St. Ambrose Church marriage records, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia - MILLER, William A.

[LindaM500]

I am looking for a marriage record for William A. Miller & Deborah Jane Clements (she usually went just by the name of Jane) who most likely married at St. Ambrose Church, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia around 1882-1883. Their first child was born in 1884 & both parents were still single in 1881. I am particularly interested in finding out the precise date as well as any information it contains about their respective parents.

Thanks very much!
Linda

[lilybell]

Hi Linda,
I checked for a record of a marriage for William and Jane but to no avail. Maybe another Rootschatter can find them.

I did find some other information from 1901 census Yarmouth Nova Scotia on Automated Genealogy
William Miller b July 8 1860
Jane Miller b May 10 1868
Alfred b Sept 6 1884
Clara b Aug 10,1886
Annie b Jan 10,1888
Catherine b July 16 1890
Eva b March 15, 1894
Eliza b March 16,1897
James b Sept. 16,1900

From 1911 Census for Yarmouth Nova Scotia
All the above with the exception of Clara
Plus Lottie b Dec.1902
Harry b March 1905
Donald b Dec. 1907
A very large family.

Nova Scotia Canada Marriage 1763-1935

Clara Miller married Frank Smith
June 29,1910
Married by banns 3 preceding Sundays
Occupation of groom Seaman could not make our Clara's occupation
Father of bride William Miller Foundryman
Witnesses Alfred and Annie Miller

Catherine S Miller married Joseph H Sweeny
June 24,1914
Yourmouth NS
By banns Brides parents William and Jane Miller
Witnesses Alex Sweeny and Eva Miller

James William Miller married Cora E White
Jan.3 1927
Amherst, Cumberland
Occupation Miner
Groom religion Catholic
Groom's father William Miller Grooms mother Jane Clements
They were married in the United Church of Canada

Check out this website www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nsyarmou/cemeteries.htm
for burial records of William A Miller and Donald D Miller and Harry


Lilybell

[LindaM500]

Hi Lilybell,

Thanks for going to all that trouble. You have indeed found the right family with all of those sources. Now, what I need is to find out the names of the parents of William A. Miller & any clues there might be as to their origins. My family's recollection doesn't spread to that generation and the census returns & BMD records in both Massachusetts & with the Nova Scotia Archives have huge gaps at the critical time periods. Some background information follows...

William & his twin brother Charles were born in Hyannis or Hyannis Port, Mass. around 1858 according to the 1881 Canadian census return for Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Death records for William's children confirm this birth location as well although no 2 of his records give the same birth date. Charles & William may have been living with their mother in 1881 (could equally be another family member as I have no BMD records to firmly connect them). William's death record does not list his parents' names & I don't have enough information about Charles to link him to any census returns or BMD records in Nova Scotia. A marriage record in 1868 for Joseph & Elizabeth Evans (the couple with whom they were living in 1881) suggests that Elizabeth was previously widowed from a man with the surname of Miller (no first name) - the timing suggests that this was probably Charles & William's mother. William's marriage record is my critical link to confirm this hypothesis. Elizabeth's parents' surname in her second marriage record is completely illegible although the first names are Clement & Jane. I have exhausted all online information now (census returns for Nova Scotia & Massachusetts, BMD records at the Nova Scotia Archives & in Massachusetts, online Yarmouth Herald newspapers, online history books about Yarmouth County & directories) so the only thing left now is to search the original church records. Both William & Jane (and Elizabeth Evans) were Catholic & lived in Yarmouth. My grandfather (one of William's sons) attended St. Ambrose as a child so my best guess is that the original record will be held by that church. Elizabeth may or may not have married Miller in Yarmouth although she was born there. I half expect that marriage record to show up in the St. Ambrose records as well - some time in the 1850s is the most likely time frame. They appear to have moved to Cape Cod at some point but Elizabeth was certainly back in Yarmouth by 1867 - there was a letter waiting for her at the Post Office in Yarmouth according to one of the Yarmouth Herald newspapers of the time. If the two other Miller boys living with the Evans couple in 1881 were Charles & William's brothers, I'd hazard a guess that Elizabeth was widowed around 1866-1867. Again, I haven't found a death record in either Mass. or NS. I don't know if she returned to NS before or after she was widowed. Joseph Evans' children by a previous marriage were living with the couple in 1871 but there is no sign of any of her children in any census returns (NS & Mass.) before 1881.

William's marriage record would also confirm that I have the right family in the census records for Deborah Jane Clements. I've found several variations of her name & her mother's name throughout the records so I'd like to make sure that I'm not inadvertently combining multiple families. As with William's records, her birth dates are not consistent between records & there are numerous Clements families so I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Any help anyone can shed on this is most appreciated. Again, thanks for what you have done Lilybell - it certainly helps to set the scene.

Linda

[aghadowey]

Ages in the census can be slightly off- delayed birth registration (1951) gives daughter Eva Ella Miller as born 22 Oct.1893 according to her mother's affidavit and baptismal certificate (29 Oct.1893) agrees with the date.
William A. Miller died 1913 Yarmouth- death registration gives age as 54 (born 1859) and birthplace as Cape Cod.

Since you have an idea where marriage might have taken place if might be worth contacting St. Ambrose's to ask if there is any record of it. Also, don't rule out Boston as a possible venue for the wedding- there was a steady steam of people from Yarmouth/South Shore going back and forth to and from Boston (my grandmother's family from Queens County used to go shopping in Boston taking train and then boat rather than taking the train up to Halifax).

[aghadowey]

You've posted while I was typing the above but William's widow Deborah was married to a Ross and living in New Brunswick by 1951. Perhaps looking for details of her 2nd marriage would list her parents.

[aghadowey]

Looking at the marriage for Joseph Evans & Elizabeth Miller her parents are listed as Clement (a farmer) & Jane- surname is hard to read but looks something like Moul_ing which is possibly a version of Moulaison (Moulasing, Mulesong, Mouleson, Mouwlesonm, Moulisong, Melazeon, Mollison, Moulaisson, etc.).

[valeriec]

BMD's that are available online and dates available at
www.novascotiagenealogy.com

Yarmouth County Museum and Archives
http://yarmouthcountymuseum.ednet.ns.ca/resources.html
They may know where to find the records that you are looking for. They also have access to old newspapers, etc.

www.stambroseyarmouth.ca/
Catholic Church, buuilt in 1862, first named All Saints Church and later changedto St. Ambrose Church

According to Nova Scotia archives, the parish records for Yarmouth county are in a vault in former Bishop's Residence, Park St, Yarmouth.

I would contact St. Ambrose directly to see if they can help with your search.

[aghadowey]

Still searching, rechecking, etc. Following the Joseph Evans/Elizabeth Miller couple-
"A marriage record in 1868 for Joseph & Elizabeth Evans (the couple with whom they were living in 1881) suggests that Elizabeth was previously widowed from a man with the surname of Miller (no first name) - the timing suggests that this was probably Charles & William's mother." and "Elizabeth's parents' surname in her second marriage record is completely illegible although the first names are Clement & Jane." and "Joseph Evans' children by a previous marriage were living with the couple in 1871 but there is no sign of any of her children in any census returns (NS & Mass.) before 1881."

1871 Census- Yarmouth:
Joseph Evans, 47, South Wales, Church of England, labourer
Elizabeth Evans, 47, N.S., Catholic
David H. Evans, 19, U.S., Catholic
Kate Evans, 11, N.S., Catholic
Robert Evans, 9, N.S., Catholic
James A. Evans, 7, N.S., Catholic

1891 Census- South End, Yarmouth:
Joseph Evans, (no age given), Wales, Salvation Army, bill poster
wife Elizabeth Evans, 67, N.S., Catholic, father- England mother- N.S.

1901 census- neither Joseph nor Elizabeth listed in Yarmouth district.

[LindaM500]

Thank you everyone for showing so much interest in my lookup request. Everything you have suggested so far is how I built my picture of this family to date. There have been so many contradictions in these records that I have come to the conclusion that I really need to find the marriage record for William A. Miller & Deborah Jane Clements in the actual parish records before I can go any further so I will send a request to St. Ambrose as suggested here.

You'll laugh when you see what I learned from Jane's records... My family only ever knew her as Jane but several documents bear her signature written as Deborah Jane. This came as a complete surprise to my mother & her sisters. In my baby book, it says her surname was Isner. Although this also shows up in a death record for one of her children, her surname has been most consistently given as Clements. I believe I've found her as Jane & also Jeanette Clements in census returns with her mother who is sometimes Mary, Ann, Anne M., etc. Her mother's name  has also been Smith, Doucette, Clements & Ann Bond Smith depending on the record. BMD records have not appeared online for her or her husband Simon Clements, from whom I descend so these other records need to be confirmed through original parish records. I know she must have been married to Joseph Doucette prior to Simon Clements from records for their son & daughter. The first that I encountered the Bond name was in Jane's death record in New Brunswick, That was filled out by her second husband whose name turns out to be Levan Ross - my family always called him Pat so again this came as quite a surprise. As for Jane's mother, her age varies by 10 or more years between records so you can understand why I am keen to find actual parish records!

Some more of the story regarding William A. Miller... My family thinks his father came from Scotland. I think it is the 1891 census return where I found a Robert Miller living next door to Joseph & Elizabeth Evans. He may be one of Charles & William's brothers who were living with the Evans couple in 1881. His age is a bit out but the coincidence of living next door is making me wonder this. His father is supposed to have been born in Prussia but I haven't ruled him out because so much other information to do with this family has been all over the map.

So, if any of you actually live in Yarmouth, NS, & happen to be doing some research at the Yarmouth Museum (the parish records may reside there as well) I'd be most grateful if you were able to look up the marriage record for William A. Miller & Deborah Jane Clements for me. I live in England so it isn't possible for me to get there easily. Meanwhile, I'll try to contact St. Ambrose Church directly & will let you know if I have any success there.

Many thanks for all of your help,
Linda