Alma McKechnie and Robert McKechnie in Alberta

[dan55107]

Relative to my earlier request, I am looking for an Alma McKechnie married to a Robert J McKechnie.  From my earlier request, I learned that the Robert J who married Alma Baumgart in Minneapolis in 1912 had been living in Alberta.  So I looked in Alberta and found a Robert James McKechnie and Alma McKechnie, though buried in different cemeteries.

Alma is in St Mary's Pioneer Cemetery in Calgary.  She died in 1920 at 54 years.  This doesn't match Alma, who was born in Wisconsin in 1883 because she would have been born in about 1866, according to the Alberta record. 

Robert James McKechnie is in the Olds Cemetery in Calgary.  He died in 1965 but no birth date is given.  The Robert J who married in 1912 in Minneapolis was born in about 1879.

I'm wondering if there is any way of getting any further information on those two to find out if they might be the couple who married in Minneapolis in 1912.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

[*Sandra*]

Not sure this will help or not - there is an ancestry tree that shows a Robert James McKechnie passed away October 1965 - High River, Foothills, Alberta, Canada.  No spouse listed but there is a son Allan Leroy McKechnie - says 1918) but that is possibly 1915 passed away 31 October 1977 High River
Calgary Census Division Alberta. (Obituary published in The Calgary Herald on November 1, 1977 Page D1) married to  Luella Alvina Stav McKechnie 1923 - 1981.

The son Allam Leroy McKechnie listed on FIND A GRAVE

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52264300&ref=acom

Sandra

[Jacquie in Canada]

According to the Mosquito Creek roundup : Nanton-Parkland local history book, the Robert who died in 1965 was from Toronto and was 92 when he died so born about 1873. The write-up mentions his wife (no name given) died in 1919. It also mentions the son, Alan (notice the name of one of his daughters listed in the write-up).
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01k6c/

Jacquie

[Abankert]

I just stumbled on this. My Grandfather was the Robert McKechnie that is questioned in this chat. We knew very little about my Grandfather, neither did my father. He said he came from the east...Ontario. But my father never knew any of his relatives nor did my Grandfather even share his birth date. His age at death was a “best guess” from tidbits he had shared. Where did his wife come from, we never knew. Did he marry her in the east or after he moved west? We didn’t know. Grandpa was totally closed about everything. His wife, my Grandmother, Alma, died when my father was very young as did my father’s brother. My Grandfather left my dad in the care of an orphanage and went to work on the railroad. At some point they reunited. I would love to learn more about my dad’s family tree. I was named Alma, after my grandmother. So was Grandpa ever in the United States? Could he be the person you are asking about? We just had only one piece of history and that was his statement that he came from Ontario. I was told my Grandmother was buried in Calgary in a Catholic cemetery because she was in the Holy Cross Hospital in Calgary, run by the nuns, at the time of her death. My Grandfather is buried in Olds because he had bought plots there (I don’t know why he chose Olds) and buried his son there. But I think you had to be Catholic to be buried in a Catholic cemetery and my Grandmother was only introduced to the Catholic faith when she was dying. My Grandfather lived his elder years in High River where we lived. And that is where my father, Allan, died.

[Abankert]

I was re-reading and wondering if Grandma’s death at 54 years was registered correctly? My dad was born in 1915, she passed in 1920. He was only 5 years old and he had a younger brother. That seems very old, especially in that day to be starting a family.

[Abankert]

The Olds cemetery records the son as dying in 1919 so a year prior to his mother.  There is no birth date but my father always said his brother was younger. His name was Donald Dougal McKechnie.

[eileenwilson]

Homestead record for Robert James McKechnie of Portal, North Dakota gives an application date of 1 March 1910 (Section 9, Township 16, Range 9, W4) -- Lethbridge District.  Born Ontario. Aged 32. Last residence was North Dakota.  He had previously abandoned another homestead. Notes he is single at the time.  Due to sickness, it took all his money to cover expenses which is why he had not yet settled on the land (dated December 1910) and he would have to work into 1911 in order to get the money together to allow him to settle the homestead.

By 1913, he is applying for another homestead (Section, 23, Township 25, Range 14, W4). By then, he is 35 years of age, and there is a female, aged 30, and a child under 12 listed on the application (no names).  This would more closely relate to the Alma born in 1883 in Wisconsin in the original posting.  I don't think the Alma who died in 1920 was 54 years of age.

In the 1916 census, there is a Robert McKechnie, married, aged 36, working in Bassano. No sign of wife or child. Working as a contractor.

[eileenwilson]

In the Find-a-Grave entry for Alma, I think the age is 34 and been transcribed incorrectly:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134726736#view-photo=156498132

Robert McKechnie and Alma Baumgart were married in 1912 in Minnesota:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939Z-BKVM-J?i=745&cc=1803974

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-RP3L-WF?i=759&cc=1803974

[Abankert]

This is so exciting and interesting! Yes, my Grandfather lived in Bassano. My father, Allan was born there in 1915. Curious about the child under 12 that was listed in 1913. Thank you for posting your information.