Arriving in America Late in Life: Last Sister in Scotland
Mary Ann Robertson: 1864-1947 (Great-grandaunt)
Mary Ann Robertson was the only sister of great-grandmother
Jane Ann Robertson, the youngest of William Robertson and Helen Wood’s four
children. Born March 21, 1864 in Dundee, Scotland, Mary Ann never married and
seems to have lived with her parents in Dundee until their deaths.
However, she didn’t remain in Scotland. According to Mary Ann’s death certificate,
she died in the United States on July 13, 1947 at the age of 84 and 3 months.
She apparently was living with her nephew Andrew Aird and sister Jane Robertson
Aird at the family home at 2690 Wreford Avenue in Detroit till her death.
So when did she arrive in America? Her death certificate
provided a surprising answer. In
response the question of “Length of Stay in this Community”, respondent Andrew
Aird reported 26 years. This means Mary Ann emigrated from Scotland around 1921
when she was about 57. That seems a bit old to decide to cross an ocean and
settle in Detroit. Why did she choose to emigrate so late in life?
I searched for verification of her years in America. I found
her on the 1940 census living with her sister Jane, along with Jane’s daughter
Isabella and son Andrew. However she was not listed on the enumeration for
Jane’s household at the time of the 1930 census. So where was she?
A census search found her living with another of Jane’s
children, David Aird and his wife and child. Her occupation was listed as
“Household helper” so presumably she helped David’s wife.
I searched immigration records and found Mary Ann’s arrival at Ellis Island June 26, 1920 aboard the ship Columbia. According to the arriving passenger list, Mary Ann, listed as Mary Robertson, was 54 years and 10 months of age, and was 5 feet two inches with fair skin, grey hair and grey eyes. She stated that her destination was Detroit, where her sister Jane Aird lived, and her length of stay was “permanent”.
Curiously, she listed her
occupation as “housewife” despite being a life-long spinster. I was surprised
that the person she listed as the “nearest relative or friend” back in Scotland
was not one of her brothers, but her cousin, Mrs. Jane Watson of 6 Taits Lane,
Dundee. The other shock was that she was unable to read or write!
I was left with many questions. Since she claimed to be a
“housewife”, I suspected she had cared for her parents as they aged in Dundee. Had
she never attended school? Was this why she couldn’t read or write? Or did she
just read and write at a very low level?
I decided to go back to Scotland records to see when Mary
Ann’s parents died. Did their deaths prompt her decision to join her sister in
Detroit? Sadly, neither Family Search nor Ancestry has death records or dates
for either William Robertson or Helen/Ellen Wood Robertson. They both appear on
the 1871 census. William is a 43 year old “fireman” and Helen is 41. They are
living at 17 Ryehill Lane in St. Peter, Forfarshire. They also appear on the
1881 census; at that point William has been promoted to foundry foreman. However,
they appear to have died before the 1891 census, which finds Mary Ann living
with sister Jane, her husband James Aird, and their four children on Lawrence
St. in Dundee. Mary Ann is employed as a factory worker.
Mary Ann is still living with sister Jane and brother-in-law
James Aird at the time of the 1901 census. She is listed as working as a jute
weaver. I found a second 1901 census record showing Mary Ann boarding with a
family named Chalmers, still working as a jute weaver. I suspect both Marys are
the same person—she must have moved out after the Aird household completed the
census, and before the Chalmers household was interviewed.
I also looked at other family members. Jane and Mary Ann had
two brothers, Thomas and James. At the time of the 1871 census, Thomas had
already left home and was working as a baker and boarding with at 21 Millers
Road with a family near his workplace. He went on to marry and raise a large
family with two wives. His first wife, Jessie, died in 1881, so by the time of
the 1881 census he was a widower with four children living with his parents,
sister Jane and her new husband James Aird, and unmarried sister Mary Ann.
Presumably the extended family was providing childcare while he continued to
work as a baker. He then remarried to Margaret Smith and moved and moved to
Liff and Benvie. I find no records to indicate Mary Ann ever boarded with him.
Her other brother, James Robertson, died suddenly in 1897 at
age 38, so he hadn’t been able to assist her over the years. It seems like she
had been on her own for many years.
I wish I could ask Mary Ann what motivated her to move to
America. What a terrifying prospect it must have been to leave behind
everything and everyone you knew to travel across the ocean and then travel
across several states to reach a sister she hadn’t seen in nearly twenty years.
Perhaps fear explains her reluctance to emigrate for so long. While Mary Ann
may have been slow to make her decision, she was brave to undertake it at
nearly 55 years of age.
Sources:
Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital
Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records. Accessed with
Ancestry.com.
The National Archives and Records Administration;
Washington, D.C.; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at and Departing
from Ogdensburg, New York, 5/27/1948 - 11/28/1972; Microfilm Serial or NAID:
T715, 1897-1957, Description Ship or Roll Number: Columbia. Accessed on
Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYT715_2787-0047?pId=4036301205
“Beyond ‘Juteopolis’: Dundee’s changing economic landscape.”
By Gillian Sharpe. BBC Scotland. 7 July 2013. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-23105283
