September 8, 2008
The ROBERTSON family – early settlers to Upper Canada
I went looking for information about the ROBERTSON family; but there are alot of these families. In doing a google search for the family, I came across this website which lists one original Robertson family from Scotland that emigrated in 1821 and settled in Lanark County, then called Bathurst in Upper Canada. This chart was really confusing to me the first time that I saw it, but luckily the ROBERTSON that we’re looking for is on the first page – written in blue - 4 c3 ? Robertson (this is Jane; and I can’t find a contact person for this website to help them update it).
Margaret Jane MINION’s mother was Jane ROBERTSON, and she was born in Bathurst, Upper Canada around 1837. I think that I’ve found the record of Jane’s marriage to Stephen MINION in the collection of Bathurst district marriages (MS 248-reel 8-1858-1859) which I found at Library and Archives Canada. The only thing is that it lists a 21 year-old Jane ROBERTSON (daughter of John ROBERTSON and Janet DOW) marrying a 29 year-old Stephen MORRISON (Son of James MORRISON and Margaret HALPENNY) on February 18, 1858. Basically, all of the variables are right except that Morrison surname. Now I have to go and dig up the microfilm of the record and see if I agree with the transcription. Nothing in this research stuff is easy!!
So, back to the ROBERTSON family. Now we know that Jane ROBERTSON is John ROBERTSON and Janet DOW’s daughter. Back to the archives, and a search for something referencing the ROBERTSON-DOW family of Lanark. And I found it. Here’s a picture I took from a book of local history called “The Lanark Society Settlers” by Carol Bennett. It shows John ROBERTSON’s brother James and his wife:
Also, there’s a picture of an early 1800s medal from the British Army – this belonged to John ROBERTSON senior (father of James an John that I just mentioned).
The Robertson family had a family grave plot here.
The first gravestone on the site is that of John ROBERTSON, born 1785, died 1867 Native of Scotland, his wife Jane KYLE, born 1790, died 1856 Native of Ireland. (John ROBERTSON was awarded the 1800s medal).
The second is a stone saying: John Robertson, born in Glasgow, Scotland, Feb. 20th, 1810, died Nov. 14th, 1888, aged 78 years. Also his wife Jennet Dow, born in Alloway Ireland, Feb. 21st, 1809, died March 11th, 1893, aged 84 years. These are Jane ROBERTSON’s parents.
September 3, 2008
Marriage record of Samuel ARBUCKLE & Margaret Jane MINIONS
I spent a few hours yesterday at the Ottawa Public Library with my records and a USB key. If you go to the library, they have a subscription to ancestry.com which is a website that has images of many of the public records up to about 1918. If you know the name of the person you’re trying to find, and some other pertinent details like a birth date or a place, it’s actually pretty easy to find records.
This is a copy of the marriage record for Samuel ARBUCKLE and Margaret Jane MINIONS – this is not the register that they signed at their church. The Reverend would have sent a copy of that record to the provincial government, where someone copied it into the big book of registrations.
August 31, 2008
Eddy Earle ARBUCKLE – migrant worker
So, in the search for information in the census records, I typed the name Arbuckle. Well, there were alot of Arbuckles in the province of Ontario in 1911, but one caught my attention. An Eddie ARBUCKLE located in Lanark North, listed in the household of James Y ROBERTSON and Jennie MINION. This is Eddy Earle ARBUCKLE, gone to work on his grandmother’s brother’s farm where his mother’s sister was keeping house.
This was a great piece of information to find, because it links Jane ROBERTSON into a specific Robertson family. ROBERTSON is a very common name; the family settled in Ontario very early on (1820s). But more on that another time.
James Y ROBERTSON has a grave marker in the Robertson Cemetery of Lanark county – I know this is him because the birth dates on the census and on the gravemarker are identical. Archibald G. was his brother.
Jennie (Janet) MINION has a grave marker in the Ramsayville Cemetery in the family plot next to her father Stephen’s and with her brother James.
Stephen MINION & Jane ROBERTSON
Stephen MINION and Jane ROBERTSON are buried in the Ramsayville Cemetery just outside of the city of Ottawa. Here is a picture of their gravestone – very difficult to read – available here but I’ve transcribed underneath.
MINIONS
Stephen MINIONS; Died April 29 1906 Aged 76 Years
Jane Robertson His Wife Died Sept 4 1897 Aged 60 years
Gone but not forgotten
