Houlton 1895 Post Card

Jackson falls

These photos were borrowed from a website on the computer for the time being, but I will replace them as soon as I have a chance to go over myself. Jackson Falls is just across the border from our family's property in Littleton Maine on the Meduxnekeag River. As kids, My brother and sister and I guess the rest of the family used to cross the border on foot and arrive at the falls for picnics and a chance to get into the water. Of course now that is impossible unless you are a commando of sorts as the border is so closely guarded.

New Information and previews of coming attractions...

I just happened upon a site for Kingston, New Brunswick lately. In it I found a link to Canadian genealogy that happened to have our Grandmother Day's family traced back a few generations. In fact it is all the way to MY/OUR: GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDPARENTS. Probably they go into the 1780s or 90s. I present that info below.

Then I looked at the Kingston site again and found a link to the local museum. I called there and found Judi and Glen Baxter who have been doing some research for us just out of curiosity. Very generous people there! I think she will be a great asset, and she is a pleasure to talk to. Thanks to both of you for the information so far.

It turns out that there are connections, as you will see, with several towns in the area.

Kars is down river from Hatfield Point where I always assumed we were from. Kars is named for a battle in the Crimean war. Strangely, I have been there in Turkey, though I did not know it till I checked the maps today...Just passing through a few years ago.

We also have connections in Kingston which I will try to sort out soon. Both towns have closer connections to the river than Hatfield Point which is more about Belisle Bay than the Saint John.

This may solve some of the mysteries about living near and crossing over the Saint John from where they had their cabin in the early 1900s.

Judy also mentioned that there was a Day's Landing(If I remember the word correctly).

One ancestor appears to be from Digby, Nova Scotia. It is a pretty town on the Bay of Fundy, well known as a romantic vacation spot.

It is likely that many of these ancestors were Loyalist settlers from the US around the revolution. The Mitchells may also be connected there in the area, though I will still have to work out whether they were from Massachusetts or there in New Brunswick. There are Mitchells in the Kingston area, but are they OUR Mitchells?

FAMILY TREE FROM MY BRANCH

Bill Mitchell 1952 -
Richard Mitchell 1944-
Mary Mitchell 1940-

1. Richard Bruce Mitchell 1905- 1955 = 1.Mary Cafarella 1919-1998

2. William E Mitchell 1874-1942 = 2. Henrietta Day 1876 -1917

William's parents 3.William E Mitchell =3.Maggie Patterson

Henrietta's parents 3.Henry Day 1839-1901=3.Cecelia A. Jones c1846

Cecelia's parents

4. Moses Owens Jones 1810 = 4. Mary Matilda Johnston 1810

Cecelia's grandparents

5. Jesse Jones1771 = 5. Martha Adams1774-c. 1838  and 5. James W Johnston= 5. ?

Jesse's parents
6. Edward Jones Jr.1743-1831 = 6. Eleanor Davis

Edward Jr's parents
Edward Jones = Margaret Trevoe*

Edward's parents
John Jones = Margaret Clayton

Martha Adams' parents
Nathaniel Adams1744-1818 = Mary Owen

Nathaniel's Parents
Samuel Adams = Abigail Reynolds or Lockwood

Samuel's father
John Adams

Mary Owen's parents
Moses Owen = Elizabeth Cornell

Elizabeth's father
Samuel Cornell


* The name Trevoe may be a misspelling or a variation of the Welsh name Trevor.  An R and an E can look quite similar in the lower case, especially with a quill pen.  Trevoe is found in England and Scotland though. 

Henrietta Day Mitchell's genealogy

Henrietta's father was Henry Day. I have a little information on him, but hope to add more soon from other sources.

Henry Day was a House Joiner in Springfield Parish born approx: 1839
Cecilia A. Jones Day born approx: 1845

Daughters in 1881 census:

Ida Day 14 years old
Ema(Emma?) 12
Ellen 10
Mary 8
Blanche 6
Henrietta(spelled Hernatte in the census) 4
Martha 9 mos.

In the next census in 1901 the girls were all gone but there was an 18 year old:

Anna


Her Mother was: Cecelia Ann Jones born in 1846 and married January 25 1866 in Kars,( a town near Kingston see below) King's county New Brunswick)(Here is the source of the story of: The Jones Girls.)

Her Mother's mother was: Mary Matilda Johnston, born in 1810 in Digby, Nova Scotia and died on February 3, 1891.

Her Mother's Father was: Moses Owens Jones born 1810 and married December 28, 1830(Queens county New Brunswick) and died about 1861.

Moses Jones parents were: Jesse Jones b.1771 and Martha Adams b. 1774

Jesse Jones' parents were: Edward Jones Jr. 1743-1831 and Eleanor Davis(Aunt of Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy.)(The Jones family was from Pennsylvania. Loyalists born well before the revolution and was from Bucks Co, PA, and served with Bucks Co. Vol. during the war.)

Edward Jones Junior's parents were Edward Jones and Margaret Trevoe*

Edward's parents were John Jones and Margaret Clayton

Martha Adams' parents were Nathaniel Adams 1744-1818 and Mary Owen

Mary Owen's parents were Moses Owen and Elizabeth Cornell

Elizabeth's Father was Samuel Cornell

Nathaniel Adams' parents were Abigail Reynolds or Lockwood and Samuel Adams

Samuel's Father was John Adams

Mary Johnston's father was James W. Johnston(no details)



* Trevoe may be a misspelling or variation on the Welsh name: Trevor.  The name is found in England and Scotland though.

I know this is hopelessly complicated, but I will put it in standard notation later.  When I started the two posts that are constructed this way, it was much shorter.  I have found a great deal of information just in two days, so it is a real mess.  Let us just say that we are back to the first decade of the 1700s at least on this side of the family....Still searching for Mitchells.



Kars
Kars overlooks Belleisle Bay and was named, following the end of the Crimean War (1853-6) for the defense of Kars, in eastern Turkey, by Sir William Fenwick Williams (1800-1883). General Williams was a native of Annapolis Royal and served as lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. There is a Karsdale on the Annapolis Basin also named for the battle. source: Place Names of Atlantic Canada by William B. Hamilton and Geographical Names of New Brunswick by Alan Rayburn.

The Jones' settled on either side of the Saint John River in Wickham and in Evandale.  Evandale is just above Kars on the west bank.  Wickham is farther up river on the east bank.  The author of the info I got on this thought it was more likely on Spoon Island, north of Kars in mid channel.

My, what varied stories!

Ok....I was told by members of the New Brunswick branch of the family, that Henrietta Day always said that her family was from Newfoundland. This is not really a good thing in some ways because "Newfies" are the butt of jokes in Canada.

In discussing Mitchell origins by email with John Mitchell, he related the following:

"Grandmother Day I was told was descended from Dutch loyalists who migrated to St. John after the American Revolution. Most of the people in St. John (as you know) are descended from Dutch and English Loyalists who left New York and moved to Canada to stay in the British Empire." (In fact I did not know about the Dutch part John.)

The Ross children were under the impression that the Mitchells were originally from Canada, but their information was sketchy and based on the fact that Uncle Everett(their grandfather) was brought up there.

All of my research shows that the Mitchells were from Massachusetts originally, but since I cannot get beyond the placing of our grandfather in the orphange, that is still up in the air.

In discussing all this with my sister, she stated that she remembered our father saying that the Mitchells left Virginia during the revolution as Loyalists and moved to Canada. This is interesting because I just yesterday spoke to a William Everett Mitchell whose ancestors were from Virginia. This also was a hotbed of Mitchell activity tracing back to the first dozen years of English immigration to America...One Experience Mitchell being one of those who first came here from England.

Then I got this from John:
This is even more confusing because as my father always implied that the Mitchells were descended from people who came from Scotland by way of Nova Scotia and later moved down to New England. Also, he always implied was that the Maritime connection was what brought grand Pa and Grand Ma together. I think the solution to the riddle is in St. John somewhere Or maybe Halifax.

Then we have this from John:
Nobody's from Newfoundland, or if anybody was, they wouldn't admit it. The Mitchell story as I understood it was connected to the displacement of the Acadians by the Scots after the French ceded Acadia to England in the 1740s as part of a treaty to end one of the many French and Anglo wars of that century, The deal was that the Acadians would be rounded up and shipped to Louisiana and the English would be able to resettle the area with whom ever. The Brits gave the place to the Scots.


If I have enough lifetimes, I may be able to figure this out. Then what?

I have found this crest in a number of similar forms. The red figures on the central band are new to me but the rest is familiar.

An interesting Mitchell link.

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/surnames/mitchell

Know Thyself

Gnothi Seuton - Chilon the Spartan