One of the more fascinating immigrant ancestor stories on my paternal line is that of William Hogue and Barbara Hume.
The year is 1682. William Hogue, aged 22, boards the ship Caledonia at the port in Glasgow, Scotland. Also boarding the ship are Sir James Hume, his wife Marjorie Johnstone and their daughter, Barbara, aged 12. William is the son of Sir James Hogue and Lady Marjorie Lambert. The Humes were allied to the House of Stuart and fleeing their homeland for America.
On the voyage, the Humes and other passengers died from some unknown illness. William Hogue took the orphaned Barbara Hume under his wing until they landed at the port of New York. Marjorie Hume's brother was an established physician and community leader in New York. William dropped Barbara off with her Uncle John and settled in Perth Amboy in East Jersey.
William apparently stayed in touch, as about 1687, he and Barbara were married. They would have 11 children. After a time in Perth Amboy, they would move on to New Castle Co., Delaware, Chester Co., Pennsylvania and Frederick Co., Virginia.
The story, however, has a few glitches:
1) There is no passenger list or other record available for the 1682 Caledonia.
2) There is no birth record for a Barbara Hume born in 1670 to James and Marjorie Hume; there is however a birth record for Barbara Hume daughter of John Hume and Jonet Falconer on 13 July 1670 in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland.
3) Dr. John Johnstone did not reach the colonies did not reach New York until 1685 on the Henry and Francis. His brother, John, arrived a year earlier.
4) Jonet Falconer Hume probably died in childbirth in 1680. John Hume remarried later that year to Isobel Johnstone, sister to John and James.
5) The Henry and Francis sailed to New York in 1685. John Johnstone, Euphame Scott and her parents were on the passenger list. The Scotts took sick and died. John and Euphame married 16 April 1686 in Perth Amboy.
What is the truth behind the Hogue/Hume saga?
Most sources have William and Barbara in the colonies and married between 1685 and 1687. What happened to Barbara's father and step-mother has yet to be determined. Did Isobel Johnstone Hume tell Barbara and/or the grandchildren about the tragedy of The Henry and Francis? Was the story passed down, eventually becoming the story of William and Barbara?
Under what circumstances did William and Barbara arrive in New York?
Could Barbara have arrived with her Uncle James?
Did she come over after 1685 with her family? [The youngest of the issue of John and Isobel was born in Haddington in February 1685.]
Donald Whyte's A Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants to the USA has William Hogg arriving in Perth Amboy about 1687. [The remaining details in the entry confirm this is the same William Hoge.]
Some sources have Hogue children born as early as 1680 - when Barbara was 10, so scratch them off the list.
I guess for now, the Hogue - Hume story gets an asterisk.
Post Script: After wrapping up this post, I went back to Scotland's People to double-check on John Hume's children with Jonet Falconer & Isobel Johnstone to make sure I had all of the kids accounted for. The plot thickens! There may well have been two John Humes residing in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland.
John Hume married Jonet [also Jennett, Janet] Falconer in 1668 and had the following children: (1) Barbara: 17 July 1670 (2) Margaret: 8 April 1677 (3) John: 13 June 1680 (4) James: 26 August 1683
John Hume married Issobel Johnstone in 1680 and they had the following children: (1) Margaret: 31 October 1681 (2) Jennett: 7 November 1682 (3) Helen: 14 February 1685
John and Jonet had a child in 1683 after John and Isobel married had married in 1680. That means two John Humes. It is also interesting to note that there appears a birth record for Jeane Hume [Hoome], daughter of John Hume and Isobel Falconer on 10 August 1673.
This little revalation generates ore questions than answers and sheds a different light on the Hogue - Hume story.
