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