The following is one of those genealogical mysteries which will undoubtedly hurt your brain and completely waste your time! The mystery arose during research for my upcoming book. There are enough clues to make you believe that something is there, that connections exist between different ancestral lines, yet in fact, those connections may be merely coincidental.
Consider the clues:
- Mary Cant (a domestic servant), B: 21 Jan 1841 Elgin, Forres, Moray, Scotland, D:23 Mar 1928 Elgin, Moray, Scotland, is known to have several children by several men, one of those children being James Cant, B: 12 August 1879 Chapleton Moss, Moray, Scotland, D: 14 February 1972 Dayville, Grant, Oregon. James, of course, was the founder of the famous Cant Ranch, now part of the NPS John Day Fossil Beds. One of the men with which his mother had children was John McGillivray, B: abt 1838 Dallas, Morayshire, D: 18 Mar 1919 Todholes, Rafford. John’s father was James McGillivray, 1800-1889 who was married to, either or both, Mary Nairn, 1798-1871 and Mary McGillivray, 1801-1871 (Note the same death year, and “Nairn” was also a place, not necessarily a name. See Peter Morrison’s birthplace below. Mary McGillivary would introduce a separate McGillivray line).
- Bradford Cornelius Trowbridge, B:20 Sep 1836 Bemington, Broom, New York, D: 28 May 1929 John Day, Grant, Oregon was married to Marjory Mildred Milne, B: 2 Apr 1847 Inveravon, Banffshire, Scotland, D: 19 Sep 1923 John Day, Grant, Oregon. Both Bradford and his son Charles had several land holdings in the John Day Valley, along with a ranch along Beech Creek. Marjory’s mother was Marjory McGillivray, B: 25 Mar 1823 Kirkmichael, Banffshire, Scotland, D: 4 Aug 1894 Bedivochel, Glenlivet, Banffshire, Scotland
- Peter John Morrison, B: 23 Nov 1871 Auldearn, Nairn, Scotland, D: 24 Mar 1934 Grant, Oregon. Peter was a very close friend of James Cant, and the families knew each other back in Scotland. Peter had his own land holdings by the Cant Ranch, frequently stayed with the Cants, and went into business with James to start a store in Dayville. Peter’s father was Donald Morrison, B: 1837 Gairloch, Ross-shire, Scotland, D: 3 Jan 1915 Nairn, Nairnshire, Scotland and Donald was married to Jane MacGillivray, B: 23 Jul 1837 Moy/Dalarossie, Scotland, D: 16 Jun 1916 Brith Villa, Nairn.
Looking at the name McGillivray (also found as MacGillivray, McGilvray, McGillvray and other variations), and thinking about the dates, common places of birth and/or death, and acquaintances, it is not necessarily a stretch of the imagination to assume the three (or four) McGillivray’s above might have a common McGillivray ancestor, and thus, all be connected to each other. Given the deep connections between families throughout the John Day Valley and considering the large number of Scottish families that made up the population in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there is enough coincidence to throw a person down the investigatory path.
Caution: Any attempt at solving the mystery to connect all three McGillivray lines will take you into the convoluted world of Scottish records as far back as the 1600s, misspellings, confusion of places names, and an abundance of inaccurate information about the families. Even the clues above should be suspect.
But still, if they came from generally the same regions, knew each other, arrived in Oregon about the same time, wouldn’t it seem a common ancestor might exist?
Who will find the answer?
Should someone consider taking this challenge to connect all the McGillivray lines, and are able to document their findings, I will be happy to publish the answer to this mystery and will mail a copy of my upcoming book:
THE CANT INTERVIEWS
Oral Histories of the John Day Valley
The Annotated Recordings of Royal Jackson in conversation with descendants of early pioneers.
By Mark Goddard
