When Andrew Horne left Scotland to live in Montreal

I first mention Andrew Horne, who was my first cousin once removed on my mum's side when I wrote about his father here. I later wrote about his mother, my great aunt, who died in 1918 in the Spanish Flu epidemic here.

Andrew was just 10 years old when his mum died. He continued living with his step-father, a career soldier, in hard scrabble Gourock, just north west of Glasgow. But Andrew was ill-treated by his step-father. When word of this reached his Matheson aunt and granny he was taken from Gourock and went to live in Nethy Bridge with his granny, my great grandmother, Annie Ross Matheson.

After his granny died just before Christmas in 1922, Andrew was sent to the Quarriers Orphans Home at Bridge of Weir, but only several months. Here it gets a little confusing, but I think I've sorted out what happened. I had known from my mum and aunt that Andrew came to Montreal as a teenager, to live with his uncle Frank and his family. He was closer in age to Frank, who was born in 1892, than to my grandfather, his uncle John, who was born in 1884.

Declaration of Passenger to Canada

Researching Andrew's departure for Canada a few years ago, I found the information card on the right, confirming his departure from Glasgow on 23 Aug 1923 on the Athenia -- note that he was going to Canada to settle with his uncle.

A couple of years ago, another DNA cousin sent me information about Quarriers Homes at Bridge of Weir, saying that Andrew had lived there before coming to Canada.

Out of curiousity, I checked Library and Archives' British Home Child collection. There, I found contradictory information, indicating that Andrew was a passenger on the Cassandra, which arrived in Canada in April 1923. The record notes he was destined for Brockville, Ontario. Quarriers had afacility in Brockville where all newly arrived boys were first sent before being sent on to other places.

Library and Archives Canada
British Home Child Collection

I kept researching. On the British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association website, I found the photograph below of boys, the caption of which went so far as to list Andrew, and said the photo was on t the caption identifying him on a photograph purportedly taken onboard the Cassandra.

from British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association website

But I still couldn't find any record of Andrew leaving Scotland in late March or early April 1923 on the Cassandra, or any other ship.

Next, I contacted Quarriers Home at Bridge of Weir, and they confirmed to me that the August date is the correct date Andrew left Scotland.

What happened? Remember, Andrew's granny died at Christmas 1922. Was he sent immediately to Quarriers? Or early in 1923? I think there were too many children at Bridge of Weir, and I have a theory about what probably happened. His aunt Kitty was already the legal guardian of her handicapped brother, Alex, whom I wrote about here. Kitty was from my great grandfather's first marriage, and in 1923 she was 54 years old. But Kitty wasn't for whatever reason able to take on raising a 15 year old, when she herself was childless and her husband was a Glasgow police detective.

Aside from Kitty and Alex, my grandfather and great uncle were the only family members Andrew had left. I wonder if Quarriers moved that quickly to organize for Andrew to be sent to Canada, that when his interim guardian, his aunt Kitty, found out, she leapt into action and contacted her brothers in Montreal. It seems to me that it was a very lucky break for Andrew that he was pulled off the April 1923 manifest. But not soon enough for a photograph to be taken -- not on the Cassandra or on arrival in Brockville.


Quarriers have a small amount of records about Andrew's time there, but wanted 60 GBP to copy and send these to me. As this is over $100 Canadian for me, I decided against getting his records.

Andrew was embraced by his uncles and their families when he reached Montreal. Until then, he certainly hadn't had a lot of stability, and indeed had experienced trauma as a child. My sense is that he always wanted to belong. Just belong.

Andrew served overseas in the Canadian Army in the Second World War, married afterwards, but was childless. I met him a few times. Andrew was a very kind, gentle, and soft spoken man. He wrote me letters addressed "Dear cousin Margie".


The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2020 All rights reserved

On this day 201 years ago: Sarah Anne Moore was born

If you have your tree on FamilySearch, you can get email notifications about the birthdays of your ancestors. And so today, I was reminded, is the birthday of my 2nd great grandmother, Sarah Anne Moore.

It is through Sarah that I descend from Hugh Moore, my 4th great grandfather, who with several other family members, came to Nova Scotia from New Hampshire as New England Planters and were among the first grantees in Colchester in 1760. Their origins were Ulster Scots. The Moores were a very large family, and they in turn had their own very large families, and so on, and so forth.

Sarah was one of at least six children, possibly the youngest, born to Robert Moore (1770-1852) and Margaret O'Brien (abt 1775-1862), whose origins were also Ulster Scots.

Sarah married Charles Nelson, a farmer, in 1845. We know of only two children: Elias, my great grandfather, and the infamous Horatio, whom I wrote about here. There are no records to tell us if they had other children who died young. Census records from 1871 and 1881 tell us she was Presbyterian. Charles identified as Free Church.

Sarah died in 1889. We don't know when in 1889, as that fell between 1878 and 1907, a black hole at Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics for which death information is not available. 

She and Charles, who died in 1892, are buried in the Nelson family plot at Watson Cemetery in Truro.

Happy birthday, granny Sarah. Thinking of you.

The never ending story continues....






© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2020 All rights reserved

Why Katie Fraser McKeigan went from Canada to Kentucky

My first cousin 3x removed was Edinburgh-born Margaret Falconer, about whom I wrote here. She was the eldest daughter of my 2nd great grand-aunt, Ann Smith. While drilling down into the lines of Margaret's children from time to time this year, I came across records and an obituary for Catherine Elizabeth Fraser (1869-1932), her eldest daughter by her second husband, John Fraser, in Louisville, Kentucky. Catherine, or Katie, was also born in Edinburgh, travelling to Manitoba in 1882 with her family.

Wait! What? Now, here was a mystery. How did Katie end up in Kentucky, living at the same address as one W. H. McKeigan, and who was that? Through statutory and newspaper records, learned her story.

Nanaimo Daily News 9 Apr 1895

Catherine (or Katie) married a Nova Scotia man, Daniel McKeigan, in New Westminster, British Columbia on 29 May 1892, when she was 23. She had gone from Manitoba to British Columbia, apparently on her own, leaving her family. I haven't found Catherine on the 1891 Canada census, but her marriage registration notes that her residence at the time of her marriage was still Brandon, Manitoba, where her family then lived. As we know, people were often overlooked in censuses in those days.

Daniel was born on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and was a miner. Cape Breton is where many Scots who came to Canada settled in the 19th century. He was a miner, working near Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. How and where Dan and Katie met is a mystery. New Westminster is on the mainland. Nanaimo, where they made their home, then was reached only by ship or ferry.

Katie and Dan quickly had their first child, John Falconer McKeigan, in 1893, and Katie was pregnant again when disaster struck in April 1895. Dan was killed instantly by falling rock in the mine shaft where he was working. The story at the right goes on at some length describing the incident and recovery efforts.

Katie stayed on in Nanaimo after Dan's death, and gave birth to their second son a few months later.  I didn't find Katie and her sons again until the 1916 Prairies census, when they were living in Winnipeg, where Katie ran a boarding house. Katie's eldest son, John, died in 1920 there in 1920. She and William are still in Winnipeg when the 1921 census was done.

But then I found Katie in the 1930 US census in Louisville, Kentucky, and according to that census she arrived there in 1924. She was by then working as a housekeeper at a boys' home. I then found her listed in a few Louisville city directories through the 1920s, which is how I learned that she had gone there from Winnipeg with her son William in 1924.

I was at loss to understand why Katie and William went to Louisville, until I found Katie's 1932 obituary, above. Besides her son, Katie was survived by a brother, Rev J. F. Fraser, formerly of Louisville and then of New York.

Yes, it was one of those lovely a-ha moments we so love in genealogy. J. F. Fraser was Katie's younger brother, John Falconer Fraser, whom I hadn't yet begun to research.

There will be more to come about the Reverend Fraser.

And what of Katie's son, William? He made his home in Louisville, dying there in 1964. I learned more about his life from his obituary, seen below.

Back to Katie's mum, Margaret Falconer Fraser. I'm getting closer to finding out when Margaret and her husband, John Fraser, died, having found them in the 1906 census of the prairie provinces, living in Nanton, Alberta, a farming community, with their youngest son, James D. Fraser (Aside: Alberta statutory records are really the most awful to research).

Louisville Courier-Journal, 4 Feb 1964

The never ending story continues ....







© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

From Scotland to Quebec: Alexander Dalziel & Rachel Cook

Alexander Dalziel (pronounced Dee-yall) is the second of three Scots ancestors of my Québécois sister-in-law, nephew and niece, who settled in Quebec. From Alex's 1812 burial record when he was said to have been about 51 years old, we can ballpark his birth as about 1761. Alex was born in Scotland, but we don't know where, and we have no confirmed information about his parents. We don't know what circumstances drew him to Quebec, but he was there by 1790.

On 25 May 1790, Alexander married another Scot, Rachel Cook, at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Quebec City. The church still stands today, and is the oldest English-speaking congregation of Scots origin in Canada, according to the church's website.  Church records tell us that he was the gardener of Adam Mabane, a Scots-born physician, judge and councillor who had come to Quebec with British forces in 1760 as a surgeon's mate. Mabane died in 1792, but until his death in 1812, Alex's occupation in the church register was always recorded as gardener.

Rachel may have been born in 1769 in Fife, Scotland, to Thomas Cook and Rachel Kay.

Alex and Rachel had at least seven children between 1791 and 1805, most born in St-Henri, a farming community south of Levis, across the St Lawrence from Quebec City. I wonder how long that horse and buggy took into Quebec City. I've found baptisms for most of the children at St Andrew's.

A daughter died young, and two sons died as young men. Rachel died just two weeks after the birth of her last child. Alex's and Rachel's four surviving children (John, Rachel, Margaret and James) married and had families of their own. Their sons were farmers in St-Henri. Their eldest daughter, also a Rachel, married a man named Gardener at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Her siblings married in the Catholic Church at St-Henri, and all of their children were baptized as Catholics.

Quebec Mercury 4 May 1805 - source: BAnQ

Rachel's May 1805 death was reported in the Quebec Mercury newspaper. That notice was also picked up by the Columbian Sentinel, a Massachusetts newspaper. She was about 36 years old. Perhaps she or Alex had family in Massachusetts.

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church register

Alex never remarried. He died in April 1812, almost eight years after Rachel, in St-Henri.

Alex and Rachel are buried in the cemetery at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. I wonder if their grave markers are still visible. Next time I'm in Quebec, I'll have to check.

My sister-in-law, niece and nephew descend from Alex through their father and grandfather, from Alex's eldest son John Dalziel (1791-1876)'s daughter Reine.

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church register

  The never ending story continues ....





© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

We Remember 5: the grandsons of Grace Smith Dow

Three grandsons of my 2nd great grand-aunt, Grace Smith (1814-1891) and her husband, John Dow (1812-1884) died during military conflicts.

Banffshire Journal 31 Dec 1901

The Boer War, between 1899 and 1902, was between the British Empire and the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Almost 21,000 military personnel lost their lives. 2nd Lieutenant John Dow (1878-1901) served with the 2nd Scottish Horse. He was killed in action on 20 Dec 1901 in South Africa, when he was just 23 years old. He was the only child of Grace and John's youngest daughter, Grace (1857-1932). It's not clear when he signed attestation papers for military service. Was it when the Boer War broke out or later? His death notice notes that he had previously worked in law offices in Moray, but I don't believe he was a solicitor himself, because of his youth. But would he have become a solicitor if not for the Boer War?

I've found no information about John's burial, but I suspect this would have been in South Africa.

The British National Archives report that 886,000 military casualties during the First World War. Among these were two of John's cousins who were also brothers, the sons of Grace and John's son, teacher, schoolmaster and justice of the peace, Peter Dow (1954-1931) and his wife, Marjory MacPherson.

Aberdeen Weekly Journal 22 Nov 1918

Captain John Dow (1889-1918) worked as a surgeon at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Aberdeen before he entered military service. He was part of the Indian Medical Service.

John died on 5 Nov 1918, just six days before Armistice, from influenza. This was during the peak period for the Spanish Flu. Imagine how run down John must have been, from long hours in operating rooms. He died at Shiraz in modern day Iran, and was buried in Tehran. He was 29.

David Edward Dow (1892-1917) was just 25 when he was killed in action at Rouex on 17 May 1917. He was a banker and served with the 2nd Lieutenant with the 6th Seaforth Highlanders. He is buried at Calais.



David and John had one other brother, Donald James, who also served in the First World War, first as a captain in the Ghurka Rifles (India), and as a Lieutenant in the 6th Seaforth Highlanders. He survived.

I have found no photographs of these young men, who are all second cousins twice removed to me. None were married and they left no children.  They are part of the lost generation.

The never ending story continues.....





© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

 

From Scotland to Quebec: Augustin Fraser (abt 1734 - 1779) of Beaumont, Bellechasse, Bas Canada

It is said that the descent of the population of Quebec in the early to mid 20th century was equally one-third French, English and Gaelic. The Gaelic is of course both Irish and Scots.

My sister-in-law's many French ancestors were among the earliest settlers of New France. We thought she had no other origins among her ancestors. But we were wrong. AncestryDNA tells us that she and her children (my niece and nephew) have three direct Scots ancestors: one on her mother's side, and two on her father's side.

In fact, by all accounts, the earliest Scots ancestor in Quebec fought with the 78th Regiment of the Fraser Highlanders as part of General Wolfe's forces at the Plains of Abraham on 13 Sep 1759. His name was Augustin Fraser, probably born about 1734 in Abriachan near Kirkhill in Inverness, Scotland to Thomas Fraser and Elspet Fraser. But as this 1969 article first published in Canadian Explorer, a Clan Fraser publication and later transcribed on Electric Scotland, notes, his given name at birth was probably Hugh, or the Gaelic "Uisdean". Here's the key paragraph about his name:

This explains why the name Augustin Fraser does not appear in the database of soldiers at the Plains of Abraham, while ten Hugh Frasers are in the database. Only officers warranted more than the bare bones facts of name and rank.

Augustin (or Hugh) is also mentioned in a 2009 article of Au fil des ans, a publication of La Société Historique de Bellechasse. This loose English translation of that, courtesy of Google Translate:

"Simon Fraser

In the winter of 1760-1761, the 78th Scottish Regiment, commanded by Colonel Simon Fraser, spent some of the winter in Beaumont. He had for Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser. A soldier of the company, by the name of Augustin Fraser, settled in Beaumont and would be the origin of the Fraser family. These are the Highlanders. According to Pierre-Georges Roy, "The Scots sympathized a lot faster with French Canadians than the English and the Irish. A son of Augustin, Simon Fraser, was born in Beaumont and, after classical studies at the Séminaire de Québec, served as notary in Beaumont from 1804 to 1855."

Augustin, or Hugh, as he then was, likely became part of the 78th Regiment of the Fraser Highlanders when the regiment was first raised by Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Fraser of Lovet in Inverness, Scotland in 1757. He is mentioned as Hugh on the master index of soldiers on the 78th Fraser Highlanders official website:

78th Fraser Highlanders master index

The history of the 78th Fraser Highlanders is also recounted in this Wikipedia entry. In addition to being at the Plains of Abraham, Hugh likely also saw active combat at the second Siege of Louisbourg in June 1758. The Siege of Louisbourg and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham are both significant milestones in the Seven Years' War.

Augustin/Hugh married Françoise Adam (1742-1828), the daughter of Beaumont's notary, on 17 Nov 1863 at the local church, St-Etienne. This is documented in the parish records and in the Tanguay Collection (Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes). They went on to have eight children, none of whom they named Hugh. Augustin, yes, but not Hugh. It is from these records that we have the names of Augustin's parents.

Augustin became a merchant and also operated a tavern in Quebec City's Lower Town. Most of his children had their own large families, and at least two of his grandsons and their families settled in Illinois. It is very safe to say that his descendants are scattered across North America and beyond.

During the 1776 Blockade of Quebec by American rebels, Augustin organized provisions for the British soldiers defending the city. This is recounted in the 1969 article linked earlier in this post.

Augustin died on 21 Oct 1779 and is buried in the cemetery of his parish church, St-Etienne-de-Beaumont, which is a half hour drive today from where my sister-in-law lives. Family legend is that he foretold his death. From the same article mentioned above, this:

'There is a legend, passed down through Augustin’s eldest son Joseph Fraser [1765-1844], that he and other descendants of Augustin Fraser would be warned of the day and hour of their death. In the morning of October 21, 1779, Augustin and his son Joseph went to get their horses to plough their fields. Augustin decided not to plough that day and the two men returned to the house where Augustin announced that he only had a few hours to live: he would die when the sun set. He put his affairs in order; he asked for the parish priest (M. Descheneau). Just before sunset, Augustin got up from his bed, looked through the window at the setting sun, then went back to bed saying: "I only have a few minutes left."  Just as the sun disappeared below the horizon, he died.'

What a great story! When Augustin died his children ranged in age from about 23 years to just eight months old. The church where Augustin was married and buried from, and so many of his family and descendants were baptized, married and buried, still stands. The cemetery there holds many ancestors of my sister-in-law, niece and nephew.

Église Saint-Étienne-de-Beaumont,credit: Jeangagnon CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41670181

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

Sillery's Mount Hermon Cemetery: a walk back in time

Recently in Quebec City, my brother and I went for a walk in Mount Hermon Cemetery located in nearby Sillery. The cemetery was created by a group of Protestant businessmen and lawyers in 1848 when the original protestant cemetery attached to St Matthew's Anglican Church in Quebec City had no more room.


At the main entrance, you immediately step back in time, to 1851, precisely, which is the date on a large wooden sign with many carved rules and regulations that fairly shout Victorian times, to set the tone for your visit. The panel today is a replica of the original cedar wood panel erected in 1851.

The cemetery website tells us that it is on 26 acres and holds more than 17,000 bodies. At its southern tip, it overlooks the St Lawrence River.

Walking through the cemetery is a walk back through time. You see many impressive memorials that commemorate leading Anglo Quebec society figures of their time. You see memorials to fallen soldiers and airmen, drowned passengers of ships, and ordinary women and men. Today, it is non-denominational, and the grave markers reflect that: Greek Orthodox, Chinese, Japanese, French Canadians. For any family historian, cemeteries are the gift that keep in giving. Mount Hermon tells the history of Quebec and its inhabitants.

But back to those very sober and strict rules. Have a read...

The never ending story continues ....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved