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/

Treasure Chest Thursday – My Steeves Plate

I still have quite a bit of genealogical research to do on my Steeves ancestors, but I feel fortunate to have one of these plates.

Matthias Steeves was born in 1761. He died on May 21, 1848 He married Sophia Beck, and together they had 13 children. One of their nine sons, Jacob Steeves, was born on May 3, 1788.

Jacob and Eleanor Bleakney had four children. One of their two sons, William Bleakney Steeves, was born in 1823. He married his cousin Charlotte Steeves on October 22, 1846, and they had one daughter, Robina Elizabeth Steeves, born in Elgin, Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada.

Robina Steeves married James Henry Smith (who also had Steeves roots) on Nov. 3, 1873, and together they had 7 children, the eldest of which is my great grandfather, Wylie Herbert Smith.