|
The Leith Family of Scotland |
| ||||||||
The Midland Valley of Scotland represented the most northern extent of the Roman conquest of Britain after 79 A.D. At that time the lands to the north were occupied by a war-like tribe called the Picts. Little is known of the Picts; they may have been a celtic or Germanic race.
In the 5th century the "Scots" came from their home in Ireland and settled in the west of Scotland. After centuries of wars with the Picts, they combined forces and put the crown of Scots and Picts on the head of their new king, Kenneth MacAlpin in 843.
The ground work was laid for Scotland and England to become linked when James IV of Scotland wed the daughter of the English king. The link was solidified when James VI of Scotland acceded to the English throne in 1603.
In 1782, the Disarming Act was repealed. However, during the repressive period many Highlanders (upwards of 20,000 between 1763 - 1775), with their families, found refuge in America.
The Battle of Culloden is often said to have marked the end of the clan system. However, the clan system was patriarchal and therefore in its essence enduring. The chief was father of his people. The Highlanders possessed a keen sense of history and the knowledge that they can trace their ancestry back through countless generations of Norse or Celtic Kings, they realize that they are at least as well born as the next man.
Scotland is divided into three main regions; the Highlands, the Midland Valley and the Southern Uplands. The cities of Edinburg, Glasgow and Dundee and most of Scotlands population are located within the Midland Valley.
In the 14th century Edward I of England (known as the "Hammer of the Scots" and the "Long Shank") was determined to incorporate Scotland into the English crown. Long, bloody and destructive wars ensued over the next three hundred years as Scotland attempted to assert its independence. The early 14th century was also the time of Sir Robert of Bruce and Red Comyns; the time of the commoner and hero of Scottish independence, William Wallace (Brave Heart).
A formal Act of Union was signed in 1707. Following the Rebellion of 1745, a mass migration of Scots to other parts of the world was set in motion. This mass migration was brought about in part by the passage of the Disarming Act of 1746. The Disarming Act proscribed the wearing of the Highland dress and the playing of the pipes. Severe penalties were imposed for carrying or possessing arms, for wearing the kilt, plaid or any other tartan garment. The pipes were prohibited as "an instrument of war". The heritable jurisdiction of the chief's were abolished and a number of other measures taken to break their power and destroy their old patriarchal relationship with their clans.
"For that is the mark of the Scot of all classes; that he stands in an attitude towards the past unthinkable to Englishmen, and remembers and cherishes the memory of his forebears, good or bad; and there burns alive in him a sense of identity with the dead even to the twentieth generation."
Robert Louis Stevenson
|
The parish extends along the river about six miles. At it's western branch it is about two miles broad, but it gradually narrows towards it's eastern limits, at which it strikes off from the river at right angles, so as to extend above five miles in a northerly direction. The Tay forms the boundary of the parish on the south.
The early history of the town of Dundee is involved in much obscurity. It is known that it was occupied by an English garrison under Edward I. In the time of Sir Robert the Bruce, it was noted to have ranked third in Scotland after Edinburgh. In the troubled times of Bruce and Baliol, the town suffered severely. It was twice taken by Edward I, and as often retaken by Wallace and Bruce. In each of the reigns of Richard II and Edward VI it was almost reduced to ashes.It experienced it's last and most destructive clamity when it was stormed by Monck, in the year 1651. Slightly less than twenty-percent of the inhabitants perished. Besides the immense loss of lives and property, the ancient records of the town were destroyed. Following the Rebellion of 1745, Dundee became known for its manufacture of linens of various kinds, particularly those of coarser fabric, and which go under the name of Osnaburghs, canvas, bagging, &c. which are exported to the foreign markets.
In 1819, typhus fever prevailed to an alarming extent, numbering, during a seven month period, 1264 seizures and 95 deaths. In 1832, malignant cholera made two eruptions, one in July, the other in October, and prevailed for at least six months. There were 808 seizures and 512 deaths. From 1833 forward, cholera was succeeded by small-pox.
Dundee, a large manufacturing town and parish, is situated on the northern bank of the river Tay, about sixty miles from it's source and twelve from the open sea. The name was anciently written Dunde or Dundie. The word is of Celtic origin, signifying the Hill of God, referring no doubt to a conical hill immediately behind the town, which rises to a height of 525 feet above the level of the river.
It is believed that the Leiths originated from France. The name then being
De Leyth. During the Fourteenth Century they appeared around Midlothian and almost certainly took their name from the port at Edinburgh (Leith Port).
William Leith of Barnis was Provost of Aberdeen in 1350, and his descendants acquired and held at various times the lands of Edingarrock, Kirkton de Rain, and New Leslie.
Unfortunately, very little is known, at present, about the history of our Leith family line much before David Leith (1847 - 1919). Although we know the names of David's parents, little or no other information about them has been uncovered. David's generation is the first generation for which we have photographs. The younger descendants of David Leith may find it hard to believe, but cameras did not exist prior to 1839 and from 1839 to the 1860's images were transferred to copper sheets to make photographs. These photographs were quite primitive and few survive. Futhermore, very few people had the resources to have photographs made during that period. For this reason, no photographs exist of David's mother or father who were born in the early 1800's.
David's parents, Thomas Leith and Isabella Kenney were born sometime between 1810 and 1818 in Scotland. Scottish records record the Christening of a Isabella Kenny on 13 March 1814. This Isabella's parents were David Kenny and Elizabeth Cameron. This Isabella would have been born in 1813, which is about the proper age for her to be the mother of David and her father's name was David. Thomas Leith and Isabella Kenny were married, most likely around 1833 or 1834. They resided in Dundee, Forfar, Scotland. County Forfar or Forfarshire is now known as 'Angus'.
Thomas and Isabella had seven children, five boys and two girls. The youngest of the seven children was named David. He was born in Dundee, Forfar County on the morning of March 15, 1847. Both of David's parents were dead before he reached the age of two years, having died in 1848 or 1849. The oldest of the children was likely no more than sixteen or seventeen when their parents died. All seven children became orphans. David and an older sister, went to live with a paternal aunt (his father's sister). Nothing more is known of the whereabouts or fate of the remaining five brothers and sisters, but it was not uncommon for children as young as thirteen to be put to work in the mills and factories of Dundee.
When he was of proper age, David's aunt sent him to Parish school in Forfar County. He attended the Parish school for a period of five years. He was then sent to the university city of St. Andrews where he attended Fisher's school and the Madras College. At some point during his stay in St. Andrews, his aunt cut off his and his sister's funding which made it difficult for him and for his sister. He was required to do extra chores to help cover the cost of his room and board. He and his sister brought suit against their aunt to restore funding. Upon his return to Dundee, (around eighteen years of age), he was led into the providence of God. He was converted in the Methodist Church in the late 1860's and shortly thereafter began his ministry by holding services in the market place in Dundee and preaching on street corners.
He lived for a short time in Glasgow and upon returning to Dundee he married Elizabeth Buchan, a woman seven years his senior, on 3 June 1868. He was not yet twenty-one years of age. He worked as a "Drummer" for a hardware manufacturer for a period of time. In his quest to become a minister, David spent a year "on trial" and after preaching trial sermons and passing the necessary exams he was licensed as a preacher in March 1869, by the Quarterly Conference of St. John's Methodist Church of Glasgow, Scotland.
In 1872 David saw an advertisement in the London Methodist Recorder indicating that the Southern Methodist were looking for Ministers in the western states and the territories in the United States of America. He subsequently set sail for the United States in early October, 1873 leaving his wife and children (two girls and a boy) behind. His wife delivered a girl child on 5 October 1873. David set sail from Glasgow, Scotland and on 9 October 1873 arrived aboard the ship "Pennsylvania" at New York and was processed through Castle Garden. Upon his arrival in Tennessee he was admitted on trial in the Memphis Conference in November of that year. After spending two and one half years in the United States, David was unable to raise the cost of passage for his family and was forced by circumstances to return to Scotland in April 1876.
Upon his arrival back in Scotland, David Leith became the Minister of the Congregational Chapel, Wick, Scotland on 17 June 1876 at a salary of one hundred and sixty pounds (Wick is a city in northern Scotland on the coast of the North Sea). In July 1876, David would have been twenty-nine years old. In April 1877 a daughter was born to David and Elizabeth, Selina Sophia Jefferson Leith. He remained as pastor of Congrgational Chapel for a period of five years.
The Scottish Census is taken every ten years. The Scottish Census for 1881 showed that David Leith and his family were living in Neilston, Renfrew, Scotland as follows:
1881 Scotland Census | |
| Dwelling: | Lowndes Street Morton Villa |
|---|---|
| Census Place: | Neilston, Renfrew, Scotland |
| Source: | Volume 572-2 Enumeration District 3 Page 18 |
| Name | Married | age | Sex | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Leith | Dundee, Forfar, Scotland | |||
| Elizabeth Leith | Glamis, Forfar, Scotland | |||
| Mary Leith | Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland | |||
| Elizabeth B. Leith | Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland | |||
| Selina S. J. Leith | Wick, Caithness, Scotland | |||
| Maggie Cable | Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland |
Maggie Cable was Elizabeth's unmarried niece.
Scottish records show that David and Elizabeth Leith had a son named David Henry Leith, born The three girls birthdates and full christian names are shown below:
Upon arrival in New York, the Leith family was escorted to Castle Garden to be processed through Immigrations. Castle Garden was a converted amusement park on the tip of Manhattan that was used to process newly arrived immigrants. Ellis Island did not become the official site for processing immigrants until the year 1892.
The army vacated the fort in 1821 and deeded the property to the city of New York in 1823. In 1824 a restaurant and entertainment center opened at the site, amd Castle Clinton was now called 'Castle Garden'. A roof was added in the 1840's and it served as an opera house and theater until 1854.
On August 3, 1855, 'Castle Garden' was leased to New York state and opened as an immigration landing depot. During the next 34 years, over 8 million people entered the United States through Castle Garden, until it was closed on April 18, 1890. The building then served as the New York City aquaium from December 1896 until it closed in 1941. Castle Garden National Monument was dedicated and designated as a national treasure on August 12, 1946.
9 April 1871, Blythswood, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. It is likely that David Henry died as an infant or as a young boy. At any rate, apparently he did not survive to the age of ten. He does not appear with the family in the 1881 census nor was he listed as a passenger on the steamship that brought the family to America later that year. Have not been able to determine when or under what circumstances David Henry Leith died. The Rev. David Leith never mentioned him in any of his writings or in any sermon that survived. Could this explain the abrupt return of David to Scotland from Memphis?
Mary Campbell Leith 25 April 1869
Elizabeth Buchan Leith 5 October 1873
Selina Sophia Jefferson Leith 16 April 1877
The Leith family departed Glasgow, Scotland on Thursday, 15 September 1881 on board the steamship Anchoria of the Anchor Line bound for New York. In route the Anchoria was involved in a collision with another vessel. Although delayed, the Anchoria docked in New York on Wednesday, 28 September 1881.
The Southwest Battery was one of a dozen forts that were built to defend New York Harbor at the time of the War of 1812. The Southwest Battery was constructed on the rocks off the tip of Manhattan Island around 1811. In 1817, the fort was renamed Castle Clinton in honor of DeWitt Clinton, Mayor of New York City.
After processing at Castle Garden, the Leith family proceeded from New York to Memphis, Tennessee where David was readmitted into the Memphis Conference of Methodist Churches. He was assigned to serve the First Church in Jackson, Mississippi for a period of two years; Hernando Street (Second Church) Memphis, two years and Trenton Station four years.
While assigned to Trenton Station, David Leith applied for citizenship. Two years after applying, on 11 October 1886, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America by decree issued by the Chancery Court, Madison County, Jackson, Tennessee. It should be noted that David's three daughters automatically became citizens upon being admitted into the country.
David was transferred to the North Alabama Conference in 1889 and served as Pastor of St. John's Church, South Birminham for two years; Attalla for a period of three years; Courtland, one year; Guntersville, one year and Florence, two years.
In November 1898 he was transferred back to the Memphis Conference and served Henderson Station, one year; Brownsville Circuit, two years; Milan Station, one year; Somerville Station, four years; Collierville station, two years; Paris District, three years.
While David was serving in the Paris District, on 16 January 1910 Elizabeth Buchan Leith passed away. She was 70 years of age. Elizabeth was buried at the Maplewood Cemetery, Paris, Tennessee.
Sometime between 1910 and 1912 David married Lillian Sarah Smith who was born 10 February 1876. David was twenty-eight years older than Lillian who would have been about 33 years old at the time.
Lillian's parents were prominent people in the Henderson, Chester County, Tennessee area. Her father was Dr. Theodore A. Smith and her mother was Elizabeth E. Rogan Smith. She had a sister by the name of Martha who married Ernest Gray. Ernest and Martha settled in Memphis, Tennessee.
Henderson, Tennessee was laid out as a town in 1857 on land that was owned by J. D. Smith. Dr. Theodore A. Smith was among the first men to establish an office in the new town of Henderson. Henderson was originally in Henderson County but became the county seat for the newly form county of Chester when it was formed in 1879.
The Henderson Male and Female College was founded in Montzuma, TN in 1885. A new building was erected for the college and T. A. Smith was one of the original investors and founders of the new college. It was recognized as a school of the Methodist Espicopal Church South.
The Henderson Methodist Church was organized about 1874-1875. The church was built in 1882 and T. A. Smith and his wife Elizabeth E. Smith were among the original trustees.
Shortly after David's marriage to Lillian, she gave birth in Memphis, Tennessee to a boy, William Wallace Leith, 20 October 1912.
Following his service in Paris, David Leith served the Buntyn and Springdale church, two years (1911-1913); Pepper Memorial, two years; Newbern Station, two years and Dwyer Station, one year (1917).
David closed out his active ministry in 1917 and the Memphis Conference of Methodist Churches granted him the Superannuated Relation.
David Leith died in his home on Graham Avenue in Memphis on 26 December 1919 at age 72. He is buried along side his first wife, Elizabeth, in Maplewood Cemetery, Paris, Tennessee.
Rev. David Leith
Eulogy
"David Leith was a loyal Methodist preacher, accepting his appointments without murmuring, ever striving to do "whatsoever his hands found to do", and now that his work has ended, and he has been "dismissed and reqarded," let us, his brothern who still remain, emulate his virtues that, like hime, we may hear the welcome plaudit, "Well done, good and faithful servants, enter into the joys of thy world."Farewell, friend and brother, just for a little while."
Geo. H. Martin
Memphis Conference of Methodist Churches
January 1920
Of the three daughters of David and Elizabeth Leith, with the exception of Salina, little is known. Elizabeth Buchan Leith married a man named Kline and she was known as Aunt Lizzie.
Mary Campbell Leith married Fred Carroll Stone in Gunsterville, Marshall, Alabama about 1895 while her father David Leith served as minister of the Methodist Church in that locale. A son, Fred Carroll Stone II was born in Guntersville, Alabama on 7 June 1869. Fred Carroll Stone II eventually found his way to Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas where he was a well respected architect and, for a period, Mayor of Beaumont. His wife, Jane Tucker Stone died about 1953 in Beaumont. They had a son, Fred Carroll Stone III who was born in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1920. Fred Stone II died in Orange County, Texas on April 1, 1966. It is not known what became of Mary Leith Stone but it is believed that she and Fred Stone I made their home in Guntersville, Alabama and most likely died there.
Selina Sophia Jefferson Leith never married. She went by the name Lena and was a music teacher in the Memphis Public School System until her retirement. She lived on Southern avenue in Memphis and died in July 1972 at the age of 95.
As previouly mentioned, Martha Smith, Lillian's sister, married Ernest J. Gray. They resided at 590 Ellsworth in Memphis, Tennessee. Ernest took charge of arrangements upon the death of David and also was present when Lillian died. He supplied the information required on the Death Certicates. Martha Smith Gray and her husband, Ernest J. Gray had two daughters, Elizabeth and Martha. Elizabeth (Betty), lived in Pompano Beach, Florida and died in December, 2000 at the age of 92. It is not known what became of Martha.
A special section dedicated to the memory of Nancy Leith Carr can be found at her web site. To visit Nancy's site, click on the above link or the one at the bottom of this page.
After visiting Nancy's site; to return to the Carr/Leith Family site, close the window or click on the link that you will find on the 'Home Page' of Nancy's Web Site.
Lillian Smith Leith died on 24 March 1932 at her home at 3309 Bowen Street in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 56. She is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery (March 25, 1932).
William Wallace "Bill" Leith married Shirley Audrey "Raymond" Wiseman on 20 October 1933. William and Shirley had two daughters; Margaret Lillian "Betsy" Leith and Nancy Ellen Leith. Bill was better known as 'Pardner' or 'Parner' to his grandchildren and Raymond was best known as "Maw". Bill Leith died on May 11, 1964 in Memphis, Tennessee. Raymond died on July 3, 1992 in Plantation, Florida. Both are buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. Their youngest daughter, Nancy Leith Carr died January 2, 2001 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
CARR / LEITH FAMILY HISTORY