Grandparents in Utah

Elizabeth Geddes LindsayRobert McQueen Lindsay

Knowing that William Lindsay's father William Geddes Lindsay died in a mining accident in Scotland, I figured that Christina Howie Lindsay probably represented the first of the Lindsays to be buried on American soil. Not so.

William Lindsay's paternal grandparents Robert McQueen and Elizabeth Geddes Lindsay as well as his great-grandparents Robert Geddes and Marion Gibson Geddes are all buried in the Salt Lake City cemetery. Oddly, the writings of William Lindsay never mention their deaths, or any reunion with either grandparents while in Utah as Robert McQueen Lindsay and Elizabeth Geddes Lindsay's time there overlapped from 1867-1873. This seems odd in that they had a relationship with these grandparents while in Scotland as noted from one of William Lindsay's accounts.

" Our next move was to Gatehead near Kilmarnock and while here our sister, Jean, was born and while living here Grandfather Lindsay was severely burned in an explosion of gas in the coal mine, but by careful nursing and the blessings of the Lord he finally recovered. Brother Robert and I used to gather hawthorn blossoms to scent the room he was in."

Source: A brief history of William Lindsay Senior and his wife and family, written by William Lindsay, found on ancestry.com from Heidi Lindsay

Below is information about Robert McQueen Lindsay from Ancestry.com

A FEW INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT MCQUEEN LINDSAY
He was born at Wanlockhead, Dumfries Shire, Scotland, August 14th, 1799. We know nothing for sure about his father. His mother’s name is given as Elizabeth Lindsay, and that is practically all we know about her.

Wanlockhead where he was born and married, and raised most of his family, is a small village high up in Lowther Hills, where the bonnie heather grows on the hills nearby. There are lead mines all around there and most of the men work in the mines. So of course, he also became a miner, as soon as he finished his schooling.

There is no railroad or public road within ten miles of the village so they live in peace and quiet and seldom move away. Few people move into the village, only the ones wishing to work in the mines. They seem to be industrious, honest and simple and nearly all are related by marriage. They are strict observers of the Sabbath Day.

When about twenty years old, he married Elizabeth Geddes of Lead Hills, another small village, only two miles away, but in the county of Lanark. She was born also on the 14th of August 1799. They were married in 1819 and lived there until about 1832.

We understand the family moved into Ayrshire, where he and his wife engaged in taking contracts opening mines, sinking pits and working as coal miners part of the time. Times were hard and wages low and sometimes it was hard to get work at all. So they had to move quite often to find employment. … Missing words… April 1848, the whole family joined the Mormon Church, having been thoroughly convinced that it was the gospel taught by Jesus Christ and his Apostles while they were on the earth.

About 1856, he was seriously burned by fire in an explosion in a coal mine. But by the administration of the Elders and the blessings of the Lord, he was healed. He was very fond of his children but he liked to tease them. He and his wife and daughter, Elizabeth, came to Utah in 1867, crossing the plains with ox teams. Soon after their arrival in Salt Lake City, He was employed as keeper of the gate at the Temple block for some years. In the fall of (1868?) he went to work on the railroad in Weber Canyon. He was accidentally injured and from his hurts he never fully recovered. He died in Salt Lake City, on February 23rd, 1869. He and his wife were a fine old couple and were very happy in each others’ company. They had lived together some fifty years. She lived until October (?) 17th, 1873, and lived with her daughter, Mrs. C. J. Thomas in Salt Lake City.