Page 14 Peter Douglas and Isabella Anderson


Peter Douglas, son of Charles the carpenter and Jane Galloway, was baptised in 1847 at St Ninian’s Free Church, Bannockburn. His father was dead certainly by the time he was 4 and Peter grew up in straitened circumstances. On the 1851 census he was living with his pauper mother and two elder siblings at Norton Place in Alva. In 1861 13 year old Peter was living with his uncles John and Peter Galloway at New Fowlis. They were both blacksmiths. As he was described as a scholar he must have been attending school for some of the time. His aunt Ann Galloway was the housekeeper. Peter was hardly isolated as his grandmother Jean Galloway, his sister Elizabeth and two brothers were only a house or two along. It may have been a practical arrangement about rooms that caused him to be living separately at night.

Peter witnessed his brother Charles’s wedding in 1866. He married a farmer’s daughter from Newburgh in Fife some 7 years older than himself in 1872. At this time he was a drapers’ warehouseman. They were members of the United Presbyterian Church.


Peter and Isabella had two daughters, and we have a photo of one. Charley Carpenter also has a photo of Peter himself. I have no idea where he was living in 1871. Charley thinks Peter might have been a draper’s shopman at Albert Street in Glasgow.

They did not remain in Scotland. At some point they emigrated to USA. This was after the 1881 census as he and his family were living at 17 College Park Street in Dumbarton (owned by a David Craig or Robert Ballantine then). It is interesting to note that the two other inhabitants were born in Penang and Hamburg. Perhaps all were there whilst awaiting for shipping, in Peter’s case to America as apparently they travelled that year.

Family Tree of Peter Douglas:

Peter and Isabella in America; daughter Margaret’s family

I have searched the passenger lists of three ships sailing to America or Canada that year, the SS Manitoban, the SS State of Indiana and the Steamer Northern for any of the four names without success. I have not been able to find the family on passenger lists to Canada or USA in a group. Later Peter’s family moved on to Boston, Massachusetts where he opened a shop.
I had little success in tracing Peter and family in the 1890s in Canada or America but Charley has noted him in the 1895 Boston Directory.

In 1900 Peter, Isabella and daughter Margaret were living at what may be 275 Chestnut Avenue, Ward 22, Boston, Suffolk County. They claimed to have come to America in 1882.
Peter was a dry goods salesman, daughter Margaret was a proof-reader. All could read and write. The house was rented. By 1905 they were living at 45 Evergreen Avenue, Newton, Massachusetts (Charley Carpenter).

In 1920 Peter and his wife were renting a house at 45 Evergreen Avenue, Newton Ward 4, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Isabella is said to be 4 years older than Peter. The 1930 census showed them living at Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Peter owned the house, worth $8000. The house had a radio. Also present were daughter Margaret Thayer aged 52 and her daughters Isabelle or Isabel and Priscilla, both in their 20s. Margaret had married Edgar Thayer in Auburndale, Massachusetts in August 1904. He was a salesman, she was “at home”. Margaret was widowed in 1920 and obviously at some stage returned with her children to live with her parents as she lived with them in 1930.

In 1922 when daughter Jane applied for a passport Peter signed a declaration which included his address, 37 Evergreen Avenue, Auburndale, Massachusetts.

Isabella’s age in 1930 was said to be 90. This 1930 census is my source for the emigration date of 1881. Peter died in 1937. Quite where Edgar Thayer died is unclear: I have Newton, Mass from somewhere, Charley Carpenter (from Isabel Ware) has New Jersey and another source on Ancestry (Craig Lybbert) suggests New York City.

Margaret and Edgar Thayer’s daughter Priscilla died in 1937 in Newton, Massachusetts. She was unmarried and had no children.

The elder daughter, Isabell or Isabel, married Eliot Brewer Ware in June 1937. Her name was “Isabel” on the marriage index in Newton and Brookline (F63.M36v.125). She died in 2000 in Wellesley Hills, Mass, 3 years after her husband. They had one child, Nancy Alden Ware who married Robert Morrow in 1963. Their daughter Suzanne married Steven Leary in 1994 and they have at least three children (source: Charley Carpenter tree). Son Robert was born in 1968. The Index to Births in Massachusetts 1901-1905, incidentally, records her as “Isabella” (F63.M362v.70). The family home was at 19 Rockland Street, Boston.

On the 1940 Federal Census the Wares were at 7450 Greenview Avenue, Chicago, Cook, Illinois. He left a blank regarding education, claiming not to have attended school or college; she said the same but admitted to leaving after 4th Year of High School. In 1935 he had lived at Brookline, she Newton. This only confirms what was clear from the marriage index. Edgar was a private employee, earning $1800 a year as an Under Pressing Clerk, working 39 hours a week. Isabel said she had no paid employment and no private means but claimed to earn $1600. He had been employed throughout 1939.

The US City Directories for Boston 1947- 1948 show them living at Needham Street, Boston, Mass. Eliot was a casualty insurance underwriter for the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. They were still in Boston from 1961-1966, Eliot working for Boston Insurance. The address was 212 Broad Meadow Road, Needham.

The US City Directories for 1971 shows them living in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was now working for the Continental Insurance Company of New York. 171 West Norwalk Road. They later moved to Nashua, New Hampshire and Eliot served in the New Hampshire legislature (Charley Carpenter source).

Peter Douglas, born in 1847 Photo from Charley Carpenter, probably taken in the 1920s.

America provided opportunities unavailable at home which Peter made the most of.

Below: Hope St Amant (right) Photo from Charley Carpenter. Again, that she was able to travel twice to Europe tells us that this branch of the family prospered in their new land.

Jane Douglas and her descendants

The elder of Peter’s daughters, Jane Galloway Douglas, married George William St Amant. George was described as a clerk at the time of their wedding whilst Jane had no occupation. They married in Boston. I have not seen the document myself but have seen a thumb-print of it so I know that Jane was living in Halifax Town, Plymouth, Massacusetts in 1900 with George and daughter Ruth St Amant. In 1903 George was a salesman with an address at 46 Oakland Avenue.

On 16th April 1910 they still lived there. This was in Newton Ward 4, Middlesex, Mass. Now the household comprised Jane and George with children Ruth, Hope and George. There was also a servant named Edith Weyben who was a cook. The 1910  census tells us that George’s parents were Canadians. George was a cotton merchant but did not work for himself. George, Jane and Ruth could read and write. Ruth attended school.

US City Directories help establish where Jane Galloway Douglas and husband George St Amant were living. So we know they lived at 29 Hawthorne Avenue in 1913 and were still there for the 1920 census.

This was at Newton City Part Of Ward 77 Part Of Precinct 1, Middlesex, Massachusetts. George owned the house. Jane, husband George, children Ruth Hope anbd George were all there. The servant now was a Canadian girl called Becky McPhee. George was now an employer.

In 1926 Jane and George were living at Deep Pond Road, Falmouth, Barnstaple, Mass. With them were George jnr and Ruth, according to the US Cities Directory. Their home was the Attamansit Farm, which they owned. The farm was visited by Charley Carpenter’s father in 2014 and is now mostly a nature reserve.

I have not located Jane or her husband on the 1930 census.

Trips to Europe

Hope Douglas St Amant applied for a US passport on 10th May 1922. She was living with her father at 24 Hawthorne Avenue at the time and described herself as a student. She intended to travel from Montreal, Canada on 24th June on the SS Canopic, visiting seven countries in Europe over a period of six months. The British Isles was listed. It is referred  to as “Temple Tours.”  Father George typed a letter giving his consent to the trip. His business address at the top was 141 Milk Street, Boston. He had been listed there in 1920 on the US City Directories, too.

The passport application includes a description of Hope: she was 5ft 3ins tall with brown eyes and brown hair; her nose was slender and she had a large mouth and round chin. She had a round face. Hope had a high forehead. There was a mole on her face. The application includes a photograph.

Mother Jane, describing herself as a housewife, applied for a passport on the same day. Jane was 48, 5 feet 5.5 inches tall; like her daughter she had brown hair and brown eyes, with a high forehead. She had a round face and chin like Hope but had a straight nose, dark complexion and medium chin.

As Hope’s sister Ruth and brother George jnr also went on the trip their passport photos and descriptions are also recorded and available to view on Ancestry. Although George was only 16 he was the tallest of the group at 5 ft 7 ins. George had a small mouth, long chin and long face. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He had a straight nose and dark complexion. His father wrote a formal letter to the passport office to say that he gave permission for George to travel to Europe on the Temple Tour and that he would be accompanied by his mother.

Ruth’s application tells us that she had been born at Jamaica Plain in Massachusetts. She was 23, 5 foot 5ins high, had brown hair and brown eyes, a high  forehead and round chin. Her mouth was described as small, her nose as little. Ruth had an oval face, medium complexion and like her sister had a mole on her face. Her passport photo shows a young woman who looks similar to her mother at a younger age.

All three siblings described themselves as students.

The family returned to New York on the SS Adriatic, arriving home on 10th September. I wonder if they tried to locate relatives whilst in Britain. The ship sailed from Liverpool on the 5th September. Grandfather Peter Douglas had signed a letter with a confident hand to confirm George St Amant’s birthdate.

In 1923 she was listed at Northampton’s Smith College as a student adviser. She played on the Sophomore Cricket Team. She was also listed as a junior usher.

She took another trip to Europe as she left Southampton on 19th August 1925, arriving at New York.

Hope St Amant (from Charley Carpenter

Generation IX: Family of Margaret Elizabeth Douglas and Edgar Thayer

1. Isabelle Douglas Thayer

2. Priscilla Alden Thayer, 1907-1937

Isabelle Thayer had one daughter, Nancy. Nancy has two children and three grandchildren.

American passport applications are remarkably useful sources of information as they provide addresses, next of kin, physical description and photograph of the person applying. Had UK subjects been required to have one for Commonwealth or colony visits we might have even more of these.

Below: part of Jane Galloway Douglas’s application (from Ancestry)

Generation VIII: Family of Peter Douglas and Isabella Anderson

1. Jane Galloway Douglas, 1874-1937

2. Margaret Elizabeth Douglas, 1877-

Generation IX: Family of Jane Galloway Douglas and George St Amant

1. Ruth St Amant, born 1899

2. Hope St Amant, 1901- 1934

3. George William St Amant, 1906-1991

Generation X: Family of Hope St Amant and Thomas Sanders Carpenter

1. Jane Galloway Carpenter

2. Thomas Sanders Carpenter

3. William Sills Carpenter

Below: passport application of Jane Galloway St Amant’s daughter Hope (from Ancestry)

Jane Carpenter had two children and at least one granddaughter.

Thomas Carpenter had 3 children.

William Carpenter had 4 children and 5 grandchildren.

I have further information on some of these living people and would love to hear from them.

Hope and her Descendants

Hope Douglas St Amant  married Thomas Sanders Carpenter. They were living at North Prospect, Crescent City, Florida in April 1930 with daughter Jane Galloway Carpenter when the Federal Census took place. His father was from Massachusetts but his mother from Maryland. The couple contradict each other regarding when they married, he saying 5 years before and she 7. He was a farmer, a citrus grower.

Hope died aged only 34. She is buried in the same cemetery as her husband but I am not sure if it is the same grave. Her death was at Jax, reference Vol 616 no 4220.

Findagrave has a detailed obituary of Hope St Amant’s husband. Thomas was only 38 when he died. He must have been a remarably capable and self confident man, a member of the elite Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity and graduating from Dartmouth College in 1922. He lived in Crescent City Florida, where he was active in the Rotary Club, a vestryman at his local church and he took part in the Chamber of Commerce. He was a citrus grower and once was president of the Crescent City Citrus Exchange. The obituary was dated 31 March 1939. Thomas was buried at Eden Cemetery, Crescent City, Putnam County, Florida  (findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=70661872). HIs parents are also buried there.

Ruth St Amant travelled in 1926 to Hamilton, Bermuda as her name is on the passenger list for the SS Fort St George. Ruth sailed from Hamilton on 25th September, arriving in New York 2 days later. She still lived with her parents at the time.

George married and on the 1940 Federal Census was living at 49 Wylde Road, Newton, Middlesex, Mass. He owned the house. George had worked all of the previous year, earning £4500 a year as an advertising manager for  National Sportsman. The house was valued at $10,000. He said he had completed 4th year of college. Both George and his wife claimed to have other sources of income. Living with him was his 30 year old wife Mary, children George William III (8) and Jane Bolton (2), with Irish servant Nancy Daly. The thre eldest family members had lived in the same house since 1935. George died in 1991.

Turning to Hope and George William Carpenter’s children, son Thomas Sanders Carpenter was born in Boston 3rd District in 1930.

The third child was William Sills Carpenter, who lives part of the year with his wife Pat on Vancouver Island.

After Hope and Thomas died, the three orphaned children went to live with their aunt and uncle in Hartford, Connecticut (Charley Carpenter).

Below: passport application of George St Amant (from Ancestry)

George St Amant married Mary Tilton and had 3 children. He has 6 grandchildren.