My 64 ~ Researching My Fourth Great Grandparents : Jacob Steeves and Eleanor Bleakney

My fourth great grandfather, Jacob Steeves, was born on May 3, 1788, most probably in Hillsborough, Albert County, New Brunswick, the first son of Matthias Steeves and Sophia Beck, and the second of thirteen children. He was the grandson of Heinrich Stief and Regina Stahlecker, who settled in Hillsborough 250 years ago.

My fourth great grandmother, Eleanor "Nellie" Bleakney, was born in the early 1800's, the daughter of William Bleakney and Barbara Jacques. She was the granddaughter of David Blakeney and his wife Elizabeth, who were part of a group of South Carolina Loyalists who had arrived in Canada in late 1782.  I wrote of her grandfather in 2015, in my blog series My Canadian Branches.

The couple were married in Westmorland County on November 12, 1818. They settled on the Pollett River, a tributary of the Petitcodiac, undoubtedly near where the Bleakney clan had settled. This map shows the area very well.

According to Esther Clark Wright, they had four children, two sons and two daughters. I have found William Bleakney and Jacob, Barbara and possibly Eliza:

Barbara, b. abt. 1821

William Bleakney, b. abt. 1823

Eliza, b. possibly 1827

Jacob, b. abt. 1828

The Steeves House Museum lists two additional children, a son George Bleakney Steeves, born abt. 1832, and a daughter Catherine Bleakney Steeves, b. abt. 1834, but further research is needed on these.

Daughter Barbara married Andrew Anderson, and is buried with him in Boundary Creek Cemetery in Moncton.  William Bleakney married a granddaughter of Henry, Christian's son, Charlotte Ann Steeves, and is buried with her in Hillside United Baptist Church Cemetery in Hillside.

The graves of Jacob and Eleanor are unknown.

Map Credit:

Roe Brothers, (A.D. & W.B. Roe), base maps are from British Admiralty charts and National Surveys [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Petitcodiac-river-map-closeup1.png)

Sources:

"Canada Census, 1851," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW5B-TDL : accessed 21 May 2015), Eleanor Steeves, Coverdale, Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada; citing p. 2, line 35; Library and Archives Canada film number C_994, Public Archives, Ontario..

Canada, Marriages, 1661-1949," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F2P9-PMD : accessed 30 December 2014), Jacob Steves and Eleanor Bleakney, 12 Nov 1818; citing Westmorland,New Brunswick, reference ; FHL microfilm 847,576.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  16 Nov 2016), memorial page for Barbara Steeves Anderson (unknown-1874), Find A Grave Memorial no. 119762001, citing Boundary Creek Cemetery, Moncton, Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  16 Nov 2016), memorial page for William B Steeves (1823-1899), Find A Grave Memorial no. 158435290, citing Hillside United Baptist Church Cemetery, Hillside, Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada.

Wright, Esther Clark. Samphire Greens: The Story of the Steeves. 2nd ed. (Hillsborough, NB: The Steeves Family Inc., 2001), p. 63.

My 64 ~ Researching My Fourth Great Grandparents : Christian Steeves and Christiana Jones

My fourth great grandfather, Christian Steeves, was born in Coverdale, Albert County, New Brunswick, sometimes in 1806. His parents were Henry Steeves (1780-1856) and Ann "Nancy" Sinton (1777-1856). This Christian Steeves is the great grandson of Heinrich Stief and Regina Stahlecker, who arrived in Hillsborough 250 years ago.

Little is known about Christian, until he and Christiana Jones, registered their intention to marry on July 26, 1827, in Westmorland County. They were married three months later on the same date.

My fourth great grandmother, Christiana Jones, was also born in 1806, in Hillsborough, the daughter of Henry Jones (1758-1840) and Ann Christiana Somers (1763-1837). She descends, on her father's side, from the original Monckton settler, Charles Jones, and, on her mother's side, from the early Monckton settler, Matthias Sommer.

Model of the Lovey, which carried the Monckton Settlers to the banks of the Petitcodiac.
Picture taken by me in the Steeves House Museum in Hillsborough
 during Steeves250 in July 2016

Description of the Lovey model.

The 1851, 1861, and the 1871 Censuses of Canada show my great grandparents living first in Moncton, and later in Elgin, in Albert County. Christian was a farmer, and, as such, required a large family. Christian and Christiana had 11 children, by most accounts, seven sons and four daughters:

Henry, b. 1828

Charlotte Ann, b. abt. 1829 *

Jacob Watson, b. 1832

Ellen, b. 1836

Caroline, b. 1837

Jordan Kennie, b. 1839

Abigail, b. 1841

Thomas Ansley, b. 1845

Oliver Christian, b. 1847

Johnson, b. 1848

and

Howard, b. 1850

*my third great grandmother

The Christian Visitor newspaper, in Saint John, noted the passing of my fourth great grandfather thusly, in their July 24, 1878 issue:

"Died at Gowland Mountain, 11th June, of inflammation of the lungs, Christian STEEVES, age 71. Our dear brother was born at Coverdale (Albert Co.) in the year 1808; moved to Elgin in the spring of '55; and in the Auntumn '63, while attending a series of meetings held by Brothers M. Starrett and J.C. Steadman was led by the Divine Spirit to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Himself, his wife and three sons were all baptized and united with the third Elgin Church. Our brother has left a widow, three sons and five daughters."

Two years later, The Times of Moncton, mentioned my 4th great grandmother's death, in their February 3, 1880 paper.

"d. Elgin (Albert Co.) 4th Jan., of inflammation, Christiana STEEVES relict of Deacon Christian STEEVES. She professed faith in Christ, Sept. '64 and was baptized by Rev. Daniel V. Crandall and united with the 3rd Elgin Baptist Church where she remained a member until her death., age 73, left five sons, four daughters."

Although I discovered one of their sons, Thomas Ansley Steeves, and his wife, Berthina Jane Gibson, buried in Southside Cemetery, in Skowhegan, Maine, I do not know where my fourth great grandparents are buried.

Sources:

1851 Census of Canada of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia ; Census Place: Moncton, Westmorland County, New Brunswick; Schedule: I; Roll: C_997; Page: 65; Line: 6

1861 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.

1871 Census of Canada; Census Place: Elgin, Albert, New Brunswick; Roll: C-10395; Page: 25; Family No: 73.

"Canada Marriages, 1661-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F2P9-4NT:5 December 2014), Christian Steves and Christiana Jones, 26 Jul 1827; citing Westmorland,New Brunswick, reference ; FHL microfilm 847,576.

Bowser, Les. The Settlers of Monckton Township. (Omemee, ON: 250th Productions, 2016).

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  11/13/2016.

Wright, Esther Clark. Samphire Greens: The Story of the Steeves. 2nd ed. (Hillsborough, NB: The Steeves Family Inc., 2001).