A TREE GROWS IN SCOTLAND AND IN
AMERICA
by W. Homer Teesdale, 1970.
(This is an account of the Teesdale Family of Larkhall, Lanarkshire, Scotland as written by the late W. Homer Teesdale of Bakersfield, California. The work was provided by the authors great nephew, Robert Teesdale of Illinois and has been reproduced and published to the internet in the interest of further identifying or locating members of our branch of the Teesdale family. If you find that you have a connection, please send us an email at Scottish-Teesdales@yahoogroups.com )
<THIS WORK IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION>
THE FORMATTING OF THE ESSAY IS NOT YET COMPLETE - PROOFREADING STILL TO BE DONE
PREFACE
The purpose in writing the pages that follow is to present briefly and clearly the story of a family at first living "in the old country, " then struggling in an extended period of adjustment, and finally emerging to bear fruit of distinctive character in communities far enough separated to permit individual differences of ambitions, choices, and efforts.
To enjoy the account the reader may need an abundance of time, patience, and charity. The narrative does not always proceed with perfect sequence. The recital of some incident may reappear with the hope of improving its setting or of emphasizing its value to the total story.
The writer has been under a continuous obligation of self-restraint with an unrelenting demand for the exercise of discriminating judgment. The reader will likely find areas where expected restraint and deliberate judgment do not appear in full measure., It has been difficult at times to avoid even a slight appearance of sitting smugly in the panel of the judge. My pattern of work is to present the essential facts without distortion or discoloration even though some detail be distasteful.
A few branches of THE TREE have been presented, some in bud, others in fragrant flower, still others in full fruit, and a few removed by death. Much remains to be told. The story is but on a threshold. Great vistas of fact, of beauty, of inspiration lie beyond in the realm of the unexplored and the unconquered. The pioneers have blazed a few trails to success. Vast areas of achievement remain to be occupied and developed.
THE PAST IS PROLOGUE. Of no series of events connected with a family could the statement be truer.
by W. Homer Teesdale, 1970.
When a child I heard men working on my father’s farm ask him if he ever thought of returning for a visit "to the old country. " He did not hesitate to say he would like to see his old home but his interests were built in and about life as he had learned to know it in America. As a matter of fact, he was but six years old when he left Liverpool from Glasgow with his father Hugh, Sr. and older brother Thomas (b. Sept. 9, 1833), and an older sister Agnes (b. Sept. 2, 1837). He had lost his mother by death, May 14, 1847. He was at the time of the move to America (1849) a little too young to remember with great attachment the homeland. A half century of hard work and economy establishing a home and rearing a family in the new world had consumed much of his thought and energy. The reference to "the old country" was to mean more to me later, especially after visiting places mentioned by my father occasionally in my childhood.
For Papa, as we affectionately knew him, there could scarcely have been a normal childhood. In the new home in America he must have been the errand boy for his older sister who was expected to assume many duties performed by a mother. Like most children in strange circumstances his adjustments were probably made more rapidly than were those of the older members of the family.
Having a loyal Scot as his father and accepting the proverbial economies of the land of Bobbie Burns, it was not long before he was in a small business of his own, raising watermelons for a limited market, in time investing his savings in a calf that grew into money and later at 24 years of age buying (Mar. 14, 1867) for $10, 000 with his brother, a farm of 320acres of rich Illinois land up "on the prairie, " about ten miles from the first home that was near the big river, the Mississippi.
In eight years the brothers had outgrown their partnership and Thomas, the older brother, sold (Jan. 27, 1875) his share and moved with his wife, Mary Stewart, he had married in 1869, to Iowa. But here we must leave these prospering Scots for a long look at the family back in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and at the community itself.
It was my pleasure in 1939 on the return trip to London from Glasgow, Larkhall, Dalserf, and Edinburgh, to stop at Durham, an important cathedral city, and travel south by local train to Middleton-in-Teesdale. As I stepped off the train I saw the Tees River that had given its name to the dale or valley. It was a shallow stream and appeared to be about fifty feet wide. Its depth could have been deceptive but it looked like a wade-able stream for a careful, sure-footed wader. The village of Middleton lay beyond, nestled among beautiful trees. There were shops, a grist mill, and many solidly built rock houses. One of the oldest is shown in the picture section, with the little girl and her timely dog, a Scottie.
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What became a real disappointment was that, although there were several families bearing the name, they consistently spelled it Teasdale. That on the banks of the Tees led me to the conclusion that they, like many other members of the larger family, had wearied of correcting others’ spelling of the name, and accepted it in a corrupted form. Repeated inquiries revealed no connection with any branch of the family that had located in Lanarkshire. Finding no member of the Teesdale family in the place bearing the genuine name was even more surprising than it was to find so few red-headed Irish in Ireland, and so few blondes in Sweden.
Barnard Castle stands on the river a few miles downstream from Middleton. On Tuesday, October 24, 1648 Oliver Cromwell arrived at the Castle. A note by one of the townsmen put it simply: "There went out of Barnard Castle to meete him and ridd before him into the town, and soe conducted him into his lodging and presented him with burnt wine and short cake.
The origin of family names can become a very interesting field of study. "Where and when did we get such a name? What does it mean? Who selected it? How many people are known by it? Where do they live? Are they really all related by blood? Are there common family characteristics ?" These and other questions arise, calling for answers, many of which can not be found or given.
It is not difficult to learn the meaning of the name of the Teesdale family. A look at the map of northern England shows a small river, the Tees, flowing into the North Sea. England’s longest river, the Thames, is only 210 miles long. By American standards of length, size, and flow, the Tees is a very small stream. It does have historical significance and because it gave name to our family, of course it has importance.
Douglas M. Ramscien has written a book, Teesdale, London, 1947, from which the following quotations (pp,. 11, 12, 122, 139, 173) are taken: "The River Tees forms the boundary between the counties of Yorkshire and Durham. " . . . "The river names are the oldest of place-names, going back to the times of the Celtic settlers, long before the invasions of the Angles, Saxons and Scandinavians. The Tees is mentioned as ‘Tesal in the Knytlinga Saga, a history of the Danish kings of the tenth and eleventh centuries. The name changes slightly in later records to ‘Teisal. There has been much controversy as to its meaning. Professor Ekwall calls it an old, British river-name, related to the Welsh "tes’ which means ‘heat or sunshine’ and translates it as the ‘boiling, surging’ river, which is certainly appropriate.
The connection with Scotland and perhaps the migration of some inhabitants of the Tees valley may be explained in the following statement: "The
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enemy from the west in the Middle A.ges came in the form of the dreaded
Scot raiders. . . The Scottish horsemen were hard fighters and barbarous
enemies…. After the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scots made a foray
into Northumberland and Durham, penetrating as far as the Tees. " But it
was a long time from 1314 to 1849 when Hugh Teesdale, Sr., and his little
family left for America. In those, five centuries plus, many changes could
have come, the blood of the folks who once lived in the Tees Valley could
have been thinned by intermarriage in Scotland beyond identity with the
English of the Dale. Although bearing an English name, the family could
have lost all but the name and become pure Scotch. On the other hand, the
name could have been carried to the north counties by much later immigrants.
No information is available concerning the time of the appearance of the
progenitors of the family in Larkhall.
In the village of Ovington, almost due east from Barnard Castle, is a signboard at the Inn of the FourAlls, that illustrates both the humor of the local people and their response to the burdens they carried.
"The Queen: I govern All
A soldier: I fight for All
A parson: I pray for All
A farmer: I pay for All
One must remember that the members of the Teesdale family who came to America at the middle of the nineteenth century left a culture well refined and long established. Even so, not all children benefited from even the fundamentals of an education. Some never learned to read or write. A few references to authorities of that period will help to know more clearly the conditions in the homeland about the time of the migration to the world that was to prove to be so new to them. Merely being different does not prove superiority or challenge! It can call for ingenuity and industry so basic to economic success. Even reverses can teach important lessons of thrift.
The home of the family before migration was in Larkhall in the county of Lanarkshire. There were two centers in the parish. Larkhall was the civic center, Dalserf the ecclesiastical. In Dalserf was located the parish church, the place where my father was baptized, September 13, 1843, fol lowing his birth June 16. It was said that Dalserf village had belonged to the family of the Duke of Hamilton for three or four hundred years. Dalserf parish did not include the total area of Lanarkshire which had by the 1961 census an area of 898 square miles and a population of 1, 626, 424.
Lanarkshire is a county of central Scotland and includes the upper and middle sections of the Clyde Valley, hence its former name Clydesdale. Farming, fruit growing and tomato culture are important features of the
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country’ s economy today. Livestock includes beef and dairy cattle, sheep, hogs, and the famous Clydesdale horses. Lanarkshire was once the richest coal-producing county in Scotland. Coal mining began in earnest soon after 1850. By 1960 the annual output had declined to about 3. 000, 000 tons. In the late 1950’s about 40% of the county was in rough grazing, about 20% each in improved pasture and arable land, the remainder being urban and industrial Glasgow was less than twenty miles distant.
"The county has played a prominent part in Scottish history from the days of Sir William Wallace, who lived in Lanark and is reputed to have found his wife there, through the tragic times of Mary, Queen of Scots, who assembled her supporters at Hamilton before the battle of Langside, to the stern days of the Covenanters. In more modern times, Lanarkshire was in the forefront of the struggle to improve the lot of the working classes, and names like Thomas Muir, James Wilson, Robert Owen, James Keir Hardie have an honored place in its annals. " Another more widely known name is that of David Livingstone, missionary and explorer whose birthplace at Blantyre (only a few miles distant) has become a national shrine." Chamber’s Encyclopedia, new rev. ed. , 1967, article Lanarkshire; and Encyclopedia Britannica, 1969 ed. , article Scotland. ).
According to the "New Statistical Account of Scotland by its Ministers of the Respective Parishes, published in 1845 by Wm. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, " the Parish of Dalserf was an irregularly shaped area 6 1 / 2 miles by 4 ½ miles. Average temperature in July was 680 by day and 600 by evening. The average rainfall was 22 inches for the year. The population in 1840 was estimated to be 3000. There were 115 families employed in agriculture, 367 in trade and manufacturing, and 32 in all other activities. The main market town was Hamilton, about five miles distant. Weaving by hand looms was the chief source of income.
Larkhall was the most important village in the parish and was inhabited mostly by weavers. The houses were "nearly all of one description, namely, an apartment for family use, and a four loom shop. " "in August 1812 a kirk-session was formed, and from that date there are accurate minutes of session business, and carefully kept registers of proclamations of banns (for marriage) and of baptisms. Of late years a register of burials has also been kept. The old parochial records are contained in two volumes of a very confused and miscellaneous description. The earliest entry is the registration of a baptism 30th November, 1731. " page 735
In the General Registry Office of Births, etc. , New Register House, Edinburgh, visited in 1939, was found a little, time-stained book, the "Record of Parish Marriages" for Dalserf. There were recorded several Teesdale marriages: "On 13th December (1829) Hugh Teesdale and Jean Baxter, both of this parish"; 15th August Robert Teesdale of this parish and Mary Chalmers,
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of the parish of Bothwell"; "13th September, Archibald Lammie and Agnes Teesdale both of this parish"; 23 September 1838, Charles Hochentvaganug of the parish of Carlisle, and Margaret Teesdale of this parish."
Not to be confused with the "Record of Parish Marriages" for Dalserf and found in Edinburgh, -was another "Register of Marriages" this one found in the office of civic records in Larkhall, 1939. In it were several items of interest for two marriages in which members of the Teesdale family were concerned. "On June Twenty-ninth, 1855, at Pleasance, Larkhall. Marriage was celebrated between us according to the rites and ceremonies of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. " This statement was signed by Thomas Henderson and Janet Teesdale. Witnesses were John Hamilton and another Janet Teesdale. Henderson was registered as a cotton hand, loom weaver, Janet as "house servant. " The parents of Janet were Robert Teesdale and Mary Teesdale whose maiden name was Mary Chalmers.
As entrv # 12 for 1859, one reads, "On the twenty-fifth day of March 1859 at Larkhall., marriage (after- Banns) was solemnized between us according to the forms of the United Presbyterian Church, " This statement was signed by the contracting parties, Peter McGregor and Janet Teesdale, the latter evidently the witness to the marriage of 1855. The father and mother of Janet were Thomas Teesdale, deceased, and Agnes Teesdale whose maiden name was Scott Besides Janet, the youngest, there were eleven other children. of this last named couple. My grandfather was one of them. 47
As entry# 30 for 1864: "On the Sixteenth Day of September at Pleasance, Larkhall after Banns, according to the forms of the Established Church of Scotland. " This was signed by John Beveridge, coal miner, and Ann Teesdale, tambourer.
In the Public Assitance Records extending back to 1845, in the records office in Larkhall, there was no record of a Teesdale having received any public assistance. At Dalserf a Mrs. Sims had charge of important records. In her presence I checked in 1939 the complete indexes for marriages, births, and deaths for the years 1855 to 1875 and found in no list the name Teesdale. The absence of any such record could mean that members of the family could have been born, married, or buried outside the parish of Dalserf, or the record could be incomplete or lost.
In Kelly’s Directory for the City of Glasgow for the year 1939, examined in person, there were 102 pages of Mc's, Mac’s, and other forms of the pre-fix with an estimated total of 17, 500, but there was not one Teesdale listed. In the Post Office Directory for 1939-40, likewise examined at Glasgow, in584 pages of names of business individuals and organizations, 50 names to the page, no Teesdale was found. These are evidences that at least the family name was not Scotch but English.
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In the New Register House at Edinburgh was found in 1939 the Lanark Index of Names of Persons to Abridgments of the Register of Seisins, First Series, 1781-1820; Second Series, 1821-1830; Third Series, 1831-1840.; Fourth Series, 1841-1845; Fifth Series, 1846-1850; Sixth Series, 1851-1855; Seventh Series, 1856-i860; Eighth Series, 1861-1864; Ninth Series, 18651868. This is a list of the names of all persons transferring real estate during these years. No Teesdale there !
It was possible however to have a leasehold and pay feu rents without a record having been permanently preserved. On such property Grandfather Thomas Teesdale had built the first house. A second house was built by Hugh Teesdale Sr. They were to pay as others did in feudal times - -a feu rent for occupying houses of their own building on land owned by others.
In Edinburgh the Scottish Record Society had an Index of Testaments in the Commissariat of Lanark for the years 1595-1800, edited by F. J. Grant, published in Edinburgh, 1903. In it there was found no record of any transfer of property by wills by a Teesdale. In the Old Parochial Registers (of Births) of Scotland for Dalserf, Number 638, the births and marriages were recorded for the years 1738-1819, and deaths for the years 1740-1784. Births for the years 1820-1854 and marriages for the years 1820-1844 were given but no Teesdale is mentioned.
Other records found in Larkhall and the correspondence for many of these years, indicate that records were incomplete but some were actually kept even though not official. Only after 1855 were vital statistics required in all localities. If one were dependent wholly on incomplete records, he would have difficulty of serious proportions. Fortunately, many fragmentary records can be supplemented with others to make a fairly complete whole. References to the large lists cited above are made here to show how at least one family of many members missed the census repeatedly.
It is well to have looked at the Scotland of the mid-nineteenth century but what about the America that was to be the new home of a small number of the Teesdale family? These immigrants arrived the year made famous by the Forty-niners. It was a period of a rapidly expanding and exciting economy. Newcomers often expected to acquire riches without the hard labor and sacrifices they had earlier known. Most of them knew before their arrival that industry and integrity, with thrift, would assure success and happiness.
As a youth suddenly conscious of newly developing manhood powers, the people of the United States arrived at the middle of the century supplied with astounding confidence, abounding optimism, and increasing strength. This people had achieved cultural independence from Europe, were aware of their individuality, and gloried in their separation from the mother country.
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It was only seventy-five years back to the Declaration of Independence compared to the one hundred twenty years that have passed to date since the little family walked down the gangplank into American opportunity after a sea voyage of unbelievable full six weeks.
The hustling Americans who were already adjusted to bright hopes for the future expected to usher in a period of millenial utopianism in politics, in economics, even in religion. The readiness for the unexpected, the lure of the untried, the determination to venture again, should success r not come at first, led this generation into widening fields of discovery and achievement.
Socially, the people of the United States did not make a good showing before foreign visitors, many of whom saw only the unusual. Public manners were not always pleasing, especially the almost universal male habit of chewing tobacco. Being close in time as well as in location to the expanding frontiers it was not difficult to see in people evidences of the hard struggle with the forces of nature. In character there were seen prominently an acute sensitiveness to opinion, a beaming self-confidence and independence, and the desire to accumulate property.
In the second quarter of the century religion had become a force to reckon with. The opening of the west to the Mississippi had added a great territory that was soon to fill with foreign-born as well as many residents from the Atlantic Coast. Part of this rapidly growing population was the little family from Scotland. The people generally stood on tiptoes waiting for the sunrise of a new day which was certain to be better than their yesterdays. The spirit of the confident adolescent was evident in many fields of thought and activity.
The mid-century, when our forefathers first came into the land of beginning again, revealed a society tingling with ambition and courage. It was a period when the individual had great room for development. Some wrote masterpieces of literature, others discovered new processes in medicine or invented labor-saving machines or preached with force a soul-searching gospel. It was a time when the heart seemed warm, easily touched by its neighbor’s need or by the glowing appeal of the revivalist. Little is written of these large cultural evidences by members of the Teesdale family, but they could hardly have escaped their influence. They must have felt the stimuli of the times and were impelled forward by them.
The writing of this account of experiences of members of the Teesdale family was made possible by the little less than miraculous preservation of a collection of letters written largely by brothers and sisters of Hugh Teesdale, my grandfather, the widower who braved the North Atlantic for six long weeks on his way to New York. Only a few letters from America to
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Scotland have been preserved. Much of the correspondence concerned two houses owned by the family once living in Larkhall. In the letters, members of the family and their families are mentioned. Conditions in the village, largely occupied when they left it by weavers, are frequently described. Sickness too often swept away one member of the family and then another, prematurely. Consumption too often claimed the life of some loved one.
The three oldest documents preserved have an incidental interest. The oldest is a list with the abbreviated title: "Members of Society, Date of their entries. " la There are names of members of the family, that appear in the story later. The numbers indicate the order in which the members were received into the Society: Before January 24, 1839; 1, Robert Teesdale; 40, Thomas Scott; 42, James Lammie (this name is later spelled Lambie); 43, Hugh Teesdale. Entered May 9, 1839, 46, Arch. Lammie (Lambie), Entered October 3, 1839, 48, Alex. Muter; February 2, 1843, 68, Robert Baxter; October 9, 1845, 103, Thomas Henderson.
The second item of interest is dated June 10, 1846, "Received from Hugh Teesdale (my grandfather) the sum of sixteen shillings being in full of Feu Rent till Whitsunday last. , lb Thomas Teesdale (his father) Mark x
This small payment represented the charge made by the real owner of the land permitting another to occupy a house built on the land that was occupied but not purchased. In this case Thomas was not the owner of the land. He had built the house and would in turn pass this feu rent or part of it on to the owner of the land.
The third item, a warning about an unpaid balance, sounds a little severe
but was not uncommon: "To Mr. Thomas Teesdale, Portioner, Pleasance: About
two or three months ago I had a call from your Son John about the Two pounds
and one Shilling you owe me. We had a good Deal of Conversation upon the
paying of it by him or you. Ultimately we disagreed . . . I offered to
arbitrate . . . As nothing has been done to Repay me in this I inform you
if not settled on or before the 29th Inst. I give you notice
I am still willing to arbitrate . . . If these offers are not acceded to
then, I will have recourse to a Court of Law for Redress. May 21, 1846
1 am Thomas Cairns. " lc
For those who have never faced the decision to leave their ancestral home and loved ones and to go abroad never expecting to return, it may seem like a simple experience, something that should require but little thought and no anxiety. At midcentury it must have been even more difficult than it is now in the day of rapid transportation and instant communication. Apparently, one of the first to be confronted with the choice of going to America with all of its widely talked opportunities was John mentioned above, a brother of Hugh Teesdale, Sr. In October 1847 his letter written in Scotland to the family expressed his confusion of ideas, his inability to choose the right
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step, and how to get passage money. November 26 he is still struggling even with a "pain in my mental faculties. "2
By February 20 of the following year John writes to his brother Hugh
and announces that it is his last night at home. He says: "I am both calm
and collected considering all things however it is settled and come wail
come woe I will abide my fate . ..it is not because I am fond to part with
my mother for at this moment my heart is like to burst the frail casement…I
am now ready to carry my bits a things out the house but no I canna get
my mither out my head if it be her destruction it will be a sad reflection
. . . Unless something is done soon it may be too late for me ever doing
any good and this according to my opinions is a move toward improvement
if it should prove abortive dont blame me. 3
In April he is in America. His letter4 of April 16, 1848, mailed from Philadelphia gives some interesting facts. "I embarked aboard the Warren for N. York . . .My neighbor was never sick I was two days and most all the passengers the same we had a very rough passage bulwarks Gib Boom and Side Booms broke Some thought they were going to the bottom they seemed as if afraid to die which is natural. We all arrived safe after 39 days sailing in good health after the inspection by the Doctor we gave three cheers for Capt. Lawton three for the mate one for the crew… We all went ashore my mate and me got an excellent supper bed and breakfast everything for 1/6 each. We bought two Newspapers cost one cent each...took them to the post office the postage was one cent each . . . We took passage (from New York) to Philadelphia… Went to seek my cousin found him went back with my cousin to the wharve we all came to Willie’s house…What a change came over my neighbor Jack’s mind he felt all wrong and unwell before he was two hours in Philadelphia he said to me he thought he would go home as he knew perfectly well the climate and there manner of feeding would never agree with him . . . There was plenty of weaving in Phila I could have got 6 looms instead of one but that was contrary to my wish and intention there was three looms in Willie’s shop or celler as they are called. . . . I tried to persuade Jack to stop for a few weeks well he resolved to do so principally to give me a chance in the mining…the wages was paid by the ton averaged from 1 till 2 Dollars a day… we went to our boarding house got supper bed and breakfast…we paid in Norristown 31 cents each for our supper and bed . . . my cousin has a daughter her name is Margret Elisabeth she is toddling about the house…I must now speak about home although I don’t know there is one thing the distance is not that great but I could be with you in a very short time, and money is not that scarce all labour being paid in cash but I could raise the passage in a few weeks…I will also try if possible it is to find some account of my brother Boby and give him a snuff out of his own box . . . there is a man here who has a son in about Millwaukie that is in wisconson territory he is a scotchman the son is farming he says he will make his son
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inquire as I direct him that is so much if a failure I wll next write paterson if he pays no attention I will take my stave in my hand and pad across the country myself not forgetting to write you every now and then… Mother tell Hugh not to forget to state how you and Jane (Janet) and Agga (Agnes) is getting on particularly tell Jane though she is young to stick by her mother while she is able and not forsake her when she appears to turn frail.
Any reply to the letter was to be sent in care of William Tees(dale), Stewart Street, Phila. Notice John’s reference in the letter to Willie as cousin and to Boby as his brother. William and Robert his brother were sons of Hugh? Teesdale and "Old Betty, and cousins of Hugh, Sr., who was the son of ‘Thomas Teesdale and Agnes Scott-Teesdale. John’s brother Boby (Robert) was brother to Hugh, Nan, Andrew, Janet and others. These relationships were established from the letters, and are shown in the genealogical tables.
When the family moved to America (1849) Hugh, the father, left behind, his mother a widow. In August she wrote him a letter. 5 She had lost by death since their departure a son Andrew. She despaired hearing from any of her sons including John who had been at one time very indecisive about leaving her, and Hugh the one being addressed. His sister Janet, often called Jane, the youngest at home with her widowed mother, was away on business. The children of Margaret, called Peggy at times, could not for an extended time be located. Later they were found married and prosperous. Other sisters mentioned, Ann, Mary, and Isabel were all well. There were actually twelve brothers and sisters in this family. 47 In the letter the mother refers to John's family, not mentioned in previous letters. Janet had heard so much favorable comment about American farmers that she had told her mother that she would wait to marry one of them.
Although mail service was dependent much of the time covered by this .story on sailing vessels it was not unusual for letters to cross the Atlantic in about three weeks. 48 The family in America was quite slow to answer inquiries from the homeland. Mackellar, the factor who took charge of the properties after another released them, called Hugh’s attention to the fact in a letter of August 1, 1870, that his last letter bore the date August 26, 1869. 56 This was not exceptional. November 16, 1863, the Lambies reminded Hugh that the last letter they had received from him was dated August 2, 1862.
The letters are not always clear in defining who are sisters and who are sisters-in-law. Moreover, a writer refers to Issa while others call her Isse, or Issie, even Isa Her name was Isabel. Others will speak of Liza, Lizie, Leezie, Leezy or Lizzie when they mean Elizabeth. Again, a writer will mention Jen for Jean, or Jane for Janet. At least the writers, even though sisters-in-law sign as "your affectionate sister. " Agnes, one of the sisters, was consistently addressed or mentioned as Nan. There was
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less confusion in the brothers names of Hugh, Robert, John, and Andrew. There were, however, in the larger family more than one Thomas, Hugh, and Robert.
Nothing is revealed in the many letters about the choice of residence in America. One would like to know why this family chose to establish their home in Henderson County not far from Dallas City, a small river town on the Mississippi. It is not unlikely that Robert and John found their way to that area first and persuaded their brother Hugh, Sr. , with his family to join them. These three brothers are close together for a time and had small real estate holdings.
John’s uncertain letters, written in the homeland to the family and his mother, have given place to serious enterprise in America. He had some crop reverses due to flooding water. A letter of November 1851, mentions his death but does not give and cause or circumstance. It is not known what became of John’s small family. Brother Robert and his son Tom seem to melt away into the rapidly shifting population. Relatives in Scotland frequently inquire about them but the family in America was at last unable to supply any definite information.
A copy of the deed issued to Hugh Teesdale and his brother Robert, November
26, 1850, for forty acres in Henderson County, Illinois, will be found
in the appendix of this essay. That definitely locates Robert at that time
and certifies the purchase of property that was to be the homesite of the
family for seventeen years until Hugh, Jr. and Thomas purchased 320 acres
in Hancock County. The ocean voyage to America by the little family made
in mid-summer 1849. They may have lived in Philadelphia during the winter
of 1849-50.
John’s letter to his mother April 16, 1848, announced his purpose "to find some account of m y brother Boby (Robert) and give him a snuff out of his own box. "4 A comparison of the signature on the deed of November 19, 1852, transferring the forty acres purchased earlier, to William Douglass, with the signature in the letter l7 from Stockton, March 2, 1857, and addressed to Hugh, Sr. as Dear Cousin, leads to the conclusion that the deed was signed by Hugh’s brother Robert, and the letter from Stockton was signed by his cousin Robert.
In August, 1852, Bob Is Tom was with Hugh, Sr. and the family near Dallas City, Illinois. 11 No mention is made of Bob (Robert), Tom’s father, but, as stated above, he did sign a deed November 19, 1852, provided the signature is read correctly. It is true that 1851 was the year of the death of the two brothers, John and Andrew. 7 The latter had remained in Scotland. Their deaths were a severe blow to their mother.
A letter from Mackellar, 54 February 15, 1869, to Hugh, Sr. mentions
In a letter of November 1851 Hugh’s sister Nan acknowledges receipt of a letter giving an account of the ocean voyage of 1849, difficulties encountered, and crop losses caused by the floods mentioned above. In the same letter the Lambies announce the death of Andrew, a brother who had remained with his small family in Scotland. This, added to John’s death in America, came as a severe blow to their mother. Still another son, Robert, would join his brothers in death. His son, Tom, survives and is mentioned in correspondence. A cousin, Robert, later to write from California warning Thomas not to come to the gold digging, wrote to his father in Scotland that he had loaned Hugh, Sr. a large amount of money and feared at the time that it would never be paid. In due time it was paid.
It did not take long for the little family in America to feel the need of domestic help. Agnes, the daughter, was twelve years old when they all came to their new home (1849). In 1851 Hugh proposed to a second cousin in Glasgow, Margaret Teesdale, that she join them as housekeeper. The request was presented by Nan Lambie, Hugh’s sister. 8 Margaret replied that she had been in bad health since her mother’s death six months earlier, just about six weeks after the family had sailed July 15, 1849, and felt it 11 quite improper to think of going to America."9 Later she did come, as is told in this story.
In a few years Agnes received the attentions of Richard Jones. This ardent, young lover soon made her a proposition that she accepted and they took up residence in Knoxville, Iowa. In 1859 Hugh, Sr. was recognized as grandfather.21 Twins, Lillie and Laurie, brought added happiness to this household. 25 Agnes and Richard were married August 27, 1857.
As it happens so frequently, not all events synchronize and here again the clock seems to turn back. A letter from Janet and Elizabeth addressed to "Dear and Only Brother" describes briefly a health situation at home. 12 Isa (Isse, or Issie, really Isabel) had assisted in the care at their mother’s home of Andrew another brother before his death nineteen weeks later. When her daughter Agnes was about nineteen months old the mother gave birth to twins, Margaret and Joan, and immediately grew worse "her trouble something like Jean Baxter’s (Hugh’s mother) a beating at the heart but now it is just ending in consumption, something like Andrew at the time. " Her death came December 2, 1852. In an earlier letter7 Janet had expressed appreciation for Hugh’s assistance at the time of John’s death, already referred to but which is not explained in any letter. Hugh
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offered John’s widow the liberty of stopping for a time with his family but she did not accept.
It is little wonder that immigrants found some difficulty getting adjusted to a different climate and much different living conditions. The correspondence is really all one-sided. No letters, save the one from John to his mother, from America to the folks back "in the old country" have been preserved. But letters to the new settlers express concern repeatedly about Hugh’s health. One letter to the folks back home evidently asked an opinion about Texas. This is how James Crow, one of the brothers-in-law, gave his estimate. 9 "Looking over the geography I see texas to be a very large province . . . 3 times as large as Illinois . . . They have great falls of rain there . . . If you want to die son stop in Illinois also if you want not to live long go to texas. " He urged Hugh to "bring the whole family home, " and declared " me and your sister Nan will send L10 to you for return to Scotland. " A few weeks later the Lambies also were urging Hugh to bring the whole family home. 10
<<1828 Marriage Certificate of James Crow and Jean Teesdale>>
Not long after James Crow wrote his estimate of Texas, he with his wife Jean, Hugh’s sister, and his entire family left Larkhall August 18, 1852 for Australia. 11 Jean was not expected to survive such a long sea voyage but she did and actually improved in health. The family prospered in Australia. In a letter in November 1865 the death of Jean is announced as of August 30 of the same year. Her husband had recently bought 925 acres of land for L 1800 Sterling and was planning to stock it with cattle, sheep, and horses.
An earlier letter32 (November 11, 1863) had this same man renting 1400 acres, paying L 100 yearly rent, fattening cattle, and spending part of his time butchering farm animals for the market.
Stories of fabulous riches found in California were widely circulated. Some might conclude that it was a land where all could be rich. The news of some new diggings would engender new ambitions and set afire great hopes. Robert, Hugh’s cousin, had tried agriculture but caught the spirit of venture and went to the Golden West. From "San Joaguin Valley Stockton" he wrote under date of March 2, 1857.
He was "sorry to hear that Tom talks of leaving you (his father) and to come to this country. You can tell Tom that he had better stay in Illinose. You can tell him that it ain’t all gold that glitters and he will find it so to if he is follish enough to come to this country… I have laid my money out on cattel . . . I had a letter from Brother William and he enquired what had become of you Give my love to Tom and littel Hugh."17
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The domestic problems at the Teesdale home near Dallas City were soon to yield to the experience of new help. The coming of Cousin Peggy was announced in a letter, April 10, 1857, from the Lambies. 18 She was to sail from Liverpool for New York. The passage to Chicago was costing seven pounds ten shillings. In dollars of that day it was about $37. 50. The purchasing power of money then was quite different from today’s.
A letter writer reported that the shipping company in Scotland "would give us no information whatever, farther than speaking of a Place of the name of Burlington, Iowa You must look sharp (!) after the landing of the Vessel at New York, the name of which is ‘Benjamin Adams’ "P. S. She has taken a ticket in the Railway and steamer from New York to Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois which is considerably nearer to her destination than Chicago. " Burlington is about twenty miles north of Dalles City, Nauvoo about fifteen west and south, both on the Mississippi. There must have been rejoicing when a cook and housekeeper arrived. Even so, it was almost eight years since the little family crossed the Atlantic. Peggy’s move to the new world met the opposition of Mary, Elizabeth, and Jane, Hugh’s sisters in Larkhall. Within two years Agnes had married and was the mother of twin girls. 20 Her older brother Tom was reported to be about to try the "gold diggings. " The Lambies had urged him "to remain with his father.
A letter, March 9, 1858, passes along the impression that Jane, her real name was Janet, Hugh’s sister at home with their mother, was about to be married to a young man, "Pate (Peter) McGregor’s oldest son Pate. 19 The choice did not have the approval of any of her sisters. The young man was in the Lanarkshire Militia, following in the footsteps of his father, a member of the lst Lanarkshire Regiment of Militia. At the time the father was serving in Ireland. On the twenty-fifth day of March, 1859, their marriage was solemnized according to the forms of the United Presbyterian Church.
Again, names are confusing. At home the bride was called Jane but in the church records she was Janet, so her name is placed in the family chart, a child of the Thomas Teesdale-Agnes Scott union, and a sister of Hugh Teesdale, Sr. , the husband of Jean Baxter and the head of the new family in America. The church record for June 29, 1855, shows a Janet Teesdale, daughter of Robert and Mary Teesdale, married to a Thos. Henderson.
The same letter of 1858, besides announcing the birth to the Lambies of a son Thomas, reports that "your sister Mary is still keeping the grocery and appearingly thriving, " . . . "Lizzie and Johnny (Elizabeth and her husband John Hamilton) are doing tolerable well . . . Sister Ann (Muter) and family are well . . . Bob’s (Robert, a brother of Hugh and Janet)
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daughter Agnes has got married…James Crow wrote (from Australia) that Sister Jean was well. " Members of the family had feared that the trip to Australia would be too strenuous for Jean but she survived for several years.
Nan Lambie in a letter in March 1859, tells of having a letter from Jean in Australia, sending with it six pounds for her mother and her sisters. Crow was to know nothing of the gift. Nan’s division of the money and her explanations were to cause family disfavor later. At the time of this letter their mother had not been seen "in better health for some years. James Davidson, the writer of the letter for the Lambies, adds that their mother’s "faculties were very acute and rather of a superior order. "
The story at times is quite dependent on the letters of the Lambies written for them by James Davidson. There are events which are presented from a personal viewpoint as may well be expected. This couple had the confidence for years of their brother Hugh in America. The situation changes with much correspondence about the property left behind in Larkhall. Nan seems to come to the conclusion that possession of one of the houses for years was equivalent to ownership. This develops into serious family disturbance. More later about it. For the source of many facts mentioned incidentally in the Lambie letters the information seems quite dependable.
In October 1859 a letter addressed to Hugh, the father of the three children brought to America ten years earlier, mentioned a cousin, Thomas Teesdale and his only son but did not name him. 22 The father of this Thomas was the uncle of the Hugh who came to America in 1849. The mother of Thomas was "Old Betty. 21 He had two sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret, the first married a Mackintosh, the other married William Anderson. Thomas also had two brothers, William and Robert. Robert mentioned his brother William in a letter the former wrote to Hugh, his cousin, from Stockton, California, in 1857. 17 This establishes the relationship of Thomas, William, and Robert as cousins of Hugh and all of his brothers and sisters. This is further confirmed by a letter written in 1848 by John, Hugh’s brother, to his mother in Larkhall, and quoted at some length above.
At the time of my visit in Glasgow in 1939 1 met the daughter of Margaret mentioned above. Her name was Agnes. She had married a Thomas Trevorrow. Her brothers and sisters in order of their birth were: Mary, Robert, William, Margaret, John, and Jean. She was born (1871) between John and Jean, and had four sons: Thomas Teesdale, William, James, and Robert. At the time we wondered about the appearance of the name Thomas Teesdale but no one could explain it. The old gravestone in the Dalserf churchyard, dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth Teesdale - Mackintosh and of Margaret Teesdale Anderson, helped explain it A recent letter direct from Thomas Teesdale
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Trevorrow in Glasgow, a grandson of Mrs. Agnes Trevorrow, confirms the relationship that is illustrated in the chart below.
The letter of October 1859 says that Jane (actually Janet) and Pate (Peter McGregor) who had recently married, were "getting along tolerable well’, 22 "Lizzie (Elizabeth) and old Jack (John Hamilton) are doing well. " Sister Jean in Australia had lost the power of one arm.
This same letter adds a note of unusual interest. There are strange doings here now in the way of religion. People are being struck down with the Holy Spirit and Prayer Meetings are being held in the churches every Morning; often at night and some are seeing Angels and even Christ. Some of them pretend to see before the throne of God pleading for them It is surprising to see how the people are flocking to the churches. We have men come from Ireland preaching . . . It is even greater still visitations of the Spirit—take Place at every other door. Hamilton has also a great number. 22
In a letter of April 17, 1861, 25 an account is given for the rent of the house occupied by the Lambies. They had been in it for eleven years. For two years the rent was L6 each; for nine years L5 each. They paid all but a small balance of 9s 6d.
The American "War Between the States" had serious effects abroad. Hugh had reported to the folks in Larkhall that "the prospects of the American farmer were gloomy in the extreme. " In response the Lambies saw even "greater difficulties looming in the distance, the issue of which might be attended with direful consequences to the trade and agriculture of America as well as paralysis of the trading communities of Europe . . . Weaving shops were all or nearly all closed for twelve months past... The want of confidence and failure were the common news of the day…The poor weaver had no other source of income." 26
The war brought heavy casualties to families in the North and there were repeated calls for recruits to fill the ranks. Bounties were offered for volunteers. Conscription was resorted to in August 1862, and men of foreign origin were not always exempt. Hugh, Jr. was not naturalized until after the war (Oct. 5, 1868), but he was drafted near its close and his father became "highly uneasy.,, 40 The hope was expressed by the family in Scotland that it would be possible "to raise a substitute to go in his place, " a practice requiring substantial funds but approved by the government and widely used. With the end of the war near, Hugh did not see military service.
Uncle Hugh Scott, a brother of Agnes Scott-Teesdale, the mother of Hugh, Nan, and others, assumed in April 1861 the responsibility to write Hugh in America about his mother’s income and her circumstances. 24 She was not well and strong enough to work any longer and received from the McGregors only L 5 yearly for rent. The Lambies had failed to pay her anything, he said. This left her in serious financial need. In the autumn of that year the Lambies offered to pay the mother a sixpence per week! They hoped other members of the family would do as well so that "our mother would live a great deal better. " 27
The mother’s limited income may have contributed to her death that came
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February 9, 1862. She had a fall on the ice but was able to walk home. 29 Soon, however, she was bedfast and a severe cold, perhaps pneumonia, brought an end to her life. Her daughters Mary and Nan were with her the last week at night. 30 Unfortunately, the sisters became involved in unpleasant attempts to divide certain articles of furniture.
In an effort to settle the matter of who was to occupy the home their mother had occupied, how much the rent was to be and how it was to be used, a formal agreement was drawn up permitting Janet and Peter McGregor to continue to live in the property. This document 28 has special interest in that it states that the house was "the property of our late Father and Mother Thomas Teesdale and Agnes Scott. " The McGregors were to assume certain responsibility to care for and maintain the property. Any balance after a fixed rental was paid was to be shared equally "share and share alike amongst the survivors of the family or their heirs. Namely, Hugh Teesdale, Jane (Jean) Teesdale, Mary Teesdale, Agnes Teesdale, Ann Teesdale, Elizabeth Teesdale, Janet Teesdale. "We further agree that as the said Hugh Teesdale and Jane (Jean in Australia) Teesdale is not residing in this country that a copy of the aforesaid be sent to each of them." Four of the sisters signed: Janet Teesdale, Ann Teesdale, Mary Teesdale, and "Elisebathe" Teesdale The Lambies refused to sign the document. It never became effective but the house was rented to the McGregors for L5 10s per year.
About this time a report is circulated about a Janet Barr who claimed that Hugh had deserted her as his second wife and had made no provision for her. She did not immediately appear but she did threaten to present a claim against the houses in Larkhall. 29 There is no evidence that there had ever been a second wife. Janet Barr never assumed the name Teesdale. Hugh was certainly not fleeing from Scotland to avoid domestic responsibility. The family did not recognize any claims either for relationship or for maintenance.
What basis there was for any whispers about a second wife is not discernible in the many letters to Hugh, except several from Mackellar and one from his sister Elizabeth, dated October 26, 1856. This letterl6a is an appeal for reconciliation with a certain Janey (Janet) who is said to be a "sensebale dacent woman and ought not to be treated no such way. " it was a protest against the invitation to Margaret (Peggy) Teesdale in Glasgow to go to America to become the housekeeper for the motherless family there. Elizabeth claimed that sending for Janey would be the only way that Hugh could ever have peace and comf or-t in this world and enjoy the blessings of salvation in the next. She urged him "not to let any paltry difference that may have formerly been between you keep you from what is best for you and your family. " The appeal was fruitless.
later Mackellar reported (February 15, 1869) that Janet Barr "had an
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account standing against you of twenty Pounds for keeping two of your children, Hugh and Agnes, for two years. (Same) writer had advised her to claim a shilling a week from. the date of the marriage (?) 22 years earlier. This would amount to a large sum . . . and the twenty Pounds for the children keep would bring it above Seventy Pounds. . . She would give up all claim for fifty Pounds and grant a free discharge. " 54
In May of the same year Mackellar commends Hugh, Sr. for his response to the February letter and its disturbing contents. 35 His response was to resist her demands for compensation in any amount. Her threat to enter a lien against the Larkhall properties was considered unwise for her on account of the costs. Legal advice led Mackellar to write Janet a letter making Hugh’s position entirely clear. She was about to move to Glasgow to live with a daughter Bella and to serve as midwife in that city.
Still later (June 24, 1876) Mackellar reported to Thomas Teesdale, the son in America, a "visit sometime ago from Janet Barr that is she that was your father’s second wife." 66 Hugh, Sr. , had died in 1874. Even six years later her agent wrote to William Clark, at that time the factor for the properties in Larkhall, concerning the properties and their rentals. 83 He called her "Mrs. Janet Hamilton or Teesdale, widow of the late Hugh Teesdale. " Despite the persistent claims, no family representative in Scotland or America recognized any legitimate basis for them whatsoever.
Going back to a much earlier letter, another death in the family is announced, this time the wife of Peter McGregor, "our dear sister Jane (Janet). " After childbirth "she rapidly sank and died, " November 8, 1863. 32 Uncle John Scott, a brother of Agnes Scott-Teesdale, the mother of Hugh, Nan, and others, died November 15, nearly 90 years old. Hugh’s cousin Thomas Teesdale was reported to be in "bad health and rapidly declining. Brother Andrew’s children (a brother not mentioned much except his death in 1851 lived with their grandparents. 32
For several years relatives had made 42 frequent inquiries about the children of Margaret (Peggy) Hochentvaganug. Their whereabouts were unknown. For a time their father had been disloyal to the family 7 but had recovered and had attended to their wants until his early death. 46a Strangely enough, Nan had found Peggy’s children in Leeth, 44b a town not far removed from Larkhall. They were all married and "behaving themselves in a very respectable manner. " Agnes, the oldest daughter, later visited (1869) in Nan’s home, and a year later Walter stopped at her home on his way to America. He sailed May 21, 1870. 46
Here it seems desirable to list a few facts concerning the houses in Larkball. John Mackellar, who had been "the factor" of the properties for ten years, wrote Setpember 27, 1874, to Thomas Teesdale, the older
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son in America, as follows: "Your father built his house on his father’s feu without any deed. 61 Your grandmother (Agnes Scott-Teesdale) gave your father the deeds as a security for his property and on his death he (Thomas) became possessor of the old property in virtue of being heir at law.
Later, March 18, 1877, Mackellar had been to a lawyer and had the latter’s opinion concerning the transfer and its inheritance. He wrote: "Had your Grandfather granted a sub feu lease to your Father, then the House would have been yours or had he made a Will conveying the property to your Father, all would have been right but in the absence of any of these a dispute arising they would fall back on the original deed which provides for an equal divide. And with regard to your Aunt Nan they did not see how you could put her out without raising the question to whom did the Property belong nor yet could they see how she could defend herself having no right to show entitling her to hold the House. " 70
When Hugh, Sr. , took the little family in 1849 across the Atlantic
he left his mother, a widow, in the house occupied by her, formerly Agnes
Scott, and her husband Thomas Teesdale. She continued to live in the older
house after Thomas died which preceded the departure of Hugh and the family
to America. Hugh and his family had lived in the newer house, the one he
had built on his father’s rented property without a deed to it until they
left for America. His sister Agnes, always called Nan, and her husband
Archibald Lambie, occupied this second house for many years. 25 This occupancy
became a thorny problem especially for the sisters who continued to live
in Larkhall. In this house Hugh’s wife, Jean Baxter, had died May 14, 1847.
What led them in two short years to come to America is not clear in any correspondence preserved. Hugh’s mother, Agnes Scott-Teesdale, occupied the older house, but not always alone, until her death, February 9, 1862. The newer house was on Muir Street, the older one on Gorbals Street. It is hoped that the frequent repetition of names, events, and dates will not weary too much the readers of this essay.
At times the sisters living in Larkball and those appointed to manage the houses belonging to Hugh, Sr. in America became desperate. Other matters thousands of miles away in a new and strange environment must have consumed his interest and energies. At the present time, it seems that a few well directed and firm letters from the owner of the properties could have kept discord and misunderstanding at a minimum. As it was, Nan and Archibald Lambie occupied the newer house and Hugh’s mother and Janet, married March 25, 1859 to Peter McGregor, lived together in the older house. It could appear to other members of the family that the S7 a Lambies were occupying the second house without paying rent. But the
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rate of five or six pounds yearly could leave very little surplus after repairs were made and the house kept in satisfactory living condition.
Hugh was reported to have taken the deed for his home in Larkhall with him to America and to have written a will on the deed somewhere. Mary, Elizabeth, and Ann were most concerned about the matter. 37b When Peter McGregor occupied their mother’s home after his marriage to Janet, their sister, these sisters looked on with added concern. Elizabeth seemed to need income to supplement her meager supplies. McGregor offered to pay her the rent, provided Hugh approved. At one desperate time Mary had a man bar the window and put on another lock but McGregor went in by force. He refused to pay the sisters rent and they appealed to Hugh in America to settle the matter with definite and firm instructions.
In a feeble, unnatural effort mentioned above, to supplement adequately Hugh’s mother’s income, Nan gave a sixpence a week to Uncle Hugh (Scott) to carry over to her mother with the hope that other sisters would help as much. The total carried up to her death was only eleven shillings. Mary gave her more but their mother lived only six months till February 9, 1862. The writer, who signed her letter of April 5, 1865, "Your affectionate Sister Elsa Teesdale, " reported simply that "we got two pounds out of the dead fund and that buried her decently. "41
After his wife Janet’s death, November 8, 1863, and her mother’s death in February the year before, it was expected that Peter McGregor would vacate the older house but he neither paid rent nor moved. 37 He defied the sisters except Nan who shielded him. Her own daughter later occupied the older house. In April 1865 McGregor left the house and delivered the key to the Lambies.
A letter in which Mary Teesdale unabashed said that neither she nor her sister Jean Crow in Australia could either write or read, tells of having inherited "a fortune" while she kept a grocery. 38 Her husband’s aunt had left four hundred pounds but the inheritance had to be divided equally among sixteen nephews and nieces. She received as her share after taxes about twenty pounds. It should be remembered that free public schools were not available in Scotland of this period as they were in America. In the same letter Mary told of a gift of six pounds sent by her sister Jean to Nan for their mother. By keeping most of the gift for Nan’s own use and telling no one about it, she faced a severe judgment when the sisters did learn about it.
The difficulty of receiving mail from America is revealed in a letter from the Lambies to Hugh, February 5, 1865. The delays were not the fault of the sailing vessels or the steamboats that were coming into use. The Lambies were writing a fourth letter without receiving an answer. It had been "about twelve months since you wrote us come the 15th of April.
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Answering an inquiry from Hugh about the value of the older house, the Lambies thought it might bring L 60. 36 The newer house would likely have sold for more. Estimating the two worth a possible i- 150, it seems now like a small amount to have members of the family in Scotland trouble their brother in America and his family about. That may be a reason why Hugh delayed so often to write about the properties. A wide difference in the purchasing power of money then and now must be kept in mind.
In the summer of 1865 James Davidson gave up the care of the properties in Larkhall. John Mackellar accepted the responsibility for "the upper house. " The Lambies who had written most of the letters to Hugh in America were not pleased. They still occupied the newer house. In a letter of August 28 they quote "with sorrow" "the following remarks made in your (Hugh’s) letter: ‘with regard to the letters that I have in my possession from three of my sisters in Larkhall since Jane (Janet) died, I think it would take a cute Lawyer or Judge either to decide upon these letters which was telling the most Lies or the most Truth. , 42 This observation only illustrates how distorted a picture a situation can present at such distance when presented by persons of various interests and temperaments.
Another letter written from the Lambies a few months later, this time to "Dear Cousin Peggy, " the person who had gone out from Glasgow to Dallas City to become the housekeeper for the little family in a strange land, asks for information about Hugh, Jr. and herself. 43 They announce that her cousin Thomas Teesdale who was just then "stopping in Glasgow" was "very unwell, laboring under we think a decline In an earlier letter, November 16, 1863, the Lambies refer to Thomas Teesdale as Hugh’s cousin. 32 It seems a natural conclusion that this Thomas Teesdale was the son of another Teesdale and "Old Betty, " residents of Glasgow and the forefathers of the Trevorrows of that city. His father’s name is not given anywhere. It could well have been Hugh. Then he was thought to be "in bad health and rapidly declining. " On November 15 Uncle John Scott died nearly 90 years old. He was the brother of Agnes Scott -Teesdale, the mother of Hugh, Sr. , his sisters and brothers.
In May 1865 John Mackellar who had recently assumed the management of the upper house" had asked Hugh’s Uncle Hugh if he intended to act in an effort to heal the feud in the family and received a definite No. 48 The house, occupied for so long by Hugh’s mother (Agnes Scott-Teesdale) and the McGregors for a time with her, was reported greatly out of repair. In a later letter 49 the new factor thought the ill feeling existing among Hugh’s sisters was past over as the result of an arrangement entered into with regard to the Property, which had put an end to any active display of feeling. It had been removed from Nan’s hands. This hope was blighted soon.
Mackellar made some interesting observations 50 about a short residence he once had in America. He lost by death his son and youngest daughter while in New York. They lay "in one grave on a Wooded Height in the Beautiful Cemetery of Greenwood long Island overlooking the Magnificent Bay of New York.
He was very much pleased with the description Hugh had given of his farm. 50"’The old log cabin standing embosomed in Woods must be a lovely residence, and were it not that you are now past the age of Romancing I might say it was capable of calling up true Poetical feelings. Nevertheless to a reflective Mind like yours it must give Birth to pleasurable feelings when standing at your own door looking out Monarch of all you Survey, for one must feel an Honest Pride in looking at what they have acquired by the fruits of their Industry...
"I think that in America you never meet with the same true and genuine friendship that you get at Home. People there are more selfish and bound up to their own Interest, at least that was my experience in New York, but perhaps it may be different far up in the country . . . Weaving is somewhat brisker since the close of the American War but Provisions are very high. Butter is selling at 1/5 per Pound, Cheese 10d, Beef 10d and not good at that. In fact everything is up with the exception of tea and sugar.
A year later Mackellar observed that when he was in New York he could stand the cold of winter, and it was dreadful, yet he stood it better than the excessive Heat of Summer. " He thought Hugh must "be well off with Hugh, Jr. " and he expected the son, "as he gets older, " to "become more cute and better able to cope with the overreaching, far-seeing Yankees. " 51 Miners, working in Lanarkshire, had been receiving 5/ per day.
He did however draw later a wise contrast: "In this country a man may toil on for a life time and make nothing of it and leave his family to travel the same hard road. You have a reasonable prospect of leaving your family better provided for than if you had remained in this country.
In October Mackellar reported that Hugh’s sister Leezy (Elizabeth) had died recently. 53 Her husband John Hamilton was "in a very pitiable condition an old man tottering on the brink of the Grave. " Elizabeth, who had been earlier reported in dire financial straits received some of the rent paid for "the upper house. " The manager 54a asked whether he should pay any amount to John Hamilton after Elizabeth’s death. She left four helpless children and a frail, old man as their father. He died January 23, 1870.
September 15 Mackellar had received Hugh’s letter of August 26 and was sorry to learn of the disastrous state of their crops. 55a Larkhall
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had had a very dry summer but the wheat and potato crops were unusually good. He had heard nothing from Janet Barr after sending her a note following a letter received from Hugh. The note seemed to have extinguished the hopes she had had by working on Hugh’s fear.
Mackellar again expresses an unfavorable opinion of Americans whose If manners and customs are so different. The want of society was so much felt" that he considered there "was no socialty and one felt himself isolated as it were."
At one time Thomas had suffered a financial loss, and his father only a lesser one. Mackellar thought 54 that the length of time the Teesdales had been in America "among the Yankees he (Thomas) would have been more awake with them. " He thought it took "pretty sharp practice to watch a Yankee. " His experience the time he was in New York led him to think so, "although some of the Scotch who had become Yankeefied were just as bad, at least he found them so.
As mentioned before (page 1) the brothers Thomas and Hugh bought (March 14, 1867) a 320 acre farm in Hancock County. This they farmed together until January 27, 1875, when Thomas sold his share to his younger brother. In the year of the purchase of the farm John Mackellar, the manager of one of the houses in Larkhall, seemed quite out of touch with family movements in America. In a letter of March 20, 1.867, he wonders if the father "knew anything about what Thomas was doing. " 51 He overlooked the fact that Hugh was then 24 years of age and said of him it as he gets older he will become more cute and better able to cope with the overreaching far seeing Yankees. " His unfavorable impression of Americans appeared in an added comment: "I rather think friendship is a rare commodity in Yankeedom as selfishness has too much superseded it. " Something of the same attitude was expressed in a letter from the Lambies to Hugh: 44a "Some of Tom’s and Hugh’s cousins wonder if they mean to marry Yankee Women, as Lasses could be got here who could milk their cows and feed their hens as well as any Yankee.
Hugh’s youngest sister Janet had married (March 25, 1859) Peter McGregor. That was ten years after Hugh and his little family left Scotland for America. Although Hugh never saw the son, born to Janet and Peter, he expressed his affection for Janet by paying tuition at Larkhall Academy for the boy. Receipts for a number of payments beginning in November 1868 and continuing quite regularly for three full years are in the collection of letters. The tuition rate was at first 3/6 for a quarter of sixteen weeks and increased to 4/6. The mother, Janet Teesdale-McGregor, died (November 8, 1863) when the boy was quite young. His father wrote letters of deep appreciation for Hugh’s gifts. He considered his son at nine years (1869) as rather active, had a fondness for school, and made rapid progress. 45
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Hugh urged the father to send him to them in America but Peter did not see how he "could give him an outfit that he would like to give him in going to America, " and he thought the boy too young to go alone. 46
This boy, the son of Janet Teesdale and Peter McGregor, was named Peter Teesdale McGregor. He married an Elizabeth Bruce-Frame. This woman I met in 1939 at Quarter near Larkhall in the home of her son, Hugh Teesdale McGregor. In an extended conversation with the mother and son they told of the tuition paid by Hugh Teesdale in America, but the family connections were not clear. There seemed at that time no direct connection with the Teesdale family. That connection was made clear later when the records showed that Janet Teesdale was the grandmother of Hugh Teesdale McGregor of Quarter, also the youngest sister of my grandfather, Hugh Teesdale.
A report repeated by Hugh Teesdale McGregor of Quarter was that Hugh Teesdale had gone to America alone and his people did not know where he went even though he did send money back for the education of a favorite nephew. A letter January 28, 1969, received from the wife of the man who lived in Quarter, reported that he had died suddenly March 9, 1947, and that his mother had preceded him in 1945. The baby whose picture in his grandmother’s arms as she stood in the door of her son’s cottage in Quarter had grown and was married. The mother said she was still sewing, having worked at tailoring all her life. This was the first evidence of a direct connection with any one still living in Lanarkshire.
A letter 56 from John Mackellar August 1, 1870 announced the death early in January of John Hamilton, the husband of Elizabeth who had "died last Sabbath morning" preceding October 19, 1867. 53 The family circumstances had been feeble for some time. The father had been sickly for years and the mother not strong. Several children added to the financial needs. Uncertain income with resulting inadequate and poor food undermined the health of all. More than once Elizabeth expected some income from the houses but received very small amounts irregularly.
In December 1870 Mackellar refers to word from America, that Tom, the older son had married (Dec. 27, 1869). Mackellar’s attitude to native Americans is revealed again in his question whether the bride was "a Yankee or from the old country. " He asked whether Hugh the younger brother lived with the bride and groom on the recently purchased larger farm, or found it limore comfortable at the old place. " No mention is made here of their father and Peggy the housekeeper. Mackellar offered the observation that "there is little socialty in American society as it is constituted every one for himself which makes me feel as it were isolated alone among strangers.
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In the 1870 census 5230 souls were reported living in Larkhall 47 Two years later the town was in a flourishing condition. Mining had brought the prosperity with an average wage of ten shillings a day. Coal was relatively expensive at fifteen shillings per ton. 47a There was fear that "many a poor creature would suffer this (coming) winter. " At the same time "a great deal of wickedness was evident with upwards of thirty wiskey shops" in the small town. 47b
In the summer of 1872 a William Baxter died leaving "a large quantity of money besides property. The wife was to get the use of it and at her death the one half was to go to his relatives and the other half to hers. " Since Hugh’s mother was a Baxter it was thought that the Teesdales might be included but an inquiry convinced the writer that such was not to be. 47b
Mackellar reported unexampled prosperity in Larkhall. "The favorite cry in America that the old country was done out" was no longer true. An astonishing rise in wages of every class of workers had come with shorter hours. Coal was selling at "an extraordinary price of 15s for soft coal and 16s for hard coal per ton at the pits. Weaving had benefitted with a "fine run of silk work at which very high wages were paid, " but that did not last long. That year Scotland had wet weather, hard on such crops as potatoes but producing a heavy crop of hay. 47b
Hugh’s mother’s maiden name was, as noted above, Agnes Scott. She had three brothers: Hugh, William, and John. John died November 15, 1863, nearly 90 years old. There is no date given for the passing of William but his widow died February 10, 1873. 58 Hugh died March 14, 1874, about 86 years old. 60 May 20 of the same year 61 marked the passing of Hugh Teesdale, Sr. , which left the family in America without its father. Twenty seven years earlier, almost to the day, the mother had died, May 14, 1847, in Scotland. The date carved on the family tombstone in the Dallas City, Illinois, cemetery for the birth of my grandfather is May 20, 1818. A careful examination of his application for citizenship, dated November 2, 1852, shows that at that time he was 42 years of age, making his birth year 1810, not 1818. This corrected date shows his lifetime was exactly 64 years, provided his death date May 20, 1874, is correct.
With the passing of my grandfather, Hugh Teesdale, Sr. , correspondence from the homeland shifts to my Uncle Thomas., the oldest of the three children. Mackellar continues as the agent in Larkhall representing the family’s property interests there, particularly the two houses. Briefly and again, 61 the agent writes, September 27, 1874, "Your father (he who had taken his small family to America in 1849 and had died May 20, 1874) built his house on his father’s (Thomas Teesdale) feu without any deed. Your grandmother (Jane Scott-Teesdale) gave your father the deed as a security for his own property and on his death (1874) he, Thomas Teesdale a grandson became possessor of the old property in virtue of being heir at law.
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The death of my grandfather did not settle the question of who held the title to the houses in Larkhall. In February 1875 a lawyer informed Mackellar that the daughter, Nan (Agnes) Teesdale-Lambie, the aunt of my Unc e T omas, the o est of the children in America, was about to take proceedings 63 against the agent for having taken possession of the houses on Main uir) Street and Gorbals. She and her son Hugh had recently been in Glasgow and had visited Thomas Teesdale, a cousin of Hugh Teesdale, Sr. , who had died the same year in America. 62
Mackellar writing to Thomas Teesdale in April 1875, surveyed the situation carefully. 64 The newer house occupied by Nan, his aunt, "was built of course by your Father on your Grandfather’s feu. He never got a deed but on the death of your Grandfather your father did take possession of the title deed which he was justly entitled to do as heir at law. He took this deed to America with hom. . . . At the time he went away he borrowed 20 Pounds from James Crow, your Aunt Jean’s husband. At the same time your Aunt (Nan) moved into the house for which she was to pay a rent of 6 Pounds a year. . . After paying the feu rent and taxes the balance was to go to the payment of the 20 Pounds. After it was paid your Father wrote to your Aunt that she was to pay one Pound per quarter to your Grandmother and the feu rent and taxes. She never paid one farthing to your Grandmother and for at least the last 20 years She has paid nothing but the feu rent and taxes, and with regard to the keeping of the House in repair for this number of years back it was in very bad order Before your Grandfather died he made provision for your Grandmother getting her lifetime of the property They say that your Grandfather wrote a will on the deed that after your Grandmother’s Death the property was to be divided amongst them, of this I can say Nothing. Nor yet do I believe it.
It seemed particularly difficult for my grandfather to write the necessary letters. In April 1876 Ann Muter, a cousin of Thomas Teesdale, appealed to him to settle matters about the houses. 65 She said in her letter that she thought he had not written more than three letters home in all the years he had been abroad (1849-1876). Perhaps she had seen only three of the total that was indeed remarkably small. When she was writing her letter it had been twelve years since her sister Janet’s death, fourteen since her mother’s death, and nothing had been done to carry out whatever were supposed to be the wishes of Hugh, Sr. , or his mother’s who had died February 9, 1862.
Attempts to get decisive action by Uncle Tom seemed ineffective, but actually the value of the houses was small and handling legal matters seemed complicated. In her letter67 of August 25, 1876, Nan acknowledges that she had occupied one of the houses for 26 years and it had been twelve years since she had sent her brother in America a detailed account of rent and expenses. She challenged Thomas to produce legal documents to support his claims for the property. She wrote from 54 Muir Street, Larkhall.
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Two days 68 later Mackellar urged Thomas to send the deed and a letter authorizing action. He had read to Nan part of a letter from Thomas asking her to yield possession of the house she occupied. She dared them to take the house from her. Mackellar understood that "the will if there ever was such a thing" was written "on the deed providing for your Grandmother being life rented on the property.
A little later Mackellar repeats his unhappy estimate of Nan’s attitudes and her defiance concerning her occupancy of the newer house. 69 He recommends strong measures and had concluded "from all he could learn that there is no such thing as a will in existence" or "they would have insisted on its provisions being carried out at his Grandmother’s death. " February 9, 1862.
March 18, 1877 Mackellar acknowledges 70 receipt of a letter of February 15, 1877, from Thomas Teesdale and reports the opinion of "an eminent and respectable firm of lawyers named Archibald and Hay. "They read the deed carefully and their decided opinion was that (the) clause of the deed which conveys the feu in favor of Thomas Teesdale and Agnes Scott his wife in conjunt fee and life rent and on the death of the surviver to the children of their marriage equally amongst them, preludes you from having any prior claim on the property. I said that with regards to your father’s house I knew it was built and paid for by your father’s money. They did not doubt that in the least. Had your grandfather granted a sub feu lease to your father, then the house would have been yours, or had he made a will conveying the property to your father, all would have been right but in the absence of any of these a dispute arising they would fall back on the original deed which provides for an equal divide. And with regard to your Aunt Nan they did not see how you could put her out without raising the question to whom did the property belong nor yet could they see how she could defend herself having no right to show entiteling her to hold the house. They advised me in the meantime to do nothing but to write you their opinion and perhaps you would give me further instructions.
A brief statement of the income and expenses on the two houses will illustrate how small an amount was involved. 72 Nan had lived in the second house so long that it was difficult for her to realize that she was not the fully authorized owner. The other members of the family in Larkhall were willing to accept a settlement on Thomas’ terms but not Nan. The year 1876 opened with a credit balance of 7s 8 1/2 d. The rent for the year was L11 1Os. The expense was for the purchase of a new door 10s 6d for management and supervision 11s 6d; and the small charge of 7d for the L 10 bill of exchange sent to Thomas. In those days such an item was of considerable value. It happened that year that expenses were light but there were times when repairs were extensive and costly, leaving the net income much smaller.
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Uncle Tom’s offer is repeated in a letter 71 from Mackellar to him under date of May 10, 1877. The agent had been to see Tom’s Aunt Mary, the oldest of the sisters and had presented the offer. Simply, it was to give up his grandfather’s (Thomas Teesdale, father of Hugh, Mary, Nan, et al) house on the condition that they all sign a document renouncing all claim to his father’s house. When that was done the deed would be sent so they could sell their grandfather.’s house and divide the price among them. If this was not done, Thomas would withhold the deed and they could not sell. Mary offered to write to her sister Ann who lived in Stirlingshire. The problem was to win Nan’s acceptance of the plan—"no easy matter, " the Agent Mackellar observed.
About two weeks later Mackellar reported, as expected, both Mary and Ann would accept the offer but Nan refused. It was reported that other members of the families would refuse to sign. Counsel from the attorneys declared it necessary for all members of the family living at the time of Agnes Scott-Teesdale’s death must sign, otherwise Thomas might lose both houses. Again their counsel was to wait.
Nan who had been "the problem child" for so long was reported (Dec.10, 1877) on her death bed. 73 She died December 14. Mackellar was assured by authorities that the regular feu rent had been paid regularly every term when due. The trouble did not end with the death of Nan. Her son Hugh made his boast that he would take the property where his mother had lived so long. 74 In fact, he claimed to be the proprietor of the property and its heir at law. Mackellar had received the deed from America. His attorneys advised him to get authority from Thomas to act for him in the matter.
In April Mackellar received from Thomas the power of attorney. He went to his lawyers in Hamilton and summarized his feelings briefly: Hugh Lambie intended to defraud Thomas. When the little family left for America Nan had become the tenant in the house agreeing to pay four pounds a year. She did not thereby become the proprietor. Since her death her son Hugh was "simply a squatter" and "had no ground to stand on. " He had been warned the week before to vacate the house.
Aunt Ann and Aunt Mary visited Mackellar in June and expressed great displeasure with the progress concerning the properties. 76 The law agents in Hamilton had written Hugh Lambie offering the terms of Thomas Teesdale to release the older house, provided the parties in Larkhall would release the newer house to Thomas. If Hugh would not accept the terms, they would put him out of the house. 77
The law agents after a careful and minute examination of the deed were not very sanguine of the success of a law process, " Mackellar wrote Thomas
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Teesdale. He thought that "his father’s property at the Present time would scarcely realize 40 Pounds. " 78
Later, Aunt Ann returned to the attack. Mackellar reported that he never got such an abusive tongue from either man or woman. " He assured her that when the proper papers were signed Thomas would produce through the proper authorities the original deed.-79 That released another torrent of abuse. As unpleasant as it is to write such details, one must remember that it had been thirty years since the family had gone to America and, now it had been five years since their brother’s death (May 20, 1874).
Here are a few lines from Mackellar written June 7, 1879, that will help the reader to understand how the Larkhall properties were not a source of great revenue. 79 Here is why Mackellar "had not been sending any of the rent money this two years back. The reason is the excessive dullness of trade of which you will have seen accounts from time to time. The utmost destitution has prevailed all over the County. In Larkhall most of the weavers have been out of work all winter. The miners have not half work and the work they have is at starvation prices. All other trades are feeling the same. The consequence is that rents nor anything else can be got. I have not received one Penny of last year’s yet and I only got the arrears of the year before two days ago. One of them is a baker. He has been out of work for nearly a year. They have 6 children and how they lived is a mystery to me. He has now got work and they promise to pay rent as soon as they can."
In November Mackeller improved an opportunity to ask his lawyer in Hamilton whether he thought it possible for Thomas to obtain possession of the Larkhall properties. 80 He honestly thought it ultimately possible but at great expense. Mackellar himself wrote his fear "that if once the Lawyers got the Property into their hands. and entered into Court, they would make a job of it . . . leaving both Partys losers in the Case and the Lawyers somewhat richer. " He even recommended correspondence with Hugh Lambie, Nan’s son, with the hope of an amicable adjustment of the matter. In this letter Mackellar expressed his desire to be rid of the entire management of the properties. He felt his age a reason for relief. "Near the borders of 70" he felt the need of "quietness of mind. " A year later he recommended as his successor a Mr. William Clark. 81
Mr. Clark began with a firm hand. 82 In order to collect rent past due because the occupant of the old house had been out of work, he took possession of the tenant’s effects who in turn protested through her father to Thomas Teesdale. The house was reported much out of repair: "water is coming through the (thatched) roof in several places, if something is not done to it immediately it will go to ruin.
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Late in 1871 Mackellar sent Hugh Teesdale a financial report of his income and expenses supervising the Larkhall properties for the years 1868 to and including 1871. 57a The report reveals what one could expect, that expenses had almost consumed all the income. Among the charges were school fees for Peter McGregor, painting of doors and shutters, wheat straw for thatching the roofs, and management fees. William Clark who succeeded Mackellar as factor had a better report. Whereas Mackellar had L6 14s lld net for four years, Clark 84 had income of L 104 10s and expenses of L 75 lls 10d with a net of L 28 18s 2d for eleven years, 1881 to 1892. No get-rich-quick source there; no basis for economic pride.
Late in March of 1893 Daniel Clark wrote Thomas Teesdale that the former’s father had died March 10., He was willing to accept the management duties formerly carried by his father. 85 He was frank enough to write that "the houses are not much worth. The site is getting very valuable as the town is extending in that direction. " Later he reminded Thomas that "Hugh’s house is built on your feu. 87 And still later he wrote: "The land this property is built on is not ours to sell. It is the property of John Marshall of Machan and is held by the owner of the property on a yearly rent. " 100
Estimates of the value of the two old houses varied at times. At one time a railroad proposed a right of way through Larkhall. The houses would have to be removed, in case, but the project did not materialize. Daniel Clark wrote November 25, 1895, that the property had been completely spoiled by the erection of a stable at the side of the one occupied by Hugh Lambie. 88 Mary Stewart-Teesdale recognized the fact that the Lambie house had been built and owned by Hugh Teesdale, father of her husband Thomas. She denied Mrs. Nan Lambie or her son any right to claim the house. 91
Daniel Clark repeated his low estimate of the value of the property. 88 As a consequence of the stable being erected next to it he could get no tenants in it. Three years later he reasoned that if the deeds to the houses could be found, it would be better to sell, "for the outlay is greater than the rents. " 90 In November 93 he said, "I think you would be better to sell the property as it is no benefit to you. . . . The houses are worth very little. " He wrote in 1914 that he had made a search in law offices in Hamilton and could not find the title deeds. 100 The heirs were laying claim to the property and were trying to get new deeds. The old ones could not be found. Clark’s advice was to let the heirs proceed with their plans. 98
In reply to a letter from Mrs. Jean Teesdale-McMillin, a daughter of Thomas, Mr. Clark further explained the complications:96 "The ground the house is on the ground is not bought here; it is only fued and you pay so much yearly. The house is the only thing that could be sold. I do not think it will
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give much. If your father has not made a will, it will be your eldest brother according to Scoth law who will be heir. If the deed could be got, your best plan will be to sell out.
Presently Mrs. McMillin wrote her brother Stewart that she did not think there was anything in Scotland for anyone. 97 She said further: . . . "When a house is over 100 years old it is not of much value but I believe in justice for them over there . The title ought to be cleared if it can be" "I don’t believe there is enough in it to pay expenses and I think father knew it and would not bother with it. " That accounts in large measure for the folks in Scotland having difficulty hearing from him. In June Mr. Clark had another word. 98 "The expenses will be heavier than the value of the property If it had been a good property, it would have been different but you will never manage to make anything out of it.
In July 1914 Stewart Teesdale wrote Daniel Clark of 23 Cherryhill View, Larkhall, that he had letters received by his father and his grandfather from relatives, and from Mackellar and William Clark about the houses in Larkhall. Thomas Teesdale had "sent the title deeds to Scotland to John Mackellar"74 and Stewart held "a letter from John Mackellar written in June 1878 saying that he had the deeds and had placed them into the hands of lawyers for safety and from them he held a receipt. " . . . "Your father should have come in possession of this receipt and all other papers held by John McKellar. "99
Here was ending a connection with the homeland that had been fragile from the first. The low value of the two houses compared to increasing property interests in America; much delayed communication from the family in its new home; misplaced confidence in the occupants of the newer house; lack of information about the actual income from the properties; low income by members of the family in the homeland; certain jealousies of the "favored" family that occupied the newer house until its members began to feel that they had become by long occupancy and for most of the time the sole communicants with the father in America, its owners; as well as the little envies created by the situation; all and more, created unpleasant relations among the members of the family in Scotland. Even to let the matter rock along without dispatch and decisive handling on the part of the head of the family in America for twenty-five years until his death in 1874 and then, for reasons not always obvious, fail to come to grips with the situation for another forty years, could produce wounds in the family that could hardly do more than fester and cause unhappiness. The complications of ownership, the delicacies of family attitudes in Scotland, and the small trickle of income account in large measure for the long delay in disposing of the properties that at last were all but worthless. Thomas Teesdale knew well the story, had not received enough uncertain, meager income from the whole mess to consider it worth even troubling to authorize the sale of the houses before his death in 1913.
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The extensive correspondence has been used not to -reveal unpleasant family relations but to help identify the various members of the family and show in simple charts their relationship to the original stock. Too much space may have been given to the recital of the property interests which were certainly very small. The market value of the older house was more than once informally appraised at L 60, but sometimes less.
The extended problems have given opportunity to assess at different
times the experience of a new immigrant family, the history of the relatives
in Scotland, and the social and economic conditions in both the homeland
and the new land of residence. There were losses in America and a heroic
struggle to build homes and occupy them. Much could be written of the successes
of members of this expanding family in the land of their adoption but the
emphasis has been on background and foundations.
POSTSCRIPT
P. S. Were the full record of the expanded family in America written, the volumes would contain accounts of fulfilled hopes, of expected prosperity, of some disappointments and losses, of earned recognition, of cultivated professionalism, and of deserved achievement. Happiness, industry, love, skill, personality, and character of the members of the family enriched the communities touched by them. Abundant energy, independent thought, superior service, uncommon prosperity, and sturdy individualism may well be added to the long list of contributions to the family and community life influenced by members of this ever enlarging family. Into the main blood stream of this family have flowed by marriage generous gifts of comparable qualities from other families. The main stream may have appeared thinned by these contributions but at the same time was enriched by them.
Enduring memorials are the ones traceable in the minds and deeds of others. They are more than deep etchings in granite and bronze. They are the living symbols woven into the deep fiber and thought of others’ lives. There are many evidences that the contributions of this once small family, transplanted to the fertile social and economic soil of the New World, were generous and substantial.
Members of the family have been reluctant to boast of their multiple successes. They have been much like the father who came with his family of three across a stormy Atlantic in mid-century. There were too many new and consuming interests in the new land to write much more frequently than once annually to the homeland about property values small in comparison.
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The person who loaned the letters, most of them over a century old, for the writing of this long essay, is a. shy, selfless widow, Vera TeesdalePandolfo. She had guarded them well, knowing little of their contents and value but sure they contained a story hidden in their time-stained folds. She lives in a small trailer at the doorstep of her brother William Hugh Teesdale and his wife Rose. He and Vera are grandchildren of Thomas, Uncle Tom to us children of Hugh Teesdale. With my grandfather, Hugh, Sr. , came to America in 1849, three children: Thomas, Agnes, and Hugh, Jr. , my father. These facts are in the narrative’already told above.
Even to summarize the successes of the members of the three main branches of the family in America would require an over-extended account. Charlie, a son of Aunt Agnes and Uncle Dick Jones of Knoxville, Iowa, is remembered as our cousin veterinarian who once every year or so after my father’s death in 1899, would pay our family in Illinois a welcome visit with his little phonograph and a collection of witty, entertaining records. Memories of his father and mother whose visits much earlier are fainter for us who were small children then. Other members of the Jones family have been prosperous and honored for their contributions to the life of their home communities. Their places in the family tree are indicated in the genealogical tables.
Uncle Tom was my father’s senior by ten years and made an early start in Illinois as farmer and investor in farm land. The venture of the two brothers in the purchase of a half-section of land has been told already. Just why Uncle Tom selected as home another farm this time near Ottumwa, Iowa, is not in the available records. He was a man of local influence and succeeded late in life in persuading proper authorities to build a steel bridge across the DesMoines River not far from his own farm. His son Stewart moved to California and became a fruit grower. In turn, his grandson, William Hugh Teesdale, became a quantity producer of peaches. In a recent year he sold from 25 acres of plums 100 tons of dried prunes. Hugh’s daughter, Rose Marie, is a teacher in Redwood City. His two sons are farmers of large acreages.
My father, Hugh, did not marry until 1877 when past thirty years of age. His first six children were girls, then twin boys, my brother, Hugh Thomas and I, William Homer. The youngest sister Ruth was born later. Our father farmed the home place of 320 acres and was a feeder of cattle and hogs. Before his death in 1899 he owned four other eighties of rich Illin ‘ ois land. Four of the older daughters became teachers of elementary schools. My brother has been a successful roadbuilder and farmer.
My life has been spent as a teacher, principal of a secondary school, college professor, superintendent of secondary schools for the world conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and president of a correspondence school enrolling
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yearly over 5000 new students. As world superintendent of the secondary schools I traveled in every state of the Union, in Canada, Mexico, South America, Central America, and Europe. My master’s degree was received at the University of Chicago, the doctorate completed (1933) at the University of California in Berkeley.
My only son, Arthur R. , practices dentistry in Bakersfield, California. The older son of my youngest sister, Ruth Teesdale-Orr, practices medicine in Victorville. His son, since finishing medicine, is in the second year of a residency in radiology. His daughter works on her master’s degree in a local university.
Surviving members of the family in Scotland have been able to supply only a small amount of information. Letters from Hugh Teesdale McGregor, from his widow Georgina, and from Thomas Teesdale Trevorrow have been helpful. Lack of adequate data makes it impossible to write a full account of the members of the family abroad, or their achievements. Like many a vein of rich, hidden ore there are values and reserves yet to be discovered and developed.
Changing the figure, in or on the vigorous branches of the "Tree That Grows in Scotland and in America" have grown and will continue to grow individuals worthy of membership in the clan. They may not bear the Teesdale name but they cannot, nor would they, deny the inherent values and the propulsive urges that account so much for the achievements and the good name of the larger family and of The Tree that yet spans the Atlantic.
The full story may never be written but it has been a gratifying experience to splice, and patch, and bind together many incidents, hopes, disappointments, and astonishing successes into what has been produced with the hope of preserving many values for the interest, inspiration, and guidance of new twigs that will develop into fruitful, supporting branches of "A Tree That Grows in Scotland and in America.
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References—Dated Letters with Exceptions Indicated
1a. 1839- 1845 List of "Members of Society, Date of
their entries"
1b. June 10, 1846 Receipt from Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
, to Thomas Teesdale (his father)
1 c. May 21, 1846 Warning to Thomas Teesdale from
Thomas Cairns
2 . Oct. 24, 1847 John Teesdale to his family
3. Feb. 20, 1848 John Teesdale to Hugh
Teesdale, Sr.
4. Apr. 10, 1848 John Teesdale in Philadelphia
to his mother in Larkhall
5. Aug. 4, 1851 Widow Teesdale to Hugh
Teesdale, Sr., in America
6. Aug. 29, 1851 James Crow to Hugh Teesdale.-
Sr., in America
7. Nov. 14, 1851 Lambies (Nan and Archibald)
to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
8. Dec. 19, 1851 Nan Lambie to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
9. Feb. 9, 1852 James Crow to Hugh Teesdale.-
Sr
10. Mar. 1, 1852 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
11. Aug. 2 3, 1852 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
12. Oct. 25, 1852 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
13. Dec. 19, 1852 Alex Muter to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
14. Nov. 11, 1853 Janet Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
15. Feb. 21, 1854 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
16. Aug. 25, 1856 Janet Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
16a. Oct. 26 1856 Elizabeth Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
17. Mar. 2, 1857 Robert Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
18. Apr. 10, 1857 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
19. Mar. 9, 1858 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
20. Mar. 1 5, 1859 Lambies and Davidson to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
21. July 20, 1859 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
22. Oct. 2 6, 1859 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
23. Oct. 4, 1860 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
24. Apr. 16, 1861 Hugh Scott to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
25. Apr. 17, 1861 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
26. July 17, 1861 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
27. Sept. 12, 1861 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
28. Feb. 1 3, 1862 Agreement, Heirs of Thomas and
Agnes Scott-Teesdale Lambies to
Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
29. Feb. 18, 1862 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
30. Feb. 9, 1862 Janet Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
31. Sept. 1, 1862 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
32. Nov. 16, 1863 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
33. No date
Mary and Elizabeth Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
34. Jan. 4, 1864 Jas. Davidson to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
35. Jan. 8, 1864 Mary Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
36. May 25, 1864 Lambies and Davidson to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
37. July 19,1864 Unsigned (Elsa?) to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
37a. Aug. 25,1864 Peter McGregor and Davidson to
Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
37b. Oct. 3,1864 Lambies and Davidson to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
38. Oct. 12, 1864 Mary Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale,
Sr.
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39. Feb. 5,1865 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
40. Apr. 4,1865 Davidson to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
41. Apr. 5,1865 Elsa Teesdale to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
42. Aug. 18,1865 Lambies and Davidson to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
43. Nov. 28,1865 Lambies to Peggy in America
44. Nov. 30,1865 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
44a. Feb. 5,1869 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
44b. Nov. 19,1869 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
45. Nov. 18,1869 Peter McGregor to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
46. May 20,1870 Peter McGregor to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
47. Nov. 26, 1871 Alex Muter to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
47a. Oct. 21, 1872 Ann Muter to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
47b. Aug. 10, 18 72 John Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
48. May 2 1, 1865 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
49. Aug. 16, 1865 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
50. Mar. 14, 1866 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
51. Mar. 20, 1867 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
52. July 3 0, 1867 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
53. Oct. 19, 1867 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
54. Feb. 15, 1869 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
54a. Oct. 24, 1867 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
55. May 2 9, 1869 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
55a. Oct. 2 6, 1869 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
55b. Nov. 19, 1869 Lambies to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
56. Aug. 1, 1870 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
57. Dec. 19, 1870 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
58. Feb. 24,1873 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
59. June 28,1873 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
60. June 6,1874 Mackellar to Hugh Teesdale, Sr.
61. Sept. 27, 1874 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale in America
62. Dec. 8, 1874 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
63. Feb. 22, 18 7 5 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
64. Apr. 12, 187 5 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
65. Apr. 24, 1876 Ann Muter to Thomas Teesdale
66. June 24, 1876 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
67. Aug. 2 5, 1876 Nan Teesdale to Thomas Teesdale
68. Aug. 2 7, 1876 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
69. Oct. 17, 1876 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
70. Mar. 18, 1877 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
71. May 10, 1877 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
71 a. May 2 8, 1877 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
72. July 31, 1877 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
73. Dec. 10, 1877 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
74. Feb. 3, 1878 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
75. Apr. 8, 1878 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
7 6. June 16, 18 7 8 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
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77. Feb. 19, 1879 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
78. Mar. 30, 1879 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
79. June 7, 187 9 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
80. Nov. 17, 1879 Mackellar to Thomas Teesdale
81. Nov. 2 4, 18 80 Mackellar (?) to Thomas Teesdale
82. Mar. 20, 1881 Thomas Marline to Thomas Teesdale
83. June 5, 1 882 Andrew Paul to William Clark
84. May 14, 1892 William Clark to Thomas Teesdale
85. Mar. 24, 1893 Daniel Clark to Thomas Teesdale
86. May 22, 1 893 0. J. Barrie to Thomas Teesdale
87. Aug. 10, 1894 Daniel Clark to Thomas Teesdale
88. Nov. 25,1895 Daniel Clark to Thomas Teesdale
89. June 23,1898 James Gebbie to Daniel Clark
90. June 24,1898 Daniel Clark to Thomas Teesdale
91. July 5,1898 Mary S. Teesdale to Daniel Clark
92. July 11,1898 Mary S. Teesdale to Thomas Teesdale
93. Nov. 2,1898 Daniel Clark to Thomas Teesdale
94. Feb. 2,1914 Daniel Clark to Jean McMillin
95. Mar. 16, 1914 Attorneys to Jean McMillin
96. Mar. 2 2, 1 914 Daniel Clark to Jean McMillin
97. Apr. 24, 1 914 Jean McMillin to Mary S. Teesdale
98. June 2 9, 1 914 Daniel Clark to Jean McMillin
99. July 13, 1914 Stewart Teesdale to Daniel Clark
100. Aug. 3, 1914 Daniel Clark to Thomas Teesdale
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APPENDIX
An artist of Memphis designed the coat of arms; the crest 40
was used by a Teasdale family.
Part of Henderson County. Note dotted square in Section 31 41
Composite picture 42
Key to composite picture 43
Land transfers, 1845-1878 44
First deed for land in America 45
Application for citizenship 46
Quit claim deed by Agnes and Richard Jones 47
Land grant by President James Monroe 48
Indenture of sale of south half of Section 29 49
Quit claim deed by Thomas and Mary Teesdale 50
Family group, * Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary Teesdale 51
Family group (top), * Aunt Agnes and Uncle Dick Jones 52
Family group (bottom), * Hugh and Elizabeth Teesdale (cl888)
Family group, * Hugh Teesdale Is children (c 1 903) 53
Members Hoxworth Family * (cl9lO), (above left)
Hugh Teesdale family home (cl9O8), (above right)
Personnel of the Family Pictures 54
Genealogical Tables 55 - 57
Key to Composite Picture, page 42
2. Street in Hamilton. Note doubledeck bus and Esso truck
3. Gravestone, Dalserf Cemetery. "This stone was renovated in 1810 (?) to the memory of William Anderson, Margaret Teesdale, his wife, of Larkhall interred here and Elizabeth Teesdale-Mackintosh of Sligo interred in Dublin. "
4. House, much remodeled, said to have been the home of Janet Teesdale-McGregor
5. The milkman, Larkhall, 1939
6. Typical houses in Middleton-in-Teesdale; girl and Scottie
7. The Tees River, from bridge in Middleton
8. Corner of Durham cathedral, about 25 miles from Middleton
9. Gravestone at Dalserf, likely the grave of the grandfather of Thomas, Agnes, and Hugh, Jr.
10. Railroad sign. My luggage, 1939
11. Street in Dalserf. My transportation beyond at the curb
12. Tintype of my father-, Hugh Teesdale, Jr. , and his bride, Elizabeth Hoxworth, 1877
13. The parish church (Presbyterian) in Dalserf where my father was baptized, 1843
14. The lamplighter in Durham
15. Hugh Teesdale McGregor, grandson of Janet Teesdale and Peter McGregor, his mother Elizabeth Bruce -Frame, and his son, babe in arms. At Quarter near Larkhall, 1939
PG's 44- 50 are jpgs of indentures, property deeds etc
Thomas Teesdale Family, p. 51
Back: Stewart Teesdale, with hat; his wife Clara at his right; Russell McMillin, Doris Young, Carol Kerfoot, Agnes Teesdale and Fred Kerfoot holding son Robert- Vera Teesdale, James and Mayme Young, John McMillin
Middle: Uncle Thomas Teesdale, Patricia McMillin, Aunt Mary Teesdale, Ed Stewart McMillin, Jean Teesdale-McMillin, holding Frederick McMillin
Front: John Teesdale, Thomas McMillin, Hugh Teesdale, Dale Young, Vivian McMillin, Thomas Kerfoot
Agnes Teesdale and Richard Jones Family, p. 52 (top)
Front: Uncle Dick (Richard), Aunt Agnes, Hugh
Back: Charles, Lillie, Laurie, Annise
Hugh and Elizabeth Hoxworth-Teesdale Family (cl888), p. 52 (bottom)
Front: Anna, Agnes
Second: Papa, Leota, Mother
Back: Etta, Clara, Carrie
Hugh Teesdale Children (cl9O3), p. 53
Front: Clara, Carrie, Etta
Back: Ruth, Hugh, Leota, Anna, Homer, Agnes
Hoxworth Family (cl9lO), p. 53 (above left)
Front: Edward, a brother Charles absent
Back: Martha Thurman, Arminta Davis, Elizabeth Teesdale, Laura Saunders,
Mary Van Dorn
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Next there are 4 pages of family diagrams to go here - last 4 pages of book
To return to the Teesdale family homesite:
Teesdale
Genealogy