John Robertson (1818 - 1901)

Born 4 Feb 1818 in Bridgeton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 25 Jan 1901 at age 82 in Lot 5 Con 8, Lavant Township, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: al Reid [send private message]

Biography

Let's start with the "Scotch" of Scotch Jock. How was he gifted with this special name? It couldn't have been to identify him as different from his Lavant neighbour, the other John Robertson, as they were both born in Scotland. Nor could it have been to set him apart from any of the other Lanarkians, who were overwhelmingly Scots themselves. Perhaps in his school days n Hopetown, Lanark twp, he was one of a number of 'Johns' of whom the others were Irish or English. But granted, the English and Irish would never have been called 'Jock' in the first place, that being a peculiarly Scottish moniker. There is no evidence that he was a renowned whisky drinker, although by the 1840s over 200 distilling licences had been registered in Canada. However, 'no evidence' does not mean 'no likelihood'. It is a mystery that keeps me up at night.

WHAT THE CENSUS SAYS

1842 Census- Scotch Jock is not found in this census. Nor were the McInnes or Browning families who both presumably settled in the Lavant area around the same time. Curious. Were they just too far out in the bush for the census taker to find them?

1851 Census-Scotch Jock, 33, Jean (or Jane) McInnes, 23 and Jock's older brother Robert, 42, are homesteading on Robertson Lake in Lavant. Robert is learning disabled. Robert died before the next census. Note that Jock and Jean are unmarried. It was also an agricultural census and this is what he reported that his 100 acre farm produced the year before: 44 acres were cleared and 56 was bush; 14 cleared acres had been planted and 30 acres were pasture; he yielded 15 bushels of wheat off 3 acres and 10 acres of oats yielded 230 bushels; he had an acre of potatoes, yielding 250 bushels; he managed to get 27 tons (wow) of hay; his 10 sheep gave him 40 lbs of wool which was more than most of his sheep farming neighbours produced, but his 150 lbs of maple sugar was less than most; he did no weaving unlike many of his neighbours; he had 4 milk cows which got him 150 lbs of butter; he barreled a 100 lbs (one cwt) of beef and 2 hundred weight of pork; though he lived on Robertson Lake, he cured no fish, though the Northern Pike and Small and Largemouth bass undoubtedly were plentiful.

1861 Census- Scotch Jock, 42, Jean Robertson (pretending to be married) 32, now have a growing family of daughters: Jessie,8, Anne,6, and Spencer,2 and are living in their log cabin, having been built, he says, in 1840. So I believe it is the same property as in 1851 but the close neighbours are different, many of the in between lots having been bought up. The school master lives close by.

1871 Census- Scotch Jock, 53, and Jean McInnes, 43, are living with their 4 daughters JESSIE 18, (my great grandmother), Annie 17, Spencie (Spencer),11, and Mary, 9. And who do you think is living 3 farms away? My other great grandmother MAGGIE BARR,12, with her parents James and Anne Barr and their other 8 children.

1881 Census- Scotch Jock, 63 and Jane (now not Jean) 53, their daughter Spencer, 21 and a hired man Robert Horn 23, remain on his land in Lavant. In his will (see below) he gives a Thomas Horn, a nephew, $100. So this hired man may too be a nephew. And who do you think lives right next door (who knows, really, how far away this is) but another GREAT GRANDFATHER of mine ROBERT REID, the boarding house keeper and his wife, Jessie, the eldest daughter of Jock and Jean. And there, at one year old, is the son of Robert and Jessie (or Janet as she is also called), Robert, or BOB as he was better known as, MY GRANDFATHER. And Bob's future mother in law, MAGGIE BARR, 21, (see above-1871) is yet only another few farms away. In 1876 their last daughter, Mary, has died.

1891 Census- Scotch Jock, 73 and Jean, 64, now reverted back to Jane McInnes, live with their daughter Spencer,31 and her husband James Ellis, 33, the hired man. They remain where they have lived--Lot 5, Concession 8, Lavant twp--for 40 years. Still, on a nearby farm, live James and Anne Barr, who have living with them their daughter Maggie Barr and her 3 year old daughter out of wedlock, MINNIE BARR, my GRANDMOTHER..

On 25 Jan 1901, Scotch Jock died of a stroke (aged 82) at Lot 5, Concession 8, Lavant twp

On 22 Sep 1906 (aged 79) Jane McInnes died at Lot 5, Concession 8, Lavant twp. She was listed then as "single"

Taken and edited from John Reid's entry on Scotch Jock Robertson in the Reid/condie tribal pages website:

John was a staunch Conservative. At about the same time, the Browning family settled by Robertson Lake (named after him). *though, as there were other Robertsons living at the lake, it may not be necessarily so that it was named after him specifically.

Born February 4, 1818 in Bridgeton, Barony, Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1820, his parents settled near Hopetown, Lanark, Lower Canada, where they lived for several years. In 1836, John, as an 18 year old, moved to farm Lot 5 Concession 8 Lavant Twp., settling on the borders of what is now Robertson's Lake. Scotch Jock's farm house is where the 'mound' is today in the field near the ball park. John married* Jane McInnis in 1839 (though maybe not) and raised five daughters: Jessie, Annie, Spencer, Mary Elizabeth and Agnes Cumming. John purchased in Dec 28, 1867, the east 1/2 Lot 5 Con 8 Lavant Twp. and in 1881, the west 1/2 of Lot 5. John was stricken with apoplexy and passed away January 25, 1901. Jane died September 22, 1906. Both are buried at White's Cemetery, Poland, Lanark County Ontario.

WILL of John Robertson: Source: Copy Book of Lanark County Wills, Algonquin College, Perth, Ont. Abstract: Michael Umpherson

John Robertson. Will # 480. Entered/Registered 8 June 1901 2:30 pm. Died Jan. 25, 1901. Will was read 26 Feb. 1901. Gilbert Watson White and John Machan Browning, Executors. Will dated June 27, 1899.

To Spencer Ellis, wife of James Ellis and daughter of Jean McInnis, my Housekeeper, all real estate Lot 5, Concession 8, Lavant 140 acres. West Half Lot 6, Con. 6, Lavant. Chattels and Farm Implements. $200.00 To Jean McInnis my Housekeeper: all my household effects. $400.00. Also a home and keep during her lifetime. To Jessie Reid, wife of Robert Reid and daughter of my Housekeeper Jean McInnis: $2200.00 To Annie Paul, wife of Moses B. Paul and daughter of my Housekeeper Jean McInnis: $2200.00 To Thomas Horn, nephew: $100.00 To Spencer Majaury, niece, wife of William Majaury: $100.00 To Margaret Henderson, niece, wife of William Henderson: $100.00 To Jessie Reid, wife of William Reid: $100.00 To Frederick Paul, son of Moses B. Paul: $100.00 To John Reid, son of Robert Reid: $100.00 All the residue of my estate and herein before disposed of, I give, devise and bequeath unto Jessie Reid, wife of Robert Reid, Spencer Ellis, wife of James Ellis and Annie Paul, wife of Moses B. Paul and daughters of my Housekeeper Jean McInnis to share and share alike.

I nominate and appoint Gilbert W. White of the Township of Dalhousie and John M. Browning, Township of Lavant as Executors. (signed)

John Robertson (signed).

Examined 11 June 1901 certified a true copy. M. S. Anderson Deputy Registrar, Lanark County.

(the $5600 he left in his will would be worth over $141,000 in 2023)

Death Notes Perth Courier Feb. 8, 1901: On Friday last, Mr. Jno Robertson passed away at his residence in Lavant Twp. He was taken sick on the Thursday of the week previous and on the Thursday following, was stricken with apolexy, resulting in death on Friday. Deceased would have been 83 on Feb.4th. Immigration Notes Arrived with his parents, at the age of two, John and Janet in 1820 on the ship Commerce.

As told to me, Al Reid, by my father, Ross Reid: Two of our "grand" people were never married. The story goes that whenever the minister made his way to their area the woman was pregnant and it would be unseemly to not be already married so they just made out like they were......It is interesting that only in one census does she call herself Mrs Robertson.

One thing that sets him apart from all our other ancestors is the number of physical contacts he had with these ancestors: these ancestors who still reside in segments of DNA held in every cell of our living bodies. "Our" being my cousins and I and our children and grandchildren. Let me start from the beginning of his 79 year existence:

-the Robertson vector goes without saying

-but then there is the Smith line through his mother, our great great great grandmother Jannet Smith

-as Jannet Smith was born in Lanark Scotland, it is very conceivable Jock was, as a wee bairn, bounced on the knee of Jannet's mother sometime in the 2 years before they immigrated to Canada. Unfortunately, without resubscribing to a website giving me access to the British census records, i as yet do not know this great great great great grandmother's name.

-the McInnes line, intimately, through his partner in homesteading and mother of his children, (if never his wife) Jane McInnes.

-and maybe Jane McInnes' own mother scolded him for not tying the knot with her daughter. Who knows? But it is another vector.

-he likely pulled or burned the odd stump with his neighbour farmer, James Barr, another great great grandfather. I can imagine great grandma Maggie Barr as a child, peering from around the corner of the log cabin, as her father shared a pipe on the path with Scotch Jock.

-in 1881 his very neighbour is his son-in-law, our great grandfather Robert Reid, the boarding house keeper, married to his daughter Jessie, our great grandmother

-I'd like to think that our grandfather Bob Reid, living with his parents at the boarding house,and who was Scotch Jock's grandchild, once sat on Jock's knee and was treated to a wee bit of maple syrup off his finger; similar to how, my mom says, grandpa Bob gave me small spoons of white sugar when i was infant. That is my fantasy personal connection to great great grandpa Jock.

Sources

Canada and British Censuses and Reid/Condie Tribal Pages