I pondered on this topic from the Generations Challenge of 52 Weeks, 52 Ancestors. On Ancestry.com I did the search to list all people on my tree alphabetically to see if a name would pop out. Names in abundance are BAKER, LANE, LOVEALL, QUIST, and VARNUM among others. I did a bit of research on what surnames mean and what is their origin, for example, Baker, is an English occupational name for those who owned a bakery or perhaps baked a special bread. Then I zeroed in on Scottish names and realized that I’ve not done much research or written about my husband’s maternal side of the family, the Fultons and the Leckies who emigrated from Scotland around 1884.
Margaret Ann Lees Fulton and James Leckie both were born in the area of Lanarkshire, Scotland which is a plains area in the middle of the country and is close to Glasgow. James was born in 1862 while Margaret was 10 years younger. James probably came to America as a young man on his own. His parents lived and died in Scotland. Margaret emigrated as a young teen with her parents. Both of them settled in Chicago and probably met there. Interestingly, they married in Milwaukee! Maybe they eloped.
James is listed on census records as a dry goods merchant. Many Scots settled in Chicago and set up societies to encourage others to emigrate. By 1920 James and Margaret Leckie had 3 children, Bethia, Robert and Alice, and owned their own home in Chicago valued at $10,000.
The 1930 census records show James as a merchant in the silk industry (fine goods) with wife Margaret and 2 of their 3 children living at home. Bethia had married Mr. Henderson, Alice and Robert lived at home. Both of them worked in an insurance office, Robert as a broker and Alice as a clerk. AHA! Also working there was Otto Weise, head of a department. Otto was a widow with a 7 year old son and his deceased wife’s mother living at home. Otto was 47, Alice was 22.
By 1933 Otto and Alice had married (wish I had details of that courtship) and lived in the house on Warwick Avenue in Chicago. The 1940 census shows Otto as Office Manager at the life insurance company making $2400 per year. The family welcomed son James in 1935 and Richard in 1938.
James and Margaret Leckie moved to Maywood, Illinois probably after the children left home. When I was dating my Jim he introduced me to the Leckie/Fulton family at a birthday party in the Maywood family home. James Leckie died in 1945 at age 83. Margaret lived to the age of 83 and died in 1954 after being hit by a bicyclist while out walking. They are both buried in Forest Park, Illinois.
Memories & Musings 