Various searches for records of her birth or presence in UK census records were unsuccessful. This was in part because of a misleading bit of information taken from the death certificate of Margaret's father James Dunlop Sr. The US death certificate for James Dunlop Sr. stated that he was the son of James Dunlop and Mary Shorthill. The problem was that the death certificate informant got it only half right! Mary Shorthill was the mother-in-law of James Dunlop Sr., not his mother! With no clues to go further we thought our search had come to an end with at least the luck of having found James and Ada F Dunlop of Concord, Mass. The search results were then posted on the website for other visitors to view. But this was not the final answer!
In March of this year (2002) another email was received from Patricia Martin, who was also searching for family connections in Maybole. While exploring the Maybole site Patricia found the notes on our search for the Dunlop family and thought it an appropriate challenge to her skills as a professional researcher. With some great detective work she was able to discover that the parents of Margaret Dunlop were James Dunlop and Mary Tait! Margaret’s birth record was found and it showed that she was born the 25th of February 1857, in Maybole. The subsequent discovery of a 1900 census record for Concord, MA with both Margaret and James in the same household confirmed this breakthrough. Thanks to Patricia’s help we have now been able to construct a very good family history of the Dunlops in Maybole including the interesting fact that both James Dunlop Jr., sister to Margaret and his father, James Dunlop Sr. both married women named Mary Tait! We now know that most of the Dunlop family left Maybole about 1879 for the US and that Margaret died of liver cancer in Concord in 1903, at the age of 45, as noted on her death certificate.
From the census data we can see that James Dunlop Jr.'s had been employed for at least ten years in a presumably good paying job. His occupation was given as Superintendent - Wool Dept in the Massachusetts Reformatory. We can also see from the 1910 census that he owned his own house and that the mortgage was paid for and further more that in his household for which only four people are recorded one is a servant. This all indicates that James Dunlop Jr. was apparently doing very well at the age of 43 and thus able to afford paying for the window six years after his sister Margaret's death in 1903. James lived until 1930 when he died at the age of 65 following an automobile accident in which his car left the road and struck a tree. James was employed as a traveling salesman at the time and was apparently on a sales call. He did not die at the time of this accident but several weeks later as a result of complications from a fracture to his leg, as indicated by his death certificate. James' wife Ada lived many more years after this and died in Concord in 1955 at the age of 82.
There are many more details to this story which can be seen below. Our thanks go to Doug Stevenson and Patricia Martin for solving the mystery of the stained glass window in Maybole’s West Church.
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The Dunlops of Maybole and Concord |
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| James Dunlop | Mary Tait | Alexander Tait | Mary Shorthill | |||||
| James Dunlop 1824 - 1917 | Married 27 November 1853 at Maybole | Mary Tait 1827 - 1909 | ||||||
| Margaret 1857 - 1903 | Mary 1855 - | John 1858 - | Janet 1860 - | |||||
| (wife to James) | (sister to James) | |||||||
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The following information provided by Patricia Martin. Genealogical Military Historian http://www.jbmartin.demon.co.uk |
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The Children of James Dunlop and Mary Tait of Maybole
A search for the marriage of James Dunlop to Mary between 1840 to 1867 produced this entry !!!!
James Dunlop and Mary Tait married 27 November 1853 at Maybole. Their children were:
1 x Margaret Dunlop birth registered Maybole in 1857 1 x Janet Dunlop birth registered Maybole in 1860 1 x James Dunlop birth registered in Maybole in 1866
No marriages at all of a James Dunlop to a Mary SHORTHILL in any district in any year at all but there was just one Mary SHORTHILL marriage in the entire Scottish Records and that was to Alexander TAIT!! They were married at Maybole on the 5 June 1825.
Children of Alexander Tait and Mary Shorthill were:
So it rather looks as though a death informant was slightly confused about the generations and almost certainly the Mary Tait born 1827 would have been the bride of James Dunlop in 1853 and mother to the Margaret who died in 1909
Sorting this out is a way of saying thank you to Rich and everybody concerned for this marvellous website.
Patricia E Martin 18 March 2002 |
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Death Records Provided by Doug Stevenson. nsteven@attbi.com |
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DEATH 1930 V 36 P 323 Full Name: James Dunlop Residence: 396 Main, Concord Mass. Length of residence in city/town: How long in US?: Sex: M Color: W S/M/D/W: M Place of Death: Marlborough, Marlborough Hospital Date of Death: May 23 1930 Age: 65y 0m 21d Occupation: Textile Merchant Date last worked this occupation: April, 1930 Birthplace: Maybole, Scotland Name of Spouse: Ada F. Perham Name of Father: James Dunlop Birthplace of Father: Scotland Maiden Name of Mother: Mary Tait Birthplace of Mother: Scotland Informant: Ada Dunlop West Concord Mass. Cause of Death: Fracture of left leg and associated injuries - he was driving his car on highway when he left the road and struck a tree. If death was due to external causes: Accident/suicide/homicide: accident Date of injury: April 22, 1930 Where did injury occur?: Northborough, Mass Manner of injury: automobile injury Nature of injury: fracture of leg Was disease or injury in any way related to occupation? Yes If so specify: he was a traveling salesman Place of Burial: Sleepy Hollow Concord, Mass. Date of burial: May 25, 1930 Name of undertaker: Joseph Dee |
DEATH 1955 V 40 P 462 Massachusetts Bureau of Vital Statistics Residence: 396 Main St. Concord Length of residence in city: 51y Sex: F Color: W S/M/W/D: W Name of Spouse: James Dunlop, Jr. Place of Death: 396 Main St Concord Date of Death: June 28, 1955 Age: 82y 3m 8d Occupation: Housewife Retired Maiden Name: Birthplace: Mt. Vernon N.H. Name of Father: Pierce Perham Birthplace of Father: Mt. Vernon N.H. Maiden Name of Mother: Sarah E. Follansbee Birthplace of Mother: Mt. Vernon N.H. Informant: Inez Wilkins 396 Main St. West Concord, Mass. Primary Cause of Death: acute pulmonary edema Contributing Cause of Death: anteriosclerotic & hypertensive heart disease Place of Burial: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Concord Date of Burial: July 1, 1955 Name of Undertaker: Joseph Dee Address of Undertaker: Concord, Mass. |
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Massachusetts Archive Date of Death: Jan. 3, 1903 Full Name of the Deceased: Margaret Dunlop Sex: F Condition: S Age 45y 10m 22d Disease, or cause of Death: Cancer of Liver Residence, Place of Death, Place of Burial: Concord, Concord, Concord Name of Parents: James Dunlop/Mary Tait Birthplace of Parents: Scotland/Scotland |
Massachusetts Bureau of Vital Statistics Full Name: Mary Dunlop Residence: Concord Length of residence in city/town: How long in US?: Sex: F Color: W S/M/D/W: Married Place of Death: Concord Date of Death: May 17,1909 Age: 84y 4m -d Maiden Name: Mary Tait Birthplace: Ayrshire, Scotland Name of Spouse: James Dunlop Name of Father: Alexander Tait Birthplace of Father: Scotland Maiden Name of Mother: Mary Shorthill Birthplace of Mother: Scotland Informant: son Cause of Death: pneumonia Place of Burial: Sleepy Hollow Cem. Date of burial: May 19, 1909 Name of undertaker: Blossom Und. Co. Concord Junction |
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Death 1917 V17 P383 Massachusetts Bureau of Vital Statistics James Dunlop (Sr) b.1823 Father: James Dunlop Mother: Mary Shorthill. [ this is not correct. Should have been given as Mary Tait. The maiden name of James' wife was also Mary Tait. This may have lead to some confusion by the death informant] |
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Children of James Dunlop and Mary Tait Marriage: 27 Nov 1853 ( IGI entries provided by webmaster Rich Pettit ) |
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Mary DUNLOP
- International Genealogical Index / BI Gender: F Birth: 23 May 1855
Maybole, Ayr, Scotland |
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