Any Brilliant RCers in Ottawa?

[nickgc]

Here is a problem that has been driving me mad for 20 years:  by all accounts my grandfather and 2 sibs were born in Schreiber, Ontario between 1891 and 1895.  I have been unable to find birth records for any one of them.

The last name is McLellan, with all the problems that brings (Mc/Mac; Clellan - several Nova Scotia records have them as Mc/MacLennan - etc.)

My gpa is born on various records either 1891, 1892, or 1893;  on 1900 Washington State census he is "Duncan W. O"; in 1910 he appears 3 times as Osborne, age 17 and 18, once with family, once as head of house with a boarder, and once at a logging camp.  A mid-July birthdate is fairly consistent (15th).  In 1920  Seattle (census done Jan) he is age 26.  His June 5, 1917 WWI Draft Reg. Card has dob as July 15th, 1891 with the 1 lightly scratched out and replace with "2"; age is listed as 25.  No matter how you look at it this is bad arithmetic.

Here is info on his 2 siblings born Schreiber: 

Reuben R. (I've seen it spelled "Ruben") born July 1893, but a bit suspect since his death cert gives "July 15" same date as my gpa.

Ruth G born Nov 1895.

Parents were John James McLellan and Margaret Greer.

If anyone has any ideas on how to find a birth registration for at least one of these I will be most appreciative.

Regards,

Nick

[polarbear]

Hello Nick,

Have had a look at the Ontario birth records and drawn a blank no matter what approach I took. It looks like they are either not  there or are extremely well hidden.

I did, however, find the parents' marriage. Do you have that record?

Have you tried looking for parish baptismal records? The parents stated at their marriage that their religion was Presbyterian so the contact info below might prove helpful in case you don't already have it.

In Schreiber....this church was established as St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in 1885......

St Andrew's United Church
Box 163
Schreiber, Ontario P0T 2S0

Presbyterian Archives......

Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives
50 Wynford Drive
Toronto, Ontario M3C 1J7

Archivist's email.....  karnoldatpresbyterian.ca (sub @ for the at)......(assuming the website is up to date)

Have also sent you a PM.

Regards,
polarbear

[nickgc]

Polarbear,

Wow!  You found JJ McLellan's and Margaret Greer's marriage!  That is fantastic and I would love to know what you found.

I will definitely contact the Presbyterian Archives people.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Nick

[JDC]

hi Polarbear,

I was going to suggest the same as Nick in contacting the church for birth and christening records in Scrieber. You may also want to contact the Town of Schrieber for any records as well - particularly if the any of then had property there (tax roles etc.). I found some on school (attendance, etc) records for a lady that was looking for people that were living in our town back in the early 1900s (northern Ontario aw well :-) when I was going through some old documents in the local library basement. She just happened to write our genealogy club for familiy info at the right time.  Hope this helps.

JDC

[polarbear]

Hi again Nick,

Glad I was able to find somethting for you 

Marriage record for........

John James McLellan
Age 27
Residence when married....Schreiber
Place of birth....Pictou, N. S. (Nova Scotia)
Batchelor
Rank or Profession....Car Inspector
Parents....Duncan and Catherine McLellan

Margaret Greer
Age 18
Residence when married....Schreiber
Place of birth....Portland, Main (?) (looks like Main without the 'e' although US Census says Massachusetts ?,  assuming I found the correct family there)
Spinster
Parents....William John and Bella Greer

Witnesses....Albert James Holmes and Mary Watford, both of Schreiber

Date....11 Decr 1891
At Schreiber but no church mentioned
Religious Denomination for both parties is Presbyterian
License
Officiant  Rev William Evans

From Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1857-1924.

Good luck with the Presbyterian Archives. Please let us know what happens.

Regards,
Polarbear

[nickgc]

One thousand thanks Polarbear.  May I ask where this was found (online/printed index, etc)?

This short, but important, record should lead me to a lot of info that I have been pursuing on and off for many years.

1) I can quit looking for Margaret Greer in Massachusetts (from censuses and death cert);  I very recently found her younger brother's birth there and was flummoxed that I didn't find her.

2) John James being a 'car inspector' implies he was working for the railroad which was one of my three or four conjectures.

3)  Margaret being 18 yo in Dec 1891 implies the Nov 1874 birth in some records should probably be 1873.

A bonus is to know that they referred to her late mother, Isabella Chisholm (died 1881), as "Bella".

The Reverend's name might enable me to isolate which church.

I presume I will be able to buy a copy of the actual marriage cert if I like?

I am grateful and will keep you posted.

Regards,

Nick

[JDC]

Hi Nick,

I travel that way periodically and Schrieber is a small town (about 1000 people I think) close to Terrace Bay, both lumber/mining and rail  towns along the north shore of Lake Superior. Here is a link for the churches in town - one Anglican, Catholic, United, and the last baptist.

http://www.schreiber.ca/?pgid=44

The United Church archives are at University College in downtown Toronto and I suspect the others are in Toronto too.

If you go to http://www.canada411.ca/ you will likely find the local churches there too.

They could have have gone to church in Terrace Bay, which is a bit bigger town,

Hope this helps

JDC

[polarbear]

Hello again,

You are most welcome, Nick.

The information was from ancestry.ca. They have indexed the Ontario birth, marriage, and death registration records and I think you can view the index for free but must have a sub to view the image of the record.

These records are also available on the ancestry library edition if you are near a library that subscribes to this.

Have sent a PM.

Regards,
Polarbear

[jeffster]

U perked my ears when you said something about Pictou County.

There is a John J. McLellan born 1864 in Pictou county from here

http://www.novascotiagenealogy.com

Cheers

Jeff