Field Trip to the Dundas Museum and Archives

Yesterday Doug and I went on a research visit to the Dundas Museum and Archives in Dundas, Ontario, where both the Elliot and Oliphant families originally settled when they came to Canada. We found some great material, although not the great material I was originally hoping to find.  One day wasn't quite enough, so we plan on making a return visit sometime this summer.

To give some context:  Robert and Ann Elliot brought their children, including our ancestor William Elliot, to Ontario in 1827 and they settled in Dundas. Robert came to Canada with his brother Josiah but they didn't settle in the same place;  Josiah became a merchant in Beachville, Ontario.  Robert was a currier or leatherworker in England, but his occupation in Canada is unknown.  William was 15 when the family arrived;  in his twenties he farmed briefly, then worked in the Lesslie pharmacy and eventually took it over from the Lesslie family with a partner.  William moved to Toronto in 1854 to broaden his business horizons, and his father Robert died that same year.  Robert's wife Anne's death date is unknown.

David Oliphant, meanwhile, arrived in Canada in 1822 with one son, and his wife and three other children joined him within a few years.  He was a shoemaker in Scotland and lived as a shoemaker in Dundas as well, although family letters refer to David and Sophia living on a family farm.  Their  children were Alexander, Mary (our ancestress, who married William Elliot), David Jr. and William.   David died in Dundas in 1841.  He was an enthusiastic member of the Disciples of Christ church, and his son David Jr. was educated at Bethany College, a Christian college in Virginia,  and went on to become editor of several Disciple newspapers.

I was primarily hoping to find out more about the lives of Robert and Ann Elliot in Canada, and unfortunately I didn't find anything.  However, we did find lots of references to William Elliot and to the Oliphant family, primarily in the Lesslie family fonds, and we did find some scattered information about both families in other sources.

From the Woodhouse Family History collection (a collection of index cards giving point form information on various Dundas families):  Maria Elliot (Robert and Anne's daughter) married 1/1/1828 to David Yates of Dundas, also Louisa Elliot (another daughter of Robert and Ann) married 1/1/1828 (the same day!) to Thomas Hilton of Dundas.

We found a copy of the Dundas Centennial 1847-1947 Souvenir Historial Program, "Produced under the direction of the Dundas Centennial Committee by the Star Printing Company of Dundas", which on page 45 had something to say about David Oliphant Sr.

"David Oliphant, one of the earliest shoemakers in 1819, had a son Alexander who was very prominent in the Union Sabbath School in 1829.  David is reputed to have sheltered his relative, Samuel Lount, after the 1837 rebellion.  Maybe if Lount had remained hidden in Dundas he might never have been captured or executed."   

I don't believe that Lount was a relative of the Oliphant family, but various sources do state that it was Oliphant who hid Lount as he was trying to escape Upper Canada.

The more I learn about the Lesslie family, the more I feel that they were touchstones of a sort, bringing together and influencing various families from which we descend.  It's almost certain that our family story would not have taken the shape that it does without the influence of the Lesslies on the business, religious and social lives of the Scotts, Elliots and Oliphants.  The Lesslies were members of the Disciples of Christ church and successful businessmen in Dundas, Toronto and Kingston.  The Lesslie family was originally from Dundee, Scotland.  Here is a biographical sketch of the family from the Dundas Archives:

 Edward Lesslie was born in May 1765. He married Grace (Grizel) Watson on August 13, 1798 in Dundee. Although his father was a sailor, Edward Lesslie established himself as a bookseller and printers ink maker in Dundee. He is described in the Scottish Book Trade Index as a leader of the advanced radicals who narrowly escaped prosecution for sedition....by 1819 he decided to emigrate to Canada with his family. He sent his son John in 1820 with a supply of goods to open a store. Upon arrival, John chose York (Toronto) and, together with his travelling companion, William Lyon Mackenzie, established a business in the book and drug trade. They later opened a store in Dundas, which, in addition to drugs and books, dealt in a variety of other merchandise. In 1822, ill health prevented the emigration of the remaining family so Edward sent his sons James and Charles, and daughter Grace on a chartered brig loaded with supplies for the stores. James ended up in Kingston, operating a store there for the next four years. In the meantime, Edward and Grace and their remaining children finally arrived in Upper Canada and settled in Dundas where they operated the store now named Lesslie and Sons. The Lesslie family played an important role in early life in Dundas. They operated a thriving business and owned considerable land in the area. Edward Lesslie was instrumental in establishing the Free Church in Dundas, which offered meeting space to a variety of denominations. John Lesslie would continue to manage the store in Dundas, become the postmaster, and purchase a brewery. He and three of his sisters remained in Dundas. Edward Lesslie died in 1828 and management of the business fell to the sons, John, James, Charles, and William. John remained in charge of the Dundas branch while James operated the York store with the help of their youngest brother, Joseph. William operated the store in Kingston. Charles emigrated to Davenport, Iowa, disillusioned after the rebellion of 1837. He would remain there for the rest of his life. Joseph Lesslie eventually became postmaster of Toronto. 

Here are some of the connections I already knew.  James Lesslie was responsible for the Scott family coming to Canada, as Thomas Chalmers Scott had originally intended to immigrate to America.  This is what Scott's obituary in the Toronto Globe Newspaper has to say about Scott's change of mind:

Upon his arrival at New York [in 1842], however, he met with Mr. James Lesslie, of this city, who persuaded him to come to Toronto, and took him into his employment.  For several years he continued his connection with the Examiner, of which Mr. Lesslie was the editor and publisher....

The connection of the Lesslies to the Elliots is obvious;  William Elliot received his pharmaceutical training in the Lesslie pharmacy in Dundas, and eventually took over the Lesslie family businesses in Dundas before he moved to Toronto.  William Elliot was also a member of the Disciples Church, and probably worshipped with the Lesslie family in Dundas.   Since the Lesslies were close to William Lyon MacKenzie,  I think we can assume that William  Elliot got to know MacKenzie through his connection with the Lesslies, even though MacKenzie had relocated to York (Toronto) by the time the Elliot family landed in Dundas.  MacKenzie is a huge figure in Ontario and Toronto history and I have  a lot of questions about his political  influence on William Elliot and other members of our family, which I will save for another post.  

The sources we examined in the Lesslie family fonds were a scrapbook and a diary kept by John Lesslie.  The scrapbook consisted of unidentified newspaper clippings, primarily about politics, and recipes for pharmaceutical medicines (most of these were handwritten and not from published sources).    The recipes were rather fascinating;  there was a recipe for a medicine to cure smallpox, for example, as well as a cure for cancer.   From a modern perspective, not many of the recipes looked particularly promising.  It gave me a lot of insight into why William and his son Robert Watt became so invested in regulating their profession and in the education and training of pharmacists in college settings, where subjects like chemistry were taught.  Although advertisements for various remedies that the Elliot pharmacy sold in Dundas were sweepingly optimistic, William must have noticed that in actual practice not all of his medicines were that effective.

John Lesslie's diary was very business-like, with short factual entries about goings-on in the business and in his religious and/social spheres. He also recorded the weather.  William Elliot's name came up frequently, which was not surprising since he worked for John.  William seems to have travelled for the business quite a bit throughout Ontario and the diary records his comings and goings.  MacKenzie's name shows up fairly frequently as well, and surprisingly, so does David Oliphant Jr.'s.  John records David's going to Bethany College in Virginia and his coming home, for example.  There appears to be a close relationship between John and David Jr., who will eventually become William's brother-in -law when William marries David's sister  Mary Oliphant.   Thomas Chalmers Scott's various visits to Dundas, presumably to preach, were also mentioned. 

A page from John Lesslie's diary, 1843.  Thomas C. Scott and Wm. Elliot both mentioned.

Family of William Elliot, son of Charles Elliot, of Uxbridge, Middlesex, England

In our previous post we found a number of birth records of the family of William Elliot (son of Charles and Lydia) and his wife Elizabeth Best, daughter of William and Joanna Best.  William Elliot's will, which was proved on May 20, 1841, can help us identify some marriages and deaths in the family between 1799, when the birth of their first child was registered, and 1841, when William died. 

"This is the last will and testament of me William Elliot late of Uxbridge in the county of Middlesex but now of Hillingdon End of the same county Gentleman....."

The upward mobility of some parts of  this family is quite fascinating to me.  Again, William seems to have been a working class man turned Gentleman by the end of his life.  He leaves an estate of "furniture...linen, china, books, wines and liquors"...as well as copyhold and leasehold land and possibly some kind of investment stocks or securities.  He names as his heirs "my dear wife Elizabeth"  and "my five children that is to say the said Eliza and Thomas Elliot Sarah the wife of the said Charles Woodbridge, William Elliot and Rebecca the wife of John Jackson".  Charles Woodbridge was an Uxbridge solicitor and one of the executors of this will;  he was a partner the family firm Woodbridge and Sons, the same firm that handled Charles Elliot's will.   I'm guessing Eliza was unmarried as William does not name a husband for her;  impossible to tell if any of the sons are married since the convention does not seem to require naming the spouses of male heirs.   However, having the names of William's five surviving children and and two of their spouses brings us a long way.

There are a few discrepancies among the children named in his will and the birth records I have found for this family.  We have birth records for Thomas, Eliza, Sarah, Rebecca,  two children named William (only one must have survived) and two children, Mary Ann and Joseph, who are not named in the will and have presumably died.   I did find a burial record for a Mary Ann Elliot who died in 1824;  I think it is probably William and Elizabeth's child, even though the parents are not named, since the birth date would fit and the burial was in Uxbridge (Uxbridge, Providence Chapel (Independent), 1812-1826).  

 Here is the marriage record for Charles Woodbridge and Sarah Elliot:

Hillingdon St. John the Baptist Church, Middlesex.  Charles Woodbridge and Sarah Elliot, June 1, 1825.  Witnessed by Eliza Elliot, probably Sarah's sister.

Was there already a family connection?  Nineteen years earlier there was another Woodbridge-Elliot marriage.

Westminster, St. George Hanover Square Church, 1806.  Henry Woodbridge and Jane Elliot. 

Ealing, Ealing St. Mary Church, July 8, 1831.  Wedding of John Jackson and Rebecca Elliot. 

Religious Dissenters Among the Children of Charles Elliot and Lydia Bayley

Charles Elliot and his wife Lydia Bailey seem to have been lifelong Anglicans.  They married, baptized their children and were buried in Anglican churches (primarily St. Mary's church in Hayes).  However, many of their children became religious dissenters.  (A "religious dissenter" during this period in England can refer to a number of Christian groups with varied theologies, such as Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, or Quakers:  some of the following records refer to the Elliot family as dissenting Protestants).    I've written about Alexander Maxwell and his wife Mary Elliot's religious life in a previous post.  Here are some additional family records I have found on the database "All England and Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970" for the families of Charles and Lydia's children.

The records of these dissenting churches are in some ways more informative than the records I have seen kept by Anglican churches during this time period.  Particularly, they include the name of the paternal grandfather (sometimes both of the paternal grandparents) so that you know the mother's maiden name. That is an absolute gift.  The records also seem to mark three occasions:  the child's birth (always) baptism (sometimes) and date recorded, which could be many years after the event.

I have found records for these families in the non-conformist database:  Henry Hilton and Martha Elliot (4 children baptized between 1787 and 1792), Thomas Burton and Lydia Elliot (1 child recorded 1787),  William Elliot and Elizabeth Best (6 children recorded between 1798-1805), John Elliot and his first and second wives, Susanna Jones and Ann Best (7 children recorded between 1798-1812) and Robert Elliot and Ann Bland (1 child recorded, 1815).  These dates do not necessarily tell us when each family became associated with a dissenting church, but they at least pin down times when the families were definitely involved.  I also found a birth record for a child of of Mary Bailey, Lydia Bailey's sister or cousin, and her husband William Pontifex, indicating that the William Pontifex family was also dissenting.  The children of Charles and Lydia that I did not find dissenting records for were Thomas, Josiah and Charles Elliot and their families--perhaps these three men and their respective families remained Anglicans.

Here are the baptismal records I have found for the family of Alexander Maxwell and Mary Elliot.  The baptismal address was Carey Street, New Court.  Robert Winter calls himself a Protestant Dissenting Minister. 

Mary Maxwell, born December 17, 1808, baptized February 12, 1811.  

Lydia Maxwell, born December 2, 1810, baptized February 12, 1811.

Alexander Maxwell, born January 19, 1813, baptized April 19, 1813.

 Right next to each other on the register of Roger Flexman are Mary Hilton, the daughter of Henry Hilton and "Martha the Daughter of Charles Elliott" (sic), born July 31 1787, and Lydia Burton, daughter of Thomas Burton and "Lydia the Daughter of Charles Elliott" (sic).  They were recorded together on September 5, 1787.  I believe the additional women's names on the record are the midwives (the record refers to them as witnesses to the birth).  

Martha Hilton, born in Southhampton Street in St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, November 1, 1788. 

Rebekah-Sarah Hilton, born September 3, 1790, registered December 10, 1790.  One of the witnesses to the birth is Lydia Burton.  We have two separate records of Rebekah-Sarah's birth. St. Paul, Covent Garden, Middlesex.

John Hilton, born February 20, 1792, Registered April 9 1791.  St. Paul, Covent Garden, Middlesex.  Lydia Burton is again a witness to the birth.  Minister Roger Flexman. 

Next comes the family of William Elliot and his wife Elizabeth Best:
Thomas Elliot, born October 23, 1798,  registered March 7, 1799, Uxbridge, Middlesex.

William Elliot, born September 1, 1795, and Eliza Elliot, born February 27, 1799, both registered March 7, 1799.  Parish of Uxbridge.

William Elliot Jr.:

Eliza Elliot:

Sarah Elliot, born October 1, 1801, another William Elliot, born October 10, 1803, Mary Ann Elliot, born January 1, 1805, all registered July 9, 1816.  Parish of Uxbridge.


Sarah Elliot:

 

William Elliot (the first William Elliot must have died):

 Mary Ann Elliot:

Joseph Elliot, born July 28, 1809, and Rebecca Elliot, born May 2, 1811.  Both in Uxbridge, Middlesex;  both registered April 30, 1816

.

Joseph Elliot:

Rebecca Elliot:

John Elliot, son of Charles and Lydia, and his two wives Susanna Mary Jones and  Ann Best also have a number of children listed in the nonconformist records database.  Mary, Ann, and Jemima Elliot were all registered on October 21, 1819, although they were born in 1793, 1800, and 1804 respectively.  When Mary was born John and Susanna were living in St. Giles, Middlesex.  When John's next two children, by his second wife Ann, were born, he was living in Hampton Wick.  Notice that again Lydia Burton is present for a birth.  I wonder if she was a midwife?

Mary Elliot, daughter of John Elliot and Susanna Mary Elliot, daughter of Richard Jones.

Sarah Elliot and Catherine Elliot were also registered on October 21, 1819.  Sarah was born January 26, 1806, and Catherine was born April 1, 1802.

Henry Elliot, born April 26, 1814, registered June 30, 1820.  Parish of Hampton Wick, Middlesex.

Lydia Elliot, born March 3, 1818, registered Nov. 1820.

And finally:  ta dah!  It seems that Robert Elliot and Ann Bland were also religious nonconformists.  Josiah Elliot, January 24, 1815, Angel Row, Hammersmith, Fulham.  There was a Sarah Jane Bailey present at the birth:  was she a relative? 

I have found the names of some connections to the Elliot family as well.  William Pontifex and his wife Mary Bailey, daughter of Edmund Bailey and sister or cousin of Lydia Bailey, had two children within a dissenting church:

This is all of particular interest to me because of the light it sheds on the religious life of the Elliot family in Canada.  We know for certain that William Elliot, at least, belonged to a Christian church called the Disciples of Christ when he was a young man, and became a Baptist later in life.  I have no record of Robert and Ann's religious affiliations in Canada, but this family history makes me believe that William, who, after all, spent the first fifteen years of his life in England with his extended family,  would have grown up surrounded by some degree of religious conversation and debate, and that his family were not strangers to religious non-conformity.

Another Visit to the Archives of Ontario

I love archives, but good heavens, can they be frustrating.  Take the Archives of Ontario, for example.  It takes me a cool two hours to reach the archives from downtown Toronto by public transit--so, since I go home again afterwards, it's four hours of travel time for an afternoon there.  The York University subway station can't come soon enough--once it's in, the archives will be right on its doorstep.  Sadly, it's not due to open until 2016.  Anyway, once you get there, you have to find what you're looking for, and they couldn't make it more complicated if they tried.  To find a will, for example, you have to have the name of the person you're looking for and the date and place of their death.  Then you consult a binder, which directs you to an index on microfilm for that year and place.  Once you're found the person indexed on the microfilm (which can take a while) you jot down the number of the probate record and the date it was filed.  DON'T forget to get BOTH of these pieces of information because you'll never ever ever find the record you're looking for (don't ask me how I know).  Once you have these in hand, you go back to the binder, where you look up the probate number, and get directed to the microfilm which has the actual will.  Then you have to find the will on the microfilm (sometimes it's in probate number order, sometimes it's in date order).  You shuffle back and forth on the film a lot until....finally!  There it is!  Then you look up the next person.  It's worth it to me, because I find wills really interesting, but as a librarian, I can see how it could be a whole heck of a lot easier...and wills are among the easiest things to find there.   The Ontario Archives really needs more cataloguing staff.

Anyway, I found several family wills today.  I'm going to start with the will of Violet Elliot, daughter of Robert Watt Elliot and granddaughter of William Elliot.  She died a spinster, and her will is short and sweet.   She names her brother William Scott Elliot her executor along with the National Trust Company Ltd, and leaves her estate to her nieces and nephews, whom she does not name individually.  Her will is located on MS 584 Reel 411, probate #90031, probated January 23 1940(she actually died on December 1, 1939).

Violet had a total estate worth about $38,323.00, much of it invested in stocks:

I also found the will of William Elliot's brother John Elliot, who was (obviously) a son of Robert Elliot and Ann Bland.  He was also the husband of Harriot Pontifex.  He died on December 12, 1883 in Toronto.  His will is on microfilm GS1, reel 994.  His will gives us his occupation, Clerk of the York County Council (retired).  He names a granddaughter, Amy Smith, and two daughters, Fanny Elizabeth wife of James Smith, and Harriot Ann Elliot.  He also makes a bequest to James Smith and to two nieces, Ann Hilton and Sarah Dixon.  He leaves his brother William a life insurance policy, but it may only be entrusted to him to divide up among the nieces--that's not entirely clear to me.  His executors are his brother William, James Watson, whom he refers to as a friend (James Watson is the husband of Sophia Watt Elliot, William's daughter) and his son-in-law James Smith. At the end of the will he gives a profession of his faith in God:

"...and I commend my said Grand daughter and my said Daughters to the care of a good God, who has promised to protect all those who put their trust in him.  I hope also, that they will live happily and comfortably together during their lives, and enjoy the fruits of my savings, and at length, join us in Heaven above, and be for ever happy."   

John's estate is worth about 3,000.00 in cash assets (see below), but as you'll notice above, the bulk of his estate seems to be in property.

 The next paper mentions a codicil, but I couldn't find it.  Here's William leaving the executor duties to the other two executors nominated:

Now let's go to the will of Robert Watt Elliot, William's son and the husband of Catherine Scott.  This is the son who took over the family pharmaceutical manufacturing business as William grew older.  This will is pretty short considering the complexity of his estate. He died November 12, 1905, and his wife Catherine is the executrix. The will is located on MS 584, reel 1786, probate # 18388, probate date January 13, 1906.

Notice that Robert Watt was worth about half what his father William was, even though you would still certainly call him prosperous  his entire estate is worth just under $50,000.00.  Already the family fortunes seem to be slipping a little. I like knowing that he owned a horse and carriage.  Notice the detailed accounts:  his household goods and furniture are worth $573.00--it's calculated down to the dollar.

 I can't believe a house on Pembroke Street is worth $3,000.00.  Those were the days!  If only it had come down to us (sigh...).

Here we can see exactly what he was invested in at the time of his death.  The railway stock seems to have been a bad decision!

Next is the will of Thomas Sutherland Stayner, husband of Harriet Rose Elliot (William Elliot's daughter;  notice that her name is consistently spelled "Harriot" in these documents) and Robert Watt Elliot's brother-in-law.  His will is located on MS584, reel 1105, probate # 17383, date of probate November 19, 1904  (he died on June 11 of the same year).  His family is a little complicated as Harriet was his second wife.  His oldest son Winslow is from his first marriage and is living in England at the time of Thomas' death.  His  sons Harry and Dudley are from his second marriage to Harriet. .  The grandson he mentions is Winslow's child.  Thomas' will is long and involved.

Thomas' codicils (there are two) are quite interesting;  the first deals with changes in property value of his real estate, and the second deals with bequests of individual items, such as tableware, art, family photos,  and books, which he would like specific children to have.  He also leaves his watch and chain to his grandson Joscelyn.  I like his final bequest to Winslow, the "Large china bowl in the drawing room, supposed to have been used at my christening."  Harry gets a silver tray which is a "gift from Minnie and Janie" (Janie is presumably Cynthia Jane Elliot).

There is an affidavit from Harry Stayner which is a bit curious.  He says that at the time of his father's death he was living with Thomas (and presumably Harriot as well, although he doesn't mention her) and they were boarding temporarily in Davisville (Toronto).

There are a lot of other probate papers in this estate file which I won't include here because they have to do mainly with estate taxes etc. and don't seem to have much family history value.  Here are papers relating to the value of his estate-he is much wealthier than his brother-in-law Robert Watt Elliot, and most of his money appears to be in stocks rather than property:

Thomas' wife Harriot Rose also left a will, which I didn't have time to get on this trip--I'll look for it in my next visit.

Next is the will of William Elliot Watson, son and eldest child of James Watson and his wife Sophia Watt Elliot (daughter of William Elliot and Mary Oliphant).   This would make him a grandson of William Elliot and nephew to Robert Watt Elliot and T. Sutherland Stayner.  He is a chartered accountant.  William Watson's will is on GS1 reel 1053, probate #11407.  He died March 5, 1896, at the age of 35, of "la grippe", leaving a wife, Hattie Alberta (Badgely) Watson.  It is unclear whether they have any children.   He leaves his estate to his wife and any children;  if they predecease him he leaves one third of his estate to his wife's family and two thirds to his mother Sophia (if his wife and mother both predecease him he leaves the two thirds to be divided up between his siblings, whom he names). His estate is not particularly large.

 

I know that the archives also holds wills for Sophia Watt Elliot (another child of William Elliot and Mary Oliphant, and the mother of the above William Elliot Watson) and Sophia's husband James Watson, as well as Harriet Rose Stayner and Cynthia Jane Elliot, and Thomas Hilton, the husband of Louisa Elliot (William Elliot's sister).  What I'd really like to find is the will of Robert Elliot, William's father, but so far I've been disappointed.  It's possible that he didn't leave one.