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The Descendants of Jack "John" Fotheringham

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Introduction

The information I've obtained on Jack Fotheringham is frequently only oral history. The main sources other than published information noted in the bibliography page comes from information supplied by Lorraine Bailey or Betty Lou Fotheringham Lindgren. My source on the Green side of the family comes from Judy Schulte. My thanks to these individuals.

The Meaning of the Name

Based on what I've found at some Scottish websites, the Fotheringham name means "one who provides (or brings) food". This is a rather vague definition, which winds up telling us not much about the occupation of the original Fotheringham.

About This Site

The research I've been able to do on Scottish records has been limited to the free sites. I've found Fotheringham individuals in "The Kingdom of Fife", aka the Shire of Fife, or Fifeshire, with birth dates in the early 1700's. These people have been found in a variety of occupations including coal miners, colliers, farmers, weavers, and wrights.

However, I have not yet found how OUR John Fotheringham is related to any of these families.

If you discover any glaring errors in facts or stories, please e-mail me with your corrections. Or, if you can help fill in some of the blanks, I'd be grateful!

my e-mail address is:

Renekan2003@yahoo.com

The ancedotal tales of our ancestors, which cannot be supported by facts, will be found with the following title:

FAMILY STORY ( indicates oral history not necessarily supported by facts)

The Family

John, or Jack, as he was known was the first of our line to come to America.

John Fotheringham was born 18 June 1845 in the Shire of Fife, Scotland. He died 19 April 1917 at Academy, Charles Mix Co., SD. He is buried in LaRoche Cemetery, Academy, Charles Mix Co., SD.

On 28 September 1874, he married Agnes Walls at Orwell, Kinross, Scotland.

Agnes Walls was born 20 April 1848 at Leith, Lanark, Scotland. She was Christened on 11 June 1848 at United Association Burgh Seceders, Limekilns, Fife, Scotland. She died 15 May 1931 in Charles Mix County, SD. Her parents were: John Walls and Agnes Dick (or McLeish) of Saline, Fife, Scotland. Oral history indicates that John Walls was a harbormaster at Firth of Forth.

Agnes was the widow of Noah Green. Agnes and Noah were married 22 March 1872 in Dumfermline, Fife, Scotland. Noah had been born in England, and he died of consumption (tuburculosis) in 1872 at Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland.

Agnes and Noah had a son,

John Scriver (Schriver) Green, born 25 July 1872 at Glasgow, Scotland. He was raised by Jack as his own son.

The children of John Fotheringham and Agnes Walls Green were:

Frank David Fotheringham. born 11 November 1875. Possibly near Braddocks' Field, PA. He died 07 February 1892 at Buck Grove, Crawford Co., IA of a ruptured appendix. He is buried at Buck Grove Cemetery, Crawford Co., IA.

George Holloms Fotheringham was born 10 October 1878 at Rock Island, Rock Island, IL.

A 1900 U.S. Census, taken in Washington Township, Crawford County, IA, indicates John and Agnes arrived in the United States in 1875. Which means that if, (as oral history indicates), they departed within mere days of their wedding, the Atlantic crossing must have taken at least three long months.

Jack and Agnes first arrived at Bradocks' Field, Allegheny, PA. From there they made their way westward by wagon, headed toward Ft. Kearney, NE. They stopped instead at Rock Island, IL, for several years. (It is doubtful that they ever got as far west as Ft. Kearney, which had been abandoned in 1871 and disassembled in 1875.) By February, 1892, they were in Crawford County, IA.

While in Iowa, the family participated in the Buck Grove Methodist-Episcopal Sunday School. Agnes was listed in an 1897 Souvenir Program as a teacher for the Senior Bible Class, and George appears as a student in the First Intermediate class.

Jack and Agnes remained in Crawford County, IA until 1904, when they moved to the Hugg farm in Signal Township, Charles Mix, SD area to be near their son, George. In 1908, they purchased a farm from Charles Slate, in La Roche township, near Academy, SD. John Green also moved to the Charles Mix County area at an unknown date.

The 1900 U.S. Census lists Agnes as having 5 births, and three living children.

FAMILY STORY

Jack Fotheringham's story, compiled from bits and pieces of oral history, about his reason for coming to America:

It had been a hard life in Scotland. Jobs, food, and money were all in short supply.

HISTORICAL NOTE: Part of the hardships in Scotland were due to an activity called "The Clearances" which had been going on since 1785 and continued into the late 1850's. This was the eviction of tenant farmers in favor of sheep-rearing. Forced off the land, sometimes in the middle of the night with whatever they could carry, the families were often told to "harvest seaweed" to make a living. At about the same time, the Church of Scotland underwent a reformation that caused several factions to secede. A big sticking point was the requirement to take an oath "upholding the officially recognized church of Scotland" in order to hold certain public offices and jobs. In 1844, the potato famine began, further contributing to the troubles.

For Agnes Walls, 1872 was a very trying year. She married Noah Green on March 22, had their son, John on July 25, and lost her husband to Consumption (tuberculosis) that same year.

Jack and Agnes said that the only food they had was what could be grown in their cottage garden plots. And that this was being eaten by the King's rabbits, which they were forbidden to kill.

On 28 Sept. 1874, Jack married Agnes Walls Green at Orwell, Kinross, Scotland. Shortly afterward, Jack decided to enrich the cooking pot with a rabbit or two. It was his bad luck to get caught one day. This would normally have meant imprisonment, and probably heavy fines.

Luckily the King's Forester who caught Jack, was also a friend who sympathized with the plight of the family. Jack was granted a brief period of time (until the next morning, according to one account) in which to report to the local constabulary or take his family and leave.

Agnes, who was the daughter of the Harbormaster at Firth of Forth, persuaded a family friend to help them swiftly leave the country aboard his sailing ship. Jack acquired third-class accommodations for his family in return for working for the ship's cook, serving food to the first-class passengers. Jack took the leftovers from this better quality food back down to third class to share with his family and fellow passengers.

In addition to Jack's problem with the law, Agnes had her own reasons for a very quiet leave-taking. According to her, there was a problem with taking young John out of the country. Apparently she lacked the necessary permission, which was needed due to some citizenship or inheritance issue. She stated that she couldn't even say good-bye to her parents, due to the trouble over John.

Their sudden, secret departure apparently got the remaining Fotheringham family into serious trouble. They must have gotten in touch at some point in time, because it was reported that at least one relative from Scotland maintained a correspondence down through the years. Letters which Agnes had to read to him because he couldn't read them himself. Unfortunately, when Jack's father died, the relatives wrote and told him not to come back to Scotland....ever.

The wording was such that his wife, Agnes, became so angry that she refused to read any more letters from Scotland for him. He then had to turn to a neighbor girl, Mary F. Thompson Girton to read his letters to him. Mary's third child, Ernestine, later married Jack's oldest grandson, Frank.

Updated April 2012 to include Gregory Keith Fotheringham obituary information.

Updated January 2012 to include Winnie Kuil Fotheringham obituary information.

Updated April 2011 to include corrections to Jonas 'Joney' Paulson birth order on the Anne Mathilda Johnson page, submitted by Dorothy Fish Jamison. Thank you for catching that error, Dorothy!

Updated February 2011 to include updates on the Andrew Johnson page.

Updated January 2011 to include updates to Steven Lee Fotheringham's page, and to Marvin A. Johnson's page. Updates to the John Samuel Veale family info.

Updated October 2010 to correct George Fotheringham's death date. Headstone and South Dakota Death records indicate he died in 1955, not 1954.

Updated Aug 2010 to include corrections and additions to Martha Ritter's family.

Updated 28 April 2010 to include obituary information for Ruth Ann (Paulson) Carter, and son Larry Gordon Carter.

Updated 19 Nov 2009 to include family information provided by Martha Ritter.

Updated 24 Sept 2009 to include new information from Donald D. Kuper's obituary.

Updated 25 April 2009 to include new information from Faith Van Zee