28th: Surrogate's Court Notice

What a wonderful happenstance find today.
Dick Eastman's newsletter mentioned the Fulton History site and its newspapers.
So I popped in a search for FAIRBAIRN and Delaware to see what would pop out.
By some miracle of modern technology, one of the items I got was a Surrogate's Court Notice for a list of people, presumed to be beneficiaries of Barbara FAIRBAIRN otherwise known as FAIRCHILD, requesting their attendance at the probate of her last will and testament.
Managed to identify everyone listed, and as a result, also realised I'd not found some of them in later records.
The family of Thomas & Anna SCOTT have now advanced to 1920 for Anna and two of the daughters (Vernona/Verona, and Beatrice) but lost them all again after that. Also added a husband and child for Viola (George C and Kenneth G HINMAN respectively) by the 1930 census. In the 1910 census George says he's been married 4 times, in 1930 he says he was first married at age 28, which makes him marrying 4 times between about 1906 and 1910. And in what looks like his death in Connecticut in 1950 the index says "never married", but wife Viola's death in 1964 shows her as widower, husband George.
Nothing like a good mystery - anyone out there interested in George C HINMAN, born NY about 1875/8, foreman in sewing machine factory. Parents either both b NY, or father b CT, mother b PA.

18th: Sorting out the Roberts; Another HENDERSON

While looking for something else, I happened upon the Californian death index entry in 1986 for Robert Howard FAIRBAIRN. Which surprised me somewhat as I had him dying in 1950, albeit with a bit of a question mark as he was mentioned in a family diary in 1955.
With a bit more digging, and finally getting round to examining the rest of the Minnesota death certs that turned up, which I had coincidentally ordered recently, I came to the conclusion that there were 3 Robert FAIRBAIRNs in this family, only two of whom were actually in my db.
Father Robert Safley F. was the one who had died in 1950, instead of the 1935 I'd entered for him.
Son (from his 2nd marriage to Alice) Robert Safley F. was the 1935 death - rather tragic really, a 10 yr old who had an accident, which proved fatal, at his father's well drilling operation.
Older son Robert Howard F. (from his 2st marriage to Barbara FAIRCHILD, a cousin), has therefore to be the 1986 one.
I hadn't entered the younger Robert at all as a census entry implied he belonged to Alice rather than Robert, but his death cert states his father as Robert.
So, if the census entry was wrong about Robert, they may also be wrong about his sister Lorraine too. She appears to have married a Wendell William McNEILL in Cottonwood Co, Minnesota, and died in Dakota Co, Minnesota.
Perhaps someone can confirm I've the right Lorraine? Mother Alice FAIRBAIRN, formerly BENSON nee COUSINS?

And to cap off the day, found an entry in my guestbook that added to the HENDERSON tribe. A previously unknown to me dtr to William HENDERSON and Marian Glen AITKEN.

Also brought a few more of the newfound ROWE branch up to 1901, the GLANVILLE connection (Frank Josephus Richard GLANVILLE married Sarah Ann PARSONS).

The three affected descendant charts have all been updated: Rowe, Fairbairn, Henderson.

2nd: Rogues gallery

Added a (small) rogues gallery of FAIRBAIRN photos to the FAIRBAIRN family page. It only includes those already on their respective person pages, but does include one new one, that of Mary Joan LAWLESS nee FAIRCHILD's from Jim in Florida (5th cousin once removed).
Thanks Jim, I'll get round to adding the rest of the LAWLESS line in some year, but I did make a start from your data, and some that I had from census data etc. already, but not added to the db.

See FAIRBAIRNDNA project diary for some changes there from early records trying to figure out if there are any clues to be found on how to link the dna matched families (not a lot was the answer).

Jun 28, 2008: Mattie in Moorcroft or Modesto?

I've admitted defeat - I cannot find what happened to Mattie FAIRCHILD, dtr of John and Lucinda (BOYCE) FAIRCHILD.
Known info: mentioned as the surviving daughter of Lucinda when she died in 1908, as Mrs J E SULLIVAN of Moorcroft, Wyoming. Mentioned by Grandma VIELE (so pre 1956), as last heard of in Modesto, California, as a nurse.
May have been called Winifred.
RootsWeb WorldConnect db updated, wont be available for searches for up to 36 hours, so use the facility to jump straight to database LornaHenderson

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 5th, 2008: The army and John F. didn't agree

John, son of James and Joan (FORSYTH) FAIRBAIRN is now on the web, with what I suspect could be the reason for his name change from FAIRBAIRN to 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.