Hi SED:
I got the notes that have been passed down and not too surprisingly my memory is not nearly what it used to be, (as expected, I managed to get a few details wrong). It has been a few years since I've picked through this material... That is my excuse and I am sticking to it. ;-J
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John Currie lived in Kirkcudbrightshire Scotland in (b.1790) "but was believed to be part English".
Margaret McCartney was born in Scotland in 1790 and died Feb. 19, 1871 at 81 years of age. She was from somewhere in the highlands and came from a well to-do family with one sister and one brother.
Six of their children were born in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. After John's death she moved with her family of 7 sons and 2 daughters to to Carluke, Lancashire.
George - Stayed in Scotland and had a family. One daughter Joann may have gone to Australia.
Thomas - Died in Scotalnd a young man, unmarried.
William - Died in Scotland a young man, unmarried.
Jessie - Married John Bosomworth
John - Born 1819 - Died Feb. 20th 1856. Married Margaret LinkLater (from Parish of Bersay on the Isle of Pamona in the Orkneys). John died 3 weeks after their wedding from influenza. Maggie and her son John Jr. went to live with her father John LinkLater, a tailor, (b.1797 - d.1878), who was also buried in the Bluevale cemetary.
James - d. 1854 Died in Guelph Township unmarried.
David - 1831/32 - 1866. Married Ann Cornyn.
Robert - Nov. 15, 1829, (Parish of Balmaclellan) - May 14 1910 (Bluevale cemetary). Married Ann LinkLater (May 3, 1834 - Oct. 10, 1905). He was 20 when the family moved to Canada. It was apparently he that located and purchased the 200 acres of land in East Wawanosh in 1853 on behalf of the 4 brothers. Unfortunately James died that winter (probably as you said, while working the roads?). In the spring of 1854 the three surviving brothers settled permanently on their new land. Robert was the first elected councillor in 1857 and later went on to become Reeve. He returned to Scotland twice in 1876 and 1886.
Mingus/Menzies - Taught grammar school in Alma. Buried in Elora cemetary.
In 1849 they settled in Guelph Township, near Elora, Ont. and in 1853 the brothers bought land in East Wawanosh at $2.00/acre, settling permanently there in 1854. There were no other settlers there, the country was little but a dense forest, but in the fall of 1854, a Mr. Thompson arrived in the area. Three years after the Currie brothers arrived, the site for the Town of Wingham was surveyed. The first settlers of Wingham proper being the Cornyn families. David Currie married Ann Cornyn an native of Ireland, considered to be the first white woman in Wingham.
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I've got some other snippets lurking around, but that's all I have in "the book" regarding the first two generations. Actually there is much more, in fact I now see that you and your family are listed in there too. Btw: A belated, happy 35th anniversary. ;-J My folks, whom you likely know (JAC and AC) also have a book on the history of E. Wawanosh that has some additional tidbits. "The Book" also mentions where the original family Bible and letters were handed down to, but this is not a good place to get into that.
As for pushing back that brick wall a few more generations? I've been trying for years without much luck. I found some of the birth/baptism records from Scotland, but that is about all. So I've been trying to attack it from the other end of history. Part of the key and facination is to understand the life, times and events of each generation. Speaking of which I also have a copy of young John Jr's diary, which is an interesting read about pioneering in Huron County. Maybe we could tag team? You go high, I'll go low. ;-J Maybe if we could track down some of George's decendants we might catch that big break we are looking for, (which I thought for a while there I had finally stumbled upon) <
As for the reunion. If I was there, I don't remember it. I would have been pretty young then.
Cheers, and good luck with the new knee.
JKC