Mystery Obituary

I found this obituary, written by David Oliphant Jr. in the October 1855 edition of his newspaper The Christian Banner (Volume 9, Number 10).

Obituary for Father Kingsley Mason in Disciples of Christ Newspaper

Kingsley Mason, who sounds like an American,  must be related by marriage to the Oliphant family in Canada.  I wasn't sure who sister D. Oliphant was.  When I looked up more information on Kingsley Mason  I found this census report.  In 1850, in the town of Ira, County of Cayuga, state of New York, Kingsley Mason, aged 66, Abigail Mason, 55, and Cynthia Oliphant, aged 30, are living together with two others.  Cynthia Oliphant says she was born in New York.  I think this is the right Kingsley Mason, since he is 72 in the 1855 obituary.   

But if we look a little later, after Kingsley's death, a look for Cynthia Oliphant in census records shows that she is living with David Oliphant himself, in 1861, in Brighton, Ontario, along with three little Oliphants girls,  A.M., C.S., and C.A., ages 11, 8, and 6, respectively, who curiously are described as being born in the U.S., which I don't think is likely.  David calls himself a Clergyman by occupation, and of course the whole family are Disciples of Christ. So I think that Cynthia Oliphant, David's wife, was originally Cynthia Mason, daughter of Kingsley Mason, and when David Oliphant in his obituary referred to Kingsley as "the remaining parent of sister D. Oliphant" I think he meant Sister David Oliphant, i.e., his wife Cynthia.  We wouldn't put it that way anymore, which is why it took me a little investigation to understand.   Mystery solved!