My 64 ~ Researching My Fourth Great Grandparents : Hugh Cowperthwaite III and Mary "Polly" Newcomb

My fourth great grandfather, Hugh Cowperthwaite, was born in Pittsgrove, in Salem County, New Jersey, in 1776, the second son and the third of 10 children born to Loyalist Hugh Cowperthwaite and Sarah Mead. His parents left New Jersey in January of 1778, when the oath of allegiance was tendered to them. Refusing to sign the oath, they had fled to Philadelphia, and, following the evacuation of that city, ultimately settled in Sunbury County, New Brunswick, Canada.

My fourth great grandmother, Mary "Polly" Newcomb, was born around 1778 in Waterborough (which is present-day Canning), New Brunswick, Canada, the youngest daughter, and ninth of 10 children born to Benjamin Newcomb and Elizabeth Lewis. Benjamin had come with his parents to settle in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, from Connecticut, in 1760.

Hugh and Polly were married on October 17, 1799, in Waterborough, New Brunswick. They settled in Sheffield, in Sunbury County, New Brunswick, and raised a large family. Their children included 5 sons and 4 daughters, all presumably born in Sheffield:

Abraham, b. year unknown

David, b. 1798

Reuben, b. 1801

Rebecca, b. 1804

Henry Nelson, b. 1807

Jane, b. 1808

Margaret, b. 1812

Hugh, b. 1820

and

Eliza Ann, b. 1821

Sheffield United Church in Sheffield NB, built in 1775 and rebuilt in 1840

At some point in their lives, they relocated to Carleton County, New Brunswick, perhaps moving in with one of their children in their later years. It is generally believed to be true that Polly died there, although her death year, as well as her final resting place, are unknown.

There is a record of Hugh's death, however, as October 8, 1853. That record states that he is buried in Methodist Cemetery, in Woodstock, New Brunswick, although the stone may have been removed, toppled or eroded.

Methodist Cemetery, Woodstock, New Brunswick

My line of descent from Hugh and Polly is through their daughter Margaret, who married William Harnett. Their daughter Harriet married John McCain. Their daughter Bertha married my great grandfather, Rev.Wylie Herbert Smith. Their daughter Harriet was my maternal grandmother.

Because of Hugh's Loyalist roots, I am hoping to become a United Empire Loyalist.


Sources:

Ancestry.com. 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

"Benjamin Newcomb," Miner, Mark E., Miner Descent, (https://minerdescent.com/2010/07/08/benjamin-newcomb/ : accessed 26 June 2017).

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  26 Jun 2017), memorial page for Hugh Cowperthwaite III (1776-1853), Find A Grave Memorial no. 117673561, citing Methodist Cemetery, Woodstock, Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada.

New Brunswick Cemeteries (PANB).

My Canadian Branches ~ I'm a Steeves, Are You?

Throughout the past year, I have dedicated this blog to selected Canadian branches of my family tree. I have always found that my research leads me down the most interesting paths when I focus on one family group, one line, one person, or one theme. This has proven true especially in 2015. As I stated in my first post, I chose to work on the following 10 families:

Nova Scotia

Archibald

Creelman

Fulton

Hamilton

MacKay

New Brunswick

Beck

Bleakney

Bustin

Smith
Steeves

My last Canadian branch is the Steeves branch. By way of intermarriage between members of the Steeves family and the Smith family in New Brunswick, I happen to descend from 2 of the 7 sons of my sixth great grandparents Heinrich Stieff and Regina Stahlecker, Matthias and Jacob.

Line 1:

Matthias Steeves (c.1761-1848)

--Jacob Steeves (1788-c.1846)

----William Bleakney Steeves (c.1823-1899)

------Robina Elizabeth Steeves (1854-1929)

--------Wylie Herbert Smith (1874-1952)

----------Harriet Cheney Smith (1906-1985)

------------Marilyn Louise Bustin (1931-    )

--------------Me (1955-    )

Line 2:

Jacob Steeves (1750-1803)

--George Steeves (1785-1870

----Caroline Steeves (1816-1903)

------James Henry Smith (1850-1915)

--------Wylie Herbert Smith (1874-1952)

----------Harriet Cheney Smith (1906-1985)

------------Marilyn Louise Bustin (1931-    )

--------------Me (1955-)

Probably the most prominent member of my Steeves family tree is my 2nd cousin 4x removed, William Henry Steeves, known in the annals of Canadian history as The Father of Confederation.

More on William Henry Steeves can be found at:

Spray, W. A. -- "Steeves, William Henry". -- Dictionary of Canadian biography online. www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=39400

Next year, 2016, will be the 250th Anniversary of the arrival of Heinrich and Rachel Stieff to New Brunswick (from Germany, by way of Pennsylvania). In preparation of this momentous event, a week-long celebration and family reunion is being held in Hillsborough, New Brunswick. Steeves descendants are coming from around the world, and Yours Truly will be among them!

For more on the Steeves story, and on next year's BIG CELEBRATION, including our attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of individuals with the same last name in the same place at the same time, in the Moncton Coliseum, visit:

https://steeves250.com/

My Canadian Branches ~ The Inventive William H. Bustin of Saint John, New Brunswick and Watertown, Massachusetts

William Hermon Bustin began making harnesses for horses at 15 in Saint John. The second oldest son out of the ten children born to William H. Bustin, Sr. and Agnes "Nancy" Wilson, he left his apprenticeship after only two years and ran away in 1831.

He landed in Boston, Massachusetts, and began working for William Bell, whose shop was on Bromfield Street, near the Granary Burying Ground.

There is evidence to suggest that William at first traveled back and forth from Saint John to Massachusetts, but at age 33 he married a young lady 14 years his junior from Watertown, Massachusetts, Margaret McMaster. It was Watertown where they raised their sizable family and where he would live out his days.

1869 Boston City Directory for William H. Bustin
Father and Son

In 1881, near the end of his working life, he applied for and was granted a patent, No. 236,547, for a "Shaper for Horse-Collars":

William H. Bustin, another one of my 2nd great grand Bustin uncles, died in 1904, probably at his home on Franklin Street in Watertown, Massachusetts, and is buried in Common Street Cemetery there.

Photo Credit:

Harness Makers
(http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/foner/jacksonian_america/week7-labor_issue/harness_maker.gif)

Pointed Collar
(https://pixabay.com/en/pointed-collar-collar-horse-239902/)

Sources:

1850 US Census; Census Place: Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

1880 US Census; Census Place: Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: 542; Family History Film: 1254542; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 420; Image: 0465.

1900 US Census; Census Place: Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: 667; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 0987; FHL microfilm: 1240667.

Ancestry.com. Boston, 1821-1850 Passenger and Immigration Lists [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, State Census, 1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  6 July 2015), memorial page for William H Bustin (1814-1904), Find A Grave Memorial no. 120784177, citing Common Street Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts.

"Massachusetts, Boston Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCHC-RYZ : accessed 1 July 2015), Bustin, 1845; citing p. 1968, Ship , NARA microfilm publication (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm 419,914.

"Massachusetts, State Census, 1855," Database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ43-Q7K : accessed 1 July 2015), Wm H Bustin, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 953,952.

The Daily Sun (Saint John) 1 Jan 1895, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

"United States Census, 1860," Database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZHG-1HT : accessed 1 July 2015), Margret Bustin in household of Wm H Bustin, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing p. 52, household ID 349, NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 803,510.

U.S. Patent No. 236,547 (http://www.google.com/patents/US236547)

My Canadian Branches ~ The Seafaring Legacy of Benjamin Bishop Bustin, Master Mariner

 

Benjamin Bishop Bustin, my 2nd great grand uncle, went to sea as a young man drawn to adventure and profit, sailing out of Saint John, New Brunswick. By the time he returned to Saint John, to marry Elizabeth Knollin in the fall of 1837, he was Captain of the brig "Kentville."

Benjamin commanded various vessels, as part of the British merchant fleet, for over fifty years, with Liverpool, England, his homeport for most of those years. He obtained his Certificate of Service, No. S36324,* due to his lengthy service. However, there is evidence to suggest that his wife Elizabeth sailed with him on many of his voyages.

Out of eleven children, three of the oldest, Elizabeth Knollin, Benjamin, and Mary Utt died in infancy or early childhood between 1843 and 1848. Their daughter, Mary Utt Bustin, died in Jamaica, according to newspaper reports carried back to Saint John. Their next three children, Edward Sancton, Agnes Hannah, and Maud Catherine, were born in Liverpool, but all died as very young children.

The other five children, three sons and two daughters, lived to adulthood, and the sons followed their father into the merchant trade. The oldest son, John William, worked his way from Second Mate up to Master Mariner, but unfortunately fell overboard off the coast of England and drowned. He was 27 years old, and had just obtained his Master certificate:

William Walker also obtained his Master certificate:

James Scoullar also went to sea, in 1883 aboard the ship "Anselm," as attested by this newspaper announcement of his death:

"...the announcement of the death of James Scoullar BUSTIN, the second s/o Capt. B.B. BUSTIN of this city. Mr. Bustin died at Cardiff on 18th ult., but the news of his death did not reach St. John until yesterday. Some months ago he was taken ill with fever in Africa, but on his return to the U.K. he recovered so rapidly that he started on another voyage. When he returned to Cardiff he was sent to hospital where he died soon afterwards."
-- The Daily Sun (Saint John) 18 Feb 1891


Perhaps the greatest price Benjamin B. Bustin paid for his life sailing the seas was the death of his wife Elizabeth. She died aboard the ship "King Cedric," where she was accompanying her husband on a voyage from Bombay to Hull. She was, of necessity, buried at sea.

d. 2nd Jan., on board ship "King Cedric" on voyage from Bombay to Hull, Elizabeth Knollin BUSTIN w/o Capt. B.B. BUSTIN, St. John, N.B. (cross reference: Elizabeth KNOLLIN)

By the 1891 Canadian Census, the widower Benjamin Bishop Bustin was living back in Saint John with his brother Thomas, and within a year he was dead at the age of 80 years old. He is buried in Fernhill Cemetery, although no headstone exists. His obituary in the Saint John Globe illustrates his long life, and his relationship to his grandfather, and my 4th great grandfather, the Loyalist Thomas Bustin:

"Capt. Benjamin B. BUSTIN, one of the oldest St. John shipmasters, died this forenoon in his 80th year from paralysis. Born in St. John, Capt. Bustin went to sea at an early age and when twenty years old commanded a vessel. For fifty years he was a master of ships and in all that time never lost a vessel and never met with a serious accident. Ten years ago he retired from active seafaring life. By his death the first break in 75 years is made in a family of eight boys. Capt. Bustin leaves two daughters residing in St. John and one son, master of a steamer, with residence in Liverpool. The grandfather of Capt. Bustin was a Loyalist - Thomas BUSTIN, who was born in North carolina and who joined the royal army at New York when the revolution broke out. He served three years under General Burgoyne. Once, it is recorded, when in a tent with the General, a shell dropped through the canvas. Fortunately the fuse went out. Thomas left New York in 1783 in the second fleet for St. John (Parr Town) on board ship "Sovereign". He was married on Sept. 6, 1785 to Miss UTT in a log house on the corner of Princess and Charlotte Streets, on the next lot below what is known as Bustin's corner."

-- Saint John Globe, Saint John, 20 May 1892

* Index to the Captains Registers of Lloyd’s of London (Guildhall Library Ms 18567) (http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capsB2.pdf). Can be consulted at the London Metropolitan Archives.

From 1845 men intending to become masters or mates of foreign-going British merchant ships, had to take voluntary examinations of competency.  This system was made compulsory by the Marine Act of 1850 and the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 extended it to masters and mates of home trade or coastal vessels.

Certificates of Service were issued to those who were exempted due to long service, but those without sufficient service, or wishing to rise in rank, were granted Certificates of Competency on passing formal examinations.


Photo Credit:

A trading brig drifting into a Continental harbor, oil on canvas by Charles John De Lacy
[Charles John De Lacy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]


Sources:



1891 Census of Canada, Census Place: Queen Ward, Saint John City, New Brunswick; Roll: T-6303; Family No: 158.

Ancestry.com. 1861 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Ancestry.com. 1871 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Ancestry.com. Canada, Seafarers of the Atlantic Provinces, 1789-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Ancestry.com. Liverpool, England, Crew Lists 1861-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.

Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 27 June 2015), memorial page for Capt Benjamin Bishop Bustin (1812-1892), Find A Grave Memorial no. 82041498, citing Fernhill Cemetery, Saint-John, New Brunswick, Canada.

FreeBMD. England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Index to the Captains Registers of Lloyd’s of London (Guildhall Library Ms 18567) (http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/capsB2.pdf)

New Brunswick Courier, Saint John, 28 Oct 1837, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 14 Oct 1843, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier, Saint John, 23 Dec 1843, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 22 July 1848, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 15 May 1852, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

New Brunswick Courier (Saint John) 24 July 1852, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

Saint John Globe, Saint John, 20 May 1892, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

Surnames Index to Baptisms, Wesleyan Chapel, Upper Stanhope Street, Toxteth, 1851 to 1889. (http://www.toxtethparkcemetery.co.uk/Wesleyan%20Chapel,%20Upper%20Stanhope%20Street,%20Toxteth/Stanhope%20Street%20Wesleyn%20Chapel%20Baptisms%201851%20to%201889.htm)

The Daily News (Saint John), March 13, 1877, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

The Daily Sun (Saint John) 18 Feb 1891, via Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, PANB (http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA)

Tracing seafaring ancestors in the Merchant Navy Information Sheet (Mersyside Maritime Museum) (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/info-sheet.aspx?sheetId=47)

My Canadian Branches ~ Loyalist David Blakeney's Military Career

The year was 1775, David Blakeney (my 6th great grandfather) and his family had lived on the shores of Cane Tail Creek in the Ninety Six District of South Carolina since 1767. Having received a Crown Grant of 100 acres, David had built a house, a barn, stables, and a loom house. His farm had horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs. He harvested wheat, Indian corn, and flax.

As tensions began to boil over in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, particularly in the South Carolina backcountry, it often was a struggle of conscience for many settlers, and David may have faced this conflict with mixed allegience. There is evidence to suggest that he initially served in the "rebel militia," probably under Andrew Williamson, "in some degree forced into it." Williamson, the first major double agent in the American colonies, later joined the Loyalist cause, and David possibly followed suit.

By 1780, it became apparent to the British command that more vigilant defenses were essential to retaining the Southern territory. 

"Keeping possession of the backcountry is to utmost importance, indeed the Success of the War in the Southern District depends totally upon it." 

– Lord Cornwallis to Lt. Col. Cruger, August 5, 1780

The eight-pointed Star Fort at Ninety Six was the result. Upon completion the walls stood 14 feet high and it is estimated the walls were 10-15 feet thick. In addition, the defense included abatis (felled trees with sharpened branches), a steep ditch, fraise (sharp stakes protruding from the walls), and sandbags which surrounded the Star redoubt. Approximately 200 soldiers were stationed inside to keep guard.

Fort Ninety Six
[http://www.nps.gov/nisi/learn/photosmultimedia/online-tour-stop-11.htm]

David served as a Private in Colonel John Cotton's regiment of the Stevenson's Creek militia (the 96 Brigade), and narrowly avoided being involved in the King's Mountain conflict on October 7, 1780.

By May of the next year, approximately 1000 Patriot forces under Nathanael Greene were trying to seize the fortified settlement, and failing that, began the Seige of Ninety Six.There is evidence to suggest that David served continually throughout the 28-day seige, from May 21st to June 18th, the longest field siege of the Revolutionary War. As British Lieutenant Colonel Francis Rawdon ("Lord Rawdon") attempted to rescue the Loyalists who were manning the Fort, Greene's forces tried unsuccessfully to breech the enemy defenses on June 19th. but eventually retreated. The Loyalist forces, under Rawdon's influence, decided to abandon the Fort and concentrate their military efforts on the coast. By the time the British left Ninety Six of their own accord, on July 1, 1781, it was the last Loyalist fort in South Carolina.

David and his fellow militiamen proceeded to destroy the wooden structures and fort, and marched to Charleston.  When David left Ninety Six, he did so without his family. Taking only what they could carry, they were eventually sheltered by other Loyalist settlers.

For the remainder of 1781 and through much of 1782, David served in the Loyalist militia on James Island, near Charleston, and apparently saw little action as a non-commissioned officer in Colonel Baily Cheney's regiment. The following is from Clark's Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 1, p.339.

In November of 1782, Charleston was finally evacuated. David, along with his family, sailed with the troops on the troop transport ship "Argo" and landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on November 21st.

Notes: 

• I have used here David's surname spelled Blakeney. Be advised, however, that there are many variations through the insuing generations, namely Blakney, Blakeney, Bleakeny, Bleakny, Bleakney, Bleakly, and even Bleachly.
• The Seige of Ninety Six began 224 years ago today.
• I descend from David on this line:

Sources:

1779 Census of Ninety-Six District (http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/districts/census/1779_96d.txt)

96 Revolutionary (http://www.townofninetysixsc.com/?page_id=70)

Blakney, David, in Loyalist Directory (http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=b&line=348)

Cann, Marvin L. “War in the Backcountry:  The Siege of Ninety Six, May 22- June 19, 1781.”  South Carolina Historical Magazine 72 (1971):  1-14. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/27567019)

Clark, Murtie June, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 1, pp.339-340 (Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1981) (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=48291)

Moss, Bobby Gilmer. The loyalists in the siege of Fort Ninety Six (Blacksburg, S.C.: Scotia-Hibernia Press, 1999.

Online Tour Stop 11 - Star Fort (http://www.nps.gov/nisi/learn/photosmultimedia/online-tour-stop-11.htm)

Our Loyalist Ancestors, by members of the Halifax-Dartmouth Branch of UELAC in 1983; made available online in 2015 by Brian McConnell, UE, Nova Scotia Branch (http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/extras/MISC-MULTI/OLA83.pdf)

Patriot siege of Ninety Six, South Carolina, begins (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/patriot-siege-of-ninety-six-south-carolina-begins)

The Revolutionary War in South Carolina (http://sciway3.net/clark/revolutionarywar/index.html)

South Carolina Townships, 1731-1765, map
(http://www.southern-style.com/Write%20Life/South%20Carolina%20and%20Fort%20Mims.html)

Tarleton, Banastre. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America (London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1787) (via Google Books)

My Canadian Branches ~ Willie Bleakney Drowns in North River

Five young men in their twenties took advantage of a beautiful early June afternoon in 1892, and were swimming in the North River, at Victoria Mills, in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. It wasn't a break from school they were celebrating, as these youths were farmers' sons, warm from wearing their Sunday best, and dreading the morrow, when another day of late spring planting waited for them.

It would be a day that four of them, and their families, would always remember, and wish they could forget. With the braggadocio of most young men of their age, none of them confessed to the level of their swimming ability.  Showing off spoke far louder than words, indeed. So, it wasn't long before the more able of the five were matched against the new initiates, and the dreaded result.

 

Amidst all the shouting, laughing, and cavorting, it was not immediatly noticed that Willie was gone. Perhaps he had run up on the bank to take a breath, or was playing a prank on the rest of them. Minutes sped by like seconds, and the reality began to dawn. Willie had not dared to confess that he didn't know how to swim. The river was very deep once you swam out too far.

Two of the boys ran to the nearest farmhouse for help, screaming to neighboring farm help and families in wagons as they ran. The remaining boys stayed at the riverbank to mark the spot where Willie had last been heard and seen. Several families rallied to their calls, and gathered along the river to assist in the search.  It would take all of them eight long agonizing hours before finding Willie's limp body.

Willie's father, also named William, would have the heart-wrenching task of signing his only surviving son's death certificate, hastily correcting "William" to "Willie", thankful that his son's mother, Mary, had not lived to witness such a loss. 

On Tuesday next, The Saint John Daily Telegraph ran the following, dateline Moncton, June 13:

William BLEAKNEY, age 20, only s/o William A. BLEAKNEY of Steeves Settlement (West. Co.) was drowned in Main's mill pond at North River yesterday. The unfortunate young with four companions was bathing and being unable to swim got beyond his depth and sank before assistance could be extended to him by his comrades. The body was recovered after about eight hours search. The deceased's family consists of his father and two sisters living.

And, on Wednesday, the Albert County Maple Leaf  ran this, dateline Salisbury (West Co.):

Word reached here Monday of the drowning at Victoria Mills, of a young man while bathing on Sunday. The young man was a son of William BLEAKNEY, Victoria Mills in this parish.

It wasn't until almost ten day later that young Willie was laid to rest, although the location of his grave has yet to be found. This notice of his funeral was published by the Kings County Record in Sussex:

The funeral of Willie BLEAKNEY who was drowned at North River took place Tuesday morn. He was buried by Christel Lodge, I.O.G.T. of which he was a member.*

Willie Bleakney was my 3d cousin, 4x removed. I was able to glean quite a bit of family history from the above documents, while a few questions remain.

What I learned:

• Willie's approximate birth date
• Willie's birthplace
• Willie's death date and death place
• Willie's father's name
• Willie's mother, older brother, and two of his four sisters predeceased him
• Where Fawcett Hill, Wheaton Mills, and Victoria Mills are located

What I would like to find:

• Willie's grave
• The remaining information on the rest of his immediate family

* I.O.G.T. stands for International Organisation of Good Templars, a temperance organization, which still exists in many countries today.

*********

Three years ago this week, our family lost my sister's second child, Kerry James Queen, accidently and suddenly, at the same age as this ancestor.
 I wrote this story with Kerry

 in my heart.

*********

Photo credit:

"Boys At The Beach"

Albert Edwin Roberts [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABoys-at-the-beach-r.jpeg)

Sources:

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Vol. 81, No. 1972. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  4/20/2015.

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Vol. 82, No. 1598. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  4/20/2015.

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Vol. 84, No. 202. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  4/20/2015.

New Brunswick. Dept. of Health and Social Services. Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141), Provincial Returns of Deaths (RS141C4), Reference C4/1892, Microfilm F14021. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. (http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 4/20/2015).

"New Brunswick Provincial Deaths, 1815-1938," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XG4P-HYD : accessed 20 April 2015), Willie A Bleakney, 12 Jun 1892; citing Wheaton Mills, Westmorland, New Brunswick, certificate 001204, Provincial Archives, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 1,944,029.

My Canadian Branches ~ The 3 Wives of Jacob Beck (1850-1938)

The main reason I wanted to talk to first cousin, 2x removed, Virginia Beck Golding in 2000 was to pick her memories of my Smith line. 72 years old back then, she came to our hotel room in Moncton, and told vivid stories of my great grandfather, the Baptist preacher, Wylie Herbert Smith, her Uncle Wylie. She really got my genealogy juices flowing 15 years ago. 

So, naturally, I am returning to her place in my Beck lineage and the information she passed on to me that evening in Moncton and in subsequent correspondence.

True to form, her father, Joseph Alexander Beck, married a Smith, my great grand aunt Estella Angelina Smith, in 1907. And it is with Joseph and Estella's marriage record that the puzzle presents itself.

The marriage record gave Joseph's parents, at the time of his marriage, as "Jacob & Late Charlotte Beck." This told me that Charlotte was deceased by 1907, but I still didn't have her maiden name. It took Joseph's death record to find it.

 

Now I had Charlotte's maiden name. It was Mattix. My cousin, "Mrs. Alden Golding." was the informant of her father's death.

The 1881 Census of Canada shows Jacob's first wife, spelled as "Sharlot," as well as Joseph's three older sisters, Alberta, Anna, and Orpa. Joseph was born two years later in 1883.

Sadly, a 1928 transcription of the graves in the Elgin Baptist Burial Ground, aka the Old Elgin Cemetery, lists Charlotte, wife of Jacob, Jr. d. 1887, ae 27 years. 

Two years later, Jacob married for a second time, this time to Priscilla Capson.

A child was born to Jacob and his second wife in the fall of 1889, and named Lottie Jane. Unfortunately, Lottie Jane only lived about a year, and her cause of death was particularly poignant, "The Lord wanted her."

A more "scientific" explanation of her death was deduced when her mother Priscilla's death occurred 17 days later. She had been suffering from "Consumption" (modern day Tuberculosis) for about 8 months. She was 24 when she died.

It was another two years before Jacob married again, and this time it was probably a practical close-to-home choice. He married Priscilla's younger sister Minnie.

Soon after marrying, Jacob and Minnie (Minerva Bernice) moved across the nearby border to the States. The 1900 US Census shows them living in Calais, Maine, with 3 of their 6 children born there.

Minnie Beck outlived Jacob, who died on August 20, 1938. Minnie died two years later in 1940, and is buried with Jacob in Oak Bay Cemetery, Oak Bay, Charlotte County, New Brunswick.

Oak Bay Cemetery
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nbstdavi/photooakbaycem.html

Sources:

1881 Census of Canada; Census Place: Elgin, Albert, New Brunswick; Roll: C_13177; Page: 63; Family No: 253.

1900 US Census; Census Place: Calais, Washington, Maine; Roll: 601; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 0198; FHL microfilm: 1240601.

Kanner, Ken and V. Bing Geldart, Marriages Register 1846-1887, Albert County (1984), Ref. 1625, p.91.

New Brunswick. Dept. of Health and Social Services. Index to Death Certificates (RS141C5), Reg. 4927, Vol. 220, Microfilm F20848. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 5/28/2012.

New Brunswick. Dept. of Health and Social Services. Index to New Brunswick Marriages (RS141B7), No. 1144, Code B4/1907, Microfilm F15925. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 5/28/2012.

New Brunswick. Dept. of Health and Social Services. Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141), Index to New Brunswick Marriages (RS141B7), No. 45, Code B4/1889, Microfilm F13388. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed and downloaded 1/25/2015.

New Brunswick. Dept. of Health and Social Services. Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141), Index to County Death Registers (RS141C1), Code C1b, Page 9, Line 73, Microfilm F13391. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 2/7/2015.

"New Brunswick Provincial Deaths, 1815-1938," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-159391-991320-5?cc=1840147) : accessed 25 January 2015), 004529710 > image 721 of 1211; Provincial Archives, Fredericton.

"New Brunswick Provincial Deaths, 1815-1938," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-159391-991517-76?cc=1840147) : accessed 25 January 2015), 004529710 > image 722 of 1211; Provincial Archives, Fredericton.

My Canadian Branches ~ Two Beck Sisters Become My 4th and 5th Great Grandmothers

Sisters Hannah Veckle Beck and Sophia Beck were two of six children of Martin Beck of Hillsborough, New Brunswick. Both of them figure prominently in my family tree, not only in their relationship to me, but also because of whom they married.

Hannah Veckle Beck was born around 1754 in Fort Lawrence, in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. Around 1783, she married Robert Smith, the son of Yorkshire, England, immigrants Nathaniel Smith and Elizabeth Duck. Settling in River Glade, in Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Robert and Hannah Smith had a large family of between 10 and 12 children.

In 1835, Hannah's husband died, and is buried in the Burnt Hill Cemetery, in Salisbury, Westmorland County. This cemetery is also known as the Thaney Smith Burial Ground, and is located on land originally settled by Robert Smith, and later by their son Nathaniel. It is the earliest burial ground to be established on the Pollet River, and many pioneers were laid to rest there. It is likely that Hannah lies there as well.

My branch from Hannah Veckle Beck

Hannah Veckle Beck + Robert Smith
> George Alfred Smith + Caroline Steeves
> James Henry Smith + Robina Elizabeth Steeves
> Wylie Herbert Smith + Bertha McCain
> Harriet Cheney Smith + Suther Ross Bustin
> my mother + my dad
> me.

~~~~

                     
Hannah's sister Sophia Beck was born around 1768, also in Cumberland County. In her late teens, she married Matthias Steeves, the youngest son of Heinrich Stieff and Rachel Stalleger, German immigrants from Pennsylvania.

Sophia died on August 25, 1844, and is buried with her husband, Matthias, in the First Hillsborough United Baptist Church, in Hillsborough, New Brunswick.

My branch from Sophia Beck

Sophia Beck + Matthias Steeves
> Jacob Steeves + Eleanor Bleakney
> William Bleakney Steeves + Charlotte Ann Steeves
> John Henry Smith + Robina Elizabeth Steeves
> Wylie Herbert Smith + Bertha McCain
> Harriet Cheney Smith + Suther Ross Bustin
> my mother + my dad
> me.

Note 1:
A particular functionality in my genealogy software operates such that, because of the shorter bloodline from Hannah to me, she is calculated as my 4th great grandmother, while Sophia is calculated as my 4th great grand aunt, married to my 5th great grandfather. I consider Sophia my 5th great grandmother, however.

Note 2:
There was much intermarriage between the Steeves and Smith families. As my Brewer, Maine, "cousin" Michele LaBree Daniels says:

 "Only the brave do Steeves genealogy!"

Photo Credit:

Gravestone for Mathias and Sophia Steeves, First Hillsborough United Baptist Church, Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada. Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Digital image.

(http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mhlewis/frsthllsbrountdchrcem/frsthllsbrountdchrcem.htm)  : accessed 31 Mar 2013)

Sources:

Bowser, Les, The search for Heinrich Stief : a genealogist on the loose. (Halifax : Nimbus Publishing, 2001)

Brides, Philip and Joan (Smith) Brides, Descendants of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Smith ( 2000).

Burnt Hill Cemetery (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nbwestmo/cem-burnthill.htm)

Daniels, Michele LaBree, One Big Circle Website, (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=mdaniels67).

Hempel, Rainer L., New voices on the shores: early Pennsylvania German settlements in New Brunswick (Toronto, German-Canadian Historical Association, 2000).

My Canadian Branches ~ Martin Beck, the King's Baker

As I proceed with my blog theme for this year, I am alternating between my Nova Scotia ancestors and my New Brunswick ancestors. Thus I move on from my Nova Scotia Archibalds to my New Brunswick Becks. Evenly distributed research time makes for a fruitful assortment of stories. Enjoy!

During one of the most fluid settlement periods in Canadian history, my Beck ancestors traveled from Germany to Pennsylvania to New Brunswick, Canada.  Encouraged by William Penn's visit during a period of religious and spiritual controversy in their homeland, many Germans had crossed the Atlantic in search of religious freedom. A great many settled in Philadelphia and environs.

Families like the Becks (and many other families my "cousins" will recognize, like Stief and Lutz) , spurred on by land speculators like Benjamin Franklin, and the ever-present Alexander McNutt, eventually embarked for an even more uninhabited land, Nova Scotia.* In fact, as early as 1763, my fifth great grandfather, Martin Beck, affixed his name on a petition to the Governor for cleared land at Cumberland.  Such petitions were invariably met with enthusiasm, as expressed in this letter to London:

    "...German immigration from the older colonies to Nova Scotia ... will be materially strengthened by the acquisition of these 'frugal, laborious and industrious people'...[and] will not only improve and enrich their property but, if need be, 'pertinaciously defend it'."

If he received this land and sailed from Philadelphia right away, he would have arrived at Fort Cumberland during a time of immense upheaval. Fort Cumberland had been secured by the British in 1755, following its occupancy by the French, under the name Fort Beausejour.

Many new settlers found themselves dependent on "the King's Stores" at the garrison, especially during those first winter months. Flour, in particular, was very scarce.

It was in his capacity as King's Baker** at Fort Cumberland that Martin Beck had his first contact with the other Pennsylvania German settlers. My sixth great grandfather, Heinrich Stief, was one of the heads of households whom he undoubtedly encountered.

According to the so-called "1775 Hillsborough Census," the Becks had by then moved to Hillsborough, and were neighbors to many other Pennsylvania German immigrant families. His two daughters married two of Heinrich Stief's sons. Mary married Henry Stief/Steeves and had five surviving children. Sophia married Matthias Stief/Steeves (my fifth great grandfather!), with whom she had 13 children.

Thus, Martin Beck, the Baker of Fort Cumberland, became the father-in-law of Heinrich Stief's two sons.

*This part of Nova Scotia eventually became New Brunswick.
** Some sources on the Beck family cite son Jacob as "The King's Baker."




Photo credits:

Map

Part of brochure produced by the Societe du Monument Lefebvre and Parks Canada (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nb/beausejour/natcul.aspx)

Badge

Hempel, Rainer L., New voices on the shores: early Pennsylvania German settlements in New Brunswick (Toronto, German-Canadian Historical Association, 2000), p. 202

Sources:

Daniels, Michele LaBree, One Big Circle website,
(http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=mdaniels67)

Fort Beausejour-Fort Cumberland Une Histoire / a history : brochure produced by the Societe du Monument Lefebvre and Parks Canada (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nb/beausejour/natcul.aspx)

Hempel, Rainer L., New voices on the shores: early Pennsylvania German settlements in New Brunswick (Toronto, German-Canadian Historical Association, 2000).

2015 ~ The Year for My Canadian Ancestors

Because of the confluence of events occurring in 2015, I am devoting my blogposts this year to my Canadian ancestors in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. These Canadian forebears all stem from my maternal line, a line that at times immigrated to the States, and, at other times, stayed "Down East." 

I have chosen five families from each province. Some lines I can confidently trace "across the pond," although that is not my goal this year. Some lines are more challenging and will require more in-depth research. Did I mention travel? More on that in a bit.

My Nova Scotia families are:

Archibald

Creelman

Fulton

Hamilton

MacKay

My New Brunswick families are:

Beck

Bleakney

Bustin

Smith

Steeves

As you may recognize, many of these families are of Irish (as in present-day Northern Ireland) descent, with a Scottish contingent (MacKay pronounced mack-eye), a Yorkshire immigrant, two Pennsylvania German immigrant families, and a Loyalist line. Be prepared for a wide variety of stories.

I am fortunate to have inherited my great grandmother's scrapbook of newspaper clippings. It is slowly disintegrating, so this project will discipline me to digitize all the birth, marriage and anniversary annoucements, as well as death notices and obituaries.

At present, my Canadian genealogy library is quite sparce, consisting of these few titles:

Brides, Philip and Joan (Smith) Brides, The Descendants of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Smith (Halifax, NS, Canada, 2000).

Stories of the Stewiacke Valley  (Nova Scotia : Colchester Historical Society, 1980.

Douglas, Althea, Finding your ancestors in New Brunswick (Toronto, ON, Canada, 2002).

Nathaniel Smith: A Stranger in a Strange Land. A publication of Tantramar Heritage Trust, 2000.

Dallison, Robert L. Hope restored: The American Revolution and the founding of New Brunswick (Frederiction : New Brunswick Military Heritage Project, 2003).

Campey, Lucille H. After the Hector: The Scottish Pioneers of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 1773-1852.  2nd ed. Toronto: Natural History Books, 2007.


Other online resources I will be utilizing are listed under the tab above entitled, Where I Dig - Research Tools, under the headings Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

And, last but certainly not least, I will be calling upon my wonderful friends who belong to the following Facebook Groups:

Albert County, New Brunswick Genealogy

Atlantic Canadian Genealogy

Genealogy of Colchester County, Nova Scotia

Kings County., New Brunswick Genealogy

NB Obits,Documents & Unknown Photo

New Brunswick Genealogy

Nova Scotia Genealogy

Nova Scotia Roots

Old Photos of New Brunswick Canada

Riverview and Albert County History in Pictures

Saint John, New Brunswick Genealogy

United Empire Loyalists Association (UELAC)

Westmorland County, New Brunswick Genealogy

I am very excited to begin this journey, all the more because it includes my third trip down east. For my 60th birthday in June 2015, I am giving myself the opportunity to visit the land of my Canadian cousins. No definite dates set yet, but I hope to take the ferry out of Portland, Maine, and drive back.

I invite anyone to make suggestions or offer advice along the way! Let's go way down east!

52 Ancestors: #43 Thomas Herman Bustin (1881-1950)

Thomas Herman Bustin, my great grand uncle, was born on this date in 1881 in Mechanic Settlement, New Brunswick, Canada, the seventh of nine children born to Samuel Bustin and Mary Ross, and their fifth son.

Before the age of 20, Tom left home and came to the States. By 1910 he was living in Portland, Maine, and was working for the Maine Central Railroad, a steam railroad at the time.

That same year, he married Catherine "Cassie" Margaret Hamilton, from Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia. They were married on June 28, 1910, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the "Gretna Green" of its day, on the same day his brother Ben married Cassie's sister Agnes "Nessie." Tom and Ben's younger brother Fred, my great grandfather, had married Cassie and Nessie's older sister Vina, my great grandmother, in 1907. 

You can read how the Portland Evening Express covered this unusual marital phenomenon at the above tab entitled "3 Brothers Marry 3 Sisters."

Tom and Cassie had four children:

Eva Isabella, b. 1912

Annie Virginia, b. 1913

Mary Bernice "Bunny," b. 1914

Leslie "Let" Thomas, b. 1915

Tom continued to work as a machinist on the railroad, followed by 23 years at the Southworth Machine Company, as a watchman. The 1940 census also indicates he worked on a dairy farm.

Uncle Tom died at his home, 832 Stevens Avenue, in Morrill's Corner, Portland, Maine, on January 2, 1950. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, in Falmouth.

Sources:

1891 Census of Canada; Census Place: Cardwell, Kings, New Brunswick; Roll: T-6301; Family No: 24.

1901 Census of Canada; Census Place: Elgin, Albert, New Brunswick; Page: 9; Family No: 75.

1910 US Census; Census Place: Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T624_539; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0099; FHL microfilm: 1374552.

1920 US Census; Census Place: Portland Ward 9, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T625_640; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 60; Image: 944.

1930 US Census; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 831; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0080; Image: 879.0; FHL microfilm: 2340566.

1940 US Census; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T627_1476; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 3-106.

"New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLC4-QB4 : accessed 27 May 2012), Thomas H. Bustin, 1910.

New Brunswick. Registrar-General.  Late Registration of Births (RS141A1b), 1810-1916. #1881-11-22. Code 1881-B-109. Microfilm F18768. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 6/23/2012.

“Thomas H. Bustin,” obituary, Portland (Maine) Press Herald,  3 January  1950.

Thomas H. Bustin tombstone,  Pine Grove Cemetery, Falmouth  (Cumberland County), Maine; photographed by Pamela  Schaffner on 24 August 2011.

***

This is the 43rd in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

 No Story Too Small.

You might also enjoy:

52 Ancestors #1: William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)

52 Ancestors #2: Stephen Morse (1803-1886)

52 Ancestors #3: Frederick James Dargavel (1901-1987)

52 Ancestors #4: Betsey Brackley (1813-1891)

52 Ancestors #5: Hannah Wilson Leighton (1760-1813)

52 Ancestors #6: Samuel James Bustin (1921-1962)

52 Ancestors #7: Kathleen Coffen Seavey (1905-1979)

52 Ancestors #8: James Leighton (1797-1844)

52 Ancestors #9: William Archibald (1765-1836)

52 Ancestors #10: Benjamin Bishop Bustin (1879-1975)

52 Ancestors #11: Major Plaisted (1798-1887)

52 Ancestors #12: Solomon Libby (1785-1861)

52 Ancestors #13: Lyman Seavey (1837-1881)

52 Ancestors #14: Rosanna Austin (1737- ?)

52 Ancestors #15: Albert Thorburn Hamilton (1895-1979)

52 Ancestors #16: Howard Clarence Seavey (1897-1956)

52 Ancestors #17: George William Smith (1844-1925)

52 Ancestors #18: Stephen Blizzard Bustin (1877-1964)

52 Ancestors #19: Susan Morse (1804-?)

52 Ancestors #20: Edward Skillings (1711-1779)

52 Ancestors #21: Hugh Libby (1793-1872)

52 Ancestors #22: Edmund B. Clayton (1833-1864)

52 Ancestors #23: Daniel Leighton (1787-1860)

52 Ancestors #24: Emma Jane Deyarmond (1867-1947)

52 Ancestors #25: Cynthia Ellen Leighton (1847-1847)

52 Ancestors #26: Arvilla Megquier McIntire (1875-1945)

52 Ancestors #27: Lucy Jordan Davis (1795-?)

52 Ancestors #28: Flora Jane MacKay (1874-1941)

52 Ancestors #29: Frederick Parker Bustin (1886-1965)

52 Ancestors #30: Elizabeth D. Hawkes (1914-1973)

52 Ancestors #31: Stanley Bustin (1891-1974)

52 Ancestors #32: William S. Libby (1829-1894)

52 Ancestors #33: Bessie Judson McCain (1877-1958)

52 Ancestors #34: Beniah Pratt Brackley (1833-1896)

52 Ancestors #35: Stephen Leighton (1804-1820?)

52 Ancestors #36: Bartholomew Clayton (1801-1882)

52 Ancestors #37: Jonathan Turner (1646-1724)

52 Ancestors #38: Content Nye (1693-1775)

52 Ancestors #39: Eugene Clayton Brackley (1912-2003)

52 Ancestors #40: John Clayton, Jr. (1795-1876)

52 Ancestors #41: George Leighton (1727-1807)

52 Ancestors #42: John C. Brackley (1818-1897)