My brick wall ancestor is Archibald Thomson Thomson-13206 (b. Bet. 1846–1851 in Scotland d. 25 Jan 1896 in Streator, La Salle, Illinois, USA) Records don't agree on his age at death. He married Bef. 1876 likely in IL to Jennette N. Losh (b.19 Oct 1855 in Ohio, USA [family was migrating from Pendleton County, Virginia(now WV)] d. 24 Dec 1923 in Peoria, Peoria, Illinois, USA. She had remarried to Fred Crone before her death.
Available records are:
- 1880 United States Federal Census
- 1914 Marriage register of son William H.
- 1946 Death Index of son James Edward
- 1937 Death Index of son Archibald B.
- FindaGrave entry created by me (no stone ever purchased)
- 1970 Obituary of daughter Anna Pearl
- US Social Security application of son Robert Burns
- 1881 US Naturalization intent (I have the image) Contains only his name.
- 1884 US Naturalization acceptance (I have the image) Contains only his name.
- 1896 Illinois, La Salle County, "Register of Deaths" (I have the images) No useful origin information.
- 1896 Death Certificate (I have the image) No useful origin information.
- 1892 Marriage License of daughter Minnie [Mary] Thomson (I have the image)
- 1909 Marriage Licsens of daughter Anna Pearl (I have the image)
- 1896 Newspaper article about his death (I have the image) Says he was about 45.
- 1896 Newspaper article about his funeral services (I have the image)
Never found records:
- 1870 US Census - I believe he arrived after 1870.
- Abt. 1875 Marriage record - Year estimated on the birth of their first child in 1876. I believe they were married in IL as her parents had some of their youngest children in IL and some siblings also had children in the Streator, IL area before moving to Iowa.
- Never located ship record - Too many men named Archibald Thomson in his age range from Scotland were arriving during that timeframe.
Determined to resolve this, I went back to DNA, and have amassed some 30 or so descendant DNA matches on Ancestry alone. Recently I contacted them to ask them to share results on Ancestry. I now have access to four additional cousin kits (3 are siblings) in addition to my mother's.
Using the other kits I've located a cluster of DNA matches that sometimes match other known descendant kits as descendants of Archibald Bell and Margaret Lawrie from the Lanarkshire, Scotland and Stirlingshire, Scotland areas. I've tied a cluster of at least 16 matches and 10 confirmed to this couple so far. I am actively researching these lines at this time. At least a research has set son Archibald B.'s middle initial to stand for Bell. I have not located the source of that information yet.
Based on the date ranges, I strongly believe this couple is my Archibald's maternal grandparents.
They had at least 9 known children that can be documented from Scotland Census records dating 1841-1861. The identified DNA matches connect to 5 of the children so far. Many reuse the name Archibald in their descendant lines.
There is a daughter Ann Bell b. 1825 who is my current likely candidate for Archibald's mother but I have located only one record for her, the 1851 Scotland Census where she appears with her parents and sibling in Stirlingshire, Scotland at age 26. She is missing from the 1841 Scotland Census of the family though the other siblings all appear. I have not located a marriage record.
I had not found any connection with the Thomson surname until the 1861 Scotland Census for Archibald Bell which lists a John Thomson age 13, grandson, born in Ayrshire, Scotland.
This was a very recent discovery so I haven't dug as heavily on it. This John may be a brother to my Archibald. He may be the one appearing on the 1871 Census living with an Aunt Jane Welsh (She is not a known Bell daughter and I haven't yet been able to determine her maiden name). He may also be the one on the 1891 Census with two sons, James and John. And boarding on the 1901 Census with the Norwood family.
With this very recent DNA breakthrough, I need advice on finding more records (marriage, births, etc.) for these regions of Scotland. I've never gotten this far before so I am completely unfamiliar with the records that might be available on sights other than Ancestry and FamilySearch.
All links above are to Ancestry.com records and likely require a subscription.
