James Douglas' family names

James Douglas (ca 1820 - 1891) was the son of William Douglas and Margaret Usher. He married Barbara Riddell (1830-1904), daughter of John Riddell and Helen Scott.

The two had six children together that I am aware of:

• Margaret Usher Douglas
• Helen Scott Douglas
• William George Douglas
• John Riddell Douglas
• Thomas Lunn Douglas
• Barbara Douglas

The first four names come from the names of their parents. The last two were named after James' step father (Thomas Lunn) and Barbara. But the interesting thing is where the name George comes from in William George Douglas? Could that be a clue to another family name?

X00038 William Douglas Passenger List - Solved!

I finally managed to find a passenger list for William Douglas, my fourth great-grandfather.

I knew that he was born in Scotland and from the letters that he had sent, had relocated to Vermont to teach at a school there. I checked a number of passenger and immigration lists, including Filby's, but couldn't find anything.

I did find a mention in Volume 2 of A Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants to the U.S.A. by Donald Whyte:

All of the other information checked out, and it gave a date of "before 1825". I next was able to find a reference to a William Douglas, teacher, who arrived in New York from Scotland on the Sceptre on 24 July 1822.

Here is the port registration for the Sceptre:

And here's the actual passenger list:

X00036 William Douglas Death Information - Solved!

William Douglas is my fourth great-grandfather. He was born in Scotland in the late 1700s and moved to Vermont in the 1820s. I know that he died in November 1829 thanks to a letter from his brother that is in the Owen Sound archives. I have not been able to find any death record for him, even though there are some death records in Vermont that survive from that time period.

I did manage to find a death notice in the Northern Spectator (Poultney, Vermont) from 9 December 1829:

Which confirms the date of death given in the letter (albeit being off by a day - the letter says 15 November 1829, whereas the newspaper article says 14 November 1829).