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Tag Archives: Gilbert SPIERS (1858-1941)

SPEIRS, Janet (1888-1952)

12 Sunday May 2013

Posted by theirownstories in General

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Elizabeth Wyllie McCONNELL (1895-1968), Gilbert SPIERS (1858-1941), Helen McNab WATSON (1890-1967), Isabella WATSON (1858-1904), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Janet Speirs (1888-1952), Janet WATSON (1856-1935), John McCONNELL (1855-1913), Mary Hunter Morton McCONNELL (1883-1955), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932)

[for Janet’s parents and extended family see WATSON Family under heading ‘WATSON’]

[Please keep checking this space, Janet’s story will be told here as material and photos become available, the last information and / or images added 17 November 2018]

WATSON1930-000

Janet WATSON and her husband Gilbert SPEIRS, Ellisboro, Sask. probably in the late 1930s. From the author’s collection.

 INGLIS0001aJanet SPEIRS (left) was born to Janet WATSON and her husband Gilbert SPEIRS (above), their only child. I have not been able to locate her birth registration in Scotland, however on her 1952 Saskatchewan death registration her daughter states her birth date was 22 December 1888. Scottish census records indicated that she was born either in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland (1891 census of Scotland), or Kingarth, Buteshire, Scotland (1901 census of Scotland). The 1911 census adds to the confusion as Janet, 22, listed her birth place as ‘Argylshire, Inellan’.

Photo left: Janet Speirs, taken in Saskatchewan during WWII (see photos below). From the author’s collection.

Whichever her place of birth, as child Janet moved often. In 1891, when she was 2, her father Gilbert, 33, was a shepherd and her mother Janet, 35, a housekeeper for a farmer named Mitchell, on Overton Farm, Killearn, Stirling. By 1901 Janet, 12, had moved again, this time to Rankinston Farm, Ayrshire. While Janet attended a local school, her father was a farm servant and her mother worked as a dairymaid at the farm. By this time Janet would certainly have known, and played with, her Watson and McConnell cousins, the children of her Uncle Tom  and Aunt Jane [Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR] and her Aunt Isabella and Uncle John [Isabella WATSON and John McCONNELL].

The extended Speirs-Watson-McConnell family experienced many changes in the early 1900s. In 1904 the sudden death of Janet’s Aunt Isabella McConnell left a family of young children motherless. Janet’s Uncle John McConnell, who had recently become unemployed, was not able to look after all the children by himself. Janet’s parents (Janet and Gilbert Speirs) were involved in helping the McConnell family cope. Janet, 16 in 1904, if not away from home working as a domestic servant, would have been called upon to help with the McConnell children.

As other stories in this blog about the extended Speirs-Watson-McConnell family have explained, in the early part of the 1900s most of them immigrated to North America, particularly Saskatchewan. Janet also wanted to follow her Watson cousins, and shared this ambition with her cousin Nellie [my grandmother [Helen (Nell) McNab WATSON] in April 1910 had left Scotland with her parents [Thomas and Jane Watson], and four siblings. We know that Janet wanted to leave Scotland from a postcard she sent to Nellie.

scan0001 scan0002

Postcard from the author’s collection

The postcard (above) was written on 9 August 1910, four months after Nellie had left Scotland for Saskatchewan; the postcard was addressed to the post office in Ellisboro, via Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Mailed in Ayr, Scotland on August 10, the postcard was received and stamped in Ellisboro on August 30 – amazing delivery time considering the so-called ‘slow’ methods of transportation in that period. Janet’s address at the time she wrote the postcard was ‘Wellpark, Racecourse, Ayr Rd. [Ayr, Scotland]. “Dear Nellie, Just a p.c. [post card] to say I hope you are getting on well and that you are all liking your new places. I was down at Girvan* last week for a few days holidays it rained every day. Write soon and give me all the news about the places you can. I am still on the notion to go out but mother [Janet (Watson) Speirs] thinks I am just as well where I am but I will see. Hope you are all well from your affect[ionate] cousin J. Speirs.” [Janet Speirs, daughter of Janet Watson and Gilbert Speirs]

[* Girvan was where Janet’s cousin Mary Hunter Morton McCONNELL lived – see post 20 April 2013. Janet’s  parents (Janet and Gilbert Speirs) may have also lived in the Girvan area in 1910].

It took just over two years for Janet to convince her mother, or for other family events to occur, that the move to Saskatchewan not only possible, but desirable for the Speirs family. On 2 November 1912, daughter Janet, 23, ‘domestic servant’, boarded the ship S.S. Cassandra in Glasgow. With Janet were her mother Janet, 54, and her father Gilbert, 57. WATSON1930-000Janet’s cousin Elizabeth Wyllie McCONNELL, 17, [see post 26 April 2013] also traveled with them. The group disembarked in Montreal, Quebec on the 12th of November, 1912. The ship’s passenger list showed that their destination was Wolseley, Saskatchewan.

[Photo left: Janet’s parents Janet and Gilbert Speirs; Gilbert with the ever-present corn cob pipe. Photo taken in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan, probably in the late 1930s. From the author’s collection.]

From Montreal, a train journey took the new immigrants to Wolseley, Saskatchewan, where no doubt they were met at the railway station by members of the Thomas and Jane Watson family. Christmas 1912 Janet would have been united with her Watson cousins and no doubt she and her cousin Nellie had many stories to share.

Janet Speirs likely found work as quickly as she could, possibly as a ‘hired girl’ for one of the neighbours. She had been in Saskatchewan only about a year when, at 25 years of age, she INGLIS0001bmarried John (‘Jack’) INGLIS. They probably were married in Ellisboro, Sask. about 1913 as their daughter Janet [another Janet] was 2 years old in the 1916 census, i.e. she had been born about 1914.

Photo right: John Inglis, taken in Saskatchewan during WWII (see photos below). From the author’s collection.

Not much is known at this time about John Inglis or indeed about the Inglis family. The 1916 census listed John Inglis as 28 years old, which meant that he was the same age, or a year older, as his wife Janet. The census also recorded that he was: born in Scotland; Presbyterian; and worked as a labourer. The census also recorded that he immigrated to Canada in 1912,  the same year as Janet. Would it be too much of a coincidence if John and Janet knew each other in Scotland? More research is required to find out which part of Scotland John came from.

For a number of years Janet and John lived in Ellisboro, they then moved north a few miles to a farm known locally as the ‘Johnny Thompson Farm’. They rented this farm until John (‘Johnny’) Thompson married and needed the farm for himself and his bride. The Inglis family was required to move so the farm would be available to the owner. They lived for some time, once again, in Ellisboro and then bought land in the Abernethy – Balcarres area, just a few miles from Lemberg. McConnell1-0002We know that they had moved to Abernethy by February 1933 by The Wolseley News, Wednesday, 12 July 1933 account (see below) Also Janet (Inglis) nursed her mother Janet Speirs (d. 12 February 1935) there before her death. Janet’s father Gilbert also died (d. 19 April 1941) at the Inglis home.

Above, death memorial card for Janet’s mother (Jennet) Watson / Speirs. The card, as well as the one below for Janet’s father Gilbert, McConnell1-0003was sent to Janet’s cousin William Watson McCONNELL in the United States [see post 28 April 2013]. These death memorial cards are still in the collection of William McConnell’s descendants Mary Smith who lived in Tennessee before her death.

John Inglis and Janet Speirs had five children:

Janet Watson INGLIS, also known as Jennie, was born about 1914 (according to the 1916 census). She INGLIS0002alikely was born in Ellisboro. Very little is yet known of her life. She married after 12 July 1933. The Wolseley News, Wednesday, 12 July 1933, in the ‘Ellisboro news column’ noted that “Miss Jennie Inglis spent the weekend with her parents in the Abernethy district.” As Mrs. R. S. EICHEL [Ronald Sinclair EICHEL], of Indian Head, she was the informant of her mother’s death in 1952. There is a grave in the Indian Head, Saskatchewan cemetery with a similar name, and a death date of 1955 – perhaps this is Janet’s grave?

Photo above right: Janet Watson Inglis, taken on the ‘Johnny Thompson Farm’, Saskatchewan, about 1930. From the author’s collection.

John (‘Jack’) W. (Watson? William?) INGLIS was born in the first few months INGLIS0001cof 1916, according to the 1916 census. He also was likely born in Ellisboro. From the photos below we can surmise that he was in the Canadian Army in WWII, it is not known what he did after that. His grave is not with the rest of his family in Balcarres, Saskatchewan.

Photo right: John W. Inglis, taken in Saskatchewan during WWII (see photos below). From the author’s collection.McConnell023-2

Photo left: “Little Jenny and Jack Inglis with Isa”, from the collection of M. W., Mauchline.

[Photo above: Isabella (Isa) Watson McCONNELL was Janet’s first cousin. This photograph was taken in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan probably late 1917 or early 1918. Isa sent this photo ‘back home’ to Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland to her sister Mary Hunter Morton McConnell. The photograph is still in Scotland, in the collection of M. W. of Mauchline, one of Mary’s descendants.]

Gilbert A. INGLIS was born in 1924 and died in 1963; these dates have been obtained from his gravestone in Balcarres, Saskatchewan. INGLIS0002bGilbert was probably born on the Johnny Thompson Farm. A family story indicates that, as a boy, Gilbert was a good racer and could ‘”run like the wind”.

Inglis02Photo right: Gilbert Inglis, taken on the Johnny Thompson Farm, Saskatchewan, about 1930. From the author’s collection. Photo above left: Gilbert’s grave taken by the author 13 July 2002, in Balcarres, Saskatchewan.

Children numbers 4 and 5 were twins, J. (James?) Gordon INGLIS and Kenneth W. (William? Watson?) INGLIS. They were born on 1 May 1925, probably on the Johnny Thompson Farm. INGLIS0003aWe know from photos that Kenneth was in the Canadian Navy during WWII. Kenneth died 25 March 1990. He is buried in the Balcarres Cemetery. Inglis01

Photo above left: Kenneth W. Inglis, taken in Saskatchewan during WWII (see photos below). From the author’s collection. Photo above: grave of Kenneth W. Inglis, taken by the author 13 July 2002, in Balcarres, Saskatchewan.

Nothing is known about Kenneth’s twin J. Gordon at this time. According to the information on his gravestone in Balcarres, he died 14 June 1993. Inglis04

Photo right: grave of J. Gordon Inglis, taken by the author 13 July 2002, in Balcarres, Saskatchewan.

Information at this time is very sketchy about the Speirs-Inglis family. We do know that they kept in touch with the extended Watson – McConnell family. As well as shared photographs and postcards there were family visits.

My mother remembers that even in the period 1950-1970s, and until my grandfather Joseph (Joe) ACTON died in 1972, John (Jack) Inglis would visit Joe in Lemberg. Jack would have been a ‘cousin-in-law’ to Joe; Joe’s wife Nellie [Helen McNab Watson] and John’s wife Janet Speirs had been first cousins. Nellie had been the recipient of Janet’s post card from Scotland, almost 50 years earlier, in 1910.

Inglis03

Janet (Speirs) Inglis died 16 June 1952. According to the date on the grave in Balcarres her husband John Inglis died in 1980.

Photo right: grave of Janet and John Inglis, taken by the author 13 July 2002, in Balcarres, Saskatchewan.

Other Inglis family photos from the author’s collection: INGLIS0001

On back of photo right: Jack, Janet & young Jack’ Is this the Inglis farm home near Abernethy? From Jack’s army uniform this appears to have been taken during WWII. Perhaps Jack had just enlisted and received his uniform and was leaving home?

INGLIS0003On back of photo left: Ken Inglis & his dad. This photo was taken in the same location (although not the same day – Jack isn’t wearing a tie) as the photo above, sometime during WWII. Perhaps Ken had just received his uniform and was leaving home?

On back of photo below: no names, but we know from the INGLIS0005above photo that the man in uniform is Kenneth Inglis. Who are the children? Could these be Ken’s nephew and niece, the children of his sister Janet Watson Inglis who had married Ronald Sinclair EICHEL? The children could be Keith EICHEL (b. abt. 1941) and Mae EICHEL (b. abt. 1943). The children’s sister Ruth EICHEL  (b. abt 1942) had ‘died as an infant’ so this is not likely her.

On back of photo right: Inglis INGLIS0002Left to right in the photo could be: John (Jack) born about 1916, Gilbert, born 1924; twins – J. Gordon and Kenneth W. born 1 May 1925; and Janet Watson, born about 1914. The location is probably the ‘Johnny Thompson Farm’; surrounding countryside bleak. Photo taken about 1930?

INGLIS0004a

Photo left: Inglis twins Ken & Gordon Location – same as above photo. Taken probably in the summer of 1925 (the uncropped photo shows this photo is in the front doorway, during warm weather).

Photo below: Unknown photo. Could these be the Inglis twins and ?. The photo format is a postcard that has been made in Canada so this is not a family from Scotland, although the provenance of the photo would indicate that this is a Watson family relation.INGLIS0007

McCONNELL, William Watson (1902-1967)

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by theirownstories in McConnell Family

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Gilbert SPIERS (1858-1941), Isabella WATSON (1858-1904), James Muir WATSON (1888-1965), Jane MUIR (1865-1933), Janet WATSON (1856-1935), Mary HUNTER (1827-1907), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932), William Watson Muir WATSON (1892-1973)

  [for William’s parents and siblings see WATSON Family under heading ‘WATSON’]

This story is dedicated to Mary Janet McConnell Smith, the daughter of William Watson McCONNELL and a granddaughter of Isabella WATSON and her husband John McCONNELL. Mary was born in Seattle, lived in Montana and now lives in Tennessee, USA. Mary has been, and continues to be, central to the research and interest in the story of Isabella and John McConnell and their descendants.

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 8 July 2013]

William Watson McCONNELL was born on 16 February 1902 at Carcluie Cottage, Ayrshire, Scotland, the youngest child of John McCONNELL and his wife Isabella WATSON. Young William’s world was shaken when his mother, who likely had been ill for some time, died unexpectedly on 11 June 1904 after an operation at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow. Additionally – for a reason unknown at the present – his father was no longer employed in his lifelong occupation as a gamekeeper, and appears to have had difficulty supporting his large family. All this for two year old William to cope with.

Suddenly the McConnell family was motherless. Although it is not clear how the family managed it seems likely that William’s 21 year old sister Mary (Mary Hunter Morton McCONNELL), as the eldest child and daughter, may have become his surrogate mother. His brothers, 19 year old John (John McCONNELL) and 17 year old Thomas (Thomas Watson McCONNELL) would have completed school and worked outside the home; John as an apprentice joiner and Thomas as a clerk. William’s older sisters, 15 year old Janet (Janet Watson McCONNELL), 13 year old Isa (Isabella Watson McCONNELL), and 9 year old Elizabeth (Elizabeth Wyllie McCONNELL) still attended school. William was the baby of the family and, if his mother was ill for many months before her death, he may not even have had much memory of her.  It seems fairly certain that William’s grandmother, Mary HUNTER, would come and stay with the family. Also, William’s aunt and uncle Janet (WATSON) and Gilbert SPEIRS helped wherever they could. Strong ties were also maintained with William’s uncle Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane MUIR. Over the next few years, William was likely cared for by a variety of immediate and extended family. He seems to have been particularly close to his sister Isa.

No doubt many extended McConnell-Watson-Speirs family discussions occurred; not only about their own individual futures, but also what could and should be done about the young McConnell children? Not only was the McConnell family motherless, but John, the father, had for some reason no further work as a gamekeeper and the family had left their home of Carcluie and were in rented accommodation. What could be done?

In the early 1900s deliberations began about a possible move to the ‘new world’ of North America. Newspapers were filled with advertisements extolling the virtues of this new land: job opportunities abounded; all skills were required and welcome; land was available for purchase and in some cases basically ‘free’; the climate was healthy; plenty of food was easily grown; the strict class society was not followed. And this new land offered adventure. The younger members of the family were likely enthusiastic about the move. They could see that life as their parents knew it did not offer the opportunity and future that they wished for. The older generation likely were more reluctant to change their ways and routine and were understandably hesitant about a move to the other side of the world.

William, although he was only young, likely listened intently as his father, siblings, aunts and uncles and cousins discussed back-and-forth the pros and cons of emigration.

McConnell0002Photos left: William about 3 years old, taken in Scotland about 1905. From the collection of Mary Smith. In the photo where he wears the cap, it is easy to imagine William listening intently to a dinner table conversation about emigration.

In October 1905 another blow struck the McConnell family when William’s 18 year old brother Thomas died of tuberculosis. It is not known whether Thomas, who had worked as a railway clerk, had been enthusiastic about emigration. In the heyday of railway development in western Canada he certainly would have had opportunity for work if he had moved. However, his death from tuberculosis may also have encouraged the other family members in their search for fresh air (of which western Canada certainly had an ample supply) as well as land and opportunity.

The first to move, in June 1906, was a Watson cousin, 17 year old James (Jim) Muir WATSON. Jim sailed to Montreal and then went by train to Manitoba where he worked as a farm labourer to save up money to buy his own land. Although William didn’t know it at the time, ten years later he was to stay with Jim and his Canadian wife on the Saskatchewan farm that Jim had purchased.

In June 1909, when William was 7, his siblings started to immigrate. His elder brother John, 24, a carpenter, sailed for New York and settled in New Jersey. William would likely miss John whom he may have regarded as a special older brother. In July of that same year William’s cousin William (Bill) Watson Muir WATSON, 17 years old, sailed for Canada where, like his brother Bill, he worked on a Manitoba farm as a farm labourer earning money for land purchase. Unknown to William at the time he would see Bill again in four years in Saskatchewan. [See post 28 February 2013 for the post card that Janet WATSON / SPEIRS wrote to Bill for Christmas 1909.]

William likely continued to live with various family members and the to-emigrate-or-not-to-emigrate conversations continued. We know that the Speirs considered the move. In April 1910 William’s uncle Thomas Watson and his aunt Jane, and their children moved to Saskatchewan. Their move meant that the entire Watson family, with the exception of one son, had left Scotland. One of William’s support families had disappeared from his life. The 1911 census found William as a ‘visitor’ with his aunt Janet and uncle Gilbert Speirs.  A year later, in November 1912, that support family disappeared as well when Janet, Gilbert and their daughter Janet sailed for Canada. With them went William’s sister, 17 year old Elizabeth. They all headed to the Wolseley, Saskatchewan area where the Watson family had settled. For William, Elizabeth’s move meant another sibling gone.

It appears that most of the remaining McConnell family decided to join the others and it was decided that William and his older sister Isa should emigrate and join the other families in Saskatchewan. Family stories indicate the William’s father John planned to move; he would likely feel responsible for his son William who was still a minor. Bad fortune struck the McConnell family again, when in January 1913, William’s father died suddenly and unexpectedly after brief four day bout of “acute pneumonia”.

However likely the travel plan had already been made, the tickets already purchased. On July 5th, 1913 William, 11 years old, and Isa, 22, left Glasgow on the ship S.S. Letitia for the ten day trip to Montreal.

McConnell0003aPhoto right: William about 11 years old. From the collection of Mary Smith. This photograph may have been taken in Scotland, as a formal portrait, before William got on the ship S.S. Letitia.

The arrival in Montreal would have been followed by a train ride to Wolseley, Saskatchewan.

By the end of 1913 most of the extended McConnell-Watson-Speirs family had left Scotland. The only two McConnell family members to remain in Scotland were William’s older sisters Mary and Janet.

McConnell0004a

Photo left: Gilbert Speirs and William, 1919, taken in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan, Canada. From the collection of Mary Smith.

Family stories indicate that when William and his sister Isa arrived in Canada their older brother John met them and stayed with them for a month at the home of Janet and Gilbert Speirs in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan. If this is the case John would have travelled from New Jersey to Montreal to meet their ship and then travelled to Saskatchewan by train with William and Isabella.

Not much of William’s life in Saskatchewan is known. He must have gone to school since he was 11 years old when he arrived in Canada. It is not known when he moved permanently to the USA. His family believe he crossed the US / Canadian border ‘many times’. By 1920 his sister Isa had moved to the USA and married Ernest PIERCE in Shellby, Montana. In 1921, William went, perhaps not for the first time, from Canada to the USA, and again in August of 1922 at Seattle, he went to Shellby, Montana.

Photo below right: William, about 1928.  From the collection of Mary Smith. McConnell0001-xc

Sometime later he joined the US military. McConnell0001-xbPhoto left: William (on left) with an unidentified army buddy. When in 1930 he married his first wife, 18 year old Ruth Leona DAVIS, he was in the Army at Fort Lawton in Seattle with the Third Engineers. Ruth was born in 1912 in Washington state and died in Florida in 1992.

McConnell0001-xgPhoto left: William and his 1st wife Ruth Davis, 1933. This and the above photos from the collection of Mary Smith.

Ruth and William McConnell had three children; Mary Janet McCONNELL (born 22 May 1933); William (Billy) Lyle McCONNELL (born 22 May 1937); and Bonnie Jean McCONNELL (born 29 June 1938). All of the children were born in Glasgow, Montana; William’s eldest child Mary believes her father worked as a fireman during the building of the Fort Peck Dam. The children were born during the depression years and work was hard to find; a job at the Fort Peck Dam construction would have been welcome.

William’s daughter Mary picks up her father’s story. “In 1940 my dad re-enlisted in the Army at Glasgow, Montana for two years, in 1942 he re-enlisted, this time in Butte, Montana. During this tour of duty he was shipped to New Guinea to clear jungles and build air fields. He was one of the first ones there and I have more than fifty pictures of natives in New Guinea. While my dad was at war, my mother Ruth, on June 23, 1943, put my sister, brother and I in an orphans’ home in Great Falls, Montana. My sister Bonnie Jean died on April 7, 1944 of diphtheria.

Dad was discharged from the military on August 12, 1944. He got my brother and I from St. Thomas’ Orphans’ Home and on September 25, in Wolf Point, Montana, he married Lulu FULLER. She was born in 1887, died May 26,1956.” McConnell0001-xd

Photo right: William and his 2nd wife Lulu. Photo taken sometime between 1944 and 1956. Photo is from the collection of Mary Smith.

Mary’s story continues: Between 1945 and 1948 I don’t remember too much but my dad did work on the Great Northern rail line. Lulu  is the one who raised my brother and I after Dad got out of the army. In 1949 we moved to Troy, Montana. I think the Rail Line transferred my father. We rented a piece of land, that had a horse barn on it. My father converted the horse barn into a home for us to live in. Down stairs was divided in half by a blanket that made a kitchen and bedroom. Upstairs was divided in half so my brother and I each had a bedroom. The stairway to our upstairs bedroom was on the outside of our house. There was no electricity, running water or indoor plumbing.

McConnell0001-xfIn 1958 dad married his third wife, Mary ALFORD.  Mary was  born in 1901. She and dad were married in 1958 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Photo left: William with his wife Mary (woman on left side of photo) with an unidentified friend. Photo taken between 1958 and 1967. From the collection of Mary Smith.

On 23 March 1960 my brother William (Billy) Lyle McConnell died at Camp Pendleton, California. He was in a special outfit in the Marines. He was coming home to put on a show at the fairgrounds for Memorial Day and was killed in a car accident.

In 1965 when Dad came down to Florida to meet my husband, Clifford Smith, and my daughter, I had been away from home for sixteen years, since 1949.

McConnell0001-xhDad died on 17 April 1967 in Lewiston, Montana. He was very active in the VFW and the Veterans’ Affairs hospital where he ran the bingo for the patients. Mary Alford died in Hellena, Montana in 1967.”

[Author’s Note: a search of the Montana Death Index and associated records on Ancestry.com show that William W. McCONNELL, born 16 February 1902, died 17 April 1967, was buried in the city cemetery of Libby, Lincoln County, Montana. Also buried in this cemetery are William’s wife Lulu McConnell (1887-1956) and  William’s son William L. (1937-1960).]

McCONNELL, John (1885-1964)

21 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by theirownstories in McConnell Family

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Gilbert SPIERS (1858-1941), Janet WATSON (1856-1935)

[for John’s parents and siblings see WATSON Family under heading ‘WATSON’]

This story is dedicated to Mary Janet McConnell Smith, a descendant of Isabella WATSON and her husband John McCONNELL. Mary was born in Seattle, lived in Montana and now lives in Tennessee, USA. Mary has been, and continues to be, central to the research and interest in the story of Isabella and John McConnell and their descendants.

[Please keep checking this space, John’s story will be told here as material and photos become available, the last information and / or images added 21 August 2013]

John McCONNELL was born on 17 January 1885 at Carcluie Cottage, Ayrshire, Scotland to John McCONNELL, a gamekeeper and his wife Isabella WATSON. John’s name followed the Scottish naming tradition of the first son being named after the father’s father – in this case John McCONNELL.

McConnell002-4Photo left: John, summer of 1895 [see post 16 April 2013 for family group photo]. Photo is from the collection of Mary Smith (in Tennessee). May Wood in Ayrshire, Scotland also has a copy of this photograph.

John’s life was likely normal for that period; he grew up in an ever expanding family. By the time of the 1891 census, John, 6 was a ‘scholar’ [attended school] and had three younger siblings as well as his older sister Mary. His grandmother Mary HUNTER also lived with them, perhaps John became close to his grandmother?

By 1901, John now 16, had completed school and became an ‘apprentice joiner’ [carpenter]. John likely still lived at home, and walked from Carcluie Cottage to work in Ayr each day. A family story indicates that he worked as a ship’s carpenter. Ayr, a seaport town with a large active fishing fleet, would have certainly offered that type of work and training. John would have contributed a larger portion of his meager apprentice pay to his parents to help support the large McConnell family.

John’s youngest brother William was born in 1902. Shortly after that date John’s apprentice take-home pay became even more important when his father lost his position as gamekeeper. The loss of this life long position occurred sometime between William’s birth in 1902 and 1904; the reasons for this job loss are unknown, although it seems certain that it was not a voluntary decision as his father would not willingly give up the steady job required to support his large family. The family was forced to leave Carcluie Cottage where John had been born and had lived his all his life. The family moved to Ayr to inexpensive rented accommodation, a move that certainly would have been considered a ‘step down’ and signal a reversal in fortune for the McConnell family. John’s mother Isabella, still nursing John’s young brother William, was also likely ill at the time, adding an extra burden of worry and gloom to the family’s situation.

By June of 1904 John’s father had found work as an auctioneer’s assistant – a far cry from his position as gamekeeper. John’s mother was seriously ill and went for surgery at the Western Infirmary (Hospital) in Glasgow. On 11 June, John’s world dramatically changed with the sudden and unexpected death of his mother as a result of her surgery. John (19) likely continued with his work as a joiner, which contributed to the family income that his father brought home. John’s elder sister Mary (a dressmaker, aged 21) likely took on much of the care of the younger children, while his brother Thomas (17) continued his work as a clerk. John’s three younger sisters – Janet (15), Isabella (13) and Elizabeth (9) – still attended school, while his youngest sibling William, was only two years old.

The motherless McConnell family also had help from extended family: John’s grandmother Mary Hunter; and his mother’s sister Janet and her husband Gilbert SPEIRS; and his mother’s brother Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane MUIR. John, his father and John’s six siblings were forced to cope with this new life reality. Now, perhaps for the first time, John became ever more serious about his future career as a joiner – now not only did he have to support himself and any future family he might have, but he would also need to financially support help his father and siblings. Perhaps it was at this time that John began to think of emigrating for better work opportunities.

Unfortunately the bleak McConnell family situation worsened. John’s younger brother Thomas became ill with consumption [tuberculosis]. He may have already been ill at the time of his mother’s death, certainly he was ill shortly after it as his death registration indicates he was ill for “some months”. During this time there would have been increasing the worry for a family member’s health as well as an additional financial burden on John and his father as Thomas would not have been able to continue his work as a railway clerk.

On 1 October 1905 – little more than a year after the death of his mother – Thomas, 18, died of consumption. His death occurred at Byolu (sp?) Street in Ayr, the family’s home after leaving Carlcuie Cottage. Normally Thomas’ father would have made the trip to the Registrar’s Office to register the death. However, in this case the sad journey was made by John, then 20. It is easy to imagine that his grief strickened father, still mourning the death of his wife, could not manage the task.

About this time the extended McConnell-Watson-Speirs family began to seriously consider options for their future. Emigrants were leaving Scotland for Australia, Africa and other international destinations. North American beckoned our family. The first to move, in June 1906, was a Watson cousin, 17 year old James (Jim) Muir WATSON. After he arrived in Montreal, Jim went to Manitoba where he worked as a farm labourer to save up money to buy his own land. His reports home to Scotland – likely by postcard – no doubt encouraged others to follow.

Three years went by until other family members did so. During that time, a family story is told that John worked as a carpenter on board transatlantic ships out of Scotland (Ayr? Glasgow?) If he did so he may have made several trips to the United States. Whatever the circumstances, by June of 1909 John had decided that the New York area was the place for him; he perhaps saw the potential for work as a carpenter, without having to spend months at sea.

This same family story also tells that John had been aided by his captain to ‘jump ship’ in America. While this is a romantic scenario, his entry into New York was formal and not furtive. ‘UK Outward Bound Passenger lists, 1890-1960’ document John’s departure, as a passenger, from Glasgow on 12 June 1909. He was on the Anchor Line’s ship S.S. Caledonia, destination New York. Ellis Island immigration records document his entry into the Port of New York on 21 June 1909. On the ‘List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival’ John is listed as a 24 year old carpenter, last permanent address Ayr, Scotland; his nearest relative is listed as J. McConnell [his father John McConnell] of Straud Cottage, Girvan, [Ayrshire, Scotland]. The Manifest also tells us that John was 5′ 11″ tall, of dark complexion, dark hair and blue eyes. We also learn that he paid for his passage himself, and that he had less than $50 with him. When asked ‘Whether in possession of $50, and if less, how much?‘ John indicated that he had $30.

A month later, in July the exodus of the extended McConnell-Watson-Speirs family continued when John’s cousin William (Bill) Watson Muir WATSON, 17 years old, sailed for Canada where, like his brother Bill, he worked on a Manitoba farm as a farm labourer earning money for land purchase. By 1913 all members of the three related families were in North America with the exception of John’s two older sisters Mary and Janet.

In 1914 John, 29 years old, became an naturalized American citizen, at the Essex County Court in Newark, New Jersey. We learn this from the U. S. Ellis Island Records which record a trip that John took from Bermuda in 1924 [see note below].

John married about 1917. This can be deduced from the January 13, 1920 U.S. census in which John, widower, 34 years old, occupation: ‘carpenter, house’, lived with his father-in-law Alexander McHENRY and his family, at 579 Valley Road, West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A. With John was his 1 1/2 year old daughter Mary McHENRY.msmith-1-0020 msmith-1-0021

A photograph exists of John’s wife Mary McHENRY and John, perhaps taken at the time of their marriage. Although documentary evidence still has not yet been located, it seems likely that John and Mary married in New Jersey, their daughter Mary was probably born in 1918. John’s wife Mary died between 1918 and the time of the census in January 1920.

In 1924 John still lived with his McHenry in-laws; we learn this from Ellis Island records which record a trip he took from Hamilton, Bermuda to New York. From these records we learn that on 24 April 1924 when he was 39 years old and single, John, from 579 Valley Road, West Orange, New Jersey, sailed from Hamilton, Bermuda to New York on the S.S. Fort St. George. [No record has been found of when he travelled to Bermuda]. On this manifest he is listed with other ‘United States Citizens’ and we learn that he became a naturalized citizen in 1914 at the Essex County Court in Newark, New Jersey. The address at 579 Valley Road cross checks with the 1920 census records and confirms that this is the correct John. The Naturalization records have not yet been checked.

Between the 1924 trip from Bermuda and the time of the 1930 census, John married Alice BLAIR, a widow. This is deduced from the 2 April 1930 U. S. census in which John, 44 years old, occupation: ‘working contractor, general building’ lived at #77 – Cobave [?] Terrace, West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A. John’s daughter Mary, 12, born in New Jersey, also lived there. The census also tells us that Alice, who was born in Ohio about 1889, was a widow as her son, Robert BLAIR, 17, also lived at the address. John’s income is given as $16,000 – a significant income for the period.

On 5 November 1964 John, 79 years old, died the Memorial Hospital in Orange, Essax Counbty New Jersey. His usual residence was 234 Eagle Rock Avenue, West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.A., occupation was given as ‘contractor’. The informant was ‘Mrs. J. McConnell’ of the same address as the deceased – no indication if this was the former Alice Blair.

On 9 November 1964 John was buried at Restland Memorial Park, East Hanover, New Jersey

[John’s story to be continued]

WATSON, Janet (1856-1935)

28 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by theirownstories in Watson Family

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Gilbert SPIERS (1858-1941), Isabella WATSON (1858-1904), Janet WATSON (1856-1935), Mary HUNTER (1827-1907), Mount Oliphant Farm, Thomas WATSON (1827-1878), Thomas WATSON (1854-1932)

[see WATSON Family under heading ‘WATSON’]

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 01 June 2013]

Janet WATSON was born on 7 February 1856 on Peebles Street, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland to Thomas WATSON and his wife Mary HUNTER. Thomas and Mary were tenant farmers on Mosshill Farm, Dallmellington Road, outside Ayr. Thomas also worked as a ‘carter’, probably to supplement the family income, and he was not present at the time of Janet’s birth. Perhaps he was away on a carting job. Or perhaps, as a farmer, Thomas may have had a strong “draught” horse which, when it wasn’t used for ploughing would be hired out. Thomas may have been away delivering or picking up the horse.

Whatever the situation, since her husband was away, Mary went into Ayr, to a home on Peebles Street to have her baby. She may have gone to the home of her in-laws William and Isabella (McCREATH) WATSON who lived on Peebles Street. Mary’s own parents, William and Janet (McCALL) HUNTER, also lived in Ayr, likely on Clunes Street. Perhaps the Hunter home was not large enough to accommodate Mary and the new baby, or perhaps Mary’s father, who worked as a weaver, needed the available space for his weaving equipment and looms. Weavers cottages were  basically just ‘but an’ bens” so likely there would be no place or  privacy for a visitor in labour. [A ‘but an’ bens’ is a class of worker’s house which had a main room where work and daily life went on and then through to a bedroom. This type of home was a step up from a single room, but had no place for cattle or barn for storage. No kitchen or bathroom either! The word ‘ben’ still exists in Scots today and is used to refer to other rooms in the house e.g. “working at the computer Ben the house”.]

WATSON1930-000aPhoto: Janet, about 1930 in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo from the author’s collection.

At Mosshill Farm baby Janet joined two older brothers, a half-brother William [William WATSON] born in 1847 and a brother Thomas [Thomas WATSON] born in 1854. A sister Isabella [Isabella WATSON] born in 1858, completed the family. In an age of large families the Watson family of four children would be considered small. In 1861 Janet, 5, was a ‘scholar’ the term used for children who attended school. The census that year also tells us that Mosshill Farm had ’60 acres’.

Sometime after the 1861 and before 1871 census, the Watson family moved to Mount Oliphant Farm just outside Ayr. The farm had some renown as the previous home of Robbie Burns during the poet’s childhood. Mount Oliphant was a larger farm, here Thomas was able to rent 71 acres.

The 1871 census showed the Watsons as a farming family; as well as her farmer father Thomas, Janet’s mother Mary also listed her occupation as ‘farmer’. As was done from all the working farms in the area, Mary and possibly her daughters drove  the ‘jig’ [horse and cart] into Ayr to a market where she sold her butter and cream to the townspeople. Janet’s 16 year old brother Thomas is listed as ‘farmer’s son’. Her half brother, William, was away from home. Janet, 15 years old, who would have finished school, gave her occupation as a ‘general servant’ an indication that she may have been employed elsewhere, likely to bring in some money and supplement the family income.  If she had been working on the farm her occupation would normally be described as ‘farmer’s daughter’ or ‘farm servant. Perhaps she worked at a nearby farm, walked to work each day, and returned home in the evenings. The day of the census she was at home with her parents, brother Thomas and sister Isabella. A 14 year old ‘farm servant’, Charles Blackley also lived and worked on the farm.

On 2 Mar. 1878, Janet’s life changed dramatically when her father Thomas, only 50, died of ‘paralysis of the brain’ at Mount Oliphant Farm.WATSON1878-000c Janet’s mother Mary, herself only 50, was left a widow with three children and together the family helped run the farm. The 1881 census shows that Thomas’ son Thomas had taken over the rental of Mount Oliphant, and his mother Mary and sisters Janet and Isabella continued to live on the farm. (Right: Death memorial card from the collection May Wood, of a descendant of Thomas Watson who still lives in Ayrshire)

Two years after her father’s death, on 22 November 1880 Janet, 24 years old, married Gilbert SPEIRS, aged 22. The wedding took place at Janet’s home of Mount Oliphant farm; Janet listed her occupation as ‘dairy maid’ and her usual residence as Mount Oliphant Farm. Gilbert, a farm servant, listed his address as Mount Ferguson Farm which is the farm next to Mount Oliphant. It is likely that Gilbert and Janet met as they were neighbours, or Janet may have even been a dairy maid at Mount Ferguson; the farms still exist and are within easy walking distance of each other. Gilbert was born on 10 October 1858 in Balichmorrey, Barr by Girvan, Scotland, a son to Ivie Alexander SPEIRS, a ploughman, and his wife Euphemia SIMPSON. WATSON1930-000b

Photo: Gilbert, about 1930 in Ellisboro, Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo from the author’s collection. Family stories recount that Gilbert “Always had a corn cob pipe in his mouth.”

Janet and Gilbert did not stay long in the Mount Oliphant Farm / Mount Ferguson Farm area; perhaps there was not work or accommodation for a young married couple. Within six months, by the April 1881 census Janet, 25, and Gilbert, 28, were on the Rankinson Farm in the parish of Coylton, where Gilbert worked as a dairyman. In this census Janet has become 3 years younger than Gilbert; perhaps this was more socially acceptable? Mary Thomson, 14, lived with them as a servant. Perhaps Janet and Gilbert had ambitions of running a dairy together, as dairyman he may have had a little  autonomy, and the reason for the servant was to assist in the dairy (unskilled) as well as their house?

That same 1881 census showed Janet’s brother Thomas (26) had taken over responsibility for renting Mount Oliphant Farm, and her mother Mary (53), sister Isabella (23) also lived and worked there; perhaps Janet visited whenever she could as Rankinson Farm was not far away. The siblings and their mother stayed close all their lives; a bond that would support them over the years and the three countries of Scotland, Canada and USA.

One trip that Janet may have made to her family home of Mount Oliphant was for the marriage of her sister Isabella, 24, to John McCONNELL on 5 October 1882. John was a 27 year old gamekeeper, the son of quarry master John McConnell and his wife Mary MORTON. At the time neither Janet nor her family had any idea of how much support the future McConnell family would need from the extended Watson family. [see posts 19 April  – 28 April 2013 for story of Isabella and John’s family]

The Watson family extended again when, on 20 January 1887 Janet’s brother Thomas married Jane MUIR, the daughter of James MUIR and Helen McNAB. Thomas and Jane continued to live at Mount Oliphant for some years, before moving to several other farms in Scotland and eventually immigrating to Saskatchewan. Their immigration and the start of a new life were also to change that of Janet and her family. [see posts 14 May – 22 May 2012 for story of Thomas and Jane’s family]

In 1888, Janet’s and Gilbert’s only child, Janet, was born. Although I have not been able to locate her birth registration her Saskatchewan death registration listed her birth as 22 December 1888. Scottish census records indicated that she was born either in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland (1891 census), or Kingarth, Buteshire, Scotland (1901 census). The 1911 census adds to the confusion as Janet, 22, listed her birth place as ‘Argylshire Inellan’. Whichever is correct it appears that Gilbert and Janet frequently moved, itinerant tenant labourers always looking for work or a better opportunity.

By 1891 Gilbert, 33, was a shepherd and Janet, 35, a housekeeper for a farmer named Mitchell, on Overton Farm, Killearn, Stirling. As was the practice, Gilbert likely had taken a year’s contract to work as a shepherd on the understanding that his wife Janet would keep house for the combined household of the Speirs family, plus the farmer Mitchell and a 39 year old ploughman James Ewing. Janet, their daughter, was two years old in this census.

By 1901 Janet and Gilbert had moved again (and there may have been several moves in between census years); Gilbert was a farm servant and Janet worked as a dairymaid at Rankinston Farm, Ayrshire. Their daughter Janet attended school in the area. Rankinston Farm is where they had lived in twenty years earlier in 1881.

In the early 1900s Watson family experienced many changes. In 1904 the tragic and unexpected death of Janet’s younger sister Isabella  left a family of young children motherless. Janet’s brother-in-law John McConnell was not able to look after all the children by himself. Isabella and Gilbert lived in the area and no doubt spent time helping the McConnell family cope. Around this time, Janet and Gilbert moved to Chapeldonan Farm, near Girvan in Ayrshire which was not far from the McConnell family.

The extended Watson family had grown: Janet and Gilbert Speirs and their daughter Janet; Isabella and John McConnell’s seven children; and Thomas and Jane’s seven children. The period in Scotland from 1904 to 1913 for the extended family is not clear. What is clear from the postcards, shared photographs and existing records is that the three families were in close contact, visited when possible and continued to help and support one another.

In the early 1900s the Canadian government mounted an advertising campaign to attract settlers to western Canada. Land agents, who traveled throughout England and Scotland, extolled the virtues of emigration with the promise of free land and the opportunity for advancement. Newspapers carried advertisements, and in some cases letters from those who had already emigrated who encouraged others to follow. It was a lure that many young men could not resist.

In 1906 the extended Watson family began to move to the ‘new world’. The first of Janet’s nephews to leave Scotland was 17 year old Jim [James Muir WATSON], second eldest son of Janet’s brother Thomas and his wife Jane. After Jim arrived in Montreal in June of 1906 he travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba by train and worked for a farmer as an agricultural labourer.

In 1907 an important family tie to Scotland was broken with the death of Janet’s mother Mary, age 81. Mary died on 07 July 1907, of bronchitis, at Chapeldonan Farm, Scotland. Gilbert was the informant of her death which suggests that Mary lived with her daughter Janet and son-in-law before her death.

In June 1909 another of Janet’s nephews, John McCONNELL, son of Janet’s deceased sister Isabella emigrated to the United States; his ship docked in New York City on June 21, 1909. John was a carpenter and may have been attracted to the opportunity to use his trade in the building boom on the eastern coast of the United States. He eventually settled in New Jersey, however he may have made at least one trip to Saskatchewan, perhaps with a thought of moving to Canada and farming.

The summer of 1909 saw another of Janet’s nephews leave Scotland. Bill [William Watson Muir WATSON], 17 years old, third eldest son of Janet’s brother Thomas and his wife Jane, sailed from Glasgow on the ship ‘S. S. Hesperian’ and arrived in Quebec City on 19 July 1909. Like his brother Jim, Bill’s eventual destination was Manitoba to work as an agricultural labourer.

By 1909 Janet’s brother Thomas and his wife Jane had decided to join their sons in Western Canada. In Janet’s Christmas post card to her nephew Bill that year indicated their decision. The post card below, in Janet’s handwriting was mailed to her nephew William [Bill] Watson who worked on a farm near Stockton, Manitoba. The post card was mailed 9 December 1909, and delivered in Canada 23 December 1909. The postcard is from the author’s collection.

WATSON1909-030WATSON1909-030a

Chapeldonan

 Wishing you a Merry Xmas all well hoping you are well had a letter from your father they were all well you will be having them out next will write about the New Year Aunt Janet

As Janet predicted in her Chritmas post card, on 2 April 1910 her brother Thomas (56 years old), sister-in-law Jane (45 years old), and four of their children left Glasgow, Scotland on the ship ‘S. S. Hesperian’. The ship docked in Halifax on 11 April 1910. The Watson children that accompanied their parents were Nell [Helen McNab WATSON], (20 years old), Alex [Alexander Hunter WATSON] (15 years old), Jean [Jane Muir WATSON] (11 years old), and John [John McConnell Muir WATSON] (7 years old).

Janet had misgivings about moving to Canada, as can be seen by a postcard  [not shown here, see post 12 May 2013] sent 9 September 1910, by her daughter Janet to Janet’s cousin Nell (“Write and give me all the news about the paces you can. I am still on the notion to go our but mother thinks I am just as well where I am but I will see“). However, perhaps jobs were becoming scarce for Janet and Gilbert, or family were encouraging them to come to the ‘new world’ which had opportunities for advancement.

On 2 November 1912, Janet, her husband Gilbert and their daughter Janet boarded the ship S.S. Cassandra in Glasgow. With them was Elizabeth Wyllie McCONNELL, 17, Janet’s niece [see post 26 April 2013]. The group disembarked in Montreal, Quebec on the 12th of November. The ship’s passenger list showed that their destination was Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Gilbert gave his age as 57 and his occupation as ‘labourer’, Janet, 54 (who continued to shave a couple years off her age) was a ‘housewife’ and Janet, (their daughter), 23, was a ‘domestic servant’.

A train journey took them to Wolseley, Saskatchewan, where no doubt they were met at the railway station by members of the Thomas and Jane Watson family. Christmas 1912 Janet, her husband and daughter would spend with her brother Thomas and his family.

WATSON1918-007Photo: Left to right – Thomas Watson, his sister Janet (Watson) Speirs, his brother-in-law Gilbert Speirs (with the ever-present corn cob pipe). Taken about 1918 in Saskatchewan, Canada, photo is from author’s collection.

[‘Life in Saskatchewan’ a story yet to be posted.]

Janet and Gilbert lived on and rented several farms in the Rosewood – Ellisboro area. WATSON1930-000For their last few years, during the first half of the 1930s they lived in Ellisboro in a rented home. This was the time of the Depression and a family story relates how, “while everyone was poor and in experiencing desperate times, the Speirs lived in extreme poverty. The story teller went on to say, “I don’t know what they lived on, or how they ate.”

Photo right; Janet and Gilbert Speirs, at their home in Ellisboro, about 1930. From the author’s collection.

Some time before her death Janet moved the home of their daughter Janet who had married John INGLIS. [see post 12 May 2013] where she died McConnell1-0002on 19 February 1935.

Death memorial card right was sent by Janet’s daughter Janet (Speirs) Inglis to her cousin William Watson McConnell in the United States. This card is now (in 2013) in the collection of William McConnell’s daughter, Mary Smith, who lives in Tennessee, USA.

Ellisboro, Saskatchewan Feb 21 – Tuesday morning, Mrs. Janet Spiers, 79, died at the  home of her daughter Mrs. John Inglis of Abernethy. Mrs. Spiers was born in Ayr, Scotland and with her husband, Gilbert Spiers, and her daughter came to Canada in 1912 and until the past few months had made their home in Ellisboro. The remains were interred in the cemetery here Friday afternoon in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends. The service was conducted by Rev. E. C. Cuming. The pallbearers were James, William and John Watson, Joseph Acton, J. W. Tubman ; and Kenneth Campbell. (Source: Regina Leader Post, Feb 21, 1935, Evening Edition, p. 20)

For the next while Gilbert lived with his nephew James (Jim) WATSON and his wife Agnes (Nancy) ACTON on their farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley. Jim Watson’s son Samuel Acton WATSON remembered that, as a boy growing up on the farm, one of his jobs was to take a plate of supper out to the shed or shack that had been fixed up for Gilbert to live in.

Gilbert died, at the home of his daughter Janet and son-in-law John Inglis on 19 April 1941. McConnell1-0003Gilbert’s daughter Janet also sent notice of her father’s death to her cousin William Watson McConnell in the United States. As with Janet’s death memorial card, this card is now (in 2013) in the collection of Mary Smith, William McConnell’s daughter.

IMG_1625Janet and Gilbert were buried in the Ellisboro Cemetery, beside the grave of Janet’s brother Thomas Watson and his wife Jane Muir. Photo from the author’s collection.

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