Attonburn

Friends at church, on hearing that we were traveling to Kalamazoo, told us of a book of theirs entitled From Kelso To Kalamazoo, and lent it to us; Mr Flum read it and we obtained copies for our American friends and ourselves but I have yet to read it.

It is the story of George Taylor who was born* here at Attonburn in 1803, where his father was a shepherd. Throughout his early years the family moved to several other farms in the Kelso area. He was 26 when his father died, (buried at Eckford) and two of his brothers emigrated to Kalamazoo, but George and his second wife did not move there until 1855. By this time he was well-established as a gardener and forester and established himself as a nurseryman, introducing the cultivation of celery to the state of Michigan.

Mr Flum having visited the relevant localities in Kalamazoo, we took a tour of the relevant Borders area today, starting with his birthplace.

*Edit: I have begun reading the book and very quickly discovered that Mr Flum was misinformed (i.e. he did not read it properly) and that George was not born here but at Grange, in the Hownam Parish, possibly at the house of his maternal Grandmother.  However, the family was indeed based at Attonburn.