don't have all the pieces. Pieces are always missing. Sometimes you can find the part - sometimes it's lost to the ages. Dad's been gone since 1990 and I've got the puzzle at my house. I've added a few more pieces, some that I've fit into the place in time, but most of the finds only represent more questions.

We have family Bible information from Columbia. The strange thing is that it tells us so little. We can reach back to my great grand father's day - but it's all a cloud beyond that. Pretty much all I had was that my great great grandfather was named Daniel Finlayson (b. 1796) and his wife was Charity Westbrook. It was believed for a time that Daniel was the first of us to sail over from Scotland - but there is no manifest proving it. Dad did secure information that there was a John Finlayson that arrived in Philadelphia, 3rd qtr aboard the ship GEORGE in 1774. His estate was settled in Cumberland Co., NC on November 7, 1807.

Our ancestors starting point in the U.S. was Cumberland County and census records Finlaysons in that area. County lines seemed to shift often in those days and researches have to keep an eye on multiple county census records. I've had to go through records of Cumberland, Robeson, Wayne, and Sampson counties. Ancestors can be a moving target even if they aren't necessarily moving.

Another challenge is distinguishing a Finalyson from a Finlayson. You wouldn't believe how many Johns and Angus' there were. There's actually two Daniels that lived within the same time. It's like trying to find a particular Waldo among a crowd of Waldos. So how does one reach back through the ages and find my John and my Daniel?

Well, yesterday, after all these years I've found a little hope. I caught Glimpse of my great-great-great-great-grandfather stepping off the boat. I believe is John Finlayson that my father saw. Yesterday I ran across and old Genforum post (2002 by Nancy Grogan) that I don't recall ever seeing. Sometimes I overlook material because I get lost amid all the pieces. Sometimes I quit for a long period of time so that I can perhaps look at the past a little clearer. Well, there it was - John Finlayson came over in 1774. Departure from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He was 23 years of age and his occupation was listed as a Wright (this makes sense because Finlayson's always think they are wright).

Through this post I think the connection was made. JOHN Finlayson had only one child, Angus who was born about 1780. ANGUS had four sons - John (b. abt. 1809), Angus (b.1810), DANIEL and Alexander. The poster had no birth year for this Daniel - but my great-great-grandfather, my Daniel was born in 1796. I am sure these Daniels are one and the same. I know that there is a fourteen year difference between birth years, but the template fits. This is a precious find for me - and it had been waiting for me to find it since Nancy Grogan's post back in 2002. This question that started me on my quest years ago was the connection between John and Daniel. We felt sure that they were related, but never could connect the dots.

I'd like for all my siblings to have this information: That John Finlayson is more than likely their great-great-great-great grandfather. Dad's records stated that our clan came from the Inverness (Scotland) area. I found mention that John's family came from the Isle of Skye which is 124 miles from Inverness.

Gina and I have had a long time dream of going to Scotland one day. It would be nice to go there and pick up some more puzzle pieces.