VISITING her grandmother's Borders home was something an American woman had "always wanted" to do.

Barbara Lynn Barry (née Engstrum) enjoyed a homecoming earlier this year when she spent nine days in Peebles where her grandmother, Wilhelmina Smith, was born.

During her visit, Barbara, 73, visited the family home in Old Town Peebles.

Barbara, who was born in Englewood, New Jersey, had originally planned a visit to Peebles in 2023, however, her plans were put on hold as she underwent a course of chemotherapy.

Her grandmother, Wilhelmina, always spoke "fondly" of her hometown.

Wilhelmina, born in December 1888, was the youngest of 12 children born to James Smith and Annie Smith (née Lawrie).

In 1910 she followed in three of her siblings' footsteps and made the journey across the Atlantic to America.

She arrived in New York on May 28, 1910, and began working as a domestic for an officer at the West Point Military Academy.

It was there Wilhelmina met her sweetheart, and future husband, Alexander Engstrum, who was a technical sergeant at West Point and was painting the home where she was working.

The couple fell in love and married in 1915, when Wilhelmina was 26, and had five children – one of whom died in infancy.

Alexander passed away in October 1925.

Wilhelmina then raised their four surviving children – Agnes, John, Alexander, and Donald Joseph – through the Great Depression as a single parent.

She never remarried and later moved to Englewood, New Jersey, to be closer to her brother.

In Englewood, Wilhelmina became a janitor at one of the local schools.

She passed away at the age of 76 in November, 1964 in Englewood.

Wilhelmina's son, Donald Joseph Engstrum and his wife, Marjorie Pearl Bush, were the parents of Barbara and her siblings.

Of the four Smith children who moved to America, only one returned home – Agnes Connal Smith, in 1933.

Andrew Tulloch, Barbara's cousin, told the Border Telegraph: "Barbara thoroughly enjoyed her nine-day stay in Peebles.

"She met some real nice, friendly people who were always willing to chat with her, and has taken home to Utah, where she now lives, some very fond memories of where her grandmother once lived.

"It's strange that the Smith children chose Englewood as their destination in America as this is etched above the door next to the family home in Old Town Peebles.

"We have never got to the bottom of why they went to Englewood or why it's above the door.

"Of all the 12 children of James Smith and Annie Lawrie, the only one we don’t have all the details of is Mary Ann Bruce Smith, born 1881.

"We have her aged 19 in the 1901 Census but nothing more on her."

Andrew and his family are hoping someone will have more information on Mary.

Contact the Peeblesshire News at editorial@bordertelegraph.com if you have any details on Mary Ann Bruce Smith.