I am still interested in researching Dick, Johnstone, McGinnis, Murphy and Freil (any spellings). Janet Dick m. John Johnstone in Dundonald in 1820s, and other families were in Kilwinning, Kilmarnock and Dalry from 1840's. Common men's names in Freil family were James, William, Daniel. Please note I have a new e-mail address.

I noticed the surname McGinnis in your list of names from the town of Kilmarnock. My grandmother and her parents and siblings emigrated from there in the 1880's. Parents' names were John P McGinnis and Rose Domigan McGinnis. Any connection?
Thank you,
Bernice

Bernice,
I think the family in Kilmarnock were related to my family in Dalry. Grandmother's brother, John, was married in Kilmarnock in 1880 to Mary Hollywood. There were few McGinnis families in Ayrshire at that time, and those families had the same given names. Do you know who your John's grandparents were? I have an aquaintance who lives in England working on McGinnis from the same areas. We thought we had a proven connection at one time, but new evidence casts doubt. My ancestor, Edward McG. was m. in Kilwinning in 1852. He was b. in Co. Cavan 1834. I do have his baptism record with parents' names. I will be happy to share everything I do know if you would like it.

Barbara

Barbara
This is the information I have about John Patrick McGinnis:
John Patrick McGinnis [(b. 27 July 1856, d.1 Dec. 1911 in Pittsburgh, PA, m. Rose Domigan]
he was the son of:
Francis P McGinnis [(b. ?, d. 3 Feb. 1875)m.Margaret Hughes]
he was the son of:
Francis McGinnes [(dates unknown) m. Bridget Rox]

Does any of this fit? My grt gf came to America around 1880's to work in coal mines in western Pennsylvania.

My brother thinks that John's family originally emigrated from County Down, Ireland to Kilmarnock. I have an address for John in Kilmarnock, I will have to see if I can find it.

Thank you for replying.
Bernice

None of your data fits with mine; however, have you exhausted the available Scottish records? After 1855, they are super. Have you looked for R.C. church records in Kilmarnock? They do not usually have staff to look for you, but will sometimes let people look for ancestors. My friend found some pertinent records in Dalry. If you can read all the birth, marriage and death certificates for your John's family, including parents & grandparents, you may learn something that takes you further back. I got the counties in Ireland from those kinds of records in Scotland over 20 years ago. They are much easier to access, now. There are some records for "McGinnis" in Kilmarnock in the GRO.

Good luck.
Barbara

Barbara,
Are you living in the UK? Did you get some of your information through the mail? I know that I should be sending requests to Scotland via the mail, but not sure how to and I am limited on time to devote on this hobby. Thanks for the advice, though. I will have to branch out a little more on this line.

Again thanks!!
Bernice

I was wondering if you had maybe come across Donald McInnes ( McGinnis ) married to an Elizabeth McDonald. I have them in Kilmarnock in 1845 but I've not been able to find anything else. They had one daughter that I found named Catherine born in Kilmarnock in 1845.
Ay help would be appreciated.

Barry

I was wondering if you had coma across a Donald McGinnis married to an Elizabeth McDonald . They had one daughter I'm aware of named Catherine who was born in 1845 in Kilmarnock.

Any help would be appreciated
Regards
Barry

Barry,
I wish that I could make a connection with your Donald and my John McGinnis, but, alas, I cannot. I believe that my John emigrated from Ireland to Kilmarnock sometime after his birth which was around 1850. But, perhaps the reason he went to Kilmarnock was to connect with relatives, which may have included your Donald McInnes. Barry, we'll just have to keep looking. Good hunting. Bernice

Barry,
I replied to your other post but will repeat that I don't know of any connection. My John McGinnis was born in County Down Ireland and immigrated to Kilmarnock sometime after that (c. 1850) I don't even know if he went as a child with his parents or traveled there himself as a young man. His father's name was Hugh McGinnis, I do know that. Maybe, Donald is related and that is why my McG's went to Scotland. But that is just a wild (and I do mean 'wild') guess.
Bernice