More work to do for the GRAVES family

Watching what's happening in Ottawa this week makes me remember driving on Sussex Drive before going to the airport in April and I realize that I'm desperate to get back to Kingston. While it is was a trip of a lifetime and I hope to take my son there sometime because of the military history, the money spent on the cost of a trip could be spent other ways to get the same information I could get if I lived in Kingston, so it's not likely that I'm going back anytime soon.

I think over the past months, the best piece of advice I got was to look at film #199690 from the LDS FHC. What a jackpot of information. I'm going to keep it for a permanent loan at my local FHL. The film is an index of who owned the land by Concession and Lot. It lists who too and who from, how it was owned (i.e. patent, purchase, will, mortgage) how much was paid for it. I think I've got some good leads as to how the GRAVES family fits together and maybe that Elizabeth's McLean's parents were Joseph McLean & Mary Anderson. I think 199690 is an index to films #199634 to #199646 and #199691 to #199695.

Right now the GRAVES are my number one priority. I'm confident that brothers Adam Graves & George Graves who were in Maryland in 1781 are my ancestors. After they were traitors to the newly formed USA, they escaped to Canada and went to Sorel, Quebec with other Loyalists of the time. I found what I think is Adam's death and a number of other GRAVES family life events on the film #1430819 , but I'm not yet sure how they all fit together.

I also Googled Adam and George GRAVES and got the following interesting websites:

A description of why Adam and George GRAVES were tried for treason. This story is consistent with the information from the book American Migrations talked about in a previous post. What I find ironic about the story is that the new government (which wanted to be rid of the British) used the British laws as to determine the traitors punishment to hang and quarter the seven men convicted of conspiracy. It does call to the men Adam Graves and John George Graves, not as George Graves.

This capture of the conspirators must have been a big deal. A book called The Loyalists of Pennsylvania by Wilbur H. Siebert also talks about George & Adam Graves very briefly on page 15.

The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies has a few letters that talks about Adam Graves, George Graves and Nicholas Andres and, if I'm reading it correctly, allowed them to get land in Canada since their land and possessions were confiscated and sold.

George and Adam Graves are listed as part of the index to The Old United Empire Loyalist List.

The details of a legal battle between James Graves and residents of Pittsburgh who supposedly owned the land. It looks like it took place in about 1862. Unfortunately the notes did not always include the first names of those involved so it was a little confusing. From what I understand, James Graves pretened to the heir to the land because he hadn't heard from his brother, George Graves, who was the legitimate heir, in over 7 years (was George a sailor?). Then George returned from England and was upset that James had his land, but in the meantime they figured out that it wasn't James or George's land because their father Adam had sold it without ever going to Pittsburgh Township, so really there was nothing anyone could do about it. Apparently Adam exchanged it for land in Sorel, Lower Canada, so I should find out how to look at those land records as well.

I also found a Maryland books look up page, but I can't find it again. I emailed some of volunteers and got one response.

From the book Inhabitants of Frederick County, MD

"Fees received by Mr. Martin [Frederick County Clerk?] from the Sherrif [sic] of Washington County, and paid to C. Edelson, Sherrif of Frederick County, November 1781: ...Jno. Geo. Graves, Adam Graves..." (p. 185)

"Frederick County Subpoena Docket 1781: ...July 26, 1781: The State of Maryland vs. Doct. Woolse. Witnesses: Mary Elizth, Graves the wife of Jno. Geo. Graves, Christena Graves the wife of Adam Graves, notation "Washington [County] for both." (p. 188)

"Judicial Writs Returnable 29th October 1781: ... State of Maryland vs. Jno. Geo. Graves, Washington [County]; State of Maryland vs. Adam Graves, Washington [County]." (p. 189)

"Recognizances to the Especial Court Begun and Held at Frederick Town ..6th of July 1781: July 4 1781 [sic]: Philip Erehart, to testify for the State vs. Adam Graves." (p. 191)

The Christ Church Sorel film mentions the death of Christena, wife of Adam Graves, so that's consistent with this information, so from this it could be that George Graves wife's name was Mary Elizabeth. That is if the man I called George Graves is the same man as John George Graves mentioned in this book.

This article gives information on the Loyalists of Sorel. It's interesting background information.

I think it would be helpful if the Graves named their children something other than George. And if I could find a marriage for George Graves who married Catherine Percy about 1820. Unfortunately, there appeared to be no such information in the records of Christ-Church at Sorel. So somewhere, I'm assuming between Sorel and Pittsburgh Township along the St. Lawrence, George Graves met and married Catherine Percy of Upper Canada. There is a Percy Township originally named for a Percy family, but it is seems very out of the way from the St. Lawrence so I'm hesitant about searching in that area.

What I need to do is figure out how George & Adam link with my Henry Graves born in 1825. Right now the best information I will have is the land records since it appears that Henry and his brother Michael were given their land in their father George Graves' will. I'm back to waiting for films..... #199634 should be on it's way from Salt Lake.

Notes to self about Pittsburgh Township

I finally got a copy of Tracing your Ancestors in Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Counties by Barbara B. Aitken and H. Dawn Broughton (ISBN 1-55034-007-7) from my public library. I wish I had a copy of this book before we went to Kingston, but now I have more reasons to go back. The book was written in 1987 so I hope the information is still valid.

These are my "notes to self" of additional things I could search for. Comments in parenthesis are for my benefit.

Family Research (page 5-7)

• best general handbook for Ontario genealogical research is Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Sources by Brenda D. Merriman (look at a copy of this book from the library or amazon.ca)
  

Examples of "Primary Sources" (previous to this I thought a Primary Source was only a life event i.e. birth, marriage, death. Obviously some primary sources are better than others, but I'm glad the list is longer than I thought)

• Birth records (used ancestry.ca for civil birth registrations; Anglican Diocese for earlier christening records)
  
• Marriage records (used ancestry.ca for civil marriage registrations; Anglican Diocese for earlier marriages)
  
• Death records (ancestry.ca again)
  
• Census records (ancestry.ca)
  
• Wills & Probate records (have found some in 2 different indexes; need to figure out how to get a copy of them)
• Land records (ordered LDS film 199690 to get the Instrument for the Concessions & Lots of my ancestors)
  
• Tax assessment records
• Military records (exploring this option; a lot of films to go through from the LAC)
  
• Church records
• Cemetery records (used these)
• Funeral home records
• Burials and transport permits
• Court records

Secondary sources (not acceptable as proof but provide valuable information)

• Bible records
• Obituaries
• Newspaper clippings
• Published family histories
  
• Published county histories (i.e. Lilacs and Limestone)
• Directories
• Personal papers
• Tombstone inscriptions
• Atlases and land ownership maps (1878 Atlas of Frontenac)

REPOSITORIES p. 8-9 (I'm only mentioning the ones that I still need to do)

• Contact the Frontenac County Registry Office for copy of the wills I would like (613-548-3230).
• Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston (613-542-2261) for early records of... shipbuilding companies (check here for John Wilmot b. 1790 since he worked in the Kingston dockyard)
• Queen's University Archives Guide (get a copy of this if we ever go back to Kingston)

Find out what a Tweedsmuir history is for Pittsburgh Township?

CHURCH REGISTERS: p. 12

• Free Methodist - Pinegrove Free Methodist, Pinegrove Road, Pittsburgh Township register 1905-1966 (dates are too late for who I'm looking for)
• Methodist - Early Methodist Records 1805-1853, Methodist Episcopal Chruch includeing Smith's Creek, Bay of Quinte & Napanee circuits (looks like can get a copy from the Kingston OGS)
• There are other Methodist Churches listed under the UNITED Church, but the earliest dates are not early enough. There is a guide to the United Church Archives by Neil Semple from the Kingston OGS that might be helpful in determining if I should contact the United Church Archives. The oldest dates for Methodist are from the Sydenham Street Methodist/United Circut Register marriages from 1831-1850 but a church in that location would have been very far away from where my ancestors lived on Concession 1 Lot 11/12 of Pittsburgh Township (I think it would have been almost closer to go to Ganonoque since they didn't have to go to Kingston Mills to get across the Cataraqui River?)

CIVIL REGISTRATIONS

• More notices from Methodist Newspapers 1830-1857 (Graves family? looks like the Kingston OGS has a copy)

CEMETERIES

• Pine Grove, Concession VIII, Lot 33 (I think the Pine Grove church was a Methodist church. Depending on the dates, perhaps the Pine Grove cemetery might have some GRAVES family names).

LAND RECORDS

(I think I have this one finally figured out but if not I will have to get this book out of the library again)

WILLS

• All wills prior to 1940 are at the Archives of Ontario. (how do I order a film from the AO to look at the will???)

MILITARY RECORDS (page 41)

• The key to obtaining information is finding out the regiment or corps to which the man belonged. I need to find a copy of Searching for a Soilder in the British Army or Canadian Militia by John Grenville. There was once a copy at the Kignston OGS.

On page 61 there is a map of Pittsburgh Township

So basically I've got some clues of where to go for probate and military records which after I get my land records sorted out, is all I think I can do at this point.

Trying to find the right land records

While trying to find land information for Adam and George Graves, I thought that LAC film C-2741 might have what I was looking for, but no such luck. There was mention of George & Adam Graves, but it has more to do with a question about Adam & George's land. I copied the letter because I thought it was interesting. Some of the spelling mistakes are my transcription errors and some of the spelling mistakes are the way the word was spelled, so I've left it the way I typed it originally; unfortunately I didn't have time to proof read and compare to the film.

Bundle 6 Claim 19B page 10 is a letter with the names of a number of people and the description of their land

Entered in land book No 5 pages 305 & 306

Inspector Generals Office

York 26 October 1803

Sir

In obedience to your Excellencys Commands to make Examination with respect to the privilages and fees payable on Patents for Land remciming in the Secretarys Office, that had been signed during the Administration of Mr President Rufsell

I have the honor to Report, that for Seven of the Patents mentioned in the minutes of Search herewith transmitted the half fee appears to have been paid by Government. Two hundred and sixty four appears intitled to receive their Deeds free of expence, but of this number ten of them are stated as not to have buss seen by the secretaery or have paper the great seal. Five hundred and five are subject to prepayment of full fee. Three of these have not the paped the seal: and one is stated to have been cancelled. One has been resinded on account of Onstarory. One for which a Patent has been made out was relinquished in a petition to the land board of the Midland District. For fifty two, I have no document to direct me to decide of this number there are six for whom no Patents have paper the seal. One is not privlidged to the extend of land mentioned in the Patent. Two are misnomers. Two require further authority. Five ought not to ifree owing in some instances to the grantee having died long before the date of the Patent. For Two the land was granted to the wife and the deed made in the name of the husband. Eight are subject to the order in Council of the 11 June 1799, and one on account of his Father having been suspersded the UE list is uscroed for Enquirey. Making in the whole Eight hundred and fifty one Patents or suppossed Patents that are now reported upon.

I have the honour to be very Respectfully

Sir

Your Excellencys

Most Obedient

and Most humble servant

______ Gill

Insp Genl

His Excellency Peter Hunter Esq

Liuetenant Govonor of Upper Canada

and Lieutenant General Comnanding

His Majestys Forces in both the Cannadas

page 6

Report of a committee of the whole of the executive councin on the report of the inspector general on Examinations made by him in regard to priviledge on 851 grants of land.

Council Chamber York 2nd December 1803

The Honorable Henry Allcock Esquire Chief Justice

The Honorable Peter Sussell Esquire

The Honorable Erneas Shaw Esqure

The Honorabel John McGill Equire

To his excellency Peter Hunter Esquire Lieuntenant Govonver of His Majesty's Province of Upper Canada and Lieutenant General Commanding His Majesty's Forces in the Province of Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

May it please your excellency

Your excellency having by order dated the first day of November 1803 been pleased to refer to the consideration of the board the report of the inspector general on examinations made by him in regard to priviledge on 851 grants of land signed by his excellency Lieutenant Govonor Simcoe and Mr. President Anssell as received by the said inspector genreeal for mthe Auditor General (Mr Russell) 23 July 1803 and which said 857 grants are stated to be now in the possession of the secretary of the Province or his deputies. The baord took the said report to the said inspector general into considerant and after examingin discussing and deliberating on the same on many days to which they from time to time adjorned. Thie board has agreed to report to your excellency as follows:

That they find that there are 851 grants that are now in the hands of the secretary and his deputies. Two hundred and seventy three of the grantees in which are entitled or claim to be intitled to privlidge on which two hundred and seventy three the board submits toe following observations:

page 8

Fourty nine deeds are without description of Grantees and the six next following are without deed or description of the respective grantees (continues to list 6 names)

page 9

The remainder of the said 49/Viz/43 want further description the names of the said 43 are what next follow and for the land hereafter next specified (viz:)

page 10

Lieut George Graves Nos 11 & 12 in the 2nd Con & Broken Fronts Nos 11 & 12 in the 1st Concession 670 acres in Pittsburgh

Captain Adam Graves Nos 17 & 18 in the 1&2 Concessions with Broken fronts 980 acres in Pittsburgh

GRAVES from Maryland?

Well, from the information on the Graves Family Site and the book American Revolutions it's possible that my GRAVES family lines were British loyalists in Maryland and went to Montreal before coming to Pittsburgh. So I'm exploring my options. I don't know how or if I will verify any of it, but it's interesting none-the-less and if it is provable or not maybe someone in the future will be able to find something I didn't.

The Graves Family Site does not have dates for any of the people. Jean Graves who submitted the information only included names. Jean never married and died in 2003. I wonder what happened to her genealogy notes; perhaps she has a nephew or a niece alive in Kingston who knows what became of it. It frustrates me to think that five years ago I could have talked with someone who knew my relatives when they still lived in the Kingston area. Her name and phone number are included in a notebook that my great-grandfather took to Kingston in the 1960's. Since she was his first cousin they must have visited together.

Anyway, I want to include the information I got from the Graves Family Site and add the notes or questions and comments I have. The information I received is in regular print and my additions are italicized in blue.

The father (1) of Adam Graves married. Based on their living in Maryland and the connection with the British Navy, it seems likely that this family is descended from the Graves family of Mickleton, Gloucestershire, England (gen. 68). It may also be part of or closely related to the family of John Graves, that settled in St. Mary's Co., Maryland (gen. 247). (R 1)
Children - Graves
+2. Adam Graves, m. .
3. Joseph Graves; an Admiral in the British Navy. Commanded a ship, the Pauley (could not find a reference to this ship on the internet). He is said to have had a consultation during the American Revolution with British General [John] Burgoyne (1722-1792) on the subject of the necessity of preventing a store of ammunition from falling into the hands of the revolutionaries. Evidently, before it was moved to a safer place, it was seized by Paul Revere (1735-1818) and stored in an old cellar for use by General [George] Washington's (1732-1799) troops.
4. daughter; owned a plantation worked by slaves.

CHILDREN OF GRAVES (1)
Capt. Adam Graves (2) married ?. He and his family moved to Canada with the U.E.L. (United Empire Loyalist) migration, and settled in Montreal where his son George is said to have attended McGill University (McGill University did not begin offering classes until 1829; George was having children before 1829 so it’s doubtful he went to McGill) and studied to be an engineer. When the government machinery was set up for granting land to the Loyalists, Adam went with a negro slave to Pittsburgh Township, where according to the Crown Records Dept. in Toronto, he received a grant of land in 1816, on the St. Lawrence River. (need to check land records).

Names and generations of the GRAVES family from Ken Graves

(1) GRAVES, M
1. (2) Adam GRAVES, M (m) unknown
2. (5) George GRAVES, M, (m1) Betsy, (m2) Catherine PERCY
3. (6) Ellen GRAVES, F
3. (7) George GRAVES, M
3. (8) Henry GRAVES, M, (m) unknown
4. (17) George GRAVES, M, (m) Sitney Van HORNE
5. (23) Sarah GRAVES, F, (m) Robert BRASH
6. (34) Howard BRASH, M
6. (35) William BRASH, M
6. (36) George BRASH, M
6. (37) Maude BRASH, F
6. (38) Tina BRASH, F
6. (39) Emma BRASH, F
5. (24) William GRAVES, M
5. (25) George GRAVES, M, (m) Elizabeth MILTON
6. (40) Stanley GRAVES, M
6. (41) Annette Marie GRAVES, F
6. (42) Harvey GRAVES, M, (m) Mary BARKER
7. (46) Nancy GRAVES, F
7. (47) Alan GRAVES, M
7. (48) John GRAVES, M
7. (49) Ted GRAVES, M
7. (50) Mary GRAVES, F
7. (51) James GRAVES, M
6. (43) Dorothea GRAVES, F
6. (44) Jean GRAVES, F
5. (26) Catherine GRAVES, F, (m) HARDING
6. (45) Alden GRAVES, M
7. (52) Hugh GRAVES, M
7. (53) Marjorie GRAVES, F
5. (27) Joseph GRAVES, M
5. (28) John GRAVES, M
5. (29) Minnie GRAVES, F, (m) Bauer Wilmot
5. (30) Alfred GRAVES, M, (m) Hattie Van Horne
5. (31) Anne GRAVES, F, (m1) unknown, (m2) unknown
5. (32) Frank GRAVES, M
5. (33) Herbert GRAVES, M
3. (9) Michael GRAVES, M
4. (18) George GRAVES, M
4. (19) Charles GRAVES, M
4. (20) Tom GRAVES, M
4. (21) John GRAVES, M
4. (22) Edward GRAVES, M
3. (10) John GRAVES, M
3. (11) William GRAVES, M
3. (12) Jane GRAVES, F, (m) TAYLOR
3. (13) Mary GRAVES, F
3. (14) Sarah GRAVES, F, (m) HILTON or MILTON
3. (15) Hannah GRAVES, F, (m) DAVENPORT
3. (16) Susan GRAVES, F, (m) STEVENSON
1. (3) Joseph GRAVES, M
1. (4) GRAVES, F

Did Adam have a brother named George who would have been the Lieut. George Graves to receive land in Pittsburgh Township in 1797?

• American Migrations has Adam & George Graves as brothers, not father & son
• American Migrations states that George Graves died in Canada in or before June 1789
• Lilacs & Limestone Adam & George received land in Pittsburgh Township in 1797; Jean Graves’ date is 1816

If George Graves died in 1789, is it possible that his son (who may have been also named George) could have received the crown land in Pittsburgh Township on behalf of his deceased father and it was the son George Graves (nephew of Adam) that was married to Catherine Percy?

Based on Henry Graves and Michael Graves birth years in the 1820’s, and Catherine Percy’s birth date between 1799-1807, it would make sense that her husband was born no earlier than about 1780 and more likely that he was closer to her age and born about 1800. If he was born as early as 1770, that would make him about 27 years old in 1797 when he received land for his loyalist efforts, but he would have been a young boy when the beginning of the Revolutionary War begun in the late 1770’s.

However, if Catherine Percy was his second marriage, he might have had a very young second wife (but then he would have been a very old man when they had eight children together before his death between 1844-1851).

On one page Catherine Percy is called "LADY" Catherine Percy. That sounds like an awfully big title for a woman born in British North America. Perhaps that's a clue to her ancestry.

Before I knew about the Graves Family Site the following is what I know/believe to be true about the Graves family. The numbers in brackets are the corresponding numbers to the Graves Family site above.

GRAVES, M
1. Adam GRAVES, M (believe that the George & Adam that received land in 1797 are brothers, not father & son)
1. George GRAVES, M (is this the George that married Betsy and his son George married Catherine Percy?)
2. (5 or 7) George GRAVES, M, b. abt 1800, d. aft 1842, (m) Catherine PERCY
3. (no #) Elizabeth GRAVES, F, b. abt 1822
3. (8 or 17 ) Henry GRAVES, M, b. 01 Feb 1825, d. 21 Jan 1891, (m) Citney Ann VANHORN
4. (23) Sarah Jane GRAVES, F, b. 10 Aug 1856, d. 24 Aug 1933, (m) Robert BRASH
5. (37) Alice Maud BRASH, F, b. 08 Apr 1877, (m) John Henry MILLIONS
6. (no #) Percy MILLIONS, F, b. 20 Oct 1902
6. (no #) Sarah Alma MILLIONS, F, b. 28 Apr 1904
5. (39) Emma Citney BRASH, F, b. 05 Apr 1879
5. (38) Christina BRASH, F, b. 19 Jan 1881
5. (34) William Howard BRASH, M, b. 24 Dec 1882
5. (35) William Graves BRASH, M, b. 20 Mar 1887, (m) Maud Elise BELL
5. (36) George BRASH, M, b. 08 Mar 1896, (m) Eva Alice THOMSON
4. (24) William Henry GRAVES, M, b. 13 Oct 1858
4. (no #) Elizabeth Anne GRAVES, F, b. 20 May 1860, d. 12 Dec 1880
4. (25) George Alexander GRAVES, M, b. 28 Nov 1861, (m) Elizabeth MILTON
5. (40) Stanley Milton GRAVES, M, b. 12 Sep 1901, d. 23 Jan 1928
5. (41) Marie Anita GRAVES, F, b. 02 Apr 1903, d. 14 Apr 1903
5. (42) Harvey Allan GRAVES, M, b. 07 Apr 1904, d. 1956
5. (43) Dorothy GRAVES, F, b. Jun 1905, d. 1982, (m) G. Ronald ADAMS
5. (44) Jean GRAVES, F, b. May 1909, d. 2003
4. (26) Catherine Susan GRAVES, F, b. 27 Aug 1863, (m) Harding
4. (27) Joseph Charles GRAVES, M, b. 02 Oct 1865
4. (28) John Thomas GRAVES, M, b. 02 Jun 1868, d. 18 Mar 1882
4. (29) MARY AGNES GRAVES, F, b. 08 Aug 1870, d. 20 Aug 1950, (m) Albert Boyer WILMOT
5. (no #) CLIFFORD ROY WILMOT, M, b. 04 Sep 1898, d. 26 May 1991, (m) RHUEMMA OVARD
6. (no #) , M, (m)
6. (no #) Lyle Harvey WILMOT, M, b. 19 Mar 1931, d. 26 Jan 1978, (m)
5. (no #) Roscoe Harvey WILMOT, M, b. 11 Dec 1902, d. 12 Sep 1957, (m)
4. (31) Citney Ann GRAVES, F, b. 13 Dec 1871
4. (30) Henry Alfred GRAVES, M, b. 13 Dec 1871, (m) Hattie Louise PATTERSON
5. (no #) Vera GRAVES, F, b. 20 Sep 1896
5. (no #) Audrey GRAVES, F, b. 15 Sep 1900
5. (no #) Katherline GRAVES, F, b. Sep 1904
5. (no #) Alfreda GRAVES, F, b. Oct 1907
5. (no #) Philippe GRAVES, M, b. Feb 1910
4. (32) Michael Francis GRAVES, M, b. 08 Sep 1873
4. (33) Herbert Douglas GRAVES, M, b. 14 Mar 1875, d. 25 May 1876
3. (9) Michael GRAVES, M, b. abt 1832, d. 27 Oct 1892, (m) Margaret MCFADDEN
4. (18) George GRAVES, M, b. 10 Aug 1857, d. 1932
4. (21) Thomas John GRAVES, M, b. abt 1859, d. 29 Oct 1930
4. (no #) Eliza GRAVES, F, b. abt 1860
4. (20) Thomas GRAVES, M, b. 1862
4. (19) Charles GRAVES, M, b. 04 Mar 1865, d. 1940
4. (22?) Edwin James GRAVES, M, b. 11 Dec 1868
3. (10) John GRAVES, M, b. abt 1834
3. (11) William GRAVES, M, b. abt 1837
3. (15) Hannah GRAVES, F, b. abt 1839, d. aft 1911, (m) Devenport
3. (14) Sarah Bryant GRAVES, F, b. 19 Mar 1843
3. (16) Susan GRAVES, F, b. abt 1846

As for my questions, I contacted McGill University, and they do not have a record of George Graves attending (that's not a surprise based on my dates).

I looked at Canadian Military records, and there are a lot of Adam Graves and George Graves living in Sorel, Quebec (near Montreal) at the right time period. I ordered a film from the LDS FHC of Sorel baptisms. Perhaps at that time they were still Church of England/Anglican and bapitized their children as such.

I used Yahoo groups to find out how Catherine Percy could be called a "Lady". I got an answer that I think is pretty good and at least gives a direction to start looking. If George Graves lived near Montreal at some point in time, it's possible she wasn't born in or near Pittsburgh Township and they were married near Montreal. So far I haven't found any Percy families in Pittsburgh Township.

I ordered the land film from the LAC that Joanna said to check out. It should arrive at the public library in a few weeks.

So now to do:

1. Search Canadian land records for Adam & George Graves in Sorel, Quebec
   
2. Search Maryland land records for Adam & George.
3. Other possible Maryland records???
   

WILLIAM VAN HORN & ELIZABETH McLEAN

To end the four generations that begat Clifford Roy Wilmot we have William Van Horn & Elizabeth McLean. William came from Ohio and Elizabeth for all intents and purposes was a local girl, perhaps the daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, but that hasn't been proven to the best of my knowledge.

It is unknown who Elizabeth's parents are. From census records and her tombstone she was born in 1810 in Upper Canada. There were a lot of McLean's in the Pittsburgh area and Sam Vanhorne says her father's name was Joseph McLean (Lilac's and Limestone talks about a Joseph McLean who owned land in Pittsburgh in the right time frame to be her father) but no mention of her mother. According to Sam Vanhorne, Joseph McLean was a United Empire Loyalist, and he had another daughter (Elizabeth's sister) who married a man with the last name of Stewart and they had a son named Joseph Stewart. I'm trying to prove this but with not much luck. If Elizabeth was the eldest in her family, and her father was Joseph McLean, her mother could be Mary Anderson and Joseph McLean & Mary Anderson were married on 19 Aug 1809 by the Church of England Reverend, John Stuart, in Kingston.

The ancestry of William Van Horn is documented in the LDS Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource file. More than one person submitted information on this family line back to Holland. I have not checked the sources for any of this; for some reason it feels like they don't belong to me and I have kept my focus on the Ontario relatives.

A descendant of William Van Horn named Sam Vanhorne wrote an article for the Pittsburgh Historical Society about 1978 about the Van Horn family. He said that William came to Canada in the early 1820's with his brothers Thomas & Smith. Interesting to me is that the submitters on the Pedigree Resource File have a brother as Thomas, but never is there a brother named Smith. Apparently Smith settled in Prince Edward County around Demorestville, Upper Canada. Demorestville is about 50 miles East of Kingston south of the Bay of Quinte. In 1978, Smith Van Horn's land was still occupied by one of his descendants.

According to Sam Vanhorne, Thomas moved to Whitby, Upper Canada and he was a blacksmith. I believe Thomas was 50 years old and living with with William on the 1861 census and he doesn't seem to have his own family with him. Sam Vanhorne said that he met one of Thomas from Witby's descendants in WWII. William's son, Thomas went to work with Uncle Thomas in Whitby.

The family chronology is as follows:

22 Jun 1826: William Van Horn and Elizabeth McLean were married at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kingston (LDS film 1307512). He was 24 and she was only 16. Their marriage entry says they were both from Pittsburgh. This was the first piece of information that I found for my direct line ancestor and I was very excited to have it. Unfortunately the marriage record does not say who their parents were, but the witnesses were William McLean & Basil D. Rorison, so perhaps her brother or a cousin was a witness. In the book Lilacs and Limestone it says the only bridge get into Kingston City was at Kingston Mills and the bridge across the the Cataraqui River from the Front Road (Highway #2 today) wasn't built until 1829 so they would have gone to Kingston Mills to get over the river or taken a ferry from Barriefield to Kingston.

Also interesting is after they got married in the Presbyterian church (and I think this was her church since there were a lot of McLean names in the register) there are not any entries for the baptism of their children at the same church. The first eight of their children were baptized on 29 January 1842 and then Joseph on 18 Apr 1844 by Reverend S. Miles in a Pittsburgh Methodist Church. The children with the "abt" birth-dates come from census records and there is no known baptism record.

• 25 May 1827 Alexander Vanhorn
  
• 26 Jan 1829 George Vanhorn
  
• 13 Jan 1831 Mary Vanhorn
  
• 27 Feb 1833 Citney Vanhorn
  
• 20 Dec 1834 Elizabeth Vanhorn
  
• 29 Mar 1837 Sarah Vanhorn
  
• 29 Jun 1839 Jane Vanhorn
  
• 15 Jul 1841 William Vanhorn
  
• 14 Jul 1843 Jospeh McLean Vanhorn
  
• abt 1845 John Vanhorn
• abt 1847 Margaret Vanhorn
• abt 1849 Thomas Vanhorn
• abt 1851 Charles Gamble Vanhorn
• abt 1855 Abigail Vanhorn

Other events are as follows:

1831 Concession 3 Lot 15 deeded to William Van Horn

1836 William bought a portion of Concession 3 Lot 16

abt 1853 Alexander maybe married a woman named Agnes. Their children were

• 9 Feb 1855 Mary Elizabeth Vanhorn
  
• 9 Sep 1856 Agnes Hunter Vanhorn
  
• 18 Apr 1859 William Alexander Vanhorn
  
• 27 Oct 1860 George Vanhorn
• 31 Mar 1867 Samuel Van Horn

The 1861 census shows Alexander & Agnes (b. abt 1835) and their four children living together. She is dead or left him before the 1871 census and he is a widow. Strange to me is Sam Vanhorne (who is a direct descendant of Alexander) said that Alexander was married to Nancy McAdoo. On Samuel's marriage registration to Alison Grice, he said that his mother was Nancy McAdoo, but on the baptism records at the Anglican Diocese in Kingston, all of the children's mother's name is Agnes. Being that the second daughter had HUNTER as her middle name, I checked the Pittsburgh 1851 census for an Agnes Hunter and there is one that matches the year born but your guess is as good as mine if this is the Agnes Hunter who married Alexander Vanhorn. My original guess was Alexander had 4 children with Agnes, she died between 1861-1865 (large gap in the birth of the children) but then Alexander remarried Nancy McAdoo and they had Samuel in 1867, then Nancy died before the 1871 census. This isn't provable since Samuel's baptism entry shows Agnes, not Nancy, as his mother and it's all confusing mess. Nancy died on 4 May 1869 and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery with Alexander. It's unknown when Agnes died or where she is buried.

1854 William transfered land to son Alex & George

12 Feb 1855 George Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. It appears he was never married.

8 Nov 1855 Citney Ann marries Henry Graves. They have their own post.

before 1861 Mary Vanhorn is not with the family on the 1861 census. I assume she was married to ____ Smith before the census.

before 1861 Elizabeth Vanhorn is not with the family on the 1861 census. I assume she was married to John McFadden before the census and the man William Vanhorn McFadden was probably their child.

2 Nov 1867 William married Harriet Beaton and had five children:

• abt 1869 Donald Beaton Vanhorn
  
• abt 1872 Ann E Vanhorn
  
• abt 1874 William A Vanhorn
  
• abt 1876 Charles Vanhorn
  
• 6 Jun 1877 Bella Jane Vanhorn
  
• 4 Aug 1879 George Henry Vanhorn
• 12 Sep 1881 Milford Andrews Vanhorn
  
• 13 Jun 1884 Walter Ernest Vanhorn

Funny to me is William registered the births of three of his children, Bella, George & Milford in January 1882 when they were born many years prior. Apparently some of William's children all moved west about the year 1900 and some even resided in the Lethbridge area (perhaps they associated with our Wilmot/Graves relatives from Pittsburgh while in Lethbidge).

23 Aug 1868 Margaret Vanhorn marries Richard or Robert Patterson. They had at least two children.

• 11 Mar 1869 Citney Jane Patterson
• 7 Jul 1872 Helen Agusta Patterson
  

17 Sep 1872 Alexander marries for the 2nd or 3rd time to Mary Ann Beaton. They had one daughter

• abt 1874 Sarah Jane Van Horn who died on 7 Oct 1898
  

24 Dec 1872 Thomas marries Mary Mission in Port Hope, Northumberland. They have at least seven children

• 26 Oct 1873 Citney Emma Vanhorn
• 9 Mar 1876 Carrie Vanhorn
• 20 Apr 1878 Francis W Vanhorn
• abt 1880 Charles Vanhorn
• abt 1882 Edith Vanhorn
• 17 Sep 1882 Ethel Vanhorn (is Ethel & Edith the same person or possibly twins?)
• 14 Feb 1884 L. George Vanhorn
• 21 Sep 1888 Russel R. Vanhorn
  

1876 William transfered land to son John

21 Aug 1878 Margaret Vanhorn Patterson dies.

1878 Vanhorn house burns down on C3 L15

1879 Vanhorn house rebuilt and was still standing in 1978

1880 Joseph moved to Ohio

1882 John moved to Detroit

1884 Father William transferred the land to his son, Charlie

27 May 1887 father William dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery


20 Nov 1887 Mary Ann (Beaton) Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery with Nancy McAdoo (other wife of Alexander Vanhorn)

3 Nov 1889 Harriet (Beaton) Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery

abt 1889 Charles marries Helena or Lena Patteron. They have one daughter before moving to Waterton, New York

• 10 Apr 1891 Mabel Irene Vanhorn
  

21 Jan 1891 Henry Graves dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery

1893 Mary (Mission) Vanhorn died

19 Jul 1900 Sarah Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. It appears she did not marry

1901 Jane Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. It appears she did not marry

15 Jul 1901 Elizabeth McLean Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery


19 Sep 1910 Citney Vanhorn Graves dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery

1914 Alexander dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery

30 Oct 1914 William (who married Harriet) dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery

13 Oct 1915 Thomas Vanhorn died

1916 Abigal Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery

13 Apr 1830 Robert Henry Patterson dies

William and Elizabeth in 28 years had 14 children. I imagine that life in Pittsburgh was hard for them.

JOHN WILMOT & SARAH MILTON

The last known Wilmot ancestor of Clifford Roy Wilmot is John Wilmot. He was born in England about 1790. I have not found a birth or christening record for him, but there are two places of birth mentioned for him. One is Middlesex, London, England and the other is Spondon, a city of Derby. Spondon, Derby and Middlesex, London are over 160 km's away from each other. There is an LDS FHL film for the Spondon Church of England records for the time period so I will have to order that one. Maybe John Wilmot's parents are only a film away. It is much more difficult to narrow down if and where in Middlesex John could have been born.

It's said that as a young man he worked for the British Navy as a carpenter and finally settled near Kingston, Upper Canada in Pittsburgh Township where he became a farmer. I think it must have been very difficult to farm the land in that area. There is not much top soil and underneath it is very rocky. To get to the dirt, he would have first had to remove a lot of trees. This old fence is near the original Wilmot / Milton land along Highway #2 (originally called the Front Road) in what was Pittsburgh Township.

 1819 John married Sarah Milton. It's not clear where John & Sarah were married. Their marriage day, month and year were not recorded, only their names, his profession of carpenter in the dockyard and her last name. The entry following theirs is from December 1819 so it's safe to assume that they were married before then. John and Sarah's marriage is recorded in the dockyard register of the Anglican Church records in Kingston. I asked the archivist at the Anglican Church Diocese, and she didn't know if the dockyard registered meant they were married on a ship or near the dockyard, or if they were married in the church in Kingston and  a separate register was kept for the dockyard workers. Sarah was the daughter of Thomas Milton and Mehetabel. Since I know who Sarah's parents were I will write more on her family in a different blog entry.

John obtained land from his father-in-law at Lot 4 Concession 1 of Pittsburgh Township. It appears that he had a narrow strip of land just north of the St. Lawrence river, but did not own the land right next too the river. I'm not sure if this is the land that was called Springfield farm, but I do know that the Wilmot's farm was called that at some point.

Their family began shortly after their marriage. Their children were born and baptized on the following dates:

15 Nov 1820 Ann Wilmot baptism 10 Dec 1820 at St. James in Kingston

abt 1822 Edward Wilmot baptism 12 Jan 1823 at St. James in Kingston

22 Sep 1826 Henry Wilmot baptism 22 Oct 1826 at St. James in Kingston

24 Feb 1829 John Wilmot baptism unknown

15 Oct 1831 Sarah Jane Wilmot baptism 13 Nov 1831 at St James in Kingston

abt 1835 Nathanael Wilmot baptism unknown

Just because I don't know the baptisms of John and Nathanael doesn't mean they aren't recorded; we only had a short time in the Anglican Diocese and with all the information to look at we probably missed some members of the families. Unfortunately John is my direct line, so I wish I would have got that date.

The family events are as follows:

 3 Feb 1834 Just two and one half years old daughter, Sarah Jane, dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. I don't know from what.

11 Jan 1836 Sarah Milton dies. I think this must have been devastating to this family since the oldest child was barely 15 years old and the youngest was just a baby. Based on the dates, it's possible she died in childbirth with Nathanael.

7 Apr 1838 John remarries to a woman named Elizabeth. On the marriage record her name is Elizabeth Stewart and she's also a widow. I don't know what her maiden name is or if she had any children from her previous marriage. Through correspondence with a descendant of John Wilmot through his daughter Ann, who still lives in Kingston, Elizabeth's maiden name could have been Priest. I don't know when she died but I assume it was before the 1851 census since John is a widow at that time. 

10 May 1842 Ann marries John McLean. They had 10 children:

• 1844 Sarah J
  
• 1845 John William
  
• 1847 Daniel
  
• 1849 Mary Anne
  
• 1852 Margaret
  
• 1854 Elizabeth Ann
  
• 1857 Rose Isabella
  
• 1859 Agnes Emily
  
• 1861 Nathaniel Henry
  
• 1866 Ann Frances
  

abt 1846 Edward marries Eliza Jane Boyd. They had three children:

• abt 1848 John
  
• abt 1851 Sarah Ann
  
• abt Jan 1853 James Boyd
  

12 Jan 1850 Henry marries Ann Ferguson Graham. They had eight children:

• 21 Oct 1850 Isabella McNabb
  
• 8 Apr 1853 Peter Graham
  
• 18 Jul 1855 John Alexander
  
• 4 Oct 1857 Edward  Francis
  
• 19 Apr 1860 Henry Fredrick
  
• 28 Jul 1864 Joseph Nathaniel
  
• 20 Mar 1867 William Albert
  
• 19 Sep 1870 George Lewis
  

Henry was the most famous of all the Wilmot's being an M.P.P. for Frontenac County. He helped abolish tolls for the roads in the Township of Pittsburgh. He was a member of the Kingston Field Battery. He had extensive farming operations and this is a picture of his farm from the book Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Ontario. I believe this farm would have been along the Abbey Dawn Road. It was said of him that he had some of the finest horses in the Dominion.

20 Jun 1853 John Wilmot dies and is buried with his wife, Sarah, and their daughter Sarah Jane in the Milton Cemetery.

1 May 1854 Edward's wife, Eliza dies and is buried with their young son, James, in the Cataraqui United Church Cemetery.

2 Nov 1854 Edward remarries to Mary Elizabeth Franklin. They had seven children:

• abt 1855 William James
  
• abt 1857 Marion Elizabeth
  
• 11 Sep 1860 Henry Franklin
  
• 15 Oct 1862 Ada Victoria
  
• abt 1865 Florence Catharine
  
• abt 1869 Margaret Julia
  
• 3 Mar 1869 Mary Sophia
  

abt 1855 Nathanael marries Frances Augusta Patterson. Since it appears that her birthplace is New York, I would not be surprised to find they were married there, however I haven't tried to discover that. They had six children:

• abt 1858 Emily Anne
  
• abt 1862 Caroline
  
• abt 1864 Sarah Catharine
  
• abt 1869 Frances Louisa
  
• abt 1873 John Edwin
  
• abt 1877 Isabel MacDonald
  

abt 1857 John Wilmot (Junior) marries Ann Ross Dunlop. Since they are my direct line details of their life can be read in a separate post.

1 Jul 1888 Henry dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. I believe he was still serving as an M.P.P. at the time.

22 Oct 1890 John dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery.

6 Apr 1897 Edward dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.

26 Jan 1898 Ann dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery.

10 Sep 1900 Nathanael Wilmot dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.

6 Jan 1903 Ann's husband, John McLean dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery.

9 Jun 1905 Edward's wife, Mary Elizabeth dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.

18 Mar 1911 John's wife, Ann Dunlop, dies and is probably buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.

31 Dec 1919 Henry's wife, Ann dies. I don't know where she is buried.

2 Jul 1834 Nathanael's wife, Frances, dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.

Through a contact I have in Kingston, she let me know that a man in Kingston was researching the Wilmot family for a publication for the Kingston OGS. He sent me the following that I believe is from a book called Representative Canadians A Cyclopedia of Canadian Biography being chiefly men of the time. Edited by George Maclean Rose, Rose Publishing Co., Toronto, 1886. It was an article primarily written about John & Sarah's son, Henry Wilmot but it has some details about John & Sarah as well.

John Wilmot "came to Canada about 1812, and settled near Kingston in 1821, after having served a long term of years in the Royal navy, and he was engaged in the battles of Anholt and Coppenhagen, under Admiral Nelson. Mrs. [Sarah Milton] Wilmot was a descendant of that illustrious line to which Milton the poet belongs. Mr. Wilmot was on board the man-of-war which towed the Chesapeake and Shannon, after their famous battle, into Halifax."

Interesting details but now the hard part is to to try and prove it. It would seem that the battle of Anholt was between the British and the Danes in 1811. John would have been in his early 20's. So it's possible that he was there.

There are two Battle of Copenhagen articles on the Wikipedia website. One was in 1801 and one was in 1807. Based on John's birth year of 1789, it would make more sense if he was in the 1807 battle but I suppose it's possible that a 12-year-old was working on a ship in 1801. The only reference I find to an Admiral Nelson is in the 1801 battle but that doesn't mean there wasn't an Admiral Nelson in the 1807 battle. The battle of Copenhagen was also between the British and the Danes.

The famous battle of the Chesapeake and Shannon happened in 1813. There is a lot of information on this battle; it seems to be a significant event in the war of 1812 with a song written about the battle. I need to find out what types of records remain from the British Navy and perhaps I can find a record of John Wilmot being involved in these Battles.

I've looked into the genealogy of  John Milton, the poet. His only son died when the child was a year old, so I don't think that Sarah Milton descended from Milton the poet. But after re-reading the quote, it doesn't say she descends from Milton the Poet, but from the same family line. Perhaps that means Sarah Milton descended from John Milton's only surviving brother, Christopher, who appears to have sons and who's descendants are "traceable into the 18th century." Only time will tell.

I'm not sure of the timeline but apparently John McLean (husband of Ann Wilmot) wrote a small blurb in his family bible. I obtained a copy of this blurb while in Kingston. It's a typed transcription of what was in the bible. "The Wilmots are descended from the Duke of Rochester & the Milton's can be traced back to Milton the Poet". It's not clear if John McLean made this statement or the descendants of John & Ann are responsible for this. It also says that the "Wilmots were United Empire Loyalists and awarded 160 acres of land; Sarah Milton Wilmot got her share." And it ends with "This is according to Henry Nathaniel McLean & Mrs D. McLean."

Now, I'm pretty sure that John Wilmot wasn't a United Empire Loyalist since he wasn't born in 1775 but perhaps I need to do some more research on what a UEL was. I've also checked who belongs to the title Duke of Rochester. There are two Wilmot's that belongs to the title of Earl of Rochester, but no duke. The first Earl's name was Henry and the second Earl's name (Henry's son) was John.

It's also interesting that this seperate article talks about Milton the Poet. It does not say that Milton is an ancestor, but that the family line can be traced back that far.