Who was first?

The History of Me, , , , , ,

Imagine my surprise when I checked on my blog and it has been 3 years since my last post. Yowza! Just because I haven’t been blogging, doesn’t mean my family history has stopped being a big part of my life.

Recently I’ve started finding some amazing things about my colonial ancestors.

You read that right – I said COLONIAL ancestors.

I’ve known for a long time that my family came to North America a long time ago, but I’m still trying to unlock which of my ancestors was the first. Here are a few of the books that I’ve found online that relate to those that came before me. Thanks Internet Archive!

The Vinton Memorial

Front page of The Vinton Memorial: A Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton Of Lynn, 1648

The Vinton Memorial: A Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton Of Lynn, 1648 was written by John Adams Vinton and published in Boston in 1858. The author wrote in in Preface that his motive was families and how much their ancestors have shaped who they are.

“There is not an intelligent, public-spirited, virtuous man, anywhere to be found, who can safely deny that his motives to virtue and patriotism are strongly reinforced by the consideration-if such were the fact-that his ancestors were brave and upright men.” ~ John Adams Vinton

John Vinton arrived in North America in 1648 according to the book. He is my 9th Great-Grandfather through my mother’s side. You can see this beautiful genealogy book on the Internet Archive linked here.

History and Genealogy of the Eastman family of America

Roger Eastman came to North America on The Confidence from Southampton in April 1638. He was listed as a servant for the passage but married in Massachussets and had 10 children. His family history is listed under Memorial Hall Library and is linked here but you can also see the original pages on the Internet Archive linked here.

Black and white image of a ship - Speculated to be The Confidence

Roger Eastman is also my 9th Great-Grandfather through my mother’s side.

Abbe-Abbey Genealogy, in memory of John Abbe and his descendants

You can thank the Internet Archive linked here for helping me discover lots of juicy details about my 10th great-grandfather. This book was compiled by Cleveland Abbe and Josephine Genung Nichols back in 1916.

John Abbe and his descendants settled in a little town in Massachusetts and had a role to play in some famous witch trials. That’s right – Salem.

When we went to Salem for our honeymoon, I distinctly remember being completely overwhelmed by deja vu when walking down one of the streets. I could’ve sworn that I had been there before. Of course I hadn’t, as I had personally never been to Massachusetts let alone Salem. I also had no idea that my family traced back to the area.

According to this book, John Abbe arrived in 1634 on the Bonaventure which sailed from London to New England.

Copy of the silver bookplate image of the ship Bonaventure 1634

Genealogy of the Crane Family

The internet archive has come up trumps again with this family history book. (Link here) The Crane family has all kinds of fun names in it as well – Mehitabel, Azariah, Phineas and Jasper to name a few.

This volume was put together by Ellery Bicknell Crane in 1900.

Plate of the book: Genealogy of the Crane Family Volume II. Descendants of BenjaminCrane, of Wethersfiled, Conn., also of Jasper Crane, of New Haven Conn., and Newark, N.J., and Stephen Crane, of Elizabethtown, N.J. with families of the name in New Hampshire, Maryland and Virginia by Ellery Bicknell Crane. There is also an image of the author on the opposite page.

I descend from Jasper Crane as he is my 10th great-grandfather. The book outlines that he was one of the original settlers of the New Haven Colony, having arrived on June 4, 1639 and that he “assuredly was one of the staunch and active men among the first settlers of the New Haven Colony as well as one of the fathers of the new settlement in New Jersey.

Jasper Crane was also included in “Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography” which was put together by The American Historical Society. It can also be found on the internet archive here. I love the title they chose for him “Founder of an Important Family”.

It’s amazing how much I’ve learned the further I go back. And it’s amazing how much they were able to keep track of in North America before the families kept growing. I look forward to finding the next book!

1931 Census and a Scandal

The History of Me, , , ,

Canadian family history enthusiasts were a buzz on June 1, 2023 when the 1931 Census became public. Let’s face it, so was I. In the days leading up to it being indexed I could feel a little bubbling under the surface.

Census records are a huge deal. They are a snapshot in time that shows where someone lived, who they lived with, what their ages are, education level, marital status. It will often indicate where someone was born, along with both of their parents. It will tell you what year someone emigrated to the country, what languages they speak and their occupation. I find them fascinating.

There has been a huge jump in technology since the 1921 census was released. 10 years ago the 1921 census took months of people painstakingly going through every record trying to decipher what was written. This year, Ancestry believes they’ll have it indexed within a couple weeks.

But was I going to wait a few weeks? No. No I wasn’t.

Searching the 1931 census

I’ve been logging in every night to check Waterloo Region first. I was hoping to find my father’s mother – Margaret Porter along with her parents. I knew from other records I have that they had lived in the city of Galt and just outside the village of Hespeler during different periods. I started my focus there.

Galt had 14 different sub districts, each with approximately 22 pages of names. Each page has around 50 names. I decided to start there. I looked for common names in my family that lived in the area: Porter, Dryden, Hyde. I didn’t find any Porter family but I did find some of my extended cousins on the Dryden side, and a great-uncle on the Hyde side that was living as a boarder.

I didn’t let that hold me back and quickly found myself going through Hespeler. It was much smaller with only 3 sub districts. Saw some last names I recognized, but none of my direct relatives.

Next I went through page by page for North Dumfries – as I know that I have Dryden’s that lived in North Dumfries over generations. Found one or two, but they weren’t my direct relatives and there weren’t any Porter’s.

A Hill is coming

On a whim, I logged into the South Dumfries 1931 census. I went through the first sub-district and didn’t find anyone. Then opened the second one. I scanned line by line and then saw a familiar name on line 49 of page four.

Hill, Albert, hired help, Male, Single, Aged 29, he and both of his parents listed as born in England. He emigrated to Canada in what could be 1906 or 1908. His citizenship is listed as Canada, nationality English, religion Anglican. He states he can read and write English. His occupation is farm laborer on a general farm. His class of worker is “W” and he made $350 in the past 12 months. They even verified that he was at work on June 1, 1931.

Hmmm…. Albert Hill is the name of my grandfather. The information matches. I wonder if he came to South Dumfries to find work on Archie Ferguson’s farm? The farmhouse is a single detached home made of brick veneer. It has 9 rooms and they even have a radio according to the census.

1931 census record - part one for: 1931 Census record for Archie Deans Ferguson, Lily Ann Rebecca Ferguson, Helen Ann Ferguson, Roert Duncan Ferguson, Albert Hill and Ruth Elizabeth Hodgson
1931 census record - part two for: 1931 Census record for Archie Deans Ferguson, Lily Ann Rebecca Ferguson, Helen Ann Ferguson, Roert Duncan Ferguson, Albert Hill and Ruth Elizabeth Hodgson
1931 Census record for Archie Deans Ferguson, Lily Ann Rebecca Ferguson, Helen Ann Ferguson, Roert Duncan Ferguson, Albert Hill and Ruth Elizabeth Hodgson

I flagged it as a document under Albert Hill and decided to look further onto the next page.

Picking out the Porters

Imagine my surprise when I found my grandmother, her twin brother and their parents only 9 houses away from Albert!

My grandmother Margaret and her brother Walter Porter were both 13 at the time of the census. They are students, who upload the Presbyterian faith. Their home is a single detached home with 9 rooms made of wood. The home does not have a radio but it has been valued at 2000.

My 56-year-old great-grandfather William (which I wrote about here and here) has a father born in England and a mother born in Ontario. He can read and write English, not French and works as a Farmer on a general farm that he owns.

My 46-year-old great grandmother Margaret (Maggie) is a homemaker at this time. Both her parents were born in Ontario, as was she. Her racial origin is listed as “Scotch” but she is a Canadian citizen.

1931 Census for William Porter, Margaret Porter, Walter Porter and Margaret Porter
1931 Census for William Porter, Margaret Porter, Walter Porter and Margaret Porter
1931 Census for William Porter, Margaret Porter, Walter Porter and Margaret Porter

A love story or a scandal?

So what makes this scandalous? My grandmother Margaret was only 13 when she met my 29 year old grandfather. That’s one heck of an age gap!

Oh sure, she could’ve just been a school girl living in the same area he was working, but they were married within the next 3 years. My grandmother was 16 and lied to say she was older so they could get married.

marriage record for Albert Hill and Margaret Porter
Marriage certificate for Albert William Hill and Margaret Porter on June 23, 1934.

And as a further scandal – my oldest uncle was born 5 months later!

Having known my grandmother and her fun personality, I can picture her falling in love with Albert and not taking no for an answer. I picture her wearing him down until he finally agreed to marry her. He was a handsome man after all – who can blame her?

Albert Hill and wife Margaret Porter along with their three oldest children - Arnold, George and Jessie on the hood of their car in the early 1940s.
Albert Hill and wife Margaret Porter along with their three oldest children – Arnold, George and Jessie on the hood of their car in the early 1940s.

I don’t hold their ages against them. From everything I’ve been told, my grandmother was smitten with her husband Albert. They had 9 living children and stayed married until his early death in 1960, long before I was even born.

They had a family and a farm with lots of animals – every kind if you talk to my father. There was love there. I’m sure of it.

Today, I salute the scandal that helped shape my family and the love that brought these two together. Much love to Albert and Margaret whose spirits are together again.

Black and white photo of a couple holding a cake - Margaret Porter and her husband Albert Hill
Margaret and Albert Hill on their 25th wedding anniversary – June 1959.