from the farm by the sea - Seaton

Finding family names, making the connection, well it's arduous work.

I have struggled nearly every step of the way with my paternal side. Am thankful to have the further assistance of DNA matches, as most of this would have been impossible for me to do before.

WHY?
My father did not even know the first names of his grandparents.
My father did not even know his mother's birthday (it's the same day as my eldest son's!_
My father did not even know that his mother was born in Scotland, not Ireland, blocks away from where he himself was born.

I am reconstructing those broken ancestral walls, the ones in ruins, with windows to our shared past. I feel my ancestors come alive as I learn their names.



My latest find is the name SEATON - meaning - from the farm by the sea...the name whispers its romantic spirit, its connection to land and sea - a connection I am seeking.  It intrigues me that several members of this family worked on the sea, or worked on the farm. I don't know where this name fits in yet, I just know it is one of mine.  That is enough for now. To sit with this name, knowing that documents may fail me, but the promise of finding that connection drives me forward.

This will not be the first time I will write this, with the heavy feeling of tears pooling in my eyes...
I wish my father was still alive for this, so I could quietly whisper these names, and hold his hand, even as he slipped away.

The details I know:
SEATON possibilities:

Alexander Seaton, father of John Seaton who left county Tyrone in 1729 for Stafford Virginia. Could Alexander be my ancestor?
- Alexander would have been born in the mid-late 1600s, originally from Lethanty Scotland, and moved to Londonderry. Could this connect with the Douglas line?

George Seaton - Scotland
- immigrated to Virginia colony. Son James born c1690 in Stafford, his son was Captain James

DNA finds -- I have found tree matches for the following Stafford Virginia Seatons in SEVERAL trees:
James - 1723 Stafford Virginia - 7 Jun 1779 Carmichaels Greene PA
John Dishman - 16 Jul 1736 St Pauls Stafford Virginia - 24 Oct 1803 Farquier VA
William - 4 Oct 1743 St Pauls Stafford Virginia - 8 May 1782 Farquier VA

possible additional locations:
Dranity, Tyrone
Londonderry
Lethanty, Scotland

My 3 times great grandfather - Dougall McFarlane

Dougall (Dugal/Dugald/Dougal/Dougald) McFarlane (1815-1856)

born in Dunning, Perthshire Scotland
died along the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow

I always felt a sadness that resided in the anger my father often directed at me. In the year before he died, he expressed deep regret for this. I had long forgiven him as I knew this was key to living my best life.

Part of my genealogical search has been to understand where this sadness stems from, and ancestrally, I see my 3rd great grandfather as tied to this.

Dougall McFarlane was born to Elisabeth Garvie and Dougall McFarlane in 1815. The norm was to have a child baptized soon after birth, but in Dougall's case, there was a 5 month delay.  As I struggled to decipher the scrawled details of his baptismal record, it did become clear...

IN FORNICATION

Dougall was born outside of a marriage union. IN FORNICATION - a mark he could carry with him until his sad end.

Dougall married Margaret Christie in Perth, Perthshire in January of 1837, and according to his marriage bann, he was an apprentice baker at the time. He must have abandoned this for the security of manual labour, and was a saw sharpener by the 1841 census, and until he died.

DEATH BY SUICIDE - DROWNING

The official record. A kind armchair genealogist across the ocean sent me an article he had found. My Dougall had leapt to his death in front of horrified co-workers in October of 1856. He left behind several children and his wife, who'd all be left to their own devices to survive. The article mentioned a court case which has so far been left in the faded days of history.  Sadness. Anger. But overwhelming sadness.

I speak and write his name to help clear these particular ties. I cried when I found out the truth of his sad and desperate death. For a man unafraid of hard labour, whatever he was dealing with must have been monumentally crushing.

I think of him often, and then I think of my father, and the imprint our ancestral past manifesting in future generations - tucked deep in the DNA, brought back when my father's childhood essentially ended - Glasgow, not far from the banks of the Clyde, during World War 2 - in the sounds of night bombings and shattered glass...the breaking of wedding gifts my grandmother had proudly displayed in her dining area...shattered as they ran for their lives and tucked themselves into the bomb shelter my grandfather had built with the help of the neighbours in their back garden. Sadness that resides in anger when one hasn't the tools, nor the history, to express it.

2019

I've started and abandoned several blogs over the years, and was ready to start a new one, but am back to my original. I began this blog in 2005 - before I had children, several houses ago, 1000s of experiences ago. I came to realize I just want to document the things that are important to me, that I don't want to forget (and as my brain ages, and easy place to find what I am looking for.

 So moving forward, am going to evolve the blog, rather than start something completely new. There may be an overlap with my professional work as a registered massage therapist and acupuncturist, and now also as a certified herbalist. I still love to travel, and cook, and live gently. Last year, my passion for genealogy was fully lit, ignited, unstoppable.

Parts of this blog will house my genealogical finds and frustrations. Honouring my ancestors. I realize the whole theme broadly speaks to connection, and part of this process is connecting to the past as well. It feels good to write again, to be past all of the examinations and just type it all out.