Tombstone Tuesday - Whitelaw family Post #1 - Meaford Cemetery, Ontario

The Whitelaw family took advantage of all sides of the monument. Over the next few weeks, I will show the different sides.

William Whitelaw Sen.

Died

April 23, 1880

Aged

65 yrs, 7 mo's  &12 days

Native of Glasgow

SCOTLAND

Come to Canada in 1820

settled in St. Vincent

1836

Blessed are the dead which died in

the Lord Rev. XiV 13

 

Sarah Crow

Wife of

Wm. Whitelaw Sen.

Died Jan 30 1895

Aged

74 yrs, 9 mos, 23ds

Native of Portsmouth

ENGLAND

 

Susan L. Whitelaw

1846 - 1933

 

 

 

In the 1851 Census of Canada West, Grey County, St. Vincent Township, William is there with his wife Sarah and 7 children, ranging in ages 14 to 2 (coming about 2 years apart). Their religion is Disciples of Christ.

 

Sarah's death registration gives her age at death as 74 years, 10 months, 9 days and the cause old age. (MS 935, Reel 74, Archives of Ontario)

 

No death registration was found for William on Ancestry.

 

Family history can be found at this site. I have not verified the information given there.



Tombstone Tuesday at Hemstock's Cemetery, Sullivan Township

 

 

Hemstock's Cemetery is located on Highway 6 in Sullivan Township.

 

 

 

George Hemstock and Fanny Proud

 

In Memory

of

George

Hemstock

died

Sept. 6, 1908

aged

60 yrs 8 mos

at rest

 

his wife

Fanny J. Proud

1851-1926

 

 

Fanny and George were married 25 January 1872 (MS 932 Reel 6, Archives of Ontario). George death was registered in Arran Township, Bruce County, Ontario (MS 935 Reel 134 Archives of Ontario).



Tombstone Tuesday - Gunn - McKay connection

In Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound, there is a stone that I photographed back in 2010 with the names Gunn and McKay on it. I do not remember if I photographed it for any special reason. Perhaps because of the surname Gunn. In 2010, I was working on my soldiers project and one of the soldiers that I was researching for the book was Alexander McKay Gunn. In an article over on Janet the Researcher, entitled Elizabeth Shown Mills - Fan Club concept, I talked about the multiple connections I was finding with the Gunn - McKay - McGregor families.

In that article, I talked about Alexander McKay Gunn who was born in Keppel Township on 13 January 1884 and was killed in the First World War. His mother, Johanna McKay was the  daughter of Alexander McKay and Betsy Gunn. His father, John Gunn, was the son of Donald Gunn and Elizabeth McDonald.

I am not sure of the family connection to those listed on this stone but it is interesting to note the Gunn and McKay names.

 East side of the stone

John
1859-1875

Ann             William J
1852- 1895                   1871 -1890

Donald Gunn  his wife Janet McKay
1828-1895                          1828- 1914

Margaret Sutherland
relict of the late
 Neil McKay
1778-1878

Native of Caithess Scotland



West side of the stone

 

Jemima

1870-1870

 

Donald McKay Gunn

1861 - 1926

 

Margaret Gunn

1855-1942

devoted friend James Sayer

 

Checking with the Greenwood Cemetery online listing to see if there were any other burials in G-SEC 6- 8- , I found that there were others listed.  In that section were the following:

 

Adams, Ann age 28 died 27 Sep 1880

Adams, Ann infant died 22 Oct 1880 [death registrations informant Donald Gunn - marriage registration = Ann married to James Adams]

Gunn, Allan (infant of ), still born, 1922

Gunn, Donald McKay 65, died 29 Dec 1926

Gunn, Donald 66, died 21 April 1895

Gunn, Janet McKay, 86, died 15 Dec 1914

Gunn, John, 16, died 28 Dec 1875

Gunn, Margaret, 88, died 4 May 1942

Gunn, William James, 19, died 10 Aug 1890

McKay, James (infant of ) still born, 5 Dec 1872

McKay, Jemima, 1 month, died 12 May 1870

McKay, Margaret, 100, died 9 Nov 1878 

Sayer, James, 88, died 4 Feb 1969

Shiloh Cemetery, Holland Township, Grey County, Ontario

In memory of our pioneers

1853-1983

Photos taken July 25, 2012

Tombstone Tuesday - Lanktree - Langtry

In the cemetery in the churchyard of St. James Anglican Church, Fairmount, Ontario (near Meaford), I spied this monument where the husband and wife's surname were very similar.

Margaret A. Lanktree

wife of

Richard Langtry

1859-1921

Richard Langtry

1854-1929

It is interesting that in their marriage registration, both surnames are spelt Langtry. Margaret Ann daughter of Richard and Margaret Langtry married Richard, son of James and Eliza Langtry 30 June 1879 in Euphrasia Township, Grey County, Ontario. Margaret Ann had been born there. Richard was from Armaranth Township. [1]

In 1871, Margaret Ann Lanktree is living with her parents and siblings in Euphrasia Township. [2]

Margaret died 13 April 1921 at the Western Hospital in Toronto.[3] Richard died 15 June 1929 at the Toronto General Hospital. [4]

[1] Margaret Ann Langtry [sic] -- Richard Langtry Ontario marriage registration #003106 (30 June 1879); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca :6 September 2012), citing microfilm MS 932, reel 30)

[2] 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, Grey North (district 37), Euphrasia Township (sub-district c), division 1, page 47, family 176, Richard Lanktree household; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 September 2012), citing microfilm C-9953, Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

[3]Margaret Langtry Ontario death registration #003278 (16 April 1921); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 September 2012), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 274, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

[4] Richard Langtry Ontario death registration #005670 (17 June 1929); digital image, Ancestry.ca  ( http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 September 2012), citing microfilm MS 935, Reel 368, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

Lakeview Cemetery - Meaford, Ontario

Yesterday, a friend and I visited Lakeview Cemetery in Meaford. Although, I went there to find monuments for clients, I also did some graveyard rabbit work. I am always on the look out for interesting tombstones, grave markers, etc. This was our first visit to this cemetery.

I had gone with my list and a map from the Bruce Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society's transcription of the cemetery. This map showed where Row 1 and Stone 1 for section began. I had the coordinates for each that I was specifically looking for. For those who visit cemeteries, in particular larger cemeteries, you realize that even with the coordinates, it still can be challenging to locate what you are looking for. This cemetery has certainly made it much easier.

Locating the cemetery was the biggest challenge.  I don't have a GPS but here are the coordinates according to Google Maps GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 44.59768, Longitude: -80.56961


Once we entered, things became much easier.

1. The map

2. The signs for each section



I liked knowing where a section began. Each sign is very unobtrusive but gives you the information you need to know. I wish my local cemetery did this for each section. It would certainly make the search much easier.

The day was perfect for our visit. It was warm enough for short sleeves but not so hot to be uncomfortable. The sun was shining and sky was blue. We only saw a small portion of the cemetery but it is one that I will certainly visit again. 

Tombstone Tuesday - Johnstone Cemetery

It is just over two years ago that I went for a Sunday afternoon drive with a friend when we came upon a small roadside cemetery. I insisted that we stop to have a look.

A view of the area from the road.

The Cairn remembering the former church

Johnson

 Presbyterian Church

1920

This cairn is erected in constant and

loving memory to the pioneers of the

Johnstone community who found a

House of God about 1859 and to the suc-

cessive congregatons of dedicated men and

women and their pastors, who in 1920,

by the generosity of John Johnstone built

a new brick church on this site, where

they worshiped until it was closed in 1969.

part of the area

MACGREGOR

In commeration of

the 150th anniversary of

the arrival of

Peter and Janet MacGregor

In March 1842

with their children

from the Isle of Mull, Scotland

I posted some information about the cairn and church in a previous blog article

Tombstone Tuesday - Richard Ayearst (Lord of Bothamsall)

Among the monuments in the Markdale Cemetery is one that stands out because it is not what one might expect to find in a small town cemetery.

Is this sculpture a work of Bobbie Carlyle known as the Self Made Man? The self made man is carving himself - his character and his future, out of stone.

Who is Richard Ayearst - Lord of Bathamsall?  [March 4 2011 update. The name of the village is Bothamsall. Information provided by his widow.]

He was born in 1950 and died in 1997.

The first line of the poem is cited on different websites as the words of Alan Ashley-Pitt, but I have not discovered who he is. [Update: October 25, 2020 -- It appears that he worked for a card company but this was his nom de plume of Phil Wernig.]

"The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has." It appears to be from a work called "On Creativity". [Update: -- October 26, 2020 -- can no longer find the poem.]

Update: September 18, 2010, I received an email from a reader with this information on the name:

 I know that the Ayearst's originally came from England into Canada, settling in the Toronto area. My Great Grandfather was William Albert Ayearst, my Grandfather was William Thomas Boyd Ayearst. William T.B. Ayearst had 2 brothers, John A. & Francis. There is a plaque on the west wall of the Nave at Canterbury Cathedral:  William Ayearst D.D., died May 9th, 1765 aged 81.

The family name began as Ayerst (possibly Aherst) in Kent and an "a" was inserted centuries ago. A book was compiled by Morley Ayearst, 1973, East Hampton, New York on the family history. Most of the U.S. Ayearst's are interred at Michigan Memorial Park Cemetery, Flat Rock, Mich.

Tombstone Tuesday - Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery

Photos of Tombstones can be seen on the Genweb Cemetery Project site.

The four headstones were found in 1990.

The book Broken Shackles provides some background on this cemetery. The stones were of graves of  early Black settlers to the area.



Above collage and photos by Janet Iles

Tombstone Tuesday - Stiver family at Badjeros Cemetery

Henry Frankie Stiver

died Feb 8, 1907

aged 5 years [-?-]

Henry F Stiver

died Dec 19 1939

aged 76 years

Bertram Harvey Stiver

died Oct 28 1955

aged 64 years

Buried at Badjeros Cemetery, Osprey Township, Grey County, Ontario

Henry Frankie Stiver was born 4 July 1901. His birth was registered in Collingwood, Simcoe Ontario. His parents were Henry Stiver and Abbie Smith. It gives the residence of the father as Collingwood and working as a labourer. [1]

Frankie died in Toronto on 8 February 1907 from septic peritonitis. His residence is given as Dundalk. [in Grey County]. It is interesting to note that Dundalk is given in the death registration as the place of birth. [2]

Henry F Stiver is the father. He was born about 1863 in Markham, Ontario. He was the son of Edward Stiver and Rosanna Elizabeth Dickson.

Bertram Harvey Stiver is another son of Henry. He was born in Osprey Township on 31 May 1891 to Henry Francis Stiver and Abbie Olga Smith. [3]

[1] Henry Frank Stiver Ontario birth registration #039286 (27 August 1901); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca ; accessed 20 October 2009), citing microfilm MS 929 reel 155, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

[2] Frank Stiver Ontario death registration #001491 (9 February 1907); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca ; accessed 20 October 2009), citing microfilm MS 935 reel 128, Archives of Ontario, Toronto

[3] Bertram Harvey Stiver Ontario birth registration #015111 (28 June 1891); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca ; accessed 20 October 2009), citing microfilm MS 929 reel 104, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

Tombstone Tuesday - Cornier at McLeans Cemetery

Cormier
Leo J
1926-1963

on side - Book of Life

buried in McLeans Cemetery on Holland - Sydenham line in Grey County, Ontario. It is a beautiful country cemetery.

Cemetery in Proton Township Reorganized Church of Jessus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Here at Graveyard Rabbit of Grey County, Ontario, I primarily blog about Grey County cemeteries but from time to time, I will blog about other cemeteries of interest.

Yesterday, while working on a client project, I visited two cemeteries in Proton Township, part of the municipality of Southgate. Today, I will write about the Latter Day Saints Cemetery at lot 15, concession 15. It was actually the cemetery for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This denomination has changed its name to Community of Christ Church. The church is active. According to the Township of Proton, 1857-1982 : a history, the church was built at this site in 1891. The old sign is behind the building.




What is interesting about this cemetery is how hilly the land is. There is quite the slope to climb. Below is a photo looking down. Of course, the main one I was looking for was almost to the top. The marker had broken off and was lying on the hillside with what looked like the base to the right.


Below are some photos looking up.











My question is - Was the land this hilly and rolling when the site for the church and the cemetery was chosen or has the contour changed over the years?

Grey County Graveyards

Some of the Graveyards in Grey County have been photographed and their images placed on the Canada Genweb Project Site. Those that have images show an icon to the right of the name in the Grey County list.

Thank you to the volunteers who undertake these projects.