The Prendergast Gravestones

Gravestone of Penelope Prendergast (1774-1845)
St. George's Anglican Church, St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario

Partially hidden by the barberry shrubs that grow in the courtyard cemetery of St George's Anglican Church in St. Catharines, Ontario, is a 19th century gravestone to Penelope and Jedidiah Prendergast. What is unusual about this stone is that there is another stone to Penelope and Jedidiah in the Prendergast Cemetery in Mayville, Chautauqua, New York.

Portrait of Jedidiah Prendergast
St. Catharines Museum

Jedidiah, a physician, was born in Pawling, Dutchess, New York on 13 May 1766. He was the fourth son of William Prendergast (1727-1811) and Mehitable Wing (1738-1812). Jedidiah married Penelope Chase, the daughter of William Chase (1754-1813), a Rhode Island merchant, and Catherine Rodman (? -1789). Penelope was born in Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island in 1774.

The year Jedidiah was born, his father was charged with leading an armed revolt against landowners in the Hudson Valley. When he was found guilty and sentenced to hang, his wife Mehitable rode over 100 kilometres on horseback from to beg the governor for a stay of execution. Eventually, William Prendergast was granted a full pardon by King George III.

Portrait of Penelope Prendergast
St. Catharines Museum

Almost four decades later, William and Mehitable departed New York for Tennessee, accompanied by most of their children and grandchildren. Tennessee was not to their liking, so they headed north to the Chautauqua Lake area of Western New York. It is unclear whether Jedidiah and Penelope went with them. What is know is that Jedidiah moved to Upper Canada and settled at St. Catharines, then know as Shipman's Corners. Jedidiah was the first non-military doctor in the Thorald and St. Catharines area.

When his father died in 1811, Jedidiah rejoined the rest of his family in Chautauqua, and became a merchant in partnership with his brother Martin Prendergast (1769-1835). Jedidiah would eventually go on to become a New York State Senator.

In the few years Jedediah and Penelope had been in Upper Canada they had become acquainted with the Merritt family, including young William Hamilton Merritt (1793-1862). William married Jedidiah’s daughter Catherine Rodman Prendergast (1793-1862) in 1815. William Hamilton Merritt was a soldier, merchant, and politician, and is considered the “father” of the Welland Canal. The numerous letters held at the Archives of Ontario, and the letters published in an 1876 biography, show that William frequently turned to his father-in-law for advice.

Gravestone of Penelope Prendergast (1774-1845)
Prendergast Cemetery, Mayville, Chautauqua, New York

Penelope Chase Prendergast died at St. Catherines on February 1, 1845 during a visit to her daughter and son-in-law, and according to the burial register was interred in the churchyard of St. George’s Anglican three days later. Jedidiah died in 1848 at his home in Mayville, Chautauqua, and was buried at the Prendergast Cemetery. When William Hamilton Merritt erected a gravestone for his mother-in-law at St. George’s, he also decided to commemorate his father-in-law Jedidiah. Apparently, Jedidiah’s relatives in Chautauqua had the same idea.

Drawing of the Prendergast Gravestone from
the 19th Century Tombstone Database Project

At Lundy's Lane: John Fletcher (1777-1842)

Engraving from Harper's Weekly June 1866

200 years ago today, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812 took place in present day Niagara Falls. The Battle of Lundy's Lane pitted 3500 British regulars and Canadian militia against an American army of 2500. One of the participants was 37-year-old Sgt. John Fletcher of the 1st Regiment of Lincoln Militia.

Pay list
1st Lincoln Militia

Recently digitized War of 1812 pay lists from Library and Archives Canada show that John Fletcher was a sergeant in Captain George Ball's company for much of 1813 and 1814. John was a recent arrival in Canada, likely part of the wave of American emigration after the Revolutionary War.
 
In 1811, John purchased parts of Lots 13, 14, and 15, Broken Front and Concession 1 in Grantham, located on the shore of Lake Ontario at the mouth of Walker Creek. The 1876 Illustrated Historical Atlas of Lincoln and Welland Counties shows this land occupied by John's descendants. John Fletcher's property is now a residential area and parkland to either side of Vine Street in St Catharines.

John's neighbours to the south were the Darby family headed by George Darby (1763-1812), whose son Jacob Darby (1792-1866), was also a sergeant in Capt. George Ball's company. Jacob Darby married Mary Ann Goring (1794-1870), daughter of Francis Goring who I have written about previously.

It is uncertain where John Fletcher was born, and when and where he married. His wife Elizabeth (1773-1856) was a young widow with a son, David Wood. John and Elizabeth's first child, William Fletcher was born in 1798. Seven more children followed.

Unlike many in the Niagara District, John's losses during the War of 1812 were minimal. He did, however, make a claim for two horses, a wagon and harness lost in September 1814 during the Siege of Fort Erie. John's stepson, David, had been attached to his father's unit as a driver:

...he was sent with his team to bring water from the River, some firing took place which frightened the horses so much that they became unmanageable & got into the current where they were drowned before any assistance could be given.

The claim was rejected since it appeared "by the evidence that the loss arose from the carelessness of the Driver."

John died in 1842 and was buried at St George's Anglican Church in St. Catharines. His wife Elizabeth died in 1856. Their graves were among the small number that were subsequently moved to Victoria Lawn Cemetery. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's gravestone is now in two pieces, however, a photograph from 1983 shows both stones side by side at the corner of the Parish Hall.

Fletcher gravestones, St George's Anglican Church, 1983

Fletcher gravestones, St George's Anglican Church, 2014

Chequered Sheds and Thomas Perrin (1791-1870)

Mt Vernon Cemetery, Brantford, Brant, Ontario

Mount Vernon is a small community in Brant Country west of Brantford, Ontario. The village was established in 1829 by Thomas Perrin (1791-1870) along the "Military Road" built in 1810 between Brantford and London.

Thomas Perrin
(1756-1822)

Thomas Perrin was the son of Thomas Perrin (1756-1822), an American who brought his family to Upper Canada about 1804. He purchased 1000 acres in the Mount Pleasant area southwest of Brantford. In 1811 he bought the local gristmill.

During the War of 1812, the elder Perrin commanded a company of militia from the Mount Pleasant area. Perrin's company became part of the 5th Lincoln Militia and was present in a supporting role at the Battle of Lundy's Lane on 25 July 1814. It is claimed that Perrin became known as "Captain Barefoot" for his habit of drilling his men in their bare feet.

The younger Perrin served in his father's company.

Pay list
5th Lincoln Militia

On 6 Nov 1814, Perrin's Mill and several Mount Pleasant homes were burned during American Brigadier General Duncan McArthur's extended mounted raid into Upper Canada. The following day McArthur attacked and overwhelmed a force of a few  hundred militia at Malcolm's Mills (Oakland) south of Mount Pleasant. The Battle of Malcolm's Mills was the last land battle of the War of 1812 fought in Upper Canada.

Perrin’s Mill was rebuilt the following year. Thomas Perrin Sr. died in 1822 and was buried at the Mount Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery. In 1829, Thomas Perrin, Jr. sold the mill and sought his own area to settle. He laid out a village which was first called Springfield after his birthplace in Massachusetts. Locally it was known as Chequered Sheds because of the black and white chequered hitching posts. Finally it acquired the name Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon Methodist Church

Mount Vernon grew into a productive village. The first sawmill was built in 1840 and a gristmill in 1845. By 1860, a woollen mill, a carding and fulling mill, and a barrel factory had been added by Thomas Perrin and Son Company.

In 1850, the Methodists built a large wood frame church on Mill Road. The church, which in 1925 became the Mount Vernon United Church, is now a pre-school, but was once the spiritual centre of a thriving community.

Footstone for
Walter B Swayze
(1833-1834)

The adjoining cemetery predates the church by a number of years. The oldest gravestone is that of a child, Walter B. Swayze, who died in 1834 at the age of 14 months. While the gravestone is not particularly remarkable, the survival of the corresponding footstone is. Another early gravestone is that of Eliza, the young wife of Charles Nixon, who died in 1844 at the age of 22.

The cemetery is still active and currently has just over 200 gravestones. Many of the older stones have been set in concrete and some have been repaired using metal frames.

Thomas Perrin, the founder of Mount Vernon, died on 15 Jul 1870. His monument is surrounded by those of other early settlers of the area.

Eliza Nixon, 1822-1844

A Lonely Grave: Susannah Kinzie (1851-1853)

Pioneer Cemetery, North Dumfries, Waterloo, Ontario

On the western edge of North Dumfries township west of Cambridge, Ontario is a sign proclaiming a small lot to be a pioneer cemetery. Also known as the Alexander Family Plot, the cemetery contains no gravestones in situ. Fragments of four gravestones, however, can be found learning against a tree in the centre of the lot.

According to the Waterloo Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, this cemetery represents the remains of an early pioneer cemetery used by local families including the Alexanders. In 1877, most of the graves were moved to the nearby Ayr Cemetery. When the adjoining road was widened in the 1970s, a gravestone for a young girl was found, as well as the fragments of other stones.

Susannah Kinzie (1851-1853) was the youngest daughter of Jacob Kinzie (1804-1862) and Susannah Stauffer (1809-1868). Susannah's grandfather, Dilmon Kinzie (1774-1854), had emigrated to Canada from Pennsylvania about 1799. The Kinzies were part of a mass exodus of German Mennonites from the United States after the Revolutionary War, attracted by inexpensive land, and the prospect of once again living under British rule.

Sometime before 1860, Susannah's parents emigrated to Michigan and settled in Kent County south of Grand Rapids. They are buried in Blain Cemetery in Gaines Township.

Two other fragments bear inscriptions. The first reads: "In memory of Louisa wife of Robert...." The second fragment contains a date (Dec. 17) and an age (27). The final fragment bears only the name of the engraver. Unfortunately, without a surname, it is difficult to determine who the fragments of these gravestones commemorate.

Cemetery Crawling

Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to visit a number of smaller cemeteries in the Hamilton and Niagara regions of Southern Ontario. Only a few of these cemeteries contain gravestones related to my own research interests. Most I visited as a volunteer photographer and indexer with the Canada GenWeb's Cemetery Project.

When I photograph a cemetery I usually try to make two visits at different times of the day. This allows me to photograph east-facing gravestones when the sun is in the east, and west-facing stones when the sun is in the west. As I later index the photographs, I cross-check against the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) transcriptions compiled in the 1980s. This usually sends me back for a third visit to locate any gravestones I may missed. Sometimes I find them. Sometimes they have disappeared. And sometimes I find a stone that was missed by the transcribers.

Here are a few of the cemeteries I have recently photographed:

Marx Binkley Cemetery, Ancaster, Ontario

 

Marx Binkley (1745-1805) and his family came to the Ancaster area from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the late 1790s. He established a family burial ground in 1803, and his 1805 gravestone in one of the oldest in Southern Ontario. His gravestones has an unusual epitaph:

When I am dead and buired

And all my bones are rotten

When this you see oh think of me

Lest I should be forgotten

Beside him is buried his wife, Matelena, who died in 1838.

Henry Binkley Cemetery, Ancaster, Ontario

Henry Binkley, a grandson of Marx Binkley, established this family burial ground in 1852. The oldest gravestone is that of his father William Binkley (1784-1852).

Turney Family Burial Ground, St Catharines, Ontario

Imagine having a cemetery in your backyard. This was the consequence of building a subdivision in the Power Glen area of St Catharines. Access to this graveyard of six stones is via a branch of the Laura Secord Legacy Trail that climbs up from the valley of the Twelve Mile Creek.  The Turney Family Burial Ground is located on land granted to John Turney (1744-1819), a Lieutenant in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolution. While no stone to John Turney survives, there is a stone to his daughter Jenny (1774-1812), wife of William Boyd (? -1837).

Smith Family Cemetery

 

Another cemetery located on land once owned by an United Empire Loyalist is the Smith Family Cemetery. Nicholas Smith was a fifer in Butler's Rangers. His land is now owned by the Henry of Pelham Winery. None of the stones remain in situ, however, a wooden pavilion has been constructed to protect the fragments of stones that have been found. Nicholas Smith's gravestone is broken in three pieces and is no longer readable. That of his wife is also broken in three but the inscription is clear:

IN MEMORY

of

CATHERINE Consort of

NICHOLAS SMITH

of PELHAM who departed

this life Feb 3, 1817

Years

Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord

St. George's Anglican, St. Catharine

Finally, there is the remnants of the graveyard that once surrounded St George's Anglican Church in Downtown St Catharines. Most of the graves were moved to Victoria Lawn Cemetery many years ago, however, about 60 stones remain, some on the west side of the church, and some in a courtyard squeezed between the church and parish hall.

The stones date from the first half of the eighteenth century, but over the years many have sunk into the ground or become overgrown with grass, some have become obscured by juniper and barberry bushes, some are broken (presumably before the courtyard was enclosed with a locked gate), and two are hidden behind a heat pump. Photographing these gravestones is proving to be a challenge.

Fortunately, in addition to the 1984 OGS transcription, other records of the gravestones exist. In the early 20th century, Janet Carnochan described the cemetery in her Inscriptions and Graves in the Niagara Peninsula. Even more useful is the 19th Century Tombstone Database Project Records held by Brock University Archives. In the summer of 1982, students supervised by Dr. David Rupp collected information on various graveyards in the Niagara region. 

Of particular interest are the photographs and detailed sketches of the gravestones. These records are important since a significant number of gravestones at St George's and other Niagara region cemeteries have been damaged or have disappeared. One example is the stone on the left.

Weathering and the encroachment of ground cover have made the stone difficult to read. According to the OGS transcription this is the gravestone of Samuel Freure (1775-1855) and his son Samuel Freure (1802-1841). The Register of Burials in the Parish of St. George's, St. Catharines records that Samuel Freure, "formerly from England," died on 29 Mar 1855 at the age of 81, and was buried on 2 Apr 1855. But what is inscribed on the stone? Fortunately the 19th Century Tombstone Database Project Records includes a drawing:

  

Samuel Freure was born in Bedfield, Suffolk, England, the son of Benjamin Freure and Elizabeth Pritty. Samuel likely came to Canada with his son and daughter-in-law in 1836.  

The oldest gravestone at St. George's is that of Jacob Shipman (1796-1813). Three pieces of this gravestone were found resting against the wall of the church. A photograph in the 19th Century Tombstone Database Project Records shows in stone in one piece and beside that of his mother. Jacob was the oldest son of Paul Shipman (1756-1825) and Elizabeth Hawke (1767-1847). St. Catharines was originally known as Shipman's Corners, named after Jacob's father, the second owner of a tavern located at the junction of the Iroquois trail and another trail than ran alongside 12 Mile Creek. Jacob was born in New Jersey, and came with his parents to Upper Canada in 1802.

Jacob was not originally interred at St. George's but at the First Anglican Chapel Burial Grounds located near his father's tavern. This burial ground was closed in 1837 after the site for the future St. George's was procured. At least sixteen graves were exhumed at the old site, and the remains transferred to the new burial ground.

Shaver Family Cemetery

Shaver Family Cemetery, Ancaster, Wentworth, Ontario

One of the more interesting Ontario graveyards I have visited is the Shaver Family Cemetery in Ancaster west of Hamilton, Ontario. What makes this cemetery unique is while most private family graveyards are small, Shaver is quite large with 68 monuments. Also remarkable is it's state of preservation. There are no signs of vandalism, and the few stones that are broken are likely the result of fallen tree branches.

 Cemetery Dedication

The cemetery is enclosed by a substantial stone wall. On the west side of the wall is a large stone inscribed with the following:

This cemetery was erected A.D. 1848 as a token of filial affection and respect by the 13 children of William and Mary Catherine Shaver, who settled this farm in 1798, it being then a wilderness.

John Shaver (1739-1795)

The Shaver family (originally Schaeffer) came to the Ancaster area from northwestern New Jersey in 1789. The head of the family, John Shaver (1739-1795) was born in Germany and had emigrated with his parents in 1765. He was a United Empire Loyalist who served with Butler's Rangers during the Revolutionary War. According to family tradition, John Shaver returned to New Jersey after the war to find that his first wife, Katrinka had died, and that his neighbours were less than friendly. John Shaver's gravestone is at nearby Betheda United Church Cemetery, and is one of the oldest gravestones in Ontario. His second wife, Mary Magdalene Hone (1761-1836) is buried beside him.

In 1797, John Shaver's second son, William (1772-1830) was granted Lot 35 Concession 3 in Ancaster. William married Mary Catharine Book (1776-1845). Together they had 13 children and acquired 1600 acres.

1856 Shaver Homestead

Three houses built by the Shaver family in the 19th century also remain in the area. The Georgian style Philip Shaver House was built in 1835. The cut-stone Gothic-Revival style Shaver Stone House was built in 1863, and the 1856 Shaver Homestead occupies the site of William Shaver's original home. Another property, the Daniel Shaver House, was built in 1860 but was destroyed by fire in 2011.

1835 Philip Shaver House

1863 Shaver Stone House

The Shaver Family Cemetery was in use until 1938. A photograph taken during the 1940s shows the cemetery surrounded by farmer's fields. In 1993, the Town of Ancaster designated the cemetery a heritage property. Today the cemetery forms an oasis of quiet surrounded by retail development.

Shaver Family Cemetery in 1945

The Ramblings of Wakeman Edwards

Wakeman Edwards (1788-1842)

One of the ironies of my own family history is the absence of famous ancestors. There was the occasional miller, mariner, gardener or shipwright, but for the most part my ancestors were farmers or agricultural labourers from England. None of them were members of the aristocracy, none of them had illustrious military careers, and none of them were notorious criminals. A few of them did, however, have connections to interesting people.

Samuel Cooke (1789-1832), was a merchant and the brother of my ggg-grandfather. Samuel married a young woman from Bideford named Elizabeth Edwards (1792-1862). Elizabeth was the daughter of Elizabeth Chichester (1758-1834), a granddaughter of Sir John Chichester, 4th Baronet (1689-1740).

Louisa Marrett (1812-1842)

At the time of her marriage to Samuel Cooke on 1827, Elizabeth's cousin, Sir Arthur Chichester (1790-1842), was 7th Baronet. Elizabeth's brother, Wakeman Edwards (1788-1842), was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Wakeman married Louisa Marrett (1812-1842), the daughter of Captain Joseph Marrett (1778-1857), a distinguished naval officer during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In 1841, while living in Brittany, Louisa gave birth to a son, Wakeman Julius Chichester Edwards. A year later, young Wakeman was an orphan.
 
In 1867, while on a voyage from London to Trinidad, Wakeman decided to write an account of his life up to that point. The original manuscript is held by a descendant, however, a few years ago I was given a transcribed copy. Wakeman's "Ramblings" are quite fascinating as they relate how over the course of several years he circumnavigated the globe.

Wakeman was raised by his grandparents, Joseph and Sarah Marrett. When his grandmother died, his grandfather moved in with his daughter. Wakeman's aunt ("Mrs. B.") was quite envious of "my grandfather's partiality towards my orphan self" and as a result Wakeman entered the Royal Naval School in London. Wakeman excelled in Arithmetic, Geography and Navigation, but was indifferent to the rest of the curriculum.

While in London, Wakeman was a frequent visitor at the house of another aunt, Elizabeth Cooke. After the death of her husband Samuel in 1837, Elizabeth had moved to London with her two children. Wakeman writes:

I shall never forget the kind welcome they gave me, so different from the reception I received from my Aunt C. and her family. How I used to look forward for the Saturday I used to spend with my kind Aunt and cousins.

When Wakeman graduated from the Royal Navy School he turned down a commission in the Royal Marines and instead joined the mercantile navy as an apprentice. His first voyage was aboard the Nourmahal, commanded by Capt. Lewis Brayley. Nourmahal was a ship of 835 tons with a crew of 30 and 18 passengers bound for Australia. Wakeman was one of six apprentices.

Corroboree on the Murray River, 1858 by Gerard Krefft

Nourmahal arrived in Australia in February 1857 after a voyage of 125 days. Wakeman almost deserted the ship at Sydney, as one of his cousins (the wife of brewer, squatter and businessman Robert Tooth) was living nearby, but at the last minute he decided to return to England. While in Australia, Wakeman also encountered a large group of aborigines performing a corroboree:

The relection of the fire on their painted bodies, representing skeletons made them look hideous, all being quite naked and yelling and dancing about...

By the time he returned to England, Wakeman had decided to "leave the sea." For the next three years he worked as a clerk in London for Charles Tennant, Son & Co., His grandfather had died while he was in Australia, and in February 1862, his Aunt Elizabeth Cooke also died. Wakeman then decided to take passage for New Zealand aboard the Indian Empire, arriving in Auckland in October 1862.

After working at a South Island sheep station on the Rakaia River for a few months, Wakeman then took passage across the Pacific to Vancouver Island.  After a two week stopover in Tahiti, Wakeman arrived in Victoria in May 1863. His intention was to prospect for gold in the interior of British Columbia, but instead he worked first as a navvy for a road crew and then as a bartender.

After 10 months, Wakeman headed south to San Francisco where he obtained work at a lumber mill. A year later he was back in Victoria. Work was scarce, and after a nine-month period as a steward on a coastal steamship, decided to head for New York.

In 1867, the easiest way to get from Victoria to New York was by steamer to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua; by mule to Lake Nicaragua, and then across the lake and down the San Juan River by steamer to the Caribbean, where Wakeman boarded the Santiago de Cuba for New York.

After three months in New York working as a night watchman, Wakeman sailed to Liverpool aboard the Chicago, arriving in England on April 22, 1867. His trip around the world had taken almost five years.

A month later Wakeman was aboard the Spherved bound for Trinidad. It was on this voyage that he wrote his "Ramblings."

Gravestone, Watt, Muskoka, Ontario

What exactly happened next is not known, but in 1868, Wakeman came to Canada. In November of the following year he married Margaret Alexander (1844-1905) in the Muskoka district of Ontario. Margaret had been born in Tongland, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and had emigrated to Canada with her brothers in 1868. Canadian Census data shows Wakeman was a farmer living in Watt Township, Muskoka in 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901.

Wakeman and Margaret had seven children. Their third child, William Cooke Edwards (1874-1931) was named in remembrance of the kindness that Wakeman had received from his Aunt Elizabeth Cooke and her children. Wakeman died in 1902 at the age of 60, and was buried at St Thomas Anglican Church in Ullswater, Ontario.