David Galbreath of Paisley, b. 1761, son of Thomas Galbreath & Janet Russell

A paper on the following two David Galbreaths. -

1. David Galbreath of New York & London who married Cornelia Stites in 1785 from whom I am descended, referred to as “my” David below &

2. David Galbreath of Paisley who married Jean Whitehill in 1798. 

Descendants of both David's consider that their David's parents were Thomas Galbreath & Janet Russell of Paisley. Only one can be the correct.

Let us look at each David in turn. 

“My” David Galbreath of New York & London. 

The oral tradition in my family is that our Galbreaths were from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. This tradition survived through my London family line in excess of 200 years. 

With this family lore re. Paisley, it is natural to look to a David Galbreath baptised 18 Oct 1761 in Paisley Low Church, son of Thomas Galbreath & Janet Russell. 

We know that David, of New York (early 1770’s –1791), & London (1791-1812), was the son of Thomas Galbreath. There is ample evidence of this :-
-         Thomas's Will of 1799 (London PCC 1799 PROB 11/ 1325).
-         David was a witness to his sister's Margaret's marriage in London in 1783.
-         They used the same non-conformist cemetery, Bunhill Fields, London in late 1700’s.
-         Letters from David's daughter Cornelia to her brother John, in 1834 & 1835, confirming family relationships.
-         New York newspaper items, 1779 confirming father son relationship, and 1779 & 1791 confirming their respective departures for England.
-         Scottish naming patterns. Unfortunately only baptisms for David’s first three children have been found - Susannah 1787, Thomas 1789 & John 1791. These match the Scottish naming patterns, first son Thomas after his father, Susannah & John being wife Cornelia’s parents. A second daughter would have been named after David’s mother, however the daughter’s name is not known. That a further three children were born between 1797& 1800 are known from other records, however this leaves a gap from 1791-1797 where no doubt more children would have been born. If they had a second daughter named Janet in line with naming patterns then she would be in this missing period. 

We have tracked “my” David’s father Thomas back from London (1779-1799), New York (early 1770’s-1779), Glasgow (early 1770’s). The earliest definite document I have for Thomas is a Probative Writ from the Glasgow Archives, dated 1777, confirming that Thomas, Merchant of New York, was formerly of Glasgow. 

A connection for Thomas from Glasgow back to Paisley pre 1770, now needs to be established. There is some evidence that Thomas was originally from Paisley :-
-         My family “lore”.
-         The marriage entry of Thomas G. & Janet Russell of Paisley, confirms that this Thomas was a Merchant (Port Glasgow Marriage Register 1756), as was “my” Thomas who ended up in London, via Glasgow & NY.
-         The first two of the children named in Thomas's will, Margaret & David, match baptisms of the first daughter & son of Thomas G. & Janet Russell of Paisley, and were possibly the surviving children of that marriage at the time of the will was made in 1799.
-         Thomas of London daughter Margaret married a Paisley man in London , William Sharp(e), confirming the Paisley connections. It is interesting to note that Margaret’s first two children were named Thomas & Janet.
-         Thomas of London had a wife Mary Ann/Marian (recorded as both, no doubt sounding the same to London ears), and had a son James born circa 1769 (burial age). A Thomas Galbreath & wife Marian McBeth had a son baptised in Paisley Low church in 1769. This baptism would indicate the Paisley Thomas’s wife Janet Russell had died (we do not find births to her after 1766), and Thomas had subsequently married Marian (McBeth). The lack of further baptisms would indicate either Marian’s death or a move, a move matching up with the Thomas in Glasgow who subsequently went to New York and then London, and had a son James born ca. 1769, as detailed above.

David Galbreath & Jean Whitehill of Paisley 

The other David is one who first appears in the Paisley records marrying Jean Whitehill on 27 July 1798 in Abbey Church, Paisley. I should point out here that although the LDS IGI/OPR has his surname as Galbreath, it is actually written Calbreath in the original Church Register. I have a copy of the actual entry in the Parish Register :-

They had children :- Agnes 1799, Janet 1801, Jean 1802, William 1804, Alexander 1807, Jean 1809, David 1812, Rebekah 1815, James 1818. 

Let’s look at their children’s names in relation to traditional Scottish naming traditions.
N.B. Jean Whitehill  parent’s were Alexander &  Janet :- 

David Galbreath or Calbreath & Jean Whitehill :-

 As we can see the naming patterns are slightly out, but 3 of the 6 are as they should be, with the row 4, that is the name of the wife’s mother occurring one child later, probably transposed for the wife of the husband’s mother row 3. Therefore we can assume that David & Jean had the traditional naming patterns in mind. The out of order daughters may have been to accommodate a sick mother-in-law etc., but as there is sufficient following of the naming patterns it is reasonable to assume that the husband David’s parents should be named William & Agnes, swapping with the in-law.  Most importantly there is no child Thomas, indicating no father or grandfather of that name. 

In light of the above naming patterns, and also the actual marriage entry giving David's name as Calbreath, it is interesting to note that there is a David Calbreath baptised on 31 May 1745 in Dalrymple, Ayr, with properly matching parents, William & Agnes. Dalrymple is about 20 miles from Paisley. 

Even if the baptism of a David in Dalrymple in 1745 is incorrect, (it could be a bit early), it is still logical from the names of their first 6 children, to suppose that David (husband of Jean Whitehill) parent's names were William & Agnes, not Thomas & Janet as claimed in other pedigrees. In particular several pedigrees submitted to the LDS Pedigree Resource Files. 

I can find no evidence confirming this David’s age i.e. born 1761. No burials or death records for this David are mentioned in any of the pedigrees, nor have I found any other types of evidence mentioned to confirm his parentage. 

In conclusion. 

I am concerned that no other evidence is to be had for David Galbreath (spouse of Jean Whitehill) parent’s being Thomas & Janet of Paisley, apart from a single baptism entry. I have yet to find any other evidence that David, spouse of Jean Whitehill, is the son of Thomas & Janet Galbreath, apart from a convenient baptism in the same town. 

It should also be noted that David, spouse of Jean Whitehill, used Paisley Abbey Church, not Paisley Low Church as Thomas Galbreath & Janet Russell did. This is more important that it seems at first glance. Abbey more likely Conservative or Establishment, and Low certainly evangelical or protestant non-conformist. It is unlikely father & son would have used disparate churches. Of note is that “my” Thomas & David in London used the Islington Lower Street Independent Church, matching the type of church used by the Thomas G. of Paisley. 

Scottish Parish Church Registers on the IGI and Old Parish Registers Index are far from complete, as Bill and the team are finding in their search for a Clan Chief. To use just the IGI & OPR to construct pedigrees, without other supporting evidence, must be considered provisional and unproven. 

I say there is enough circumstantial evidence from a number of sources to say that “my” David may be the true son of Thomas G & Janet Russell, and not David, spouse of Jean Whitehill. 

I would be interested in hearing from anyone descended from David Galbreath & Jean Whitehill to try and sort this out, one way or another. Particularly of any evidence concerning his age or parentage, apart from the single baptism. If that line can be confirmed at least I can then concentrate my search elsewhere. If not then I feel that the question must remain open, on both accounts, until further evidence is found.

Addendum :-
We now know that David had a brother Thomas. He appears as a witness, "Thomas Galbreath jnr." is a deed of David Galbreath in New York in 1784. If he is the Thomas baptised in Paisley he would have been 18, of working age, and most likely working for David.
This leaves only leaves one of the children baptized in Paisley unaccounted for in documentation found so far, the 2nd Jean,  in order for Thomas to be definitely confirmed as the most likely for the Thomas of Paisley. Given mortality rates in the 1700's this lack of documentation for the 2nd Jean is not unusual.

Return to David GALBREATH