I'm not sure why a direct e-mail did not work. It must have been an over-zealous spam filter.

Thank you for sharing your information. I've included below what I currently have on Robert and Mary and those progeny I had identified. Your notes seem to confirm what I suspected, but could not prove: that Robert Brand and Mary Gillespie had more children than I had discovered. My direct link is through their son, Alexander William Brand, who dropped the Alexander and simply became William in later life. He was a merchant in Ecclefechan as an adult.

I will take the information you provided and go through once again a report from a researcher I engaged in Dumfries. It could be that some of the information from OPRs and monument inscriptions she provided will match and will yield more details. FYI – She tentatively concluded that the Brands in Hoddam/Ecclefechan may have been related to a BRAND family in Tinwald parish, though there was no clear proof. I've built a completely conjectural tie to a William Brand * there, but it is pure conjecture.

I have some added information – gleaned primarily from the Mormon site www.familysearch.org, so somewhat suspect -- on the children of William Murray and Anna (Annie) Brand, if you want it. The children moved to and settled in the United States (Illinois, then Minnesota). However I show Annie dying in Liverpool, year unknown. William allegedly died in Chicago, year also unknown.

I envy a family bible. I've had to build back by scratch from 1918. Here is what I currently have on file:

Name: Robert BRAND
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Birth: 1725 Ecclefechan, Dumfries, Scotland
Death: 3 Sep 1799 Ecclefechan, Dumfries, Scotland
Burial: 3 Sep 1799 Hoddom, Ecclefechan, Kirkyard #214
Occupation: Possibly a stone mason and carpenter.
Religion: May have worshiped as member of Burgher Seccessionist congregation.
Father: William BRAND
Mother: UNKNOWN
Marriage: 12 Jun 1753 Auchencairn, Kirkmahoe Parish, Scotland
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Spouse: Elisabeth GILLISPIE
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Birth: 1731 Hoddom, Dumfries, Scotland
Death: 22 May 1806 Ecclefechan, Dumfries, Scotland

Notes for Robert BRAND
Monument Inscription No. 214, Hoddam, Ecclefechan Kirkyard. Robert may be descended from a BRAND family originating in Carse, Tinwald Parish, Dumfries, Scotland. (See WILLIAM preceding.*)

Robert may have been an early member of the Burgher Seccessionist congregation in Ecclefachan. [A religious-cultural movement began in SW Scotland in 1737, driven in part by disputes over the right of local congregations to choose their leaders and the strict versus liberal interpretation of the Scriptures and Psalms. This split ultimately resulted in the creation in about 1747 of two factions in the Secession church -- Burghers and Anti-Burghers.) The Ecclefechan Burgher congregation was especially strong and the local meeting house, which could accomodate up to 600 worshipers, drew people from as far as 40 miles away, for its communiion services.

The Ecclefechan Burgher church was a stern moral breeding ground and its members, while advocating literal interpretation of the Scriptures, also recognized the value of higher education, scholarship, and "skepitcal" free-thinking.

Quote from Thomas Carlyle, the noted Scots essayist and philosopher, is on gravestone for Robert Brand on plot #214 in Hoddam, Ecclefechan, Kirkyard: "My father's maternal uncle, just a man whose wise insight thoroughly filled with celestial philosophy of this earthly life, my father learned more from him than from any other individual." James Carlyle -- Thomas' father -- once described Robert Brand, his uncle, as "a vigorous religionist" of strict Presbyterian type. (From "The Life of Thomas Carlyle", Robert Garnett, 1887.)

Notes for Elisabeth GILLISPIE
Monument Inscription No. 214, Hoddam, Ecclefechan Kirkyard.

Her sister, Mary Gillispie, married Thomas Carlyle. Their son, James Carlyle, was the father of THE Thomas Carlyle, noted Scots author and philospher. Mary was born in 1727; d. 1797. Thomas Carlyle Sr. was born 1721; d. 1808. Mary and Thomas Sr. are buried in the Pennersaughs Burial Ground, Kirkpatrick-Flemming, Dumfries, Scotland.

Children:
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1 F: Jean BRAND
Birth: 1757
Death: 5 Apr 1777
Spouse:
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2 M: Robert BRAND Jr.
Birth: 1760
Death: 3 May 1829 Craighouse
Spouse: Margaret SMITH

Name: Robert BRAND Jr.
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Birth: 1760
Death: 3 May 1829 Craighouse
Father: Robert BRAND (1725-1799)
Mother: Elisabeth GILLISPIE (1731-1806)
Spouse: Margaret SMITH
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Birth: 1793
Death: 25 Oct 1853 Limekilns of Ruthwell

Children:
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1 M: Robert BRAND
Birth: 1813
Death: 2 Apr 1830
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2 M: Thomas BRAND
Birth: 1818
Death: 2 Jul 1832


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3 M: Alexander William BRAND
Birth: 8 May 1761 Ecclefechan, Scotland
Death: 25 Oct 1808 Ecclefecan, Dumfries, Scotland
Spouse: Mary BRAND
Marriage: 30 Jul 1796

A William Brand was listed in newspaper in 1795 as a merchant in Ecclefechan. Also, a William (likely his eldest son since William the father died in 1808) also was listed as a merchant in Dumfries Weekly Journal dated 31 May 1814. William Brand's -- the father's -- estate settlement (see JPEG) from the Dumfries Sheriff Court on Oct. 14, 1809 lists an "eldest son" named William as inheritor, and Robert Brand (possibly an uncle) as one of the executors.

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4 F: Anna BRAND
Birth: 1763 Hoddom, Dumfries, Scotland
Death: Liverpool, England
Spouse: William MURRAY
Marriage: 13 Feb 1826 Tilliboke, Hoddom, Dumfries, Scotland