1685 Andrew Fortay and Sephiah Laing - Forgan, Fife, Scotland

Going back as far as we have records in the Fortie line we find that it is not Fortie but Fortay, as in Andrew Fortay. The information is a bit sketchy but we will start there.

Based on a marriage record Andrew was most likely born in or near Forgan, Fife, Scotland somewhere around 1685 to 1690.
Sephiah Laing was probably born around 1690 also near or in Forgan, Fife, Scotland. No more information is known.

The marriage record from Scotland (I don't know in what church they were married in yet) tells us that Andrew Fortay and Sephiah Laing were married in Forgan Fife Scotland on 30 November 1704.

We have no death date for either person but a normal life would have taken them to about 1850 to 1860. 

They had 5 or 6 children, 2 or 3 girls and 3 boys. I say 2 or 3 girls because one was born a year before they were married and the second was born 10 months after their marriage. The first child has a different last name (not the mothers maiden name) but is close enough that it could have been a misreading of Fortay. Also the first names are very close (though the same name was often used if the first child died as an infant, in order to avoid a name tax for a new name). The day and month of christening is exactly the same just two years apart (1703 and 1705 and 3's and 5's can sometimes be misread). Here is the information we have so far:
1. girl - Christean Faley, christened 9 September 1703.
2. girl - Christian Fortay, christened 9 September 1705.


So, there was possibly a different father and/or marriage before their marriage and the two girls are separate or the two similar names are actually the same person.
3. Anyway, the third (or second) child was a boy, John Fortay, christened 13 March 1707.
4. The fourth (or third) child was their last girl, named Agnass Fortay, christened 1 May 1709.
5. Then they had their fifth (or fourth) child, another boy, named Alexander Fortay (my ancestor). My genealogy records say he was born in 1710 and was christened 15 April 1711 (this christening date seems to be rather far from the birthday (the babies are usually christened within days of birth to avoid having the child die without being blessed which would send it straight to purgatory - according to their beliefs.) I'm not sure why this year was put in as the birth year and I don't have a birth year for the others (this is all from genealogy that has already been done but no sources were given). I haven't seen the actual records to know the accuracy of this information.
6. Their last child was another boy named Patrick Fortay, who was christened 28 February 1714.
All the children were born in Forgan and other than that there is no further information about this family. We have no other locations or any death dates for any of them.

St Fillans Church in Forgan

St Fillans Church

A small church or memorial in the center of a graveyard in Forgan where many people from the area were buried. It was nearly six centuries old when Andrew and Sephiah were married. I don't have a record of where they were married but if not here then perhaps a larger church nearby. There are other newer churches along the coast on the north edge of Forgan in a few towns where they could have lived.

Leng Memorial

Leng memorial, Vicarsford cemetary, Forgan near Newport-on-tay

There is a clan named Laing (Sephiah's last name) in Scotland and I found this information on the BYU genealogy website.


Laing is a descriptive name referring to 'long' or 'tall'. There is no certainty to the first prominent family of Laing, however, Black lists Thomas Laing as promising in 1357, that Dumfries would pay part of the ransom for the return of David II from England.

James Layng, who was the rector of Newlands, became bishop of Glasgow and treasurer to James III between 1473 and 1474. Laing is frequently found in the books of the diocese of Glasgow during the sixteeth century. In 1785 Malcolm Laing, a lawyer and historian from Orkney, was admitted to the Scottish Bar. In 1800, he published a history of Scotland and the poems of Ossian,who was Celtic bard.

The most reverend Cosmo Gordon Land, descended from a Scottish family was Archbishop of Cantebury from 1928 to 1942. He officiated at the coronation of George VI and in 1942 was raised to the peerage as Baron Lang of Lameth.

Clan Crest

Clan Seat

Clan tartan

(Much of the following information has been copied from Wikipedia)


Forgan is a civil parish in the Scottish county of Fife. It extends 4 miles in length along the north coast of Fife and is at the southern mouth of the River Tay. It is bounded by the other Fife civil parishes of Ferryport-on Craig, Leuchars and Balmerino. It contains the towns of Newport-on-Tay and Wormit. The roads and railways leading to the Tay Bridges pass through the parish. Of course, just across the water is the larger town of Dundee. I suppose Andrew and Sephiah could have lived in any of these towns, we just don't know right now. Kilmany is just a few miles south-west where Margaret Touk was christened (Andrew and Sephiah's daughter-in-law). It is also interesting that a St Fort Estate is about 2 miles south-west of the towns along the waterfront. It would be worth finding out (the next time I'm in Scotland) if that has anything to do with the FORTay name... so much to learn about.

Fife (pronounced /ˈfaɪf/; Scottish Gaelic: Fìobha) is a county and council area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. It was originally one of the Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland.

It is a lieutenancy area, and was a county of Scotland until 1975. It was very occasionally known by the anglification Fifeshire in old documents and maps compiled by English cartographers and authors. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer.

Fife was a local government region divided into three districts – Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and North-East Fife. Since 1996 the functions of the district councils have been exercised by the unitary Fife Council.

Fife is Scotland's third largest local authority area by population. It has a resident population of just under 360,000, almost a third of whom live in the three principal towns of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. Kirkcaldy is Fife's largest town by population (48,108 in 2006), followed by Dunfermline (45,462 in 2006) and then Glenrothes (38,927 in 2006).

The historic town of St Andrews is located on the northeast coast of Fife. It is well known for one of the most ancient universities in Europe and is renowned as the home of golf.

 

History

Legend has it that upon the death of Cruithne, the Pictish realm – known collectively as "Pictavia" – was divided into seven sub-kingdoms or provinces, one of which became Fife. The name is recorded as Fib in A.D. 1150 and Fif in 1165. It was often associated with Fothriff.

King James VI of Scotland described Fife as a "beggar's mantle fringed with gold" – the golden fringe being the coast and its chain of little ports with their thriving fishing fleets and rich trading links with the Low Countries, ironic given the much later development of farming on some of Scotland's richest soil and the minerals, notably coal, underneath. Wool, linen, coal and salt were all traded. Salt pans heated by local coal were a feature of the Fife coast in the past. The distinctive red clay "pan tiles" seen on many old buildings in Fife arrived as ballast on trading boats and replaced the previously thatched roofs.

In 1598 King James VI employed a group of 12 men from Fife, who became known as the Fife adventurers, to colonise the Isle of Lewis in an attempt to begin the "civilisation" and anglicisation of the region. This endeavor lasted until 1609 when the colonists, having been opposed by the native population, were bought out by Coinneach, the clan chief of the MacKenzies.

Historically, there was much heavy industry in the century or so following the Victorian engineering triumphs of the Forth and Tay rail bridges. The Fife coalfields were developed around Kirkcaldy and the west of Fife, reaching far out under the Firth of Forth. Shipbuilding was famous at Methil and Rosyth. The world centre for linoleum production was in Kirkcaldy (where it is still produced), and flax grown in Fife was transformed into linen locally too. Post-war Fife saw the development of Scotland's second new town, Glenrothes. Originally to be based around a coal mine, the town eventually attracted a high number of modern Silicon Glen companies to the region. Fife Council also centred its operations in Glenrothes.

Geography

Fife is a peninsula in eastern Scotland bordered on the north by the Firth of Tay, on the east by the North Sea and the Firth of Forth to the south. The route to the west is partially blocked by the mass of the Ochil Hills. Almost all road traffic into and out of Fife has to pass over one of three bridges, south on the Forth Road Bridge, west on the Kincardine Bridge or north-east via the Tay Road Bridge, the exception being traffic headed north on the M90.
There are extinct volcanic features, such as the Lomond Hills which rise above rolling farmland, and Largo Law, a volcanic plug in the east. At 522 metres (1,713 ft), the West Lomond is the highest point in Fife. The coast has fine but small harbours, from the industrial docks in Burntisland and Rosyth to the fishing villages of the East Neuk such as Anstruther and Pittenweem. The large area of flat land to the north of the Lomond Hills, through which the River Eden flows, is known as the Howe of Fife.

Looking across the farmland of North East Fife to the distant Lomond Hills

North of the Lomond Hills can be found villages and small towns in a primarily agricultural landscape. The areas in the south and west of Fife, including the towns of Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and the Levenmouth region are lightly industrial and more densely populated. The only area which could claim to be heavily industrial is Rosyth, around the naval dockyard.

The east corner of Fife, generally that east of a line between Leven and St Andrews is recognised throughout Scotland as the "East Neuk" (or corner) of Fife, small settlements around sheltered harbours, with distinctive vernacular "Dutch" or craw (crow) stepped gabled and stone-built architecture – an area much sought after as second homes of the Edinburgh professional classes since the Forth Road Bridge was built. The fishing industry on which the East Neuk settlements were built has declined in recent years with the main fishing fleet now operating from Pittenweem and the harbour in Anstruther being used as a marina for pleasure craft.

Looking across the farmland of North East Fife to the distant Lomond Hills

Towns and villages

Cupar took over as county town from Crail in the early 13th century. This has since been transferred to Glenrothes with the decision to locate the headquarters of the newly established Fife Regional Council in 1975. The county has three main towns – Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and Glenrothes. According to the 2006 estimate, Kirkcaldy is the largest settlement with a population of 48,108. The largest settlement in terms of area is Glenrothes.

Culture

Fife is home to 4,961 listed historical buildings and 48 conservation areas. Domestic sites of importance include Falkland Palace (hunting palace of the Scottish Kings), Kellie Castle near Pittenweem, St Andrews Castle and Kirkcaldy's Ravenscraig Castle, Dysart Harbor area, Balgonie Castle near Coaltown of Balgonie, Hill of Tarvit (a historical house), St. Andrews Castle (with a gruesome bottle dungeon) and St. Rules' Tower. Fife is home to a number of ecclesiastical sites of historical interest. St Andrews Cathedral was home of the powerful Archbishopric of St Andrews, and later became a centre of the Scottish Reformation, while Dunfermline Abbey was the last resting place of a number of Scottish kings. Balmerino and Culross abbeys were both founded in the 13th century by the Cistercians, while a century before Lindores Abbey was founded by the Tironensians outside of Newburgh, : all were highly important sites.

Below are a few famous people from Fife who lived around the same time period as Andrew and Sephiah. Perhaps my ancestors knew them or at least knew of them (perhaps they played after school together or swapped stories down at the pub):

Alexander Selkirk (1676 – 13 December 1721} was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway when he was marooned on an uninhabited island. It is probable that his travels provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe.

The son of a shoemaker and tanner in Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland, Selkirk was born in 1676. In his youth he displayed a quarrelsome and unruly disposition. Summoned on 27 August 1695 before the Kirk Session for his "undecent carriage" (indecent behavior) in church, he "did not comper [appear], having gone away to þe [the] seas: this business is continued till his return".

At an early period he was engaged in buccaneer expeditions to the South Seas and in 1703 joined in with the expedition of famed privateer and explorer William Dampier. While Dampier was captain of the St. George, Selkirk served on the galley Cinque Ports, the St. George's companion, as a sailing master serving under Thomas Stradling.

Castaway

In October 1704, after the ships had parted ways because of a dispute between Stradling and Dampier, the Cinque Ports was brought by Stradling to the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernández off the coast of Chile for a mid-expedition restocking of supplies and fresh water. Selkirk had grave concerns by this time about the seaworthiness of this vessel (indeed, the Cinque Ports later foundered, losing most of its hands). He tried to convince some of his crewmates to desert with him, remaining on the island; he was counting on an impending visit by another ship. No one else agreed to come along with him. Stradling, who was tired of Selkirk's troublemaking, declared that he would grant him his wish and leave him alone on Juan Fernández. Selkirk promptly regretted his decision. He chased and called after the boat, to no avail. Selkirk lived the next four years and four months without any human company. All he had brought with him was a musket, gunpowder, carpenter's tools, a knife, a Bible, some clothing and rope.

Life on the island

Hearing strange sounds from the inland, which he feared were dangerous beasts, Selkirk remained at first along the shoreline. During this time he ate shellfish and scanned the ocean daily for rescue, suffering all the while from loneliness, misery and remorse. Hordes of raucous sea lions, gathered on the beach for the mating season, eventually drove him to the island's interior. Once there, his way of life took a turn for the better. More foods were now available: feral goats – introduced by earlier sailors – provided him meat and milk, wild turnips, cabbage, and black pepper berries offered him variety and spice. Although rats would attack him at night, he was able, by domesticating and living near feral cats, to sleep soundly and in safety.

Selkirk proved resourceful in using equipment from the ship as well as materials that were native to the island. He built two huts out of pimento trees. He used his musket to hunt goats and his knife to clean their carcasses. As his gunpowder dwindled, he had to chase prey on foot. During one such chase he was badly injured when he tumbled from a cliff, lying unconscious for about a day. (His prey had cushioned his fall, sparing him a broken back.) He read from the Bible frequently, finding it a comfort to him in his condition and a mainstay for his English.

When Selkirk's clothes wore out, he made new garments from goatskin, using a nail for sewing. The lessons he had learned as a child from his father, a tanner, helped him greatly during his stay on the island. As his shoes became unusable, he had no need to make new ones, since his toughened, callused feet made protection unnecessary. He forged a new knife out of barrel rings left on the beach.

Two vessels had arrived and departed before his escape, but both of them were Spanish: as a Scotsman and privateer, he risked a terrible fate if captured. He hid himself from these crews at one point in a tree at the bottom of which some of the Spanish crews who were pursuing him urinated but did not discover him.

His long-anticipated rescue occurred on 2 February 1709 by way of the Duke, a privateering ship piloted by the above-mentioned William Dampier. Selkirk was discovered by the Duke's captain, Woodes Rogers, who referred to him as Governor of the island. Now rescued, he was almost incoherent in his joy. The agile Selkirk, catching two or three goats a day, helped restore the health of Rogers' men. Rogers eventually made Selkirk his mate, giving him independent command of one of his ships. Rogers' A cruising voyage round the world: first to the South-Sea, thence to the East-Indies, and homewards by the Cape of Good Hope was published in 1712 and included an account of Selkirk's ordeal.

Journalist Richard Steele interviewed Selkirk about his adventures and wrote a much-read article about him in The Englishman.

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John Forbes (5 September 1707 – March 11, 1759) was a British general in the French and Indian War. He is best known for leading the Forbes Expedition that captured the French outpost at Fort Duquesne and for naming the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder.

Forbes was born on his family's Pittencrief Estate in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland in 1707. The son of an army officer, Forbes intended to study medicine, but in his second year as a medical student, he decided to become a soldier. He was accepted and commissioned, in 1735, as a lieutenant in the Scots Greys. He saw action in the War of the Austrian Succession. He later served in the Jacobite rising of 1745 and served under the Duke of Cumberland as acting quartermaster-general.

Late in his career Forbes launched an attack on a French fort named Fort Duquesne but the French abandoned the fort and burned it. Forbes occupied the burned fort on November 25, 1758. He immediately ordered the construction of a new fortification to be named Fort Pitt, after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder. He also named the settlement between the rivers "Pittsborough," which is the location of modern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Forbes’s health, which had been poor for much of the campaign, began a rapid decline during his occupation of Fort Pitt. On December 3, 1758, now gravely ill, Forbes began the arduous journey back to Philadelphia leaving Colonel Hugh Mercer in command of Fort Pitt. General Forbes died in Philadelphia on March 11, 1759. He was buried in Christ Church in Philadelphia.

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1710 Alexander Fortay and Margaret Touch or Touk

As was stated in the previous page, Andrew's son, Alexander Fortay, was born in 1710 (or possibly 1711) in Forgan, Fife, Scotland. He was christened on 15 April 1711, again, in Forgan Scotland. There is no death date recorded as of yet.

Margaret Touch or Touk was born in 1714 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland and was christened on 2 January 1715 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland. There is also no death date found for her as of yet.

There is a marriage record that is apparently difficult to read, it is 17 November 1735 or 1738 (most likely 1738 since their first child is born in 1739). If it was 1738, Alexander would have been 27 years old and Margaret 23. They had 11 children with another Alexander as the second to the last child who is my ancestor. They are as follows (with ages of parents at their birth on right):

1. James Fortay - christened 9 December 1739 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 28 Margaret 24)
2. Helen Fortay - christened 20 September 1741 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 30 Margaret 26)
3. Jannet Fortay - christened 10 July 1743 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 32 Margaret 28)
4. Lucretia Fortay - christened 24 March 1745 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 34 Margaret 30)
5. Margaret Fortay - christened 12 April 1747 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 36 Margaret 32)
6. William Fortay - christened 22 January 1749 in Forgan, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 38 Margaret 34)

Their first 6 children were born in the Forgan area and it appears that they made a move from there to Kilmany sometime between the births of William and Jean around 1750. It was a move of only about 4 to 5 miles south-west of where they and their parents had lived all their lives. Perhaps a job took them there or a bigger home, we just don't know. Their last 5 children are born in Kilmany.

7. Jean Fortay - born 16 October 1751 and christened 20 October 1751 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 40 Margaret 36)
8. Agnes Fortay - born 1 March 1754 and christened 3 March 1754 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 43 Margaret 39)
9. Walter Fortay - born 8 July 1756 and christened 11 July 1756 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 45 Margaret 41)
10. Alexander Fortay - My ancester - born 27 March 1758 and christened 2 April 1758 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 47 Margaret 43)
11. Cicel Fortay - born 2 June 1761 and christened 7 June 1761 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland (Alexander 50 Margaret 46)

We have no death dates for anyone in this family. If Alexander and Margaret lived a normal life they would have died in the late 1770's or early 1780's. We do have a record of Margaret (the 5th child), and of course Alexander (the 10th child), having families.  (Margaret married David Honeyman and had 6 children and Alexander is on the next page.)

An old home in Kilmany Scotland not far from the church.

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Famous people born in Fife that Alexander and Margaret may have known or known about.

Adam Smith (baptised 16 June 1723 – died 17 July 1790 [OS: 5 June 1723 – 17 July 1790]) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism.

Smith studied moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford. After graduating, he delivered a successful series of public lectures at Edinburgh, leading him to collaborate with David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow teaching moral philosophy, and during this time he wrote and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life, he took a tutoring position that allowed him to travel throughout Europe, where he met other intellectual leaders of his day. Smith returned home and spent the next ten years writing The Wealth of Nations, publishing it in 1776. He died in 1790.

Smith was born to Margaret Douglas at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. His father, also named Adam Smith, was a lawyer, civil servant, and widower who married Margaret Douglas in 1720 and died six months after Smith was born. Although the exact date of Smith's birth is unknown, his baptism was recorded on 16 June 1723 at Kirkcaldy.

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Robert Adam (3 July 1728 – 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his older brother John, Robert took on the family business, which included lucrative work for the Board of Ordnance, after William's death. 

Adam was born at Gladney House in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

(For a rather lengthy list of buildings built by Robert Adam check it out on Wikipedia (includes pictures).

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1758 Alexander Fortay and Margaret Melvil

As is stated on the previous page,
Alexander Fortay was born 27 March 1758 to Alexander Fortay and Margaret Touk (most likely in Kilmany) and christened 2 April 1758 in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland. No death date or place is recorded.

An old home in Kilmany Scotland

Another old home in Kilmany Scotland

Near Kilmany

Margaret Melvil was born 2 November 1760 as the third of four children (2 boys and 2 girls) to David Melvil and Agnes Gilchrist and christened the same day - in Kemback, Fife, Scotland. No death date or place is recorded. Kemback is a little over 4 miles, as the crow flies, south south-east of Kilmany.

A church in Kemback Scotland

Near Kemback

There are 2 dates recorded for their marriage.

One is on 30 June 1780 in Leuchars, Fife, Scotland. Leuchars is about 4 miles east of Kilmany and 4 miles north-east of Kemback.

This church was built in 1183 and was renovated in 1745 so it was already very old when they were married (they may or may not have been married here I still have to find out).

St Athernase Church - Leuchars, Fife, Scotland

The other date is 28 July 1780 in Logie, Fife, Scotland. Logie is less than 2 miles south-east of Kilmany and 3 miles north of Kemback so it could have been in either church (more research is needed).


Alexander would have been 22 years old and Margaret would have been 20 when they got married.

An old church in Logie Scotland

They had 10 children:
1. Alexander Fortie - son (my ancestor) born about 1780 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland and christened 21 September 1782 in Logie. (It is interesting that he is the only one born in Edinburgh and so long before his christening - this may not be correct- again, more research is needed.)
(Note that Alexander's name is Fortie and the rest of the children are Fortay. This could have been an assumption on someones part perhaps because when his grandson came to America the people at Castle Garden wrote his name down as Fortie as the best spelling for what they heard Alexander tell them (often the family didn't know how to write or there was no set way to spell in those days) and people assumed his father and grandfather were Fortie as well, I don't know (more research is needed).) (See more on his son, Alexander, and grandson, also Alexander, on the next few pages.)
2. Jannet Fortay - daughter, born May 1781 and christened May 1781 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
3. John Fortay - son, christened on 11 July 1784 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
4. Margaret Fortay - daughter, born 15 March 1786 and Christened 19 March 1786 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
5. David Fortay - son, born 27 August 1789 and christened on 30 August 1789 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
6. Ann Fortay - daughter, born 18 February 1791, christened 20 February 1791 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
7. James Fortay - son, born 28 March 1793, christened 31 March 1793 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
8. Helen Fortay - daughter, born 8 October 1795, christened 11 October 1795 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
9. Mary Fortay - daughter, born 6 June 1797, christened 18 June 1797 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.
10. Christian Fortay - daughter, born 15 May 1799, christened 19 May 1799 in Logie. No marriage or death date or place is known at this time.

Everything for this family seems to be within a 5 to 6 mile area in Fife Scotland, more research is needed.

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Famous people born in Fife. Alexander and Margaret may have known these people or their families or at least known about them.

Born in Carskerdo, near St. Andrews, Scotland to William Wilson and Alison Landall. James Wilson (September 14, 1742 – August 21, 1798) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, and was a major force in drafting the United States Constitution. A leading legal theoretician, he was one of the six original justices appointed by George Washington to the Supreme Court of the United States.

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James Clephan (1768–1851) was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. He rose from the ranks to become a Captain. Born in Scoonie in Fife in Scotland in 1768, Clephan was originally a weaver but joined the Merchant Navy when the weaving industry went into decline. He was involved in the war of 1812 with America. 

Clephan retired to Edinburgh and died there in 1851 aged 83.

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1782 Alexander Fortie and Mary Steedman

Alexander Fortie was born on 1 September, 1782 about 60 miles north east of Edinburgh Scotland in Logie, Fife, Scotland. (One genealogy record (no sources) has him born in 1780, if he was born the same year as his christening it would be 1782 (as above) and based on the 1841 census he was born in 1791 (most likely wrong).

His parents were:

Alexander Fortay (reason for last name change is unknown to me at this time) of Kilmany Scotland
and
Margaret Meville of Kemback, Fife, Scotland.

An old home in Logie Scotland



Near Logie



Historical note -

Logie is just across the river from Morphie where there is an old stone monument that is "Traditionally said to mark the grave of a son of Camus, killed in a battle between the Scots and the Danes". Local tradition claims the site as an alternative burial site for a leader of a Viking army that was decimated by the Scots army at the apocryphal Battle of Barry in 1010 AD.

Stone of Morphie

We don't know anything about Alexander's youth but he certainly took his time getting married. He most likely spent his time working and perhaps a little bit of time looking for the right girl. Finally, at the ripe old age of 34, a girl named Mary Steedman, age 21, caught Alexander’s eye. She was born in Dunfermline in 1798, about 10 miles north of Edinburgh (month and day are unknown at this time, this is based on genealogy records that have no sources and one record has one christening date at around 11 years old, if you go by the 1841 census she was born in 1811 but that is certainly wrong as it would put her at age 6 on her wedding day).

One source says, "Dumfermline, Fife, Scotland: Robert STEADMAN weaver Nethertown and Lille ANDERSON his wife had a daughter born 17th Dec baptized 1 Jan 1809 named Mary., birth and christening entery." 

This must also be the wrong Mary as this would also make her way too young on her wedding date. More research to be done.

Dunfermline

They were married on 28 March 1817  in Edinburgh (some genealogy records say 21 February, 1817 but give no sources).

Edinburgh

The information we have from Scottish marriages 1561 to 1910 includes very little detail (perhaps seeing the original record would be helpful - I'm trying to locate a copy of that).

Here is the Ancestry.com transcript:

Groom's Name: Alexander Fortie

Groom's Birth Date:

Groom's Birthplace:

Groom's Age:

Bride's Name: Mary Steedman

Bride's Birth Date:

Bride's Birthplace:

Bride's Age:

Marriage Date: 28 Mar 1817

Marriage Place: Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Groom's Father's Name:

Groom's Mother's Name:

Bride's Father's Name: Robert Steedman

Bride's Mother's Name:

Groom's Race:

Groom's Marital Status:

Groom's Previous Wife's Name:

Bride's Race:

Bride's Marital Status:

Bride's Previous Husband's Name:

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M11983-4

System Origin: Scotland-ODM

Source Film Number: 1066690

Reference Number:

Collection: Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910

Five years after they were married they had their only child, a little boy, on 9 July, 1822 there in Edinburgh. They named him Alexander (1822) after his grandfather, Alexander (1758), as was the tradition. Alexander (1782) was almost 40 and Mary was about 24. 

We only have the record of this one child. He grew up in Scotland and at the age of 20 he ran into some Mormon missionaries. Perhaps somewhere in an attic in Utah, lies an old dusty journal from a missionary who went to Scotland in 1843. If one were to open that journal there might be an entry that goes something like, “We taught the Fortie Family this week and Alexander Fortie accepted the restored gospel and I baptized him on Monday, 28 August, 1843.”

A few weeks after his baptism Alexander (1822) married an Irish girl named Christina Isabella Cuthbert who was born 19 November, 1822 in Ballymackenny Ireland.

Near Ballymackenny

More on Alexander (1822), my ancestor (of course - since he was an only child), on the next page.

We have very sketchy information on Alexander (1782) after that. One genealogy record (that doesn't have any sources) says he died around 1865 and another says he was buried in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland 13 February 1842. Obviously one of them is wrong. Further research is needed.

With Mary it is the same. The only record I have says she died around 1871 (no sources given), anywhere from 6 to 29 years after her husband died and just one year after her only son left for America. One wonders what her thoughts might have been as her only son and her grandchildren boarded those ships on their way to a country that seemed so promising yet so far away. Were all the stories true about this new country? How long had a move to America been a dream of Alexanders? Did his mother have family near by that could be there to help her during those last few years? Did Alexander get a chance to take his family from their home in England up to Scotland to visit his mother before they left? Did she come down to see them off?  Census records are all we have and they are just numbers and statistics, a tiny window into the complex lives of our ancestors. How much better it would be to know the emotions of the best times and the worst times for those ancestors, how much that knowledge can help us as we go through similar trials and experiences. Perhaps, as we search for our ancestors we learn the importance of keeping records to help our great grandchildren as they struggle with the same things we go through in our lives.

Well, Mary's son, Alexander (1822), went on to live a good and sometimes difficult life in America. We can only hope his mother had comfort in her last few years here on earth without the comfort of family nearby. One has to believe that they were able to write to each other a few times before she passed away. If only we had those letters.




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Someone famous from Fife Scotland that Alexander and Mary may have known or at least known about.

Sir David Wilkie (18 November 1785 – 1 June 1841) was a Scottish painter.

Wilkie was the son of the parish minister of Cults in Fife. He developed a love for art at an early age. In 1799, after he had attended school at Pitlessie, Kettle and Cupar, his father reluctantly agreed to his becoming a painter. Through the influence of the Earl of Leven Wilkie was admitted to the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh, and began the study of art under John Graham. From William Allan (afterwards Sir William Allan and president of the Royal Scottish Academy) and John Burnet, the engraver of Wilkie's works, we have an interesting account of his early studies, of his indomitable perseverance and power of close application, of his habit of haunting fairs and marketplaces, and transferring to his sketchbook all that struck him as characteristic and telling in figure or incident, and of his admiration for the works of Carse and David Allan, two Scottish painters of scenes from humble life. Among his pictures of this period are mentioned a subject from Macbeth, Ceres in Search of Proserpine, and Diana and Calisto, which in 1803 gained a premium of ten guineas at the Trustees' Academy, while his pencil portraits of himself and his mother, dated that year, and now in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch, prove that Wilkie had already attained considerable certainty of touch and power of rendering character. A scene from Allan Ramsay, and a sketch from Macneill's ballad of Scotland's Skaith, afterwards developed into the well-known Village Politicians, were the first subjects in which his true artistic individuality began to assert itself.