John Storrie Gillespie - Where Did He Go ?

[darylrodger]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me where to look to find an ancestor of mine ? His name is John Storrie Gillespie b. 13 Apr 1899 in Paisley to James Gillespie & Janet Storrie.

He emigrated to the U.S in 1920, and became naturalised on 18 Jan 1928. He lived in Wayne, Detroit, Michigan in 1930 as he's mentioned in the census as a roomer and his occupation as an insurance collector. Where do I look next, any ideas ?

Regards,

Daryl

[speleobat2]

Daryl,

Do you know when he died? I'm not seeing him listed on the Social Security Death Index and he should have qualified if he was working after 1941. If he is still living, then you're going to have to use other means to find him. Won't be able to help you here. Try Google!

Carol

Edited much later: So much for my arithmetic! If he's still alive today, he'd only be 111 years old!

[Currie]

Hello Daryl,

Are you sure that the person in Detroit is yours? The Information on this forum suggests that he isn’t. http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums ... hp?t=48419

John Gillespie, the toolmaker from Paisley, who arrived in the US from Scotland in 1928 appears to have returned to Scotland in 1931. It doesn’t say where he was born but there were only two John Gillespie’s born in Paisley around 1899/1900. Do you know what happened to the other one?

Have you found any US records that have his full name and do you know what his occupation was before he left Scotland? Is there a family story or something indicating that he went to the US?

Alan

[SarahND]

Have you found any US records that have his full name and do you know what his occupation was before he left Scotland?

Hi Alan,
The only records I can find with his full name are:
1) his arrival in Canada 28 July 1920, with intent to settle in Canada. He was joining a cousin, James More, at 5 Thorpe St, Guelph, Ontario.

2) A passenger list from Glasgow to Quebec, but with passengers all headed for the U.S., arriving on 2 Sep 1928. He appears to be coming back from a visit to Scotland (his father's name and address are given in Paisley as a departing point), and is returning to 3761 Whitney Ave, Detroit, Michigan. He is a tool maker still.

3) and a wee card from the naturalization index, with his birth date and the date 18 Jan 1828. Looks like he petitioned on that date to become a U.S. citizen, but had not yet become one when he took the trip back to Scotland.

Reliable sightings as John S Gillespie (or other spellings):

1) Border crossing from Canada to U.S. admitted 26 Oct 1921 with $50 in hand. He has just left his mother Janet in Pt. Nelson, Ontario and is headed for Syracuse, New York. He is a machinist.

2) He enters from Canada again in June 1922, still a machinist. His last permanent residence is Dundas, Ontario. Once again his nearest relative is his mother, Janet Gillespie at Port Nelson. He is headed back to Syracuse to join a friend, John Davis, this time with $60 in his pocket.

3) The 1930 census has John S Gillispie rooming at 2702 Whitney Ave, Detroit, Michigan. Same street, different number as his Sep 1928 entry from Scotland, so it does look like it could well be him and he is trying his hand at collecting insurance. He says he came to the U.S. in 1920, but his naturalization is still pending.

Reliable(-ish) sightings as John Gillespie (or other spellings)

1) Arrival in Glasgow 24 Jun 1928, last permanent residence U.S., going to his father's address in Paisley, still a toolmaker. Country of intended future residence: Foreign countries (i.e. could be anything outside the British Empire, but is probably the U.S.)

2) Arrival in Glasgow 22 December 1929 of a John Gillespie, address 19 Ardgowan St, W. Greenock. This one is a tool and die maker, so looks like the same. His last address is U.S.A. and he intends going back there (or to another foreign country).

3) Then here is the one found by the poster on the other board: Arrival in Glasgow May 1931 of a John Gillespie, address 36 West Stewart St, Greenock. He is a toolmaker, last permanent address U.S.A., but this time intends to stay in Scotland.

So, are these all the same people? Or are the two going to Greenock different, but with the same occupation? They all have acceptable birth dates, some give the exact day and most say born in Paisley (or "Peasley" ) but the re-entry into the U.K. does not give place of birth. One thing that puzzles me is that he gives his mother in Canada as nearest relative in the earlier records and his father in Paisley in the 1928 list.

I admit that when I got to the point last night of googling and saw this had already been hashed out on another forum, I gave up and went to bed. But now, as I'm avoiding doing other things I don't want to do today, I'm glad to go back to it

All the best,
Sarah

[darylrodger]

Hi Sarah,

Wow, many thanks for looking all that info up .

John's family all came from Paisley. I know he visited his sister Janet King Gillespie in the U.S, who also lived with her husband Andrew Wingate, in Detroit, Michigan. I also checked the U.S social security death index without success, and don't know where to look next. Maybe he went back to Canada, I simply don't know. How do I search for death's in Canada ?

I can't ask any relatives as I don't have any to ask unfortunately. I have checked scotlands people for a possible marriage/death but nothing came up, so I assume he died either in Canada or somewhere else.

Regards,

Daryl

[SarahND]

Hi Daryl,
Do you know if his mother Janet was living in Canada? If she definitely wasn't, then we can throw out the records that give that information.

Also, do you know his parents' death dates?

All the best,
Sarah

[darylrodger]

Hi Sarah,

John's father,James died on 16 Dec 1947 & his mother Janet on 18 July 1952.

I get the feeling that John was maybe visiting his mother in Canada, while she was staying with relatives who emigrated from Scotland. As far as I know she and her husband both died in Paisley.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Daryl

[SarahND]

I get the feeling that John was maybe visiting his mother in Canada, while she was staying with relatives who emigrated from Scotland.

I see sister Janet coming over in Sept 1929 and then in 1930 on Iroquois Ave in Detroit, working as a cook in the Grove family, but I just can't see the mother on any passenger lists.

So I'm wondering if there isn't another John S Gillespie, machinist/tool & die maker, who was born about the right time, whose mother was living in Canada, and who stayed in Greenock, rather than Paisley, went he came back to Scotland. This would be numbers 1 & 2 from the John S Gillespies above, and numbers 2 and 3 of the John Gillespies above. The records with his full name have got to be him.

Regards,
Sarah

[SarahND]

I'm not seeing him listed on the Social Security Death Index and he should have qualified if he was working after 1941.

Not necessarily, if he died before 1962, or if he had no family claiming survivor benefits. This from Ancestry (my emphasis):

Who is listed in the SSDI?
This database is an index to basic information about persons with Social Security numbers whose deaths have been reported to the Social Security Administration. The death may have been reported by a survivor requesting benefits. It may have been reported in order to stop Social Security Benefits to the deceased. Funeral homes often report deaths to the SSA as a service to family members. Beginning in 1962, the SSA began to use a computer database for processing requests for benefits. About 98% percent of the people in the SSDI died after 1962, but a few death dates go back as far as 1937. Because legal Aliens in the U.S. can obtain a Social Security card, their names may appear in the SSDI if their deaths were reported. Some 400,000 railroad retirees are also included in the SSDI.
The Social Security Death Index is not an index to all deceased individuals who have held Social Security Numbers. It is not a database of all deceased individuals who have received Social Security Benefits, or whose families have received survivor benefits. (Porter 1999)

All the best,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Aha! There is a border crossing at Detroit in 1925 for this person:

John Gillespie
Age: 26
Occupation: Toolmaker
Nationality: Scotland
Place of birth: Greenock, Scotland
Last permanent residence: Windsor, Ontario
Destination: Detroit, Mich
Nearest relative: Father, John, Greenock Scotland

So he is the one who has been confusing us. He is also a toolmaker, but was born in Greenock, father John.

Regards,
Sarah