Too Many James Selkirks

 There are just too many James Selkirks.  All of them are intriguing, but I am having a time sorting them all out. 

My latest Selkirk family research lead me to this wonderful picture (thank you Sharon and Keleigh!)

A note with the photo says it is "James Selkirk who settled in Texas and fought for the south."  But which James is it?

It is certainly not my # 1 James Selkirk (1757-1820), that is the Revolutionary War veteran, memoir writer, tailor, farmer who married Elizabeth Henry (1766-1844) in 1786.*  And it is not his son James who died in 1821 because the image is a daguerreotype probably from the 1840s or 50s. 

The person pictured has to be one of James and Elizabeth's two grandsons that are named James. Both of the cousins went to Texas. 

The first possibility is James Selkirk (1815-1862) son of William Selkirk (1792-1828) and Matilda Hallenbake (1794-1820).  William (son of #1 James) was the first to go to Texas about 1822. This James was born in Bethlehem and went to Texas after his father died out there. 

The second is James Selkirk (c. 1824-1869), son of Robert Selkirk (1797-1872) and Maria Boucher (1802-1881). Robert is also a son of #1 James and a brother to William. That makes these two James cousins.  A genealogist in the family, Theodore Selkirk, compiled an extensive Selkirk family tree and a descendant, Michael Wolf added to that with this paragraph:

"James Selkirk born circa 1824 died April 18, 1869 at Brenham Washington County Texas. Cousin of James Selkirk 1815-1862 and lived in Matagorda with him. Built the dock at Matagorda. In Confederate Army Capt. Co D 6th Texas Infantry. War record in National Archives, visited in prison of war camp at Columbus Ohio by his father Robert."

So there you have it.  Add in the fact that this photo came down through the Willis family who are descendants of Robert and Maria, and I am pretty sure this is the right James Selkirk. 

And just for fun, here's a picture of Robert Selkirk, father of  James.

And here's a picture of his brother John 

And his sister Lucinda Selkirk Leedings.  Hopefully by now you see the family resemblance!

* I'm not even going to deal with the family tree on Ancestry that has my #1 James as the son of James Selkirk (1733-1758) who is the son of James Selkirk (1702-1727). Do you see how those dates don't really line up?