Volume 1. Prior to 1855, gravestone inscriptions represent almost the sole source of death information in Scotland. After that date, Scottish law mandated the systematic recording of births, marriages, and deaths throughout the nation, while prior to 1855 Scottish parish registers tended to focus on baptismal and marriage entries, to the virtual exclusion of death records. The only other major sources of death information lie in the obituary pages of the Scottish press, or in the various Registers of Testaments. In recent years the precariousness of Scottish tombstones has been underscored by their deteriorating condition, prompting various genealogical societies to transcribe the information found on them. When one considers that a number of these gravestone inscriptions contain references to family members who died abroad, as well as those who died in Scotland, Scottish gravestones take on even more importance for North Americans. These facts have not been lost on the Scottish researcher, David Dobson, who, drawing upon both published and unpublished sources, has compiled this volume of death records, Scottish-American Gravestones, 1700-1900. In all, there are more than 1,500 death records in the volume, and they are arranged alphabetically according to the surname of the decedent. While the transcriptions vary, all of them also give the decedent's date and place of death and the source of the information, as well as, in many instances, the names of the individual's parents, name of spouse, and even a word or two about occupation.--Publisher information. Volume 2. This volume, unlike the first, is based largely on previously published material such as government serial publications, contemporary newspapers, periodical articles, and family histories. In addition, there is data from some previously unpublished ships' passenger lists and documents in the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh. At least half of the immigrants identified in this volume sailed to Canada or the West Indies initially, the rest arriving at ports in the coastal states of America. Among them were doctors, ministers, educators, indentured servants, transportees, merchants, and ordinary laborers. About 4,000 immigrants are listed. While the data provided varies according to the records used, there is a general amalgam of information giving age, date and place of birth, occupation, place of residence, names of spouse and children, date and place of arrival in North America, and the death date.--Publisher information. Volume 3. The data, from Scottish newspapers and magazines of the period, provides information on about 3,000 Scottish emigrants.--Publisher information. Volume 4. In this volume Mr. Dobson introduces the researcher to little-known source materials--the Services of Heirs and the Register of Testaments of the Commissariat of Edinburgh. From the Services of Heirs he extracted all references to North American residents who inherited land in Scotland, and also to Americans who left land in Scotland. From the Register of Testaments he provided abstracts of the testaments of all North American residents who chose to have their wills registered in Edinburgh. All of this data serves to confirm a relationship between the inheritor and his ancestor.--Publisher information. Volume 5. Two-thirds of the data, from Canadian and U.S. archives, is on those who settled in Ontario.--Publisher's website. Volume 6. This volume contains abstracts of data from the Edinburgh Register of Deeds, which recorded not only deeds but any document thought to be important, such as marriage contracts, powers of attorney, and commercial agreements. The material in this volume relates to Scots living or dying in North America, or having any commercial or legal intercourse with America, for the period 1750-1825. About 600 Scots and their activities are covered.--Publisher information. Volume 7. Largely a miscellany, this volume draws upon printed books and manuscripts, church records, burgess rolls, probate records, state records, and public records of every description. Typically, all 2,000 entries refer to Scots who emigrated to North America or who are reported to have lived or died there, and they include some or all of the following: place and date of birth, place of residence, names of parents, occupation, name of spouse, date of emigration, place and date of settlement, and date of death.--Publisher information. Volume 8. Since the publication of volume 7 in 1993, ongoing research in often obscure sources has unearthed a substantial number of references to Scottish emigrants in America, Canada, and the West Indies, at an early period. The quantity and the quality of these located in Scottish, English, American, Canadian and Dutch sources has justified this volume of references to early Scots in America, Canada, and the West Indies many of which were previously unknown to researchers.--Introduction.

Volumes 1-7 published 1984-1993, volume 8 published in 2017.