My grandfather, Alexander Black, who emigrated to America as a boy but did not stay.
Three cousins, two continents. John Black, John Brannan and Bob Corrigan
Alexander Black, my great great grandfather, who emigrated to Michigan in 1883. He returned to Scotland for a visit in 1901 and
appears on the Ellis Island records as a tourist!
Coldingham Priory, Berwickshire. The Priory was sacked by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 after the Battle of Dunbar.
From Coldingham cemetery, the stone erected by the family of (Thomas) Davies Black to commemorate my great great great grandmother Jean Innes. She died in 1857 and Thomas Black
emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1858.
From Ayton Churchyard, the stone erected by Alexander Black in the memory of my great great grandmother Jane Cow(e). She died in 1876. He emigrated with
14 family members in 1883 and settled in Lapeer County, Michigan.
I was born in Kettle, Fife, Scotland in 1940 and raised in Scotland. I attended school and university in Scotland and moved to Portland, Oregon in 1967.
I entered the US on an immigrant visa and was subject to the draft. However, at 27, I was considered too old for service in Vietnam.
I have paid US Federal Income Tax since 1967 though I remain a British citizen and did not have a vote in American elections. I returned to Scotland
in 2000.
I have always known that my grandfather Alexander Black travelled to America with his father John Black and the rest of the family in 1889. They did not
settle and by 1891 they were back in Berwickshire, Scotland.
While I was still in Portland, an aunt in Berwickshire got a letter from a Doug Black of Edmonton, Alberta. Doug was following up on work started
by his cousin, Bob Corrigan of Detroit and was looking for his Scottish ancestors. She put
him in touch with her cousin George Black who was living in London. The pair developed a very effective working relationship. Doug found records in his local
Mormon Family History Center and passed them along to George. George was a geologist and used to developing grand theories from little bits of surface evidence.
I got involved during trips back to Scotland by visiting the Public Records Office in Edinburgh and looking for gravestones in the cemeteries where the
family lived.
A third cousin, John Brannan of Livingston, Scotland then joined the hunt for the American connection.
My great great great grandfather Thomas Davies Black emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1858. His wife, Jean Innes had died in 1857 and he went to join three
of their daughters who had emigrated in 1852.
Two of his sons-in-law, James Brown and David Renton served with the Union forces in the American Civil War as part of the Ohio Infantry.
Thomas Davies Black died in 1875 and is buried in Monroe Cemetery in Cleveland.
In 1883, my great great grandfather, Alexander Black emigrated to Michigan with 14 of his immediate relatives. This was shortly after the death of his
wife Jane Cowe. The family bought farms in Burnside and Goodland Townships in Lapeer County, Michigan.
Alexander Black returned to Scotland in 1901 with his daughter Agnes and they appear in the Ellis Island records on re-entering the US as tourists.
Alexander Black died in 1902 and is buried in Goodland Cemetery in Michigan.
After his death, part of the family including Doug Black's grandfather sold up and moved to Alberta.
After forty years of considering myself an alien in America, it comes as a shock to find that I am more American than most Americans.
My great great great grandfather and great great grandfather were both naturalised American citizens. After five generations, I have blood relatives
spread throughout the United States.
Eich bin ein American!
