November, 2011

Issue Number 11 features:
The Launching of Our New Website
Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project
Jamaica and Guyana McCubbins
Obituary for Harold McCubbin, 99 yrs, of Jamaica
South American McCubbins
Remembering Our Military Heroes
Pictures from Australia
The Acting Ancestry of the Girvan McCubbins

The Launching of our New Website

We met our deadline to launch our new website by November or December 2011!

It’s been a few years since we made the decision to design a new website. Compiling all the material that we’ve gathered over the last eleven years and creating a format and pattern for navigation was a huge challenge. The biggest hurdle was to bring all the information together into a readable flow. We hope we’ve done that for you. There will be, no doubt, errors and omissions and we would appreciate your input.

Laurel, daughter of James and Lorna McCubbin, is our technical creator and webmistress. She says that she “stands a-ready, er, sits a-ready, to fix the errors, typos, and any broken links so let me know!”.

The lovely banner photo at the top of the website is a photo of Drumlanrig Castle, nr Thornhill, Dumfriesshire. Andrew McCubbin, born 1792, was a Steward at Drumlanrig. The photo by Kenny Muir is used with permission. Kenny has lots of wonderful pictures of Scotland on his Flickr page.

Fourth Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project

by Lorna McCubbin

In 2011 we have had more exciting additions to our DNA family tree. We now have 47 members.

One of our pleasant experiences was helping the McCubbins of Jamaica and Guyana connect their families. We heard from Howard McCubbin who had some old pages from a note book from the 1800’s, written in Jamaica. Howard’s family had moved to Guyana. A DNA test proved that Howard was of Group 1. The notes then helped in determining that Howard of Guyana and Harold (and Joy) of Jamaica were on the same family tree. The Guyanese McCubbins had always wondered where they came from. When Kathy Hopkins, (a newly found ‘cousin’, of Group 1), compiled all the info, Howard’s brother Steve, told us I must say my dad would have been so happy to finally having this link to our Jamaican cousins and beyond confirmed. I can recall, as a young boy, my dad pulling out the very crumbly and fragile notebook and telling us of our family but up until now it was more of a fantasy than a reality. I cannot tell you how happy I am that my boys will grow up knowing of this rich family history. Happy, happy, happy.   : ) ”

To find out how to link your ancestors you can go to Family Tree DNA to read more and/or contact DNA Project Administrators, Lorna or Kathy mccubbin@one-name.org

McCubbins in Jamaica, Guyana, Peru and Cuba

by Kathy McCubbing Hopkins

McCubbins in Jamaica and Guyana
Joy McCubbin, born in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, contacted us in the summer of 2008 and told us what she knew of her ancestors: two brothers (Andrew and John McCubbin) who had migrated from Scotland to Jamaica and who worked in the sugar industry; Andrew being accidentally burned by the steam in his factory, and the brothers thought to have returned to Scotland after this accident.

Andrew and John McCubbin from Stranraer
We started to try and research the family but progress was initially slow. However, we did find a census record in 1861 which showed an Andrew McCubbin living in George Street, Stranraer, Scotland with his uncle and aunt, Hugh and Sarah McCubbin: a Scholar, age 13, born Jamaica. In 1871, age 22, he appears as a Sailor lodging in the household of Jane Gibson and her family in Glasgow, Scotland, born West Indies. We noted that his grandfather, John McCubbin c.1788-1862 had also been a Seaman. Being the only McCubbin we had found in a UK census record born in Jamaica, it was concluded that he must be linked with the brothers Joy talked about, so the siblings of Hugh McCubbin were examined and among his 6 siblings there was indeed an Andrew John (christened 1808, Stranraer) and a John (christened 1823, Stranraer), part of families #40 and #81 (which had been previously linked).

Andrew McCubbin and his family
Young Andrews father, Andrew, was found on a passenger list travelling from Falmouth in Jamaica to London in 1868, and in 1871 at a meeting of Planters held at Paynes Hotel in Montego Bay to discuss the immigration question. This would have been to discuss the influx of Indian and Chinese immigrants, who were severely discriminated against and faced great hardships in their adopted country, and who were often paid less than the ex-slaves they were brought in to replace. This had been a contentious issue in Jamaica for some time: 20 years prior to this an article in the Jamaican daily newspaper, The Gleaner, reported We thought it necessary yesterday to deal at some length with the Morning Journals reiterated assertion that the present island debt and the bankrupt condition of the country had been occasioned solely by immigration, and for the benefit only of a particular class, the planters.

Further research showed Andrew McCubbin in the County of Cornwall, Jamaica, specifically in the parish of St Elizabeth working as a Vestryman and a Magistrate between the years 1857 and 1879. It is not known when Andrew and his brother John migrated to Jamaica, but an interesting note in The Gleaner in 1937 recorded that in January 1841, for instance, 322 emigrants landed in Jamaica from Stranraer in Scotland. the brothers must have emigrated earlier than this because Andrews first child was born in April 1841, but it does show that it was not unusual for Scots to emigrate to Jamaica during that period.

Links were found with the FRAY family: Henry Fray married Teresa McCubbin, daughter of Andrew McCubbin on 4 January 1860. Henry and Teresa had a number of children and they lived at Clarendon Park (used for growing dyeing woods, according to the 1910 Directory for the Parish of Clarendon). English census records and passenger lists show that Henry and Teresas descendants kept contact with relatives in England, with Teresa herself arriving in Liverpool, England in 1912 aboard the Heredia, an incoming passenger ship from Kingston, Jamaica before her return to the West Indies and death later that year in June 1912, at Clarendon Park. One of their daughters, Teresa McCubbin Fray, married Alfred Pawsey, the lessee of the sugar plantation known as Parnassus, and owner of Bog and Gibbons in the parish of Clarendon. They also lived at Manchester Park and in Kingston, with descendants appearing on English censuses in Walthamstow in Essex, Black Torrington in Devon, and Torquay in Devon. Teresa Pawsey herself died in Felixstowe in Suffolk, England.

Notices in The Gleaner record that Teresa McCubbins sister, Jean, lived with the family at Clarendon Park until she died in 1927.

More recently a marriage record has been found for Andrew McCubbin who married Mary Ann Tomlinson on 7 January 1857. It is wondered whether this might have been a second marriage, as it happened so many years after the birth of the children (between 1841 and 1852), but it is interesting to note that daughter Teresa McCubbin gave her mothers (?) maiden name to her daughter Amy Tomlinson Fray, who was born in 1871. When Mary Ann died the following notice appeared in The Gleaner: “May 1911 – McCubbin – At Clarendon Park, the residence of her daughter Mrs Teresa Fray on the 24th inst. Mrs Andrew McCubbin aged 93 years relict of the late Andrew McCubbin Esq of Strenrear [sic] Wigtownshire, Scotland and J.P. of St Elizabeth and Hanover.”

John McCubbin and his family
In 2008 Joy gave us information about her father, Harold, an active nonagenarian, and his siblings and his parents Charles McCubbin and Sarah Pennicott, and his grandparents John McCubbin and Meggie Hill, John having migrated with his brother Andrew to Jamaica some years before. Harold kindly agreed to have a DNA test done and was shown to belong to what we call McCubbin DNA Group 1.

Recently more information has been found about John and Meggies children Beckey, Marian Elizabeth (c.1874), Charles Edward (b.c.1877, Joys grandfather) and their children in St Elizabeth (Carisbrooke, Biscany and Retirement, Shaws and Lacovia). Marian married Jasper Bryth Morgan, a dispenser, in 1897 and they had 5 children born between 1898 and 1904 in St Catherine, St Thomas and nearer to Marians home in St Elizabeth; Charles, a labourer, married Sarah Clementine Pennicott in 1900 and they had a large family whose descendants have been found in St Elizabeth.

Links with Guyana
Research trailed off for a period until Howard McCubbin from Canada got in touch with us in April this year (2011) and told us that his father, Vernon, had been born in 1912 in Guyana and, in adult life, before he emigrated to Canada, had become the Chief Engineer of Transport and Harbours Department in Guyana. Vernon passed on some documents to Howard which referenced McCubbins in Jamaica in the 1800s.

Howard kindly provided copies of the documents which comprised a series of notes, very old and obviously fragile, but which seemed to be parts of a journal or notebook which included references to the authors family addresses, some of whom were already known to us, like Jane (Jean) McCubbin of Clarendon Park (who it appeared, from the notes, had also lived at a plantation known as Georges Valley), and a reference to another sister (unknown to us until that time, but later found to have been born in 1841 in Greenfield, St Elizabeth), Elizabeth McCubbin (who it appears had also lived at Georges Valley), and an address home to niece Miss Alfred Pawsey in Kingston. From the sibling and familial relationships described It was deduced that the author was the son of Andrew McCubbin and it was determined, from a note which read Andrew McCubbin, born in the Island of Jamaica in the year 1852 and below that 28 August 1884 will make me 32 years of age, that his birth date was 28 August 1852. Despite the small discrepancies with year of birth it is thought that this is the same Andrew McCubbin who was staying with his uncle and aunt in Stranraer in 1861, and then lodging in Glasgow in 1871.

Although the notes are few and difficult to read, some interesting information about life in tropical Guyana can be gleaned. One reads Sunday March 20 84. Had Fever. Monday June 23 Had Fever and was very sick that week. August 9 going to take a Dose of Pills. Another note includes Went to town to buy Palm Needles. Palm needles are used in sail making which ties in with Andrews occupation of Sailor recorded in the 1871 census in Glasgow, mentioned earlier.

It was obvious that this Andrew McCubbin was an ancestor of Howards why else would his grandfather, Joshua Stephen McCubbin, have passed the notes onto his son Vernon McCubbin (Howards father, born in Guyana)? Unfortunately it has been discovered that Guyanan records are notoriously difficult to view in Guyana, and none are available online, so it may not been possible to make a documented link, but Howard kindly agreed to a DNA test which has confirmed that he is closely related to Harold (Joys father) and therefore also part of McCubbin DNA group 1.

Photo Gallery of The McCubbins of Guyana (click to view)

The notes that Vernon possessed, contained information which is tantalizing in its lack of context, for example: “My son Andrew Anton McCubbin died at Bel Air November 2 1885 and below it “Mr Andrew McCubbin had been died at Bel Air, December 25 1889. Belair is a district of Georgetown, Guyana. Could the latter have been Andrew McCubbin, christened in Stranraer in 1808? Had he moved to Guyana with his son, where he died? There seems to be no other candidate.

Both Joy and Howard mentioned an Andrew McCubbin who was an Engineer in Trelawney, according to Joy, and married to Ann Maria Clarke from Barbados, according to Howard, but we can only suppose that he might have been a son of John McCubbin who married Meggie Hill. Interestingly, there seems to be a place in Jamaica called Meggie Hill!

Mosquito Cove Sugar Estate
Active research was resumed and documents relating to the sale of Mosquito Cove Sugar Estate, owned by Andrew McCubbin, Henry Fray and his wife Teresa Fray were identified, and later examined at the National Archives at Kew, Richmond in England.

The documents relate to the liquidation of the Estate and comprise a large package of legal documents which yield some interesting information. It seems that the Estate was not profitable due to the collapse in the price of sugar, and possibly mismanagement. Consequently a petition was made for the appointment of a Receiver in 1876 and an Estate Manager, Jacob Jackson, was appointed to run the plantation.

Examination of these legal documents reveals that the property was sold to Andrew McCubbin, Henry Fray and Teresa Fray in 1866 for £2,300 and it was conveyed upon certain trusts for the benefit of the infant children of Teresa Fray, with the stated aims being that the profits from the Estate would be used to maintain and educate the children until they reached 21 years of age.

Reference is made to other properties leased by Henry Fray, specifically Barbican and Georges Valley (which was mentioned in the notes Howard provided).

Also mentioned is an accident to the Mill of the Estate (which got broken) in June 1872. Perhaps this was the accident Joy had heard about, and mentioned to us when she first contacted the project in 2008.

McCubbin et al were clearly not happy with Jacksons management of the Estate and alleged (in an affidavit of 30 August 1876) reckless expenditure and gross mismanagement and that this was deliberate, with the aim of ensuring the forfeiture of the Estate. It was claimed that Jackson refused to show the trustees the books, when they visited the Estate and requested to see them, and asked for a searching oral investigation of the accounts on oath in this Island, it being impossible for the accounts to be effectively scrutinised on the Island.

The Petitioner and Purchaser, John Bell Sheriff, countered (in his affidavit dated 16 November 1876) that …I satisfied myself that Mr Jacob Jackson… was a Gentleman of integrity and ability and thoroughly competent to manage the estate and lay out to the best advantage whatever Capital might be required for working it. I had ascertained before this that under the management of the said owners the Estate had not been properly worked and as I was informed that they were considerably indebted to various persons in the Island I made it a condition that none of them should reside on the Estate lest the stock should be seized by the Creditors and for this reason I insisted on having some independent and competent person appointed to cultivate and manage the Estate. Harsh words indeed. He further claims that The property has much improved under the said Jacob Jacksons management but owing to the decrease in the price of sugar and other causes this estate in common with most of the estates in the Island of Jamaica has become considerably depreciated.

The conveyancing documents included detailed accounts of the sugar estate and also lists of livestock and deadstock. In a letter dated 8 November 1876 from the Receiver it is stated The dwelling house is occupied by the overseer and submanager of the property and therefore affords no rent. The list of machinery and plant at Mosquito Cove was specified as fixtures on the estate, viz a steam engine, mill, 2 steam clarifiers, a multitubular boiler, water pumps, a battery of copper boilers, complete, a new still 800 gallons, pump and connected with still house all in working order. Particulars of Live and Dead Stock published on 14 March 1877 include: 47 working steers; 4 working spayed heifers and 3 mules. Also 2 cattle carts with yokes and chains; 1 mule cart with harness and 1 cane plough and chains complete.

A collection of contemporary photos which show sugar production in Jamaica can be viewed online:

The sale of Mosquito Cove was completed on 14 March 1877, for £2,500.

Other McCubbin families in Jamaica
A couple of other McCubbin families have been identified which must surely descend from either Andrew or John, not least because of the similarity of their given names, but no firm links have as yet been identified:

There is a large group headed by James McCubbin and Ann Elizabeth Stewart in St James, centred around Springfield and Spring Mount. Records have been found for 6 of their children and descendants:
Andrew McC (b.c1858) who married Catherine Anderson in 1883, with 8 children born between 1883 and 1905;
Theresa Deleon McC (b.1859) who married James Archibald Campbell, with son Alfred, b.1881;
Louisa McC (b.c.1870) who married Henry Clarke in 1903, with 10 children born between 1889 and 1909;
Esther McC who had 4 children between 1897 and 1917;
John McC (b.c.1874) who married Rosa Tharpe in 1902, with a daughter born in 1905;
Elizabeth McC (b.c.1872) who married William Haughton Tharpe in 1896, with 8 children between 1883 and 1906;
Mary Ann McC married to Edward Stothart with 7 children born between 1879 and 1897.
Another family headed by Andrew McCubbin in St James (Montpelier) and Westmoreland (Bethel Town, Greenwich) includes (possibly) John McC b.1867 with putative brother Wilford (b.c.1868) married to Eliza Reid in 1894 with 4 children born between 1897 and 1905.

Information relating to a number of other individuals, which we have thus far, been unable to place has also been discovered.

We are very keen to hear from any more West Indian McCubbins and to share family history with them.

Obituary for Harold McCubbin, 99 years, of Jamaica

IN MEMORIAM

Joy’s father, Harold, sadly passed away on
17 September 2011 at the grand age of 99.
We are very grateful to Harold for passing on information
about his ancestors to his children and helping us to
discover our Jamaican cousins.
We send our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Thank you Harold. Rest in Peace.

~~~

McCubbins in Peru

by Kathy McCubbing Hopkins

Prompted by a Peruvian McCubbin, descendant of John McCubbin who emigrated to Callao in Peru in the mid 19th century, we started to try and research ancestors in this South American country which has proved to be quite a challenge, although the presence of online records at familysearch.org and passenger lists on ancestry.co.uk have helped to develop our knowledge of our Peruvian cousins somewhat.

We were told that John McCubbin was married to Margarita Butler and they had a son Alejandro McCubbin Butler (1858-1913), the great grandfather of our Peruvian contact. We found a brother of Alejandro called James, who was named on a passenger record, in 1923, as the father of David H McCubbin (b.c.1891, Trujillo, Peru) with his wife, Concepcion and their baby (only 20 days old and not yet christened) travelling from Cuba to New Orleans. David, who’s records in 1918 had shown to be a Mariner, was now working as a Sugar Boiler.

Children of Alejandro McC and his wife Ignacia Vivanco have been identified, tentatively, as Alejandro McC who married Julia Albarracin and whose daughter Rosa Blanca McCubbin Albarracin died in 1915 only 1 ½ months old, from whooping cough and, more certainly, Augusto McC (b.c.1889, Trujillo, Peru) who travelled to New York in 1910 as a student, and later married Angela Etelvina Urena. They had twins, Angela and Rosa, in 1914, in Lima, Peru.

Charles McC was born in 1892 in Peru and travelled to New York in 1910 as a student, heading for Boston, Mass. His father, Alejandro, is recorded as being in Salaverry in Peru which is just south of Trujillo.

Another McCubbin identified who was born in Trujillo, Peru c.1893 and who was also working as a Sugar Boiler (and therefore suspected of being the brother of David) was Daniel H McC who travelled from Cuba to New York in 1920.

Trujillo expanded greatly in the 19th century due to extensive irrigated agriculture with high production and profits from the sugar cane industry.

Having discovered McCubbin relations in Peru and Cuba, familysearch.org records for the whole of South America were scoured for McCubbins, but no other families were found, although disappointingly no Cuban records are available.

We would very much welcome contact with any other South American McCubbins with whom we can share family history, and would love to capture some DNA, in the hope that we can link our South American cousins with their Scottish roots.

Remembering Our Military Heroes

by Ronald ‘Rick’ McCubbin

Hart Countys Military Contribution in Two of Americas Greatest Wars
McCubbins Honor the Call.

Pvt. Samuel B. McCubbin
27th KY Infantry , Co. “E”
Union Army

Pvt. Robert E. McCubbin 29th Infantry
United States Army
116th regiment, Co. M

Throughout history America has turned to citizens during times of war to defend our country and thousands of brave men have answered the call. Hart County, Kentucky is no different than any other town and has produced many brave soldiers who joined and saw action in some of our greatest wars. From our current action in Iraq, to the Civil War, and World War II in between, numerous brave men from Hart County have served their country. Two, out of the hundreds, are being highlighted in this article to not only recognize Hart Countys contribution, but to recognize the men who answered the call.

The McCubbin name is abundant in Hart County and has been so for many generations. Two native sons joined many others in battle and of these two men, fighting in two different wars, both seeing action, only one returned to Hart County to live and raise their family. Samuel B. McCubbin returned from the Civil War to raise ten children and lived to be one of the oldest men in Hart County, however, years later, his grandson Robert E. McCubbin left Hart County and saw action in the infamous D-Day Invasion and died in Normandy, France.

Samuel B., who was one of the many grandsons of the long, in-depth line of descendants of James P. and Mary McCubbin, was born to Zacheriah and Nancy Chism-McCubbin on August 25th, 1833. He joined the Union forces as a Corporal on October 12th, 1861 at Rochester, Kentucky. Samuel B. saw action that included Nelson County and Munfordville, KY to Tennessee, Mississippi, and Lost Mountain and Atlanta, in Georgia. According to the Adjutant Generals Report of the 27th Infantry of Kentucky, Company E, Samuel B. like most Kentuckians, had the choice of which side to fight for in order to show their allegiance as a Confederate or a Union soldier. Major John H. Ward opened a camp for recruits at Greensburg, KY on September 20th, 1861, which was described as only 24 miles from Buckners Confederate camp at Munfordville. Samuel B. joined many other men from Hart County, but Major Ward recruited from Casey, Taylor, Green, and Nelson Counties and gained recruits from within the Confederate lines in the area. Samuel B. suffered no significant injuries during the war, however, did take sick in Rochester, KY in 1862 but left with the Company to only get worse and did see a period of confinement in Corinth, Mississippi with a fever, but cannot state what kind. This information was found in Samuel B.s Declaration of Pension dated April 5th, 1915, and was a request for a pension increase. The interesting part of this is that I actually held this document while working in Washington, D.C. several years ago when I took some time to do research at the National Archives. To sit for hours and hold, review, and read my great, great grandfathers actual Civil War file is beyond description.

Samuel B. mustered out of the 27th Infantry, Co. E, on March 29th, 1865 in Louisville, KY. After his military service, he returned to Hart County and married Lutisha Middleton on October 18th, 1865 and at the ripe old age of 32, Samuel B. started his family, farmed, and built his house among other McCubbins on what today is known as Gardner Road. Samuel B. and Lutisha are buried on what was their farm, in the small Shelton-McCubbin Cemetery. Due to Samuel B.s late start in life by waiting to marry and have children at an age when many people the same age were almost grandparents, his descendants have been able to collect many photographs and documents that have allowed a litany of research information.

Like his grandfather James P., Samuel had a large family, twelve children, ten of which lived to reach adulthood, and numerous grandchildren. Samuel B., according to his obituary in the Hart County paper, was one of the oldest men in Hart County died at the home of his daughter, Minnie, on March 9th, 1928 at age 94, 6 months, and 13 days. Samuel B. left nine children, 44 grand children, and 35 great grand children for a total of eighty-eight living descendants in 1927!! No wonder we are still researching the McCubbin name. One of his grandsons was his son James Emmetts youngest son, Robert E. McCubbin. Robert was born to James Emmett and Ella Fults McCubbin on October 28th, 1911 in Hart County on the McCubbin farm, next to Samuel B. and Lutishas, on Gardner Road. Robert E. lived and grew up farming as a young boy with his brother Richard Curtis and father James Emmett until the late 1930s when James Emmett suffered an almost amputating injury of his leg that eventually led James and his entire family to sell the farm and move to Louisville for medical attention and ultimately a job in the private sector at Belknap Hardware Company.

In 2005, I took my great aunt, Robert E.s sister Josephine, to the old McCubbin area and at the age of 92, she remembered and pointed out everything along the road and talked about growing up in the area. One of the many stories she told about her grandfather, Samuel B., was about his apple cider mill, giving her a nickel to play the piano, keeping bottles cold by putting them in the creek on the farm, and living so close that we could yell across the field to each other. She said that was their version of a telephone. When I asked her what she remembered the most about Samuel B. she quickly snapped he was old!…. which I found humorous coming from a 92 year old calling someone old! She went on to say that all of the grandchildren loved being around Grandpa McCubbin, as he was known, and she talked about the fact that her grandfather, a Civil War vet actually lived to meet a grandson who would eventually fight in one of the most famous battles in America; Normandy, France.

Robert E. enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 23rd, 1943 and went to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana. From there Robert E. found himself in the European area and eventually England where he remained until his unit, the famous 29th Infantry, crossed the Channel to invade the beaches of Normandy. Robert E. survived the invasion and with thousands of other soldiers, went inland and was a part of the capture of St. Lo, France. As a young boy I would sit and read these small, copy like letters from Robert E. about where he was located, the people that he had met, and eventually about the country of France. Only later would I learn that I was reading all of the V-Mail that Robert had sent home from the war. Some of the V-mail that stands out, among others, is one dated June 20th, 1944 where Robert wrote to his parents to tell them that he was in the invasion and have been on the move ever since. He went to say that France is a little like England with hedgerows and stone houses, but looks more like Kentucky. On June 22nd, 1944 he wrote to my grandfather, his brother Curtis, to say that he had written the folks the day before yesterday and that this combat business sure isnt much fun. And finally, what is believed to be the last letter that Robert wrote, dated July 24th, 1944 he wrote home to James Emmett and his mother Ella, to assure them that he was still O.K., that he was able to attend church services, and that he had befriended a young lieutenant from New Albany, Indiana that he was the only person from around home. He ends the letter with a plea to his brother Curtis to not to forget to send him a Louisville paper so he could keep up with the news.

Robert E. lost his life almost 2 months after the famous D-Day Invasion in the area of Marigny, France and was originally buried in the Marginy-St. Lo Cemetery until 1948 when he was re-interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville. His cause of death is listed simply as KIA-GSW, for Killed in Action-Gun Shot wound. Robert E. McCubbin was never married, had *no children, and left only great nieces and nephews to carry on his name and legacy. Perhaps that is the main reason that I have researched Robert E. to the level that I have because I believed it was left to me to do. As a young boy I can remember my grandfather, his brother Curtis who was declined enlistment due to a physical condition, talking about Robert E. that not only he had died for his country but the fact that he had no children always worried my grandfather that his memory and sacrifices would be lost in history. Today, the American flag that draped his coffin home from Normandy, France is proudly displayed in a flag box in the living room of my home in Bardstown, KY and along with the flag is the Purple Heart that he received. Though it was left to me, a great nephew whom not only had he never met, but never met his nephew, my father, either. My family is proud of all of our veterans, but especially Samuel B. and Robert E. McCubbin, two of Hart Countys own. These two men are to be honored among the thousands who served and paid the ultimate sacrifice. It makes it even more special when generations later, a grandson and a nephew can pay them the adoration they deserve. *(Robert had a child – Peter, born England) see CUB Report 2008 Ronald RickMcCubbin and his Amazing DNA Discovery

Two points of interest regarding my ancestors are that I now live within eye sight of a Civil War battle that Samuel B. was a part of while in Nelson County, KY and Robert E.s company, the 29th Infantry is portrayed in the movie Saving Private Ryan. Though fictitious to some degree, the movie brings alive what these brave men encountered and when watching it, I can not help but think that my great uncle from Hart County, KY ended up on Omaha Beach in Normandy France, in June of 1944 and the movie is based on his company.

Please contact me with any questions or genealogy information that you have, or for any that I may have, regarding ANY of the McCubbins of Hart County, KY as well as other McCubbins in America.

News from Australia

via Penny McColm

“Billy and Evelyn McCubbin of Scotland, were visiting Australia and Ken McCubbin showed them some of the areas where Billy’s (Group 1) family settled, including the memorial plaque to James McCubbin in Coonamble.

James McCubbin (1810-1888) was an extremely active man in a wide area of New South Wales, and appears to have been fully involved in his community. In 1845 the Maitland Mercury reports that he had been nominated for Council, and by 1846 he was a wheelwright and blacksmith in Coolah. By the next year he had been appointed as an agent for the Maitland Mercury, and also opened a new inn called the “Squatter’s Home” in Coolah. He became Coolah’s first postmaster in 1849 and by 1850 had opened a store there to supply the public with goods of “a superior quality and at exceedingly low prices.” In 1853 he even extended his skills to minor surgery, successfully resetting and splinting the fractured leg of a youngster who had had an accident whilst accompanying the first Government Geologist to visit the area (Samuel Stutchbury). In 1857 he established another store at Talbragar (Denison Town) and in that same year was the first settler to take up freehold land in Coolah. So by 1861, when he took over the “Red Heifer” (later called the “Red Cow”) in Coonamble, he had already made quite a name for himself.

His obituary commenced by saying “Last week there died at the residence of his nephew’s widow, near Rocky Glen, one of the oldest identities throughout these districts, Mr James McCubbin, many years since owned valuable properties around Coolah and Denison Town and in Coonamble. He was one of the most active, energetic, and successful businessmen in the north west in the primitive days, before railways were known in the colony even. A man “who could turn his hand to anything”, a mechanic, who could build a house or a waggon, an equally skilful worker in wood or iron, and withal a shrewd, and enterprising businessman, quick to see and enter upon a paying speculation.”

James’ fortunes changed after his wife Christina’s death in 1861, at only 32 years of age and James passed some of his businesses onto his nephew, and let other businesses go. He remarried in 1868 to Elizabeth Doolan, a 23 year old, but she only lived for 2 years following the marriage and died of nervous exhaustion, perhaps in labour? According to his obituary “for years Mr McCubbin has lived very quietly amongst his friends, a relic of past condition of colonial life, among new faces and activities to which he was little known.”

It is rather poignant, therefore, that this plaque has been put up in his memory and all McCubbin relations are, I’m sure, very proud that he has been honoured in this way. Certainly, according to Ken, Billy McCubbin (who carried out a lot of the early research about James McCubbin, and kindly share it with us) was thrilled to see it. His plaque, according to Ken McCubbin, in an email to Penny McColm, “is the third plaque in the display, being the first after those recognizing the Aboriginal heritage of the area, and before all the other European settlers.” by Kathy McCubbing Hopkins (Group 1)

From the ‘Bard’ Rob McCubbin in Australia

Forced to leave their family home in Scotland, Andie and Jessie battle the conditions on board the sailing ship to Australia in 1851, only to find themselves and their dreams dashed on the razor sharp rocks of barren King Island. Will Jessie’s unborn baby survive?

Sometimes family photos ‘come out of the blue’,when someone is looking through old boxes and albums. Such was the case with a relative of Rob McCubbin who sent him this one below.

The Acting Ancestry of the Girvan McCubbins

by Lynne McCubbin

One of the Girvan McCubbins was the mother and grandmother of two Hollywood actors, Wilfrid Lawson and Bernard Fox respectively – you may not recognise their names now but you WILL know who they are!

Isabella McCubbin born 1868 was the granddaughter of William McCubbin and Martha Hay through their son William. In 1891 Isabella had moved to Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England where she can be found working as housekeeper for John M D Worsnop, a widowed artist.

By the 1901 census Isabella is now Johns wife and they have two small boys, Bernard and Wilfrid. There does not appear to be a marriage record for the couple, and the very fact that the master of a house is living with his former domestic servant is pretty unusual (unless you are the subject of a Catherine Cookson novel!) John being an artist was perhaps a bit of a bohemian who did not conform to the expected norms of society at the time!

Only Wilfrid appears with his parents in 1911, although Bernard is found returning from America in 1919 with his occupation listed as Actor. Another son Gerald does not appear on any census and so we can assume he was born after 1911.

Wilfrid Lawson Worsnop was born on 14 Jan 1900 in Bradford, Yorkshire. By 18 he was acting on the stage and had dropped the Worsnop name. His film debut in 1931 was in East Lynne on the Western Front, a British comedy. For the next 30 years Wilfrid was in demand as a support/character actor and made many films and TV shows in both America and Britain. His films inccluded, 1938 Pygmalion; 1940 The Long Voyage Home; 1955 The Prisoner; 1956 War and Peace; 1963 Tom Jones; 1966 The Wrong Box.

Wilfrid was a bit of a hellraiser which could make him difficult to work with. However, one story which has been told many times in the acting fraternity involved fellow actor and drinking buddy Richard Burton apparently Burton went to see a play Lawson was performing in. Lawson insisted on accompanying Burton to his seat and watching the start of the play with him. Burton asked his friend, Shouldnt you be going backstage and getting ready? Lawson replied No, no, plenty of time. As the play progressed Burton kept nudging Lawson to suggest that maybe he should head for his dressing room, but the actor was unconcerned. A good while later Lawson gripped Burtons arm and whispered, Ah, now, watch here. This is where I come in.

On 10 Oct 1966 Wilfrid died in London from a heart attack after a long and illustrious career.

His brother Gerald was also a stage actor and married fellow thespian Queenie Barratt. They had a son Bernard born in Port Talbot, Wales in 1927. Like his parents and uncles Bernard pursued an acting career.

Fox made his screen debut in Spin a Dark Web/Soho Incident (1956) and played the man on the Titanic who spots the iceberg in the 1958 film A Night to Remember. Bernard also appeared in The Longest Day, The Mummy, and the 1997 version of Titanic (where he spots the iceberg again!) He has had literally hundreds of roles in television and film and only retired in 2004.However, it is for two particular roles that Bernard is perhaps best remembered Dr Bombay in Bewitched and Colonel Crittenden in Hogans Heroes. His extensive repertoire also sees him in such American classics as Colombo, The Flintstones, I Dream of Jeanie, Soap, Dukes of Hazzard, General Hospital, Dharma and Greg the list goes on and on!

Bernard has been married to wife Jacqueline for 40 years and they reside in America sadly he is the last surviving adult cast member from Bewitched.

All the best for 2012!!

The MCFHA Committee
Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing Hopkins,
Member – Guild of One Name Studies – Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.
DNA Project Administrator – Lorna McCubbin, Co-Admin – Kathy McCubbing Hopkins
Penny McColm – MCFHA Co-Founder & Co-ordinator for Australia & NZ
Co-ordinators specialties: Kathy McCubbing Hopkins, Dumfries, Lynne McCubbin, Ayrshire, Ronald ‘Rick’ McCubbin, America, Lorna and Kathy – the rest of the world
MCFHA Sponsors – James & Lorna McCubbin
Click to whom you wish to email; Kathy,  Lorna,  Lynne,  Penny, or Rick, To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You!

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.

Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors.
The McCubbin name, and variants, are registered with the Guild of One Name Studies
Searching the McCubbin name and variants worldwide.
Member #5414
mccubbin@one-name.org

November, 2012

Issue Number 12 features:
Fifth Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project
The Peruvian McCubbins (Part 2)
Shot at Dawn – A Remembrance for Bertie McCubbin
Annie McCubbin and the Photo That Survived the Blitz
Two Brothers and How One Woman Became a Daughter in Law of Both
John McCubben, indicted for Mobbing and Rioting
The McCubbing Centenary Reunion in Australia

Fifth Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project

by Lorna McCubbin

Aloha, Hola and Hello!

One of the fun parts of our family research is when we discover an unexpected relationship among McCubbins. We learned very early in our research never to link families without documents that prove the relationship, unless the surety level is high. For the first time since we started our DNA project, we have been able to link two families together without a paper trail. We’ve recently discovered that the Peruvian family turned out to have an exact match with the Australian #02 family (and Hawaii). The main thing they had in common was that each family had Hamilton McCubbins. In all our research we have never found a Hamilton other than in the #02 family, #79 family of Ayrshire, and the Peruvian family. The three families had sons who left Scotland in the 1800’s and settled in the Pacific regions of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Peru. There were enough clues for us to include the Peruvian family in with the Australian and Hawaiian family. To confirm this further a Hawaiian McCubbin is now awaiting his DNA results.

DNA Progress

We now have 61 members. Not all are matches with the four DNA groups. A couple are women looking for their McCubbin roots. A few whose names are McCubbin do not match. This is what is known in genealogical terms as an NPE – a non paternal event – meaning an adoption, a female had a son out of wedlock, the son kept the surname and/or the child adopted the grandparent’s name, son took on stepfather’s name, or actual adoption by a childless couple.

Breaking News!!!! November 20th, 2012.
McCubbin or McKibben?? Yes, it can be either. A McKibben male of America has just received his DNA results giving him an exact match with a Scottish/Irish McCubbin. Read more about this McCubbin/McKibben(in) family at #55-DNA-3 Shaw McCubbin & Sarah Chapman

To find out how to link your ancestors you can go to Family Tree DNA to read more and/or contact DNA Project Administrators, Lorna or Kathy mccubbin@one-name.org

McCubbins in Peru (Part 2)

Family #02Peru, DNA Group 3
Intro by Kathy McCubbing Hopkins

In last years Cub Report we reported our contact from a McCubbin in Peru which prompted some research but it was limited as the only online records were those uploaded on familysearch.org and a few passenger lists. It was compounded by language difficulties as all the vital records are in Spanish. We put out a call for South American McCubbins to contact us and are pleased to report that we were put in touch with Jackie Stine (an American of Peruvian origin) who had started to research her McCubbin family. Her cousin Ana had seen our article and, in turn, Jackie was able to get in touch with our initial contact, Martin McCubbin Moscol*. He turned out to be a relation who had also been progressing his research though, unfortunately, we had lost contact with him again, because of the difficulties in communicating across the languages.

*it is probably worth noting here that the custom is for the mothers family name to follow the fathers family name in Spanish cultures.

By amazing chance, Jackie was about to embark on a trip to visit her parents in Peru and to travel with her father to northern Peru to investigate their roots. We were able to put her in touch with Martin (who she met) and who very kindly submitted to a DNA test which has linked the family with other McCubbins in DNA group 3 and either family #02 or family #79 (who are probably connected as they are both from the same area in Ayrshire), though precisely where they link in is still under investigation.

My Casagrande

A Trip to Peru
by Jackie Stine

In July 2012, my father and I went for a trip to La Libertad, Peru, where for many years my great grandfather Alejandro McCubbin (1858-1913) worked and lived [with his wife Ygancia Vivanco]. He was an Engineer at the sugar plant of Casa Grande, at one time the biggest sugar plant of the Americas, bigger than Hawaii and Cuba, and it is said that he designed a machine to cut the sugar and that the machine had his name.

The same day we arrived in Trujillo, La Libertad, we went to the registry office and local church looking for birth and baptism certificates. From the documents recovered, we discovered that Alejandro had 9 children, not 6 as we believed.

We then went to the district of Ascope, where the sugar plant of Casa Grande is still operating. We found a house a few feet away from the plant and upon comparing features from this building to that of a picture from 1898, we concluded that it was the same house where Alejandro lived with his wife and children.

Alejandros children lived a very pleasant life in the country. There were farm animals, horses to ride and plenty of sunshine. The girls were photographed wearing beautiful dresses and jewelry. The two boys, Augusto and Alfonso, were sent to the United States to study [Augusto became a Mine Worker and then a Merchant, and Alfonso a Dentist]. Three girls died as infants, three girls remained single, and my grandmother Celina was the only girl to marry.

The children were:

Elisa McCubbin Vivanco
Rosa Elena McCubbin Vivanco 1887-1888
Augusto McCubbin Vivanco 1890-1963
Carlos Alfonso McCubbin Vivanco 1892-1955
[the Charles we found on passenger lists reported last year]
María Cristina McCubbin Vivanco
Rosa María McCubbin Vivanco 1896
Celina María McCubbin Vivanco 1898-1987
María Ester McCubbin Vivanco 1902
Aída Luisa McCubbin Vivanco 1903-

My father was told that Alejandro had shares of the sugar plant which were kept in a box. After Alejandros death of diabetes, Ygnacia had recourse to the box full of papers, and started to sell them one by one.

We were a little disappointed that Alejandro and Ygnacia never got married. But imagine our surprise and joy when the church El Sagrario told us that they found their wedding certificate. They married in 1908, when Alejandro was 50 years old.

Further Information

The certificates which Jackie, her father and Martin have found in Peru have been invaluable, and Jackies help in translating and interpreting them is very much appreciated.

We had thought that Alejandros father was called John, as this was recorded on his death certificate, but on his marriage certificate (thought to be more reliable as Alejandro himself would have been the informant) his father is recorded as Hamilton McCubbin a name handed down through generations in family #02, but which we have also found in family #79 (for whom we have no information post-1813 and which could well be related to family #02 as they both come from the same area of Ayrshire) hence the difficulty in finding the precise link of the Peruvian cousins to the family. The little we know about Alejandros father, Hamilton, is that he is said to have died when Alejandro was 10 years old (in 1868).

While Jackie was in Peru, she was also able to find out a little bit more about Alejandros brother Santiago (translated as James) and his descendants, and this is a line of research she continues to pursue. Santiago married Julia Luisa Sobenez on 17 Dec 1902 in Trujillo and they may have had as many as 10 children, including twins: Anibal and Eduardo, and David (mentioned in last years Cub Report).

A daughter, Margarita McCubbin Sobenez, born c.1894 in Trujillo, married Charles Royle. They were found on a passenger list for the Oriana in 1920 travelling to New York with their 8 month old daughter Joyce Edith. They are recorded as English speakers with English nationality, who came from Cartavio in Peru (north of Lima) and their final destination is recorded as London, UK. Their onward journey is also recorded in the UK Incoming Passenger Lists to Liverpool, England where there future address was to be in Wanstead, London E11. Joyce Edith Royle McCubbin is later reported to have married Marcelo Llosa, according to a family member.

Some mysteries still remain. One of Santiagos children, Alejandro, is said to have remained single so it seems unlikely that this is the Alejandro who married Julia Albaraccin, mentioned in last years report. Also, we have been unable to find further evidence of Daniel McCubbin and wonder whether there may have been a typo on the 1920 passenger list on which he was recorded and that it was, perhaps, David who travelled to New York in 1920.
If you have further information to contribute or queries contact us at: mccubbin@one-name.org

Shot at Dawn

A Remembrance for Bertie McCubbin
Family #42, DNA Group 3
by Lorna McCubbin

Shortly after the McCubbin Family History Association came on-line in 2001, we began hearing about the tragedy of Bertie McCubbin. We hesitated about including it in our CUB Reports in deference to living relatives. But, during the following years, the internet has grown to the point that there are many references to Bertie and the soldiers who were court marshalled and shot during the First World War. It’s time for us to honour Bertie and tell his story.

Bertie was born in 1893, in Middlesex, London. His father, William, was a Scot, born in Wigtownshire. His mother, Emily, was born in England. The 1911 census shows Bertie, age 17, living at the household of his parents and five younger siblings.
The First World War began in 1914. Bertie signed up as a volunteer and soon found himself in the horror of the trenches of France. His father also signed up with the Royal Engineers and became a Serjeant.

For two years Bertie fought in the trenches in France. He apparently was a good soldier and “was never up before his company officer or colonel.”

Hundreds of men were massacred. The struggle was never-ceasing. By day and by night, trench warfare with all its beastliness and ghastliness, went on, through the mud and filth of winter. Men slept in the trenches beside dead companions. It became “the most brutal war in history and not even the most seasoned serviceman was prepared for the scale of carnage that unfolded before him. For many the horror proved too much. Hundreds were unable to cope, many were driven insane and several simply ran away.” Peter Taylor-Whiffen

In 1916, Bertie was narrowly hit by a bomb which exploded nine feet from him. He apparently suffered from shell shock for when he disobeyed an order to man a listening post in no-man’s land, he replied,

“I cannot do so,” he told the officer. “My nerves won’t let me; if I go over I shall be a danger to the other man who is out there, as well as to myself.”

Bertie was charged with disobeying orders and cowardice.

McCubbin wrote a letter in his defence which, no matter what your feelings regarding military executions in the Great War, cannot fail to move the reader.

“During my stay in the Annequin trenches I had my nerves shattered by a shell which burst on the railway which runs above our trenches, bursting three yards away. I have never been right since, my nerves being completely ruined.
‘This being the case, I put the plea forward that my case not being a blank refusal to an officer but as nervousness on my part being made worse by the incessant bombardment which has been going on here lately. I have never been up before my company officer or colonel before until now, this being the first time, and I have always tried to play my part while I have been in the Army.
‘I have also a father somewhere in France, leaving my mother at home with six brothers and sisters, and always thinking if anything had to happen to us to what would become of them, which does not help me to get on a deal. So I also put forward a plea that if you deal leniently with me in this case, I will try and do my bit and keep up a good reputation.”

McCubbin was found guilty and sentenced to death, with a strong recommendation for mercy on account of his previous good character and the state of his health. This view was echoed by other senior commanders, but General Monro, the fierce disciplinarian commanding First Army, proved unbending. ‘If toleration be shown to private soldiers who deliberately decline to face danger, all the qualities which we desire will become debased and degraded. He ruled. ‘I recommend the sentence of the court be inflicted.’
Bertie was executed at Lone Farm on July 30, 1916, at 5am. McCubbin’s death certificate contained the chilling statement ‘death was not instantaneous’ – which suggests he would have been finished off with a coup de grace from the officer’s revolver. He was buried in Brown’s Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France. He was one of 306 British Soldiers “shot at dawn”.
Berties father, Serjeant William McCubbin, of the Royal Engineers, died age 51, November 17, 1918. Casualty type: Commonwealth War Dead.

The Debate – 83 years later
Scottish Parliament debate on 11 Nov 1999. Excerpts from full text Full text:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=1999-11-11.604.0
Sir David Steel
Motion debated,

That the Parliament believes that it is not too late to restore the names and reputations of the soldiers of the British empire forces court martialled and executed, mostly on the western front, in the four years 1914-18, following charges ranging across desertion, cowardice, quitting posts, sleeping at posts, disobedience, striking a superior officer and casting away arms; regrets deficiencies in their opportunity to prepare adequate defence and appeals; notes the marked and enlightened change in the army’s attitude just over a score of years later to the consequences of soldiers enduring long periods of severe cold and damp, lack of food and sleep coupled with the stress and shock of constant shellfire with the result that not a single solider was executed on these charges throughout the six years from 1939-45; considers that the vast majority of the 307 executed were as patriotic and brave as their million other compatriots who perished in the conflict and that their misfortune was brought about due to stress, or the stress of their accusers, during battle, and that even if the behaviour of a small minority may have fallen below that of the highest standards then time, compassion and justice dictates that all of these soldiers should now be treated as victims of the conflict, and urges Her Majesty’s Government to recommend a posthumous pardon, thus bringing to a close a deeply unhappy and controversial chapter in the history of the Great War.
Elaine Murray (Labour)
Excerpt: Today, on this last armistice day of the century, I ask members to remember those victims with understanding and compassion, as we remember all those who endured the horrors of war in the service of this country. May the coming century be kinder than that which closes.
Cathy Jamieson (Labour)
Excerpt: “When we examine now what happened then, it is clear that some of the people who were executed by their own side were suffering from what would be seen now as clinical disorders such as post-traumatic stress syndrome.
I wish to speak about a particular case that Elaine has already alluded to. She mentioned the campaign by Private McCubbin’s niece, a constituent of mine who lives in Girvan. Aged 70, she has been campaigning for a number of years and recently tried to highlight some of the issues and how they affect her family. She talked in the local press about the trauma that her family faced: being misled about the circumstances in which her uncle died and not being given proper information until much later.
My constituent believes that her uncle’s death should not have happened and that the people who made the decision to take his life had no right to do so because he was not able to make proper representation. She argues that he volunteered to fight for his country in the first place. She said that

“He was a very sensitive man”

and explains that he appealed for clemency on the basis that his nerves were shattered that was his expression at the time which is exactly the kind of trauma that would be recognized now. Unfortunately, his appeal for clemency was not successful and, tragically, like so many others, he was executed.
I do not think that it is too much to ask, today of all days, for a unanimous view from this Parliament to give hope to Grace Sloan and others like her who have campaigned on their families’ behalf over the years. I give a commitment that I will continue to support her campaign and I ask members to support the motion.”

The Cenotaph 2000
The proud march of Grace for uncle branded a coward; Soldiers shot at dawn are remembered at last. Full text follows: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+proud+march+of+Grace+for+uncle+branded+coward%3B+Soldiers+shot+at…-a066655426

The Memorial 2001
The following article appeared in the Daily Telegraph (22nd June 2001), following the  unveiling of a new memorial to those Shot at Dawn during the First World War.
Relatives of soldiers executed for desertion during the First World War renewed calls for the Government to pardon the men yesterday as they gathered for the unveiling of the Shot at Dawn memorial.
At the National Arboretum in Alrewas in Staffordshire, 306 stakes, resembling the posts to which men were tied before being shot, have been driven into the ground in memory of those executed. Each stake bears a metal plaque bearing the deserter’s name, age, rank and date of death.
In front of the semi-circle of stakes is a statue modelled on Private Herbert Burden, of the Northumberland Fusiliers, who had lied about his age to join up but was shot at 17 for desertion.
The Shot at Dawn campaign has been seeking a pardon for the 306 since Public Record Office files released in 1990 outlined the prosecution cases against the men.
Many had not been legally represented and most were suffering from shell shock or post traumatic stress disorder.
No pardon is being sought for the other 40 men executed for either murder, treason or mutiny.
Mrs Sloan, 72, and her brother, John Campbell, 74, were at the commemoration to remember their uncle, Bert McCubbin. He was a 22 year-old private in the Sherwood Foresters when he was shot on July 30, 1916.
His mother later received a telegram saying her son had been killed by “gunshot” and discovered the truth only after a friend of his returned from the front line. Mrs Sloan said: “She went insane with grief. She never received his medals and never received a pension because he was shot as a coward.
“I have been fighting for a pardon for my uncle for more than a decade. The Government just cannot admit they made a mistake.
“But it is a wonderful feeling to have a memorial to him and all these others who I believe were wrongly killed. It is an honour to think his name is now on the memorial.”

The Pardon 2006

Mirror News by Tom Pettifor, Bob Roberts 16 Aug 2006

A total of 306 soldiers shot for cowardice during the First World War are to be pardoned.The Government is making the historic move 90 years on following the High Court case of Private Harry Farr. He was just 25 when he was executed in 1916 for refusing to fight. His family always argued he was suffering from shellshock after two years of horrific frontline trench warfare. Now, following a legal fight, his name has been cleared in a case which has opened the floodgates for others shot for military offences in the conflict.
Last night Pte Farr’s daughter Gertrude Harris, 92, said: “I’m so relieved. I’ve always argued my father’s refusal to rejoin the frontline was the result of shellshock. I believe many other soldiers suffered from this.”
Last night the Government confirmed it will seek Parliamentary approval to pardon the 305 others executed for “cowardice, desertion and comparable offences”. Defence Secretary Des Browne said: “I am conscious of how the families of these men feel today. They have endured a stigma for decades.
“I do not want to second guess the decisions made by commanders in the field. But the circumstances were terrible, and I believe it is better to acknowledge injustices were clearly done in some cases, even if we cannot say which – and to acknowledge that all these men were victims of war.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/306-pardons-638233

Kathy McCubbing Hopkins made a special trip to the memorial at Alrewas in Staffordshire to pay her respects and take the following photos.

Annie McCubbin and the Photo that Survived the Blitz

Family #61-43, DNA Group 2
by Ailsa Hamilton

This is my great-grandmother Annie McCubbin. She was born on 3rd May 1872, at Balluskie Farm, Colmonell, Ayrshire. She was the daughter of Gilbert McLellan McCubbin, b. 1838, New Luce, and Isabella Galt, b. 1842, Colmonell. Annie married Thomas MacLean Hamilton in 1892, Dumbreck, Glasgow.
The others in the photo are her children. The tallest is my grandmother who somehow obtained this photograph from her parents or perhaps after Annie died, for she died comparatively young.

Annie’s husband, Thomas, was already widowed when Dalmuir, outside of Clydebank was blitzed by the German Luftwaffe. As a result of the raids on the nights of 13 and 14 March 1941, the town was largely destroyed and it suffered the worst destruction and civilian loss of life in all of Scotland. 528 people died, 617 people were seriously injured, and hundreds more were injured by blast debris. Out of approximately 12,000 houses, only seven remained undamaged – with 4,000 completely destroyed and 4,500 severely damaged. Over 35,000 people were made homeless. Annie’s husband was one of them. He lost everything, but this photo was kept safely by his daughter who did not live near him.

Two Brothers from Girvan, Their South African Connections and How One Woman Became a Daughter In Law of Both of them

Family #06, DNA Group 1
By Liz Ridout

(Foreword by Kathy McCubbing Hopkins)

Liz Ridout contacted us on 6 April 2012 and shared her research about her family who descend from Hugh McCubbin (1833-1911, DNA Group 1, family #06), and also to seek help in solving a conundrum regarding a John S McCubbin who she recently discovered had died in South Africa and who, until that time, was believed to have been John Sinclair McCubbin who had married her apparently widowed great grandmother. By extraordinary coincidence a day later, on 7 April, we received an email from Anne Clarkson, a South African genealogist, who had been researching the McCubbin branch of the family for her cousin, and who kindly offered to share the fruits of her research with the McCubbin Family History Association.

Thus followed a period of correspondence in which both branches of the family were able to share information which elucidated the links and relationships ancestors had shared, and the conundrum Liz had encountered during her research was solved.

Both Liz and Anne (with permission from her cousin) very generously shared a range of documentation and photographs which have greatly enhanced the knowledge we now have of these two branches. Liz has kindly put together this report about her family.

Brothers Hugh McCubbin (1833 – 1911) and Thomas McCubbin (1845 – 1925)

This article is about two of the sons of James Cotton Warper McCubbin and his wife Mary (nee Rowan). They are their second son HUGH, born 10 November 1833 and their fourth son THOMAS, born 5 September 1845. Mary died in 1845 possibly from a childbirth related

Sometime before the 1851 census the family moved from Girvan, to Glasgow and were residing at 2 Eglington Lane, Gorbals on the census of that year. James is shown as a widower, HUGH aged 16 is a clerk and THOMAS is a child aged 5.

HUGH, occupation Mercantile Clerk, married Elisabeth Steven on 3 August 1860 in Glasgow. His address at the time of his marriage was 125 Eglington St, Glasgow which is the address for his father and siblings on the 1861 census. On the census THOMAS, now 15 years old, is a clerk in a West Indian Merchants office. In 1861 HUGH (still a Mercantile Clerk) and Elisabeth were living at 315 Eglington St where their first child of six, Hugh James, was born on 14 May 1861. A second son, John, was born at Pollock Road, Shawlands, Glasgow, a better area, in1863. By 1865 the family was living at 1 Pollock Villas, Shawlands where their third son Thomas was born in 1865. HUGH is now described as being a West India Merchant.

1865 is also the year that HUGHs younger brother THOMAS, emigrated to Durban, South Africa where he prospered. Their father, James had died the previous year.

1867 saw the birth of a fourth son, William Alexander, to HUGH and Elisabeth at Pollock Villas. Their next child, a daughter, Elisabeth Steven, was born in 1869 at Holly Grange, Town Row, West Derby, Liverpool. HUGH must have seen a move south as a chance to further his career and upward mobility, Liverpool being the largest trading port in the UK at that time.

In the 1871 census HUGH and family are recorded at Holly Grange, Town Row, West Derby and his occupation is West India and African Merchant. This same year in South Africa, THOMAS marries Mary Martin Sinclair at her fathers home in Durban on 28 September. Mary was also Scottish (born in Blairgowrie). THOMASs occupation at marriage is Merchant and he and Mary were probably ahead of the times in having a pre-nuptial agreement whereby each kept their own property and were not liable to each others debts.

In 1872 both HUGH and THOMAS’ wives had children.

It was HUGH and Elisabeths last child, Mary Louise, and THOMAS and Marys first, a son, Sinclair James.

THOMAS and Mary had more sons, Hugh (1874), Thomas (1876), another Thomas (1878) a daughter, Katherine Stewart (1880) and in 1881 a further son, John Sinclair (Jack). The family home was a house called Seaforth, in Durban.

HUGH and THOMAS were working as partners trading between the UK and South Africa as H & T McCubbin, Agents. HUGH made a number of trips to and from South Africa on cargo ships during the 1870s and 1880s, appearing on several passenger lists.

The next UK census in 1881 shows that HUGH and family had moved again, to a larger house, The Elms, Town Row, West Derby, Liverpool.

The 1880s were a time of further success and rise in social standing for both brothers.

THOMAS and Mary, in Durban, had three more children, Fergus Allan (1882), Gladys Mary (1884) and Graeme Valentine (1890).

Alongside his success as a Merchant THOMAS also volunteered as a soldier. In a photo of 1882 he is in uniform as a Major in the Durban Light Infantry (DLI).

Later he was recorded in the soldier list for the Boer War as a Lieutenant Colonel in the DLI between 1899 and 1901. He was also a Justice of the Peace (JP) and in 1901 was appointed a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) by King Edward VII. The CMG was awarded to men and women who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country.

He was also awarded a Colonial Auxiliary Forces medal, an award to officers of Volunteer Forces in India and the Colonies. This meant that THOMAS could style himself T McCubbin JP CMG VD.

Colonial Aux Forces Medal

Back of medal

Meanwhile in Liverpool HUGH was scaling the social and business ladder. He was appointed as a member of The Historic Society of Lancaster and Cheshire in 1889. He travelled to Durban again in 1890. During the 1880s he moved for the last time to a large merchants house in West Derby, Mill Bank House and that is his residence at the time of the 1891 census. He traded as H McCubbin & Co from offices at 11 Orange Court and later in The Temple, Dale St, Liverpool. He is listed in the 1893 Liverpool Legion of Honour, serves on the City Council and is a Lancashire County Councillor. In 1895 he was appointed an Alderman of Liverpool and this continued until 1907 by which time he had retired.

HUGHs wife Elisabeth died in 1896 and was buried in West Derby Cemetery. He married again on 9 July 1901, at Malvern Priory, Worcestershire, to Eliza Bowden a spinster aged 51. The marriage took place shortly after the 1901 census so Eliza is not listed at Mill Bank House. Elizas brother was a Ships Captain.

By 1911 HUGH was a sick man and two sick nurses are listed in the household on the 1911 census. He died at home on 26 September 1911 aged 77 and was buried in the same grave as his first wife in West Derby Cemetery. His will was proved in the UK in November 1911 and resealed in Capetown in June 1913. Two memorials exist to him, a fountain erected in Girvan with a plaque which reads Presented by Hugh McCubbin of West Derby Liverpool to his native town of Girvan 1911 [see Cub Report 2006 for photo] and the Village Hall in West Derby (now apartments) which bears the inscription In Memory of Hugh McCubbin 1912 on its front.

Both brothers, HUGH and THOMAS, lost children prior to their own deaths. In HUGH and Elisabeths case it was their second son, John, who died suddenly in 1891, aged 28, at his older brothers house in Blaauwfontein, Griqualand East, South Africa. For THOMAS and Mary it was much sadder. THOMAS was predeceased by five of his nine children. Mary only knew of two of these deaths as she died in 1917. The children who died early were the first Thomas in 1876 at 14 days old, Sinclair James in 1913, aged 40, Fergus Allan in May 1918, aged 35, also in May 1918 Katherine Stewart, aged 38 (possibly both victims of the 1918 flu pandemic) and Hugh in 1924, aged 50 (he was disabled).

Of HUGH and Elisabeths children three travelled to South Africa: Hugh James, John (mentioned in the preceding paragraph) and Thomas. Both Hugh James and John sailed to Durban in January 1891, John dying there in August 1891. Hugh James must have soon after returned to the UK as he marries on New Years Eve 1891 in Nottingham. His bride is Ethel Elizabeth Mary Weaver from Nottingham and his parents are witnesses. Hugh James is recorded as being a Merchant, the same as his father. In 1896 Hugh James, Ethel, her brother Edward and a servant are shown on a passenger list travelling to Durban. Sometime later Ethel returned to the UK.

Meanwhile in 1893 Thomas (third son of HUGH and Elisabeth) travelled to Durban. There is a photo of him with his uncle THOMAS taken in Durban.

Back to Hugh James who served as a Trooper in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902. His service is recorded in two different regiments and this was because of a break in service. He returned to the UK and registers the birth of his daughter, Marjorie Elizabeth, in Woking, Surrey in 1900. His occupation is given as Mining Agent on the birth certificate. He is a witness at his sisters (Elisabeth Steven) wedding to John Unsworth in Liverpool in September 1900 and returns to Durban in March 1901. Until recently it was thought that Hugh James remained in South Africa until the 1920s. This is not so, he went to Canada and then crossed into the US in December 1906 heading for Duluth, Minnesota; his occupation, Miner.

His wife and daughter remained in the UK, living in London and Sussex. Ethel worked as a Secretary and then ran her own successful export business. Her father in law HUGH made provision for her in his Will, this was probably because the family had lost contact with Hugh James at that time.

Just as some of HUGHs children travelled to South Africa one of his brother THOMASs sons travelled the other way. This was THOMASs fifth son, John Sinclair, born 1 August 1881. He is in the UK in 1915 and is listed as an Accountant and Office Manager, also a 2nd Lieutenant in the South African Scottish Regiment. The document this is recorded in is a marriage certificate. John Sinclair marries his cousins (Hugh James) wife Ethel Elizabeth Mary on 12 November 1915 in St Marleybone, London. Ethel is recorded as being a widow and knocks a few years off her age to show it as 38 to John Sinclairs age of 34. It is not known if Ethel went through the lengthy official route of having her husband recorded as dead, having been missing for over 7 years, allowing her to legally marry.

Hugh James was not dead and is recorded in Liverpool in 1921, making a Will there in which he states he is lately of Durban and about to depart for Canada. The sole benefactor is his daughter Marjorie Elizabeth. The Will shows that he is aware that she is married (May 1920 to Major Ian Macdougall OBE). He must therefore also been aware that Ethel his wife had married his cousin.

Hugh James left for St John, New Brunswick, Canada in January 1921. Ethel died aged 54 in 1924. The death occurred in London but her home was in Henfield, Sussex. At some point after her death Hugh James returned to the UK and spent his final years in Henfield, near his daughter and died there in 1934. John Sinclair moved to London after Ethels death and in 1933 married again. He died in 1953 in Willesden, London.

Written by Liz Ridout, great grand daughter of Hugh James and Ethel E M McCubbin.
I thank the following (listed alphabetically), Leslie Brown, Anne Clarkson, Kathy Hopkins, Lorna McCubbin and Lynne McCubbin for their help. The research carried out by Anne, together with the documents and photographs she provided were particularly useful in writing this piece.

John McCubben c. 1813-1866, indicted for Mobbing and Rioting

Family #01 DNA group 3
by Kathy McCubbing Hopkins

At the end of June 1834 John McCubben, a 21 year old apprentice calico printer at the printworks of John Barr at Maryhill, just north of Glasgow, stood trial at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, along with five other calico printers accused of mobbing and rioting earlier that year occasioning assault, entering premises and deterring, or preventing by force, workmen from following or entering upon their lawful employment. In addition several of the workers were carried away to Glasgow by the rioters.

The indictment, held in the National Archives of Scotland (AD14/34/359), lists some 26 witnesses to the events, and records the testimonies made by these workers, bystanders, police officers and constables and indicates that a great number of disaffected workers were involved in the action. On 5 April 1834 McCubben was taken before Walter Moir Esq, sheriff substitute of Lanarkshire where he made a declaration, and was then arrested on 8 April 1834 and made a further statement before Sir John Hay, Baronet, advocate, one of the sheriff substitutes of Stirlingshire and was subsequently held in the Tolbooth in Stirling until his trial.

The trial was held on Monday 30 June 1834 and all those arrested with McCubben pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to varying periods of imprisonment; John McCubben was sentenced to 7 months and was imprisoned in Stirling jail.

Records in the National Archives in Kew (HO 17/22/18A) record that petitions were made on behalf of the prisoners pleading for clemency giving reasons that the prisoners had pleaded guilty; that they had been imprisoned many months and had been imprisoned before the trial; that they were young men of previous good character; that they had behaved well in gaol and had committed the act as a sudden burst of feeling; that their relations and connections were respectable and that they were willing to work under any terms, and that imprisonment had impaired their constitutions. It is not known whether this petition was successful.

This case is one of many industrial disputes which were sweeping Scotland and England in the early years of the 19th century and which were widely reported in the press of that time. It is an example of organised worker action against employers who installed cheaper workers in their factories to the detriment of the existing workforce.
The Scottish Chronicle contained a report from the High Court of Justiciary from as early as June 1812 concerning three journeymen calico printers who were accused of unlawful combination for the purpose of raising their wages and mobbing and rioting on the streets of Glasgow.

The Edinburgh Review: or Critical Journal in 1838 included a piece which, while expressing a viewpoint unlikely to be shared by the workers, provides background and some context to John McCubbens experience:

The west of Scotland was convulsed with a series of strikes in many skilled trades particularly the calico-printers in January, 1834, which lasted nine months. We have taken the trouble to trace the results in one instance, and found them to be in the highest degree. Messrs Barr and Company were calico-printers at Kelvindock, near Glasgow; their business was extensive and prosperous; they had fields in many different places, and gave employment to about two thousand persons. Their engagements however, as might naturally have been expected with an establishment supporting so great a number of workmen, were of a very extensive kind, and they had several heavy bills running against them in the autumn of 1834. The workmen were well aware of this, and they accordingly struck work in a body in the month of September of that year and immediately began assaulting the new hands with whom the Company to supply their place. The military out and quartered around the mills for some months, and in their immediate tranquility was perfectly maintained, and work was to a certain extent resumed with the new hands. In other quarters, however, where the mills of the same company were not protected, and soldiers could not be got, the combined workmen broke into the buildings, and forcibly turned out the new hands. The intimidation produced by these riots was such, that the mills were obliged to be stopped for some months; and, after vainly holding out as long as they could, Barr and Company were obliged to make a compromise with their workmen, and they began working again in January, 1835. The losses they sustained, however by their capital being unproductive during the strike were such that they became bankrupt in July, 1835, – about six months after the strike had ceased, and the working had recommenced. Two thousand persons were immediately thrown idle by this calamity. They immediately made the most piteous complaints to the magistrates of the county, who, however, had not public funds out which to afford them any relief, and the helpless multitude were in a great part thrown upon the parish funds, or reduced to utter despair by the consequences of their own acts, while the in that quarter were totally destroyed, and that thriving branch of altogether extinguished.

With regard to the events of 3 February 1834 and the mobbing and rioting in which John McCubben was involved, the indictment records that the mob were armed with sticks and stones and that they invaded the premises of John Black and Company in Milngavie by open a gate or a door and James Black junior, a partner of the firm, having to resist the mob, was attacked and assaulted and struck by the mob with sticks and stones before they went on to break open the door of a laundry and attacked a number of the men working there, and compelled them to leave the premises. They held several of the workmen prisoner and took them a considerable distance from Milngavie in the direction of Glasgow.

The mob then assembled at the premises of Muir, Brown and Company in North Street, Anderston, near Glasgow and forcibly invaded the premises there and John Pollock, nightwatchman in the Anderston police establishment, managed to apprehend and lock up sixteen of the rioters in the Gall house, but the door was forced and they were rescued by their associates, during which police officers and constables were attacked and assaulted.

In his statement John McCubben confirmed that he was a member of the Calico Printers Apprentice Association and that a strike or turn out had occurred at various printfields in and around Glasgow, and that he had heard that the Master Calico Printers had agreed to take new hands to their works on 3 February. He declared that after breakfast on that day he went to Mr Barrs printworks waiting for work, but he did not get any as it was not ready for him. He said that he wasnt aware that any of the printers left the village on the said day and that he did not leave it.

He admitted to knowing the works of Muir, Brown and Co printers in Anderston but said that he wasnt there on that Monday and he had no concern whatever in mobbing, rioting or destruction of property that took place there on said Monday afternoon. He declared that his time was spent principally in the warehouse of Mr Barr waiting for work or in other parts of the said printworks but he could not cite anyone who could prove that he was there at about 4pm on that day.

John McCubben ultimately pleaded guilty and he seems to have been convicted largely on the testimony of workers at John Black & Co, specifically William Smellie who identified John McCubben as particularly active in the works at Milngavie and along the road thence towards Glasgow but cannot recollect how far or whether he went further than Maryhill. Statements from other workers Charles Quinn, John McNaught, John Scott and Jeremiah Wilson reiterated Smellies statement.

James Black, a partner of the firm of John Black & Co identified by name some of those accused alongside John McCubben but could not identify McCubben, but heard his brother Philip Black, say that there was a man in the crowd and riot who had a stick leg and who was particularly active, which, in the context of the remark, seems to imply that John McCubben had a stick leg himself.

Following the bankruptcy of John Barr & Co, John McCubben does not seem to have remained out of work for long, if at all, as it appears that he completed his apprenticeship and continued working in his trade. He is recorded as a journeyman calico printer on the 1841 census and in 1858 on the death record of his son, Arthur, although in later years he became a fish merchant and later still a greengrocer.

Our McCubbing Centenary Celebration in Perth, Australia, June 2012

Family #31, Group 1 ‘The Edgartoun McCubbins’
By Diana Neale

When Robert Swan McCubbing, writer and joint agent of the British Linen Bank Uddingston, died in April 1911, he left his widow Charlotte, nee Gover, and 8 surviving children, ranging in age from 26 years to nearly 3 years. Robert, the 4th son of John McCubbing and Elizabeth Grierson, was born in 1851 and brought up at Shirmers, Balmaclellan, Kirkcudbrightshire.

Charlotte, born in India in 1864, having lost her father and 3 siblings to cholera in 1872, came to England with her mother and sister Clara, and married RS on her 19th birthday. Her mother subsequently remarried and (again) crossed the world to Western Australia in 1910.

Thus it was that on June 15th 1912, Charlotte arrived in Western Australia with daughters Elfreda, aged 11, Mary, 10, and Jean, not quite 3, escorted by her third son John, aged 21.
Two older boys, Robert Swan and Charles Edward were living in Canada, and James Unwin the youngest boy had arrived in WA a little earlier. Only Elizabeth, the eldest daughter remained in England. In time, Robert Jnr (Bob) and Charlie joined the family in WA and made their lives there.

And so, on June 16th 2012, almost 80 descendants gathered at Mosman Park Bowling Clubto celebrate the Centenary of the arrival in Western Australia of our branch of the McCubbings.
Several had flown to Perth from the Eastern States, and others came from country WA.

Present were 9 of the 13 surviving grandchildren of Robert Swan and Charlotte Gover, and many of their children and grandchildren, all coded as belonging to the families of Bob, John and Jimmy McCubbing, Freda Van Noort and Jean Allan, (Charlie and Mary were childless). Represented by video from Rugby UK, was cousin Anna Notton, daughter of Betty (the child remaining in) with her 3 children and grandson.

A very special guest was our second cousin Margaret McColl, the granddaughter of Isabella McCubbing (Robert Swan McCs sister). Margaret came all the way from Hawera, New Zealand, no easy journey believe me, and was joined by her grandson Jay Gable who lives in Perth (WA). Some years ago I travelled to New Zealand especially to meet Margaret, the only second cousin I had ever known of, so I can understand that to Margaret, the prospect of meeting with 9 second cousins all at once, was irresistible!

The Reunion was held at Mosman Park Bowling Club overlooking a magnificent stretch of the Swan River. We had hoped that following lunch and some tuition, there would be family rivalry on the bowling green, for grandfather Robert and his sons were all champion bowlers, and it seemed a fun tribute! Unfortunately, the threat of rain meant that the bowls game didn’t happen, but nobody seemed to mind or to miss it! Table tennis occupied the littles.
A lot of noise and chatter, and lovely happenings of cousins meeting up for the first time….. I was talking to my nephew Ian Crooke when cousin Tony Allan’s son Mike came up to him to say “I know you – Ian said  “What school …when…It turned out they were at the same school 2 years apart, but did not know they had parents who were first cousins! (Tony’s been a farmer all his life…)
Of course we had a Piper! John Hill, a friend of cousin Peter Van Noort, brought tears to the eye and set many feet a-tapping during the afternoon.

I was struck by how happy everybody was, and how well they all got on the young adults thrilled to find so many 2nd and 3rd cousins their own age! Many of them went out on the town that night and continued the party.

Suddenly 5 hours had gone and it was over, people were leaving and I hadn’t yet got to chat to them, nor did I have a chance to get my camera out! So I just wanted to start again and be able to talk to people….The memorabilia table had some wonderful exhibits on it, and I am hoping that the skills of various cousins, their photos and their videos will result in a lasting record of a truly wonderful occasion. My Dad, his brothers and sisters, would have loved it!

Margaret McColl remained in Perth another week, giving her the opportunity to talk more to her new found cousins and us to celebrate her 87th birthday with her a week or two in advance! Anna Notton in England turned 87 the day after Margaret.
Sadly, I should record that Robert Swan McCubbin’s oldest grandchild, Freda Hamilton, who through ill health had been unable to attend the reunion, died in Canmberra on 10th September 2012, a few weeks short of her 95th birthday.

All the best for 2013!!

The MCFHA Committee
Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing Hopkins,
Member – Guild of One Name Studies – Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.
Lorna McCubbin – McFHA Co-Founder
DNA Project Administrator – Lorna McCubbin, Co-Admin – Kathy McCubbing Hopkins
Penny McColm – MCFHA Co-Founder & Co-ordinator for Australia & NZ
Co-ordinators specialties: Kathy McCubbing Hopkins, Dumfries, Lynne McCubbin, Ayrshire, Ronald ‘Rick’ McCubbin, America, Lorna and Kathy – the rest of the world
MCFHA Sponsors – James & Lorna McCubbin
Website – L. McCubbin
Click to whom you wish to email; Kathy and/or Lorna, Penny, Rick, Lynne

To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You! If there is information or photos that you have sent and you don’t find them in this website, please let us know.

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.
Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors.
The McCubbin name, and variants, are registered with the Guild of One Name Studies.
Searching the McCubbin name and variants worldwide.
Member #5414
mccubbin@one-name.org

November, 2013

Issue Number 13 features:

• Sixth Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project
• The McKibbons of Merrickville, Ontario – DNA Group 1
• The McKibbens of Mississippi – DNA Group 3
• Joseph McKibben, 1710-1761, Ireland to Pennsylvania – DNA Group 3
• Thomas McKibbon, the Square Timber Man – DNA Group 3
• Hawaiian McCubbins and the Link With Peru – DNA Group 3
• William McCubbin and Janet Riddell and Family – DNA Group 4
• The Death Ship That Landed in Luce Bay
• How John McCubbin Survived WW2 With the Help of Heroic Belgians
• Frederick McCubbin Goes to London – DNA Group 3
• A Sad Discovery by Shepherd William McCubbin
• Australian Brothers Jack and Reg McCubbin and Their Experiences in the Pacific Theatre in WW2 – DNA Group 1
• James McCubbin of Dunscore and His Canadian Descendants – DNA Group 1
• Obituary: Donald McCubbing, 1937-2013 – DNA Group 1

Sixth Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project

WELCOME TO THE MCKIBBON AND MCKIBBEN FAMILIES

by Lorna McCubbin

This has been an exciting year for new DNA discoveries.

The McKibben and McKibbon (McKs) names have been at the forefront. Of the 67 members we have in the project, we now have 7 McKs. Originally when we started the project we had doubts that the McKs were on the same tree as the McCs. This year we have found that Group 1 (the Dumfries group) have 2 McKibbon matches. Both of these males live in Canada. Group 2 (John the Colonist) have no McKs. Group 3 (the Galloway/Wigtownshire group) have 2 McKibben matches and 1 McKibbon match. Two of those males live in the U.S and one in Canada. Two other McKibben males in the U.S. have no match with the McCubbin project.

It’s also becoming apparent that those McKs who match with our McCubbins, came from Ireland to North America. Likely those McKs left Scotland for Ireland during the Plantation times or were escaping persecution during the Covenanting times.

OTHER DNA NEWS

A pleasing discovery was to find a living McCubbin of the descendants of James McCubbin of Dunscore, Dumfries (family #33). James’ son, Robert and wife Mary, nee Carson, left for Canada in 1828. As far as we know, they were among the earliest McCubbins to arrive there.

Descendants of Alexander McCubbin and Agnes Jackson of Wigtownshire (family #09) have a large family group in Australia, as a second DNA donor has confirmed.

This year we were able to connect Hamilton McCubbin of Hawaii to the Peruvian group as well as with the Australians.

The numbers of descendants to match John the Colonist in the U.S. continues to grow. We are looking for a McCubbin male DNA donor who has roots in Kirkoswald or northern Ayrshire as we are searching for a Scottish link to Sir Fergus MacCubbin of Tradunnock. You might qualify for a free test.

To find out how to link your ancestors you can go to Family Tree DNA to read more and/or contact DNA Project Administrators, Lorna or Kathy mccubbin@one-name.org.

The McKibbons of Merrickville, Ontario – DNA Group 1

THE MCKIBBON FAMILY

This family has been researched by Donna McKibbon and Heather Marshall (nee McKibbon)

A NOTE FROM DONNA, WIFE OF DONALD MCKIBBON

I wonder how many of you reading this, remember the old song blaring from the juke box – “Getting To Know You”?

I have been a McKibbon for over 60 years but it was not until I began tracing the family that I realized how little I really knew about the actual lives of the living, breathing people.  I had lots of dates. I knew when they were born, where they lived, how many children they had, and when they died.  But I had never seen them smile, laughed with them over some funny family happening, or shared their grief when despair clouded their horizons.

Turning to my husband I asked, “What was Grandma McKibbon like?”  He replied, “She was a great old girl. Always liked to see her grandchildren and we were always happy to see her.  One of our favorite treats was a special kid’s delicacy she called “Snackers” – squares of bread, buttered and covered with brown sugar, toasted in the oven. She would join us for the feast.”  I could see the child in his eyes, as he remembered the love shared over those snackers.

This is really what genealogy is all about – let us not forget the “snackers” in our lives.  Record what at first glance seems trivial – but what in reality life breathes life into those we lovingly call “Family”.

Two grandsons of Grandma McKibbon, curious to know about their larger world family, donated their DNAs to the project. It turns out they have a perfect match with several old families with a rich history in Dumfriesshire, Scotland and the surname McCubbin, McCubbing and McGibbon. They are related to Alexander McCubbin, the martyr of The Covenanting Times, who was executed in 1685 for attending a prayer meeting, and have strong ties to Ireland being a match with King Niall of the Nine Hostages.

Prior to immigrating to Canada this McKibbon family may have fled Scotland (as McCubbins) to escape the persecutions of The Covenanting Times or been sent to Northern Ireland as “Plantation” settlers.

James McKibbon arrived in Canada from Ireland before 1828. His wife was Margaret Stewart. His son Robert and Robert’s son were Boot and Shoemakers. As many of these skills were passed from father to son, James of Ireland may have also been a boot and shoemaker. Other professions of these industrious early McKibbons were Grist Mill Owner, Cattle Drover, Carpenter, Butcher and Station Agent.

ROBERT MCKIBBON OF MERRICKVILLE, ONTARIO

by Heather Marshall (nee McKibbon)

Robert McKibbon was born in 1828 in Ontario to parents James McKibbon and Margaret Stewart. Both of his parents were born in Ireland. On some documents Roberts birthplace was listed as Hawkesbury, Ontario. On others it listed as Glengarry. Glengarry is a County in Ontario.

Robert McKibbon was a Boot and Shoemaker who practiced his trade in the town of Merrickville, Ontario. When Robert arrived, the village of Merrickville was the site of much activity. The Rideau Canal which connected Ottawa (then called Bytown) to Kingston had opened in 1832 bringing much activity to the area. The Rideau Canal flows right through the town and it was a prosperous place for the next 30 years until the advent of the railroad. Today Merrickville is known for its historic buildings and is a popular tourist destination.

Robert continued to operate his shoemaking business until late in life. His sons apprenticed in his store with his oldest son Robert following him into that trade. Oldest son Robert James McKibbon settled in Cobden, Ontario where he opened up his own shoe store.

We know that Robert McKibbons first wife was named Eliza Burrows based on the death certificate of her daughter Eliza Dempsey. Together Eliza Burrows and Robert McKibbon had 2 children. Their children were named Robert James McKibbon (b. 1854) and Eliza McKibbon (b. 1856). However, Roberts first wife Eliza died sometime before 1858. Their daughter Eliza married a man named Thomas Dempsey and lived her life in Ramsayville, Ontario. She is buried in the Ramsayville Cemetery.

On February 16th 1858, Robert McKibbon married his second wife Maria Perrin. Maria was the daughter of Humphrey Perrin and Elizabeth Sanders. A short time later, Robert bought a plot of land in the town of Merrickville.

According to land documents for Grenville County, Robert McKibbon bought Lot number 44 of Plan 6 in the village of Merrickville from Terence H Mirick et ux on June 30, 1858. His plot of land has the modern day address of 118 Rideau St. Merrickville, Ontario. The house there today could quite possibly be the same house that Robert McKibbon built in 1858. On the 1861 census, Roberts house is reported to be a 1.5 story frame house. The house that exists at 118 Rideau St. today certainly looks like it could be the original 1.5 story house that was built by Robert McKibbon.

Together Maria and Robert McKibbon had 5 children that survived to adulthood. Daughter Elizabeth McKibbon (b. 1862) married Thomas Dempsey, son William Humphrey McKibbon (b. 1863) married Harriet Lowe of Illinois, son Albert Ambrose McKibbon (b. 1866) married Harriet Edwards, daughter Ellen Theresa McKibbon (b. 1867) married Albert E. Gorman and daughter Margaret Ann McKibbon (b. 1870) married Fred. S. McCrea.

Roberts second son William Humphrey McKibbon moved away from Canada altogether and lived in the United States. In June 8, 1898 he married Harriet Lowe in the district of West Superior, Wisconsin. The couple lived in Duluth Minnesota for a time and in finally settled in Seattle, Washington. William H. McKibbons occupation was listed as Stationary Engineer. He died on his birthday in Seattle, WA on March 4, 1935.

Roberts second oldest daughter Elizabeth married William Fitzsimmons. His younger daughters Ellen and Margaret also married and had children. Ellen became Mrs. Albert Gorman and Margaret became Mrs. Fred S. McCrea.

Youngest son Ambrose McKibbon stayed in Merrickville. Rather than follow his father into the shoemaking business, Ambrose opened his own butcher business. He later expanded to owning his own herds of cattle and became what was known as a Cattle Drover. Together with his wife and family he lived at 318 St Lawrence Street in Merrickville.

Next door to his home he operated his butcher shop where he sold the beef from his herds. Some of his sons later joined him in the Cattle Drover trade. As his business prospered, Ambrose owned more buildings in the village, one of which is currently home to a restaurant on St. Lawrence Street called Gads Hill Place. The building that houses the restaurant is known as the McKibbon Block.

Robert McKibbon and wife Maria continued to live in Merrickville into their old age but moved to live with daughter Elizabeth Fitzsimmons in Ottawa sometime after 1911. Maria and Robert died within months of each other in 1915 but they were brought home to Merrickville to be buried. Robert McKibbon was 87 years old when he died.

They are at rest at the Union Cemetery in Merrickville in a plot with their daughters Ellen, Margaret and Elizabeth and some of their grandchildren.

OBITUARY OF ROBERT MCKIBBON

Source: The Rideau Record. Nov. 9, 1915.

One by one our old landmarks drop away and pass to their long home. For fully half a century Mr. Robert McKibbon conducted a boot and shoe business in town and was known far and wide for the honesty and reliability of his products and the rectitude of his life. He was one of the old time practical craftsmen who knew his trade from the ground up and in the construction of his work much of his own nature and character entered. Of a quaint, self-contained nature and a peculiarly direct way of estimating persons, things and events, many people enjoyed nothing better than a chat with this philosopher of the hammer and awl. For the past few years he had made his home with his daughter, Mrs. W. Fitzsimmons, Ottawa, at whose place he died Friday at the age of 87 years. Funeral services were conducted in Ottawa by the Rv. Dr. McVeity and the remains brought here on the 2:30 train accompanied by his daughters Mrs. Fitzsimmons and Mrs. T. Dempsey. Many old time friends met the train to pay their last respects to the one who through long years had lived a just and upright life and had an unblemished character. The Rev. R. Stillwell conducted the services at the grave interment taking place by the side of his wife in the Union Cemetery. Four of his family survive. Robert of Cobden, Ambrose of Merrickville, Mrs. W. Fitzsimmons and Mrs. Thomas Dempsey, Ottawa

PARENTS AND SIBLINGS OF ROBERT MCKIBBON

Very little is known about the parents of Robert McKibbon. From census records we know that they were both born in Ireland and that Margaret McKibbon stated her religion to be the Church of Scotland. Margaret was born around 1797 so James McKibbon was either of a similar age or possibly a decade or two older.

James McKibbon and wife Margaret were in Glengarry County, Ontario sometime before their children were born in the 1820s. There are no immigration records for that time period as records immigration records for Canada were not required to be kept until the 1860s. We do not know if they came directly to Canada from Ireland or if they came via the United States. All we know is that they were both born in Ireland, that Margaret was of Scottish extraction and that the couple was in Canada in the 1820s.

We also know that Margaret McKibbon was a widow when the first census of Canada was carried out in 1851. When that census was taken she was living in Lochiel Township, Glengarry County, Ontario. She had four other people in her household. Three of the household members were adults with the last name McKibbon. They were all of an age to be her children and one of them most certainly was her son Hugh McKibbon. Robert McKibbon was not living with her in 1851.

Unfortunately, on the 1851 census of Canada, the relationship of each person to the head of the household was not something that was recorded. In her household in Lochiel Township in 1851 were James McKibbon age 28, Hugh McKibbon age 23, Esther McKibbon age 20. All were unmarried. Also with them was a child named Anna Crookshanks age 6. Little Anna Crookshanks on this census was the key to proving that this 1851 Lochiel Township family was the same family of similarly named people who appear on the Wolford Township census in 1861 and 1871. Later an Ann Crookshanks appears in Brockville, Ontario on the 1881 census. In 1891 there is an Esther McKibbon living in Brockville with her sister Margaret. They are similar in age to the women named Margaret and Esther McKibbon who lived with the Widow McKibbon in Merrickville on the 1871 census so it seems there was some connection to Brockville.

HUGH MCKIBBON, MERRICKVILLE, ONTARIO IN 1861

Hugh McKibbon was Robert McKibbon of Merrickvilles brother.

I use the spelling McKibbon here although the spelling of the McKibbon family name was not settled at this point, at least for Hughs descendants. Hugh McKibbon was another son of James McKibbon and Margaret Stewart. When the 1861 census was taken he was no longer living in Lochiel Township, Glengarry County but was now in Wolford Township, Grenville County. Anna Crookshanks is still with the household and she is now 16. Mrs. McKibbon was a landowner in Wolford Township in 1861 on a farm just outside of the village of Merrickville (written as McCribben in the 1861 atlas of Grenville County). Living nearby was the family of John and Ann Roche (sometimes spelled Roach) including their daughter Jane Roche. A marriage record exists for Jane Roche and Hugh McKibbon. They married in 1861 in Kemptville, Ontario. On that marriage register Hugh McKibbons parents were listed as James McKibbon and Margaret Stewart. In 1862 Hughs wife Jane delivered a son whom they named James, but unfortunately Jane died shortly after her son was born. It is not known what became of Hugh McKibbon after his wifes death. On Janes headstone at St. Anns Cemetery in Merrickville, Jane is recorded as being the wife of Hugh McGibbon. It appears that her son James son grew up with the name James McGibbon and passed that surname onto his sons and daughters while his Merrickville cousins used the spelling McKibbon.

More pictures and charts will be included in Family Groups on our website, in 2014. The search for others in the McKibbon family tree continues in Ireland and worldwide. If you are a McKibbon, McKibben, McKibbin or a McGibbon and think you may ‘belong’ to these families, or would like to know more, please contact Heather Marshall (nee McKibbon) at mccubbin@one-name.org.

The McKibbens of Mississippi – DNA Group 3

Story by John Rob McKibben ‘Rob’, compiled by Lorna McCubbin

In 1997, Rob McKibben posted a query on Rootsweb. Rob recently writes Lorna, “Some time after compiling and posting this document a long lost relative (from Hezekiah) who had possession of John A.s bible contacted me. It was an amazing stroke of sheer luck in the “finding” of John A’s family Bible. So I now have the birth and death dates and some marriages for all of John A.s children. I can trace my ancestry with certainty to my great grandfather John A. McKibben, (1801-1874) in North Carolina,”

Rob’s father, Dale, had done an extensive amount of research and communication with other relatives. Both Dale and Rob had been trying to work past a brick wall they encountered at John A. They had problems with multiple John and John As as well as various other obstacles.

Dale was a lawyer, and had a gift for writing an interesting tale. Following are excerpts between his son , Rob, as well as with his cousin, Quinton Walters.

Dale writes:

Our McKibben family and a family named Gillon had migrated to Mississippi together from North Carolina shortly after the “Indian lands” were opened to settlers. This was in the 1840s. Their starting point in Mississippi was at or near a little village on the Yalobusha River named Graysport. It now lies beneath the waters of Grenada as well as (we believe) John A.s grave. Near there are the graves, with markers, of all of my McKibben ancestors from William Adam down to my dad.

We ultimately learned that the kickoff date in North Carolina for the trek was in the second half of 1845. The kickoff point was the country community around the Coddle Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, now in Cabarrus county, but hard up against Iredell County. Note the propensity of these people to live in places that a realtor friend of mine calls “plumb nearly,” meaning plumb out of town, and nearly out of the county.”

Letter from Dale to his cousin Quinton O Walters, Oct 2, 1999

Dear Cuz,

There were 3 adult sons in the John A McKibben family at the time of the Civil war.

One son, Wlliam Adam moved into Calhoun County. William had 9 childen, all boys, 7 of whom lived to adulthood. Three were born before his Civil War service, and four afterward. The 3 older ones, being children of the Civil War and Reconstruction, when there were no schools, had a different life and lived a different culture from the four younger ones.  Three became ministers of the gospel (two in the older group and one in the younger). The older ones, with their limited education, could never become full-time paid professionals. They essentially made a living farming, but preached at small isolated rural churches on weekends. Our grandfather James Alexander, (1842-1906), was one of them.

Quinton replies:

Our grandfather (James Alexander) was abundantly clear to the effect that his first memories in life were during the Civil War years. He reported that he concluded in those years that war was a terrible thing because all of the ladies on both sides of the family wept so bitterly when his father returned to service after a couple of furloughs.

There were three young boys living in the William Adam McKibben family’s household while he was away in the War – our grandfather and two brothers. Two young unmarried ladies [aunts] moved into the house with grandfather, his mother and two brothers in order to be of comfort and protection to them. Those girls apparently had more education than was usual for that day and time, and they proceeded to home-school the three McKibben boys who had been born at that time.

Dale writes:

James Alexander, married Martha Ann Harbour, a daughter of one of the bed-rock families East of Coffeeville, in 1880.

After he married, he kept his eye on an abandoned pre-civil war plantation much further east of Coffeeville on the Calhoun County line, with a lot of land and a good antebellum house on it. But there was no way for a hard-working country boy to buy it.

There were no mortgage companies in the South then, and the main line of credit for farm people were furnishing merchants (in reality loan sharks). Then in 1898 a source of credit came up, something like manna from heaven. The British Mortgage Company authorized a bank in Water Valley to represent it.

My father [John Monroe McKibben, son of James Alexander] recalled a cold day in January when the Water Valley banker rode out to their farm on horseback with startling good news. He could then finance the purchase of the plantation. By then, its acreage had been sold down to about 600, and no one had lived in the house for several years. It became grandpa’s home that you and I knew as boys.

When grandpa bought the plantation there were no viable towns in Calhoun County.

He was far out on the edge of Yalobusha and Calhoun counties. The citizens in the northwest quadrant of that county used Coffeeville (on the railroad) as their market. For them the trip to market in horse or ox drawn wagons was more than a one day event. There was a magnificent spring flowing out of the hill immediately south of grandpa’s house, with a stream flowing on eastward across a lush pasture. For years Calhounites had been making a trip to Coffeeville into about a 3-day event, and camping in that pasture. Grandpa let them continue after he bought the place.

His farm supported his family in fine style for those times, and his large home became a haven of rest for many a weary traveler.

By the time you and I were boys, Calhoun City and Bruce had been built as towns, and there were some motor vehicles. The camping had stopped.

Both Yalobusha and Calhoun counties were proposing to consolidate their one-room county schools into larger more modern schools in or near the towns. Grandpa resisted the movement. He did not want his local schools “torn up” and moved away. HIs schools dried up. His children, grandchildren and farm tenants moved away. In time he died, and the land returned to timberland.

James died in 1942, age 84. His obituary states that “Rev J. A. McKibben preached for more than fifty years. He was an ordained preacher in the Congregational Methodist Church and was the principal organizer of the Union Hill Methodist Church in Yalobusha County. It has been said that perhaps he conducted more funeral services than any other known man in North Mississippi.”

James’ grandson, Dale Harbour McKibben (1923-2001) continued on with the legacy of his grandfather.

In his obituary it was noted:

Dale was an active member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church for 53 years. He led the Dale McKibben Sunday School class for over 40 years and also served on the church Council of Ministries and as Chairman of the Administrative Board for many years. Mr. McKibben touched the lives of countless Boy Scouts as a volunteer Citizenship counselor.

He was a veteran of WWII, having served in the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Philippines, retiring from military service as a Lt. Colonel with the U.S. Air Force Reserve (Judge Advocate Corps) in 1972.

Mr. McKibben was a resident of Jackson since 1949 when he earned his law degree from the Ole Miss School of Law. As a law student he was a member of several honorary societies and was editor of the Law Review.

From his son Rob: “Dad always said that if it weren’t for the GI bill after WWII, he would probably be one end of a two man saw, cutting trees for the lumber company. He came a long way from a 140 acre farm with a mule and a plow, and a one room school house, to be an Editor of the Law School Journal.

“He was a long-standing member of the legal and oil and gas community of the city. He was a partner of several law firms and was most recently senior partner of McKibben & Associates.”

Prior to his death, Dale and Rob continued to search for the father of John A. McKibben (born 1801). The spelling of names changed and it was impossible to find a true link. A year before Dale died, he wrote in a letter to Rob:

In the 1800s the United States was just eleven years old. Nothing like universal public education prevailed. There were three “learned professions” in which the practitioners were supposedly literate – the clergy – lawyers – doctors. Learning was rather scarce among the rest of the population. Further, the expanding population along the east coast was moving westward into the Alleghenys, where education was even scarcer. It it said that when a family moved into those mountains in their westward journey, using a specified name, they were not always using that same name when they came out of the mountains on the west side, and certainly not with the same spelling. It just may be that we will never conclusively identify the two sets of parents that we are looking for here.

As of now I would also conclude that trying to document conclusively what these relationships were would be game not worth of the candle that it would take unless we come across by sheer luck some reliable documents with an origin at least a century back.

Since Dale left this world, a whole new aspect of searching one’s roots has emerged. DNA records are the next step in joining people when the search for documents (the paper trail) has been exhausted. Rob has recently had his DNA done. It proves that he is closely related, an exact match, to a larger family of McKibbens who arrived in America ‘between 1735 and 1740’, Joseph being the progenitor (see story of Joseph below). It also shows that he is an exact match with a McCubbin whose McKibben ancestor is documented back to County Down in Ireland, as well as with Scottish McCubbins. Dale would have liked that.

Rob McKibbin continues to search the “paper trail”.

Query: If anyone who reads this is related to John D McKibben, died 1799, please contact us at mccubbin@one-name.org. We just might find the father for John A McKibben, Rob’s great great grandfather.

Joseph McKibben, 1710-1761, Ireland to Pennsylvania – DNA Group 3

Story shared by Laurie, daughter of Philip McKibben, compiled by Lorna McCubbin

This exceptionally well researched and documented family tree was shared with us by the daughter of Philip McKibben living in Washington State.

Two other recently DNA tested men have a perfect match with him, but as yet do not have a link with Joseph.

JOSEPH (1710 – 1761)

An important immigrant group was the Scotch-Irish, who migrated from about 1717 until the Revolution in a series of waves caused by hardships in Ireland. They were primarily frontiersmen, pushing first into the Cumberland Valley region and then farther into central and western Pennsylvania. They, with immigrants from old Scotland, numbered about one-fourth of the population by 1776.

Joseph McKibben, born 1710 in County Tyrone, Ireland was among these immigrants, along with his wife Eizabeth Gibson and young son, James. Their story and those of their descendants show industrious and forthright people. Their first tract of 80 acres was granted in 1746 in Little Briton, Lancaster County, Penn. It is noted that the McKibbens supported the army during the American Revolution, supplying foods and supplies. Joseph’s son James (1731-1786) continued on with land acquistion obtaining 210 acres in Lurgon Township. He was active in the community, at one time or other, serving as supervisor of road, grand jury duty, overseer of the poor, and as a Constable.

Relations with the native indians were tenuous. Note from “Linns History. F Clinton County, Penn.” as follows:

There is a signed affidavit by Joseph McKibben, oldest son of James Sr. stating that in 1770 he and his father came up from Shippensburg in Lurgan Township, Cumberland County, Penn, to Nittany Valley, within ten miles of the great island, to make improvements on the land then owned by James Sr. They built a log house, roofed it, and clinked it and lived in it for seven weeks, while they cleared eight acres of land. Before returning to their residence in Shippensburg, they placed their farming utensils and such household furniture as they had taken with them inside the house. They were deterred the next spring, from returning because of “doubts and fears of the Indians”.

This land was eventually inherited by James Sr.’s younger sons, William and David, then minors, whom settled the land before they were of age.

David McKibben (1776 – 1857), the youngest and tenth child of James McKibben and Lettice Wilson, settled on the 300 acre farm he and his brother inherited. it is said that they were among the first settlers in the area. Obviously not fearful of the next move west into the frontier, David and his wife Elizabeth moved to Ohio, settling in Newport Twp, above the mouth of the Kentucky River. They had 11 children. Elizabeth died and David married Hulda. In all, David sired 16 children. He left a 107 acre farm to his wife and son Weston. The next descendant, following the line to Phillip in Washington, was David’s third son, Joseph (1800-1876). He married Rhoda Jennings and they were parents of fourteen children. They owned 100 acres in Ohio. Eight sons served in the Civil War.

In 1899, William Henry Jennings wrote a beautiful description of the family of Joseph and Rhoda (in the written lingua of the time, 1899).

Their married life was beautiful in its harmony. Their children, as they grew up, had before them always an example of domestic bliss that was the embodiment of peace and happiness on earth.

When the echo of the guns fired at Fort Sumpter told that their county was in danger, eight stalwart sons received the blessings of these noble parents, and rushed bravely to her defense. Joseph McKibben whose age caused him to be refused admission into the army, said, “Well if am too old to fight, I am not too old to pray”. When peace dawned again upon our stricken land, and the family once more gathered around the hearth- stone, there was one vacant chair. Seven sons had returned.

One son, Lemen Founts McKibben (1832-1904) served in the civil war from 1861 to 1865 as a corporal in the Kansas Cavalry, along with his brother Jonathon. He later lived and farmed in Blue Earth County, Minnesota with his wife Mary and children, Joseph, John and Hattie Lee.

Their son, Joseph Wesley McKibben (1860-1930) made the next big leap across America to Washington State, with his wife Harriet and children.

Their son Frank Sherman McKibben (1900-1972) was the father of Philip and grandfather of Laurie, who encouraged her father to have his DNA done.

This McKibben family whose ancestors left Ireland about 1730, landed on America’s east coast, made their way west, passing the torch from father to son until one son, Frank McKibben, arrived on the west coast in Washington State, 200 years later.

Thomas McKibbon, the Square Timber Man – DNA Group 3

Story by Alton McKibbon. compiled by Lorna McCubbin

Alton McKibbon, great, great grandson of Thomas, contributed this story of his family.

Thomas McKibbon was born in 1800, in Ireland. He immigrated to Canada with his wife Jenny. They had four children, Joseph, Jane, Margaret and James. Settling first west of Ottawa, Ontario at Fitzroy Harbour they later moved to Pakenham, Renfrew County.

Thomas was a square timber man. The Canadian Encyclopedia explains the process of squaring logs. “In the early, mid 1800s trees were normally felled with various types of timber axes (until the 1870s, when the crosscut saw became more common), and “bucked” (i.e. sawed) to stick length. Timber was squared by axemen, because square logs were easier than round logs to store and transport on Europe-bound ships. The process of squaring a log began by “lining” the wood along two sides to mark the dimensions of the desired square, and then “scoring” to remove the unwanted outside wood in rough slabs. From there, the sides of the log were rough-hewn (i.e., coarsely chopped) and then smooth-hewn using broadaxes. The process was then repeated with the remaining two sides of the wood.”

Thomas bought land around Pakenham, cut the timber off and sold the land as “Improved Lots” to new settlers. At one time he had 8 lots of 100 acres each.

Men with an industrious nature such as Thomas took advantage of the opportunity to acquire 200 acres of homestead land available in Renfrew County. In return they were required to promise to settle and cultivate the land.

With new settlers came the plague. Thomas’ wife Jenny took sick. They sold the land and burnt the buildings, covered them with dirt and told the new owner not to till the area. They then moved up the Bonnechere River with a group of other settlers. Jenny died in 1834.

Thomas moved to Mink Lake where he homesteaded with his children.He remarried Ann Bell and had a son Samuel.

They appeared on the census of 1861 in the Township of Wilberforce. Thomas, born Ireland, age 60, Ann, born Ireland, age 60 and Samuel, age 16, born Canada, living in a stone house, built 1840. Samuel married Margaret Prendergast and had 11 children.

Thomas’ first family of four children were, Joseph (Big Joe) b.1822, Margaret b.1825, Jane b. 1826, and James (1828-1882) who married Mary Jane Price.

Following Alton McKibbon’s line, James and Mary (Price) had five children. Their eldest son Thomas A.(1857-1884) married Catherine Reid. Their son Charles Alfred (1891-1970) was Alton’s father.

Alton relates, “James later homesteaded on lot 12, 3 miles away from Thomas before the land survey was done. When the survey went through he was on the wrong lot by 100 yards. He moved the house to where it now is.”

The homesteaded land remained in the family. It has been passed from James b. 1828, to Thomas b.1857 to his son Charles b.1891 to Alton, who was born, raised there and continues to work the farm.

Through the years Alton has raised beef cows, switched to Ayrshire milk cows which he milked until 1969, then switched to beef cows again. Alton then worked on heavy equipment for 30 years and farmed on weekends when retired. He continues to farm. As well, he still makes maple syrup from trees that his forefathers saved over the years for making sugar and syrup.

Alton is the proud father of his small family. His wife Dorothy passed away when his son and daughter were in their teens. Besides working on the farm they gained a good education. One of his granddaughters played hockey since she was 5 in Oakville played with Women’s Team Canada U 18 in Finland, December 2012 and came home with a Gold Medal.

The last time I talked with Alton in October, he said, “The weather has turned nice again. I am splitting wood for making Maple Syrup in spring, so busy trying to fill wood shed.”

Hawaiian McCubbins and the Link With Peru – DNA Group 3

HAMILTON MCCUBBIN
FAMILY #02, DNA GROUP 3

by Kathy McCubbing

In last years CUB Report we reported that DNA tests had confirmed a link with the McCubbin family in Peru and family #02 (who are all part of our wider McCubbin DNA group 3), who hail from Ayrshire in Scotland (with descendants who emigrated variously to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii). At that time we were awaiting DNA results from a descendant in Hawaii to confirm the Hawaiian connection, which indeed they did.

Examination of dates, names and geography suggested a closer link than we had anticipated between the McCubbins in Peru and in Hawaii: perhaps Hamilton McCubbin (born 1831 in Ayrshire) lived in Peru before he lived in Hawaii? We cannot prove this theory, but the facts that we have do not disprove it, and tend to support it:

In 1849 Hamilton was found on a passenger list bound for New York from Liverpool in England and this concords with descendants in Peru believing that he came to the country in about 1851. He married Margarita Butler and she is recorded as the mother of Alejandro McCubbin in Peru on his marriage certificate. Descendants thought that they married before they came to Peru, probably in about 1845, but despite extensive searches we have been unable to locate a marriage record. Hamilton and Margarita had at least two sons, Alejandro and Santiago, and Hamilton was thought to have died in Peru when Alejandro was about 10, which would have been in 1868.

In 1865 at age 31, and described as a Moulder, Hamilton is located aboard the Barque Whistler travelling from San Francisco to Honolulu. Whether this was just a visit he took whilst living in Peru, or whether this was the voyage he took to settle in Hawaii is unknown, but the next record we have for him is his marriage to Mary Kamalu-Pau in 1869. The couple had one son, their only child, Hamilton Jr, in 1872, just two years before Hamilton died in Hawaii in 1874.

Back in Peru Margarita Butler remarried a man named MacDonald, and she died and was buried in Lima in 1881.

Little is known about Hamiltons work life but it seems that two of his putative sons (Alejandro and Hamilton) were both to become engineers working in the sugar industry, and both were to become known for their inventions (we reported in last years Cub Report about Alejandro having designed a sugar cutting machine to which he gave his name).

HAMILTON MCCUBBIN JR (1872-1927)

Hamilton was born in Hamakua, Hawaii in 1872 and died in the Philippines in 1927. As mentioned above we know that his father, Hamilton, died in 1874 when he was just 2 years old but we dont know when his mother died. However, The Garden Island newspaper in 1917 (which was reporting on one of his important inventions) included in its report that It is perhaps a matter of personal interest that Mr McCubbin is a foster brother of our Mr Lydgate. Left an orphan, he was brought up by the Lydgates in their family in Hilo, and from there he was sent to the Coast for his mechanical training. By the age of 19 he was recorded on the census as a single man, living with other working men in Hamakua.

In 1896 he married Mary Kukahiko in Honolulu, but by 1900 they had divorced and she went to live with her brother. In 1903 he married Kahipa (Mary Lucille) Keaukahi in Waialua and between 1901 and 1917 they had 10 children, 7 of whom survived into adulthood.

In 1905 he resigned his position as Foreman of a machine shop and presumably this was when his engineering career really started.

Hamilton, Active in the Community

A wealth of information about Hamilton McCubbin and his family has been gleaned from Hawaiian newspapers which recorded minutiae of the lives of notable Hawaiian citizens – from their boat trips (on business and leisure) throughout the islands and further afield to mainland USA; the return of their children from their private schools during summer holidays; fetes; concerts and other events they attended and, in the case of Hamilton McCubbin, who was to become Chief Engineer at the Pioneer Mill Company, extensive reports about various conferences which were held in Hawaii and in which he was an active participant.

He was obviously a very active community member: a Freemason, selected to serve on various trial juries between 1905 and 1918 and selected to be an inspector of elections between 1908 and 1912. In 1911 he was a manager of a baseball team in Lahaina and in the same year he and his wife are reported to have held a luau for the scouts. He became a member of the Maui Chamber of Commerce in September 1916 and got involved with preparation for the Maui County Fair where he was in charge of music at the two day harvest celebration in September and by 1917 he was a Commissioner of Lahainaluna school. The newspapers even reported him being part of an angling party in 1918, during which Judge Burr landed a 29 pound ulua after a hard fight.”

Success as an Engineer

He had a successful and illustrious career as an Engineer. By 1912 he was working for the Pioneer Mill Company and in 1913 he was Chief Engineer in charge of a big project at a new hydro-electric power plant where, according to a newspaper report, his efforts have turned out very successful. In that same year he was part of a group of 5 who took charge of organizing a convention of engineers to be held in Honolulu that October. During the convention he delivered a paper on milling and He had prepared there a number of models and designs for conditions under which the extraction of sucrose from case is made the convention was extensively reported in the Hawaiian press and included a photo of the delegates which included Hamilton. The convention culminated in a banquet and it was reported that Engineer McCubbin, of Pioneer Mill Co, was a very popular speaker.

In 1915 he is listed as one of the directors of the Hawaiian Engineers Association. And in 1916 there are reports from another sugar engineers convention which included a big picnic on the beach and ended in a banquet which surpassed all previous occasions. Following dinner the delegates enjoyed music from a Hawaiian orchestra and vaudeville acts, which were enthusiastically received.

Important Invention: Anti U-Boat Device

In 1917 Hamilton received a huge amount of press coverage about the anti-U-boat device which he had invented and which was to become an important part of the allied naval defenses during WW1. In July 1917 the Honolulu Star Bulletin reports that the invention has been tried out and accepted by the board of strategy of the general staff at Washington. Naval experts who inspected the designs before the invention was completed are said to have assured McCubbin the device would prove practical. In the same month the Maui News spoke highly of Hamilton: To those who know something of McCubbins mechanical skill and mental make-up, it has not been hard to believe that he might have solved the big problem and the announcement that his idea has been accepted and is, or has been given a tryout by the council of national defense comes as no great surprise. The Island was obviously very proud of their son: the same report from the Maui News, though the invective language used to describe the enemy is apparent in their report, states Men, money and food supplies will not be the only contributions from Hawaii to the nation in the world struggle to save liberty-loving peoples from the barbarism of the Huns. The inventive brain of a son of the Island, Hamilton McCubbin, has produced a device that will be used effectively, if it is not already in use to rid the seas of German submarines, the last hope of the Huns to Strafe Great Britain. The Garden Island newspaper paid tribute to Hamiltons other notable inventions McCubbin has already made several valuable inventions in the line of mill machinery and railroad appliances so that he is by no means a novice in the matter of inventions. He stands in the very front rank among the mill engineers of the Islands.

Once the anti-U-boat device was in use reports came back about its effectiveness, including one in The Maui News in August 1917: The Captain of the Mexican, recently at Port Allen, and who is just back from France, reports that the safe and successful landing of the American forces under Pershing, in spite of submarine attack, was due mainly to the effectiveness of the McCubbin destroyer. All Hawaii will rejoice that a native son has helped so effectively.

In February 1918 Hamilton was mentioned during an investigation into a manager named Weinzheimer from Pioneer Mill who was assailed for disloyal utterances and attitude. Weinzheimer was a German subject who had applied for American citizenship but was under Federal surveillance and accused of being un-American because of remarks he had made about the war and the sinking of the Lusitania. The article appeared in the The Garden Island newspaper and reports that Weinzheimer called engineer McCubbin on the carpet and berated him for not offering his submarine invention to the German Government. It is unlikely that Hamilton knew that his first cousin was James Alexander McCubbin (1852-1915) , Pursers Assistant on the Lusitania, who died at sea when the ship was sunk by a German U-boat, but there is a poignancy in the fact that he developed a device which, if in use earlier, may well have saved his cousins life. See CUB Report 2009.

New Project in the Philippines

By late 1918 Hamilton had been earmarked to head a major project in the Philippines. According to the Maui News of 10 January 1919 Hamilton McCubbin, Superintendent of the Pioneer Mill Company, and one of the best known mill engineers in the Islands, expects to leave soon for the Philippines where he will have charge of the construction of some new sugar mills to be built there. Later that month more details were given about his move to superintend the erection of the Maao sugar central for the Catton, Neill Co, of this city. The mill (first to be built by this concern for the Philippines, by the way) will be shipped from Honolulu in sections, the first going forward some time about April 1. Mr McCubbin will be on the ground then and will have general charge of putting it up.

On 21 February 1919 The Maui News carried a report about Hamiltons departure for the Philippines that evening and his expected arrival there the middle of March. Other reports show that he sailed to Manila on board the Ecuador. By July 1919 other staff from the Pioneer Mill Company in Hawaii joined him, notably David Richards, a Mill Mechanic and Engineer who took 40 Hawaiian assistants with him.

Hamiltons inventiveness continued whilst working in the Philippines and in October 1922 he was reported as a delegate at a sugar conference where he described his new invention: A model cane car, the invention of Hamilton McCubbin of Maao Sugar Central Company, attracted general attention from sugar men attending the first general Philippine Sugar Conference here last week. The car is equipped with a special drawhead, consisting of a cable attached to a spring made fast under the middle of the car, instead of at the end. The bumpers are of heavy molaie blocks. It is claimed that a train made up of these cars is far more flexible than one with the ordinary drawheads and bumpers, that it will take sharp curves better, and that there is less delay and breakage if a car is derailed. In practical operation the cable runs the entire length of the train, with a spring under each car. The cars are built with flaring sides, of solid construction to prevent wastage in handling. A patent fastener enables one side to be let down and facilitates unloading in such a way as to provide uniform feed of the cane into the crushers. This feature is considered of special value, as it is pointed out that uniformity of feeding has a direct bearing on the degree of extraction obtained by the mill.

Unexpected Death

Hamilton died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1927 in an accident at the mill. Descendants believe that he fell into one of the vats of boiling sugar and report that there was a long period of time before his wife, Kahipa, was informed. From documentation received by them it seems that he was living with a woman in the Philippines and it was she who originally claimed his body.

Hamilton and Kahipas Children

Hamilton and Kahipas 7 children who survived into adulthood are mentioned in various news reports. It is not certain whether one of their children survived the scarlet fever epidemic which wracked the island in 1911 because a report in The Hawaiian Star newspaper stated that the child of H McCubbin which contracted the disease is slightly improved, though it is not yet out of danger.”

The comings and goings of his eldest daughter Margaret (1901-1945), back and forth to school, are frequently reported and a rather unusual and touching report from September 1910 records that “Engineer H McCubbin has sent a very large bunch of ladys fingers bananas to his little daughter, Margaret, in St Andrews Priory at Honolulu. There are about 400 bananas on this mammoth bunch.”

Margaret along with more than 70 of her school fellows marched in line at the funeral procession of the late Queen Liliuokalani in November 1917. A report in the Honolulu Star Bulletin recorded that Many members of the royal families had attended St Andrews Priory and, on the Saturday a chorus from the school, including Margaret, sang at Kawaliahao church when the remains of the late Queen Liliuokalani were brought to the Capitol. Margaret appears to have had musical inclinations and is mentioned in the Maui News in January 1918 when she sang alongside John Alameda, a blind musician of Honolulu who gave a concert in the Pioneer Theatre: Miss Margaret McCubbin who has a real soprano voice delighted the audience by signing two songs, both of which were encored.

In 1919 Margaret married Edward K Wagner in Honolulu but they divorced in 1921 and she remarried in 1923 to Anthony Ahlo Jr. Margaret died in 1945.

Hamilton Sonny Jrs first birthday was mentioned in The Maui News in 1906: “The McCubbins celebrated the birthday of their youngest son Sonnie by giving an open invitation to the Lahaina public at their residence. There was a grand lay out and everybody ate of the good things before them. The Punnene string band was in attendance as our genial friend Mack comes from there.” Sonny was one of the two children in the family who would suffer with leprosy during his short life. He was a patient at the Kalihi Hosp with this brother William (see below). Their younger sister Lillian (1913-1982) and her husband Walter Arend worked at the hospital as medical care givers. William also worked at the hospital, but left when the access was opened up and Lilia (as she was known) left after her husband died. Sonny died in 1933 of leprosy (which he had suffered from since 1925) and his death certificate also records that he worked in the Leprosarium as a Sanitary Inspector.

His brother, William (1912-1956), was a surviving twin whose sister died before she reached a year old. He married a woman called Ah Moi. He worked as a Labourer and died in Pearl City in 1956 at the age of 43.

Other surviving children were Jonathan Buster (1910-1956), Anna (1911-1961), who married James B Lumsden in 1924 and then George Kreusling in 1927, and Anthony Buddy (1917-1990), who served in WW2. He was married to Leona Emma and died in California.

Descendants are currently living in Hawaii and in mainland USA.

William McCubbin and Janet Riddell and Family – DNA Group 4

FAMILY #03, DNA GROUP 4

by Kathy McCubbing

William McCubbin (family #11, merged with #03 DNA 4), who was born in Penpont, Dumfriesshire on 16 June 1793, like many others of his family worked as a Stone Mason. He left Dumfriesshire and went to work in Lanarkshire where he met and married Janet Riddell, a dairymaid, when he was 28 years old. The couple lived in East Kilbride and this was where their first child was born a year later, a son James, in 1822.

At some point before 1836 William and Janet moved to Calton in Glasgow but nothing is known about the intervening 14 years, or whether they had other children but it seems unlikely that they did not (perhaps they died in infancy?) Their son, John, may have been born in about 1827 (according to the age he gave on his marriage certificate) but other records indicate he could have been born at any time between 1833 and 1846 (the latter clearly being impossible in light of what follows).

The criminal archives in Edinburgh Registry Office contain detailed information about two counts of theft by housebreaking by Janet Riddell McCubbin which occurred in Calton, the first of which occurred in 1836 (and for which she was convicted and imprisoned in the Bridewell of Glasgow for 23 months and kept at hard labour) and the second which occurred in 1839 (and for which she was convicted and transported to Australia for seven years).

The archives contain reports from her trials including testimonies and witness statements which describe the circumstances of the crimes, and also there is some character testimony about Janet and her husband William.

In the first case Janet was tried for theft by housebreaking in January 1836 from neighbours James Gemmell and his wife, who lived in the same tenement, in a flat above Janet and William in Millers Land, Canning Street, Calton in Glasgow. Janet was charged with stealing a number of clothing items and soft furnishings: a blue cloth jacket, a carpet bed rug, a blanket, a pair of bellows, a bed tick, a cotton bolster, a cotton pillow, a cotton shirt, a silk handkerchief, a cotton sheet and a cradle pillow.

She was accused of using an iron bar to gemmy the door open and gain access to the house. The bar was later recovered at Janets house indeed, it was found and given to the police by her husband, William! Janet denied having broken in but she did admit to going up to the Gemmells flat on the Wednesday with the intention of borrowing an Italian Iron and claimed to have found the door unlocked and had gone in and taken a carpet bed rug and a tick pillow. She also admitted to having sold the carpet rug (to Jean Robertson, who owned a broker shop) immediately for 3 shillings.

On the Friday she admitted to returning to Gemmells and stole and carried away a bed tick, a half sheet, a half blanket and a pair of bellows which she took down to her own flat. She claimed that sometime after that, on the same day, she had returned to Gemmells with a view to returning the stolen articles but met Mrs Gemmell on the stairs, who had just discovered the break-in. Mrs Gemmell told the court that during this meeting with Janet she had noticed a bag containing items nearby.

Apparently, having been unable to return the items, Janet took the bag to a shop owned by Margaret Martin (also known as McGair) and sold the items and the tick pillow (taken on the Wednesday) for 2 shillings and ninepence and both of them went to Jean Robertsons shop to retrieve the carpet bed rug sold to her earlier.

Jean Robertson, the broker, gave testimony which accorded with Janets and another broker, Agnes MacLachlane, gave testimony that Janet had offered her a blue jacket of cloth, a carpet bed rug of red, green and blue, a tick bolster stuffed with cotton, a tick pillow stuffed with cotton and a cotton shirt for a man, with a patch between the shoulders. Janet had told MacLachlane that she was selling the items because her daughter had died of scarlet fever and the money was to be used to bury her which seems to have deterred McLachlane from purchasing the items as she referred Janet to other brokers. It has not been possible to verify whether Janets story about the death of her daughter was true, and it was not mentioned further during the trial.

During this trial James Smart, Superintendent of the Calton Police Establishment described William McCubbin as a hardworking, sober and as far as [he] knows an honest man but his description of Janet was more scathing: she is a great pest in Calton from her drunken habits.

Excessive drinking was not uncommon in Calton and had been a problem, as illustrated by the following excerpts from the Glasgow Thistle of 1831.

During the week upwards of 20 persons were taken up for being drunk and disorderly on the streets (of Calton), the greater number of these were taken up on Sunday, while strolling the streets in a beastly condition, during the hours of Divine service. They were all fined in various small sums.

Mrs. Peebles, an old wretch, residing in Main Street, Calton, for having her house in a disorderly state on Sunday morning, was fined in two shillings and sixpence.

October 22, 1831, Calton Police Court, Monday.

Eighteen cases of drunks and disorderlies were disposed of. The general part of them were Chelsea pensioners, and were carried in for preservation. Some of them were ordered to pay for their porterage, and others were fined according to the nature of their offences.

November 5, 1831:

The rest of this week’s cases consisted of drunks and disorderlies, some of whom were wheeled or carried to the Police Office and had to pay porterage. The others were fined from two to five shillings.

After her release William and Janet had a daughter, Elizabeth, also known as Isabella in about 1839. Although no birth records have been found for either John (see above) or Elizabeth, their relationship with William and, by inference, Janet has been established from census records.

By 1839 William and Janet were living in a tenement on Dalmarnock Road in Bridgeton (a suburb adjacent to Calton) which rejoiced in the dubious name of Cholera Land* (but was also known as Watsons Land). Janet found herself in court again in January 1839 accused, again, of housebreaking and, again, this was from neighbours living in the same tenement.

* images and descriptions of housing in Bridgeton, some from this period, can be seen here and the report by Guthries referred to can be found here, where he records, On the New Dalmarnock Road, opposite Bartholomew Street, there is a house called Gardenside, which belonged to a Mr. Muir. He built a small block printing work at the back, which is now converted into small dwelling-houses. From this point north there were few houses. The only one of note was a four-storey building which stood back from the road. This house was converted into a Cholera Hospital in 1832, and always went under the name of the Cholera Land as long as it stood. This was a sad time. The van went round the streets every morning to lift the dead, and I have seen 10 coffins in it at a time.

Janets neighbour, Mr George Henderson, returned home on Wednesday 20 June 1838 and found his wife (Mary Jamieson) and one of the lodgers (Archibald Johnstone) already at home, having found the house broken into. They then proceeded to go around the brokers’ shops to look for the stolen items and they found the gown in Mrs Burt’s shop in Dalmarnock Road (who told them she had bought it from Janet Riddell for sixpence) but when confronted with this Janet denied it and then disappeared for a month.

Isabella Archer, another broker, told the court that she had bought the tartan shawl from Janet Riddell for fourpence. Janet had told her she was selling the shawl in order to buy her children breakfast.

In both cases Janet told the brokers that she would be returning to buy the items back. In her own statement Janet said that she resided on the ground floor of the tenement and shared a lobby with others, including the Hendersons. She told the court that she had been employed by them for about two months the previous summer to cook victuals for Henderson and his wife and some lodgers who stayed with them, but Mr Henderson called her to give this up “because there was too much drink going among them”. She claimed that the Hendersons owed her a shilling, although they denied this. She admitted to the court that she had gained access to the house using a key which had been entrusted to her when she worked for them.

So, in the light of her previous conviction Janet found herself separated from her husband and her children (Elizabeth only a babe in arms at this time) and detained in the Tolbooth of Glasgow awaiting transportation to Australia.

By December 1843 Janet had been granted a Ticket of Leave** and on completion of her sentence she was given a Certificate of Freedom.

**Tickets of leave allowed convicts to live and work for their own wages wherever they wanted to within a certain Police District. Tickets of leave were generally given to convicts with good behaviour. Convicts became eligible for a ticket after a certain amount of their sentence had been served. Generally a convict became eligible after 4 years for a seven year sentence. Once a year the convict had to report in at the ticket of leave muster or else the ticket was revoked. Writing up Tickets of Leave or Certificates of Freedom cost 2s 8d each, and even gaining ones certificate after an expired sentence cost 6d. In addition, to have these documents officially printed cost another 6d. So becoming free was never cost-free.

It is believed that Janet remarried and has living descendants in Australia.

Meanwhile, back in Scotland, William was left with their children. By 1840 he had remarried to Helen/Ellen Lindsday (born in Ireland). They are found on the 1841 census in Dalmarnock Road with James (15), John (8) and Elizabeth (1). By 1851 the family had moved to Landressy Street in Calton where William continued to work as a Mason. His son, James (24), was out of work at this time but his other son, John (18), was working as a Tenter in the local cotton mill.

James, who married Agnes Kean (or Kane), was a Cattle Driver for most of his life, and some of his children worked in the local cotton mill or in associated trades (like tailoring). His brother John, who married Catherine Kean (Agnes sister) and then later Sarah Gillan, was a Shoemaker Master in 1861 but later went on to become a Fruit Dealer (1867) and then a Confectioner (1871). He died at only 44 years old of a heart attack while working as an Iron Moulders Labourer at the local iron foundry. Only two of his 9 children survived infancy, epitomising the frailty of life in those days.

Of Johns surviving two boys, William (1860-1944), married Mary Palmer in 1880, and worked variously as an Iron Foundry Labourer, a Glass Bottle Blower and a Sewing Machine Factory Storeman. His younger brother John (1861-1902), married Elizabeth Doyle in 1892, and worked as a Glass Work Furnace Man (1891), a General Labourer (1901) and a Carter (1902). He died of chronic pneumonia at only 40 years of age.

The Death Ship That Landed in Luce Bay

by Lorna McCubbin, info from Peter Miller

I received a query from Peter Miller, author of Galloway Shipwrecks. Mr Miller is now working on a re-write and is trying to find our more details about a McCubbin (no first name) who was First Mate on a ship named Eliza. In 1832 the ship was run aground at the head of Luce Bay, Wigtownshire as most of the crew were down with cholera. McCubbin died and was buried between the Piltanton burn and the river Luce where they meet the sea. His tomb was marked on the early OS maps (1850).

Mr Miller wrote: “I can find nothing else about him, except that he might be, because of their maritime connections, of the Stranraer McCubbins that you mention in the 2005 CUB Report. Lack of first name is the stumbling block.”

In his book, Lines From My Log-Book, by Sir John Charles Dalrymple Hay, Admiral, 1879, relates that when he was a boy of twelve, McCubbin, who had served as mate on his father’s yacht, the Sappho, died of cholera.

The first experience of cholera also came about that time, and I am reminded of it, as the mate of the Sappho was a victim. From August till April [1832] the yacht [the Sappho] was in dock at Port William, and her crew, all but Will Hill, the skipper, found other employment. Poor M’Cubbin the mate, shipped in a coasting vessel, the Eliza of Port William. I remember her arrival at Piltanton Burn foot on a Sunday in July 1832. Dr M’Cracken, the village surgeon, had never before seen cholera. He was sent for, and when he came one sufferer had been landed and taken in a cart to Stranraer, where his home was. He and his wife, who nursed him, both died. There were two other cases on board. The doctor attended them. One was M’Cubbin; he died and was buried and his tomb still stands on the seashore. The vessel, which contained lime, was bought by my father and set on fire, and I well remember watching her burn, and the grand conflagration which ensued when the unslaked lime was reached by the tide as it poured into the burning vessel. By this public-spirited act, the spread of cholera in Wigtonshire was stayed. There were in all six cases, of whom four died and two recovered.

In the hope that any of you readers may have an old tale about the above McCubbin in your family history please let us know. Mr Miller and I tried to find a Stranraer connection through the McCubbin database as well as other sources and have a few possibles, i.e. Stranraer sailing families, Hugh McCubbin and Agnes McCreadie or Hugh and Isabella McCubbin, but need more information. Hopefully we can give this man a first name. Please contact Lorna at mccubbin@one-name.org

How John McCubbin Survived WW2 With the Help of Heroic Belgians

compiled by Lorna McCubbin

The following is excerpted from http://www.belgiumww2.info.

McCUBBIN Private John 3315383, HLI. Arrested 25th September 1941, Duchene house rue Sans Souci POW

In August 1940 a group of 28 soldiers who had escaped from a train taking them to POW camps in eastern Germany were hiding out in the Foret de Soignes near Brussels.

Two from the group of 28 were Private John McCUBBIN 3315383 from Stonyhurst Street (Possilpark) Glasgow and Private Bernard (Bobby) CONVILLE 3319526 serving with 1st Battalion Glasgow Highlanders 51st Highland Division also from Glasgow. McCubbin had been captured at St. Annes and Conville was captured near Cherbourg. On the 17 July 1940 after staying 8 days in a field with 30 colleagues and French POWs they were put on a train to Belgium en route to Stalag VI G Bonne in Germany. The prisoners were packed into filthy cattle trucks. Conville and McCubbin managed to escape from the train as it passed through a forest at Boitsfort, a suburb of Brussels. Their German guard’s view was blocked by their colleagues as they forced open the door but he wasn’t really concerned at what they were doing. Jumping from the train with bullets whining round their ears, they reached the temporary safety of the woods. Their aim was to re-unite with the British Army; little knowing that it had been driven from mainland Europe by the Blitzkreig. Their first contact with help was with an Englishman, who he was the soldiers never knew, but he put them on contact with people who could help them.

They were fed and clothed by the Bruxellois for six weeks and then, as it was then getting too cold to sleep out, they were taken to the house of Madame Jeanne Duchenne and her daughter Florence Duchenne at Rue Sans-Souci in the Ixelles suburb of Brussels where they stayed right through until September 1941.

George Vecsey notes:

It would have been easy for people to bar the door, respond in a different tongue, turn the men away, but many courageous Belgians sequestered these men in closets and attics or much more openly.

The following is excerpted from the New York Times 9/6/2006
Cosmic Questions on a Journey of Discovery
By George Vecsey while visiting Essen, Germany
(also included on http://www.belgiumww2.info/.)

I am not the first member of my family to come to Essen. I arrived yesterday morning to cover some World Cup games in this area, the first time I have ever been in this old coal-mining town, the city of Krupps.

By sheer coincidence, I recently learned that exactly 63 years ago, on June 8, 1943, an aunt of mine was in Essen.

My mother often talked about her cousins Florrie and Leopold. She had met them when she visited Belgium, in the space between the world wars. They were the children of my grandmother’s sister, an Irish woman who had moved to Belgium and married a coachman for the king.

We grew up knowing that our Belgian-Irish relatives had sheltered British fugitives during the war. Looking back now, I wish I had asked more questions of my grandmother and my mother, but children are rarely smart enough to ask the right questions while the old people are still alive.

In July of 1942, my relatives, the Duchene family, harbored a member of the Glasgow Highlanders named John McCubbin. Sometimes he helped my aunt in her millinery shop; sometimes he and his Hilghlander mates posed for pictures in civilian clothes, looking almost relaxed. They were safe until Sept. 25, 1941, when the Gestapo knocked at the Duchenes’ door, and shot McCubbin when he tried to escape. He survived and ultimately he and Bobby Conville and Allan Cowan, two other Scottish soldiers who were hidden in Brussels, made it home.

My grandmother’s sister, Anne Duchene, whom the soldiers called “Jeannie” or “Mum”, was detained for a while and then released because she was 72 and promptly resumed hiding British escapees, without being caught. My aunt Florence disappeared into the camps, and never came home.

We have a photograph of Anne Duchene and her gaunt son Leopold shortly after the war ended. She has a large medal around her neck; he is wearing a military jacket and some medals. Soon afterward, Leopold died. This was the legacy of our family the European aunt and uncle we never met.

In 1954, the legendary Associated Press columnist Hal Boyle returned to Europe, which he had covered as a young war reporter. My father, who worked with Hal, referred him to our relative in Brussels, and, of course, Hittal got a column out of the old lady. It was called “The Door of Madame Duchene,” and was later reprinted in Hal’s book, “Help, Help” Another Day! The world of Hal Boyle,” published in 1969.

As journalists will do, Hal saved the cosmic question for the end: Did my great aunt ever regret taking the Scottish soldier into her home? “No,” she told him. “I make out. I have no regrets except that I have lost my two children. That is the worst of all.” Then she added, “It had to be so.”

Only a few months ago, I was puttering around on the Internet and discovered photographs of my aunt and mother, plus a photograph of the street in Brussels where my relatives had harbored the solders (Rue Sans-Souci, French for “Street Without Care”). I also learned that my aunt’s name is chiseled on a monument to the Belgian resisters, in Ixelles, near their old home.

Florence DUCHENE daughter of Jeannie DUCHENE was taken to Ravensbruck after the Essen court case in 1943; she died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945 at the age of 38.

Frederick McCubbin Goes to London – DNA Group 3

by Penny McColm

The renowned Royal Academy of Art in London is hosting an exhibition of Australian art from the 21st September to December 8th in the Main Galleries, Burlington House.

Two of McCubbin’s major works will be on show, The Pioneer, a triptych, and Little Girl Lost — iconic paintings in Australia.

The Pioneer has a haunting feel to it. The first panel shows a wistful woman sitting in the bush, perhaps dreaming of an easier life. This woman who modeled for the painting is Anne McCubbin nee Moriarty, Frederick’s wife. The second panel depicts a couple maybe discussing where to erect a building and the third panel is a man working in the scrub with the beginnings of a town in the background, perhaps a view to the future. There are many interpretations of this amazing work.

The ‘Little Girl Lost’ is self-explanatory, it is quite heart wrenching and beautifully painted. As an Australian I can practically smell the bush.

McCubbin has never been exhibited in London before and this is an excellent opportunity for any of the ‘McCubbin family’ who live in the UK to see some of his works.

A second McCubbin called The Slipway, Williamstown, which will be historically interesting, shows the Williamstown docks as they were in the early 19th century.

And finally, an unusual piece of a stunning red head painted on the inside of a tambourine, titled ‘A Nymph by Moonlight’. There are still lovely redheads in our Australian McCubbin family, the tradition continues.

A Sad Discovery by Shepherd William McCubbin

via Lorna McCubbin

Avro Anson L9153 of No 1 A.N.S. (Air Navigation School)Prestwick, was flying a Cross Country Navigation Exercise on the 9th Jan 1939 when it flew into the 2,448 ft mountain in the Rhinns of Kells, 9 miles west of Dalry, Kirkcudbright, Scotland.

This aircraft was discovered on the mountain the following day by Shepherd William McCubbin when he noticed a light plume of smoke rising from the side of the peak, on arrival at the scene he found three of the airmen had been flung clear and one who had died in the burnt out skeleton of the Anson. All four crew were killed. The bodies of the four airmen were removed later that day by a RAF recovery team headed by a Sq/Ldr D.F.McIntyre.

Crew of L9153.

Pilot: F/O Iain Douglas Shields. (Flt Inst).
W/Op: Sgt Norman Hector Duff.
Pupil: LAC Henry Gilbert Stewart Briggs.
Pupil: LAC Gordon Eric Betts.
ASN Wikibase Occurrence #144447

Australian Brothers Jack and Reg McCubbin and Their Experiences in the Pacific Theatre in WW2 – DNA Group 1

JACK IN PAPUA, NEW GUINEA
REG AND THE SPARROW FORCE IN TIMOR

Introduction by Kathy McCubbing (family #05, DNA1)

In 2012 Billy McCubbin from Ayrshire in Scotland (family #05 DNA1, originally from Keir in Dumfriesshire) visited distant relatives in Australia and came home laden with news and information about our Australian cousins, including that about two McCubbin brothers, Reginald (b.1919) and John (known as Jack, 1922-2008), both of whom had served in WW2 in the Pacific theatre of operations under extraordinary and extremely challenging conditions, and both had returned home very much the worse for wear as a result of their experiences.

John (Jack) McCubbin (1922-2008)

The family in Australia shared handwritten notes from Jack in which he describes how he served in Papua, at Milne Bay, during WW2. He recalls not only the attacks the Australian troops were subject to but also the dreadful conditions in which they lived: in rain-soaked tents on muddy ground. He was very ill, initially contracting malaria but also suffering with arthritis (which had ailed him since a young man). He spent time in and out of hospital in in Queensland and New South Wales. While he was in hospital in Rocky Creek in Queensland in 1943 he received a telegram informing him that his father had had a stroke, but by the time he managed to get home (it took him 7 days to get to Brisbane) he learnt that his father had died 6 days previously. He volunteered to go to Hollandia where he spent about three months and returned home with “coral germs in the ears, trench mouth, and lost nearly 3 stone weight: I came back a yellow skinned skeleton” he wrote. He suffered with arthritis for all of his life and also unexplained blackouts which worried him.

Reginald McCubbin (b.1919)

Billy also brought back a newspaper article from the Fraser Coast Chronicle of 17 March 2012 entitled “Remembering Sparrow Force. Read about war veteran Reg McCubbin’s tale of survival in Timor” which told the fascinating and sometimes shocking story of Reg McCubbin’s service in WW2. The article was accompanied by a range of photos from WWII and also current photos of Reg with author, Neville Noakes, whose father also served in Sparrow Force and who was writing a book about it. A full length documentary film has also been produced (Footsteps of Sparrow Force). Extracts from the newspaper article are reproduced below:

It has been 70 years since Reg McCubbin fought in one of the first Australian examples of guerilla warfare in a little known Second World War battle to stop the Japanese from taking over Timor. At 93 years old he can’t quite remember the details, but he remembers the Japanese paratroopers, the lack of food and the basic need to survive.

Mr. McCubbin is part of an exclusive and ever-shrinking group of veterans who were known as Sparrow Force, a company of about 1500 Australians who defended Timor in the Second World War against a force of 30,000 soldiers.

Mr McCubbin’s story started in June 1941, when he signed on as an army engineer in the 2/11th field company as a strapping 22 year old. Less than six months later he was shipped out to Timor. He thinks he landed on December 12, five days after the Pearl Harbour bombing, but it’s been too many years for Mr McCubbin to be sure.

When Japanese troops landed on February 19, bombing Darwin on the same day, Mr McCubbin and a small group of engineers were working in Atambua, separated from their main force by Japanese paratroopers. “When the Japanese landed, we were cleaning out a spring for the officers.” he said. The separation saved the small group of engineers from becoming prisoners of war when their company was forced to surrender. Instead they fought from one side of the island to the other.

Mr McCubbin remembers the strange things that happened, such as three Kitty Hawk fighters lying empty on a beach, and fight after fight with groups of Japanese troops. “We would ambush them, they would ambush us.” Mr McCubbin said. He recalls the fighting as simply a means of survival, including one time when they came under friendly fire while resting in a village hut. “All of a sudden we heard machine gun fire and there was bits of grass falling out of the thatched roof.” he said.

Eventually the engineers joined with the 2/2 Independent Company in Dili, in the Portuguese province of the island. It was in Dili, while cut off from the mainland forces, that Sparrow Force carved out a formidable reputation among the Japanese on the island. “Because the fellows fought so well and so hard, the Japanese treated them with a little dignity.” Mr Noakes said.

Despite their fierceness, the company was swiftly running out of supplies and all radio contact with Australia had been cut. Mr McCubbin and the 1500 other men were believed lost to Japanese forces. “Your mum got a telegram to say you were missing in action.” Mr McCubbin said. Radio contact with Australia was not established again until April 1942, two months after the Japanese landed and several companies had become prisoners of war. Mr Noakes stressed the number of dead – including one particular battle where 2000 Japanese soldiers died against the 1500 strong force of Australians. “It’s a measure of how good these blokes were.” he said. They were the first people to engage the Japanese and beat them.

Sparrow Force’s time in the jungle became a record of first and lasts. They held the first Allied invasion of the Second World War when the 2/2 Independent Company informed the Dili commander in the officially neutral Portuguese province that their forces were using the city and he had no choice. They were the last battalion in any war to hold a recognised bayonet charge and one of the first Australian forces to practice guerilla warfare.

“We just done what we had to do to survive.” Mr McCubbin said. Mr McCubbin and the rest of Sparrow Force were evacuated off Timor in November and December 1942, a full year after landing.”

After reading this very thought-provoking article, we contacted Reg’s son, Trevor McCubbin, and through conversations with his father, and personal research Trevor has been able to piece together a detailed account of his father’s life and his experiences in WW2 and has very generously shared this with us for our Cub Reports. It is such an important account that we would like to reproduce it in full and so provide Part One below, which covers Reg’s service in Timor, with Part Two earmarked for next year’s Cub Report (2014) relating his experiences in Papua New Guinea, Morotai, Tarakan and Balikpapan.

REGINALD FRANCIS MCCUBBIN

Part One

Early Life and WW2 Experiences in Timor (1941-1943)

by Trevor McCubbin

Reg McCubbin was born three months and two days after the finish of the first World War, in Yuleba, a small town 500km west of Brisbane which is the capital of the state of Queensland, Australia. Reg was the son of a pioneering family. His father, William McCubbin, had a carrying business working out of Yuleba bringing wool and wheat from the west to the rail head there.

William was born in 1875 the son of John and Agnes McCubbin the nephew and daughter of James McCubbin who had arrived in Australia in about 1830. James was born in Dumfriesshire Scotland in 1810. James married Christiana McIntyre in 1945. Christiana had arrived in Australia in 1837 with her parents Duncan and Christina McIntyre. Regs parental pedigree on his mothers side included three convicts and goes back to 1823. Owen Tunny a convict who arrived in 1836 married Mary Harrison whose parents were convicts, her father coming out in 1823 and her mother in 1828.

Regs father was 44 when Reg was born so he was brought up in the days where most things were done by horse power. Cars were something only heard about; trains were new and radio something for the future. The last Cob & Co stagecoach went on the run from Yuleba to Surat when Reg was 5 years old. Reg is is still alive at the writing of this story at the age of 94.

The depression had not been kind to the family and they lost their home. One of Reg’s fondest memories is sinking dams with his father when he was 16. He went out 6 years ago and found two of the dams still being used.

1940 found Reg making a living digging quartz from the ground at Cracow in central Queensland in his brother’s gold lease. He spent his 21st birthday at the Cracow pub. There was a town there then but now it is a ghost town with nothing but the pub, still running, and some abandoned shops. He had a drink in the pub in 2008 when he went to revisit the places of his youth.

1941 saw many Australians fighting in the Middle East, including Greece and Crete, and Australia was being threatened by the Japanese moving south with the knowledge they would likely attack British interests in Asia having signed the axis treaty with Germany and Italy. Australia had suffered many casualties in Greece and Crete so Reg enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces at Toowoomba on the 16 July 1941.

After a stint in training and being hospitalized with a case of the mumps he became part of the 2/11 Field Company. The Company was attached to the 2/40 Battalion in October 1941. The 2/40 Battalion was part of the 8th Division. The 2/40th came out of Launceston in Tasmania. They travelled all the way to Darwin where Reg’s group joined them. Decked out with Boer War equipment and WWI weapons they were a mixed group with the 2/2 Independent Company (commandos) from West Australia also joining them. December 1941 saw them under a training unit in Darwin in the defense of North Australia. In December all Christmas leave was cancelled and just days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour they disembarked for Timor. Now known as Sparrow Force they were sent in support of the small Dutch and Portuguese garrisons there. Singapore fell and the attack on Pearl Harbour all happened within days of their arrival and the battle of the Pacific began in earnest.

TIMOR

Reginald arrived in Koepang with 1,400 fellow Australians on 12th December 1941. The Australians, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Leggatt, included the 2/40th Battalion from the 8th Division as well as the 2/11 field company, the 2/2nd Independent Company as well as other detachments. Once in Timor, Sparrow Force divided. The 2/40th Battalion remained around Koepang in the Dutch zone on the south-west of the island to defend the bay and nearby Penfui airfield, where a flight of Hudson bombers of 2 Squadron RAAF was based. The 2/2nd Independent Company went to the Portuguese zone setting up base at Dili, the administrative capital, on the north coast of Portuguese Timor.

Japanese air raids on the airfield on 26 and 30 January 1942 encouraged the Australian government to make preparations for reinforcements to be sent to Timor. Their arrival was delayed when the convoy, which included the HMAS destroyers Swan and Warrego, was intercepted by Japanese bombers and forced to return to Darwin. Additional headquarters’ staff for Sparrow Force under Brigadier William Veale arrived in Koepang on 12 February.

By 19 February it was clear that the Japanese invasion was imminent and the surviving aircraft of 2 Squadron RAAF, which had flown several missions against Japanese bases and shipping, were despatched to Darwin. That same day, six of the squadron’s Hudsons were destroyed in the Japanese bombing raid on Darwin. By then it was too late to evacuate the troops of Sparrow Force so they stayed on the island.

Reg’s tasks were in construction: building and demolition. Initially the task of the 2/11 Field Coy was the construction of the preparation of the defences for the anticipated invasion. Some of the guns had been taken from ships used in the First World War which had been decommissioned and destroyed. They were remounted facing out to sea. As happened in Singapore, the Japanese didnt oblige them and came from another point on the coast quickly overrunning the defences. The 1,400 inexperienced Australians with a few months’ training were no match for the 5,000 seasoned troops in the initial landing supported by naval and air support, which landed an additional 700 paratroopers behind their lines.

Reg McCubbin was part of the contingent sent to the airfield at Penfui to mine the runway in anticipation of the invasion and then further back where the hospital and HQ were situated.

The Japanese attacked the eastern Zone Dili about midnight on 20 February and the 2/2nd Independent Company was able to inflict some damage on Japanese troops before withdrawing into the hinterland. Other Japanese forces came ashore at Koepang. The Australians fought defensively with counter attacks on the villages they had abandoned, retaking them only to lose them again. The Australians fought valiantly for 4 days resulting in the death of over 900 Japanese.

Sparrow Force was eventually split by the Japanese advance. In West Timor Leggatt’s men, many of them sick with malaria and wounded, were short of ammunition, food and water. They fought a far superior force for four days but the Japanese systematically overrun their positions. Leggett had no option but to surrender with his 1123 men on 23 February. They had fought so fiercely the Japanese believed the force was three times what they were. Brigadier Veale and a group of about 250 men which included the remnants of the 2/11 field Coy in West Timor were able to withdraw east and join the 2/2nd Independent Company in East Timor where they began a guerrilla warfare campaign. The role of the 2/11 at this stage was to hinder the advance of the Japanese by blowing up bridges and tracks to give time for their mates to get away.

They went to East Timor and joined up with the 2/2 Independent Coy and were trained by them as guerrilla fighters. The independent company troops were specially trained for commando-style operations, and they became the only Australian force still in action in enemy territory after the Japanese conquest of south-east Asia. Reg was listed as missing in action on the 22 February 1942 and his family was advised he was missing presumed dead. The Australian soldiers had been told to take no prisoner after finding their comrades, Australian prisoners, with their hands bound and bayoneted, or their throats cuts. This turned out to be the only practical thing to do as they were continually on the run and nowhere to hold them. They knew the same applied to them so every effort to save every man wounded was made. This was accomplished with the help of the local natives who saved the lives of many of the men by carrying them to safety.

EXTRACT FROM THE FALL OF TIMOR AUSTRALIAS WAR 1939 1945

Fall of Timor

During the early months, the success of the guerrillas in East Timor was only made possible by the support they received from the local Timorese who, risking execution by the Japanese, acted as porters and guides and provided food and shelter. In April, the force was able to communicate with Australian authorities for the first time. Some of the men had constructed an improvised radio set, ‘Winnie the War Winner’, named after the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and within 48 hours of making contact with Darwin they received much needed supplies and directions to continue their campaign.

During the following months the guerrillas inflicted damage on the Japanese occupation forces wherever and whenever they could. However, in August the Japanese launched a major counter-offensive destroying many of the links between the Australians and the local people. Although some of the Timorese were still prepared to risk their lives helping the Australians, it became more and more difficult for the guerillas to operate.

The RAAF and RAN continued supporting Sparrow Force with regular airdrops and supply voyages. In September 1942, 450 troops of the 2/4th Independent Company were landed from the destroyer HMAS Voyager. The ship ran aground in Betano Bay and was scuttled. In November, it was decided to relieve the weary 2/2nd Independent Company by evacuating them by ship. On 1 December, the corvette HMAS Armidale was sunk south of Timor while delivering Dutch colonial troops as part of the relief effort. Most of the crew and all of the troops were lost. The 2/2nd troops were withdrawn later that month.

Sparrow Force operations on Timor were progressively wound down. The Japanese, determined to wipe out the guerrillas, reinforced their garrison, with stronger patrols into the hinterland. In February 1943, the remaining members of Sparrow Force were withdrawn from East Timor. Australian and American aircraft continued bombing Japanese bases but the guerrilla campaign itself was at an end.

Reginald returned to Australia on the 11 January 1942. His condition was not good having contacted beriberi and malaria while in Timor, and tonsillitis. He was admitted to hospital on the 27th and was in and out of hospital for the next 6 months mainly due to bouts of malaria. He returned to his unit in August 1943 (Editor’s note: just a month after his father’s death).

The following link is to a detailed account of the campaign in Timor extracted from Australia in the War of 19391945. Series 1 Army, Volume IV The Japanese Thrust (1st edition, 1957), Author: Wigmore, Lionel Gage, provided on the Australian War Memorial Website:

Chapter 21 – Resistance in Timor (PDF)

Part Two of Reg and the Sparrow Force to be concluded in CUB Report 2014, will relate his experiences during his posting in Papua New Guinea, Morotai, Tarakan and Balikpapan 1943-1945

James McCubbin of Dunscore and His Canadian Descendants – DNA Group 1

FAMILY #33 DNA 1 GROUP 1

compiled by Lorna McCubbin

James McCubbin lived in 1777 at Glenfoot, Dunscore, Dumfriesshire. His son Robert McCubbin and his wife Margaret McKnight had a son, Robert, born 1782 in Troqueer, Kirkcudbright, Scotland.

Notes by Leslie McCubbin of Dunscore relate:

Robert McCubbin was a poor Scottish relative of Captain James Carson of the Dingell who operated his ship on the River Mersey, Liverpool, England.  Robert was employed as a ship’s carpenter in Carson’s ship-building yards. Carson’s younger sister by 20 years and under his ward was Mary who was in a boarding school. Robert fell in love with Mary and they eloped and married. Carson disowned his sister. She was only 15 years at the time. Within the first year, their first child, James, was born in 1804.

Some fourteen years later, with his wife and five children, they set sail for Canada, living for a time in Halifax where Robert pursued his skill as a fine cabinet finisher on ships building in the port. Shortly after he arrived, he petitioned the Lieutenant-Governor for a Grant of Land of 300 acres in the parish of Hampstead, Queens County, New Brunswick. He received the title in 1821, cleared land and built a log home for his growing family. In 1827 he sold the land for “Seventy seven pounds, ten shillings current money of New Brunswick given to them in a handpouch” by John Ogden the purchaser. The family moved to the greener pastures of Upper Canada. In 1836, Robert bought 200 acres in Chatham Twp, Ontario. By 1863, Robert Sr and Mary had four sons and six daughters.

At some point, the story goes, Robert Sr was employed in Port Hope, Ontario, later at Bronte near Hamilton.  Some of the fine panelling in Dundurn Castle, Hamilton was also his work

Robert died in 1873 in Chatham, Kent, Ontario. His wife Mary died in1865. The land passed to his two sons, Robert Jr. and William McCubbin.

Robert and Mary’s descendants now span across Canada and the U.S.

One branch (two brothers, Ira Case and Franklin) of the family moved to western Canada. Ira’s grandson, Robert Bob James McCubbin (1923-2008) of Langley, BC, was one of the first McCubbins to reply to our query letters back in 2001. He provided us with his family’s history. Bob’s grandfather, Ira McCubbin left Ontario and homesteaded in Ladner, BC. He married Minnie Elliott about 1890 and had a large family of nine boys and three girls. They later became successful chicken farmers. There were no dikes in those days and when the great Fraser River flood of 1894 occurred, they had to be rescued and taken to Vancouver. They eventually settled there in the Fairmont area. One of the sons was Alva, father of Bob. Alva had an interesting but short and tragic life. For a time, Alva worked as a plainclothes detective for the Vancouver Police Dept. In World War One he was with the Black Watch Regiment then transferred to the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders, a Vancouver regiment, formed in 1914. Alva served overseas in France and was badly mustard gassed. He moved to Merrit, B.C in 1925 to assist in the first 25 cycle power system in town. At the age of 38 he died in a drowning accident while hunting, witnessed by his wife Jessie and son ‘Bob’. Bob went on to become a teacher and administrator at many Langley schools during his long career.

Franklin McCubbin was the brother of Ira Case McCubbin. We were recently contacted by a great grandson of Franklin, Douglas McCubbin who agreed to have his DNA done. Douglas’ DNA was instrumental in helping us identify and match his family’s roots and branches in Dumfriesshire.

Doug wrote:

I just thought I`d fill you in a bit about my grandfather (son of Franklin) Albert Bacel or Bert as I`m told he preferred.

He was apparently quite the achiever. He had a dairy farm in Ladner and a trucking company. McCubbin Contracting. He built a gillnetter fishing boat and was a renowned marksman, a member of the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers in World War Two; Chairman of the Delta Schoolboard from 1945 until 1955 and he was a judge at the Horse Races in Ladner. I don`t know the details but my aunt sent me a copy of his invitation to Queen Elizabeth 2`s coronation.

There’s much more to tell about the descendants of James McCubbin of Dunscore. We will be including the rest of the story of his American descendants on our website section of Family Groups in 2014.

An Obituary: Donald McCubbing, 1937-2013 – DNA Group 1

by daughter, Jackie Hayes

Don, as he was known to his friends, died after a short illness.  After being diagnosed with his illness he said “I have no regrets about anything I have ever done in my life” which gave my mum and the rest of the family great comfort.

To my sister and me, he was our dad, but to lots of other people he was a great friend, neighbour, ballroom dancer, keen golfer, and a true gentleman who always had a big smile on his face.  A military man, he did his National Service in Cyprus in the late 1950s which gave him his passion for the military.  After national service he joined the Territorial Army (TA) and taught young airforce cadets.  In later life he joined the British Legion, Hale Division, who draped the Union Jack on his coffin and played the Last Post and Reveille at his funeral.  He would have loved that!

Don was the youngest of 9 children and the last of David McCubbings (1837-1859) Gt Grandchildren.  Of all his brothers and sisters he is the only one with the McCubbing name:  The family tree was a bit complicated for a while, but with the help of Kathy and Lorna, we managed to solve an 80 year mystery and, as I found out more about his ancestors and, as he had told his siblings, he did indeed have the right name, and he was very proud of that.

Liverpool, England was the base for Don McCubbing and his family.

Don was part of McCubbin family #05, DNA group 1 who originated in Keir, Dumfriesshire.  Read more about the 80 year old mystery and how it was solved on their family page: #05-DNA-1 John McCubbin & Mgt Tait.

All the best for 2014!!

The MCFHA Committee:

• Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing, Member – Guild of One Name Studies.  Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.
• Lorna McCubbin – McFHA Co-Founder
• James & Lorna McCubbin – Sponsors
• DNA Project Administrator – Lorna McCubbin, Co-Admin – Kathy McCubbing
• Penny McColm – MCFHA Co-Founder & Co-ordinator for Australia & NZ
• Co-ordinators specialties: Kathy McCubbing, Dumfries, Lynne McCubbin, Ayrshire, Ronald ‘Rick’ McCubbin, America, Lorna and Kathy – the rest of the world. Welcome to our new coordinator, Heather Marshall (nee McKibbon) for the McKibbon, McKibbin, McKibben, and McGibbon names!
• MCFHA Sponsors – James & Lorna McCubbin

Click to whom you wish to email; Kathy, Lorna, Penny, Rick, Lynne, or Heather.

To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You!

If there is information or photos that you have sent and you don’t find them in this website, please let us know. We will be entering more in 2014.

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.

Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors.

The McCubbin name, and variants, are registered with the Guild of One Name Studies, searching the McCubbin, McCubbing, McKibbon/en/in, McGibbon name and variants worldwide.

Member #5414

mccubbin@one-name.org

November, 2014
Issue Number 14 features:

• Seventh Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project
• The Poacher and the Gamekeeper – Family #23 DNA Group 3
• Reg McCubbin in the Pacific Theatre WW2, Part 2 – #05 DNA 1
• A Skilled Boatbuilding Family – #04 DNA 1
• Two Cousins from #03 DNA 4 and their differing fortunes
• McCubbings from #31 DNA 1 Visit the Ancestral Homeland

Seventh Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project

MORE VARIATIONS ON THE MCCUBBIN NAME

by Lorna McCubbin

Our DNA project continues to grow, especially in the past few years, for two reasons: the cost of a DNA test is not nearly as expensive, as well as the fact that people arent as wary of donating their DNA. When a person understands that the DNA results are in a secure situation and that they may remain as anonymous as they please, theres a greater willingness to find out who his/her ancestors really are.

Two new variations on the McCubbin name have appeared: McGibbon, of Ontario, Canada, who matches up with group 1, and Megibben of Tennessee, USA, who matches up with a McCubbins in Georgia, USA (not yet fitted into a group). McKibben and McKibbon continue to show up.

In 2014, we had two McCubbin males who match with Group 3: one in Canada (Jim and Lorna McCubbins grandson) and one in Australia.

And as ever, we still hope to test more McCubbin males in Scotland whose roots should be close to any of the four groups. If you are born in Scotland, you may be descended from King Niall of Ireland, or a strong family group in Wigtownshire, or a line of McCubbins skilled in husbandry, or a group of stonemasons and inventors. Scots, please contact us. We give free DNA test to qualified persons.

We now have 77 members.

To find out how to link your ancestors you can go to Family Tree DNA to read more and/or contact DNA Project Administrators at mccubbin@one-name.org

The Poacher and the Gamekeeper

Info researched by Iori Jones and edited by Lorna McCubbin

John McCubbin, was born in 1841 in Glenluce, Wigtownshire, Scotland. According to censuses, John became a Gamekeeper. He was 26 when he married Margaret McMaster in Newton Stewart and was working at his chosen profession. By the time he was 41, John and his wife and children were living in Wales. John was a Head Game Keeper and Land Steward in St George, Denbigh.

A few years ago, Iori Jones found the McCubbin Family History website and contacted me.

We live in Wales, and in doing research a long time ago, we picked up a story of one of our ancestors, William Parry Jones, who was a poacher. He and your ancestor, John McCubbin, were adversaries! It concerns night poaching offences for pheasant in 1884. Both men lived in the village of St.George, Denbighshire.

As a back ground, the village of St George at that time during the 1800’s was on the border of Flintshire and Denbighshire. There were two large estates next to each other. The Kinmel Hall estate on the Denbigh side, and the Bodelwyddan Castle estate was next to it on the Flintshire side. John McCubbin was employed by the Kinmel estate. The gentry who owned these estates used to have ‘shoots’, usually for pheasant which they bred, and poaching was of course against the law.

Wm Parry Jones was the son of Mr. Kyffin Jones, a respectable [tenant] farmer of Nant Meifod St.George. My guess is that William liked the thrill of poaching rather than the desire to eat pheasant, and of course as far as John McCubbin was concerned, he was arch enemy number one, and had to be dealt with!

During the 1980’s when I did most of my research, I went to meet a lot of mother’s cousins and local records offices to get information. This is how I found more about Wm Parry Jones and his poaching exploits. He was a very colourful character.

John McCubbin was charged with assault [setting his dog on Jones], by William Parry Jones, who stood accused of Night Poaching. They both appeared in the Abergele Petty Sessions, Jan 12, 1884. A transcript of the case was reported in the Abergele & Pensarn Visitor. It covered the front page for 3 weeks!

Following are excerpts from the Sessions obtained at the Ruthin Records Office. Note that McGubbin and McCubbin are one and the same.

John McGubbin, head gamekeeper at Kinmel Park said that at about 6a.m. on the 1st. December he heard a shot and went to the gate leading to Nant Meifod Farm, and he saw the shadow of a man coming from the wood below Nant Farm, where pheasants roost. When he came up, witness asked him for a gun, and he said he had not one. Witness (McCubbin) went a few yards further, and found a gun, which he picked up and handed it to his assistant Davies. The defendant, Wm. Parry Jones, then tried to get the gun from Davies, and witness had to interfere to get it back. He asked witness to forgive him, saying he would not offend again, but the witness, having previously overlooked an offence when he was under sureties of £20 against night poaching. Witness also asked him for the pheasant, and he replied he would pledge on his oath that he had not killed the bird. He then went into the house and came out with two young men. After again asking for pardon, he snatched the gun and threw it over into the yard. Witness could not catch him, and sent a large dog in front of him. A young man picked the gun up. It had been recently fired, the smell of gun powder being quite distinct.

A summary of the remaining session involved different scenarios of who the poacher may actually have been. A witness for Jones, Robert Davies, testified that, On Saturday 1st. December I was on the other side of the fence enclosing the wood. I saw a shot fired, and in 4 or 5 minutes a man came over the wire fence to come to the stile within 2 or 3 yards to me. It was another man who lives on the otherside of Cefn Meiriadog. I never saw him before in that wood. He had a bird and was busy putting it in his pocket.

Cross Examined: I am a farmer living close to the defendant. I was on my own land and the poacher came into my field, which is grass land. I have 4 acres of land abutting the wood. I had not then had my breakfast, but had fed my animals and gone for firewood for heating the oven. I would not for anything say who the man was as it would endanger my property. On being pressed for an answer the witness said in Welsh, with a look of astonishment which elicited loud laughter,’Daear annwyl, fydda yn arw o beth i mi ddeyd.'(trans. Dear me, I really don’t know what to say). The Chairman said that if he did not answer it would leave an impression on their minds that the other man was a myth! The witness was pressed further to answer but steadfastly refused. It was explained to him by Mr.George and Mr.Lloyd that he had sworn to tell the whole truth, and if he did not answer he was liable to be sent to prison for seven days. He said that did not signify much, and that he would not like to walk home that night if he divulged the name.

After several exchanges Chairman said that it was a disgraceful case, and they sentenced William Parry Jones to two months imprisonment with hard labour, without the option of a fine, and to enter into recognisance’s for good behaviour for 12 months, or to undergo a further imprisonment of six months. As to Robert Davies they would advise him to make up his mind in future to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” or to stop away. The case of assault against the keeper was dismissed.

However, as Iori relates, It appears that William was released on bale for what was then a huge sum of money. He was then caught throwing stones at the pheasants, and when they went to arrest him he wasn’t at the farm, he wasn’t there. John’s elder sister Jane had eloped and emigrated to the USA, and we think at that point he had boarded ship at Liverpool. He came back after five years with enough money to marry his sweetheart. During the methodist revival at the turn of the 20th century he became a devout Christian. He later regretted his earlier life style.

You will be relieved to hear that there are no more poachers in our family!

Australian Reginald Francis McCubbin #05 DNA Group 1

PART TWO: WW2 EXPERIENCES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA, MOROTAI, TARAKAN AND BALIKPAPAN 1943-1945

by Trevor McCubbin

In last year’s Cub Report Reg’s son, Trevor, wrote about his father’s early life and his experiences in Timor during the Pacific Campaign in WW2 between 1941 and 1943. In this Cub Report he continues his account of his fathers war service.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA LAE HUON PENINSULA

Reg’s next overseas posting was at Buna-Lae. Regs 2/11 field coy was attached to the 8th Division. The 8th Division was in Singapore so the Company found itself attached to other fighting groups as the war proceeded. When he arrived in Buna in October 1943 the battle of the Coral Sea had been fought and the American war machine at home was in full swing.

The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles fought in north-eastern Papua New Guinea in 19431944. The campaign formed the initial part of an offensive that the Allies launched in the Pacific in late 1943 and resulted in the Japanese being pushed north from Lae to Sio on the northern coast of New Guinea over the course of a four-month period. For the Australians, a significant advantage was gained through the technological edge that Allied industry had achieved over the Japanese by this phase of the war, while the Japanese were hampered by a lack of supplies and reinforcements due to Allied interdiction efforts at sea and in the air. The fighting took place from the September 1943 to January 1944.

After 4½ months in Buna, including Lae, on the 19 February 1944 he returned to Australia on the Katoomba on leave. The only action he has spoken about regarding Lae was a dog fight between Australian and Japanese fighters. It was a full scale battle with many fighters lost, mostly Australian. Most of the downed planes landed in the sea. He was able to get some aluminium from a downed plane and made a mould of what looks like a DC or as it was then known a biscuit bomber because they dropped food to the troops on the front. His son has the model.

A lot has been written about Australia in the War of 19391945 Google http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/ Reg embarked on the Katoomba at Lae on the 19 February 1944 disembarking at Bowen on leave on the 27 February 1944. In 1944 while on extended leave he married, and he and his wife still live together in their own home in Queensland.

MOROTAI

On the 16 March 1945 Reg embarked from Cairns on board the Sea Barb for Morotai and arrived there on 28 March 1945 as part of the force used for the landings at Tarakan and Balikpapan. Morotai is an island north of Timor and west of Papua New Guinea.

The Battle of Morotai had begun on the 15 September 1944. The Allies needed it as a base to support the liberation of the Phillipines later that year. The main objectives on the island were to capture it within two weeks and build two major airfields. Morotai also developed as a naval base for torpedo boats and became the staging port for the invasion of Tarakan and Balikpapan. The Allies constructed 3 large airstrips, accommodation for 60,000 air force and army personnel, a 1,900 bed hospital, bulk storage facilities and ship docking facilities. To construct these facilities the task force included 7,000 engineers and service troops, of whom 84% were American and the remainder Australian. The airstrips accommodated 253 aircraft including 174 heavy bombers.

The conflict on the island continued as the Japanese built up troop numbers and ran a blockade with supplies. The allies were unable to completely stop the Japanese build-up. The last Japanese supply barges reached Morotai on May 12 1945.

Private Teruo Nakamura, the last confirmed Japanese holdout on Morotai or elsewhere, was captured by Indonesian Air Force personnel on December 18, 1974, almost 30 years after the war had ended!

TARAKAN

The invasion force to take Tarakan, which included the 2/11 field Company, left Morotai on the 22 April 1944. On 1st May the Borneo campaign had opened with the landing of the 26th Australian Brigade Group at Tarakan.

The landings at Tarakan and Balikpapan were Australian run operations with American air and naval support.

The field Companies, or Engineers as they were called, were trained to support the infantry by clearing beaches, blowing up tunnels and building infrastructure. They were needed to lift mines, disarm booby-traps, blow up tunnels and lay corduroy on the roads. One section of engineers was allotted to each battalion, and one section to each troop of tanks, a half section to the Pioneers, and a half section to the 2/4th Commando Squadron. Until the other two field companies allotted to the operation arrived this left only five sections of the 2/ 13th Field Company for other tasks.

Regs role in the 2/11 field Company included clearing obstacles on the beaches when the landing was underway so the infantry and supplies could land. He was armed with a Thomson machine gun but generally was mainly associated with demolition, installing water supply equipment and supporting the infantry to blow up the entrance to tunnels built by the Japanese to trap them inside. He returned to Morotai on the 18 May to prepare for the attack on Balikpapan.

BALIKPAPAN

Borneo the attack by the 7th Division on Balikpapan. On the 22 June Reg embarked on the USS Titania for Balikpapan as part of the invasion force to liberate Borneo. Detailed accounts can be found on the site noted above. On 15 August 1945 after the atom bombs were dropped on Japan they signed the surrender papers.

Reg left Balikpapan and sailed to Sydney on the Morton Bay on the 7 December landing in Sydney on the 19 December 1945.

He has never spoken much about his war experiences except to say that working at the HQ on Timor saved his life as he didnt get cut off by the Japanese paratroopers, and after the Australian surrender he was able to withdraw to join the 2/2 Independent Coy in East Timor. That part of the war is well covered in the extracts in Part One of this account (in the Cub Report 2013). He speaks well of the Timor natives who saved many Australians lives by getting the wounded to safety. They fought for months behind enemy lines using hit and run tactics to survive.

He spoke of a near miss in Balikpapan when a Japanese bomber dropped a bomb where he and another Australian were putting a water supply line to the beach. They dived to each side of a log and it landed on his friends side.

While we were watching a war movie with flame throwers being used he spoke of the terrible effects of the flame throwers. He was working with an American blowing up tunnels and they had put the flame thrower down the tunnel and were entering it to blow it up when Japanese came out still fighting although their clothes were burnt off and the their bodies charred and black.

When Reg was asked to contribute to this article and some of the information was shown to him after a short look he just said I would prefer not to remember.

Lest we forget

A lot has been written about Australia in the War of 19391945 Google http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/

A Skilled Boatbuilding Family

THE MCCUBBINS #04, DNA 1: FROM ANNAN IN SCOTLAND TO CANADA AND THE USA

by Don McCubbin in the USA with contributions from Janice Kent on behalf of Don’s cousin Kay Cross in Canada

The McCubbins were boat builders and carpenters in the later 19th century Annan, Scotland. Nick Miller in his book The Lancashire Nobby (published by Amberley Publishing, Plc in 2009) mentions that when the Annan boat yard closed in 1865, Rabbie (Robert) McCubbin, who was stated as being the yards boat builder, continued to build small craft. Mr. Miller goes on to write, The Dumfries & Galloway Saturday Standard” describes (Roberts son) Mr. James McCubbin in a report of 24 April 1897, which stated that James had produced the accurate model of a trawl boat as a prototype for a silver model, presented to MP Sir Robert Reid. The silver model is on display at the Dumfries museum. Don McCubbin, great-great grandson of James, now has the wood model of a Solway shrimper that James built. Don suggested to one of the managers at the Dumfries museum that they make a trade the silver model for the wood boat, but she politely declined the offer. James McCubbin entered the wood model into the Great Fisheries Exhibition of 1883 and he was awarded a bronze medal.

see: Wood model, prize medal and the Canadian family at https://mccubbinhistory.info/2021/03/16/people-dna-group-1/ James McCubbin is the 2nd from the right, front row, in the family picture.

The fishing industry in the Annan area was fading by the end of the 19th century; due in part to the arrival of the railroad in Annan. The channel adjacent to Port Street continued to fill with silt which limited the size of boat building efforts. James and his sons Robert and William continued working as boat builders and carpenters, in a declining industry.

In April 1905, Robert McCubbin and Matthew, the two oldest of the McCubbin brothers, departed Scotland for Canada as passengers on the SS Sardinia. They were the first of the family to head to Canada and began finding work and building a family home; their parents and the rest of their family were to drift over later.

It seems that North Bay was a draw for the McCubbins for several of reasons. Lake Nipissing, a large shallow lake was suited to the types of craft the McCubbins built for fishing the Solway Firth. In the early 1900s there were a growing number of sportsmen looking for fishing craft and also transportation to the lakes islands.

North Bay also offered jobs working on the rail. Both the Northern Ontario Railroad and the Canadian Pacific offered work. The construction and operation of the new Canadian Pacifics trans-Canadian railway was just underway. Matthew found work as a machinist and James, the third oldest son, found work in a yard office. Finally, North Bay was well represented by the Protestant church, to which the family belonged.

As World War I approached three eligible McCubbin brothers enlisted for service. Robert was already 35 years old and James had injured his left hand and was exempted from enlistment. The picture (link above) of the McCubbin family in North Bay probably taken just before three of the brothers (featured in the Gallery link above) William (back left), Matthew (back right), and Gilbert (front center) shipped out on the S.S. Empress of Britain to England.

At the time of their enlistment with the 159th Battalion, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force (the 1st Algonquians). Matthew was 32 and married to Margaret (McGregor Baxter) residing at 108 5th Ave in North Bay. William (24) and Gilbert (19) were both unmarried and living in the McCubbin familys North Bay home on 6th Street. The brothers returned from the war in the spring of 1919.

By 1921 Matthew and Elizabeth were the only married children of James and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the only one of the three McCubbin daughters to marry. Of the eight McCubbin children shown in the family picture they had only four children amongst them. Matthew and Margaret had one girl, Elizabeth, who died at birth and a son James, who became a lawyer in Toronto. James and Cynthia had one child, Robert. And Elizabeth and Joseph Cross had two children: Kay and Jim.

As told by her daughter Kay, while her mother Elizabeth was short in stature, she had a mind of her own. Elizabeth told her mother that she wasnt staying in North Bay because there were no men there. She left North Bay for Toronto soon after this family picture was taken and found employment at Eatons where she would met her husband, Joseph Cross. Elizabeth and Joseph Cross were married in North Bay on April 26th, 1917 and while they considered other locations, made their home in Toronto.

William and Isabella Kirkpatrick married soon after William returned from the war in 1919. William and Isabella continued living in North Bay as William found work with the Ontario Northern railroad.

James McCubbin was the fourth of the McCubbin children to marry when he and Cynthia Everette married in December, 1920. James and Cynthia had one son, Robert. Robert went on to earn a medical degree from University of Western Ontario in 1944. Immediately after his graduation Robert was called into the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Captain in the Medical Corps. While he was in the RCAF he met his wife, Elizabeth Whalen. Elizabeths father was a manager with International Harvester in Hamilton and Elizabeth was a member of the Canadian Red Cross. After the war, Robert and Elizabeth moved to the Chicago area in the US.

More about this family at https://mccubbinhistory.info/2021/03/16/04-dna-1-james-mccubbin-isabella-stoddart-2/

Two Cousins from #03, DNA Group 4 and Their Differing Fortunes

1. THE MYSTERY OF JAMES MCCUBBIN 1820-1858 2. JAMES MCCUBBIN 1830-1896 AND HIS GSON KENNETH, AWARDED DCM IN WW1

THE MYSTERY OF JAMES MCCUBBIN 1820-1858

by Kathy McCubbin using information researched in Australia by Rob McCubbin (descendant)

James was born in Penpont, in Dumfriesshire, into a wealthy family of builders and masons who had built and owned various properties in the area, and who had also acquired several pieces of land which were held in trust and passed from generation to generation. James’ own father, George, continued this tradition and, at the time of his death, in January 1848, he held the considerable sum of £491 13s 11d in cash in his account at the Union Bank of Scotland, in addition to the various properties and land he had inherited from his father. The terms of George’s will meant that the Trustees (of whom James was one, as was his mother) could advance funds to George’s surviving children who had reached a majority and, in addition, his two daughters were to be provided with [named] ‘heritable properties’ and James the sum of £100 (as long as the Trust funds were deemed healthy enough at the time of his death to provide these legacies).

While his father was still alive and James was living at home he worked as a Mason (journeyman).

By the time his father died, James had been widowed for 6 months: his wife, Margaret Corrie, having died some months after the birth of their second son, George, who died in the same year, in infancy. So, James and his eldest son, James (then 4 years of age), were left without wife and mother, but not for long, because James remarried in October 1848 to Agnes McNeish and, together, they were to have five children, their eldest son together, born in 1849, being named for his late half-brother and his grandfather, George.

On the 1851 census James was described as a Farmer of 14 acres, employing one labourer. Whether this was because the family’s land needed tending, or building/masonry work was in short supply is unknown, but it seems to have been a temporary situation and not his preferred livelihood because, when he emigrated to Australia when he was 38 years old, in 1857, he described himself as a Builder.

James probably had the means to emigrate by virtue of his legacy, and James and Agnes and the children (by that time James (11½), George (7), Agnes (5), Robert (3) and Isabella, just an infant) set sail for Australia on the Sardinian from Liverpool, arriving in Melbourne, Australia on 18 March 1857.

Only 16 months later James was to take his own life while in the custody of the local police in Melbourne, leaving his wife (then pregnant with their son William), to bring up their children alone in their new country, where they would remain for some years until all but eldest son, James (son of James and his first wife, Margaret Corrie), returned to live in Dumfriesshire (probably in the late 1870s). They weren’t entirely without relations in Victoria, Australia, though, because, as well as having James’ younger brother, Robert, living with his family in Woodend (he immigrated at around the time of James’ death), a cousin, Isabella Lorimer McCubbin (1824-1918), who had married James Kinvig in 1855, lived in Ballarat, though both of these towns were a fair distance north-west of Melbourne, so they may not have had much contact, if at all.

Statements made at the inquest (and researched by Rob McCubbin, descendant, in Melbourne) give some indication about what happened on the fateful day of James’ death, Saturday 1 July 1858 and some circumstances of his life at that time:

John Glairon, Constable, reported that he apprehended James at quarter-to-five on Great Bourke Street in Melbourne, Victoria and recorded in the statement he made the next day to the inquest that, when apprehended, James: was drunk and lying upon the footpath. I took him to the Swanston Street Lock Up. I searched him and found fifteen shillings and sixpence upon him.

His friend (or perhaps acquaintance), William Stephens, reported that he had known James for seven months. He told the inquest that there was a warrant out against James from the County Court for £36 6s and costs. He said that James had not been home since last Monday morning [i.e. James had been away from home for almost a week] and he also said that James was in the habit of occasional bouts of drinking.

James Matthews, the lockup keeper at Swanston Street Watch House reported that when he visited James at twenty past six, James had asked for some blankets. He reported that two men had come to arrest James for debts and said that they held a warrant sentencing deceased to two months imprisonment but he had refused to allow them to see James without an order from a Magistrate. When he went to visit James at 7 o’clock he found him apparently standing by the door but when he opened the door he realised that James was hanging from the bar on the door by his handkerchief. He got assistance and then cut him down and sent for medical assistance, and attempts were made to revive James but it was too late.

William Gilbie, the Senior Surgeon who examined James while the body was warm noted that he could only see a slight mark round the neck and he also notes that There were no marks of value upon the body. Although difficult to read he does also seem to note ‘congestion’ in relation to James’ face. All of this is consistent with suicidal strangulation by ligature, in which case the mark left by the ligature (such as a handkerchief) would not have been expected to have cut deeply into the neck, as indicated by this extract from a forensic pathology website:

In suicidal strangulation, the signs of venous congestion are very well developed above the ligature and are especially prominent at the root of the tongue. This severe congestion probably results by the slow tightening of the ligature, and also because it is usually so secured that it remains in place after death, preventing post-mortem drainage of blood. Injuries are usually less marked because less force is used. In all cases of suicidal strangulation, the ligature should be found in situ, and the body should not show signs of violence or marks of struggle …A correct medical opinion may be usually formed from the course and direction of the tie, the way in which it was secured or fixed to produce effective pressure on the windpipe, and the amount of injury to the muscles and parts beneath. Persons under the influence of alcohol….may be strangled either by a tight scarf or collar and neck tie. It may occur if an intoxicated person rests the neck against a bar or other hard object. From: http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/ligature-strangulation

The suicide was reported in the Bendigo Advertiser on Saturday 3 July:

A man named James MCoppin committed suicide in the Swanston Street watch-house last evening. At half past 4 oclock he was taken to the watch-house drunk and he was placed in a cell with another prisoner. About an hour later, two men came to the watch-house with a warrant of arrest against MCoppin for debt; and when they had gone he asked what they had been there for. The watch-house keeper went his usual half-hour rounds and at seven oclock he found MCoppin suspended by the neck from the bar in the door of the cell. A doctor was immediately sent for but Mr Gilbee on his arrival pronounced the man dead. This is not the first accident of this type to have happened in this watch-house and so long as the bar in the door of the cell, offering a direct assistance to the commission of suicide, is allowed to remain, it is not probable that it will be the last.

James’ younger brother, Robert, immigrated to Australia at about the time of James’ death (he married Jane Young in Emerald Hill, now known as South Melbourne, in 1860). Whether he might have been able to assist and support his brother through this ordeal, or send home for funds to help resolve the situation, will never be known. He remained in Australia, as did his nephew (James’ eldest son James) for the rest of their lives while James’ widow, Agnes, and the rest of the children returned to Dumfriesshire in Scotland.

How James had come to be in such debt is unknown, as is whether he really felt so desperate about his situation that he would have taken his own life had he not been under the influence of alcohol, having heard about his imminent arrest and imprisonment for those debts, but look out for descendant Rob McCubbin’s forthcoming novel which will offer a possible scenario of James death and the reasons for it.

Rob says he uses his family history as the skeleton for his stories, and fleshes them out with possibilities. He says his main aim is to show how some people lived in that time. More information about Rob and his novels can be found at his website: www.talespinnerbooks.com

JAMES MCCUBBIN 1830-1896, AND HIS GRANDSON KENNETH (1897-1963)

by Kathy McCubbing with contributions from a descendant in England

While James McCubbin (1820-1858) attempted to start a new life in Australia, his first cousin, James McCubbin (1830-1896), who had been born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, eldest son of Edward McCubbin (born Dumfriesshire), was having rather more success in his life and business ventures in England. James had started out a Tea-Dealer, as his father had been in the 1840s and 50s, but by 1851 he had established himself as a Draper, a trade in which many other relations in various branches of this family group were involved, and one in which some descendants continued until relatively recently.

That James was a successful businessman and active member of the community is evidenced by the extensive report in the Buckinghamshire Herald on 28 November 1896 which related great detail about his death, the inquest and his funeral. In the report he is described as one of the oldest and best known inhabitants of Linslade and it further describes his very active and busy life and achievements:

He came to Linslade a single man, about forty-five years ago, and married a daughter of the late Mr John Chubb of Heath-road. In years gone by he took considerable interest, and bore an active part, in connection with sporting affairs, local and general; but whatever might be the calls of business or the demands upon his time in regard to the lighter or more attractive pursuits or diversions of the world, he always found time to take his share of the burden of citizenship and to participate in works of benevolence. He has held at different times the parish offices of surveyor, overseer, and lighting inspector; he was vice-chairman of the first School Board for Linslade, elected fifteen years ago; for twenty-five years he was guardian of the poor for the parish – an office to which he held tenaciously and the duties of which he discharged so satisfactorily that when, on two or three occasions, an opponent was put up at the time of election, he was always returned by a very large majority of the ratepayers. At the time of his death Mr McCubbin was district councillor and guardian for Linslade, and a vicechairman of the Parish Council. He was a prominent member of the Masonic Craft. Twenty-eight years ago he was initiated at the “St Barnabas” Lodge (948), and since that time he has occupied every chair in this lodge, of which he was the oldest member, and he was also a Past Master of the “Beaudesert” Lodge (1087), Leighton Buzzard. At the time of his decease Mr McCubbin was Past Provincial Grand Junior Warden and acting Senior Warden of his lodge. In the Royal Arch and Mark Lodges he had filled every chair, and was almoner for the district, representing both the local lodges. Deceased was widely known throughout the country, and esteemed for his general benevolence, his substantial gifts to Masonic charities, and his thorough knowledge of all that pertains to the working of the affairs of the craft.

According to the newspaper, his funeral was a grand affair attended by many:

The funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon, the deceased’s remains being interred in the graveyard of St Mary’s, Old Linslade in the presence of an exceptionally large number of inhabitants of Leighton, Linslade, and the neighbourhood. Business houses were partially closed, and the blinds of private dwellings drawn as the mournful procession passed through the streets of Linslade. The hearse, with three carriages occupied by the family and relatives of the deceased, was preceded in six broughams, by twenty-five representatives of the Leighton “Beaudesert” and Linslade “St Barnabas” Lodges of Masons, including the respective Worshipful Masters – Bros W Seedhouse and F H Lehmann – and other principal officers of the two Lodges, together with brethren from Tring, Aylesbury, Berkhampstead, and Buckingham. A large number of personal friends and acquaintances followed on foot. The service in the church and at the graveside was taken by the Rev F W Linton Bogle, curate of Linslade. The coffin, of polished oak, with brass fittings, was covered with a profusion of beautiful and in some instances costly wreaths.

KENNETH MCCUBBIN (1897-1963) AWARDED THE DCM IN WW1

Of James’ three grandchildren who are known to have served in World War 1, all sons of James George McCubbin and Harriet Lambert, and who are described on the #03 McCubbin family pages, information provided by the daughter of Kenneth McCubbin (1897-1963) and further research conducted this year tells us more about Kenneth’s life and why he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM):

Before his father died in 1911 (at the age of 52), Kenneth had been apprenticed at Saville Row as a cutter, but when his father died he had to leave home and go to work. According to his army discharge documents, he was an Apprentice Warehouseman with the prestigious shop, Jones and Higgins Ltd in Peckham, London before he entered the army in 1915, where he served in the Royal Field Artillery as a Rough Rider. His service record shows he enlisted with the 216th London Brigade, at the rank of Driver, and was promoted to acting Bombardier later in 1915. He was part of the Expeditionary Force in 1917. He was promoted to Sergeant on 14 August 1918 and was awarded the DCM for his remarkable and very brave actions in October 1918:

“On the night of the 7th/8th October 1918 the battery wagon lines near Becalaere were heavily shelled. One shell burst in the tent where he was sleeping, killing four men and wounding him in two places. Nevertheless, he forthwith rendered first aid to the survivors and afterwards gave assistance to other wounded men. He next saw his subsection horses safely away, and then was one of the foremost in a party extinguishing some burning ammunition wagons, after which he reported his wounds. He showed conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty”.

It is noteworthy that he was only 21 years of age at this time!

Kenneth and Phyllis (his wife and 2nd cousin, 1908-1976, who he married in 1931) had several small shops in Lewisham, London and were successful, although one shop, a newsagents and tobacconists, was bombed by a direct hit in the Blitz in World War 2. At one stage they had three shops at once and his wife served in one, a draper’s, and Kenneth served in another. According to his daughter if a customer went into the third one across the road, one of them would run across to serve them.

McCubbings from #31, DNA 1 Visit the Ancestral Homeland

While I (Lorna McCubbin) was setting up the CUB Report, in one of our many emails Kathy McCubbing wrote: I love the idea that we have two McCubbings from the same family (#31) from very different parts of the world telling us about their visit to Dunscore where their ancestors come from.  I’m so pleased and proud that we’ve been able to help people in this way and really grateful to Leslie who is such a fantastic, generous and welcoming guy!

CANADIAN MCCUBBINGS VISIT THE HOMEPLACE AND THE MARTYRS GRAVE

by Nancy Blue

Our father, Alexander Robertson McCubbing, was born at the Parish of Kirkmahoe, Dumfries, Scotland, on September 11, 1906. His parents, Alexander and Elizabeth (nee Robertson) immigrated to Canada in 1906, leaving behind their infant son [Alexander] to be raised by grandparents and families. In 1935 Alex came on his own to Unity, Saskatchewan to meet his parents and 8 siblings. He never had an opportunity to return for a visit before his passing at age 61.

Because our father never talked much about his background it left myself, Nancy, and three siblings, Velma, Lorna and Gordon, ever wondering about Scotland and where he was raised. We always talked about making a trip to Dumfries and how wonderful it would be to actually touch the ground where he played, grew up and worked so many years ago. What was the country-side like, the buildings, the farms and the county town of Dumfries?

Our long awaited trip to Scotland became a reality August, 2013. There were five of us Lorna, Nancy and husband Dan, and Gordon and his wife Georgina. Velma, the eldest was unable to accompany us as was Lornas husband.

After a 16 day guided bus tour of Ireland and Scotland we left the tour group in Edinburgh and travelled by train to Dumfries. Our first day was spent walking the streets and alleys and visiting areas that Robbie Burns frequented, and also his burial site. The lovely waterfront along the River Nith drew us back several times.

On our second day in Dumfries we rented a van and enjoyed a whole day of sightseeing and visiting areas our father must have known very well. How fortunate we were to have made contact with a distant cousin, Leslie, who lives nearby in Dunscore, and have him generously offer to drive us around.

We really enjoyed visiting the Drum farm [in Lochrutton] where our grandfather and great grandfather farmed and raised Clydesdales. The farm is now owned by a lovely family, the Harveys, I think, and they were so gracious to let us wander around and take pictures.

We also visited the site where one of our ancestors, Alexander McCubine was hanged for refusing to renounce his commitment to the Covenants on March 3, 1685. The church nearby had several grave stones with the name McCubbin.

And who knew Dumfries had a connection with Peter Pan? [Author JM Barrie played in the riverside gardens at Moat Brae in Dumfries as a child and based Neverland on his experiences].

We had done some research for our trip and all thought we had a grasp of what we wanted see, but there is so much history. I, for one, felt totally naïve. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to LornaMcCubbin and Kathy McCubbing, our first contacts, and Leslie for our wonderful tour, and the instigators of the McCubbin Family website and the Cub report for giving us some insight to our backgrounds.

As much as we loved the mountains, highlands, lochs, ruins and castles, Dumfries was definitely the highlight of our trip.

AN AUSTRALIAN, IAN MCCUBBING, VISITS HIS 5XGREAT GRANDFATHERS GRAVE.

Through my cousin Diana Neale, who is keeper of the family history for her generation, I have been introduced to The CUB Report and Kathy McCubbing.

I am part of #31 DNA-1 James McCubbin and Mary McMurdo family. Diana and I are descendants of Charlotte Lottie Gover and Robert Swan McCubbing.

After Robert died, Charlotte bravely left Uddingston and travelled to Fremantle, Western Australia with five of her eight children. One of her children, my grandfather, had already settled in Western Australia.

The CUB Report histories had traced my ancestors (early 1700s) to Dunscore and this year I had an opportunity to make a very brief trip from Melbourne, Australia to the area. Kathy McCubbing kindly provided me with contact details for a kinsman Leslie McCubbin.

My wife and I arrived at our B&B , the delightful McMurdoston House. James McCubbin had married a McCurdo so the accommodation felt all in the family! We took advantage of the long summer evening to find McCubbington and drive to Dunscore.

The country side is stunning with lush rolling hills, quite different to Western Australia. But after a quick a stop at the Dunscore pub we knew we were in for a wonderful and fascinating time. The pub used to be the butcher shop and is run on a roster basis by members of the community. Those drinking that evening were warm in their welcome of us.

Next morning we met Leslie McCubbin and his wife at their house in Dunscore. Leslie took us on one of the most amazing tours my wife and I have ever experienced. Over six hours Leslie showed us one extraordinary McCubbin site and building after another, all the while regaling us with ancedotes from his childhood and family history. I had read about Edgarton, Springfield and Friarscarse, but to drive past them and to get a strong sense of what the area looked like and where each site was in relation to the other made the family history come alive for me.

One of the highlights of this incredible tour was seeing the monument to executed Covenanters (including Alexander McCubine) near Irongray. I could see my wife, a journalist, similarly swept up in the story of the brave Scots determined to practice their own religion that was so well told by Leslie.

However, for me the pinnacle of the day was the surreal feeling that overcame me as I scraped the moss and growth slowly away from a tombstone in the Old Dunscore Graveyard, a forgotten space in the middle of a field of cattle. As the moss gave way to the inscription underneath it, I realized I was standing on my 5xGreat Grandfathers grave.

Without Leslies assistance I would never have found the Old Dunscore Graveyard in a brief twenty hour visit much less have traversed centuries of McCubbin/ McCubbing life in the Scottish lowlands.

I experienced a wonderful day but now realise I need to do so much more in piecing together our family history. Who was the McCubbing of McCubbington? Why did the family leave Dunscore and move to Balmaclellan? Can we go back beyond James McCubbin?

Thanks to all involved with the McCubbin Family History Association, The CUB Report and especially to Kathy and Leslie.

All the best for 2014!!

The MCFHA Committee

• Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing.
• Member – Guild of One Name Studies – Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.
• Lorna McCubbin – McFHA Co-Founder
• DNA Project Administrator – Lorna McCubbin, Co-Admin – Heather McKibbon Marshall
• Penny McColm – MCFHA Co-Founder & Co-ordinator for Australia & NZ
• Co-ordinators specialties: Kathy McCubbing, Dumfries, Ronald ‘Rick’ McCubbin, America, Lorna and Kathy – the rest of the world
• MCFHA Sponsors – James & Lorna McCubbin

Click to whom you wish to email; Kathy, Lorna, Heather, Penny, Rick.

To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You!

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.

Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors. The McCubbin name, and variants, are registered with the Guild of One Name Studies Searching the McCubbin name and variants worldwide.

Member #5414

The CUB Report – 2015

October, 2016

December, 2017 (issued early 2018)
Issue Number 17 features:

• Tenth Anniversary of the McCubbin DNA Project
• Update: Obituary for Pat McCubbin #55 DNA Group 3
• Families in Wartime – Bravery at Home and in Battle
• Leamington McCubbins #03 DNA 4
• Liverpool McCubbings #05 DNA 1
• McCubbin Centenaries DNA Group 1
• Brutal Punishment for Stealing a Pair of Shoes
• McCubbins #07 of Tasmania, Australia and Dumfries, Scotland
• Cumberland McCubbins
• Three Generations of Devoted Clergymen from Crosscanonby #70
• Fact or Fiction – George Washington and Mrs J McCubbin DNA Group 2
• A Scottish Wedding in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada #45 DNA 3

A few of our members have been disappointed when they receive their DNA results hoping to find a McCubbin ancestor and discover that they are not related to any McCubbin male, even though they were raised with a McCubbin surname. This is often called an NPE (a non parental event). Following is a description of an NPE from the International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki:

N.B. Keep in mind when reading the following that the Y chromosome passes only from father to son, on down the generations.

NPE scenarios in the context of genetic genealogy

These include:

• Illegitimacy outside marriage: boy taking maiden name of mother
• Infidelity within marriage: boy taking surname of mother’s husband
• Re-marriage: boy taking surname of step-father
• Rape: boy taking surname of mother or partner
• Changeling, surrogacy, sperm donation, unintentional embryo/baby swap: boy taking surname of mother or partner
• Adoption, incl. ‘hidden’, orphan & foster: boy taking surname of guardian
• Apprentice or slave: youth taking surname of master
• Tenant or vassal: man taking surname of landlord or chief
• Anglicization of gaelic or foreign name: man taking translated/phonetically similar name
• Formal name-change, e.g. to inherit land: man taking maiden name of wife or mother
• Name-change to hide criminal past, embarrassing surname, or a stage name: man taking unrelated surname
• Informal name-change, alias, by-name: man taking name of farm, trade or origin
• Mistake in genealogy, or in DNA analysis

Informal name changes, the use of aliases and by-names, and name changes by tenants, vassals, apprentices and slaves were prevalent in the 13th-18th centuries, in some cases before surnames became hereditary, and in this latter context, strictly speaking, they are not NPEs. Similarly, a genealogical mistake is not strictly an “event”, but this too can be manifest as an NPE.

Anglicization of surnames occurred in Ireland in the 16th century, in the Scottish Highlands in the 18th century, and in America in the 18th through early 20th centuries. Formal adoption and unintentional baby swapping in hospitals have only arisen in the last two centuries, while surrogacy, sperm donation and unintentional embryo swapping are obviously recent developments. The other scenarios above have been on-going for centuries. NPEs may have been more common in Scotland than elsewhere because of the right and custom of mothers to retain the use of their maiden name after marriage.

The important point emerging from the above is that in genetic genealogy the potentially embarrassing possibilities of previously unsuspected illegitimacy and infidelity are only two of many scenarios. Probably the most likely scenario is the death of a young father, perhaps due to accident, combat or disease, resulting in the mother remarrying and the young boy taking the name of his step-father.”

Our DNA project has continued to grow, especially in the past few years, for two reasons: the cost of a DNA test is not nearly as expensive, as well as the fact that people aren’t as wary of donating their DNA. When a person understands that the DNA results are in a secure situation and that they may remain as anonymous as they please, there’s a greater willingness to find out who his/her ancestors really are.To find out how to link your ancestors you can go to Family Tree DNA to read more and/or contact DNA Project Administrators at mccubbin@one-name.org

We now have 92 members. To find out how to link your ancestors you can go to Family Tree DNA add https://www.familytreedna.com/ to read more and/or contact DNA Project Administrators at mccubbin@one-name.org  There is a group rate that you qualify for when you order a Y-DNA test through a project. On the main FTDNA sign in page, scroll down to Project Search and enter McCubbin. https://www.familytreedna.com/login.aspx

As ever, we still hope to have more McCubbin males in Scotland come forward to have their DNA done. They will very likely match one of the four DNA groups. and be descended from King Niall of Ireland, or a strong family group in Wigtownshire, or a line of McCubbins skilled in husbandry, or a group of stonemasons and inventors. Scots, please contact us. We give a free DNA test to qualified persons.

The following articles were compiled by Kathy McCubbing

Update: Obituary for Pat McCubbin #55 DNA Group 3

Last year we spotted the obituary for Pat McCubbin written in the Guardian newspaper (UK) by her son, Stephen.  With a little research we are pleased to report that we are able to tie in the family with the McCubbin family #55 who belong to DNA group 3, and who we can trace back to County Down in Ireland.  Some more information about the family group can be found on our website: https://mccubbinhistory.info/2021/03/16/55-dna-3-shaw-mccubbin-mckibbin-sarah-chapman

“Families in Wartime – Bravery at Home and in Battle”

Following are two stories of heroic McCubbins, the Leamington McCubbins #03 DNA 4 and the Liverpool McCubbings  #05 DNA 1, some who fought bravely for their country, others who stood strong on the homefront.

Update:  McCubbin family #03 DNA 4, from Leamington

Following our article in last year’s Cub Report we were delighted when one of Andrew and Emma’s great-grandson’s, Colin McCubbin, got in touch.  He is the son of the late Reginald Wilfred McCubbin (1912-1965) and Marjorie (nee Kirby).

He has been researching his family history and was able to tell us about his grandfather Joseph Andrew McCubbin (often recorded as MacCubbin), 1874-1956, who was a Professional Soldier and later a Postman.

In 1891 (aged 16) he was living in Satchwell Street with his parents, Andrew and Emma, and siblings and working as a Labourer, like his father.

Soon afterwards he must have joined the Army because he is recorded to have served in the Anglo Boer War and been severely injured at Middelburg on 2 August 1900. He was in the British Army, 6th Battalion, Dragoons and attained the rank of Sergeant.  As a result of his service in South Africa he was awarded the following medals: Queens South Africa Medal, the Kings South Africa Medal (awarded to those who were in theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 months of service in the conflict prior to 1902) and was also awarded the following clasps: Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Cape Colony, Orange Free State.

It must have been while he was home on leave that he married Margaret Hope Smith in 1902 at St Mark’s Church in Leamington Priors.  The couple had seven children between 1902 and 1920:

• Joseph Ernest Percy (1902-1973);
• Margaret Elsie Catherine (b.1904) who married Percival G Summers in 1930;
• Irene Edith Grace “Queenie” (b.1907) who married Leonard H Heath in 1926;
• Gladys Martha (1909-1980);
• Reginald Wilfred (1912-1965) who married Marjorie “Marj” in 1940;
• William H James “Jim” (b.1914); and
• Iris M (b.1920) who married Norman P R Papworth in 1942.

By 1911 the family were living in Milverton, Leamington and Joseph was working as a Postman.

Joseph died in 1956 in Leamington and Margaret in 1958, although it is believed that they had separated by this time.

Update: McCubbing Family #05 DNA 1, Liverpool

James McCubbing (b.1851), son of William McCubbing and Jane Stitt was born in Dumfriesshire at Glencairn and in 1879 he got married far away in Scone, Perth to Marjory “Madge” Ewart. At the time he was working as a Butler and his bride was a Domestic Servant. He continued to work as a Butler at least until 1882 but by 1884 the family were living in Edinburgh and in 1886 he was still living in Edinburgh, but recorded as a Grocer on his daughter’s birth certificate. He appears to have been quite a religious man, a Quaker, having been presented with a bible at Christmas 1898 by the members of the Pottery Buildings Football Club in Ashburn (Durham, England – where the family had moved to live) and was listed on the census of 1901 as a Missionary for the Society of Friends.

John Lightfoot, a descendant of James and Madge has been in touch with us this year, prompting further research, and he has generously shared information, recollections and family photos with us.

James and Madge were to have eight children, the first three – William John (1882-1925), George Ewart (1884-1930) and Marjory Jane (1886-1963) – being born in Scotland before the family moved and settled in England, initially in Carlisle (then in Cumberland) where their fourth child, Margaret (1889-1979) was born, but then perhaps just Madge, alone, returned to Scotland briefly where Theodore Nicholson was born in Leith in Edinburgh in 1893. He did not survive his first year. Andrew (1891-1923), the sixth child, was also born in Carlisle and Joseph (1894-1944) and Agnes (b.1895, about whom we have very little information) were born in Sunderland, Durham.

James and Madge’s children were to take quite different paths in life:

Eldest son William appears to have followed his father into the grocery business but working initially as a Provision Merchant’s Clerk and then as a Commercial Traveller for Provision Merchants. He married Ivy Horner in 1915 and they remained all their lives in Sunderland.

George Ewart initially trained as a Plumber’s Apprentice (1901) but by 1911 it is thought he was working as a Labourer far away from home in Croydon in the south of England. Grandson, John, remembers him as an Engineer working in the Liverpool docks.

George Ewart McCubbing
He married Ellen Fox in about 1918 at Toxteth Park in Liverpool and they had four children about whom John has many recollections:

Aunty Meg, (1918-2003), who married Eric Maddock in 1942, was at the centre of an extraordinary tale of the family’s lucky escape during the Blitz, in WW2. John’s mother told him that “the two boys (Jimmy and William) were out shrapnel hunting, which was a popular game for kids during the Blitz and Aunty Meg started to cry so they went under the stairs only for the house to be bombed and the only thing left standing was the stairs!”

Jimmy (1921-1996) “was a big Evertonian and a man who always had a smile on his face. He was a heavy goods driver and worked for Spillers”. He married Ethel Lee in 1944 and they stayed in Liverpool, raising their family there.

Nancy (1923-2015) also had an interesting story to tell from the War. She was in the WRAF and had joined just after the house was bombed. At her interview they thought she looked too young to join and so was asked to produce her birth certificate. She told them she couldn’t because the Germans had bombed the house! She married JohnLightfoot in 1952 and they also remained in Liverpool.

George and Ellen’s youngest son, William was a Merchant Seaman in the War and was on the Russian Convoys, according to John. For much for his life he lived in Runcorn and was married twice, first to Ivy Jenkins and then to Ann Sutton. He died in 2013.

James and Madge’s daughter, Marjory Jane started her working life as a Dressmaker’s Apprentice and later worked as a Typist. She married John Davidson in 1911 and they remained in Sunderland for the rest of their lives.

Daughter, Margaret, did not marry and during her life she worked as a Pastry Cook. She died in Sunderland, by that time part of Tyne and Wear, in 1979.

Andrew became a Soldier and, by 1911, was in Barracks in Essex (Great Wakering near Shoeburyness).

Andrew McCubbing

He was single and part of the 41st Company Royal Garrison Artillery. He was listed aboard the ship “Arabia” (which had originated in Sydney, Australia) in 1915, arriving in Tilbury in Essex. At that time he was recorded as a Soldier whose last permanent residence was China (but noted in pencil that the 5 soldiers crossed on the list were actually coming from India). They had

embarked on the ship in Colombo (Ceylon, now Sri Lanka). He died on 13 September 1923 at Bannu in Waziristan where the British had waged a number of battles against the tribesmen there who feared that Britain was to hand over this colony to Afghanistan. He died, just 32 years old, as part of this conflict.

Joseph was another son to suffer the misfortunes of war and die before his time.

Joseph McCubbing

He had married his wife, Eleanor Stableford in 1935, and some time later he joined the Merchant Navy and was Chief Engineer Officer on the MV Silvermaple on 26 Feb, 1944 when a German submarine attacked a convoy his ship was part of 130 miles west of Takoradi [Ghana]. One ship was sunk and another damaged. The ship hit and sunk was the Silvermaple and, as a consequence, the Master, five crew members (including Joseph) and one gunner were lost. 47 crew members, nine gunners and one passenger were picked up by HMS Kildwick and landed at Takoradi on 27 February. Joseph was awarded the King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct and he is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London.

Tower Hill Memorial

J McCubbing Inscription

McCubbin Centenaries DNA Group 1

Congratulations to McCubbins who have celebrated Centenary Birthdays!

Too late to include in last year’s Cub Report we are delighted to have heard about two McCubbin women, from the same DNA group (1), celebrating their hundredth years on opposite sides of the globe:

Clara McCubbin, sister of Harold (whose obituary we recorded in the Cub Report 2011) in Jamaica, the last surviving child of Charles McCubbin. Clara celebrated her 100th Birthday in the summer of 2016.

Clara is part of family #40 52 69 81 DNA 1, specifically of branch #69 which was merged with the other branches following research which linked them. The family originate from Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland.

Dawn Bergin, nee McCubbin in Queensland, who celebrated her 100th Birthday in December 2016, and just before Christmas 2017 Dawn’s granddaughter, Lisa, reported she was on her way to visit her Grandma to celebrate her 101st birthday!

Dawn was featured in an article in First magazine, published by Carers Queensland which tells about her life and her family, and her 100th birthday celebration and includes beautiful photos of Dawn, one of which shows her surrounded by her lovely family who celebrated with her and another showing her proudly displaying the birthday card she received from the Queen.

“In December 2016 Dawn celebrated her 100th birthday with many family and friends including her brother Reginald* who was 97 and his wife, also 97, her three daughters, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.”

See page 5 for more:

http://carersqld.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/FIRST_Spring2017.pdf

*Reginald McCubbin was featured in Cub Reports in 2013 and 2014 about his war service and experiences in Timor, Papua New Guinea, Morotai, Tarakan and Balikpapan:

The CUB Report – 2013

https://mccubbinhistory.info/2021/03/16/the-cub-report-2014/

Dawn’s granddaughter, Lisa, kindly sent us a photo from her recent 101st birthday celebration: Dawn Bergin with her three daughters and daughter-in-law:

Dawn and family

Dawn is part of family #05 DNA 1 from Keir in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Belated birthday wishes to both Clara and Dawn.

Brutal Punishment for Stealing a Pair of Shoes

MCCUBBIN FAMILY #07 FROM TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA AND DUMFRIES, SCOTLAND

Fifteen years ago, in our Cub Report 2002, Penny McColm, our Australian co-ordinator reported on a McCubbin family she had found in Tasmania in the mid 1800s, headed by James McCubbin and his wife Elizabeth (nee Lowry):

“This family then moved on to Victoria and South Australia and finally settled in the booming mining community of Broken Hill. They worked in the silver mines and the male children followed in their father’s footsteps, working long days and at times in dangerous conditions. They certainly were pioneers.”

The CUB Report – 2002

For some years Penny corresponded with a descendant, Shirley McCubbin, and just last month, in early December 2017, her daughter Heather Foster was in touch with Penny.  With reference to her late mother’s notes she continues sleuthing and has provided more extremely valuable, and quite incredible information about this mysterious family, notably that James’ birth name was actually Joseph, and that he was born 22 January 1813, and baptised on 24 January that year in Dumfries.  Excruciatingly, his father’s name is recorded as John and no mother’s name was given (you wouldn’t believe the number of John McCubbins we have in our database in the Dumfries area!).  So, sadly, we haven’t yet been able to link the family to their Scottish family but we’ve still got our thinking caps on and will continue to root around.

Heather’s research elucidated how Joseph came to be in Australia, and explained why various aliases were used:

“He joined the army but deserted in 1833.  He was subsequently convicted of stealing shoes at the West Moreland Kirkby Session and given a 7 year sentence. He was transported to Van Dieman’s land on the convict ship the Moffatt arriving on the 9th May 1834. He was transported under the name Francis la Touche but the aliases Joseph McCubbin (elsewhere MacCubbin )and John McHubbin (elsewhere MacHubbin) were recorded on the documentation with a note that his real name was Joseph McCubbin. His convict number was 815. 

His treatment was very harsh as he was not a model convict. His sentence was extended until 1847. His certificate of freedom was issued on the 10th a July 1847.

He appears in the records again in 1848 under James McCubbin when he was charged with counterfeiting but was not convicted. His prisoner number 815 and his prison ship Moffatt were noted against his name.”

Joseph’s Convict Years

By transcribing Joseph’s convict records Heather has been able to describe in more detail the harsh and brutal treatment convicts received and what Joseph suffered during a shockingly hard period of his life between 1833 and 1847:

“His convict records are recorded under his alias Francis la Touche.

It was not long after his arrival on June 16th 1834 that he was reportedly found lurking with bad intent in his Master’s store and was transferred to work in Spring Mill for two years.

On October 2nd 1834 he was found to have absconded and was given 6 months hard labour in chains during which time he absconded again and had his transportation sentence increased by 3 years.

By January 1835 he had once again absconded and was sentenced to 3 years hard labour at the Hulk Chain gang.

1836 and ‘37 were particularly difficult years with four incidences of disobedience or neglect of duty resulting in periods of 6 to 10 days on bread and water, and being tied to a wheel for 7 days.  He was accused of pilfering or receiving what had been taken and this resulted in 25 lashes. He tried to abscond again in August 1837 and his sentence of transportation was once again extended for 3 years at the notorious Port Arthur.

There were no further reports until 1841 when being absent without leave, charged with gross insolence and gross misconduct as well as being suspected of counterfeiting were all recorded at different times.

1842 was another difficult year when being absent without leave, being idle and involved in misconduct resulted in 3 separate incidences of solitary confinement between 3 and 5 days, as well as two different sentences of 36 lashes.

The following year he was back in chains undertaking hard labour for having counterfeit money in his possession

During 1845 his sentence was once again extended by 12 months, this time for larceny under five pounds.  He was also sentenced to 6 months hard labour for trespassing.

1846 was quiet with only one entry detailing 10 days in solitary confinement for being absent without leave.

His certificate of freedom was granted on the 10th July 1847, 14 years and 6 days after he was convicted of stealing a pair of shoes. Francis la Touche  (Joseph McCubbin) was then reinvented as James McCubbin with many descendants in Australia today unaware of his convict past.”

By 1848 he was with Elizabeth Lowry (though no formal marriage registration has yet been found) and they had two children in Tasmania (a boy in 1848, and a girl, called Mary, in 1850) before they moved to Victoria, and then after having another boy they moved to South Australia, leaving their two year old daughter in Victoria.  It is thought that the boys were called John and Thomas.  The family then moved to Broken Hill.  At the time of Mary’s birth, her father was recorded as a Shoemaker.

Mary later married Herrmann Schnieder in 1867, and sadly died at the young age of 26, having had 5 children.  It was her descendant who helped us with this part of the family puzzle.

Thomas married Susan Stark in Burra, South Australia in 1870 at the age of 26.  They lived in Broken Hill for 28 years where Thomas worked as a Silver Miner.  He died in 1915.  According to his death certificate they appear to have had 11 children (actually they had 12), 6 who are named on the death certificate, which also gives their ages, and 5 who are recorded to be deceased.  It is from this line that Heather descends.

Cumberland McCubbins

To date we have only found three McCubbin family groups in Cumberland (a county in England until 1974 and which now makes up part of Cumbria). We’re only really interested in the north-western part of it: the towns of Carlisle, Crosscanonby, Maryport, Workington, Harrington and Cockermouth.

Cumbria is illustrated on the Google map via this link:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Cumbria/@54.7278608,-3.6286885,10z/data=!4m
5!3m4!1s0x48632ab0a13de7c5:0x16e1925b0544819a!8m2!3d54.5772323!4d-
2.7974835?dcr=0

The earliest McCubbin family found in the area was headed by Robert McCubbin who married Barbara Clarke in 1764.  They had at least four children (John, Mally, and two sons named Robert – presumably the first Robert died young) all born in Harrington, south of Workington.  In 1771 there is a record of the christening of Jenny McCubbin, daughter of John McCubbin in Workington who are likely to be related to Robert McCubbin’s family.

Quite a bit north of Workington and north-east of Maryport (just over 2 miles away) is the small village of Crosscanonby, with a population of 3,252 in 1801.  It was there where John McCubbin and Sarah Sibson, who married in 1795, raised their family (McCubbin family #70).  It may be that the family headed by James McCubbin and Ann Morley (McCubbin family #83) in Carlisle are related as Carlisle is a mere 23 miles north-east of Crosscanonby, but this cannot be confirmed and it is probably significant that this area lies across the water (the Solway) from Scottish McCubbins in DNA groups DNA1 (with branches in Dumfriesshire) and DNA 3 (with branches in Wigtownshire).  Not a lot is known about the Carlisle family (#83), although we do have vital statistics for some members across three generations.

Three Generations of Devoted Clergymen from Crosscanonby

McCubbin Family #70

Recently Stephen Holloway, a member of this family by marriage, contacted us and kindly shared the family research done by his late brother-in-law, Christopher John (Chris) McCubbin.  Along with his own recollections and some wonderful photos from this interesting family, further research has been spurred on and has helped considerably to build on information we already held.

The family, headed by John McCubbin (c.1771-1824) and his wife Sarah Sibson, were originally farmers, but through Stephen and his late brother-in-law, we have learned a lot more about the three generations of Clergymen and their very well-educated progeny.  Not so much is known about some members of the family but the scant information we have found raises some tantalising questions about these interesting individuals.

John and Sarah had at least five children between 1797 and 1817: Joseph (1797-1803), John (1798-1825), Frances (1801-1828), Jane (1805-1833) and James (b.c. 1817) and for those for whom we know dates, they died before reaching their 60th birthdays!  Chris recalled seeing the family gravestone in Crosscanonby churchyard, as well as a transcription of it, in his grandfather’s handwriting, in his bible.

John’s son, Frances, who died in 1825 at just 26 years old in Maryport, was described as “Capt of the Collins” on the gravestone but what this means is yet to be established.  Maryport is on the coast so perhaps the “Collins” was a ship or boat?

Son, John, also died young, at just 26 years old in 1825, but not before he had married Elizabeth Stoddard and had a son (born September 1823), also called John.  Some six years after the death of John, his widow married a Clergyman, Revd John Hope, and this is probably how there came to be Clergymen in the next 3 generations of this family, including John.

By 1851 John (1823-1888) was already a Curate far away from his hometown of Crosscanonby and recorded as a visitor at Tibshelf Vicarage in Derbyshire, the head of household 75 year old John Robert Sharpe, described as a widower, “landed proprietor and annuitant”.  Stephen relates how “Hope more or less adopted John McC. He left a scribbling diary for 1853, mainly about the weather and families, but he mentions John coming over to preach several times and also for social visits.”   By 1855 John had married Marianne Gerrard in the Cathedral in Manchester and they soon started a family and were to have three children: Louisa Marianne (1856-1910), John Gerrard (1858-1931) and Agnes Hope (1859-1941).  By 1861 he was recorded on the census as the incumbent of the new church, Christ Church – built in 1854, in Bacup, Lancashire and living with his family in Greensnook.  But, while John continued to be the Vicar at Christ Church, probably until he died, in 1871 he is recorded on the census as boarding in the household of Susannah Law, a widowed schoolmistress, in Tolmorden Road, Bacup, while his wife and children are recorded as living far away on the west coast, in Saunders Street, North Meols in Lancashire with their servant, Hannah Goodfellow (who was born in Cumberland).  The family were reunited again by 1881 and living at the Vicarage in Greensnook Lane.  John died in 1888, leaving a personal estate of nearly £2,000.

Daughter, Louisa, lived with her mother in Withington, Manchester until her mother’s death in 1893 and remained unmarried and died in 1910, aged 53 at Fernhill, Travancore in South India, leaving effects to the value of just over £2,000.  She was buried in India. It is unknown how and why she came to be there, whether she was just visiting, or had moved out to live there.  Given the family history, one wonders whether she might have been a missionary, but perhaps her brother, or father, may have had interests in plantations in India as there is a J McCubbin listed in the “Planting Directory of Southern India” (with a Lt Col JRP Williams, MBE) and also a committee member of the South India Association in London.

Daughter Agnes also appears to have remained unmarried and living at home, being recorded on the census of 1881 with her parents but also in 1891 visiting her brother in Bothwell, Uddingston, just outside Glasgow. On her death in 1941 she left effects to the value of almost £1400 to her nephew and niece.

Their brother, John Gerrard, followed their father into the Clergy, matriculating at Cambridge University in 1877, gaining a BA in 1881 and taking his MA in 1888.

John Gerrard McCubbin 1858-1931

He was ordained as Deacon in Chester in 1881 and recorded as Priest in the University’s records in 1882.  The records list his various clerical tenures which caused him to move around Britain, but mainly residing in Lancashire:

• 1881-83, Curate of St George’s, Altrincham, Cheshire
• 1883-86, Curate of St George’s, Everton, Lancashire
• 1886-87, Curate of Bolton, Greater Manchester
• 1887-90, Curate of St John’s, Longsight, Manchester
• 1890-95, Curate of St Andrew’s Mission, Uddingston, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• 1895-99, Curate of St Peter’s, Hindley, Lancashire
• 1899-1906, Vicar of Kirkmanshulme, Manchester
• 1906-12, Rector of St Mark’s, Newton Heath, Manchester
• 1912-28, Perpetual Curate of Mareham-on-the-Hill with High Toynton, Lincolnshire

By 1887 He had married Charlotte Elizabeth Thompson and they had two children John Harold (1888-1954) and Katharine Marianne (1891-1982).  His wife died before him, in 1926, and he died in 1931 in West Kirby, Cheshire leaving almost £12,000 to his children.

John Gerrard’s son, John Harold (known as Harold), was the third member of the family to enter the Clergy.

Young Harold McCubbin, 1888-1954

He was obviously a very intelligent man and earned a scholarship to read for the Clerical Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge, having previously attended Manchester Grammar School.  He achieved a 1st class degree in Part I in 1909, and 2nd class in Part II in 1910.  He took his MA in 1913.  Crockford’s Clerical Directory of 1932 records:

• 1911-1920, Curate of Astley Bridge (St Paul’s)
• 1920-1923, Lecturer and Curate of Bolton
• 1923, Vicar of Kellington with Whitley in the Diocese of Wakefield (Yorkshire)

He married Mary Alice Jones in 1922 at the Parish Church of Astley Bridge St Paul, recorded at that time as a Clerk in Holy Orders of Lever Bridge, Bolton and his wife, Mary, a Teacher.  His father conducted the service.  The couple went on to have four children: Beatrice (Bea) Mary (b.1923); Christopher (Chris) John (1924-2011); Edward (Teddy) Hope (1926-1996); and Lillian (Lyn) Isabel Marianne (1928-1996).

Between 1924 and 1932 he was resident at the Vicarage in Kellington, according to the electoral registers.  His future son-in-law and good friend of his son, Chris, Stephen Holloway, relayed that, in 1932, the family moved to Aysgarth, North Yorkshire, where Harold had been appointed Vicar.  Stephen met Harold when he was vicar of Aysgarth in the early 1940s and describedhim as gentle and scholarly, and a good parish priest.  He said he read a lot and played postal chess to a high standard.  However, he added, “he was somewhat unworldly and relied on his capable wife”.

Aysgarth: Harold and Mary with children Teddy, Bea and Chris

Stephen described Harold’s wife, Mary, as “an ideal vicar’s wife.  She had a powerful personality and worked hard to run the administration of parishes.  She was a keen gardener and attended many local auctions, coming home with many unlikely buys.”  She made many trips to Australia and was serious watercolorist who exhibited in minor shows and sketched a lot while in Australia.

During the 1940s, the children were away at college or university and the couple moved to Reepham in Norfolk where Harold was Vicar and they remained there until Harold’s death in 1954 at The Rectory.  Harold left effects to the value of almost £4,000 to his widow, Mary.

All of their children led interesting lives:

• Bea went to University of London, Bedford College, although, because of the War, students were evacuated to Cambridge to avoid the bombing.  Future husband, Stephen, relates “The College had no buildings and used Cambridge buildings and attended their lectures living in lodgings.” She qualified as a Teacher and in 1949 she married Stephen Holloway.  Bea and Stephen moved around the country before settling in north-west London, where they raised their family.
• Chris was a good friend of Stephen Holloway (later to become Bea’s husband, and who made contact with us, generously sharing much anectodal information, some of which is included here).  The boys met whilst at Marlborough College, Chris having won a scholarship to attend this prestigious school which had been founded in 1843 for the sons of Church of England Clergy.  Chris volunteered for the RAF (and Stephen the Army) and they both went up to Cambridge together, living in adjacent rooms at Trinity College.  Chris read Geography; Stephen Engineering.  After Cambridge Chris trained as a pilot, gaining his wings in Kenya, but the war ended before he saw action.  He married Joan Cane, one of the local doctor’s six daughters and they settled in Buckinghamshire where they raised their family.
• Teddy was not academic and went to Bloxham Boarding School and then on to agricultural college.  Stephen described him as rather shy.  After a short spell in the Army he married Pearl Parnall and after periods living in London and Surrey, they settled in Wiltshire.
• Lyn went to a convent school and stayed with it when it was evacuated to Canada in the war.  “She was well looked after and came back to the UK rather reluctantly”  She went to university (Stephen was unsure where) but visited her brother in Cambridge frequently and it was there she met her husband, Andrew Moyes, who was, according to Stephen “one of our set and a top flight oarsman who just missed rowing in the University boat race.”  Like Bea and Stephen, and Chris and Joan, they were married in Reepham by her father.

John Gerrard’s daughter, Katharine Marianne was born in Scotland while her father was Curate of St Andrew’s Mission in Uddingston.  During the First World War she achieved a Certificate in Nursing (County Hospital, Lincolnshire) and was formally registered as a Nurse on 27 October 1922.

Young Katharine Marianne McCubbin 1891-1982]

By 1937 she was living in Woodcote, Berkshire and four years later was to marry Kenneth James Sutherland at Wensleydale in Yorkshire.  Later in life the couple lived in the Wirral, Merseyside.  Her husband died in 1976 and she lived to become a nonagenarian, dying in 1982.

Katharine in later years

Fact or Fiction – George Washington and Mrs James MacCubbin DNA Group02

Googling these two names reveals a story about a ball Washington allegedly attended with Mrs James MacCubbin. Notably the story is included in “George Washington’s America”(page 428) and in “George Washington Day by Day” (page 188).

An online article tells the story:

http://www.georgewashington.us/p/blog-page.html

George Washington’s attendance in Congress on December 23rd, 1783, set the stage for one of the most remarkable events of United States history.

George Washington’s resignation as Commander-in-Chief would be the last great act of the Revolutionary War. Historian David Ramsay wrote of Washington trek to new federal capital to submit his resignation:

In every town and village, through which the General passed, he was met by public and private demonstrations of gratitude and joy. When he arrived at Annapolis, he informed Congress of his intention to ask leave to resign the commission he had the honor to hold in their service, and desired to know their pleasure in what manner it would be most proper to be done. They resolved that it should be in a public audience.

The event began on December 22nd when President Mifflin gave a dinner, of over two hundred covers, to the Commander-in-Chief. Afterwards, a magnificent ball was given in his honor by the Maryland Assembly. Washington opened the ball with the charming Mrs. James MacCubbin, gallantly presenting her with an elegant fan. This occasion was graced by “the beauty and the chivalry” of the patriotic old colony.

Micki Collins, a member of the USA branch of the McCubbins, who says she is descended from John the Colonist, has a print published in a book which was sent to her which apparently shows Mrs MacCubbin with the first president of the USA. The caption reads:

“Washington Opens The Ball With Mrs James Mackubin

From an old print found in a receipt book of the family of Judge Welch but now in possession of Katharine Walton. Washington “chose” as his partner “the most beautiful woman of his day” and presented her with a beautiful fan. The torn print (white spot) makes it impossible to tell whether she is carrying the fan.”

George Washington & Mrs James MacCubbin

A Scottish Wedding in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

THREE MCCUBBIN GENERATIONS

#45 DNA 3

Mark McCubbin (grandson of Lorna McCubbin who is co-founder of the McCubbin Family History Association) married Dr. Kayley Smith at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The wedding and party were held on July 15, 2017, at the Maritime Museum, overlooking the harbour. Both bride and groom come from a long line of Scots.

Kayley relates; “My grandfather, who lived in the Cape Breton settlement spoke Gaelic, although he never did teach his children how, so it was lost in our family. I would love to learn it one day. He died a year before I was born, so my parents gave me a Gaelic name in his memory, but altered the spelling because they thought Ceilidh would be confusing for me when I was learning to spell. Both of my grandmothers came from Scottish clans.

James H McCubbin, son of Lorna (standing next), Mark, Amanda Bentley and Ryan   McCubbin, all children of James H and g’children of Lorna.

Kayley Smith McCubbin & Mark McCubbin

“Despite a few sad and difficult years of illness and bereavement within the McCubbin Family History Association team, we’ve managed to get the Cub Report out again – very late, but with the help of contributors we’re pleased not to have missed an issue, and thank all our supporters for their kindness and patience.”

A NOTE FROM LORNA MCCUBBIN (NEE KINSEY)

To all you wonderful ‘Cubbies’ and family, some of whom have been ‘with me’ and our team since we started in the early 2000’s, I thank you for sharing your family information in order to get as far as we have come. We began with just our own family trees, and even those were sparse. Now, I’m passing on my torch to my son James H McCubbin, who is by far more knowledgeable than I about the ins and outs of computers. In fact, he has been helping me with getting my side of the CUB Report together, for the past few years. To Kathy McCubbing in England and Penny McColm in Australia, with whom I burned the midnight oil when we had a new lead, I bow to you. It was all so exciting!  James and Kathy will be taking over the DNA project . Kathy has the McCubbin database of over a thousand names and James keeps a back-up, with Kathy sending James newly added data. Sincerely, Lorna

All the best for 2018!!

The MCFHA Committee

Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing

Keeper of the Master Genealogist McCubbin database – Kathy McCubbing

Member – Guild of One Name Studies – Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.

DNA Project Administrator – Admin – James H McCubbin. Kathy – co-admin

Penny McColm – MCFHA Co-Founder & Co-ordinator for Australia & NZ

Co-ordinators specialties: Kathy McCubbing, Dumfries; Ronald ‘Rick’ McCubbin, America; Penny McColm – Australia;  Kathy and James – the rest of the world

MCFHA Sponsors – Lorna McCubbin & son, James H McCubbin

Facebook Administrator – James H McCubbin,

Co-Admin – Kathy McCubbing

Cub Helper – Ryan McCubbin

Click to whom you wish to email;
Kathy
 Penny 
Rick 
James

To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You!

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.

Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors.

McCubbin DNA Project and Genealogy News

Report on the DNA Project, by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

McCubbin History (Facts, Fictions and Fun Reading)

Family #68 DNA Group 3, along with photo of headstone of John McCubbin d1754.

Note on research from Gail Blagdon, written by Kathy McCubbing

Family #02, DNA Group 3, McCubbin Family from Ballantrae, Ayrshire who emigrated to Australia

McCubbin Family History Association News

Updating and renovating the website… James H McCubbin

McCubbin DNA Project and Genealogy News

Report on the DNA Project

by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

(Ryan McCubbin is the FTDNA administrator for the McCubbin DNA project.)

Howdy Cubbies!

I would like to update you all on the status of the McCubbin Family Y-DNA Project at FTDNA.

In an attempt to coarsely group all of our participants, we have expanded the number of our DNA groups to six, which includes two additional R1b groups. As far as progress goes, we are excited to now have three fully completed Big-Ys for DNA group 2. Two of these tests are from a US born father-son pair and the third test is from a Canadian McCubbin with recent roots in Scotland. The results of the extensive BigY-700 snp testing have identified the specific end-branches on the Y-DNA molecule that are unique to the McCubbin surname and through the BigY-700 test results we continue to refine the confirmed DNA connection between the US colonists and Scotland-based DNA group 2 participants. Additional testing will be completed early next year which should yield a TMRCA (time to most recent common ancestor) between the US colonist and Scottish/Canadian BigY-700 participants. We are also pursuing advanced testing with a DNA group 2 surname variant, MacAbee.

We are continuing our efforts to recruit volunteer testers from the Makoben, Mackeben, and Mackaben surname variants.

Regrettably, we are still dealing with the unfortunate consequences of GDPR which greatly hinders our ability to group current participants and further refine and scrutinize our matches for DNA groups 1,3,4,5, and 6. For those of you who have a test on file that haven’t adjusted your Group Administrator Access settings over the past 18 months, please login to the Manage My Projects page, click on the pencil icon and set the Group Administrator Access default off of “minimum” and set it to either “limited” or “advanced.” Doing so will be of great assistance to us. The more participants we have that allow us access to their Y-DNA match results, the better we can administer the project and the more information we can glean from the results of our tests.

Cordially,
Ryan McCubbin
Volunteer Administrator, McCubbin Family Y-DNA Project

McCubbin History (Facts, Fictions and Fun Reading) 

Family #68 DNA Group 3, along with photo of headstone of John McCubbin d1754.

Note on research from Gail Blagdon, written by Kathy McCubbing

Earlier this year Gail Blagdon got in touch to share some amazing research she had done on family #68, DNA Group 3 from Kirkoswald in Ayrshire.  Through Gail’s painstaking research of Old Parish Registers she managed to find information going back a further 2 generations of this family to John McCubbin and his wife, Isabell Adam, who were buried together in Kirkoswald in 1754.

Gail provided an image of the headstone which shows  Tailor’s shears and cloth bale with the inscription underneath:

“Here lyes the Corps of JOHN MCCUBBIN in Billverd d.17 Nov 1754 aged 77y and ISOBELL ADAM his spouse” and a further inscription on the reverse:

“No more shall sickness this clay house possess/No more shall exercise cause weariness/No more shall sin pull heart from things divine/ No more shall sin lodge near to heavenly grace/ No more shall sin eclipse Christ’s lovely face/Once past this [march may with boldness by…] eternel rest to which all the graves do resort.”

“Billverd” linked John to son, William (b.1704), although as with so many transcribed names the spelling was different on his birth record (Balvaird).  Further sleuthing by Gail revealed William to have married Jannet McAslen in 1728 and the birth of their children, John (1732), Alexander Charles McCubbin (1734-1819, about whom we have extensive information), and Marion (b.1738).

Her research also uncovered the 9th child of Alexander Charles McCubbin and his wife Jean Smith, Alexander McCubbin b.1782 who married Sarah Spear(s)/Spiers in 1801.

We are extremely grateful to Gail, and other McCubbin researchers who undertake this difficult early research which often involves reading very old archives which are very difficult to transcribe, but when undertaken pushes back our knowledge of McCubbin families that bit further.

Family #02, DNA Group 3, McCubbin Family from Ballantrae, Ayrshire who emigrated to Australia 

Lesley McCubbin in Australia.

Following the publication of the Cub Report last year (2018), Lesley McCubbin in Australia very kindly wrote to us about her husband’s family history, family #02 DNA Group 3, noting that we had little information about her husband’s ancestor John McCubbin b.1827 Farm of Yarding, Dailly, Ayr, Scotland and who died in 1874 in Palmerston, Northern Territory, Australia:

“My husband is a direct descendant from Alexander of Ballantrae [1794-1861] via the twin John [1827-1874].  On reading the latest CUB Report, I notice there is little known of John. These are some of the facts as we know them.

Alexander of Ballantrae and his wife Ann are buried at the Old Daily Cemetery along with their son William who died when he was only 21. He had been a man servant for the Factor in Girvan.

Twin son John:

Before leaving for Australia, their older brother, David [1819-1883] arranged employment for the twins, John and Alexander on one of the Cunard ships sailing for America. This was a return trip with John working in the bar and Alexander in the kitchens. With the money earnt they were able to migrate to Melbourne Australia.

Whilst Alexander worked in a bakery, John went to the goldfields where he apparently did rather well as he was able to “loan” Alexander 500 pounds to buy the Bakery in West Melbourne. This loan to “A McCubbin of Melbourne “ was listed on the Bankruptcy Papers for John years later when he was in New Zealand.

John left for the goldfields of Dunedin, NZ where his sisters Jane Findlay [1832-1879],  and Wilhelmina McCubbin [1838-1881] lived. Here he married Annie Taylor [b.1838, Cranbrook, Kent, England]. They had two children:

Hubert John “Jack” [c.1865-1924]and David George [1868-1938]. Unfortunately Annie died giving birth to David George 28 Dec 1868 at the Oriental Hotel which John had only recently purchased. Unlike his first hotel, this was a timber structure and considered the largest and most luxurious in town. He completely refurbished and re- stocked this establishment. However his timing was not good and he was declared bankrupt when the gold rush wound down.

In the heyday of the Rush there were 92 Hotels in Dunedin and most of them suffered. John had remarried Mary Gillies [in 1870, she was born in Paisley, Scotland] and he left for Hokitika on the West Coast  where his sister’s Sarah Potts [1833-1910] and Mary Milroy Taminelli [1829-1895], lived. Both their husbands were involved in the timber industry there. It is unclear if he took his second wife and children with him. He worked in the Robert Burns Hotel on Revell Street. The gold rush here was petering out. John moved on to what was to become the last Gold Rush in Australia in Palmerston (later Darwin) in the Northern Territory. Not a place to take women and children. He worked as a barman and died of a liver complaint and is buried in Darwin. After he died, his second wife took the children to Alexander’s Bakery in West Melbourne and they were raised there.

John “Jack” became a mining engineer and he and Dave went to Broken Hill. Dave opened a Bakery and refreshments shop. (a café in today’s speak) After marrying Annie Best Harris in South Australia [in 1905], John moved to Tullah in the mountainous Wilderness of Tasmania. They didn’t put a road through until 1967. Prior to that the only way in and out was via a ratchet railway. At Tullah they mined lead sulphide or silver lead. Annie Best had her first child Hubert “Hughie ” [1906-1995] at Queenstown at the bottom of the mountain. For her second child William Allan (my father in law [1911-1991]) she travelled to her parents’ home on the main land at Talbot. A small town in central Victoria. Her father was the bank manager. William was born in his residence above the bank. For her third child [John McCubbin, 1918-1918] Annie Best again travelled to the mainland but to her spinster sisters at Carisbrooke . They ran the Post office there and lived in the residence at the back. Unfortunately both Annie Best and the child John died following the birth. Hughie and William were raised by their spinster aunts, sleeping on the side veranda of the post office.

John “Jack” went to live with his brother David George who by now was running a bakery in Ararat. Jack carted bread for his brother and his children came to stay on their school holidays. Jack became unwell (possibly from lead poisoning from the mines). He travelled to Melbourne for treatment, staying in the Salvation Army Hostel.  However he died the next day [1924 at the People’s Palace] and is buried in the Fawkner General Cemetery.

Hughie became the Post Master at Taree, NSW and William Allan a High School Principal being an Art and Science teacher.

Interesting how the same occupations keep recurring.

Hubert “Hughie ” McCubbin, 1906-1995

William Allan McCubbin, 1911-1991

Many thanks to Lesley for sharing this fascinating narrative with us which gives such a sense of how folk in those times in Australia lived and what little external support they could have, being out away from things, as this family seem to have been, and how precarious life was. 

McCubbin Family History Association News

Updating and renovating the website… 

James H McCubbin

We are updating and renovating the website..

If there are specific issues that you notice with the website, please send a note to jamie.mccubbin@gmail.com and I’ll try to get it fixed.

All the best for 2020!!

The MCFHA Committee

Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing

Keeper of the “Master Genealogist” McCubbin database – Kathy McCubbing

Member – Guild of One Name Studies – Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.

DNA Project Administrator – Ryan McCubbin

Coordinators:  Ryan – USA; Kathy – rest of the world

MCFHA Sponsors – Lorna McCubbin & son, James H McCubbin

Facebook Moderators – James H. McCubbin and Kathy McCubbing

Click to whom you wish to email;

Kathy (kathy.mccubbing@hotmail.com)

James(jamie.mccubbin@gmail.com)

Ryan (rmccubbin@protonmail.com).

To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You!

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.

Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors.

McCubbin DNA Project and Genealogy News

• Report on the DNA Project by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas
• USA McCubbin Family Synchronization by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

McCubbin History (Facts, Fictions and Fun Reading) 3

• The Tree at Wood’s End (excerpt from Rob McCubbin’s forthcoming book) (#03 DNA 4) by Rob McCubbin of Victoria, Australia
• The East Texas Oil Pirates #80 DNA 2 by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

McCubbin Family History Association News

• US DNA Coordinator – Ryan McCubbin (family #80 DNA group 2)
• Farewell to our co-founders Lorna McCubbin (family #45 DNA group 3), Penny McColm (family #02 DNA group 3)

Obituaries

Reginald Francis McCubbin 1919-2018

McCubbin DNA Project and Genealogy News

Report on the DNA Project, by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

Greetings McCubbins. Ryan McCubbin here, and I wanted to introduce myself as I am new to the FTDNA administrator role and want to give you a quick update on the McCubbin DNA project. My family hails from Northeast Texas and we are from the South Carolina-Arkansas branch of the John the Colonist line. I am 46 years old, happily married for 25 years to my wife Robin and am the proud father of three kids, a daughter age 17 and two sons, ages 15 and 19. I have a background in the natural and health sciences and have been fascinated by the growing connection between genealogy and genetics.

After finding the McCubbin Family History web page and reading about the DNA study, I decided to dive in and begin learning about genetic genealogy. It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be able to assist with the Project.

Regarding the McCubbin DNA Project, presently we have 98 participants. Through the amazing work that Lorna, Kathy, James, and others have put into the Project since its inception over a decade ago, there have been four principal DNA groups identified. DNA groups 1 and 3 consist of distinct branches of haplotype R-M269, DNA group 2 consists of haplotype I-M223, and DNA group 4 consists of haplotype I-M253. There are also small numbers of additional haplotypes recently identified. As far as any new changes coming with the Project, I expect just a few superficial tweaks. We now have an activity feed where Project members can post questions or discuss DNA and genealogy matters on the project home page. In the future, I would like to see the matches maps updated with correct locations of earliest known male ancestor information. This would give us a more comprehensive visual picture of the historical story being painted by the DNA results of our Project.

Help needed please!

The biggest news of the year regarding the McCubbin DNA Project is the challenging effect that GDPR is having on the genetic genealogy community. GDPR, in a nutshell, is a new set of mandated privacy regulations that were enacted this past May by the EU. These laws have affected the way companies like FTDNA store and allow public access to various kinds of private, personal data such as DNA results. In response to GDPR, FTDNA updated their terms of use and disclosures to their customers. Additionally, and more importantly, because of GDPR the various FTDNA projects must now require every participant of a DNA project to manually grant new project administrators one of three types of access- Advanced, Limited, or the default, Minimal. Minimal access essentially locks the administrators out of being able to compare matches between project members and group them accordingly. It is essential that either Limited, or preferably, Advanced access be granted to new project administrators by project participants. So, as a new project administrator I am presently blocked from being able to place group participants in their respective subgroups, and unfortunately this will continue until a certain quantity of project participants allow access to their DNA data. We have sent out an email communicating this change and our need for project participants to login and grant higher level access but we did not receive an overwhelming response. We plan to follow up with more communication. Those of you who have kits on file will soon be getting emails from us as we also attempt to verify valid email addresses and update last known paternal ancestor information.

I am confident we will be able to move forward and continue to leverage the power of DNA science and genetic genealogical technology to help us see the ties that bind us more clearly and peek even further into our past. I’m looking forward to us sharing more discoveries together.

Sincerely,
Ryan McCubbin
Volunteer FTDNA McCubbin DNA Project Administrator

USA McCubbin Family Synchronization, by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

Howdy Cubbies. Just a brief note here about one of the exciting new projects that the McCubbin Family History Association will be embarking upon soon.

We are going to begin construction and documentation of the US branch of the DNA group 2 line starting with John the Colonist and try to link all descendant branches.. We have had the opportunity to gather many resources over the years and are fortunate to be able to enlist the help of several veteran researchers, including Rick McCubbin of Kentucky.

As the tree widens and generations are added, we will begin soliciting help and assistance from those of you in the States and territories who hail from the US branch of DNA group 2. We are going to do our best at using available documentation and records and move methodically down the tree. This project will take several years, and in some regard will need to be perpetually updated, corrected when necessary, and maintained. So, be on the lookout for updates on the progress of this new initiative and future calls for assistance. Thank you,

-Ryan

McCubbin History (Facts, Fictions and Fun Reading) 

The Tree at Wood’s End (excerpt from Rob McCubbin’s forthcoming book) (#03 DNA 4), by Rob McCubbin of Victoria, Australia

[Rob McCubbin (family #03, DNA Group 4) has been using his family history as a basis for writing novels for many years, and his first book “Son of the Storm” was featured in our Cub Report in 2003.  15 years and 4 books later, Rob is currently working on his latest novel which he thinks will be called “The Tree at Wood’s End” and he hopes it will be out later next year. He has generously allowed us to include an excerpt of it here.  It gives the reader a flavour of what it was like for Scottish families to arrive to their new home in Australia, and the challenges they faced in settling in the new country.]

CHAPTER ONE

June 1857 – James could feel the dried salt gritty around his jacket collar as his hands gripped the worn mahogany railing of the “Sardinian”. They had encountered a squall an hour ago and everyone had been soaked in spray as they watched the rugged Victorian coastline open up to give them their first glimpse of a new life. The local pilot boat had swung alongside and the whiskery blue-clad pilot ran up the rope ladder, black briar clenched between his teeth. He strode along the scrubbed deck to the Captain standing near the wheel and saluted him as an old friend. The Sardinian was a regular visitor to the Victorian colony, coming from Liverpool about twice a year. Her captain probably could have steered safely through the heads into Port Philip Bay, but he admired the skill of the local guide and willingly shifted over to allow him command of the eleven hundred ton sailing ship. Most of her 450 passengers were milling about on the main deck, eager for fresh air and a look at their new country. Free settlers, men of position, tradespeople, farmers and Government-assisted migrants all searched for a glimpse of their goal, Melbourne Town, and all smelled the new odours of land, not sensed for many weeks. Most of them were assisted migrants who had been crammed into the holds for what seemed like forever. These ‘steerage passengers’ were jammed into a communal space, with six foot square shelves down each side of the hull. Each shelf slept four adults, thus called their ‘quarters’, with a bucket for slops at the end of each shelf. Here a family of two adults with four children could sleep on a whole shelf, the bairns head to foot. A smaller family or a couple would have to share their quarters with someone else. Privacy was unknown. Toileting was done in public and it was the responsibility of one person from each shelf to empty their bucket each morning. Food had become scarce as the voyage progressed. No vegetables or fruit, the staple diet being gruel with fish pieces in it. The luckier the fishermen were, the better everyone ate. But hand-fishing for over 400 souls was a tough job. And those nearest the hatch seemed to eat better than the ones at the furthest end. Such was the pecking order down below. However the thought of gold nuggets lying around in the new Colony just waiting to be picked up, kept them going… No wonder they crowded the deck each day to enjoy the fresh air and occasional bursts of sunshine while they could.

You can read more about Rob and his novels at his website: http://www.talespinnerbooks.com/index.shtml

The East Texas Oil Pirates #80 DNA 2, by Ryan McCubbin of Gilmer, Texas

During the summer of 2014 we planned a move from our suburban home into one into one in the country. As the title transactions promised to move quickly, my wife Robin and I secured a moving service. A few days before the move, the owner of the company came by one morning to assess our belongings and visit with my wife. The following afternoon I arrived home from work and Robin was waiting for me and grinning from ear to ear. “Boy, do I have a story for you” she said smiling. Robin gave me the run-down on her conversation with the owner of the moving company after learning her last name was McCubbin. ‘McCubbin huh,’ Robin began the story in the mover’s own words, ‘Stanley and Jack?’ Robin hesitated and complete with arm gesticulation, said ‘I didn’t tell them Feds nothin’!’

As the story went, the owner of the moving company, as a young man, had worked for my grandparents and had been subpoenaed to testify at a hearing in the early ‘60’s. The ensuing story was a memorable one that prompted some follow-up google searches and in turn, helped spark a genealogical research effort that continues to this day. While I knew my grandfather and his brother, both of whom had passed away years ago, were in the oil business at one time, I was stunned to learn that my grandfather, Stanley McCubbin, and his brother Arthur Elwood “Jack” McCubbin, were considered by law enforcement officers to be ringleaders of what was to become known as the “Great East Texas Hot Oil Scandal of 1962”.

My grandfather was James Stanley McCubbin (1910-1984) who was born in Paris, Arkansas. He was the oldest child of James Asa McCubbin, (1892-1961) also of Paris, Arkansas. Stanley had two brothers, John and Jack, and two sisters, Mary and Rebecca aka ‘Beena.’ The family’s exposure to the oilfield began early. As young siblings, Stanley, Jack, and the rest the family bounced around the fields of Oklahoma and Louisiana with their parents, Asa and Opal Marie. The East Texas Oil Field had been discovered in October of 1930 and the population of rural East Texas began to explode. The family’s arrival into Northeast Texas occurred during this time and as a group, they settled in the Kilgore and Liberty City areas of Gregg County, the oil epicenter of East Texas.

Stanley had married Mae Cook, of Plumerville, Arkansas and they welcomed the arrival of the first of four boys. Stanley was a welder by trade and began work at Kilgore Boiler Works, making equipment for refineries that were beginning to dot the landscape. Jack and Stanley’s entrance into the oil drilling business, or “wildcatting” as it was known at the time, came through Rexall Drilling Company, of Kilgore which was owned by Rex Stegall. Jack was a natural businessman who had remarkable talent for finding business opportunities and had little problem with risk. Stanley was far more reserved and conservative, but the brothers seemed to work well together, with Jack always leading.

The Texas Railroad Commission was tasked with oversight of the oil and gas industry and they had protocols and controls in place designed to discourage an oil crew from drilling in a manner that would tap into an already existing well on another lease. However, some local officials and regulators had been offered quid-pro-quo ‘interest’ in local oil wells by wildcatters and would be paid handsomely for their partnership in the venture. It was often understood that the regulators and contractors would help facilitate production of new production wells that just might be drilled at an angle that exceeded regulations, possibly tapping into an already existing well. Cashed flowed freely from drilling operators, to contractors and to local regulatory officials.

By the late 1950’s, it was rumored among the locals that slanted holes were being drilled in the East Texas Oil Patch, but the issue garnered little outside attention. Beginning in the early 60’s, an interesting alliance quickly formed as the well-funded major oil companies, in league with politicians who aspired to higher offices who were eager to make headlines of their own, began working in concert to scour the back roads of East Texas in search for suspected slanted wells. The Texas Rangers were called up to protect the new army of state investigators who were tasked with locating and shutting down the slanted wells and investigate corrupt officials.

Stanley McCubbin, 1955

An early search for more information on the Hot Oil Scandal let me to the online memoirs of one of our local retired Texas Rangers, Glen Elliot. In this interview Ranger Elliot noted that during this time in the early 60’s that every Ranger in Texas (which at the time was 62) had worked on the hot oil case in some form or fashion and that there were approximately 300 of these slanted holes operating at the beginning of the investigation. When asked about a ringleader of the operation, Ranger Elliot unhesitatingly fingered “Cadillac Jack” McCubbin, citing numerous slanted wells Jack was running at the time and Jacks aggressive and unabashed approach to business. Jack harbored a penchant for Cadillacs and would buy a new one every year, always with a red interior.

On September 10, 1962 the Texas Congressional House Investigative Committee held hearings in Dallas and subpoenaed Stanley, Jack, and Rex Stegall among others. All three men pled the 5th amendment during the hearings and refused to answer all questions except ones related to name and current address. The Committee asked Jack specifically about giving Railroad Commission Employees all-expense-paid trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Six weeks after the hearings, the State had filed 52 civil suits, six against Jack and three against Stanley. The State also indicted 17 people on criminal charges of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, bribery, and conspiracy to commit bribery. Jack was charged with three criminal counts, but the State failed to get a conviction. Only one person of the 17 that were indicted was ever convicted. Prosecutors quickly learned that local juries were sympathetic to local businessmen and leery of big oil corporations and zealous politicians. However, Jack was assessed a $53,000 civil penalty and Stanley was assessed a similar fine. The major oil companies had wanted to aggressively pursue the “Oil Pirates” as the media had branded the local wildcatters, but the companies were limited on how much they could expect to recoup in damages by law. As well, several of the independent drillers, including Jack and Stanley, filed countersuits against the major companies which provided the big companies an incentive to terminate further legal proceedings.

Growing up in close proximity to my grandparents, I never knew about the “Hot Oil Scandal.” My father was the youngest of Mae and Stanley’s four sons so by the time I was born, my grandfather was already 61 years old. I have extremely fond memories of Stanley and nothing made him happier than to be surrounded by his grandchildren. Both Jack and Stanley were men that loved their families and were well respected in the community. The discovery of the McCubbin-Hot Oil connection, while sensational, wasn’t entirely surprising. It is certainly a colorful saga in our family history.

-Ryan McCubbin

Jack (L) and Stanley (M) McCubbin with Ryan as a young boy.

McCubbin Family History Association News

US DNA Coordinator – Ryan McCubbin (family #80 DNA group 2)

Welcome to Ryan McCubbin*

Welcome to Ryan McCubbin who has taken a keen interest in the DNA project that we’ve been running since 2007.  It is clear that Ryan has a very clear grasp of the use of DNA studies in family histories and so, when Lorna announced her retirement, we were all hoping that Ryan would agree to step in and become the Group Administrator for the McCubbin DNA project.

We are delighted, and very grateful to Ryan for agreeing to lead this increasingly important part of our project.

Ryan is from the USA and can trace his family history back to John “the Colonist” McCubbin (family #80 DNA Group 2) and way beyond that, so Ryan has become somewhat of an expert in early McCubbins both in Scotland and in the USA. We are delighted to welcome him to the team.

(*not to be confused with Lorna’s grandson of the same name, who is a Cub Helper)

Farewell to our co-founders Lorna McCubbin (family #45 DNA group 3), Penny McColm (family #02 DNA group 3), by Kathy McCubbing

Many thanks and farewell to our co-founders Lorna McCubbin and Penny McColm.   It must have been almost 20 years ago when I linked up with Lorna when I was researching my family history.  I think we ‘met’ on a messageboard and Lorna was extremely helpful with giving me leads and suggestions. I had established that my family  had early links with Kirkbride Farm in Keir, Dumfriesshire and she encouraged me to send a letter to “The Farmer” at that address. I don’t know why, but I was a bit shy of doing that in those days, but her encouragement spurred me on and that was how I came to link up with long-lost cousins still in the area, and gain an avalanche of fascinating information about my family and the Dumfriesshire McCubbin(g)s in general. It probably wasn’t long after that when I became properly involved in the McCubbin Family History Association as the co-ordinator for Dumfriesshire, and my correspondence became more frequent with Lorna, and with Penny – because of the links of many Dumfriesshire McCubbin families in Australia.  I was in awe and extremely impressed with the work they had already done in establishing family branches and links with descendants in Scotland, Australia, Canada and more intriguing links with Hawaii and Bermuda, to name just a few. Before the internet, Lorna and Penny did paper research in their libraries in Canada and Australia, and Lorna hired researchers to review the records in Scotland. The project was registered with the Guild of One Name Studies, and the families which had been researched had been entered into a burgeoning database, and branches were given numbers to help identify them, and thus Lorna and Penny had laid the foundations for what has become a most amazing and comprehensive survey of McCubbins worldwide.

Lorna is a very forward-thinking person, and has always embraced new technologies.  When the internet came along she was pretty quick off the mark, I think, in setting up the first website and in making sure we knew where the newly emerging databases on the internet were… the internet was a new phenomenon in those days – they were exhilarating times when we were constantly finding new online records to mine, not least from the fabulous Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society who did so much work to transcribe memorial inscriptions from across that whole region.  We were very busy, and it was really exciting.

I have such fond memories of the correspondence I had with Lorna and Penny about the minutiae of family groups, and it was always a delight, of course, when we found that we could link up different numbered groups together by finding that essential record!!

And then DNA testing came along, and Lorna got us involved with that in 2007.  I have to admit that I wasn’t sure where it was going to take us, but it has been an amazing initiative which has led, so far, to the discovery of only 4 discrete DNA groups of McCubbins – that is, 4 distinct family groups who have no ‘blood’ relation to each other.  It also meant, of course, that as McCubbin men from the various branches became involved in that part of the project (restricted to men because the part of the DNA tested is on the Y chromosome), we were able to group together various branches knowing that they were related – we don’t know how they are related, but via DNA testing, we can be sure that they are, possibly from way back in the eons of time.  By 2011, Lorna had commissioned a new website which, apart from being better looking and more modern, enabled more and more of the information we had gathered to be uploaded and shared publicly.

While all this was going on we were still beavering away researching the various McCubbins, and with Cub Reports being published online from 2001 we had McCubbins contacting us from around the world seeking information and sharing their stories.  By reading those Cub Reports it’s astonishing to realise the extent and breadth of the research done and the McCubbin descendants we have linked up with from Scotland to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, USA, Hawaii, Bermuda, Ireland, Jamaica, Guyana and Peru… have I missed anywhere?!  Those descendants generously shared their tales and wonderful photos of their descendants and many of their stories were included in the Cub Reports – tales of McCubbins in war and peace time, the stories of their migrations, even tales of their criminality!

And this is all down to the efforts of Lorna, and her late husband Jim, who originally had the idea for the project, with Lorna sending hundreds of letters to McCubbins all over the world, their names having been gleaned from white pages .  Penny was one of the first to contact Lorna, who recalled “…it so happened that her daughter, son and granddaughter were coming to the Cayman Islands where I then lived. It was such a treat to meet kin we had never known about. And the fun began!!!!”

Lorna and Penny then formally founded the McCubbin Family History Association.  We should remember, too, Lynne McCubbin from Ayrshire, who was involved in the early days, and Rick in the USA who has been in touch with McCubbin families there.  We are all indebted to Lorna for getting the ball rolling, and to Penny for all the work she has done on the Australian front, and the legacy that they will leave McCubbins worldwide. For my part is has been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to have been asked to be a part of this and, although I have never met Lorna or Penny, I feel I know them – not just the ‘genie’ side (as we call it) but on a personal level.  Over the years we’ve shared a lot: joys and pleasures, and sadness and grief. I count them both as good friends and will miss them not being a part of the project anymore, but they certainly deserve their retirements and I wish them great happiness and pleasure in enjoying that time.

Obituaries 

Reginald Francis McCubbin 1919-2018

We were very sad to hear from Reginald McCubbin’s family in Australia that he died on 3 July 2018, aged 99 – he would have reached his centenary in February 2019!  We featured Reg in Cub Reports in 2013 and 2014 to tell about his remarkable and fascinating war service and experiences in the Pacific, which featured in the Fraser Coast Chronicle in 2012.

Our heartfelt sympathy and condolences are offered to his son, Trevor, who passed on this sad information and to the rest of his family in Queensland.

Reginald Frances McCubbin 1919 – 2018 A Tribute

(from the eulogy son, Trevor, gave at his Dad’s funeral)

Reg was born in 1919, 3 months after the finish of the First World War.  He was born into a world without electricity, telephones, radio, motor cars or aeroplanes. They did have kites with motors, and the few rich in the cities had cars and telephones, but not in Yuleba. The main form of transport was by horse.  The Cobb and Co coachers were still running – in fact the last one to run from Yuleba to Surat was in 1924.

His was a pioneer family, Reg being a fifth generation Australian.  James McCubbin (1810-1888), Reg’s great grandfather, came as a free settler in 1830 and married Christiana McIntyre who had come out to Australia with her family in 1837.  James’ history is recorded in a book called ‘Beyond the Black Stump’. The first settler in the Coolah district, he was quite an entrepreneur. He was the owner of hotels, slab huts with bark roofs, and held post office contracts in three towns, a blacksmith shop and cattle properties.  His daughter, Agnes, was Reg’s grandmother.

Reg’s first job was working for his father sinking dams. His father was born 25 years before Federation, in 1875, and worked as a contract carrier and dam sinker. One of the dams they built was still called ‘McCubbin’s Dam’ 70 years later!

Reg and his father, William McCubbin (1875-1943), used a small bucket/dredge pulled by 8 horses and cut down trees using an axe to sink the dams.  It took 3 months away from home living in the bush in a tent to dig a dam. The scoop used by Reg was later found on a trip he made with his son, Trevor, to a heritage village near Dalby in 2006 – the attendant there told them it was picked up in Yuleba! The photo shows Reg with the scoop he used to use.

The depression saw the family lose everything including their home.  Reg moved to Cracow in the late 30s to join his brother who had moved there earlier.  They worked in the gold mining industry. Son, Trevor, relates “they worked on their bellies down holes to dig out the quartz which held the gold.  They were paid so much a pound for what they took to the claim holder.”

In 1941 Reg joined the army as war had broken out and the Japanese had entered the war.  He was one of Sparrow force and we reported on his military service in the Cub Reports of 2013 and 2014: https://mccubbinhistory.info/2021/03/16/the-cub-report-2013/ and https://mccubbinhistory.info/2021/03/16/the-cub-report-2014/

Reg and Phyllis (nee Davis) married while he was on leave in 1944, and after only 2 weeks together he was posted overseas. Phyllis didn’t hear from him for 8 months. They were married for 74 years.

After leaving the army he worked at the Brisbane Mirror Co in Brisbane where they purchased a home.  In 1951 they moved with their young family to Chinchilla where Reg worked timber cutting in the sawmill there to get enough money to buy a farm.  They purchased a farm in Bidwell outside Maryborough.

The photo shows Reg and his workmate, Bill Clayton, from the sawmill, with Bill’s two girls. Bill sadly died just a couple of months after this photo was taken, having been crushed by a log in the sawmill.

The farm at Bidwell was a continuous struggle:  there was no electricity, just a long-drop toilet, no running hot water.  Heating was from a wood stove and lighting from pressure lights. Food was kept cold in a kero fridge.

The family lived through drought, and flood, and financial hardship.  They stayed at the farm for 10 years then had to sell out due to poor health.   But it wasn’t all work – they had plenty of friends, so it was cards night at different homes once a month, and the local dance at the Bidwell Magnolia hall where Reg sung all the old songs as he danced with all the ladies.  They had a lot of friends who all supported each other when anyone got into trouble.

Reg worked at Walkers Ltd until he retired in 1976, and Phyllis continued in Real estate, accumulating a small property portfolio. They lived in retirement at Lambert St, Maryborough for over 25 years.

After retiring from work they enjoyed travelling both in Australia and throughout Europe and America, including taking a number of cruises to the Pacific Islands, and the area north of Australia. They loved to play indoor bowls and were working members holding a number of positions organizing clubs and tournaments in the area.  Between travelling, playing and organizing indoor bowls, and managing their homes they had a very active and enjoyable retirement.

All the best for 2019!!

The MCFHA Committee, Chairperson of McCubbin Family History Association – Kathy McCubbing

Keeper of the Master Genealogist McCubbin database – Kathy McCubbing

Member – Guild of One Name Studies – Kathy forwards world queries to co-ordinators.

DNA Project Administrator – Admin – Ryan McCubbin and James H McCubbin – co-admin

Coordinators:  Ryan – USA; Kathy – rest of the world

MCFHA Sponsors – Lorna McCubbin & son, James H McCubbin

Facebook Administrator – James H McCubbin,

Co-Admin – Kathy McCubbing

Cub Helper – Ryan McCubbin

Click to whom you wish to email Kathy, James, Ryan.

To the many people who have contributed to the content of the CUB report, we say Thank You!

We are especially grateful to those of you who provided samples for the DNA project. It is providing a great insight into our past.

Contact us about any questions or queries about your McCubbin ancestors