152 years ago today: my gg grandmother only made one appearance in the records

Question

I keep wondering how it could be that in 1869 in a record-keeping country (Canada) in a cultured city (Montreal), my gg grandmother only made one cameo in the records, when she got married 152 years ago today.  She should still have been alive 2 years later for the 1871 census, since her daughter was born in 1873-74.  She somehow evaded the enumerator in 1851 and 1861 as well!   And she was neither born nor baptized nor buried!! How can it be?

Desperately seeking Theresa!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Shirlea

Comments

who is the Mary Grant who signs on her marriage?

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I don't know yet!  I looked for her for a long time, but only found reasons to think the candidates i found weren't the same person.  

For example, there is this Mary who witnessed another wedding, but her signature is not very similar: https://www.ancestry.ca/sharing/26931380?h=eab6d0&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url.  I think she is Mary Nina (Grant) Sparling http://sites.rootsweb.com/~jksparling/d0065/f0006579.html

Likewise with the other witness, John Brown.

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There doesn't seem to be any direct connection with the witnesses to Thomas's brother's wedding a year and a half earlier.  I didn't chase them as hard, assuming they were Andrew's comrades in arms.

https://www.ancestry.ca/sharing/26931353?h=37c534&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url

Answer 1

This is quite the puzzle, isn't it. 

It's interesting her husband is missing in the 1871 census as well. 

It's a shame the handwriting in their marriage record is so difficult to read. I would offer to go through the records around the time of their daughters birth to see if there is a burial record, but I worry I'll just give myself a massive headache :)

Have you found any records for her parents? Is it possible their names are incorrect? My great grandfather's mother died when he was 5 and his father had been sent to Australia (for theft of £2 worth of fabric) in 1890, so the children were sent to orphanages. The kids all used the wrong names for their parents when they were married, and on death records. Most of them remembered their mother's first name was Annie, but their Dad's name was often the name of one of their older brothers. It was really difficult to put that family story together :)

Anyway, I know this is a long shot (a big stretch, actually) but I wonder if it's possible her name was reported as Hester A Marsh instead of Theresa in 1851 living with Abram Marsh (not Alfred) an Innkeeper in Prince Edward Island.

* "1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia" Year: 1851; Census Place: Prince Edward, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C-11750; Page: 9; Line: 45, Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1061 #1212795 (accessed 1 January 2022) Hester A Marsh in Prince Edward, Canada West (Ontario), Canada. Born in Canada.

Also, is it possible she died shortly after the birth of Mary Janet in 1874 in St. Anne? The baptism doesn't say the mother was alive, or not. But, a full year between birth and baptism seems unusual. And the fact that the mother's name was recorded as "Mary Marsh" instead of "Theresa Adelaide Marsh" does make me question her presence at the baptism.

If so, maybe searching the St. Anne church burial records on or about June 14, 1874 would lead to something? 

Or do you think the family were making their way west & she died before arriving in Winnipeg which is how she ended up being raised by the Whites? Records were more spotty in that area in the 1870's, especially if they were travelling at the time. 

Comments

Thank you, Loralee!  

Yes, her husband is also missing. He might, however, be the Thomas Sword referenced in the 1870 Lovell's city directory as living at 183 Centre Street. 

 Lovell's Directories [1] 1870-1871 page 444  ↑ https://stevemorse.org/montreal/montreal2.html

If so, that is the last time he has been spotted in the records using his LNAB.  By 1878 he is marrying again, in Goderich, using his middle name (which is also his mother's family name) as his surname.  This might have something to do with being a deserter from the British Army, or it might just have been easier (for him, not for me, since Robertson is a very common name).

He seems to have stayed in touch with Aunt Mary White, at least enough for her to know that he had started using Robertson instead of Sword as his family name.  My grandfather knew that Robertson was his mother's maiden name.

Thomas may have been related to Aunt Mary White, though i haven't found the exact link. They both have MacDonald ancestors.   Thomas' brother Andrew married a girl from the Glengarry community, however, so maybe she found Aunt Mary White to take in the toddler.  

(Mary) Theresa Marsh might have been less connected to the Glengarry community.  Or, she may have come from there, and fancied her name up a bit herself.  She might really be just Mary or Mary Theresa, with Adelaide being her own fanciful addition.  

I believe that the time lapse in getting the baby christened might have something to do with Aunt Mary White being Roman Catholic.  As you know, in those days the churches did not accept each other's sacraments.  If little Janet had been christened already, it would have to be done again to make her a Catholic.

The children of Thomas' second marriage knew about the child of his first marriage, but Janet and Edgar died so young and my grandfather ran away from his uncle so young that if he had been told he had uncles and aunts on his mother's side, he didn't remember.  

I have tried to look through the church registers in Montreal and the whole 1871 census, looking for either Sword or Robertson, and I haven't seen them yet.  I also think it is interesting that little Janet was born about 1874 when Thomas and Theresa married in 1869.  There should be an older child, even if it died young.

Thanks so much for being a fresh pair of eyes....

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Excellent points. It's quite likely the baptism was the formal conversion to the Catholic church. I did a bit of an extra search looking for another child born to the marriage, but if he/she was baptized at a non-catholic church as well, it's quite likely we don't have access to it yet.

Could they have been in the US during those early years? (1869-1874)

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yes, they could easily have been in Canada during the US census and in the US during the Canadian census.  Just my luck!

Actually i should not complain.  I've been chasing this family line since i was a teenager, half a century ago.  I had begun to believe that Thomas and Theresa were completely mythical, made up by Aunt Mary White when asked for names for Janet's marriage registration.  I developed an hypothesis that Janet was Aunt Mary's own love child or a close relative, and, figuring she would have had her baptized whatever the story was, i read thru the entire parish register...somehow the entry had not been indexed usefully,  Likewise with that 1869 wedding - the groom's name had been indexed as Levard, even though there is an index at the back of the register which groups it with the 'S's.  So actually there have been some instances of luck being on my side...hoping for another break! Thanks for looking into it!

Cheers

Shirlea