Though at first blush, this record of Peter McLea coming to America in 1858 seems to be an unrelated Peter McLea, I can't help but wonder if this is indeed a relative...

According to Ancestry.com's New York Passenger Lists, 1851-1891, which contains an index of actual images of the passenger lists held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm, M237, rolls 95-580, we have this record:

Line 32, Microfilm Roll 184, List number 408

Peter McLea

Male, Age 30, with an estimated birth year of 1828.

He departed Glasgow, Scotland for the United States on board the ship Glasgow, arriving at the port of New York 26 May 1858.

An examination of the actual record (which I have somewhere) showed that Peter's occupation was "Smith."

Though no birth record exists for my Peter, all signs point to a birth year of 1828 and an occupation as Blacksmith. I know of no reason for him to depart Glasgow at this time, given the births of his children in 1852, 1854, 1855, October of 1859, 1862, 1868, and 1871. However, he was at least sometimes employed as a "ship smith" and therefore might have had some business in traveling with the ships as they traveled the seas. If he did, it was an infrequent part of his work.

Anyway, though our ancestor James Brown MacLea, Peter's son, is the known emigrant from Scotland, the possibility remains based on this record that his father Peter may have traveled to the United States first, years before, and perhaps even planting the idea in young James' mind...

Kyle=