Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
Hi. We have a large Calton family here in Eufaula, Alabama.
Mainly descendents of Marcus DeLafayette Calton from North Carolina.
They moved
from Sunshine, North Carolina to Eufaula, Alabama (where we live now) in
July 1918. my great grand father had several brothers, Spurgen Calton, Lee
Calton, Witt Calton. It appears they may have already been here in America around 1880 but we dont know for sure. One of my great, great grandfather's name was Javan Calton and apparently he was living in North Carolina in the middle 1800's.
I found the following in a old file of my grandfather's:
CALTON vs. CARLTON
2402 Everett Avenue,,
Raleigh,, North Carolina.
April 15, 1948.
Dear Beloved Kinfolk:
When we grow up believing a thing is so,, and particularly
when that belief is something we've cherished and taken pride in,
there's always a rude shook when some one produces proof that what
we’ve believed is true is not true* The person producing such proof
isn’t likely to be very popular. If believing what we do gives us
a sense of contentment in that belief, then having that belief shat-
tered is like a dash of cold water in the face,, and we don't like it,,
nor do we like the person who provides the unexpected dash of cold
water. Because of this, you will be able to understand that I am
not enthusiastic about writing this letter to you,'The reason I am
writing it is that I feel that I should make a report on the research
I have done, and what I have learned.
If there is another member of the family who has spent as
much time in collecting information about the, family as I have, I do
not know who it is. Most of you know that for the past 15 years I've
been accumulating data and that the time and work I've spent has been
a labor of love. I’ve enjoyed learning all I could about present as
well as past generations. During the 1930's my time was spent in col-
lecting data on the Calton family in this country. For the past five
or six years. I’ve been using every opening I could find to trace the
Calton family back to our starting point - Scotland.
There had been disagreement in different branches of the
family as to whether the name should be spelled CALTON ve CARLTON,
and each one, without any conclusive proof to back it up has believed
his way of spelling it was the correct one. There is one thing on
which all of us have agreed. OUR FAMILY IS OF SCOTTISH ORIGIN. Our
ancestors came to this country from Ireland, but before that they came
to Ireland from Scotland. Though they may have lived in Ireland a
few years before coming, there is no reason to believe that they
married or intermingled with the Irish. The term "Scotch-Irish'
is misleading. Most people when they say "I'm of Scotch-Irish descent
believe themselves to be a mixture of the Scotch and the Irish. Ac-
tually, they probably haven’t a drop of Irish blood in them. From
all the histories I’ve read, and from all I can learn in family re-
search, our family is SCOTTISH. I've copied excerpts from one of the
histories on this point, and I'll copy these and give you the name of
the history and the author, and then if there’s anyone who wishes to
do further research along this line, I'll give you the names of other
histories you may read:
From: HISTORY OF SUNCOMBE COUNTY., NORTH CAROLINA ( in two
volumes) by, Foster Alexander Sondley, L. L. D. Page 359, Vol. I
" The proclamation which invited the Scotch to go to Ireland was
dated at Edinburgh, March 28, 1609, and it was therein required
that the Scotch would be from the inward parts of Scotland and
so located in Ireland that they may not mix or intermarry with the Irish.
Most of the-,Scots who went were from the shires of Dumbarton,,
Renfrew, Ayre,, Galloway and Dumfries, and removed about
1513. "
P.3W. Vol. 1. 'Some years after Charles II, became actual King of
Great Briton, he undertook to establish episcopacy in Scotland,---
From these persecutions many Scotch people fled to Ulster, most of
them from Galloway and Ayres Then came the disastrous attempts in
1715 and 1745 to regain the crown for the Stuarts; and still more
Scotchmen who had participated in them on the losing side, sought
refuge in Ulster (Ireland). Thus a large part of-Northern Ireland
became inhabited by Scotchmens, In Ireland, they never relinquished
the character and habits of Boots."
P.351,Vol. I. 'As a result of conditions thus produced ( this refers
to the repression of the manufacture of woolen and linen goods by
the Scotch in Ireland during the reign of William and Mary, so that
all this business could be done by the English)-- annually for a
while, 3,000 males left Ulster (Ireland) for the colonies in North
America. Moat of these landed in Pennsylvania about 1699, at the
commencement of the American Revolution. 800,000 of these people
and their*indred from Scotland were living in the thirteen American
colonies (which was 1/4 of the PODUlation of these provinces.)
These emigrants from Ireland, alt@ough ALMOST YNTIRELY OF SCOTCH
BLOOD, acquired and ever since have borne the name of Scotch-Irish."
?. 362,Vol.I. "The Alleghany or Appalachian Mountainst the French
claims and activities, and Indian hostilities --- deflected for a
time the westward trend of migration and turned it southward."
P. 363,Vol. I. "Along the foot of the Blue Ridge in Virginia the
Scotch-Ir!_sh made settlement in 1739, and soom after they began to
establish homes in North C&rolina."
----rEnd of quotations.----
There you have it - why we left Scotland to move to Ire-
land, why we left Ireland for America, and the statement that we did
not intermarry with the Irish. If you'll read Dr. Sondleyts history
you'll learn why it was nlanned even bcfore the Soots moved to Ire-
land that they not to intermarry, The Scots wcre proud in the long
ago and they are proud of their race down to this good day. I see
it in the letterv that come to me from there.
Another belief we've had has been that Calton Hill in
Edinburgh was property that had belonged to our family, and that the
Hill got its name from our family. When there's a dispute about how
to smell the name, we could always point triumphantly to Calton
Hill in Fdinburgh in trying to prove to the folk who spelled the
name CARLTON, that the "r" did not belong there. Calton Hill proved
it to our own satisfaction. That was just something else that we
grew uD believing and we were satisfied it was true because wefd
always believed it was true. But alas, "it ain't necessarily so".
I have a history of Calton Hill, and I'll tell you how it came
about and what I learned.
In 1941 two RAF's were my guest for a weekends George
d I
Haugh was from London. He was shot down early in the war an
3
do not now. correspond with any of his family. .(I do correspudd with
two friends of his friends. They wrote to me.)
RDbert Combo was from Aberdeen Scotland and I correspond with F.0bert's,
wife. .(They all call him'Bert') Her name is Daisy Combe,
I also 'correspond with Bert's sisters: (2)
1. Patricia (Mrs. R.J. Milne) and her neighbors - the John Mae-
Larens, Barrow-in-Furness, Eng.
2. Ella (Mrs. Wm. Simpson) and with Mrs. R.J. Milne's sister-
formally of Calcutta, India in-law Baisy Milne, of Aberdeen,SeX,
now of Aberdeen, 3 otland,
There are at least 8 other families in England and Scotland I have
corresponded with,, principally three members of the MacFarlane
family (relatives of the Simpson family in Rochester, N.Y. You recall
I spent part of my vacation with the Sirpsons in Rochester last
summer)/
Even though the Milnes and the MacLarens live in England,
they are still loyal Soots and they have been wonderfully interested
and helpful It trying to help me locate members of the Calton family
in Scotland. All three families of the MacFarlane clan live in
Scotland, in different towns or cities, but though I've asked every-
one, not one person had ever heard of a Calton in Scotland.
Daisy Combe used to visit her aunt in Edin'qurgh for weeks
at a time, while her husband was in Egypt (during the war). On one
of those visits she sent me a lovely book of watercolors. It is
called THE CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND ( which is Edinburgh, as you know),,
DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY NOEL G. FYFE, FOR ROBERT GRANT & SON, LTD,
EDINBURGH. (Note: Don't forget Mr. Fyfe. He's coming into this
story again). I framed a number of these pictures and hung them on
my walls and among them was a water color of CALT014 HILL, which I
very proudly pointed out to all visitors and told them that this was
the home of my ancestors - that it was named for my family, etc.
(Pride goeth before a fal1l) I even wrote to those lovely Deople
in Scotland and told them that CALTON HILL was where my ancestors
came from years ago. Those who know the history of the Hill must
have smiled, but they were too oolite to tell me t-hat I didn1t know
what I wqs talking about.
After I'd framed and hung my CALTON HILL Dicture, I wrote
and asked Daisy to see if she could buy a book for me on her next
triD to Edinburgh, that would give me the history of CALTON HILL.
When whe went again she went to the Library, and bound the book that
is a history of CALTON HILL. She had already tried at the book
shops and was told that no copies were available excent in libraries.
The book had long been out of print and no library would lend a copy.
I suppose she already know that 1 was in for a disappointment when I
read the history, but she didn't tell me, she just said that the
libraries in Edinburgh said that the book was in libraries in this
country: Washington, D.C., Cleveland Ohio, New York City, Detroit,
and Los Angeles.
When I got that information I wrote to Neta Carlton, then
living in N.Y. City (wife of my nephew, John Carlton Jr.) and told
4
her to go to the city library and see if she could borrow or -rent the
book long enough for me to copy part or all of it. fte oouldnit
take It out of the library but she went up there on Saturdays, sat
in the reading room and copied it in pencils then typed It and sent
it to me. Well, here comes the let-down. The original spelling was
Caldtoun and It was a;burgh or borough, a small hilly village with a
high will around it with guards at the. gates within the city of Edinburgh
and what it was was a scooialistic trade union. The people
lived in this walled section and governed themselves. We'd call it a
labor union today. It was called the Caldtoun, but that was just the
name of the INCORPORATION OF TRADES OF CALDTOUN. The owner of the
property was John Lord Balmerino and in 1631 he gave them a *deed of gift"
which doesn't mean that he gave them the estate, he just gave tht
union the right to work and trade in this area. The estate on which
these workers lived was a portion of the Barony of Restalrig, and his
Lordship John Balmerino was 'superior' of this barony. The community
consisted entirely of hard-working and industrious classes. If an
outsider wanted to come into the walled-in-village to work or carry on
his trade, he had to make a money payment. The money collected took
care of'the poor.
These people had their own council and a convening hall, a
jails at one time a hospital (for LeDeral. They had people to act as
policemen, night watchmen road and bridge builders, people to light
and clean streets and others to 1ook after aged or orphans, and poor
or sick people. Anyone who didn't live up to his duty or to the best
interest of the Caldtoun could be put out and told to skeddadle and
never come back and that was that.
INCORPORATED TRADES OF CALDTOUN was a going concern for
more than 250 years (1631-1887) and somewhere in that time bit by bit
they bought the land on which they lived and worked. Sometime in that
period the spelling changed and they dropped the `d' and the 'u' from
Caldtoun, which of course left CALTON. Nowhere in the whole history
is there any mention of a person or persons named "CALTON's but the
name of the Inc. Trades was the name of the Union and the name was
applied to places. "The Calton Jail". to-The Calton Bridge", and
Calton burying'Ground" and Calton Hill'. Nany famous reople are buried
in the old Calton '--flying Ground and many of these are listed In the
history, but since there is no mention of there ever having been a
CALTON living there, naturally th-Cre Is no mention of one ever having
been buried there. if a Caiton -person didn't live, he couldn't die
and be buried.
i found the history of THE INCORPORATED TRADE'S OF C'ILT0N
interesting even though it has no connection with out family, nor
with any fAMILly of that name. Well, even though I was convinced of
that fact, I still expectced to find somewhere a record of a Calton
family of Scotland, so I didn't hhve much to say about what I'd learned
about Calton Hill, while I continued to search for records of a Calton
family ever having lived in Scotland. I was pretty stubborn about it,
and pretty sure that sooner or later I'd get hold of a book that would
give me what I was looking for.
One Chtlatmaa, the box from the Y-acLaren family contained
a book sent me by Mr. MacLaren, entitled "The Scottish Tartans, With
Badges, Arms, Slogans, etc., of the Clans", published by Miller &
Lung, Ltd., Darnley Works, Glasgow Scotland. This listed the clans
and the various-families belonging to those clans and there wer@o'ages
j
in oolour showing the. various tartans (plaids) that, the clans were
entitled to w--ear. Not only is there no Calton clan,, there in no
family or Calton listed as belonging to any clan* I found three clans
or my motherle family and round the clans to which aome,or our maternal
ancestors belonged but the Caltons were not there*
..Later, my friend,, Mrs. R. J. Milne (Bertfs sister,, Patricia)
wrote me a letter on some beautiful plaid stationery. The manufacturers
name THE PLAID. STATIOMMY OF SCOTLANID,LYD, was printed under the flap of
the unusual plaid envelope and I wrote to them in Edinburgh to ask for
prices on it, instructions for ordering eta. The reply came promptly
and it was written by Mr, Noel G. Fyfe, a director of the company.
(Rembmber I told you Mr. Fyfe would come into the story again? Well,,
here he is. But this isn't all).
In my letter of inquiry,, I had listed the clans in which I
was interested, but said that I was Particularly interested in learning
the clan to which the Calton family 'belonged for that was the stationery
I wanted to buy. In his reply, Mr. Fife told me that his company
printed books on Scottish genealogy, and they had one at the -printers
then, entitled SCOTS KITH AND KIN,, by Ctierrie Osborne. He told me the
price of it, in case I wished to include it in my order. In addition to
printing books about Scottish families they have a library containing
many volumnes on Scottish genealogy, and so Mr.. Fyfe searched through
those books trying to find a Calton family listed, so he could answer
my question about the clan. I was amazed that he went to so much trouble
for me. A person doing genealogical research would have charged me a
fancy price to have done the work Mr. Fyfje did for me on it. Another
disappointment I NO CALTON FAMILY I I bought his book SCOTS KITH AIM KIN
even though I knew we'd not be in it, and I made two orders for the
stationery, and plan to write for a new price list, but that is incidents'
For a time it seemed I was at a standstill. Wheh an authority on
Scottish families, as Mr. Fyfe is, could locate no records of them, you
might think I was stumped. But No .1 Here I go again.
My friend, Rose Shepardson, In Pittsfield, Mass., sent me a
CliDDing about a new book,, written by Dr. George F. Black, "THE
SUFd,iAYRS (Pi SCOTLA1,D% giving 7,000 Scottish family names. The book
sells for ev13.00. Dr Black
& , if alive now is In his 83rd year, is a
Scotman by birth, and after taking Id's degree at Edinburgh, entered the
service of the Scottish National Museum of Antiquities. His interest in
Scottish surnames has been a passion of long duratiln. He snent 42
years collecting the information for his book about Scottish families.
When I read that, I thought to myself, at last, here's the book for me.
Dr. Elack has exhausted every source o-l' information there is
A. I k
in all Scotland to learn about Scottish families. He hasn't left the
remotest nook unexplored not a leaf unturned that would Five him the
information for his book. So. if there ever was a family in Scotland
by the name of Calton there will be a record of it in Dr. Flackts book.
The book was not to be found in a Raleigh library but I know it was in
the 1_1'ew York 7-lublic Library in New York City, so I wrote to one of
"my boys". ex-Captain Joe Rathgeb and asked him to go to the library
and search that 836 page volume to see if he could find a Calton listed.
As a last resort 11 1 saido 'If you dont find Caltonj try CARLTON." He
did that great favor for me very promptly and wrote#
"There was nothing under CALTON, but under 6A-HLTON was the follow-
ing:
6
CARLTON - CHARLTON Local. There are places named Carleton
in the shires,or Kirkoubrights, Wigtown and Ayr* and ithe surname is
common in the Noithlof England."
These places are all in Scotland
'Duean b.e Carleton of
. Ayrshire rendered homage:1296
"Johannes De Carletoun. had a charter from Robert 1, of the
lands of Dalmakeran in Ayrshire 1323,"
"Beatrix.De Carletona was wife if William De Eyehles 1371.1*
"In the 18th century the Charltons were one of the four
principal graynes or clans that ruled North Lyne."
Now if I could have gone to Scotland in person, as I had
hoped to do after the war, I could not have had the time * nor the re-
sources to do all the research that my friends have done for me.
When our cousin, Eldon E. Sweezy, first came to Kashington
from Oklahoma, he spent quite a lot of time at the Congressional Library
in Washington and he found records of Caltons who had emigrated to
Virginia,, but without exce]2tion, they had come from England, they were
not Scottish fZ-illes who had lived in Ireland a few years before coming
to this country. There are Caltons biving in England today, but not in
Scotland.
Now, one last bit of history. In 1946 my niece Margaret
Carlton said,, "I want the Carlton coat of arms.' I said, "but the
Carltons are English and our family came fron Scotland. If you're one
of the Scottish clan, you'll have to drop the 'r' and s-oc-11 it Calton."
Since that time Ifve learned a lot of history about the name. After I
had the re-ort on Dr. Black's book and learned that CARLTON really was
the way the Scottish line spelled it, I wrote to a Mrs. 6moak to ask
for quotations on getting the coat of arms painted. I emphasized this:
I want the Scottish family of this name, not the English.
Followups:
|
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/calton/messages/7.html | ||
 |
Agreement of Use Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|