FInding Nancy Longstreet Part 5 (The End)

The online family tree I was using for clues to further research had John Longstreet's death as 14 September 1868 in Erin, Wellington County Ontario. There were no sources provided to support this and since this date is before mandatory registration of deaths, there was no death registration to be found.

My next decision then was see if I could find some proof of his death. For that I could search church records, burial records, cemeteries, and wills.

Agricultural Census

I also thought I'd take a look in the Agricultural census for 1851 and 1861 for John Longstreet in Caledon. John wasn't found but his son Henry was found living on Concession 6, Lot 10 in Caledon Township in 1861. So I could also have a hunt in the online Land Records for Ontario and see if John was there and when he first bought land.

Fields: Name, Concession, Lot #, Total Acres, Acres cultivated, Acres with crops

Land Records

I would need more time to find the Abstract Indexes to Deeds for Lot 10, Concession 6 in Caledon on the online Ontario Land Record site, so I headed out in another direction. It was beginning to feel like I was floundering around so I decided to just do some Googling, see what turned up when searching under John or Nancy's name. I'd mull over what I'd found so far and where to turn next while doing some simple searches online.

An exhaustive internet search turned up a little tidbit of information on a message board where an individual said that Abigail Longstreet Snyder was named in her father John's will. No other details were given. No sources, nothing. But.... a possible will!!?? My spidey senses tingled. I decided to drop everything and go on a hunt for this will if it existed.
 
I didn't think that the family tree notation of John dying in Erin, Wellington County made sense, so I went to the Archives of Ontario website to look at what was available for wills in Peel County. It made more sense to me that since some of John's children stated they were born in Caledon, and John was last found in 1861 in Caledon, Peel County, he may have still been there in 1868.

Surrogate Court Records

From Archives of Ontario website I learned that if John had a will it is probably found on the following film: GS1, Reel 563. That covers Estate Files 1-80, years 1867-1868. Archives of Ontario Peel County Surrogate Court Records also suggests it is wise to look up the application in the Docket Books on microfilm GS 2, Reel 146. The estate file number will be listed at the top of the application.

These films are not online and since I cannot access the Archives myself I hired my friend Sue de Groot at researchbysue@sympatico.ca to look for me and copy a will if she found one.

Bingo!

John's will was found. The microfilmed Docket Book shows us that John's will is #67 on GS1 Reel 563

"10 October 1868. John Longstreet, late of the Township of Caledon in the County of Peel, farmer, died 14th day of Sept. 1868"

Executors were Noah Herring, farmer, and Francis Longstreet, labourer

John's will was quite long and rather than transcribe it, I have extracted names and bequests as follows:

To Francis Longstreet, my son, the 5 acres I now occupy, with house and all personal property on 5th Concession W.H.S. Township of Caledon. Westerly corner of the Southerly Quarter Lot 10. Also 5 acres of land on the 6th Concession between the lot I deeded to Wm. Long and that hereafter willed to my son Henry Longstreet.

To my son Henry Longstreet, 25 acres of land on 6th Concession of Caledon, W.H.S. being part of the Southerly quarter of Lot 10 on condition that within 5 years of my death he pays to my son Francis Longstreet $200.00

To my daughters Matilda Smith and Mary Long each $5.00. To my sons Samuel, Richard, and John each $1.00. To the remainder of my daughters Nancy Ann Fisher, Betsy Ann Lawrence, and Abigail Snyder each $1.00

6. My son Francis to take good care of, and maintain, my beloved wife during her life and also pay her funeral expenses at her death.

John signs with an X for his name

Inventory

There are several other legal papers and documents with John's will. All in all a total of 12 pages of documents is in the file.

Conclusion

Nancy Fisher's father has been found. She is named as the daughter of John Longstreet in his will dated 1868. It is possible that her mother was John Longstreet's second wife whose name is thought to be Mary aka Phoebe Bear. But finding proof of the second wife is another research project for descendants to tackle.

Now let's look at the summary of theorized children of John Longstreet which I prepared for Part 4 Finding Nancy Longstreet. We need to see which children are now proven by John's will.

Samuel Longstreet IN THE WILL
Born ca 1814 USA (some records indicate he was born 27 Feb. 1814)

Richard Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1816 USA (New York?)

Sarah Catherine Longstreet NOT IN THE WILL
We must not assume she is not a daughter just because she is not in the will. She may have died before 1868. She may have been disowned. More research would be required by her descendants.

Henry Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1823 (29 March 1823?)

Nancy Ann/Elizabeth Longstreet IN THE WILL
born ca 1823
married George Fisher

Betsy (Elizabeth) Ann Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1825
married William Lawrence

Abigail Longstreet  IN THE WILL
born ca 1835
married Calvin Murray Snyder

John Longstreet s/o John & Mary (Phoebe?)  IN THE WILL
born ca 1836 (25 October 1835?)

Mary Longstreet d/o John & Sarah  IN THE WILL
born 1839
Married William Long

Matilda Longstreet probably d/o John & Sarah  IN THE WILL
born 11 May 1843
married Jacob Smith

Francis Longstreet s/o John & Sarah  IN THE WILL
born 22 May 1845

I hope my readers have enjoyed following along with me on my quest to find Nancy Longstreet Fisher. If you found my research or the process I used helpful, please consider a donation to support my continuing to bring free genealogy online for all.

Here are the links to all 5 parts of this series

https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-1.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-2.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-3.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-4.html
https://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/04/finding-nancy-longstreet-part-5-end.html