My Livingston(e) Line

[beadmom]

Margaret,

Those are all so sweet and special. Thanks for sharing them with us. It is amazing that many people live to be so old but also sad to see the infant deaths that probably would be preventable now.

Ginger

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Margaret,

Yes there was an old cemetery like that where my family once holidayed in the summer and there were a group of weathered, small,heart shaped stones from the 1860's or 1870's signifying that several infants from one family had been wiped out by typhoid or some dreaded disease like that which took the lives of so many unaware of the proper sanitation as many were at that time.

We are most fortunate to benefit from breakthroughs in modern medicine. It was not so long ago that the vast number of casualties in War were due more to disease rather than bullets. Slowly people began to fight back against the vicious diseases that had plagued mankind for generations. Had George Washington not taken measures to introduce Small Pox innoculation using the primitive but basically affective method of cow pox injections, during the Revolutionary War the pox might have finished the American Army well before they had eventually achieved victory over the British.

My great-great-great-great Uncle Dr. David Palmer Utter specialized in this type of Small Pox innoculation in the 1780's in New York State before he left for Canada in 1789. Dr. Utter later encouraged his brother John Utter, my great-great-great-great grandfather and his son in law Stephen Clink my great-great-great grandfather to settle on his Crown land grant in Upper Canada. Using the technique employed by Dr. Utter and others in America around the time of the American Revolution, people ended up with a mild form of the disease but most importantly became resistant to full blown small pox to it as a result of the innoculation. Unfortunately with this primitive method it was not fool proof and some soldiers actually ended up quite ill and died as a result.

The English were quite interested in Small Pox research in the 1700's and noticed on travels to Turkey that cow pox innoculation actually worked for the most part and brought this method to England. Years later the British made some improvements in the whole process of small pox innoculation making it much safer. We greatly benefited from the work of these early pioneers of medicine that paved the way for later medical breakthroughs in the war against disease.

regards,

Donald

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Ginger,

Actually Bonawe in Ardchattan Parish were your ancestor Dugald Livingston and his son Donald lived as a boy is only 27 miles away from Ballachulish but I dont have mileage for Kenacraig which is also in Ardchattan Parish. I would imagine being in the same parish as Bonawe it cant be that much farther from Ballachulish. When you and your family are ready to go to highland Argyll we can reccommend places to visit. I would imagine from the port of Oban you could take a boat on Loch Linhe and see all the beautiful views from the water of Morvern, Mull, Lismore and Appin where our Maclea Livingstone ancestors lived so long go. And of course there are many interesting towns and villages with great beauty and historic significance that cant be missed. If ruins are your thing then you will have come to the right place where ancient castles and celtic church buildings once were abundant and still in their fragmented and time worn state make an impressive statement. If you do go to Argyll make sure you allow yourself lots of time to absorb all the beauty that your ancestral homeland has to offer you. And dont forget a visit to the Isle of Lismore where our Barons of Bachuil have lived for centuries.

regards,

Donald

[Kyle MacLea]

Can I make some cards with the URL on them? Do I need permission to do that and give them to Livingston(e)s McLea's etc that I meet? Are there already some available I can download and print?

We haven't made cards yet, but please do download and distribute to any and all interested parties. If you do make a card, send it my way and I can use it as a template for future materials. Thanks! Definitely would love to meet any and all Livingston/es out there!

Kyle=

[Margaret Stewart]

Hi Donald

I have trawled most of the cemetaries around Oban, Kilninver, Seil Island and Luing and it is sad to read some of the gravestones where several young children have died within days of one another. How the parents must have suffered as well as feeling helpless as the children succumbed to disease before their eyes. Our generation is so fortunate to have antibiotics and medication to control the diseases that were fatal in the past.

Kind regards

Margaret

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Ginger,

By all means. If you make contact with other Livingstons who are interested in their Scottish roots, by all means inform them. We welcome any help we can get to bring Livingstons to the forum, to our Clan Society and DNA project. I am sure Baron Livingstone and our Clan Commissioner Kyle McLea would appreciate that.

regards,

Donald

[beadmom]

Great. I will get on that. It seemed reasonable but I just wouldn't do it without asking permission first.

Ginger

[Andrew Lancaster]

Can I make some cards with the URL on them? Do I need permission to do that and give them to Livingston(e)s McLea's etc that I meet? Are there already some available I can download and print?

We haven't made cards yet, but please do download and distribute to any and all interested parties. If you do make a card, send it my way and I can use it as a template for future materials. Thanks! Definitely would love to meet any and all Livingston/es out there!

Kyle=

Kyle
Without checking first, I think I once made a rough sort of info card as a Word document and loaded in the Files on our Yahoo group. Probably not up to date, but might help someone.
Andrew

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Andrew,

Do they mean like Maclea Livingstone Forum Clan Society business type cards to give out to promote our clan? I think that is a great idea if that is what Ginger and Kyle are referring to?

regards,

Donald

[Kyle MacLea]

I believe it is, although I haven't checked the Yahoo group.

Would probably be great to give the Forum address AND the DNA project address as well, in the future!

Thanks, all! I'm not worried about permissions, by the way! This is a public website (at least part of it is!)

Kyle=