Looking for information on Alexander Fraser (b.1811) and spouse Catherine Hume (b.1827) from Nova Scotia

Question

I am hitting a wall with these two! They were born and married at Nova Scotia and had five children there between 1849 and 1860. Then the family relocated to Ontario, and then again to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Profiles are Fraser-6698 and Hume-1332.

Answer 1

John Fraser     married Sept Eighth In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty Eight In M Branch E River 

James B Fraser, Nova Scotia Births, 1864-1877, 

Mother's Name:	Catherine

John Alexander Fraser,Find A Grave Index

Comments

Thanks David, First I thought "married 1868" is too late for my couple, but when I look at the original document it is 1848, which is about right, as their eldest child Marjory was born in Dec 1847. The Find-a-Grave link is correct and one I am very familiar with - note that in nearly all records John Alexander Fraser is either "Alexander Fraser" or "Alex Fraser".

Now the issues: I don't have a son James B born 2 Dec 1867 listed for the family. But that is ok. So far...

Next, I have the whole family, Alexander and Catherine and including all the children I known of (Marjory, Lachlan, Archibald Norman, Hume, Christina Margaret, and John Alexander - note no James) living at Stanley, Huron South, Canada West (Ontario), in the 1861 Census

They were living in Ontario by 1860 (their youngest son John Alexander was born in Ontario) and so are not the same couple as the one you found in Middle River. They were still at Stanley for the 1871 Census, but moved to Portage La Prairie later in the 1870s.

Thanks much though - I was pretty excited to see this lead! I will keep looking....

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According to your 1861 census, it looks like Alexander (is there a primary source that his name is 'John Alexander'?) and Catherine were married circa 1847, and that they left Nova Scotia to Ontario sometime about 1854-1857.

Civil registration didn't start in Nova Scotia until 1864. I wouldn't expect you to find any records of your Fraser's births or marriages from that source.

There were a lot of Frasers in Pictou County, including along the West Branch, East River (of Pictou).There's no reason to think that the above birth records here have to do with your Fraser family.

Have you found any land record of Alexander settling in Stanley, Ontario? They might say where in Nova Scotia he came from.

Answer 2

According to the censuses, Catherine was born in Nova Scotia. Have you looked much into the Humes in Nova Scotia? A quick search suggests there weren't that many families with that name (there are a lot of Frasers). If you can't find other leads, I'd suggest trying to build out those Hume family trees and see if your Catherine connects into them.

Comments

That is a great idea. Thanks! I will try this.

Another thing is that four of the children except the two oldest, Christina Margaret Fraser and John Alexander Fraser, were born in Nova Scotia. I have checked birth records, but Presbyterian church baptism records might nail down one or more of the children, which would at least give me a Nova Scotia location to work from.

- Marjory N Fraser, Born 18 Dec 1847 in Nova Scotia

- Lachlan Fraser, Born 4 May 1849 in Nova Scotia

- Archibald Fraser, Born 1852 in Nova Scotia

- Hugh Fraser, Born 1854 in Nova Scotia

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The Presbyterian church records in Nova Scotia are to my knowledge not available online. The Nova Scotia archives has microfilms of them, but you need to view them in person.

Both the 1861 and 1871 censuses has Christina born in Ontario. I assume her death record or other later censuses put her birth place in Nova Scotia? I'd be tempted to believe the earlier censuses (more contemporary record) rather than those later records.

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My bad - Christina Margaret and John Alexander both born in Ontario. I edited my previous comment to correct this. Thanks!

Answer 3

Hi Andrew,

I don't know if this is relevant to your question, but there was a Hume family living in Cape Breton in the early 1800s, between Nyanza and Aberdeen, along what is now highway #105.  Google Maps shows the place name  "Humes Rear" for the location.  I can't remember if the 1818 census for the Baddeck area went that far west.

Greg Ross