When I learned from Isabella's obituary that she had come to Wilmington from Columbia, SC, I went to the 1870 Census for Columbia, SC and there they were. Robt McDougal, age 50, occupation Iron and Brass Founder, lives in Columbia with wife Isabella age 49, son James age 23 (occupation machinist) and daughter Isabella age 21 [implies 1849 birth]. All are said to have been born in Scotland. It was also stated that the value of Robert’s real estate was $4,000 — a sizable holding in that time and place.

Another stop to learn more about this family was the New Hanover County Library (NHCL). Several sources there, taken together, filled in a few more details. I was especially interested in determining exactly when this family came to America, when they came to Wilmington and when Robert, the father, died and where he was buried.

One source I reviewed is a microfilm of the earliest session minutes of St. Andrew’s Covenant Presbyterian Church. I had first glanced at them some years ago and noted then that the name Robert McDougall had seemed prominent in the early years of the church. But, back then, I had not felt I had proven that Robert was Isabella’s father, so I had not really studied them. But, now I set out to study these more extensively. It turned out that the prominent Robert McDougall who became a ruling elder with Alex Sprunt and John Colville was a different man entirely than Isabel’s father but I was able to sort out him and his family from the McDougall family of interest here. Here are a few items from early church records about the McDougall family of interest.

–On 17 Nov 1878, Mr. Robert McDougall was received as a member on profession of faith. This was the second Robert McDougall in this church. The other had joined with his wife Mary in 1875. This one (1878) is the one of interest. His wife has died. So, by keeping track of the married Robert versus the widower, they can be kept separate.

–And on 13 Feb 1880, Miss Isabella S McDougall was admitted by certificate (it doesn“t say from where). Note the middle initial S — it becomes important later in this narrative. It also appears on her tombstone and on her marriage application.

–On 9 Jan 1888, Mrs. Christina McDougall, wife of James, is admitted by certificate from Carmi, IL. (She was the second Christina McDougall in this congregation, but again this is in the family of interest.)

–Also, on the microfilm, there was a membership directory dated 1 Jan 1889 and the members included Mrs. T A Lawther (not TA though, just Mrs.) and six McDougalls — Robert, Mrs. Robert, Agnes, Emma, James and Mrs. James. Only James and Mrs. James are Isabella’s kin — so it would appear her father has died.

Nonetheless, Isabel’s father Robert was a member of St. Andrews as was Isabel — he apparently joined in 1878 and she in 1880. Moreover, Isabella’s father seems to be missing from the 1889 directory. The Lawthers, who had been in town since about 1870, had not been previous members of this church. I don’t know to what church they did belong, it could have been some different Presbyterian church, but my hunch is that the reason the later Lawthers were Presbyterian is that they were brought into that faith by Robert and Isabel McDougall.

Another useful library source is the ”Bill Reaves Collection” which has recently been made available. Reaves was a long-time newspaperman in Wilmington who over his lifetime assembled newspaper clippings — including from the very old city papers -- which he organized by family surname. The actual files are available and many of them have been typed up, clipping by clipping, and published as a multi-volume book set with chapters devoted to a particular family surname.

[Reaves had a Lawther file -- which I examined -- though he did not type his Lawther clippings as a chapter of his book — I suppose because they did not meet some threshold relating to number of mentions or something like that.]

But he did have a McDougall chapter and there were some interesting facts that emerged from it. Now Reaves was not a genealogist, per se, and makes no effort to tie one person of a given name to another or for that matter to differentiate between two people of the same name. So you have no way of knowing if people of a given surname are related or not unless the newspaper article he has typed (obituary or wedding announcement, etc.) makes the relationships clear.

And the problem with the McDougall chapter is that it was especially confusing relating to Robert McDougall because it turns out there were at least three Robert McDougalls in Wilmington in the 1880’s — and there was no way of knowing in Reaves who was who. The three were Isabel’s father, the other Robert of St. Andrews who with wife Mary had a son also named Robert. But, with some effort, going back and forth between Reaves and other sources, I did sort them out and here are some clippings from Reaves relating to McDougalls who were in some way related to the Lawthers. For the most part this will serve to introduce your ”cousins”, some of whom you knew as cousins, others you apparently didn’t.

–1895. Mr. Robert McDougall of Columbia, SC is here visiting his brother, Mr. JH McDougall.

This citation had no relevance until I found the posting of David G McDougall (see above) and traced the family members he identifies. JH is surely John Houston, Isabella“s cousin. He was the son of Robert’s brother John (or Malcolm) who came to Columbia in about 1858 and stayed there. John/Malcolm never moved to Wilmington but his son John Houston eventually does.

–1906. John H McDougall died. [This is John Houston.] He was age 52, born in Scotland [implies 1854 birth]. He was a devoted member of Brooklyn Baptist Church. He leaves his wife, his son John and two daughters

–1908. Miss May McDougall — daughter of Mrs. JH McDougall — marries Hugh Belk Farrington.

–1910. Mr. James McDougall dies. He was 63, born in Scotland, came to America at age of 3 [about 1850 therefore], lived with his parents in Columbia, SC and as a young man was conductor with ACL. He was a resident of Wilmington for 23 years [thus 1887, not 1877 like his father and sister] and during his entire life in Wilmington was with the Alex Sprunt firm. He was a member of St Andrews. He is survived by his wife and four daughters — Margaret, Isabel, Elizabeth and Christine — and a sister Mrs. TA Lawther.

–1913. Margaret McDougall marries Lloyd Badon at her home at 208 Grace Street. [This is James’ daughter.]

–1924. Mrs. Christina McDougall (Mrs. James) dies. She was 66, a widow, born in Carmi, IL.

–1939. The will of Margaret McDougall Badon is probated. It leaves everything to her mother Christina C (who died in 1924!) but in the event of her death to her two sisters Isabel A and Elizabeth F. [But she had a third sister Christine who seems unmentioned.]

–1945. John August McDougall dies. He was 65, born in Columbia, SC [1880 birth]. Services were at Calvary Baptist Church. Survivors include a son John M, sisters Mrs. Furr and Mrs. Farrington and a brother Robert H McDougall of Wilmington. [John A is the son of John Houston.]

–1988. Miss Christine McDougall died. She was born in Wilmington 5 Nov 1899 to James and Christina Campbell McDougall. She had been a member of St. Andrews. Surviving is her nephew Floyd L Holt Jr. of Bolivia, TN.

Lastly, the library has a set of old City Directories listing residents of town and their street address. Either they weren’t published every year, or the Library is missing some, but here is what I learned from the directories they do have:

–1865-1866. No Lawthers are present. The only McDougal is George MacDougald, not a relative.

–1871. T R Lawther, engineer with Wilmington and Weldon Railroad. [T R was also present here in the 1870 Census.] The ”Mc” section is somewhat obliterated, but I don’t think there were any McDougalls of interest listed.

–1875. T R Lawther, engineer, lives on Front Street. The McDougalls include: John M timekeeper, Robert Sr and Robert Jr carriage makers, and George distiller. I don’t believe any are relatives.

–1877-1878. T R Lawther is present, same address and occupation as 1875. R McDougall, founder, is present at the Lawther address. Other McDougalls include: Robert Sr and Jr and TC (a grocer). The one at the same address is clearly the one of interest.

–1881-1882. Three Lawthers are listed. Larry an engineer, Mary operates boarding house and Thomas R an engineer — same address as before. Obviously, they scrambled the names a bit — there was no Larry to my knowledge. I think the pattern in these early directories is that women were listed only if they had some sort of business, thus Mary is here because she runs the boarding house. The McDougalls include: Robert, founder, at Lawther address, JM conductor, Robt P blacksmith and Robt of McDougall & Williamson carriage makers. Robert at the Lawther address is a relative, of course, and JM the conductor may be Isabel’s brother.

–1883. Thomas Lawther engineer lives at 420 N 3rd. And these McDougalls: R, locksmith, at 106 N 6th, RP carriage maker at 102 N 6th, Mrs. E school at 106 N 6th, Maria at 108 N 6th, Robert (of McDougall/Williamson) at 108 N 6th, George C Jr at 817 Chestnut, James at 411 N 3rd and R at 808 Chestnut. James is probably Isabel’s brother who seems to have appeared on the scene a few years later than his father and sister (he was at her wedding but might have been just visiting then). R on Chestnut may be her father but I can’t be sure. The others all live near each other and are not relatives of Isabel.

–1885. Thos A Lawther engineer lives at 314 Red Cross. McDougalls — Geo C merchant, RP (McDougall and Bowden, harness makers) 106 N 6th, Miss ME teacher 106 N 6th, Robt commission merchant 108 N 6th, and R produce broker 14 Princess. Again the R on Princess is the only candidate. James should be here too, seems to have been skipped.

–1889. Thomas A Lawther engineer lives at 416 Campbell. McDougalls — GC merchant, RP horseshoer 108 N 6th, James clerk 512 N 3rd, R lab 11 Northrop“s Alley. R on Northrop“s Alley is perhaps Robert. Did he keep changing occupations, though? James is back.

As an aside, the 1890 Tax List for New Hanover County lists these McDougalls: JH (age 35), Geo C, Ronald and RP. I think only JH (John Houston) is of the family of interest — Robert McDougall’s nephew apparently. Again, James seems to come and go.

–1894-95. Thos Lawther eng lives at 207 Mulberry (becomes Grace later). McDougalls — James 216 Mulberry, JH mechanic 614 Walnut and Ronald fisherman. John Houston has arrived on the scene to join his cousins in town.

Now there is one important loose thread in the various stories above and that is to identify Robert’s brother. To the extent that I can find any evidence of this man in Columbia, I think he generally went by the name Malcolm.

–The 1880 Census for Columbia, SC has one McDougall family present. It is Malcolm age 46 (implies 1834) with his wife Jeanette and children Robert 19, William 16, Elizabeth 12, Maggie 10 and Alexander 4. This Malcolm, I am quite sure, is Isabella’s uncle and Robert’s brother

–In early Columbia, SC City Directories we find in 1875-76 Robert McDougall, James and James Jr — all at the same address. (I believe that James is a reference to Robert’s brother and James Jr is not so at all — he is the son of Robert, not James.) In 1879-1880, we find James, M and Robert C — all at the same address. I think this is young James, his uncle Malcolm and his cousin Robert. In 1881, we find James, M, Robt and Wm — again I think James who now lives separate from the others and his uncle and two cousins who live together.

Robert was born 7 Apr 1821 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He moved with his family to Columbia, SC and continued his trade as an iron monger there and then came with his unmarried daughter to Wilmington in about 1877. In the 1880 Census we find Robert and daughter Isabella living as boarders at the boarding house of Mary G Lawther (wife of TA, the first) and of course her 31 year old son still lives at home too. Shortly thereafter Robert’s daughter married Mary G’s son.

Robert’s date of death is not known with certainty — perhaps late 1880’s. He was most likely still in Wilmington when he died but there is no evidence of his being buried here. Unfortunately, there is also no evidence of the likely scenario that he was buried in Columbia, SC next to his wife. The grave site next to his wife appears to be empty, though a dark night, a strong back and a shovel might well prove otherwise. Robert married Isabella Alexander on 2 Dec 1844 in Scotland.

A database on NYC Passenger Arrivals for the 1800's on Ancestry.com provides further details about his immigration. I first found that Isabella came with her two children in June 1851 on the ship Ironior from Glasgow. Her brother John Alexander came too. But Robert did not. But then I found that Robert had come first. He arrived in October 1850 on the ship Lydia from Glasgow.

Found on Ancestry.com New York Immigrants Lists that Isabella McDugald, age 28, arrived 20 Jun 1851 NYC on the ship Ironior from Glasgow. She brought her 5 year old son James and 3 year old daughter Isabella and seems to have come in the company of John Alexander age 21 Engineer who is her brother.

In te 1851 Scotland Census, Isabella McDougall age 27 is head of household living with son James 5 and daughter Isabella 3. Her husband Robert has presumably left for America and she soon will.

Also present in the household were: Duncan Cameron 22 and Robert Inglis 23, both visitors, and Robert McDougall a lodger age 21.

Knowing that the name of Robert’s wife was Isabella and that she apparentrly must have died while the family was living in Columbia, I then found in a database of SC deaths for 1859-1877 this entry: ”Mrs. McDougall, wife of Robert McDougall, died in Columbia, SC about 4 Aug 1872.”

Isabella was born 20 Oct 1821 in Johnstone, Renfrew Scotland and died 4 Aug 1872 in Columbia, SC and is buried there at Elmwood Cemetery (yet another wonderful old cemetery). The birth date I have cited is from the actual church record and the death date is from a compiled listing of newspaper clippings and seems right since the cemetery records say she was buried 5 Aug. Nonetheless, her tombstone says she was born 26 Oct 1821, died 5 Aug 1872 and gives her age as 50 years, 9 months and 25 days — which arithmetic based on her death date implies a birth date of 10 Oct 1821. Welcome to the world of genealogy.

Lastly, a final linchpin came when Mary and I went to Columbia, SC. There we found the tombstone of Isabella. Her plot is an early plot in a section reserved for Mason’s and the space next to her remains apparently empty. There is no marker on it and the cemetery’s records do not show the interment of Robert McDougall next to her — but my hunch is that he just may be there.

Her tombstone reads:

Isabella, wife of Robert McDougall, born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland 26 Oct 1821 died at Columbia, SC 5 Oct 1872 aged 50 years, 9 months, 25 days.

This tombstone brings this whole McDougall family history together and locks it all neatly in place.