JAMES
SINCLAIR
(1826-1891), SCOTTISH-AMERICAN COAL
MINER
by William John Shepherd, Crofton, Maryland, USA
James Sinclair was the eldest
son of coal miner
and former weaver James Sinclair
(1805-1874) and Janet Bennie (1802-1865). He was born 1 March 1826 and
christened 19 March 1826 in the parish of Denny, county of Stirling,
Scotland. His siblings were Andrew (b. 1827), Alexander (b. 1829), William
(b. 1831), John (b. 1834), Jean (b. 1837), Christina (b. 1840), David (b.
1842), and Robert (b. 1844). His parents were married 7 November 1823 in the
Bennie home parish of Denny. Janet’s father, Andrew Bennie (1777-1855), was
both a farmer and a cattle dealer. The elder Sinclair was from Kilsyth, also
in Stirlingshire, where his family had been weavers for generations. By the
time of the 1841 census, the family was living at Carlingcroft Square,
parish of Old Monkland, county of Lanark, Scotland,
where James was employed as a coal miner, or collier as the Scots would say.
Fifteen year old son James is not listed as working anywhere, which is odd
as boys his age, and much younger, were generally employed. On 3 May 1846
young James, now a coal miner
like his father, married Mary Paterson, daughter of blacksmith George
Paterson (1796-1881) and Rachel Imrie (1801-1889) of the village of
Gartsherrie, now part of Coatbridge, parish of Old Monkland, county of
Lanark, Scotland.
The first child, also named
James, was born about 1846-1847. Additional children were George (my great
great grandfather) born 1 April 1848 and Alexander born about 1850. In the
1851 census,
the family
was living at Herriot Row, Gartsherrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
By 1854 when son William was born, the family
had moved to the parish of Bothwell, county of Lanark, Scotland.
Several more children followed: Rachel Imrie born 18 November 1856, Robert
born 6 February 1859, and Andrew born 21 January 1861. The 1861 census
shows the family
living near to James and Janet Sinclair on the Parish Road in Newarthill,
parish of Bothwell, county of Lanark, Scotland.
Sons James, age 14, and George, age 12 are listed as coal miners like their
father and grandfather. By 1863 the family
was living in the nearby village of Carfin. Son John was born 22 January
1863 but died 21 months later of Chlorosis on 17 November 1864. James lost
his mother Janet Bennie Sinclair the following year as she died of
Inflammation of the Chest at Carfin on 1 November 1865. Another child, born
10 February 1865, was also named John. The last two children were Janet born
18 September 1866 and Mary born 1 July 1868.
In 1870, James moved his family
from Scotland
to America, although the two eldest sons, James and George appear to have
remained home in Scotland.
James, Mary, and the other eight children sailed from Glasgow on the Steam
Ship Australia, in steerage, under Master John Hedderwick, and
arrived at Castle Garden, port of New York, on 16 June 1870. All arrived
safely and they shortly settled in the small coal mining town of Arnot in
Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where James could continue his occupation. Wife
Mary died sometime after this and before 1875 when he married again, to
Elizabeth Hunter, on 16 May 1875 at Mansfield, near Arnot, in Tioga County,
Pennsylvania. They would eventually have 4 children: David born on 4 August
1876, Helen born about 1877, Thomas born about 1878, and an unnamed daughter
born 30 June 1880. James applied to the Tioga County Court for
naturalization as a US citizen on 27 August 1877 and was sworn at a US
citizen on 28 August 1879. The 1880 Federal census
shows the family
living at Arnot, Bloss Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Mary Paterson's
children John and Christina were living at home as were the children of
Elizabeth Hunter, in addition to her mother, Margaret Hunter. Daughter
Rachel had married 13 October 1874 to James Blair and son Andrew on 29
November 1878 to Ann Hutchinson. Son Robert appears to have been married by
this time as well, to a woman named Margaret. At present there is no further
information regarding sons Alexander and William or daughter Mary.
Back in Scotland, the old son,
James, was married about 1868 to Isabella Condie of Fife. The 1881 census
shows them living in Bothwell, county of Lanark, and thereafter, in 1891 and
1901, in the town of Buckhaven, parish of Wemyss, county of Fife. The second
son, George, was married 18 June 1872 in the parish of Bothwell, county
Lanark, Scotland,
to Sarah Lyons, daughter of Irish born coal miner
Robert Lyons and Sarah Macready. George brought his family to America, via
New York, in 1881, and settled in Arnot to work like his father in the coal
mines there. The coal there was rapidly being exhausted so George and
family moved near Houtzdale, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania in 1890. James
died at the age of 65 in Arnot on 21 October 1891, exactly two weeks after
his fourteen year old son David, and both were buried in Arbon Cemetery,
Blossburg, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. His widow survived for some years
and did not remarry. She died 23 September 1912 and was buried alongside her
husband and son.
SOURCES:
Clearfield County Court House
Clearfield County Historical Society
LDS Family History Library
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
Old Parochial Registers (OPR)
Scottish Church Records on CD Rom
National Archives:
Census
Records
Passenger and Immigration Lists, New York
Scottish Record Office via Scottish Family Search
Census
Records
Civil Registration: Births, Marriages, Deaths
Parish Registers
