Brick Wall - researching Grahams from Holytown, Scotland who immigrated to Canada

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 2 (Challenge)

This week I focus on the first brick wall I encountered in my attempt to collect broken branches in my fractured family tree which resembles a bramble bush more then a proper tree.

When I got my first ancestry account I sat down to enter what I knew, or at least what I thought I knew. We hear stories about our families from a very young age, and we believe what we hear. It's only when we start to enter the information we have been provided that we become unsure what is fact and what is family lore. 


I grew up not knowing my grandfather on my mother's side. He left the family before I was born. I did hear stories about him, and my grandmother knew a lot about the family.  His mother (my mom's grandmother) was very involved with the family until she died when I was a teenager. She also shared stories. I had kept notes over the years of the details she had given me. Having not actually known my grandfather I was very interested in hearing her stories, and thought I had a lot of details. 

My grandpa John Robert (Jack) and his dad Robert (Bob)


Back to my first entries on my brand new paid for Ancestry account.  I was super excited to enter the details about what I knew to see how far back I could get. When I entered the name Bob Graham born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1906 exactly as my grandmother told me his details were - nothing happened. No little green leaf hints. Nothing. I then clicked search, but still nothing happened. I was super disappointed.  I then entered my great grandmother's information noting them as divorced, but still no information about their marriage or anything. I was stumped, but not willing to give up.

I went to the Manitoba vital statistics page to see if they had a record of a marriage license for my great grandparents. They did so I sent away for it. Then I waited for what seemed a very long time, but was likely only a few weeks. When it arrived I was shocked to see my great grandfather was not born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and his full name was Robert Graham. He had been born in Holytown, Scotland, and came to Canada when he was 5 years old with his parents and two  sisters. I also noticed that one of the witnesses was Margaret Graham. Guessing this was Bob's sister I added her details along with the birthdate, location and parents names that were in the marriage license. When I clicked save I got my first green leaf hint for my mom's paternal grandfather. With the addition of parents, a sister, and his proper details the available documents provided 9 siblings for my great grandfather. This one document broke through my first brick wall.

Quite quickly I was able to go up two more generations in my family tree before I was stuck again. With how easy those next two generations had been to find I had envisioned being back to the Clan Graham's Marquis or Earl or someone equally as cool in just a few weeks. Alas this was not to be. I was stuck again. I posted in the discussion forum that I was stuck, and a gentleman shared birth records for 4 children (one appeared to be for my 4th great grandfather) where the parents were recorded as Peter Graham and Ann(e) Kirk. The records were from Scotland's People. I entered the information, and waited for the hints to arrive. They didn't. 2 years passed, and still I waited.

I took a free online course from the University of Strathclyde via FutureLearn. I realized some of my research techniques and source citations were lacking. I had been pondering whether the child of Peter Graham and Ann(e) Kirk was really my X4 great grandfather. The actual record only stated a birthdate and gender with no first name. Graham is a super common name is Scotland.  It could be any child really. I decided to start a brand new tree using my newly found understanding of reasonable exhaustive search.

I began all over with a brand new tree. And traveling up the Graham line ended up right back to where I had been before with Peter Graham & Ann(e) Kirk. Two more times I removed the parents and siblings from my X4 great grandfather Robert Graham to search all over again.  Both times I searched, and put Peter Graham & Ann(e) Kirk back in as parents.

Finally Ancestry DNA came to the rescue. A few months ago we had a match to descendants of Robert's (my X4 great grandfather) older brother James. Using the shared cm project (link at the end) the amount of shared DNA matches to the paper trees relationship. I added a note to both Peter Graham & Ann(e) Kirk entry in my tree reminding myself not to delete them from my tree again 'they really are your X5 great grandparents'.
On the one hand I am happy to have found my X5 great grandparents. On the other hand I have been trying to break through this brick wall for the past 5 years. I am no further ahead today then I was then.

Maybe you can help?

Looking for Grahams who immigrated to Canada from Holytown, Scotland in 1911.

My great great grandparents Robert Graham & Jessie Crawford Gray


Robert Graham

BIRTH 23 DEC 1883 • Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 13 JAN 1929 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
and
Jessie Crawford Gray
BIRTH 23 JUNE 1884 • Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 17 JULY 1952 • Manitoba, Canada.

Parents for Robert (23 Dec 1883) above are: 

Robert Graham

BIRTH ABT 1851 • Carluke, Lanarkshire

DEATH BEFORE 1905 • Scotland, United Kingdom

and

Margaret (Maggie) Burt

BIRTH ABT 1854 • Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire

DEATH 14 JULY 1933 • 61 Church St, Newharthill, Scotland

parents for Robert (birth abt 1851) above are:

Robert Graham

BIRTH 16 JAN 1814 • Thornhill, Closeburn, Dumfries-shire, Scotland

DEATH 24 MAR 1892 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland: Heathland

and

Susanah (Susan) Hamilton

BIRTH 1814 • Carnwath, Lanarkshire

DEATH Unknown

parents for Robert (16 Jan 1814) above are: 

Peter Graham

BIRTH ABT 1788 • Closeburn, Dumfriesshire

DEATH Unknown

and

Ann(e) Kirk

BIRTH ABT 1785

DEATH Unknown

Using Scottish naming patterns I am guessing that Peter's parents were James & Elizabeth, and Ann(e)'s parents were Robert & Mary. This family line does use Scottish naming patterns, but the flaw in my guessing is that I am unsure that I have a record of all their children. I only have records for 4 children of Peter & Ann(e). I can't be sure the names are relevant for Scottish naming patterns usage. 

My BRICK WALL Peter Graham and Ann(e) Kirk.

Any assistance you can offer is much appreciated

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Link to the shared cm project chart
https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_statistics?fbclid=IwAR0WKQcmklA6j84kOA_GGL5lMHKuuyQtGtvAsmjCsrCJqWKFXL1KhCz-fBE#/media/File:Shared_cM_version_3.jpg

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