X00327 Update

I posted previously about X00327: Joseph Wood Hardy. I have since found an article that talks about the suicide:

It gives a little more information but doesn't give any more information either way.

X00253 Who is Eliza Ann Hyatt - Solved!

In the book, Halton Sketches Revisited by John McDonald, there is a reference to an Eliza Ann Hyatt in connection with Lucy Maude Montgomery, who lived in Norval, Ontario at one time. I was wondering if this Eliza Ann Hyatt is connected to the same Hyatt family that I am researching, also from Norval.

So, I managed to find her birth record from 1884, daughter of William Hyatt and Jane Magill.

I next found the marriage record for William Hyatt and Jane Magill from 1870, showing his parents as John and Mary Ann Hyatt, and that he was born around 1846.

I've also come across an index of a marriage record (I haven't found the original record yet) for a marriage between a John Hyatt and Mary McMahon in 1842. Now, my theory is (although I haven't verified it yet) is that this marriage is the second marriage for John Hyatt and that he is the same John Hyatt who married Rachel Ostrander.

X00359 Alice Hallam Skusky Date of Death

Alice Hallam married Charles Skusky on 14 January 1890 in Meadowvale, Peel Region, Ontario, Canada [D07195]. The couple had a number of children over the next decade, although it would appear that only two of them (Jennie May and Charles Harold) survived by the time of the 1901 census [D07197].

The 1901 census shows the four of them living in the town of Erin, Ontario in Wellington County [D07197]. And it would also appear to be the latest record in which I have found Alice Hallam Skusky...or is it?.

I have found Chrales Skusky in both the 1911 and 1921 census records living in Algoma County, Ontario and he is listed as a widower in both records [D08038, D08039]. He is also listed as a widower in his death record [D08023]. Based on that information, it would appear that Alice died somewhere between 1901 and 1911. I have not been able to find any death or burial records however.

But then, I've come across a 1940 directory that lists a Mrs. Alice Skusky living in Meadowvale, Ontario.

This certainly makes things interesting. Could this be the same Alice Skusky? Skusky is a very rare name in Ontario, so there is a good chance of it. It would mean that Charles and Alice separated some time between 1901 and 1911, Charles moved up to Algoma and Alice stayed with family in Meadowvale. And both of them claimed to be widowed, rather than explain the separation. It is certainly plausible, particularly considering that it appears Alice's grandmother Jane Tricker did the same thing when her husband William Carthew moved to Manitoba.

But in order to prove that I would need some additional evidence that she was alive and living somewhere else after 1911, which I have yet to find.

So, it would appear that she either died between 1901 and 1911 or after 1940. To prove the former, I'd need to find a death or burial record. To prove the latter, I'd need to find either death or burial records, or some other evidence to suggest that she was alive after 1911.

---

Sources
[D07195] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 68: 291, 9598, Skusky-Hallam; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,".

[D07197] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 126, sub-district 6, Erin, p. 4, dwelling 34, family 35; RG 31; digital images(accessed 27 Feb 2022).

[D08023] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935, M023566, Reel 681: 315, 9556; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (6 Mar 2022).

[D08038] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 55, sub-district 32, Bruce Mines, p. 20, dwelling 198, family 198; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 12 Mar 2022).

[D08039] 1921 census of Canada, district 66, sub-district 4, Plummer Additional, p. 3, dwelling 42, family 42; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com (accessed 12 Mar 2022).

X00327: Researching Joseph Wood Hardy born about 1878

I was researching Joseph Hardy, son of William Hardy and Sarah Elizabeth Irwin who was born about 1878 in Peel Region, Ontario. Unfortunately I don't have an exact date of birth - the Hardy family didn't seem to be great at officially registering vital events - but I know from the 1881 Census that he was born about 1878 [D01370].

When I was doing research on another son of William Hardy and Sarah Elizabeth Irwin, Irwin Hardy (1869-1947), I found a gravestone for an Erwin Hardy and a Della Haas Hardy in Kent, Portage County, Illinois, USA. In the photos, you can see that there is a third grave marker, one for a "Joseph Wood Hardy 1879-1934)" and is marked as "Brother".

So, it would seem that this is the same Joseph Hardy that I am researching and his year of death is 1934.

One hint on Ancestry was for a death record for a Joseph Hardy who died by suicide in Chicago 24 January 1934:

Of course, Joseph Hardy is not an uncommon name, and the death record doesn't give much to go on to identify him as the correct Joseph Hardy: no parents listed and birth place is no listed as anywhere in Canada. The only realy clue is that the burial place is given as Kent, Portage County, Ohio.

I also have not been able to find a Joseph Hardy with the right age, single, born in Canada and living in Chicago in any of the 1910 to 1930 censuses, so I haven't been able to confirm either way as to whether or not this is the same Joseph Hardy.

So the next steps are to look to see if there is any way to confirm whether or not the Joseph Hardy who died by suicide in Chicago is the same one by checking for Joseph Hardy in:

• Obituaries for 1934
• Newspapers for 1934 chicago
• Census records 1910-1930
• City directories

X00212 More on Esther Riley

Some more background information that I've found related to the sawmill accident mentioned in a previous post, related to X00212: Who is Esther Riley.

Below is the transcript of the news item from the Streetsville Review:

I recently connected with some people from Churchville who were able to inform me that the mill owner was note named "Mr. Snewer" as described in the article, but was in fact Jacob Snure who owned and operated a number of mills, most notably the Eldorado Mills, which was located just north of Churchville on the Credit River (where Churchville and Creditview Roads intersect).

From this site, I found that the Eldorado Sawmill originated in the 1830s. A woollen mill was set up in 1842 or 1843, and a flour mill was added in 1858.

It doesn't give us any more information about Henry Raleigh, of course, but it's nice to be able to get some more background information.

Jacob Snure

Other Hardy Gravestones

With the research I was doing with X00216: The Trafalgar Hardy letter, I was able to answer some questions I had about some other Hardy surname gravestones that I found in both St. Peter's Cemetery in Erindale and Springcreek Cemetery in Clarkson.

On previous trips to St. Peter's and Sprincreek Cemeteries I had photographed some stones that had the Hardy surname on them, in the event that they were connected. I've since been able to connect many of these to the George Hardy and Mary Buckton who are buried in St. Peter's

The above stone, for George H. Hardy was found in Springcreek. This George, I found, was the son of George Hardy and Mary Buckton. He married an Emma Gilby, which accounts for a number of stones I found in both locations with the names Hardy and Gilby.

George and Mary had another son, J.C. Hardy and I found his stone in Springcreek as well

So, it seems that many of the Hardy names that I've found in Clarkson and Erindale are all connected to the George Hardy and Mary Buckton line (to which I'm still investigating if they are connected to mine). It would appear that there were at least three Hardy families living in Toronto Township at the time: One in Churchville (mine), one in Streetsville and one in Clarkson/Erindale. If there is a connection between any of the three of them, it was before they arrived in Canada.

X00251 Death Date for Jonadab Hardy - Solved!

For the longest time, I had figured that Jonadab Hardy (son of Lancelot Hardy and Ann Wood) had died sometime between 1891 and 1901. This was based on the fact that I had found him the 1891 census [D02255], but in the 1901 census his wife, Mary Ann Foster Hardy appears without him [D03280]. But I wasn't able to find a death record for him in that range. Nor was I able to find any cemetery record indicating when or where he might be buried.

I came across a death record from 1906 that could be a possible fit [D03297].

It was indexed as "John Adolph Hardy", but on closer inspection, it could well be Jonadab (or a spelling variant of it). The date of death was 12 March 1906.

Looking at the death record, there are a few arguments in favour:

• The name matches (or at least it's a close approximation)
• The location of the death (Toronto) makes sense, because previous records indicate he had been living there.
• The age at death (73) indicates a year of birth around 1833, which matches what is known about Jonadab
• I haven't seen any other occurrence of the name Jonadab Hardy in southern Ontario at the time.

There were a few problematic areas as well:

• The given occupation (speculator) does not mach previous records indicating that he was a carpenter and operated a saw mill in later years.
• The birthplace (Canada) does not match all other records indicating that he was born in England
• The fact that he doesn't appear in the 1901 census with his wife is suspicious. The census record does not indicate whether or not she was a widow.

I did some digging in the Peel archives and found an death notice in the Streetsville Review dated 15 March 1906 [D04565].

Not only does it confirm the name, but it also indicates that he formerly operated a sawmill in the area. Based on that, I'm going to conclude that this is the same person and that the birth location given on the death registration was an error. I still haven't found him in the 1901 census but that might likely be because of the various mispellings of his name. Another plus: it gives the location of where he was buried, in Erindale Cemetery. That being said, he doesn't appear in the transcriptions for Erindale so, it is most likely that either there was no stone, or the stone hasn't survived.

---

Sources:
[D02255] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 119, sub-district St. Stephen's Ward, Toronto City, p. 150, dwelling B2/6, family 678; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.

[D03280] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 103, sub-district D-3, Toronto Township, p. 2, dwelling 19, family 19; RG 31; digital images.

[D03297] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 124: 55, 1742; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca. [D04565] (Streetsville) Streetsville Review, 15 March 1906, p. 1, Col 6.

X00192 Part 1: Sorting out the Lancelot Hardys

I have recently come across some new information about the Hardy family and Lancelot Hardy (born 1827) that has me re-examining what I have found about him and his father, also named Lancelot, born about 1793.

In the process, I keep finding records for another Lancelot Hardy living around the same time in Exeter, Huron County, Ontario. Including a few property records in the property atlases for Huron County:

Based on has 1922 death record and various census records, I've been able to piece the following information together about the Lancelot Hardy of Huron County:

• Born 14 January 1836 in Tipperary, Ireland
• Came to Canada about 1841
• Spouse: Eliza Bissett
• Died 26 December 1922 in Exeter, Huron, Ontario
• Parents: Michael Hardy & Judith Ardell

Other than coming to Canada bout 1841, none of the above items matches with the Lancelot Hardy born 1827, so I'm going to rule out a connection between this Lancelot Hardy and the family that I'm researching.

X00298 Research John Williams history as a brewer

Much like the others in the Williams family, John Williams (born 1829) worked as a brewer. He first learned the craft while working as part of his father's brewery in Guelph. But he appears to have branched out on his own later on.

In the 1861 census, his occupation was listed as a brewer [D03739] living in Brampton, Peel.



In his death registration, his occupation was listed as a brewer in Owen Sound [D03737].



But more recently, I've discovered that a John Williams opened a brewery in Flesherton, Grey County in 1864 [D05727], although it's not certain whether or not this is the same John Williams. The 1865-66 directory of Grey County does not mention a brewery in Flesherton or a John Williams living there, so if there was a brewery established in 1864, it was short-lived.



So, there's definitely some more research that needs to be done here to fill in the details.

Next Steps:
* Check with the Brampton Public Library for research on Brampton breweries
* Check Brampton directories from the 1860s
* Check Owen Sound resources from the mid-to-late 1880s
* Check for Grey County/Flesherton directories for the early 1860s


Sources
[D03737] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 54: 395, 5588, 1; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (6 May 2018). Rec. Date: 3 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 6 May 2018.

[D03739] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Peel, sub-district Brampton, Brampton, p. 15; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 May 2018). Rec. Date: 5 Feb 2018. Cit. Date: 13 May 2018.

[D05727] Cotton, Larry D., Whiskey and Wickedness Volume V - Wellington and Grey Counties, Ontario. Self-published, 2017.

X00289 & X00290 Solved!!

I now have a follow up on both X00289 & X00290. Both have been solved!

I posted about X00289 some time ago - I was looking for birth and death information for Annie Louisa Williams.

Then I posted about X00290 where I was looking for the cemetery and death information for Charlotte Ann Perry Williams (mother of Annie Louisa Williams).

The good news is that I managed to get answer for both issues via the cemetery transcriptions for Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Guelph:



It would appear that both Annie and Charlotte were initially buried in St. George's Cemetery in Guelph, but the cemetery was later closed and the burials were relocated to Woodlawn Cemetery. According to the transcription there are no markers for these graves and it is impossible to determine their locations. But at least there are some records that have survived to give the details

Multiple grave locations for George Miller & Amelia Grant Munro

George Miller and Amelia Grant Munro appear in two different burial locations in Find-a-grave:

Dixie Union Cemetery in Peel County:
- George Miller
- Amelia Grant Munro

Greenwood Cemetery in Grey County:
- George Miller
- Amelia Grant Munro



They also appear in the the transcriptions for both graveyards.

Analysis and conclusion:
I have to think that the Greenwood Cemetery listing is the correct one and that the Dixie Union one is a mistake for a few reasons:
- George and Amelia were known to be living in Owen Sound at the time of their deaths. They left Peel region in the 1860s
- From newspaper accounts, we know that George’s funeral was held in Owen Sound
- I'm more inclined to trust the Greenwood cemetery listing, because the Greenwood Cemetery listing lists the actual burials whereas the Dixie Union one is just inscriptions. I suspect that somebody interpreted the inscription on their son George M. Miller’s stone as being for them as well.

More options for the Margaret Farriage query

A few months ago, I posted an analysis of query X00055 - the search for more information on Margaret Farriage. I was at the OGS conference this weekend and talked to a few people about this brick wall. The people that I talked to made a number of suggestions for further research:

• Investigate the names of the marriage witnesses to see if there are any clues there
• Check ships passenger lists for the late 20s or early 30s and see if there are any similar names that could be possibilities
• Check church records for Nelson Township and Toronto Township for the time period
• Check land ownership for George Miller or names similar to Farriage. Check for neighbours - was Amelia Grant Munro living in the area?
• Research the children of George Miller (both with Margaret Farriage and Amelia Grant Munro)
• Possibly consider Scottish naming patterns, and look for a father named William for either George or Margaret
• Check out Ryan Gilcrest's book on marriage records
• Check out OGS' TONI database

The people that I spoke to were largely in agreement with my theory that the surname of "Farriage" is likely an error.

Ruling out possible marriage record for William Hardy

I came across the following indexed record [D03486] for a marriage between a William Hardie and a Janet Burns in 1845:



At first it seemed like it could be a match for William Hardy's first marriage to a woman named Jane. I have, however, decided to rule it out for the following reasons:

• The location of York Mills is not exactly where I would have expected the marriage to be. The family seems to have settled around Peel Region, although they moved around a bit in the first few years, so York Mills is not outside the realm of possibility.
• The spelling of the last name as "Hardie" rather than "Hardy" is off, although I have seen it spelled that way before.
• The last name of the bride of "Burns" is not what I would have expected. Other records point to a maiden name of "Irwin".
• The biggest issue seems to be the timing of the marriage. The marriage date given is 1845. Most records seem to point towards a birth year of 1830 for William Hardy and 1832 for Jane. This would put them at 15 and 13 years of age at the time of the marriage. Their first child (as far as I have been able to tell) was born around 1856, so most likely their marriage would have been closer to 1855.

All in all it seems to be too far off from the known data to be a match. But the timing of the marriage seems to make this very unlikely to be the same couple. So, I'm ruling this document out.

X00199 - Solved!

A couple of years ago I went to the Peel Archives to look up the Perkins-Bull collection for the surname Hardy. In it, I came across this record:



The record indicates that Lancelot Hardy the younger lived from about 1860 to 1896 and was buried in St Peter’s Cemetery in Erindale.

According to the record above, there was a Lancelot Hardy who was born about 1860 and died in 1896 and was buried at St Peter’s Anglican church in Erindale. The problem is that:

• I can’t find a death record in the Ontario death registrations for a Lancelot Hardy in 1896
• The cemetery transcriptions for St Peter’s Cemetery do not show a Lancelot Hardy
• I’ve contacted the Anglican Church archives and they don’t have a burial record

I also went to the cemetery and couldn’t find a stone.

I was about to conclude that Perkins-Bull had the wrong information, or that no stone existed, but then I checked the cemetery transcription for the nearby Erindale Cosmopolitan Cemetery and found a listing there.



Then I went to cemetery and actually found the stone. It’s very worn and difficult to read, but you can make out some of it.



Next, to see about finding a death or burial record.

Finding Margaret Farriage: X00055 Analysis

Some time ago, I had posted that the Margaret Farriage that is married to George Miller is not the one born in Rothbury, England in 1804. So, it's time to re-evaluate and take a look at what is known and what is unknown.

Known facts about Margaret Farriage:

• The only source that I have found that gives her full name is from the Marriage Bonds of Upper Canada p 239 [D00800]
• She married George Miller, carriage maker on Oct 25, 1832 in Toronto Township (now Peel Region). Church not known. [D00800]
• At the time of her marriage was living in Nelson Township (now Burlington, Ontario) [D00800]
• She appears to have given birth to two sons, John born about 1833 and William born 10 May 1834. I don't have sources identified at this time to confirm John Miller's birth, so that may not be reliable.
• William Miller's Marriage Records lists his parents as George & Margaret Miller [D03152]. No maiden name given.
• She likely died some time between May 10 1834 (likely date of birth for William Miller) and Dec 9 1835 (likely date when George Miller married Amelia Grant Munro) [need source]
• According to the 1891 Census, she is of Scottish Origin [D00772]. That being said, this was several years after she had died and William Miller would have been very young when she died.
• At some point, the Miller family moved from Nelson to Cooksville [Need Sources].

Analysis:

• To this date, I have not found the surname Farriage elsewhere in Halton, Peel or southern Ontario for that matter, so I am questioning whether or not that is the real surname. On the marriage licence record itself, the name Farriage was spelled exactly like carriage and marriage which also appear on the form, so it could easily be something that sounded like Farriage.
• Based on the fact that she was married in 1832 and George Miller was born in 1809, a likely range for her year of birth would be 1805 to 1815
• Based on her last child birth and when George got remarried, a likely range for year of death would be 1834-1835
• As mentioned in a previous blog post, there is a Margaret Farridge born in Rothbury, Northumberland, England in 1804 [D00089], but I have ruled out that individual as a possibility because she died in 1809 [D01638] [See D03104]. I have checked the Baptism registers to see if the family renamed a later child Margaret but did not find anything.

Research Strategies:

1. Investigate the possibility that her last name was not Farriage. There is only one source that mentions a name. Note that the written name Farriage appears exactly as carriage. Could it have been that the person writing the bond spelled it the same way as carriage or marriage? We can rule out this possibility if we find a second source that corroborates the name. Some things to pursue:
   • Look for a second source that mentions the marriage and check the name: church records, newspapers, etc. George Miller was strongly Weselyan Methodist
   • Look for a marriage record for William Miller & Jane Hardy (married 1857) [D03152] Marriage record does not mention a maiden name
   • Look for records (marriage, death, census etc) for John Miller born 1833 [X00223]
   
   
   
2. Look for records of a Margaret Farriage, or Farriage family living in the Burlington Area
   • Check with the Burlington Public Library for directories, news, anything from the time period
     • Gravestones/cemetery records
     • Directories
     • Tweedsmuir Histories
     • Newspapers
     • Old books on early settlement
   • Check Hamilton Public Library - same list as above
   • Check Mississauga Public Library - same list as above
   • Check Halinet search
   
   
   
3. Investigate the possibility that William and/or John were born later than 1834. Look for:
   • Birth information for William Miller [X00158]
   • Birth information for John MIller [X00223]
   • 1851 Census information for the Miller family [X00082]
   
   
   
4. Look for a Margaret Farrish (or other variant names) born in Scotland around 1810
   • Check with Scotlands People