According to the 1920 census of Coal county Oklahoma, my
great-grandfather Robert Hutchison, became a naturalized citizen of the United
States in 1880. We don’t know much about
his immigration experience; no departure point, ship name, port of entry. We don’t know who met him when he arrived,
where he first laid his head, or how he traveled west. But, we do know that he was living in Rich
Hill, Bates county Missouri by 1883. The
evidence we have gathered suggests that he immigrated as a young man alone; no immediate
family members came with him from his home in Ayrshire Scotland. Perhaps he traveled with friends, or cousins
with names we fail to recognize. His immigration
story would be an interesting research project.
We do know that Robert Hutchison was born in 1858 in Springside, Ayrshire Scotland. His father was John Hutchison, a coal miner, and his mother was Jane Faulds. In May 1869, when Robert was eleven years old
his father was killed in a mining accident.
Young Robert Hutchison, being the oldest son, was called upon to support
his widowed mother and four younger siblings.
The years following John Hutchison’s death must have been a struggle for
the family. In 1872 Robert’s little
brother, George Hutchison age four, died from the injuries of a fall. Then two years later, in 1874, his fourteen
year old brother, John Hutchison died. John’s
death record tells us that he had been ill for a year and was away from home at
the time of his death. He was attended
by his brother Robert Hutchison, who was then sixteen years old.
We get a clue to the family’s continuing difficulties from
the Ayrshire Poor Relief Records of 1875:
Jane Faulds or Hutchieson; Record No. 129; Applied on 9 July
1875 at 9 am; Residence No. 2 Springside Square; born Stewarton, Scotland; a widow aged 39; religion protestant. Dependants:
Margaret 12 yr 1 m, Jeanie 10 yr
4 m. This case is well known to the Board. Her son Robert has been unable to work for 2
mth; One previous application on 6 May 1869; Relieved 4/-; Admitted to the Roll; No. 116 on the Register.
We don’t know why Robert Hutchison had been unable to work
for two months, but illness or injury would seem likely causes. A few weeks after the poor relief application
was submitted, Jane Faulds Hutchison was married for a second time. Her new husband was William Bird, a coal miner in the Springside community. Jane was about forty years old when she
married again, and her oldest son Robert Hutchison was seventeen. She went on to have three more children with
William Bird.
Robert Hutchison age 22 appears in the 1881 census of
Ayrshire Scotland, residing in the home of his mother and step-father. This calls into question his 1880
naturalization in the United States. It
seems likely that he immigrated in 1881 or 1882. The few details we have of Robert Hutchison’s
early life might hint at a young man’s desire to try his hand in a place with
new possibilities. Shortly after his
arrival in America he married my great-grandmother, Isabel Wilson, who also hailed from Ayrshire. They had eight children together, four of
whom lived to adulthood. Having grown up
in the coal mining area of Scotland, it must have been natural for Robert to
continue that occupation in Missouri, and then in Oklahoma.
For more details on Robert Hutchison, visit his page at FamilyStories, pamgarrett.com. There you
will also find an article, Robert Hutchison: A Name Long Treasured. This article gives stories of four generations
of men sharing this family name.
