Deciding on this ancestor was harder than I would think. Different will be easier than same. I have several ancestors that have made me think, "What were you thinking?!?"
But same? Hmm... Same name...nope. I have yet to find an ancestor named Michelle and am not too likely to find one, except maybe, maybe among my French..but thus far, nope. Boyd goes back only a couple of generations (a story for another day). Same hometown? Maybe my parents but no one lived there before that (I've got to say that I have a lot in common with Mom and she is an ancestor but for the sake of privacy, I'll choose someone else).
So, after some thought, I decided to write about John Alexander Cameron. I have the same religious beliefs that he did. He had to leave home and most of his family and live very far away. I had to move far from all my family and all that I knew and move from the West to the East Coast for some time. We both spent part of our lives in Utah. He and his daughter, Catherine, were temple workers. My mother and I are temple workers. (I could have featured Catherine for this and other reasons perhaps but I've already featured her.)
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| John Alexander Cameron |
John was born in 1818 at a house called Barachuil in Kimelford, Argyllshire, Scotland to Alexander and Catherine (MacCallum) Cameron. His father was a laborer and servant and John became a shoemaker.
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| Barachuile Photo taken by Alice Boyd |
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| Sign for Barachuile Photo taken by Alice Boyd |
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| Kimelford church, where John was christened Photo taken by Alice Boyd |
One interesting thing to note is that in a photo of John in full kilt, he wears a tall feather, the sign of an armiger. My mother wrote, "John Cameron's character makes it unlikely that he would have worn the feather undeservedly, so it appears that he may have had noble roots. Also, a receipt for funds sent to Great Britain in 1861 shows him as John Cameron, Esq. Debrett's Peerage defines the use of Esquire as 'By the 14th century an esquire (armiger) practically attained equality with a knight, both in function and privileges.' The use of the title in England and Scotland indicated a person higher than a gentleman and lower than a knight. John was the oldest son in the family, so may have carried any hereditary titles due to the family. " For a frame of reference, seventy-two years before John's birth, the Clan Cameron had been on the frontlines in the Battle of Culloden. Cameron lands were forfeited for a time to the government and land clearances took place starting in 1801. The Industrial Revolution also contributed to social and economic upheaval.
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| John in his kilt |
When John was a young man, Scotland's economic situation was such that he found it neccessary to go to Glasgow to find work. Here, he met both his first wife, Margaret Fairgrieve, and the Mormon missionaries. 1845 was an important year for him - in April, he married and in October, he was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Three years later, he left with Margaret and his little daughter, Catherine, for the United States to gather with other LDS church members. He left behind his father, mother, sisters Hellen and Flora (they made a blanket for him before he left, which he treasured), brothers Malcolm, Duncan, Peter, and Alexander ("Sandy"). John would receive letters from both his brother Peter and brother-in-law James (Flora's husband), which have been preserved.
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| The blanket John's sisters made for him |
They arrived and went to Patterson, New Jersey. According to his great-grandson, John Henry Haslem, “In Patterson, they lived with Margaret's sister. John told his wife to not tell her sister they were Mormons as he knew their attitudes toward the Mormons. For a while she didn't, but she was so pleased with her membership that she finally told her sister, expecting her to be glad for her. Instead her sister ordered them out of their home.”
They did remain in New Jersey until 1852 when they (with the addition of a son, James Alexander) moved to Saint Louis, Missouri. His grandson George Henry Southam reports, “When they arrived in St. Louis, it was probably Friday night. They had enough money to buy food for his wife and two children and himself for one week, or else enough to pay for lodging for his family. They decided that they must have a place to live, so they spent every cent they had for lodging. He went out and got himself a job at his trade of shoemaking, but he could not start work until Monday. Being a faithful man, he located the Church, which was about nineteen blocks from where they lived. Sunday morning on his way to Church he found 25 cents in paper money lying on the board sidewalk. There were people coming and going all the way, but by the time he had reached the church, he had found enough money to feed his family for one week.”
In 1855, wife Margaret died. He married a second time to Mary McFall but she died in 1857. Here, too, John and Mary lost two daughters Margaret and Mary. Alice Parkinson was his third wife.
With Alice and his children by Margaret (Catherine and James), Mary (Robert), and Alice (John), and perhaps Alice's nephew William, they left for Salt Lake City in 1861. Along the way, another daughter Jennette, was born and John fell sick. As I wrote before, his daughter Catherine drove the wagon most of the way.
John and his family settled first in Round Valley, then Randolph, Utah. In the 1890s, he and daughter Catherine worked at the Salt Lake Temple and did temple work for their ancestors. It was there that he gave Catherine the advice she needed to continue in her medical work. “The first year after the Salt Lake City Temple was dedicated, (1893) she was working in the temple, assisting her father to do the work for their dead relatives. She told her father that she thought she should have to give up the work among the sick as she felt it was almost more than she was able to stand - to take care of her family and be out with the sick so much. Her father said, "Catherine, you are all that your mother has to represent her here on earth and you are only fulfilling your patriarchal blessing where it says that you shall be as a well of living water in a desert, and people shall flow unto you and call you blessed.” (information from Amy Gardiner and Dorothy Hein)
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| Salt Lake Temple |
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| My brother with John's knives, fork, coin purse, and shoes |
Visit my mother's website to learn a lot more about John Alexander Cameron and his ancestors and John's kilt and other heirlooms.
I have things in common with many of my ancestors, besides DNA, and John is definitely one of them.
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| Like John, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (photo of me and my brother on my baptism day) |
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| Like John, I've had to leave family and home and live far away. (photo of me and my dog, Gigi, at Colonial Williamsburg, taken by Adam Boyd, during a visit) |
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| Like John and Catherine, my Mom and I work at the temple (photo of the Oakland Temple, taken by me) |
Next week's challenge from No Story Too Small: "Week 13 (March 26 – April 1) – Different. What ancestor seems to be your polar opposite? What ancestor did something that seems completely different than what they “should” have done or what you would have done?" Boy, do I have a story for this one!
