52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Ancestor # 17
Ellen Wilson (1808-1891)
Ellen
Wilson was born in Fermanagh County, Ireland about 1808 and died in Mountain,
Dundas County, Ontario[i]
on 16 Feb 1891. She is buried with her husband there in the Van Camp United
Church Cemetery. She married Daniel Baldwin on 3
January 1833[ii]
in the Methodist Church in Mountain. Daniel Baldwin
was born on 20 Mar 1804 in Dundas County and died there on 4 Apr 1886.
Nothing is known about Ellen’s parentage. If I were
to take an educated guess, I would say that her father was John and her mother
was Rachel. Her eldest daughter was named Rachel and this name is rare in the
Baldwin family so it is likely to come from the Wilson side. Her other two
daughters were named after her husband’s two sisters. Her older son was given
the name, John Wilson Baldwin. Her father-in-law was also named John but the
addition of Wilson as a middle name leads me to speculate that her father was
also named John.
Ellen has several names in the various records I
have looked at. She apparently preferred Ellen. This is the name her son gave on
his marriage registration and was recorded on 2 census returns. This is also
the way her husband referred to her in his will. ‘She was called Eleanor by the
minister who married her, and Elinor and Helena on 2 other census returns.
Family records state that Ellen was born near
Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Ireland and immigrated when she was 12. The ocean
voyage took about 12 weeks from Ireland to Canada and once they arrived, they
settled on lot 5, 7th concession in Edwardsburg Township, Grenville
County, Upper Canada. Grenville County lies immediately to the west of Dundas
County. Since Mountain Township is on the western edge of Dundas and
Edwardsburg on the eastern edge of Grenville, these two townships share a
common boundary.
I have done research to determine if there were
Wilsons living on lot 5 in the 7th concession in Edwardsburg in the
1851 census and there were. Newbuck (or Newburgh) Wilson was living there with
his wife Sarah Armstrong and their 6 children. But Newbuck Wilson did not
arrive in Canada until 1838 and bought his land in 1840 and 1841 from 2 Fraser
brothers. So Newbuck was not the Wilson family that Ellen arrived with but he very
well may be a relative of hers. Interestingly, his parents are reported to be
Robert and Isabella (Blakely) Wilson.
I have had some clues about Ellen’s family from DNA
testing. I tested with Family Tree DNA and convinced 2 relatives to test also. One
of these relatives matched 2 others with Wilson ancestors from Fermanagh
County, Ireland. One relative (B.B.) matched R. Wilson who descends from Thomas
and Elizabeth (Blakely) Wilson through their son, Matthew. Matthew settled in Iowa.
B.B. also matches descendants of William Toner whose father was Newburgh Wilson
(b. 1803 to Robert and Jane (Blakely) Wilson). This Newburgh Wilson was not the
Newbuck or Newburgh Wilson who settled in Canada. We have identified 3 Wilson
males from Fermanagh County, Ireland who married women named Blakely, I have
read that the Blakelys had a large number of daughters.
I also tested at Ancestry DNA and I have searched my
matches for possible Wilson matches. I found 2 matches. The first was to the
Iowa Wilsons. Thomas and Elizabeth Wilson had 2 sons who immigrated and settled
in Iowa, Matthew and Newberry. Newberry, Newburgh, or Newbuck seems to be a
family name. I match a descendant from both of these brothers (There was a
cousin marriage.). I also match 2 individuals who descend from Andrew Wilson
who married Hannah Blakely. Their son, Andrew Gerald Wilson immigrated to
Canada and I match 2 of his descendants. All of these matches point to several
possible research approaches. I have been thinking of hiring a Northern Irish
researcher to help me.
I have selected 1808 as a probable birth year for
Ellen based upon her reported age in various documents. Her death certificate
states that she was 83 when she died suggesting an 1808 birthdate. This is corroborated
by her age of 63 in the 1871 census and 73 in the 1881 census. In the 1851
census taken on 12 Jan 1852 her age at her next birthday was stated as 40
giving her an 1812 birth year. The 61 census gave her age as 51 making her
birth year 1810.
Children of Daniel
and Ellen (Wilson) Baldwin, all born in Mountain
i.
Rachel Mary3 Baldwin b. 11 Feb. 1834, m. abt. 1856, John Wylie and d. 1 Mar 1873 in Mountain of consumption. .
ii.
Sarah Louisa Baldwin, b. 11 Nov. 1835, m. abt. 1855, Levi Van
Camp and d. 16 Jan 1915 in Mountain.
iii.
John Wilson Baldwin, b. 2 Jul. 1838, m. 20 Feb 1867, Priscilla Adeline Mayhew and
d. 23 May 1912 in Woodlands, Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada.
iv.
Mary Orilla (Polly) Baldwin, b. 5 Nov. 1841, m. 26 Sep. 1858, Henry Levere and d. 19 Jul
1925 in Mountain.
v.
William Reuben Baldwin, b. 9 Jan. 1848, m. 16 Jul. 1874, Catherine Elizabeth Tweed
and d. 16 May 1911 in St. Thomas, Pembina, North Dakota of throat cancer.
[i] “Ontario,
Canada, Deaths 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and Deaths Overseas 1939-1947”, digital
images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 23 Dec
2016), Ellen Baldwin death, #015162, citing Archives of Ontario, MS935, Reel
62.
[ii] “Ontario marriages, 1801-1928”, database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com:
accessed 8 Jun 2014), marriage of Daniel Baldwin and Eleanor Wilson, 3 January
1833, Mountain, citing Archives of Ontario, Series MS248, reel 3.
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