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HOTCHKISS Genealogy
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Cornelius Hotchkiss (10 Mar 1858 - 31 Mar 1930, right) and Christina Hotchkiss nee Ferguson (23 Feb 1855 - 23 Aug 1931, left) were married 31 Dec 1878, Bothkennar Parish, Carronshore, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States in 1880, eventually settling in Burlingame, Kansas, along with most of his parent's, Edward and Margaret's, descendants. Cornelius (my gg-grandfater) owned one of the large coal mines in Burlingame at that time.
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Washington Coal Mine 1913, Burlingame, Kansas. The family of Edward Hotchkiss and Margaret Hotchkiss nee Ferguson came from Carronshore, Scotland to Burlingame, Kansas in order to start mines to supply Kansas City with coal. There they joined others, including the Washingtons, who are also documented on this site. My great-grandfather, James Washington, is among those in this picture. These men, their faces still covered in coal dust, appear to be on lunch break.
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Carronshore home of Edward Hotchkiss & Margaret Hotchkiss nee Penman. The writing is that of Mary Washington nee Hotchkiss. Mary and very likely most of the other nine children of this family, including my gg-grandfather Cornelius, were born in this house.
The Hotchkiss name appears to have originated in Shropshire, England during the Norman times. My line of the Hotchkiss family appears to have arrived in the area near Carronshore in the mid-1700's, as the earliest Scottish Hotchkiss in our line, Cornelius (23 Apr 1739 - 28 Apr 1789), was born in Madeley, Shropshire, England, and died in Airth Parish, Stirlingshire, Scotland, where he had been a coal miner. One theory is that he and his family came to Scotland to help improve the mining methods there, after the British conquest in 1746. On arriving in Airth, the local priest apparently had not previously heard the name, and wrote it as he thought he heard it, as "Hodgecase". Remember that most people didn't write at this time, and the priests kept most of the records. This spelling seems to have only lasted about as long as that priest, before it reverted to the more normal spelling of "Hotchkiss".
This is interesting when you realize that the name Hotchkiss itself appears to have originated sometime after 1066 with Anglo-Saxons mispronouncing the French/Norman version of the Name Rodgers. To English ears the French "R" sounds almost more like an "H" than an "R", and is sometimes written as Hr. In French, the "er" at the end of a word is pronounced something like an accented long "a" sound in English. Also, in French, final consonants, such as the "s" would not be pronounced. However, the "s" on the end of a Norman name couldn't be lost as it had a meaning of either "son of", or "belonging to". Perhaps that might have been the reason for the double "s", or more likely the Norman's didn't actually pronounce it until their language started becoming Anglicized.
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Hokeswode or Hawkeswood - near Sudbury, in Shropshire, England (This picture from Stuart Hotchkiss, VP of the Hotchkiss Family Association). This was once the manner house of another Hotchkiss line, besides my own, which came to Scotland in the mid-1700's. James Hotchkiss of Hawkeswood, and of Sudbury apparently sold the estate and moved to Edinburgh, where in 1751, he married Elizabeth Cleghorn, the daughter of a wealthy brewer. There the "Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses and Guild Brethren, 1761-1841" from the Scottish Record Society, shows that on 27 June 1769, he was a merchant and brewer, a burgess of Edinburgh and Gild Brother in or by right of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Cleghorn, merchant, burgess of Edinburgh and Guild Brother. James Hotchkiss' sons John and Thomas also carried on this profession. I have found that many in James' line eventually found their name transformed to "Huskie", as it seems that in Scotland Hotchkiss is often pronounced more like "Hotchkie", dropping the final consonant sound, similar to the way the French do. There was a family diamond ring in this line said to be given by King Richard the 1st to one of the Family who was "Lord Mair" of London. This was last recorded as given in the will of Margaret Hotchkiss nee Hart, the wife of James Hotchkiss, Esq. to their son Dr. Richard James Hotchkiss in 1876 "to go down in straight male line".
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James Arthur Hotchkiss(6 Dec 1914 - 14 Jan 1991) and great-granddaughter in 1986. My grandfather, known as Jimmy, had genealogy as a hobby. I used to help him with this when I was young, and promised to continue his work when he was gone.