Finding Ancestors in Heir & Devisee Papers 1797-1854

H 1140 Edward Strickland Image 235

 Home District Land Certificates 1787 to 1795 are useful genealogy records that many genealogists overlook.

While going through Heir & Devisee Commission Papers 1797-1854 to create a  correct Finding Aid for this set of microfilm, I stumbled across an interesting tidbit. 

 
While scrolling through microfilm H 1140 in order to correct Canadiana.org's flawed content description, I came across a set of Land Certificates and other documents from individuals living in what was called the Home District. This consisted of land along Lake Ontario and the Niagara region of Ontario.



Image 215 Index to Names Image 215, 216 Home District Land Certificates 1787 to 1795. Index of Names

Certificates
These can be viewed by going to film H 1140 and selecting the image numbers shown below for each claimant

• Image 217 Elias Anderson 1795
• Image 218 Patrick Bern born Ireland 1795
• Image 219  Eli Cahoe age 18 born Pennsylvania 1795
• Image 220, 221 George Campbell 1794
• Image 222 Joshua Chamberlain age 63 born USA 1795
• Image 223 Joshua Chamberlain age 18 born New Hampshire 1795
• Image 224 Zekiel Chamberlain age 21 born Boston 1795
• Image 225 Benjamin Davis Long island New York age 46, 1795
• Image 226 Abraham Devans  of New York age 33 1795
• Image 227 Isaac Devans  of New York age 24 1795
• Image 228 Levi Devans  of New York age 20 1795
• Image 229 Joseph Dean age 44 of Pennsylvania 1795
• Image 230 Sam Herron 1794
• Image 231 John McHenry Born Antrim age 39 1795
• Image 232 Patrick McKee age 26 born Ireland 1795
• Image 233 Jacob Phillips born New York age 25 1795
• Image 234 Samuel Street 1794
• Image 235 Edward Strickland born Cumberland England age 34 1795
• Image 236 petition of George Braytons
• Image 237 two miscellaneous names James Hennessey and Andrew Herron 1808
• Image 238, 239 James Hennessey 1808
• Image 240 Andrew Heron 1808
• Image 241 Samuel Leatch1795
• Image 242, 243 Thomas Otway Page
• Image 244 Samuel Stevenson 1816

What's In A Name?

1794 Petition of Jacob Burkholder

Do you have ancestors whose surnames were mangled in a variety of ways? Most of us do. Spelling wasn't exact prior to 1900 and clerks often recorded names as they heard them.

Often our ancestors could not read or write so they had no way of knowing if their name was misspelled.

In his 1794 petition for land, my ancestor Jacob Burkholder stated he arrived in Upper Canada (present day Ontario) in July 1794, and  applied for land 7 Aug. 1794.

He was recorded as Borghonder in records. That was a new one for me. I had seen the name recorded in other records as Burki, Borcholder, Borcholter, Borckholder, Borgholder, Borkholder, Burckhalter, Burckholdr, Burgholder, Burgholdter, Burkhalter and Burkholder.

Some of my other challenging names to search are: 

My Vollick family not only changed their name from Van Valkenburg to Vollick, it was also found in records as Valk, Follick, Volluch, Folluck, Valick, and more. 

How about my Rabbit family in Kent England? I've found their name as Rabbett, Rabbet, Rabbit, Rabbitt, Rabet, and Rebitt

Sometimes it seems more like Alphabet Soup than any resemblance to the actual name. But that's part of the fun of Genealogy.  What are some of your misspelled ancestor names?

Can You Match or Beat Mine?

Family Trees can be very confusing with intermarriages, step-parents, multiple marriages, etc. 

Davd Annal posed an intriguing question on Twitter asking if anyone could beat his four brothers marrying four sisters. I can. 

Here's mine - in the early 19th century 6 Vollick siblings married 5 Burkholder siblings (you'll figure that out when you look below):

1826 Matthias Vollick m Catherine Burkholder

1827 Isaac Vollick m Sophia Burkholder

1830 Janine Volllick (1) md Jacob Burkholder

1831 Richard Vollick m Elizabeth Burkholder (My ancestors)

1831 Margaret Vollick m David Burkholder

1846 Eliza Vollick (2) m Jacob Burkholder

The Vollick family sometimes used the surname Follick. You can read more about the family at Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick, Loyalist from New York with Butler's Rangers in Niagara

Can you match or beat mine?

 

Jonas Larroway Loyalist

Jonas Larroway 1792 Land Certificate

Jonas Larroway, United Empire Loyalist, born 1731 Schoharie Co. New York, was descended from the LeRoy dit Audy family who settled in New France (now Quebec) from France in 1668. The LeRoy surname underwent great changes, becoming LeRoy dit Audy or Ody in New France, and Laraway or LeRoy in the United States.

Simeon LeRoy dit Audy was born in Creances Normandy. Simeon settled first in the fief or seigneurie of St.-Joseph or L'espinay, Charlesbourg, near the Charles River which belonged to the Hebert- Couillard de L'espinay family in Quebec, Canada in 1668


Jonas Larroway was my 5th great-grandfather and he married in 1754 in Schoharie NY, Elizabeth (Betsy) Muller, daughter of Johannes Nicholas Muller and Maria Dorothea Wuest, a Palatine line.

Jonas fought in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolution and settled at Niagara, Ontario in 1783.

Continue reading at https://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/loy/surnames/larroway.shtml

Butler's Rangers in the American Revolution

Soldier in Butler's Rangers

In June 1776 Sir John Johnson led 200 of his friends, his tenants and some Mohawks and left the Mohawk Valley of New York. After 19 days of near-starvation they arrived at St. Regis. Continuing on to Chambly he was given permission to raise the 1st. Batallion of the Kings Royal Regiment of New York, also known as the King's Royal Yorkers; Johnson's Greens; the Royal Greens and Sir John's Corps.

On Aug. 6 1777 at Oriskany, forces under Sir John Johnson's command including 150 KKRNY, 40 Indian Department Rangers commanded by Major John Butler (later reorganized as Butler's Rangers), 50 German riflemen and many Mohawks and Senecas ambushed 800 militia on their way to Fort Stanwix. 400 rebels were killed.

Three of my ancestors fought in Butler's Rangers - Isaac Vollick, his son Cornelius Vollick, and Cornelius' father-in-law Jonas Larroway.

In September 1777, Butler's Rangers was formally organized with eight companies, several of them doing special duty with the natives. They began their raids of the Mohawk Valley, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other areas.
Butler's Rangers Roster rolls are incomplete. In 1778 only half the corps had been recruited. By war's end (1783) the Ranger corps was at full strength with about 519 men on the roster.

See the list of Men formerly in Sir John Johnson's Brigade

Are You a Peer Descendant?

The Peer family were loyal to the British Crown, and suffered from persecution in New Jersey throughout the American Revolution. Jacob and his family left Sussex County New Jersey for Upper Canada in the summer of 1796. Four of Jacob’s sons – Jacob Jr., Edward, John and Philip Peer petitioned for land one year later. They settled in the Hamilton area of what was then the wilderness of Upper Canada.

This series of 6 books discusses the lives of Jacob, his wife and their sons Levi, Edward, Philip, Stephen, and Jacob Jr. Each book is fully sourced with footnotes. Descendants will enjoy seeing images of early documents such as land petitions and wills.

The Peer Family in North America: V.1 Jacob & Anne Peer, Immigrants from New Jersey to Upper Canada in 1796. Revised Edition Available at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca Also available as an E-book	The Peer Family in North America: V.2 Levi Peer & Elizabeth Marical and their Descendants to 3 Generations Available at or Amazon.com or Amazon.ca Also available as an E-book Note for the book on his parents you also need to purchase V. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer available at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
The Peer Family in North America: V.3 Edward Peer & His Two Wives and their Descendants to 3 Generations Available at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca Also available as an E-book Note for the book on his parents you also need to purchase V. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer available at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca	The Peer Family in North America: V.4 Philip Peer & his two Wives Ester Dunn and Susan Griniaus and their Descendants to 3 Generations  Available at or Amazon.com or Amazon.ca Note for the book on his parents you also need to purchase V. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer available at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
The Peer Family in North America: V. 5 Stephen Peer & His Wife Lydia Skinner and their Descendants to 3 Generations Available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca Note for the book on his parents you also need to purchase V. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer available at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca	The Peer Family in North America: V6 Jacob Peer Jr. and his wife Lucy Powers and their Descendants to 2 Generations 152 pages, full color Available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca Note for the book on his parents you also need to purchase V. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer available at Amazon.ca

NEW! Genealogy Research Service

Olive Tree Genealogy is pleased to announce that I am now offering a Genealogy Research Service in Ontario Canada records. This includes Upper Canada and Canada West genealogy records. You may purchase packages for 3 hours, 5 hours or 10 hours of research.

My 3 hour package is $150.00 US funds

My 5 hour package is normally $250.00 US funds but with a limited 10% discount it is $225.00

My 10 hour package is normally $500.00 but with a 15% discount of $75.00 it is available for a limited time for $425.00 US funds

To request a package, write to Lorine at olivetreegenealogy@gmail.com with your request. I will then send you a list of what details I need from you. After we work out details you will be invoiced through Paypal.

I am also able to offer individual records search in Ontario Land Records Index and Abstract Indexes to Deeds at a flat rate per record. Please see my Genealogy Research Services page.

Home District Land Certificates 1787 to 1795

H 1140 Edward Strickland Image 235

I have been going through Heir & Devisee Commission Papers (Heir & Devisee Commission papers 1797-1854 digitized records to create a working corrected Finding Aid. You may view the corrected content lists at Heir & Devisee Commission 

While scrolling through  microfilm H 1140 in order to correct Canadiana.org's flawed content description, I came across a set of Land Certificates and other documents from individuals living in what was called the Home District. This consisted of land along Lake Ontario and the Niagara region of Ontario.





Image 215 Index to Names Image 215, 216 Home District Land Certificates 1787 to 1795. Index of Names

Certificates
These can be viewed by going to film H 1140 and selecting the image numbers shown below for each claimant

• Image 217 Elias Anderson 1795
• Image 218 Patrick Bern born Ireland 1795
• Image 219  Eli Cahoe age 18 born Pennsylvania 1795
• Image 220, 221 George Campbell 1794
• Image 222 Joshua Chamberlain age 63 born USA 1795
• Image 223 Joshua Chamberlain age 18 born New Hampshire 1795
• Image 224 Zekiel Chamberlain age 21 born Boston 1795
• Image 225 Benjamin Davis Long island New York age 46, 1795
• Image 226 Abraham Devans  of New York age 33 1795
• Image 227 Isaac Devans  of New York age 24 1795
• Image 228 Levi Devans  of New York age 20 1795
• Image 229 Joseph Dean age 44 of Pennsylvania 1795
• Image 230 Sam Herron 1794
• Image 231 John McHenry Born Antrim age 39 1795
• Image 232 Patrick McKee age 26 born Ireland 1795
• Image 233 Jacob Phillips born New York age 25 1795
• Image 234 Samuel Street 1794
• Image 235 Edward Strickland born Cumberland England age 34 1795
• Image 236 petition of George Braytons
• Image 237 two miscellaneous names James Hennessey and Andrew Herron 1808
• Image 238, 239 James Hennessey 1808
• Image 240 Andrew Heron 1808
• Image 241 Samuel Leatch1795
• Image 242, 243 Thomas Otway Page
• Image 244 Samuel Stevenson 1816

Home District Land Claims 1803 & 1804

H 1140 Image 253

Canadiana.Org has digitized 21 films of the Heir & Devisee Commission Papers (Heir & Devisee Commission papers 1797-1854, found in their Heritage Collection), and that's a good thing for genealogists. These records have valuable and informative genealogical documents.

But as mentioned in a previous blog post Heir & Devisee Commission 1797-1854 on Canadiana.org - Listing Errors and a Workaround, the index and description of what is in each film, as provided on Canadiana.org, is incorrect.

I have been going through those digitized records to create a working corrected Finding Aid. You may view the corrected content lists on Olive Tree Genealogy website at Heir & Devisee Commission 

While scrolling through  microfilm H 1140 in order to correct Canadiana.org's flawed content description, I came across a set of Land Certificates and other documents from individuals living in what was called the Home District. This consisted of land along Lake Ontario and the Niagara region of Ontario.

Continuing on from  Home District Land Certificates 1787 to 1795 and An index to Niagara area Loyalists and their Land Certificates here is the start of my list of names of claimants for land in the Home District from 1803-1804. Each name has an image number beside it so that you can easily click through to that image to view the claims and any supporting documents.
 

H 1140 Image 321

Images 250–253 index to claimant names. These images have lists of names of claimants. Note that often it is the attorney's name on the index and not the petitioner or claimant. The claimants' names can be viewed in my list below.  Please also note that I cannot guarantee my interpretation of the names in these documents. The writing is often difficult to read or the image is blurry.

The following images are the actual certificates, claims and other documents

• Image 254, 255 claim of Robert Isaac dey Gray, 1802
• Image 256 Hannah McBride widow of John
• Image 257, 258 claim number five
• Image 259 William Jones
• Image 260 William Bowkett
• Image 261 William Bokette and Sarah H----- want to marry, 1799.
• Image 262 Joseph Hunt 1802
• Image 263 Joseph Hunt
• Image 264, 265 William Allen 1802
• Image 266 John Everson
• Image 267 Abner Mills
• Image 268 Thomas Berry and John McBride
• Image 269 Thomas Barry and Richard Lawrence
• Image 270–273 Richard Lawrence
• Image 274–275 Richard Beasley for the heirs of Thomas Berry
• Image 276-278 Abner Mills (Miles?) 1803
• Image 279 – 284 David Saban of Whitchurch and Abner Mills or Miles I
• Image 235 Joachim Luran of Markham 1804
• Image 286 Daniel Herrick of Markham and Harry McClary
• Image 287 William Cooper 1803
• Image 288 Isaac Davis 1801
• Image 289–291 Thomas Hamilton 1803
• Image 292–294 William Allen and Isaac Horton
• Image 295 --- Tiffany of Ancastor 1803
• Image 296 George Purvis 
• Image 297 Aime Michel Fortier 1803
• Image 298 George Purvis
• Image 299–300 John Reiley
• Image 301 William Weikes 1803
• Image 302 William Emery
• Image 303 Christian Horning of Markham 1803
• Image 304–305 William Weeks
• Image 306–307 Isaac Hollingshead 1802
• Image 308–309 Deed  of Benjamin Hale and Elizabeth Murray to Isaac Todd 1804
• Image 310–313 the late Duncan Murray, Lieutenant in 34th Regiment, Lincoln County
• Image 314 Isaac Todd of Montréal and Elizabeth Murray
• Image 315–319 Jean Baptiste Rousseau of Ancastor, Estate and inheritance, 1803
• Image 320 Duncan Cameron 1803
• Image 321–322 Elizabeth Murray daughter of the late Duncan Murray & sister of deceased John Murray,  Isabella Murray widow of Duncan Murray, Isaac Todd, Joseph Edwards
• Image 323 Elizabeth Murray
• Image 324 Richard Ferguson of Vaughan Township
• Image 325 William Weeks, Daniel Laughlin
• Image 326 James Crane, 1803
• Image 327–332 Daniel Laughlin
• Image 333 Patrick Boon or Bern of Markham, Wheelwright, 1804
• Image 334–336 William Weeks
• Image 337–338 Jean Baptiste Bouchette to William Church
• Image 339 William Chewitt 1804
• Image 340 Peter McGregor 1803
• Image 341 James McGregor of Markham

Part 2: Breaking Down That Brick Wall

Part 1 published on November 23 introduced the 30 year search for a county of origin for my Irish McGinnis Family. We continue with Part 2

Breaking Down a Brick Wall

Still unable to find a death date for the one remaining brother (Hugh) who was born in Ireland, I set my research aside. Then the breakthrough - two amazing women who have written several history books, spent many years going through newspapers to gather obituaries for people who had lived in Puslinch Township.  Doesn't sound impressive? It is. "A Celebration of Lives: Obituaries of Puslinch Township Wellington County Ontario" was published recently as a two-volume set consisting of 1,408 pages. There are over 6,500 obituaries. It's impressive.

An Obituary Reveals a County

It had limited printing but I managed to get the last copy. Of course I skipped right to the "M" pages and unbelievably there it was - an obituary for my Hugh McGinnis of Hespeler. His obit stated he was born in Co. Down Ireland.  I know an obituary is only as reliable as the person giving the information but it is another piece of evidence. I wish I could find his death registration but still no luck, even with now knowing the month and year and location of his death.

This morning I scrolled through every image on Ancestry.com for a period of 12 months from his death with no success. His death is not there. But I have the obituary and that thrills me! It adds to the growing weight of clues.

Potsdam New York Gives More Clues

Second wonderful item - Hugh's wife was born in USA circa 1810. Due to finding other bits and pieces of clues, including finding her parents' and siblings' names, I found a record in 1830 in Potsdam New York which I was pretty sure was her family. Pretty sure, but not positively proven, so not good enough for me.

Did I mention that one of Hugh's brothers married one of his wife's sisters? The finding of the Potsdam record was important because I know that Hugh (and probably his siblings) was in America before 1831. This would give me more locations for searching if my theory about Potsdam was correct.

And there it was in my new-found obituary book. The obit for Hugh's wife stating that she was born in Potsdam New York in 1810!

A Theory is Proven

I love it when a theory becomes fact. Proven fact. I don't care how long it takes, I refuse to give up! And the moral of my story is that you should never give up either. You never know when that little tidbit of information will fall into your hands. Maybe it wasn't available when you first began your research. New data is being found and transcribed all the time. Who knows, maybe the piece you need is waiting for you right now.

Review Your Older Research Notes

So stop reading this blog post and go back and look over your earlier research! Is there a clue there? Something you couldn't find 10 or 15 or more years ago, but  maybe now you can? What are you waiting for???!!

Breaking Down That Brick Wall, Part 1

For more than 30 years I searched for a record showing where my McGinnis family came from in Ireland. I don't mean the town or village (although that would be nice), I mean the County. There were family tales that it was either Armagh or Down and that the family arrived in Upper Canada (present day Ontario) during the potato famine.

The Known

My McGinnis roots stem from a large family group that arrived in Puslinch Township, Wellington County Ontario circa 1831. At that time Ontario was a wilderness called Upper Canada and was very sparsely populated.

As anyone who has searched for ancestors in Upper Canada can testify, genealogy records pre 1851 are few and far between. There are no census records (they didn't begin until 1851), no vital registrations (they didn't start until 1869) and church records are sparse.

Catholic Records

If, like mine, your ancestors were Catholics in Ontario you're in for a challenge, as Catholic church records as most are in the hands of local priests who have them locked securely away. The public is not allowed access even to older records in the mid 1800s. There are a few scattered Roman Catholic Church records for some parts of Ontario available on FamilySearch but they are not indexed. There are none for Wellington County where my Irish Catholic ancestors settled.


Newspaper Records

There were few newspapers in that time period for Ontario. Of the few that were published, not many have survived. Those that survive for the area I need are not indexed. So an approximate date of an event is a necessity in order to hunt for an obit or other record.

Ships Passenger Lists

Ships passenger lists arriving in Canada were not archived until 1865. There are many substitute ships passenger lists but my McGinnis don't show up on any. Don't get me wrong - there ARE some records for this early time period in Ontario - tax and assessment records, land records, and a few other miscellaneous record sets. But every local area has different records that have survived.  So it's a long process to find out what records exist and where they are kept.

The Known

Back to my Irish family who arrived from somewhere in Ireland circa 1831. I have land records for them. I have tax and assessment records back to 1833. I have death records. I have marriage records. I have some Catholic Church records of baptisms in the 1840s. I have  Catholic Church burial records for many of them. In fact with my 30 plus years of research on all branches of the original McGinnis settlers, I've got an entire filing cabinet drawer full of relevant documents.

I have searched all 9 children of the immigrant McGinnis settler down several generations. I've hunted for obituaries and death records in particular, praying for a mention of a town or county in Ireland.  Nothing.

However there was one son for whom I have not been able to find a death record or obituary. I knew he died between 1881 and 1891. I knew where he lived. But nothing could be found.

Family Lore & DNA

Family lore from descendants of his branch claimed Belfast as his place of birth. Family lore from my branch claimed Belfast as the place of birth of my great-grandfather's sister.

I had my brother's DNA done. We linked in with McGinnis families near Belfast. I contacted a descendant of one of the two known sisters from Ireland. She had early photos and on the back of one was written, in period handwriting, "Katesbridge Ireland" Katesbridge is in Co. Down and not far from Belfast.

This was all pretty exciting for me as it definitely gave me enough clues and pieces of circumstantial evidence to hesitantly proclaim that PERHAPS my Joseph McGinnis was from Katesbridge or Belfast in Co. Down. Perhaps.


Part 2 to be posted on November 25th. Breaking Down That Brick Wall

Finding an Ancestor in Upper Canada (Ontario) pre 1871 - Part 3 of 3

Rory wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy with this intriguing question:

I am reseaching a William Hanley. According to his obituary:

 " Mr. Hanley was born on May 4th 1857 at Buffalo Wellington County Ontario son of the late Richard and Elizabeth Hanley."

 The only village I can scare up is Buffalo Heights but that is in Peel Co. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Some queries grab my interest and make me want to dig in and do some sleuthing. This one did. My hunt online was challenging so I thought I'd share with my readers the step by step of what I did and what I found.

DON'T OVERLOOK CLUES 

There's one clue I hadn't followed up on - the birth location Ellen gave when she married. She said she was born in Stratford which is in Perth County. Since she was born circa 1859 I might find her with her parents in the 1861 census for Perth County.

BINGO! Here's what I found on Ancestry.com in Ellice Twp, Perth Co. Ontario in 1861

* Richard Henley [sic], farmer, born Ireland, age 31
* Elizabeth, born UC (Upper Canada now Ontario) age 20
* Wm (William), born UC, 3
* Michel [sic], born UC, 2
* Elin [sic], born UC, 1

They are Roman Catholic. And there we have the family as I suggested. Father born Ireland, mother Canada - agrees with census records I found. My working theory is, I believe, proven correct to a point. We can see that William, Michael and Ellen are siblings and children of Richard and Elizabeth. But we don't have proof that Richard and Elizabeth died. The siblings were living elsewhere in 1871 but their parents may have been impoverished and unable to care for them.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

1. Look for a marriage record for William Hanley. He married in Saskatchewan and finding his marriage record will be proof positive if his parents are listed as Richard Hanley and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Tracey

2. Now there are more clues now to try to find the parents Richard and Elizabeth. We know her surname (Tracey) and we know she was born in what is now Ontario circa 1841. And we have the witness William Tracy at Ellen Hanley's marriage in 1878. He may be an uncle or a cousin. I would research the Tracey family in Perth and in Wellington Counties.

3. Look for the closest Catholic Church in Ellice Township to hunt for a possible marriage record for Richard and Elizabeth, also for baptisms of their children. Since the children are 1 year apart in age, it's very likely that Richard and Elizabeth married shortly before William's birth. So that narrows your timeline for a search.

4. Since Richard is listed as a farmer in the 1861 census, you may be able to find him in land records. Try the CLRI (Ontario Land Record Index) for his name. Often men bought or sold their land to family members so with luck you may learn more about the Hanley family if you can find Richard. At the very least it will give you a precise location for land and the dates he bought and sold it. You could also try a search of the UCLP (Upper Canada Land Petitions) to see if Richard filed a petition.

5. I would also continue researching the siblings of William. Searching the siblings - their spouses and families can often result in an invaluable clue being found. For example the obituary for either Michael or Ellen might provide many genealogical tidbits about their parents.

Finding an Ancestor in Upper Canada (Ontario) pre 1871 - Part 2 of 3

Rory wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy with this intriguing question:

I am reseaching a William Hanley. According to his obituary:

 " Mr. Hanley was born on May 4th 1857 at Buffalo Wellington County Ontario son of the late Richard and Elizabeth Hanley."

 The only village I can scare up is Buffalo Heights but that is in Peel Co. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Some queries grab my interest and make me want to dig in and do some sleuthing. This one did. My hunt online was challenging so I thought I'd share with my readers the step by step of what I did and what I found.

DEVELOP A WORKING THEORY

This is where I develop a working theory. My genealogy brain, experience and intuition immediately think "Hmmmm.... two Hanley boys living with two families who are almost certainly related... and both boys are Irish Catholic... it's possible that they are brothers and their parents are dead"  This is what I call a working theory. It's a "guess" based on clues and I'm going to now try to prove or disprove my theory.

PROVE OR DISPROVE YOUR THEORY

But first I had a look for a Richard Hanley in Wellington County. There was a Richard and Elizabeth Handley living in Wellington in 1871 census but not in Peel Twp and they were aged 80 and 78, far too old to be the parents of William. As well both were from England, not Ireland and were Methodist not Catholic. I can rule them out.

But what did come up in the Ancestry.com search results was the  marriage of a 19 year old woman named Ellen Hanley. Ellen gave her parents names as Richard Hanley and Elizabeth Tracy. Her birth place was noted as Stratford which is in Perth County but she was marrying in Peel Twp., Wellington County. I wondered where Ellen Hanley was in 1871. I search found her as a 10 year old girl living with the O'Grady family in Peel Twp, Wellington Co. Ellen was born in Ontario and was a Roman Catholic of Irish origin.

EXPAND YOUR THEORY AND YOUR SEARCH

A 10 year old girl would not normally be found living with another family unless her parents were deceased. And thus my working theory expanded to suggest that Ellen was a sibling of Michael and of William.

I liked that Ellen's parents were Richard and Elizabeth and that she was the same religion and ethnicity as William. My search now expanded to records other than census. I checked births, marriages and deaths and other online records.

Eventually I found a marriage record on FamilySearch dated 1893 in Aurelius Michigan for Michael J. Hanley, age 29, born Canada, son of Richard Hanley & Lizzie Tracy. It was a second marriage for Michael.

NOTE YOUR PROVEN FACTS

So now I have proof that Michael Hanley and Ellen Hanley were siblings and were living with other families in Peel Twp, Wellington County in 1871. I still believe that William is their brother. The circumstantial evidence for this is the proximity of William to Michael in 1871, the fact that they were both living with families with the same surname (probably related), and that both had parents named Richard and Elizabeth.

Further research showed that Ellen settled in North Dakota circa 1880 which explains why she is not found on the 1881 census for Canada. In census records in USA she states her father was born Ireland and her mother in Ontario. Her grave is found on FindAGrave.

Michael can be found in Michigan records and the 1920 Census for Lansing Michigan indicates he immigrated circa 1881.  He notes his father being born Ireland and his mother in Canada

William is found in Boissevain Village, Manitoba in 1901 although in this census he is listed as Presbyterian. He appears to have gone to Manitoba circa 1882 but I have not found him in 1881. By 1892 he had moved to Saskatchewan.


To be continued...

Finding an Ancestor in Upper Canada (Ontario) pre 1871 - part 1 of 3

Rory wrote to Olive Tree Genealogy with this intriguing question:

I am reseaching a William Hanley. According to his obituary:

 " Mr. Hanley was born on May 4th 1857 at Buffalo Wellington County Ontario son of the late Richard and Elizabeth Hanley."

 The only village I can scare up is Buffalo Heights but that is in Peel Co. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Some queries grab my interest and make me want to dig in and do some sleuthing. This one did. My hunt online was challenging so I thought I'd share with my readers the step by step of what I did and what I found.

As Rory discovered, it looks like there's some kind of error or mixup in William Hanley's obit. That's often the case with an obituary. You can't trust it 100% unless the deceased wrote it personally before death! Otherwise it is simply someone else's recollections.

But since Wellington County is mentioned specifically, my intuition was that William did indeed live or was born in Wellington County. Ontario Vital Records did not begin until 1869 so we won't find William's birth registered. Rory could look in church records once William's religious affiliation is known.  Luckily that is found on Ontario Census records so that's where I'm going to look first.

USE WILDCARDS WHEN SEARCHING

As many of my readers know, I like to begin with Ancestry.com. A search there for William Hanley did provide some results. Once on Ancestry I used wildcards and typed Will* H*n*l*y into the search engine. The wildcard * in his first name will find variations such as Will, Willie, Willy, and Wiliam. The wildcards in his surname will find Henley, Henlay, Hanlay, Hanley, Hanly, Henly, and variations with a "d" such as Handley.

I also added an approximate birth year of 1857 +/-2  That will allow for any discrepancy in his age in census or other records. I could have chosen +/- 5 but I like to start with a narrower search and then expand it if I don't get results.

I then added the keyword "Wellington". I don't put this in the location field as I find that very unforgiving and it will not return as many results as putting the location in the keyword field instead.

CENSUS RECORDS

The search terms yielded 3 results - 2 were duplicates so what I had was an 1871 census for a William Hanlay in Peel Twp, Wellington Co.  and a 1901 census for a William Hanley with the wrong birth day/month and year, and living in Ottawa with a wife Alice. I liked the look of that 1871 census so I went to view the image.  It showed 15 year old William, a Catholic of Irish origin, born Ontario and living with the Conolly family.

Interestingly, only a few names away on the image was a Michael Hanley, age 12, also Catholic of Irish origin and born Ontario living with another Conolly family.

To be continued....

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

Famine Emigration

In honour of St Patrick's Day, when tradition has it that we all want to be Irish, I shout out THANK YOU to my Irish ancestors who came from Ireland to Canada. 

John Greenlees and his wife Elizabeth Johnston came from Fermanagh Ireland to the wilds of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) with three children - George about 5 years old, Thomas about 3 years old and my 2nd great grandmother Jane who was under 2 years old. The year was some time between Jane's birth in 1819 and the birth of their next child in Upper Canada in 1821. What a perilous journey that must have been!

Joseph McGinnis and his wife Frances (Fanny) Downey from Co. Down made the journey from famine stricken Ireland with their year old daughter Bridget (Delia) in 1846. They were both barely 20 years old.

It must have been a nightmare voyage and I am sure that like most of the Irish who left Ireland during the Famine Years, they and their loved ones suffered greatly at home. Joseph and Fanny arrived in Ontario and settled near family who had arrived much earlier. They were my 2nd great grandparents. They were very poor Catholics and the land they settled on was more swamp than anything else.

So - I have three Irish great-great grandparents (Joseph, Fanny and Jane) and two Irish Great great great grandparents (John & Elizabeth). Out of that mix I get four Irish surnames: Greenlees, Johnstone, McGinnis & Downey.

I hope this Irish blessing worked for them! "May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."

The Peer Family in North America: V6 Jacob Peer Jr. and his wife Lucy Powers and their Descendants to 2 Generations

The Peer family, loyal to the British Crown, suffered from persecution in New Jersey throughout the American Revolution. Jacob Peer Jr. and his wife Lucy Powers settled in the wilderness of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) after the American Revolution. After suffering losses during the War of 1812, they left Ontario for Michigan in 1821.

This book discusses the lives of Jacob, his wife, and their children in those early years.

Descendants will enjoy seeing early documents such as land petitions, family photographs, probate records and wills.

The Peer Family in North America: V6 Jacob Peer Jr. and his wife Lucy Powers and their Descendants to 2 Generations

Available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Note for the book on his parents you also need to purchase V. 1 Jacob & Anne Peer available at Amazon.ca