INDEX CLEARINGHOUSE MAILING LIST LINKS HOME
PART I
The families of William
and Alexander GILCHRIST of Kilsyth, Scotland and West
Charlton, Saratoga County, New York.
x x x x x
The farthest reaching document I have examined is a hand-written notebook
page. It confirms
that the name means, "Servant of Christ"; and states that,
"The first peer in
Scotland was Gilchrist, made Earl of Angus, in 1037, by
Malcolm Third of
Scotland".
It further recounts that "Our grandfather John Gilchrist" (the one who later
came to America and
married Esther, daughter of his uncle, William) was living as
a small child with his
paternal grandmother, Jean Rennie (Gilchrist), in Kilsyth-,
and one day, while he
played on the floor, his young uncle, Alexander, came in
with news of the
British defeat at Saratoga which she was glad to have.
I do not know the author of this piece and neither does Edgar Bullard, who
let me see the original
which he recalls his mother received from Harriet F.
Gilchrist. I have
carefully compared it with items I know to be in H. F. G.'s
handwriting. She
did not write it. Had she done so, it would only have been
as a copy of an earlier
document; because the John Gilchrist referred to was not
her grandfather, but
her great-grandfather. Writing-in-the-original she would
have observed the
distinction meticulously. The reverse of the document is
addressed to "Mrs.
M. E. Randles", a granddaughter. But as Judge Gilchrist had
fifteen grandchildren
it is now next to impossible to "guess-work" which of the
fourteen others sent it
to her.
All previous accounts have indicated that William and Alexander came together
to America in 1770 and
settled in West Charlton. It is known that William moved
to Albany, New York
(and married Esther Nielson, daughter of Janet Nilson (her
sp.)
of Kirkowan, Galloway,
Scotland, in Albany) during the Revolution. Whether this
means that Alexander
came later, or was on a return journey to Scotland at the
time John Gilchrist
recalled, I don't know.
In any case, Alexander did marry a Miss Adair and raise a family of ten
children in the West
Charlton area. The younger of these, at least, were contempo-
raries of William's
grandchildren.
Of ALEXANDER'S children, six were girls. Jane and Margaret did not marry.
Jeannette married a
Bowlsby and Elizabeth a Bell. Nancy married Dr. Finley
McMartin of Charlton
and Merron became the first wife of John Gilchrist, Jr.
(a grandson of
William), and the mother of Thomas Henry of whom more later.
Alexander's four sons, without regard to order, were: William, Robert,
John A. and Alexander
(2)
William and Robert are mentioned in the Foster-Gilchrist Book by name only.
John A. Gilchrist married Margaret Mairs, Daughter of Thomas and older sister
of Jane Ann Mairs. (A
first-cousin, daughter of Rev. James, was also named
Margaret.) John A. and
Margaret Mairs Gilchrist had five children, but the family
ceased to exist
"with the deaths of the bachelor sons, Alexander (J) and Thomas
Mairs Gilchrist in
1908".
(See below. Like Alexander (3) of Evansville, these were grandsons of the
oriainal Alexander.)
0
This leaves Alexander (2) who married a woman whose name is not recorded.
They also had five
children. Daughters, Marian G. Whiteside, Annie G. Ostrom,
and Agnes
G. Chalmers. Sons, Alexander (3) and James Bell Gilchrist. James
Bell
is
mentioned only by name in the F-G Book. Alexander (3) was living in
Evansville,
Indiana in
1915.
Of these children and grandchildren of Alexander (1) the Foster-Gilchrist
Book says,
"Many of these spent their lives in West Charlton or the region round-
about".
That being so, it is surprising (if they were still doing so or had left any
heirs) that
there was not more available to Harriet Foster Gilchrist on William,
Robert, and
James Bell Gilchrist. This is especially true in view of the fact
that both
Margaret E. (Gilchrist) Randles and Sarah M. (Gilchrist) Young --- who
lived the
greater portion of their lives in West Charlton and returned there perm-
anently in
widowhood --- were women "not-old-past-accurate-recollection" when
their niece
began summering with them in the 1890's, and these three men were
substantially contemporaries (of theirs or their father's) with whom they had
grown up.
Clearly, Harriet F. Gilchrist seems to have had some familiarity, also, with
the three
daughters of Alexander (2) whose married names (and a good bit more
in-
formation)
she provides. They were doubtless substantially contemporary with
Aunts
Margaret and Sarah and they should certainly have been able to provide
vital
statistics on their uncles, William and Robert, and their brother, James
Bell
Gilchrist. The same is also true of Alexander (3).
With so many potential sources, I have come to the conclusion that if,
in the
quarter-century prior to 1915, Aunt Harriet did not find information
ascribing
to these three men marriages and heirs; then it is safe to assume
there were
none. Surely, she would have as carefully sought and included such
details for
them as she did in the cases of Alexander (2), John A. and the three
sisters of
Alexander (3).
So I find ONLY Alexander (3) of Evansville to pin hopes of the name-
succession
of
Alexander (1's) line upon. And that is not certain. All that is said of him is
that he was
living in Evansville at the time the Foster-Gilchrist Book was
published.
If this seems a rather restrictive view, it should be borne in mind that until
the third
generation of Alexander's line (which would include his sons, William
and Robert,
and his grandson, James Bell) and the fourth of William (The Old
Squire) ---
the two being substantially contemporary --- the family was closely
con-
cent'rated
around West Charlton and its region where, with kinships well-known
and rather
closely over-lapping, it would certainly have been evident and
recorded
(at least
in memory) if any of these folk had had heirs or moved away. Since the
"name-only" brothers and son of Alexander (2) are not stated to have done
either;
I am
content they didn't, but either died young without heirs or remained
bachelors
through
life.
This view seems further supported by the Will of Margaret E. (Gilchrist)
Randles,
dated August 14, 1909, which states:
"I also give to my said sister, Sarah M. Young, all of my interest in
the Thomas M. and Alexander J. Gilchrist Homestead in the Town of
Charlton, Saratoga County, N. Y. ---which was willed to my said
sister and myself by the said Alexander J. Gilchrist."
The unexplained James Bell Gilchrist would have been, like Alexander (3)
first-cousin to Alexander J.; and William and Robert would have been his uncles.
If these
three or their heirs (being, presumably, among the "Many" who spent
their lives
in or around West Charlton) were still living in 1908; it seems odd
that
Alexander J. would have left his property to female third-cousins-once-
removed (of
William's line) in preference to closer male relatives of his own line.
If, however, as I believe, my assumption is correct that Alexander (3) of
Evansville was his only
remaining male relative of the line of the original
Alexander; it would no
longer seem untwual ---Alexander (3) being, for those
days, far away --- for
Alexander J. to leave property which had belonged to him
and his brother to more
distantly related female cousins living in his own area.
(NOTE: The use of numerals to distinguish the Alexanders, father, son, and
grandson, is simply for reading convenience. They apparently did
not so distinguish during their lifetimes.)
x x x x x
Of WILLIAMS's line there are two parts; That of his son, John; and that
of his daughter,
Esther.
Both of these children were by William's first wife, Esther Nielson Gil-
christ, who died at 28.
After her death, William married twice again; but had
no more children by his
second and third wives. The third, like the first, was
named Esther. She
lived, during the youth of John Montgomery, James Mairs,
Margaret Esther, and
Sarah Maria, in the household of John Gilchrist, Jr. and
to distinguish her from
his mother she was referred to by them as, "The old
grandmother".
x x x x x
William's son, John, married a Miss McCartney whose first name is not known.
They had four children.
A daughter, Grizzelle, is thought to have married a
Davenport.
Of their three sons, William I. Gilchrist married his cousin (daughter of
Esther and Scots-John),
Ann Robinson Gilchrist. This couple had five children:
Catherine; Mary Esther,
who married Colin Bell; Dayton; Julia, who married a
Benjamin; and James
Nelson Gilchrist.
NOTE: Of this family Harriet F. Gil 'christ says: "This family lived for
years in McGregor, Iowa. James Nelson Gilchrist, who is now (1915)
in California is the only surviving member of his generation. There
are some children of the married members of the family, but we (the
Chicago kin) have never known them well." (Parentheses mine.)
NOTE: I have in this work used the term, "Scots-John", to distinguish
Esther's husband from.her brother, John, neither having middle name.
Scots-John is the John Gilchrist mentioned in the document in my
opening paragraphs and the John Gilchrist who ultimately became a
Judge. It is a device wholly of my own contriving to simplify
reading. It appears nowhere else and I have no indication he was
so distinguished in life.
The remaining sons of John (son of William) and his wife were John I. and
Peter McCartney
Gilchrist.
John I. married "a Miss Dow of the Mairs connection". With as much as
Harriet F. Gilchrist
knew and recorded of the Mairs connection --- which was
pretty
extensive---, there
being no mention that John I. and his wife had any children;
it seems safe to assume
there were none, particularly in view of what she record-
ed of his brother,
Peter McCartney Gilchrist.
Of Peter McCartney Gilchrist, "who went to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania,
married
a Pennsylvania lady,
and had a large family", that is all we know.
The Gilchrist-named descendants of William through his son, John, must, on
this basis, trace
themselves first to William I. Gilchrist of McGregor, Iowa; or
to Peter McCartney
Gilchrist of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.
x x x x x
William's daughter, Esther, married his nephew, Scots-born John, who became
an active Democrat in
politics, a member of the New York Legislature and
ultimately,
in 1838, was elected a
Judge.
Esther and Scots-John had four children; two daughters and two sons.
Of the daughters, Esther Nielson Gilchrist (not to be confused with her graiad-
mother of the same
name) married Hugh McKindley and had three children. Ann
Robin-
son Gilchrist married
(see previous page) William I. Gilchrist. This last family
traces to William
through both John and Esther.
The elder son, William M. Gilchrist, married a Miss Beach. They had two
children, Irving, who
"left no heirs", and Sarah who married her cousin, Hugh
Nelson McKindley. (See
previous paragraph.)
The youngest of the children of Esther and Scots-John was John Gilchrist, Jr.
Through him all of the
Gilchrist-named descendants of William by only his
daughter,
Esther, must trace
themselves.
John Gilchrist, Jr., the youngest of William's grandchildren by his daughter,
first married, Merron,
the youngest of the children of Alexander (1). As previously
indicated they had one
son, Thomas Henry Gilchrist, who "lived to maturity but his
life was blighted by
scarlet fever in childhood". It is not recorded that he ever
married and had heirs;
and the suggestion is implicit that he did not. As he would
have been the older
half-brother of all four of John, Jr.'s later children, two of
whom lived out their
maturity in West Charlton, the fact no heirs are mentioned in
"Tommy's"
case seems particularly conclusive that there were none.
Following the death of Merron, John, Jr. married Jane Ann Mairs. They had
four children who, with
their heirs, are the subject of the list comprising Part II
of this work.
The eldest was a son, John Montgomery Gilchrist, who moved to Marshalltown,
Iowa. The second
was James Mairs Gilchrist, who moved to Chicago. Third was
Margaret
Esther, and fourth,
Sarah Maria.
John Montgomery married Ida White and had three daughters and two sons,
John
Frederick and William
Randles Gilchrist. Both of the latter are now deceased, but
their widows and
descendants live in the Los Angeles area. Jean A. married the
Rev.
Rockwell Harmon Potter;
Mary Lucinda is unmarried; and Maud Estelle married
Archi-
bald H. E. Matthews.
James Mairs married Mary Lucinda Foster and had one daughter and three
sons.
Harriet Foster
Gilchrist remained unmarried; and Francis Foster Gilchrist died, un-
married, in early
manhood. John Foster Gilchrist married Emma Lock Boyd and
James
Montgomery Gilchrist
married (Hazel) Vivian Rice.
Margaret Esther married the Rev. William N. Randles. He did not live very
long and they had no
children. She did not remarry.
Sarah Maria married Dr. Franklin Young. They had two sons who died in
infancy;
a daughter, Harriet
Adele, who died, unmarried, in young womanhood, and
another
daughter, Jean A. Who
married Howard B. Bullard.
The succeeding generations will be found listed in Part II by families, with
the towns of
their present residence.
All of the children of John Gilchrist, Jr. are dead, as are their spouses. Of
the
grandchildren, only Mary Lucinda Gilchrist survives. Of the spouses of grand-
children, Nora P.
Gilchrist, Hazel P. Gilchrist, Vivian R. Gilchrist,, Rockwell
Harmon Potter,
and Archibald H. E. Matthews survive.
X X X X x
SUMMATION: The Heirs-of-the-Name claiming descent from ALEXANDER
(1) must
apparently, prove
first through Alexander (3) of Evansville.
Heirs-of-the-Name claiming descent from WILLIAM have, apparently, three
clear
lines for doing
so:
(a) through William I. Gilchrist of McGregor, Iowa (by both children of
William).
(b) through Peter McCartney Gilchrist of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania (by son,
John, only).
(c) through John Gilchrist, Jr. (by daughter, Esther, only). This is the
line through which those listed in Part II trace.
Our line, (c) above, tracing to William through Esther, also traces through
her husband,
Scots-John, to his father, the un-named brother of William and Alex-
ander who,
apparently, always remained in Scotland: and through both these lines
to Jean Rennie
Gilchrist, the known mother of the un-named brother and,
presumably,
as well the
mother of William and Alexander.
I do not wish to imply or state that these lines are not related to other
Gilchrists.
Of the four lines stated, I have no knowledge or record of the first
three past
Alexander (3), William I., and Peter McCartney.
So far as our own line is concerned, it has fully recorded American blood-tie
connection to
only these three other Gilchrist families. If our line is related
to other
Gilchrists-in-America than these three, it is through old-country
connections of
which T have no knowledge.
This is, of course, a conclusion which depends entirely, for its validity,
upon the accuracy
of my deductions that William, Robert and James Bell of Alex-
ander's line, and
John I. of William's line did not sire families. I could be
in error; but I
verv strongly doubt it.
PART II
THE DESCENDANTS OF JANE ANN MAIRS GILCHRIST AND JOHN
GILCHRIST, JR.
x x x x x
The following is believed to be a totally complete list; including, as far
as I have been
privileged to know of them, even those who died in infancy. In
order to simplify the
structure of the list for easier reading and comprehension
of relationship, it is
arranged by families; and a key has been provided for each
generation of descent.
It will be noted that the use of dates is not consistent.
In my original
solicitation of information I left the matter optional, promising,
however, that those
provided would be used.
I have used initials to indicate sources. Where additional initials appear,
it indicates that these
people have seen the pertinent section in draft form and
have confirmed it and
supplied the completing data. Where I have felt the volume
or complexity of detail
supplied warranted; I have sent a final draft copy of the
pertinent sections to
those supplying, for confirmation.
x x x x x
KEY
Children of above:
Prefix and names in capital letters.
(lst gen.)
Grandchildren: Roman
numeral prefix, names solid underlined.
(2nd gen.)
G-grandchildren: Lower
case letter prefix, broken underlined.
(3rd gen.)
G-g-grandchildren:
Arabic numeral prefix.
(4th gen.)
G-g-g@randchildren:
Lower case 'v' prefix.
(5th gen.)
Adoptions: Suffix (a)
x x x x x
A. JOHN MONTGOMERY
GILCHRIST married Ida White. They resided in
Marshalltown,
Iowa until their deaths. They had five children.
I. Jean Ann Mairs Gilchrist (b. 1876) married (5-12-98) Rev. Rockwell
Harmon
Potter who survives her and lives in Hartford., Conn. They, too, had five
children. (Source R. H. P.)
a. Richard Montgomery Gilchrist Potter (b. 1898 - d. 1941) married first,
Harriet Thompson and, second, Ruth Cutter. After their divorce Harriet
T. Potter married John Wentworth with whom she resides in Rockport,
Mass. Ruth C. Potter survives and lives in Salisbury, Conn.
By Harriet, Dick had two children. (None by Ruth):
1. Richard Montgomery (Pete) Potter married Priscilla Radfield.
They live in Wayland, Mass. and have one son:
V. Christopher Potter.
2. Diana Potter married Dr. George Burnell. They live in San Rafael,
Cal. and have two children:
v. Cynthia Burnell - 1960
v. David Burnell - 6 - 27 - 63
b. Amelia Harmon Potter married Reinold Marvin Parker by whom she had
two children
1. Ann Marvin Parker married Edward Payson Ricker. They live in
Ottawa, Ont. Canada and have two children:
v. Bruce Ricker
v. Betsy Ricker
2. John Marvin Parker married Lee Knowlton. They live in Syracuse, NY
After the death of Reinold Marvin Parker, Amelia married Harold
Johnson, who has since died. She survives and lives in Hartford,
Conn.
c. Jean Gilchrist Potter married John G. Haas, III, who died in 1963.
She survives and lives in Bethlehem, Penn. with their two children:
1. John G. Haas, IV
2. Jean Mairs Haas
d. Harmona Romevn Potter is unmarried and lives with her father in Hart-
ford, Conn.
e. Rockwell-Harmon Potter., Jr. married Althea Rathbone. They live in
Manchester, Conn. and have three sons:
1. David Harmon Potter
2. Duncan Mairs Potter
3. Daniel Romeyn Potter
II. John Frederick
Gilchrist (b. 1878 R. H. P.) married Nora Olive Peterson.
She survives and lives in Los Angeles. They had three children: (Source N. P.
G.
a. John Montgomery Gilchrist died in infancy.
b. Margaret Ida Gilchrist married John A. Bergman. They live in Long Beach,
Cal. and have two sons:
1. Stephen Philip Bergman married Bonnie Casale. They live in Long
Beach, Cal. and have one daughter:
v. Tammy Bergman
2. John Frederick Bergman
c. William Walter Gilchrist married Charlene Zehner. They live in Whittier,
Cal, and have two daughters:
1. Hildreth Louise Gilchrist
2. Laurel Beth Gilchrist
III. Mary Lucinda
Gilchrist (b. 1880 R. H. P.) is the last surviving grandchild.
She is unmarried and lives, as she long has, in the home of Rev. Potter,
her brother-in-law, in Hartford, Conn. She was named for the wife of her
Uncle James, Mary Lucinda Foster Gilchrist, with whom this statement should
keep later delvers-into-history from confusing her.
IV. William
Randles Gilchrist (b. 1882 R. H. P.) married Hazel Palmer. She
survives and lives in Santa Monica, Cal. They had two children: (NPG-HPG)
a. Helen Jean-Gilchrist married William Edward Wottring. They live in
LaCanada, Cal. and have two children:
1. William Gregory Wattring
2. Elizabeth Anne Wottring
b. John MontRomerv Gilchrist married Margery Pulliam. They live in Santa
Monica, Cal. and have three sons:
1. John Montgomery Gilchrist, Jr.
2. William Randles Gilchrist, II
3. James Downing Gilchrist
V. Maud Estelle
Gilchrist (b. 1884 R. H. P.) married Archibald Henry Edward
Matthews, who survives her and continues to live in Marshalltown, Iowa.
They had two sons: (N. P. G., M. L. G., R. H. P.)
a. Clive Gilchrist Matthews married Muriel George. They live in Mt. Leb-
anon (P'b'g P. 0.), Penn. and have two children: (Source: C. G. M)
1. Christine Maud Matthews - 14 yrs.
2. Clive Montgomery Matthews - 13 yrs.
b. John Montgomery Matthews (b.. Marshalltown 6/22/21) married Lucile
Taylor Gilbert (b. Florence, Ala. 9/l/25). They live in Corpus Christi,
Texas and have two sons:
1. Barrett Gibbs Matthews (b. Houston 9/26/51) (Source: J. M. M.)
2. John Taylor Matthews (b. Corpus Christi 5/5/55)
Back to the Clearinghouse pages...
INDEX CLEARINGHOUSE MAILING LIST LINKS HOME