Long-lost relatives of First Minister uncovered in US

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond looks set to welcome relatives from the US he did not know he had after a genealogist traced his ancestry which included cowboys and f a r mers in Minnesota.

His newly-established family are said to be thrilled at discovering their distant cousin Alex and plan to come to Scotland either later this year or during the 2014 Year of Homecoming celebrations.

Research has revealed Peter Salmond Sen left Glasgow on April 8, 1872, on the SS Trinacria with his wife Jane, teenage son Peter and nephew, Robert. When the pioneer arrived in the US he was wearing the kilt.

Peter Salmond raised cattle in Minnesota and worked near the newly-founded town, Independ- ence, but died 10 years later. By the spring of 1896, Peter junior was married. He had nine children and was a farmer.

A newspaper article from the Badger Herald told how father and son were the first to hook up more than one wagon to form a 10-carriage train, and made a trip which “netted them $90”.

Peter Salmond Jun moved to Canada and built two houses and a farm in Saskatchewan.

Among those planning to fly to Scotland is art teacher Tanya Sheahan, whose great-greatgreat-great-great-great-grandfather was Alex Salmond’s great-great-great-great-grandfather.

“My family were thrilled to find out they were related to Scotland’s top political leader,” she said from her home in Swartz Creek, Michigan.

Most of the research was done by Ms Sheahan’s late mother Faith Tyler-Odell, a pastor who traced her roots back to the Salmonds of Slamannan, near Falkirk, Stirlingshire, in 1704.

Ms Sheahan said her trip to Scotland would be emotional because her mother died suddenly last year, aged 58, and did not live to see the results of her family search.

“My mother would have loved discovering all about First Minister Salmond. To her, finding a prominent living relative in another country would have been like uncovering hidden treasure.”

The First Minister said he was intrigued by the details of his relatives. He said those visiting from the US would be warmly welcomed. “It is fascinating to learn of my American ancestors and how they adapted to their lives in the New World after leaving Scotland.”