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Modern History
Charles Cushnie married Elizabeth Park (see family tree). The Parks were weavers and came from Paisley, Scotland, seven miles from Glasgow. Paisley was known for its thread mills and the world famous paisley shawl. The parks were harness loom weavers and most of them moved to Philadelphia, USA to follow up on this line of trade.
The Cushnies in the early 1800's were miners from Dundee. Charles Cushnie (my great, great, great grandfather) had three brothers and one sister. James Cushnie was an engineer and moved to Belfast, Ireland to become a manager. George Cushnie was also an engineer. He worked at cutting the channel from Loch Katrine to supply Glasgow with water. Robert Cushnie, who was a ship's carpenter, moved to Glasgow (then a bustling ship-building center). Robert wanted Charles to give up working in the mines and take up the carpenter's trade, but the money was good at the mines and he decided not to go. Jenny was the only daughter and nothing is known of her.
The brothers of Charles had broken with tradition to become engineers and carpenters. Charles's son, David (1841-1920), like his father, stayed with the mines and eventually migrated to Carbondale, Pennsylvania after marrying Margaret Duncan Maize. They arrived in the USA in early 1872 or 1873 with their daughter Elizabeth to working the coal mines near Carbondale. My great grandfather, Charles, and four other children were born in Pennsylvania. Carbondale, PA is in the heart of the coal mining area, near Pittsburgh, PA. David Cushnie had a sister Mary, who married a man named Stevenson and lived in Glasgow. Mary had five children. One of them (also Mary) married a smelter from Parkhead Forge, Scotland. It is this Mary who wrote to my great aunt in 1919 and gave this family history.