14th: More Canadians

Betsy has made contact with a branch of our FAIRBAIRNs (descendants of David F. and Jane HERD) in British Columbia. This prompted me to review what records I hadn't yet checked for this line.
Missing was the now available 1916 census for Saskatchewan, so I've finally found the names of the 3 in the family I knew I was missing.
The FAIRBAIRN chart from Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN has therefore now been updated.

FamilyTree DNA have advertised an upgrade promotion. Those eligible should receive an email with more details and a link to order at a discounted price (I've yet to see such an email, but the flier I received as an admin says that is what will happen). The promotion runs for a week and should be a good chance to upgrade where we would very much like to see what happens in some specific markers.

Check out the FAIRBAIRN DNA Blog for more results for the New York connection, which is looking good!

17th: A match - and theory proven

More Fairbairns of course.
Today I received the preliminary dna results for Doug, a descendant of the miller Robert FAIRBAIRN of Vegreville, Alberta, son of an Archibald of Scotland and Jane of England. 12/12 with the presumed descendant of my Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN via their son Archibald.
This latter Archibald had a son Archibald baptised in St Boswells in 1813, whom I had assumed, until recently, to have died prior to 1841.
However I had been researching more Ontario and Alberta FAIRBAIRNs and one lot led back to an Archibald and Jane (BLAKEY) whom I thought just might be the couple marrying in Tynemouth in 1841. That marriage cert showed Archibald as son of a gardener, Archibald. Age fitted, occupation of father possible, but not previously known.
Only 12 markers so far, but a perfect match with the representative of the line of Archibald and Janet (SCOTT) FAIRBAIRN, which Archibald I believe is the son of my Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN.
Oh it would be so good to find a known, proven representative of Archibald and Alison to truly confirm this, but for now, I'll rest on my laurels for a while at having proven another theory, and placed the Ontario/Alberta family in the overall tree.

Descendant chart for Archibald and Alison updated, more to follow, particularly on the DNA Projects Portal site (check the dna blogs for further data when it is available, there's a list of them on the overall DNA Projects Portal Blog).

28th: Addenda - a bit of Hope

While casting around for any additional Archibald FAIRBAIRN info I may have missed that might shed light on whether or not I had the likely correct father for the Archibald FAIRBAIRN who married Jane BLAKEY 1841 Tynemouth, NBL, I happened on the family of Jane HOPE again.
Several months back when Betsy and I were in a flurry of catch up activity on the fate of the descendants of Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Alison CROSSER, we found an Archibald and Robert FAIRBAIRN living with Robert FAIRBAIRN in Richmond, Lennox & Addington, Ontario in 1851, and of an age to be his grandchildren.
At the time it looked like they might be the children of a Jane wife of John HOPE who showed up in the New York census of 1850 with an Isabella C HOPE, presumed to be a dtr, and a Robert and Archibald FAIRBAIRN.
Back then we hadn't found any further believable information on the family other than it looked like Isabella had married in Ontario to a Daniel shown as FOSTER on his marriage cert, but with parents named FOOTE.
Today I stumbled upon the death of this assumed grandchild Archibald in Napanee, Lennox & Addington, indexed as FAILAW. It was only thanks to the LDS Record Search Pilot that I found him as they had an index to the Ontario deaths, and had him as FAIRBURN instead.
Although the entry is pretty unclear, I could make FAIRBAIRN out of it with a tail wind and a bit of luck - but mostly because the informant was given as "mother of the deceased, Jane HOPE, of Napanee".
I also found Isabella this time round. Previously I'd been searching under her married name of FOSTER, and/or FOOT(E) to no avail.
Mum's Scottish upbringing about women keeping their own names held, as her death was indexed on ancestry as Catherine Gabell HOPE, again, informant, "mother of the deceased, Jane HOPE, of Napanee", with Catherine's occupation shown as wife of Daniel FOOTE. (The actual entry looks more like Catherine Isabella HOPE to me.)
Poor Jane, she lost two adult children within the space of a few short months, both to consumption, and registered them both on the same day, several months later.
I've not found Daniel FOSTER/FOOTE's death as yet.
All in all, this did rather reinforce my supposition that Jane is actually Jane FAIRBAIRN, dtr of Robert and Kate FAIRBAIRN of Napanee, particularly with the newfound reversal of Isabella's name to put the Catherine first, as that would make Jane's first dtr a Catherine/Kate after her mother.
Robert is supposed to have a dtr Jane according to the Scottish Emigration to Canada pre-Confederation information, but it is somewhat unclear as to whether this Jane is her, or the wife of an as yet unidentified FAIRBAIRN son of Robert and Kate's, given that it looks like she had two FAIRBAIRN sons prior to her marriage to John HOPE.
On balance, I've decided she is the dtr Jane, and next WorldConnect db updates she will show as such. It is possible that Robert might be the son of David FAIRBAIRN and Jane HERD, Jane HOPE's nephew, but we'll likely never prove that.
In the meantime I've updated the descendant chart for Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN.
Still to prove however, is that Robert really is a son of Archibald and Alison - any male FAIRBAIRN descendants out there for the dna project?

Sep 8, 2008: What defines a "cousin"?

Earliest known ancestor for Walter is a John FAIRBAIRN, his son was John A Sr, married to Charity SMITHSON.
Clarissa is a descendant of David & Jane (WILLIAMSON) FAIRBAIRN, David being brother of William (marr. Jean WANLESS) FAIRBAIRN (see FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project for link to Archibald (marr. Alison CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN).
Census data shows Walter as "cousin" to Clarissa's father David, but also David as "cousin" to Walter's father William George.
Yesterday I stumbled upon a reference to papers donated to the University of North Dakota by a Lawrence D FAIRBAIRN, born Montana and decided to investigate. He turned out to be the son of Angus U(rquhart?) FAIRBAIRN, and therefore a descendant of David and Jane (WILLIAMSON) FAIRBAIRNs. Further web searches led me to assorted Eatonville papers of Washington State that reported the daily goings on of the community, including that Mr and Mrs John A FAIRBAIRN of Hoquiam had been visiting, John being stated as cousin of Angus.
No surprise there, John and the above Walter being related, as were Angus and Clarissa.
But when I added a search of my previous correspondence about Hoquiam into the mix, I was reminded that a couple of years ago Joe and I had swapped info on the family of John in Hoquiam, and Joe had said that his grandfather Albert's 1938 obit stated that John A in Hoquiam was his cousin. Albert had emigrated from Liverpool to Hoquiam early 1900s, his line works back to a Robert who married an Elizabeth TAYLOR in Newcastle on Tyne 1811 but came from Sunderland himself.
Given Robert's son John is demonstrably in England until 1851 at least, he isn't a candidate for the John A family.
So "cousins" is obviously a loosely defined term by current usage, and presents an interesting puzzle to solve.
FAIRBAIRN web page updated to include a descendant chart for the Cousins of the Cousins.
Once again, any dna project takers?

Jun 6, 2008: Even fewer James'

Another very successful FAIRBAIRN day, culminating in 3 fewer James FAIRBAIRNs in my database.
For some reason I decided to check the actual marriage entry for Alison, dtr of James and Joan (FORSYTH) FAIRBAIRN. What a bonus. She was described as of Melrose bridge bar, and a few entries down the page was a James FAIRBAIRN of the same place, marrying an Elizabeth LAIDLAW. I'd stumbled across James' 2nd marriage!
I then found I already had James and Elizabeth in 1851, but hadn't known who she was, so had never connected them, but had tentatively identified that James as the one an Elizabeth LAIDLAW or FAIRBAIRN, relict of James of Lantonhall, and if that held, he was highly likely to also be the James F. who erected a headstone to his uncle James CROSSER. So, all these James' have now been combined, and James FAIRBAIRN's web page updated.
Several more twigs have been identified from US census records as well, and more snippets received from Melinda to add to the picture of our Civil War veteran, John FAIRBAIRN aka FAIRCHILD.

Jun 2, 2008: SAFLEY/SAFELY does it

Major update to the FAIRBAIRN, (or should I say FAIRCHILD?) tree. About a month ago I was contacted by a lady with FAIRBAIRNs in Iowa but I couldn't spot any immediate connection. Sanna, bless her cotton socks, dug out an old message I'd posted to help someone else with some Iowa FAIRBAIRN data and kept me in the loop when she found more.
Betsy kept digging, turning up FAIRBAIRN/SAFLEY cousins marrying FAIRCHILD cousins between a family of a James and of a David, in Ontario and Iowa/Nebraska/Connecticut/Washington ++. Then she got back in touch, having found my plea for "what happened to this family - that of the James in Selkirk in 1841 with children named Alison, Archibald etc.
Both her David and her James had children named Alison and Archibald, the family stories for her James matched by name, date and age, the family in Selkirk in 1841. With a lot more digging, over the space of the last couple of days, we've confirmed what happened to David and James, sons of Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Alison CROSSER.
The FAIRBAIRN family tree has grown somewhat as a result.
And even better, one of the prior researchers of the American line has reminiscences from "Grandma Viele", which bring them to life, and photos, some of which will gradually be added to the web.
In the meantime I've added one of the newfound Archibald FAIRBAIRNs to the web pages to add a bit of colour to the family story.
Watch this space.

Mar 7, 2008: FAIRBAIRN DNA match

What an eventful day, genealogically speaking. Yesterday the preliminary 12 marker results arrived in for the 3rd kit of the FAIRBAIRN DNA project and to my surprise, showed a 12/12 match with both of the other 2 participants, neither of whom had ever been seriously considered as relations.
Sure, I'd speculated at times that, despite what others had said, that the William who married Jane WANLESS and the David who married Jane WILLIAMSON, who had emigrated to Quebec, might be the children of my Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Alison CROSSER, purely on the basis of naming patterns of their children, and approximate ages, but proof was definitely lacking.
Then today, the rest of the results arrived showing a full 37/37 match with the descendant of Archibald and Mary (GRIERSON) FAIRBAIRN, and a 36/37 match with a descendant of my Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN.
I've spent a lot of today re-examining assorted claims and OPRs and will soon update the patriarchs page of the Surname project to reflect my findings, combining them as best I can with details reported to me, leaving exactly where they fit into the overall tree for another day, and possibly an upgraded dna test or two.
I'm still very drawn to attaching them to an Archibald as a father, but it would now have to be the one married to Mary GRIERSON instead. A 1790 date for William would fit in between two known children both baptised St Boswells but at different farms, and a 1799 date for David would definitely fit in between 1793 Margaret baptised when they were at Thornylaw, St Boswells, and 1804 George by when they had moved to Macksidemoor, Southdean.
As to the rumoured/believed connection to Sir William FAIRBAIRN's family via his schoolmaster uncle....
I believe that schoolmaster to be the William married to Margaret SCOTT. He was teaching at Bowden from 1778 to 1789 and from 1792 thru 1798 children are now being baptised in Galashiels. This latter period would fit the dates when Sir William was supposedly learning book-keeping from his Uncle in Gala.
In addition, this William looks very like the 53 yr old buried in the Galashiels Old Kirk Cemetery in 1810, which date coincides very nicely with the baptism of the William, son of John FAIRBAIRN and Helen ANDERSON, Apr 1756, Smailholm.
All in all, an eventful day indeed. It is wonderful to know that the work I have sporadically done on the descendants of William and David in Quebec has not been in vain, and that they are indeed all relations, just not sure where yet! Maybe one day soon we'll also figure out how come Walter A FAIRBAIRN is a cousin to his wife Clarissa. I now have more of a vested interest in the answer to that.
In the meantime, I've updated the FAIRBAIRN introductory page to include charts for William and David.
The other charts will also now include some new twigs for the family of John FAIRBAIRN and Bessie FLINT, and Robert FAIRBAIRN and Agnes LANDRETH/LAUNDRESS found while looking for others.

Dec 17, 2007: Win some? Lose some?

Well, I'm not sure if this DNA result is going to add or subtract people from the family tree!
The final link to Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Alison CROSSER from one side of the test results is an unproven link, based purely on date/place proximity and naming patterns of the children of Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Janet SCOTT. I've reviewed this in light of subsequent research on the chap I believe to be the DNA match. On balance I still think it looks and feels right in the absence of any evidence to the contrary.
Any other FAIRBAIRN descendants out there to help confirm this? I've not traced any of the other lines from Archibald and Alison down to present day, so am short of candidates at the moment, but it would be fantastic if someone else would participate in the FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project to aid these conclusions.
A male FAIRBAIRN descendant of Walter FAIRBAIRN and Agnes ROBERTSON would be great, or if anyone has a James, John or David born mid/late 1790s around Morebattle....
My research to date peters out before living people, the nearest candidates I currently know of would be children of:
Archibald FAIRBAIRN and Charlesina PHIMISTER, or their son Archibald (born Glasgow, died Jersey) who married Agnes Watt Gladstone FYFE.
Henry FAIRBAIRN and Emma Maud HANNEY, living Hampstead in 1901, with a 1 yr old son Stanley.
Walter Edward FAIRBAIRN and Davina Oswald MacDONALD: son Henry Edward F. was living in Edinburgh in 1930 when father died.
Walter FAIRBAIRN and Elizabeth ROY: two sons still alive in 1901 (Haltwhistle, Northumberland), a Walter and a John

If the other side of the match is who I think he might be, his email didn't bounce, BUT I think he died back in March.
However, researching this chap's family took me back from California to Melrose, and to Whitsome and Hilton, Berwickshire, and another Archibald FAIRRBAIRN, the one married to Mary GIESSEN. The two Archibalds are of an age, and having simultaneous families, so cannot be one and the same people. Both have sons named Archibald, one is my Walter's younger brother, so at least 2nd son in my family's case, but likely to be the first son in the other family.
My current theory is therefore that these two Archibalds share a grandfather via brothers Walter and Archibald, who will likely never be found, more's the pity.

Wonder what the rest of the results of the DNA testing will show up? All very exciting to find a match so quickly, and with only one participant!
I will update the Patriarchs page of the DNA project with a lineage of the second Archibald shortly, and possibly include some notes on my site's FAIRBAIRN page.