The Master Mariner

One of our favourite spots to go to is Niagara on the Lake.  We had a nice long walk through St Mark's cemetery back in Nov 2017 (just finishing the draft of the blog post now!) and this stone caught my eye:

I like the uniqueness and I also like the inscription, William was loved.  The inscription reads:

Feb 14, 1887

Was laid here

In faith hope and love

All that was mortal

Of my dear husband

William R Bartlett

Until the day in meeting the shadows flee away

Captain William Richard Barlett was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England to parents Richard (25) and Isabella (23) on January 28, 1828.(1)  He was baptized in St Peters in Liverpool on Feb 15, 1828.  At the time, he and his parents were living on Strand Street and his father was a Master Mariner. (2)
14 year old William appears in the 1841 census with his parents in St Martin District, Liverpool.  Both he and his dad are listed as Mariners.  His 9 year old sister and his 1 year old brother Jonathan are also living at the house.(3)

On October 21, 1851, he married Elizabeth Ann Potts in West Teignmouth, Devon, England.  His father was deceased.  Like William and his father, Elizabeth's father William was a Master Mariner. (4)
 
It seems that William traveled the world. I uncovered a Master Mariner certificate that was issued to William 6 days later on Oct 27, 1851. On this certificate, it states that William served as an apprentice mate and master for 13 years with the British Merchant Service in the Foreign Trades.  He was 23 at the time and served with his father from a young age it seems. (5)
  Along with this certificate, was his application for the certificate, dated October 24 of the same year.  The Claim for the Certificate provides a summary of his first experience, which started on April 15, 1838 and completed in the middle of June in 1839.  He served on 4 vessels during this time period:
- The Mary & Ann as an apprentice.  The trade is listed as Monte Video.
-The Robert Whitewall where he served as 2nd mate and chief mate and went to the West Coast.
-The Reliance where he served as mate and went to the West Coast.
-The Mary Woods where he served as master and went to South America.
The claim goes on to state that from June 1839 until the end of July 1846, William served on the Robert Whiteway and the Mary Woods.  Both ships were owned by the same person or company.  His position was Master from January 18, 1847 until the time he filed the claim.  William was in a hurry to get his certificate and requested that he receive it in two days instead of the normal 10.
  A letter from the shipowner John Bartlett (a little nepotism happening here I think) is included in the request for the certificate.  John requests that the certificate be issued quickly because the ship is ready and waiting to sail. (5)  

On February 21, 1857, William received his Master Mariner certificate in Liverpool, England.  At the time he was living at  4 Victoria Terrace in Seacombe, Cheshire, England.  The certificate bears his signature (6)

In 1861, William is a lodger at a house at 31 Church St in Birkenhead, Cheshire.  Two rows above him in the census record is  Eliza Barthill, who I believe his really his wife Elizabeth. She states that she was born in Durham, Sunderland.   In the row above her is a 54 year old widow, Elizabeth Potts who is likely Elizabeth's mom.  She was born in Devonish, Kenton. Neither women have a listed occupation.(7)

In 1871, William and Elizabeth appear together as lodgers in East Teigenmouth in Devon.  The couple have no children.  Elizabeth is more specific about her Devon birthplace - Bishopwearmouth, which is in the Sunderland area. (8)
  I was curious where I would find them in 1881, Canada or Britain but so far I've found them in neither places.  The last record I can find about either of them is William's death registration.  He died on February 11, 1887, as a result of cardiac dropsy, which he suffered from for 10 months. (9)

(1)https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/12006973?h=ae50ec
(2) https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/12001474?h=3c36dd
(3) 1851 England Census, Class: HO107; Piece: 564; Book: 15; Civil Parish: Liverpool; County: Lancashire; Enumeration District: 29; Folio: 12; Page: 17; Line: 13; GSU roll: 438716
(4) https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/22831862/person/29327045320/media/da2e1f3c-6a3b-4588-a5fe-dfd80225e993?_phsrc=Mwv34&_phstart=successSource 
(5) https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/12006973?h=ae50ec&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url

(6) https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/12001437?h=d8c82c
(7) 1861 England Census, Class: RG 9; Piece: 2639; Folio: 18; Page: 29; GSU roll: 543004
(8)The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 2071; Folio: 47; Page: 27; GSU roll: 831776
(9)https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/11992725?h=a73ec0 

The Reaper has come..... to Kilbride

Here is another stone that caught my attention in Kilbride Presbyterian Church for being both ominous and auspicious at the same time.

I did some initial searches for Margaret, James and Samuel on Ancestry didn't turn up a single thing... wow.  I turned to a general google search for James and came across one interesting thing that at least confirms the family did in fact exist.

  Bylaw number 92-2001was filed in 2001 in Burlington to designate 2270 No 8 Side Rd  as a property with historical and architectural value under the Ontario Heritage Act.  This house was 1.5 storey build by two brothers, James and John Harris in 1840 on land that was purchased in 1834.  Ironically,  1/2 acre was purchased from James in 1848 to build the cemetery in which he is now buried.  There's limited information about James in the application but it does mention that James was a magistrate for many years and also ran the general store.  The home remained in the Harris family until 1901.(1)

  I was able to finally find the Harris' in the 1861 census, but only after searching for records for their son Samuel.  The family was living in Nelson with 6 of their children. James, 52 was born in the United States, while Margaret was born in Ireland.(2)  In my next search I was able to find them again in the 1851 census, with their 9 children, again in Nelson.(3)

  Margaret, her 21 year old son Erwin and her 18 year old daughter Margaret J are living with her 36 year old son John, his wife Ann and their children in Nelson Township in 1871(4).  Margaret continues to live with them in 1881 and her granddaughter and namesake, is a school teacher (5).  Margaret's death record and the date on her tombstone do not match.  on March 1, 1886, her son John reported that her death due to old age occurred  January 12, 1886 but her stone records the date as December 14, 1885.(6)  A search of the Canadian Champion does not provide an obituary for her.

  Like Margaret, I had a bit of a hard time finding information on James, I wasn't able to uncover an obit nor a death registration, likely because they were just starting to require people to register deaths in 1869.  I do have one clue about his birthplace from the 1851 census, where it lists S N York, which I think stands for State of New York.

  Last bit not least, aside from the appearance of Hamilton in the 1851 and 1861 census' with his parents, I was able to uncover his death registration, the cause of his death was a falling tree (7), just like Norman Elery Rasberry over at Kilbride Presbyterian Cemetery.....  Kilbride is not the place to chop down trees it seems.  

(1)
(2)Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1031
(3)Year: 1851; Census Place: Nelson, Halton County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C_11726; Page: 90; Line: 17 
(4)Year: 1871; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C-9955; Page: 65; Family No: 226
(5)Year: 1881; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C_13257; Page: 40; Family No: 180
(6)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 43
(70Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 6

James Douglas Small of Kilbride

On the same day that John and I went to Kilbride Presbyterian Cemetery on Thanksgiving weekend, we also went down the way to Kilbride Presbyterian Cemetery.  A couple of stones caught my eye, in particular this large stone for a child. James Douglas Small died April 2, 1904  in East Flamborough (likely Carlisle) after suffering for 1 week with membranous laryngitis.(1)   James was born Jan 19,1901 to George and Harriet Hamilton in Wentworth County.(2)  George and Harriet were married in East Flamborough on 26 Nov 1890(3).  According to the 1901 census, George was born 7 Jul 1857 and Harriet was born 27 Jan 1859.  James had at least 4 older siblings. (4) I thought that maybe James's parents were perhaps buried in the plot but their names were not written on the stone.  Upon further research, George died of the ripe old age of 85+ on 22 November 1942 in Carlisle and he was also buried there. (5) Hattie died just before him on 8 January 1942 and was also buried in Carlisle. (6)

(1) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 118
(2)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; MS929; Series: 156; Reel: MS929
(3)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928
(4)Year: 1901; Census Place: Flamboro (East/est), Wentworth (south/sud), Ontario; Page: 7; Family No: 67
(5)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 69
(6)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS 935; Series: M023577; Reel: 692

The Rasberrys of Kilbride

John and I were enjoying the fall weather this Thanksgiving weekend and decided to do a couple of cemetery geocaches up in Kibride, Ontario.  There were a couple of stones in Kibride United Cemetery that caught my eye.

The first stone was for Charles and Melissa Rasberry and included their two sons Charles and Norman.  The second stone was Melissa's original stone.

Charles Sr died in Kilbride on March 24, 1916 at the age of 79 due to la grippe (influenza) and old age.  A secondary cause was asthenia (weakness or lack of energy).  He suffered 3 weeks before he died. (1).  According to his marriage record, Charles was born in 1837 in William and Rebecca and married Melissa on March 4, 1868 in Wentworth County. (2)  The earliest record I can find of Charles is the 1851 census where he is living in Flamboro West, Wentworth County in a one story framed house with his 48 year old mom and his siblings Robert, William and Elizabeth. (3)
  By 1861, he is living in a framed house as a tenant in St Mary's Ward in Hamilton (4).  His occupation was simply labourer.
Melissa and Charles appear in the 1871 census together with their children Charles and William in Milton, Ontario. Charles is a stage proprietor and Melissa is referred to as Margaret. (5) On Nov 21, 1872 Charles published the following article on page 1 of the Canadian Champion, Milton's newspaper:

 In the birth record of their son William John (24 Feb 1871), Margaret Melissa registers her son's birth and states that Charles is a mail contractor.(6)  In 1881, Charles, Melissa and 5 kids are over in Nelson Township and he's a stage coach driver. (7)
The couple appears in the 1891 census with their 9 children ranging from ages 21 to 3 in Nelson Township.  Charles was a farmer and William, a farm labourer. (8)  Charles Jr has sadly passed away on Feb 2, 1889 as per the inscription on the stone.  After Melissa's death, 62 year old Charles married Eliza Jane Griffin on 14 Dec 1899 in Wentworth County.  He lists his mother as Rebecca Watson (9)  They appear together in the 1901 census in Nelson Township. Charles born in May 1835  is now employed for 9 months of the year as a Bridge Teacher earning $360.  Interestingly, his birthplace for the first time is England and not Canada.(10).  Finally, I see them together in the 1911 census, still in Nelson.  Charles born now in March 1835 is a retired farmer and as with the 1901 census Eliza is 5 years older than Charles, however; 4 years younger than him in their marriage record.(11)  Eliza outlived Charles another 6 years.  She died May 25, 1923 at the age of 92 years 5 months of senile dementia.  Her death record provides some nice genealogical information.  She was born in Carlisle, Ontario to John Eaton and Catherine VanDuzen on Dec 22, 1830. (12)
  Melissa, a VanNorman is of particular interest to me because the VanNorman family is one of the more well known early settlers in Burlington.  Margaret Melissa was born to Ellery VanNorman and Eliza.  The earliest record that I can find for her is the 1851 census where 4 year old Melissa and her 2 year old brother John Milton are living with their parents in Nelson Township (present day Burlington).  They lived in a one floor log house with a framed barn. (13)  Elery outlived his daughter and died Dec 28, 1912 at the age of 92.  He was born 1 July 1821 to parents Jacob and Mary Bennet, his mother coming from Ohio.(14)  His dad Jacob, was a son of Ephraim VanNorman who moved with his family from Pennsylvania.  Elery's dad Jacob also lived a long life, dying in 11 Nov 1883 at the age of 90.(15)   I might hunt down Jacob's stone and do some further research on him.  His house was at 4465 Walkers Line and one that I have driven by many times.   It was a heritage farmhouse in the gothic revivial style.  There was a request to have it removed as a heritage property so it could be demolished (16) but it was conveniently burned to the ground  over a year ago.  He also served in the War of 1812 as a private with the 2nd York Militia(17) .  Getting back to Melissa though, she died 18 Jan 1891 of typho pneumonia.(18)


Charles Henry was Charles and Melissa's eldest child.  He appears with his parents in the 1871 and 1881 census records but so far I haven't been able to find his death registration.  I was able find his death notice, again in the Canadian Champion on Feb 7, 1889 and he died after a brief illness on Feb 6, 1889:

Finally, we come to Norman Elery Rasberry.  Norman was born on Feb 24, 1888 in Nelson (Kilbride) (19).  In 1911 census, Norman is living as a "domestic" at his sister Minerva McArthur's household in Nelson Township.  Minerva's 11 year old niece Alice is also living there.(20)  I haven't found a birth record for her yet but perhaps she is William or even Norman's daughter?  I haven't uncovered Norman in the 1921 census as of yet but did find his death registration.  Norman died on Jan 4th as the results of a fractured skull obtained by a falling tree.(21)  His brother Robert reported his death.  Intrigued I again  turned again to the Canadian Champion.  Norman died at 12:35 on Saturday Jan 4 at Hamilton General Hospital from a deep skull fracture. He received the injury the day before in the bush on his brother Robert's farm, on 11th Concession in East Flamborough.  Norman was with two of his brothers at the time and a tree fell in a direction that was opposite of what was expected, crushing Norman.  His brothers carried him to the farmhouse where he was attended by the Kilbride doctor, Dr H.R. McDonald but was then transferred to Hamilton General. (22) Of note is that the newspaper stated he was 35 years old.

(1)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 220
(2)Ontario, Canada, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869
(3)Year: 1851; Census Place: Flamboro West, Wentworth County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C_11758; Page: 117; Line: 46
(4)Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1092
(5)Year: 1871; Census Place: Milton, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C-9956; Page: 32; Family No: 128 
(6) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; MS929; Series: 6; Reel: MS929
(7) Year: 1881; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C_13257; Page: 39; Family No: 176 
(8)Year: 1891; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario, Canada; Roll: T-6341; Family No: 227
(9)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 100 
(10)Year: 1901; Census Place: Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Page: 8; Family No: 83
(11)Year: 1911; Census Place: 12 - Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Page: 5; Family No: 64 
(12)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 308 
(13)Year: 1851; Census Place: Nelson, Halton County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C_11726; Page: 130; Line: 5 
(14) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 175 
(15)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 34 
(16)https://www.burlington.ca/uploads/21066/doc_636035613937397331.pdf 
(17)Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 81-83 & 87-89
(18) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 60
(19)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; MS929; Series: 87; Reel: MS929
(20)Year: 1911; Census Place: 12 - Nelson, Halton, Ontario; Page: 7; Family No: 82 
(21)Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 403 
(22) Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 9 Jan 1930