X00297 William Gaskill pre-1900

William Gaskill (1855-1909) was Amy S. William's first husband (Amy was the subject of some recent X-File posts including X00315, X00316 and the soon to be posted X00282). The two of them were married in Globe, Arizona 19 February 1901 [D05015].

From a pair of obituaries in the Arizona Silver Belt, William moved to Globe in December of 1899 [D05614, D05615] and established a business as a butcher there. But the mystery is what happened before 1899. According to the same two obituaries, he was born 17 November 1855 in Manchester, England, came to Canada around 1879, settled in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway [D05614, D05615]

Unfortunately, I havent been able to find any evidence to verify any of the above aside from the two obituaries. I have not been able to find a birth certificate for a William Gaskill in 1855 that meets the criteria, nor have I been able to find him in the 1881 or 1891 census (or the 1900 US Census). So, there's a big gap in records prior to 1900. It's also not clear on why he moved from Fort William to Arizona.

Next Steps:

• Check newspapers in Canada prior to 1901
• Continue looking for him in the 1881 and 1891 censuses
• Continue looking for birth records for him
• Look for passenger records

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Sources:
[D05015] Arizona Arizona History and Archives Division, Arizona County Marriage Records 1865-1972, 1: 315, 356134, Gaskill-Williams; digital images "Arizona County Marriage Records," ancestry.ca (accessed 8 Nov 2020).

[D05614] "Honored Man Dead," Arizona Silver Belt, 14 February 1909, p. 3, col. 5; digital images(accessed 14 Nov 2020), newspaperarchive.com.

[D05615] "Death of William Gaskill," Arizona Silver Belt, 17 February 1909, p. 6, col. 6; digital images, Newspaper Archive (newspaperarchive.com : accessed 14 Nov 2020).