Allan McDonald of Nova Scotia

[Neko]

my ancestors were Allan McDonald, son of Archibald and Margaret McDonald, and Sarah McPhail, daughter of Donald McPhail and Mary McAskill.
I have this information on them, but much of it is tentative and/or undocumented. any filling in of the family would be wonderful.

Allan McDonald
b. abt 1812 N. Uist (?)
d. 16 Mar 1871Cow Bay-tombstone errected at Black Brook, NS
m. date and place unknown
Sarah McPhail
b. abt 1824 Harris (?) Scotland
d. 13 Sep 1907-tombstone errected at Black Brook, NS
they had several children. I think I got their names out of a letter or note from my grandmother or grandfather, but I've been going through the family papers and haven't found it again, yet.
children;
Margaret McDonald-is she the wife of Donald MacVicar b. 1820 N. Uist? can anyone prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt?

Mary McDonald b. Jul 1847, River Dennys, m. Sandy McAuley

Archie nothing known, maybe living in N. Sidney in 1881?

Allan died in an explosion on the docks around Sidney Mines

John nothing known

Donald b. abt 1857, d. 18 Jul 1869 Cow Bay

Annie McDonald b. 15 Jun 1858 Whycocomagh, to Boston, USA, 1861, m. Charles J. Wagner. she died 30 Aug 1909, Oakland, California

James nothing known

Kate nothing known

a check of the 1861 census for Cow Bay/Port Morien, River Dennys and Whycocomagh would be appreciated. I found Mary and Sandy in 1901 Cow Bay/Port Morien. my grandfather, from his letter to my mom, was supposed to be with them, but his military records says he was in England in 1901. I can't find Allan John Wagner in 1900 U.S.A. or 1901 Canada or England at all...but I've just learned that when Ancestry revamped it's census, some of the indexes got lost. I found that out the hard way double checking another ancestor of mine who had been in the index but now he and most of the town he lived in at the time got left off the index.

a confusion of mine is that Annie states she came to the U.S.A. in 1861 but her father died in NS in 1871. and I can't find Annie in the 1870 U.S.A. census. or the 1880 U.S.A. census, unless she is the servant in the Maynard household in 1880. also, Sarah McDonald should be in either the 1900 or 1901 census and I cannot find her, either-or in any earlier censi.

any and all help is appreciated.

[Janice M]

Hi,

You might want to try these sites:

http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nshalifa/

http://nsonline.com/Society/Genealogy/

Hope these help.

Janice

[J.J.]

Not a lot of help right now, but ...

Someone has submitted much info here:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp

all 9 children shown in this submission...probably your original source.


Says it was Archibald born in North Uist, Inverness, Scotland...
Not  allan john who was listed as born Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada
But that Sarah was born Harris, Inverness, South Uist, Scotland

also the OTHER children of Donald MCPHAIL &  Mary MCASKILL are listed
under their names...and also places of birth

Lots of information here, although might not be confirmed, but worth
contacting the contributor to see if he has any documentation....
( must be descendant of youngest, Annie, from California)

J.J.

[Neko]

Janice
thank you. I was familiar with only one of these links so it was fun to go through them. I was very pleased to get to see postcards of the various towns I connect with through a lone letter of my grandfather's. he mentioned places such as Sydney and Port Hood. Port Hood was only mentioned in passing, so I was a little suprised to come up with what might be our Archibald there. everything seems to fit. otherwise I found no mention of my family in any shape or form in the websites you sent. still, it gave me the 1818 census and pictures of my ancestral hometowns, and that is a great gift.

JJ,
the AF was my original submittion, once in 1995 and again in 1997, with all my warts and a good measure thrown in by FamilySearch, which is why I no longer submit to them. they seperated all my family members so that families are in as a seperate set of individuals, or as a group with some members missing, and often some data missing, members and data which I submitted. if someone else has submitted this family, they are difficult to find, especially since FamilySearch has a glitch in their search engine that they've been slow to correct. I have to start all over after looking at one hit/match. re-write everything, search again, check another hit/match, then start all over again. a tedious and time consuming project with only landline.
I don't even find Sarah McPhail in the search system. if you have found a different submittor, please let me know.
Cornelia

[J.J.]

1881  Sarah MCDONALD      Widow  Scottish 60      Scotland   
several other widows, same spelling...
 So many listings for this surname it is mind boggling!!!!!


http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/vitalstats/default.asp#background

AFHS- Nova Scotia Censuses
http://www.afhs.ab.ca/registry/regns_census.html

Nova Scotia Resources
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll/ns.htm

Just saw your reply...sarah is in the system...

[Neko]

thank you, J.J.,
I have a conundrum. Sarah and Allan are buried in Black Brook, NS, but their daughter, my ancestress, Annie McDonald Wagner Gillette, gives her immigration date as....age 4 if I recall correctly, in the 1900/1910 Oakland, California, USA census-here I'm talking off the top of my head, I maybe be one year and/or one move off, but I think I have it right. I've always wondered who brought Annie to America-her parents? then why was Allan in the Sydney mines, not in Boston? and why don't I find any of Annie's siblings in Boston except Kate, and I can't prove that Kate is her sister. all her siblings appear to have died in Canada-several are buried in Black Brook. anyway, I've never found Sarah or Annie's son Allan John Wagner in the 1900 or the 1901 census. not in America, not in Canada, and not in England. Annie's first husband supposedly was a Polish/Russian immigrant to England and had family who remained there. a thorough check of the Wagner's in the English census sheds no light at all on who may be Charles' family. Allan's military records say he took some schooling in England, and something else that slips my memory says he took it in Canada. which ever it was it was from 1900-1902, and he could have been at sea or on the train when the census was being taken. I finally found his WWI military papers at Ancestry, but they told me nothing new.  well, Sarah may have made it into the 1901 Canada one, but she isn't with family (in fact, I can only find the McAuley's in the 1901, the McPhails and McDonald's in my tree escape me) and she isn't in any of the towns the family was known to frequent-Wycocomagh where Annie was born, Sydney where some of the people worked, Glace' Bay where some may have lived...though I'm pretty sure I didn't check Port Hood...of course, 1818 is a long time previous to the 1901....Cow Bay/Port Morein where the family lived and many are buried....just thinking out loud....

[J.J.]

Sorry that I said annie was the youngest...as often the children are in
order of birth dates...
I see what you mean about the age...Is this you, also, or someone else
doing your son of Annie and Charles?
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~strout/dat82.htm#12

[J.J.]

1880 there's a   charles wagner  B 1856  PRUSSIA  Age    24  Calif. miner
 Perhaps he came to work the mines in Canada and found Annie?
Another - a clerk in Chicago!     
<1858>
1880  there's a  charles wagner  B 1856B PRUSSIA  Book Keeper  N.Y.

The only Charles J. listed...was born much later in Bavaria 1861


1905 Bolton Directory - left table of contents "w"
http://dl.tufts.edu/view_text.jsp?urn=tufts:central:dca:UA069:UA069.005.DO.00015&chapter

This person needs you to fill in some blanks 
http://www.hudson-tech.com/genealogy/ped/p004156.shtml

One world tree has your allan john wagner born in Suffolk MA USA

cemeteries in N.S.
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll/ns.htm#cemetery
I had another, but it went belly up so I won't send it....

[J.J.]

When I searched only surname wagner     poland   in the 1901
for England I got 3 fem and 3 male hits...
3 hits for same in the 1881..

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~downhome/nscensus.html#CAPEBRETON