McIlmoyl(e) Family in North America

2010 Albuquerque McIlmoyle Family Reunion Apr 29 - May 2

2010-05-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

At a relatively small southwest style home in Albuquerque, at least 45 McIlmoyl(e) descendants and families gathered over the four days. This house has been home to 2 generations of the family and, had it not been an 'adobe style' house, I'm positive that the walls would have been bulging. There were attendees from the states of Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas and Washington as well as me from British Columbia, Canada. The meals were wonderful and the company and conversation couldn't have been more enjoyable. Several generations were represented and all except for me were direct descendants of Hugh Sr (s/o John & Mary) through his son Hugh and his son James who left Ontario for the USA. My ancestry is through Hugh Sr's youngest brother Thomas through his son James Dysart and his son James Thomas who was the one to leave Ontario for British Columbia.

I find it hard to describe how it felt to meet so many wonderful family members. I had no idea there was going to be that many present and know it will take me some time to sort out who everyone was and to whom each one belonged (grin).

As near as I can tell, the primary cousins who deserve a huge vote of thanks for the success of this wonderful event are siblings Berenice, Jim & Charles plus niece Maureen. Thank you all so very much for the opportunity to meet so many new cousins. Many others pitched in with cooking, cleaning and transporting as well as contributing food and drinks.
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Not to be forgotten are the 4-legged family members of which I think there were 5. Most of the time, they seemed to enjoy the attention from so many different people.

JoanMC

ON THIS DAY in 1840

2009-08-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

ON THIS DAY in 1840 - 169 years ago, in what is now Cardinal, Edwardsburgh Township, Grenville County, Upper Canada, James Thomas McIlmoyl (JT) was born to James Dysart McIlmoyl and Clarissa McFarland. As JT is my great-grandfather, I thought I would honour him on his birthday by reprinting an article from a newspaper clipping saved by my maternal grandmother and niece of JT's which was published in August of 1930 in recognition of his 90th birthday.

"HONOR PAID BY SAANICH TO PIONEER
J.T. McIlmoyl Created Honorary President of the Saanich Pioneers' Society
Distinguished Gathering Sunday at Saanichton Honored Oldest Living Pioneer

J.T. McIlmoyl, pioneer resident of Victoria and Saanich, was the guest of honor yesterday afternoon at a well attended "at home" held by the Saanich Pioneer Society in the Agricultural Hall, Saanichton, in honor of his ninetieth birthday. The hall was decorted [sic] with sweet peas, golden rod and baskets of ferns.

Alex. Thompson, president of the Saanich Pioneers' Society, tendered vongratulations [sic] to Mr. McIlmoyl, who thanked the society for making him an honorary life member. Recalling the early days, Mr. McIlmoyl expressed appreciation of the friendship of the late William Thompson.

ONE OF THE FOUNDERS

H.E. Tanner, president of the North and South Saanich Agricultural Society, of which society Mr. McIlmoyl was one of the organizers, extended hearty congratulations to Mr. McIlmoyl from the society.

On behalf of the Pioneers' Society Mr. MacDonald presented the guest with a box of cigars, and Mrs. R.E. Nimmo presented a bouquet on behalf of the ladies of the society, after which 'He's a Jolly Good Fellow' was sung.

A letter of congratulations was also received by Mr. McIlmoyl from the South Saanich Women's Institute.

Afternoon tea was served at small tables. A huge birthday cake, with ninety candles on it and handsomely decorated, was presented from the Thompson family, and Mr. McIlmoyl performed the ceremony of cutting the first piece. Tea was poured by Mrs. R.E. Nimmo and Mrs. F. Turgoose. The following ladies assisted in serving: Mrs. R.D. Pope, Mrs. W.D. Michell, Mrs. Wilkerson, Misses Lena Anderson, Doris Michell and Loretta Pope.

Born in Ontario on August 24, 1840, Mr. McIlmoyl came to Victoria across the Isthmus of Panama in 1862. Going to the Cariboo, he spent three years gold mining and on his return farmed in North Saanich for thirty years. In 1870 Mr. McIlmoyl married Miss Mary Ann Simpson, daughter of a pioneer Saanich family.

Of eleven children, ten survive, and the following were present at the reception: J.H., Bert and Fred McIlmoyl, and Mrs. C.A. Post of Victoria, Charles of Patricia Bay, Walter of Sidney, George of Hazelton, Mrs. Emma Morthcott and Mrs. G.T. Edwards of Vancouver.

".

JT is the opening character in the Mc Book where I will attempt to chronicle his active, adventurous and lengthy life which included, in addition to the above, being a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for 4 years, a school board trustee, a church warden and church treasurer, secretary of the North & South Saanich Agricultural Society, a successful farmer and the Grand Secretary of British Columbia for the Ancient Order of United Workmen for over 35 years. As if that wasn't enough, he became a single father after the death of his wife when his youngest children were only 2, 3(twins) & 5 with the oldest being in their early 20s.

All in all, an amazing man whom I wish I'd been privileged to meet. I'm sure I'll become even more acquainted with him as a person and family member while writing the Book! Happy Birthday JT wherever you are!!!

8-)
JoanMC

John McIlmoyl Sr's Character Reference from 1774

2009-08-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

The following was transcribed from the original parchment by my late mother. She was unable to make out all the information about the person who signed it, however at a later date, I found a reference which gave me the likely missing transcription.

I do hereby certifie that the bearer John McIllmoil is a Prottestant of the Established Church and a Parishoner of mine, that he always behaved himself with the utmost Propriety and Educated a Numorous Family in a Christian Manner. Given under my Hand at Portglynone in the Parish of Ahoghill and County of Antrim in Ireland this 15th Day of June 1774. ???? Babington ???? of the Peace

The missing info where the question marks are is: Humph. Babington, Curate, Clerk of the Peace. I was able to fill in these blanks due to the same parish curate having taken the 1766 Religious Census that I have and which Humph. Babington also signed.

So here we have another interestingly different spelling of the name.....

AND....I'm still looking for some info on this week's 'stray', George R. McIlmoyl(e)

8-)
JoanMC

Last Week's Stray & a New One

2009-08-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to cousin Diane for sending me to http://genealogy.mcfadyen.ca which gave me Edward Lawrence's (Ted) parents and grandparents. He was the son of Harry McIlmoyl and Ella Hales and Harry was the son of Thomas McIlmoyl and Margaret Mairs. Thomas' parents were John McIlmoyl and Abigail Nichols with this John (there are so many of them) being a son of Hugh (s/o John & Mary) McIlmoyl and Jane May. Of course once I saw his ancestry, I realized that I actually had info about him from the local Saskatchewan history book "Pioneers and Progress: The History of Southey District", published in 1980! Obviously, I should have taken a third look at the excerpts that I have of this history.

I have to say that I'm really enjoying filling in these blanks in preparation for the book(s) and truly appreciate the cousins who have shared information to enable this.

Now, for this week's stray.....DO YOU KNOW.....who the parents are of George R. McIlmoyle? He married Rosella Albert on 7 March 1904 in Nelson BC? If you have some clues, please share them in the 'Comments' below.

In my next post, I'll transcribe the Character Reference brought to North America by John McIlmoyl when he travelled here with his family from County Antrim in Ireland in June 1774.

8-)
JoanMC

Apology and Do You Know....?

2009-08-09T14:18:00.001-07:00

First, my apologies for not posting for the past week +. I was very busy for a few days after the last post and as I was about to decide on the next one, my mother died. Since then I've been quite busy with other things than the McIlmoyl(e) Book.

Now, a follow up on the last 'Do You Know....?' post re Robert McIlmoyl in Illinois. A cousin researcher found the family on the US Census, however, it still doesn't help us find his parents other than according to the Census (which I'm sure most of you know can be completely off track) he was born in Maryland. This immediately caught my imagination as the Archibald McElmoyle line were in that area around the same time. Another interesting item from the census is that apparently his father was born in Scotland. I will do some investigation on this next month.

Meanwhile, I have another one for you.

DO YOU KNOW....who Edward Lawrence McIlmoyl is? He was married to Hilda Ethel Robertson, born 18 Nov 1911 in Ontario, died 7 Apr 1951 in Burnaby BC; d/o Michael & Lillian Robertson both of whom were also born in Ontario (no city, township or county given). I have her death registration and her husband, Edward Lawrence was the informant. They had apparently been in BC for 4 years at the time she died.

I accidently happened upon this registration so made a copy out of curiosity so am now wondering what the connection is, as there is most likely a connection.

If you have an answer, please either post a comment with it here or feel free to contact me directly.

8-)
JoanMC

THIS WEEK'S STRAY

2009-07-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

DO YOU KNOW.....where Robert McIlmoyl fits into the family tree? He married Anna Christina Mellberg of Rock Falls, Whiteside County, Illinois and had two sons, Harry and Charley? This comes from a reference in "The History of Whiteside County, Illinois: from earliest settlement to 1908" by William W. Davis; published by Pioneer Pub. Co., Chicago in 1908.

I haven't had the opportunity to check out this family in US Census' and am wondering if the rest of you may have run across this group. There doesn't seem to be any info on Robert in the writeup which is odd given that there's fairly detailed info on all other inlaws and outlaws connected to the Mellberg family.

The only other reference I've seen to a McIlmoyl(e) in Illinois came from an inquiry I had many years ago about the 'McIlmoil' family. A researcher was wondering if there was a connection to our spelling of the name. I'm pretty sure I've still got that info but haven't yet put my hands on it. It might answer my question or might not. If any of you have anything on a Robert who either went to the States or was born in the States or who simply dropped off the radar, do let us know. Meanwhile, I'll continue my hunt for the 'McIlmoil' information.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend.....ours here in the beautiful southern Vancouver Island area has been glorious. I had the pleasure of leading a Worldwide Photo Walk yesterday with 40 other avid photographers along the waterfront in the James Bay area of Victoria. We were a part of an event in which 899 other Walks were being held throughout the world in at least 40 different countries! To give you an idea of how perfect the weather was, here's one of the photos I took. This is taken from our Fisherman's Wharf where there are numerous float homes and looks across Victoria Harbour to newer condominium developments in an area called the Songhees.

8-)
JoanMC

JAMES McILMOYL S/O JOHN & MARY

2009-07-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I've certainly not had much response regarding a possible McIlmoyl(e) Family Reunion. At this time, I'm only sure of 3 other researchers who are actually following this Blog. If you do happen to know of other family researchers, please be sure to let them know of this Blog as that is the whole point of it.

I thought I'd focus on one of John & Mary's sons of whom not a whole lot is known. I've done a little research on him however haven't followed he and his wife up after they apparently left Upper Canada. My focus person today is James.

I found his marriage to Margaret Finney, d/o Peter Finney, U.E. from her land claim.

I also found an interesting land record which may or may not be our James. This was a bargain & sale record and indicates that 'this' James McIlmoyl was a member of the 31st Regiment of Foot – a regular (established) unit of the British Army rather than a Provincial (Loyalist) unit. It may or may not be 'ours'.

Later, I found a statement which was signed by him, part of which led me to believe that he was moving to 'Vermont'.

This was reinforced when I discovered that Margaret and her family were originally from Vermont. I haven't pursued this possibility beyond looking them up in a book I found in the Lost Villages Museum which was called 'Vermont Families in 1791'.

So, I have no idea if they had children, if they actually did move to Vermont and whether they stayed or returned to Canada.

This isn't quite a 'stray' however, it's definitely one of John & Mary's children of whom I certainly don't know a lot. Do any of you have more info on this couple?

8-)
JoanMC

Take a Second or Third Look!

2009-07-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

If you've read articles or taken a tutorial or seminar on doing your family history, you will likely have been told numerous times to go back and re-examine documents/files that you have from several years ago. Now, why on earth would you want to do that? You've already entered the details from the docs into your database and filed them away, right? Well, probably. However, I have learned, over and over again, that as we learn more about who is in our family or what information can be important, it is well worth our time to revisit those docs that you scanned and/or photocopied several years ago. If you do, you'll likely find answers to some questions that may have bothered you for months or even years. Here's my latest example of this.

Most of us have seen in some of our trees that Jane, d/o John & Mary, was variously referred to as Leah or Jane Leah. When I first saw this, it was in John O'Donoghue McIlmoyle's Family Tree from 1890 and he noted that he wasn't sure if this was a connection or not. At the time, I had no idea where he'd gotten this name from. Many years later, I found Jane's marriage entry in 1790 to David Hunter. The microfilm was very poor and the writing was not great either. I could see how someone could have mistaken it for 'Leah' though to me, it definitely looked like Jane. This of course was after I had spent several years wading through miles of microfilmed records of that time frame being parish records, land records and American Revolution Loyalist records and had become quite proficient at reading the handwriting of the period. So this, I thought, is where the 'Leah' must have come from.

Well, actually, I'm now quite sure that it DIDN'T come from that record! I was reviewing a file folder on my computer which contains numerous McIlmoyl(e) documents and checking them out to see if they were either something that should be in the 'Book' or if the info was something that needed to be included. One of the records was a baptism of Jane & David Hunter's son, Samuel. I'm sure that I had glanced at it at some time in the past, though I'm equally sure that I didn't look very closely. How do I know this? Well, because the minister had recorded this event as being the baptism of Samuel, son of David Hunter and Leah his wife!!!! My eyes snapped back to the beginning as I re-read this entry and, yes, that was really what it said.....well, no wonder John O Mc was confused as to whether this was really Jane or another person and whether or not she was connected.

So, if one saw this baptism record first, then saw the marriage record (or for that matter, never saw the marriage entry), it's extremely easy to see why the handwriting in the marriage record could be interpreted to be 'Leah'.

So, what do we take away from this? I would say several things. Firstly, as we've been told, it pays to go back and re-visit documents we collected a few years ago to make sure we've recorded all the info we should have and, that we didn't misinterpret something or miss a reference to someone we might not have known was a connection. Secondly, how do we analyze this conflicting info about a single person? Well, here's my analysis.....the marriage record definitely says 'Jane' so we know that Jane McIlmoyl was in fact married to David Hunter. We also probably know that Jane died fairly young but was still married to David at the time of her death and had -- children. We may also have found her petition for land grant as the daughter of a Loyalist which gave her name as Jane. Lastly, we know that Leah was not a common name within this family nor in the area of Ireland where she was born and that John & Mary did not give any of their other children more than a single forename so it seems unlikely that they'd have given Jane two of them.

My conclusion? That the minister who baptised Samuel Hunter made an error in the recording of said baptism and that David Hunter's wife was Jane McIlmoyl, not Leah and not Jane Leah.

Now, are you all aware that there were two David Hunters in the same general geographic area, in the same generation? This has caused much confusion over who were the children of whom. In my next posting, I'll give the details of this confusing family group.

8-)
JoanMC

Documentary Evidence - Bits & Pieces

2009-07-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Some original documents of the McIlmoyl(e) family have existed over the past 30-odd years. I'm wondering if they still exist. Here are some that I know DID exist as I had/have transcriptions of them.

1766 Religious Census of Ahoghill Parish, County Antrim - available at ancestry.com or from Family History Library by ordering in the film
1774 Passage Receipt for the families' passage from Ireland
1774 Character reference for John McIlmoyl from his local minister (who is the same one who conducted & signed the 1766 Religious Census)
1890 Family Tree by John O'Donoghue McIlmoyl which has been preserved and scanned plus there is a typed transcription - I have copies of both

Anyone know of the whereabouts of any of these (except John O's Tree)? There are also a few letters of which I have transcripts which can be very informative and/or interesting as well. Do you have or know of a family member who has any letters from previous generations that might be of interest to us? These are some of the things I'd like to include in the book.

How far back do your family photos go? I have photos of James Dysart McIlmoyl, his wife Clarissa McFarland and some of their children. That's as far as mine go. What about photos of tombstones? Do you have some? Are you looking for some? Would you like to share them? We can set up an album on Google/Picasa where we can share these if you let me know that you'd be interested.

Progress on 'The Book'.....well, I think I've figured a logical way of dividing up the 3 volumes.....which was a major job in and of itself. I've written the Dedication and the Introduction to each of the 3 volumes and I've now got the beginning of Volume I drafted which gets JT from Edwardsburgh to Victoria to Yale. I know, I know, that's only a couple of months but it's a start, right?

Here's my proposed volume contents:

Vol I Start with JT progressing to his descendants (JT’s children - 12 & to grandchildren then just number of children & sex for further living descendants). Then bring it around to John & Mary; Thomas to James Dysart.

Vol 2 could be Archibald, James, Samuel & John Jr. (little known of either), & Mary

Vol 3 Hugh & Jane plus Archibald McElmoyle & sibs.

Include to 3g-grandchildren of John & Mary - e.g. in my line, JT's grandchildren then just # & sex of living 4g-grandchildren and further with no names.

Does that make sense to you? Hugh's line is clearly the largest while Jane's isn't so large and, I'm not sure about Archibald of McE line. Volume 2 may have some extra room if it looks like I need to move Jane's line to that Volume.

We got success last weekend with the stray I posted - I've found with whom he belongs. I have more for next weekend. If you have some, let me know.

8-)
JoanMC

Searching For Strays

2009-07-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Most of us, in our search for family roots, have run across a reference to a person for whom we simply cannot find any connections. We're positive this 'stray' belongs in our tree, yet can't find anything beyond her/his immediate family group sheet, if that. If you're fortunate, you'll find a fellow family researcher who knows the answer or, through genealogical serendipity, you'll accidentally find documentation that will lead to connecting this 'dead end' to a branch on your tree. Be grateful you don't have my husband's paternal line.....the entire tree seems to consist of individual twigs with occasional links to another twig yet absolutely no main branches let alone connection to an actual tree!

I only have a few of these challenges within the McIlmoyl(e) tree, three of which I outlined in an earlier post (Mary Dysart McIlmoyl, Samuel McIlmoyl & John McIlmoyl Jr.). It occurred to me that we could use this blog to try and connect these strays by helping each other. So, I'm going start a specific section called 'DO YOU KNOW....' where I'll post my 'strays' and any of yours with the hope that someone else will know a connection for them. I'll launch the first one today and post it each weekend, repeating past unsolved ones if I don't have any new ones.

DO YOU KNOW.....who the parents are of Walter Victor McIlmoyle, born 21 July 1897 in Lakefield Ontario; died 29 September 1918 in France; member 38^th Battalion; parents listed as Father – William, Mother – Mary, Charlotte St. Peterborough, Ontario? He may be a great uncle of Carl Graham. Walter received the British War Medal & Victory Medal and is buried in Bourlon Wood Cemetery, France. This info comes from his attestation paper and the Commonwealth War Graves web site. If any of you can help connect Walter, I'd really appreciate it.

JoanMC

A McIlmoyl(e) Family Reunion?

2009-07-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

So, in the process of emailing new found cousins and re-connecting with others, the idea of a family reunion occurred to me (perhaps what one might call a psychotic moment?). Having been involved in organizing such an event as well as attending a couple, I know how much is involved. So, I made the suggestion of aiming for 2012 as a possibility. This was thought to be rather too far ahead by at least one cousin who is concerned that we're all aging (are we? Naw, surely not) so perhaps should hold it sooner. I have 2 volunteers to help organize it and would like to hear what the various family members think about the concept first of all and, secondly, is 2012 too far ahead? Do let me know......

In doing some further work on my outline of the McIlmoyl(e) Family books, I can see that the project is going to involve at least 3 volumes!!! My intent is to start the first volume with my great-grandfather, JT McIlmoyl who will give me a good launch back to John & Mary, their children and some details on Thomas' family and, in particular, his son James Dysart, my 2g-grandfather. This will more than fill the first volume. In the second one, I would likely focus on Archibald & family, James & Mary plus their families as well as what little I'll have on Samuel and John. For the third volume, Hugh & Jane's families would be featured as well as Archibald McElmoyle, his siblings who came to North America and whatever I can find of their descendants. In most instances, I'll go to the 3 great-grandchildren of John & Mary (unless they're still living) and for more recent generations I would simply include the number and sex of each family, e.g. Joe & Susie had 3 boys and 2 girls who are still living.

What I'm really interested in is some family stories that should be preserved. Here's a small example: From a letter written by Harriet (Hattie) Falkner Gilbert, d/o Mary Elizabeth McIlmoyl (d/o James Dysart McIlmoyl & Clarissa McFarland) & Asa H. Falkner on Sept 9, 1930 while visiting her 'Uncle James' being my g-grandfather, JT for his 90th birthday.

"He was 90 years old on the 24th August of this year. They had a great celebrtion on Sat. the 23rd. All his children, grandchildren (except one) great-grandchildren (five of them) two sons-in-law and three daughters-in-law came to his home and surprised him. there were thirty-five here besides Uncle James. They brought him numerous presents, had refreshments and a jolly time; stayed until about 1 a.m. The night before, his Lodge, A.O.U.W. (Ancient Order of United Workmen) of which he has been grand secretary of this district for 35 years, had a gathering in his honour at their hall, and presented him with a wonderful chair which cost $100.00."

This letter was sent to Hattie's cousin Nellie, d/o Jane McIlmoyl (d/o James Dysart McIlmoyl & Clarissa McFarland) & Nicholas Shaver

The chair, a recliner, which was the gift above, is still in regular use, having been my father's up to hi s death and then my mother's until recently.

Looking forward to hearing some opinions on the possibility of a McIlmoyl(e) Family Reunion, pehaps in 2012.......

8-)
JoanMC

Books with McIlmoyl(e) References

2009-07-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

While thinking of what I'd post today, I received a message from one of our cousins listing some books she has which either mention the McIlmoyl(e) family or give some history of areas in which the family lived. That gave me the idea of posting a list of books I have as well as hers and asking if any of you have different ones. I'd be happy to scan the specific sections for your personal reference only and would love it if you could do the same. Here are the books I have:

Edwardsburgh - Townships History - 1995
- Family Histories - 1996
These 2 books were compiled/edited by the Edwardsburgh Historians and the Family Histories one contains a history of the McIlmoyl(e) family while the Townships History gives great info on the area in which the family originally settled including maps, photos etc.

'For Friends at Home - A Scottish Emigrant's Letters from Canada, California and the Cariboo 1844-1864' Edited by Richard Arthur Preston and comprised of info from letters and a diary of James Thomson of Edwardsburgh. It is fascinating as James Thomson along with 8 young men from the same area (Edwardsburgh), including my great-grandfather, James Thomas McIlmoyl, headed off in 1862 from Edwardsburgh via Ogdensburgh by train to New York City where they embarked by ship to Panama, across Panama then on board another ship to San Francisco to Victoria for the Cariboo Gold Rush.

I also, from another cousin, have some McIlmoyl(e) excerpts from the book:

Pioneers and Progress: The History of Southey and District - 1980 - this is a district in Saskatchewan where several McIlmoyl(e) families settled.

Oh, I almost forgot, I have a couple of books from the Southern Vancouver Island, BC area where James Thomas (JT) McIlmoyl was a pioneer settler in which the family is mentioned as well.

From a cousin comes this list:

The Loon Calls "A history of the Township of Chandos" by Jean Murray Cole
Up the Burleigh Road... beyond the boulders by Doug and Mary Lavery
One book I have had since 1988 - was locally published in Kawatha's.
Echoes from the hills "A history of the community of Mount Pleasant 1817-1987"

So, there you are.....do you have books with McIlmoyl(e) family references? What about areas in which they settled? Let us know what you have or, if you've seen such books though don't own a copy. There should be some references from Alberta as I know that Zacharias McIlmoyle was a 'person of note' in the history of the Edmonton area.......

Let's hear what you have.

One of Our Cousins' Exciting Weekend

2009-07-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Heard about an exciting weekend that one of our cousins spent last week. She had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with 4 cousins from 4 different states in the Lakefield, Peterborough area. It seems that these 4 from the US thought they were the only McIlmoyl(e)s left in North America. Imagine their surprise when they found out how many of us there really are. I'm looking forward to getting more details on who, where, when, etc......

For those McIlmoyl(e) cousins in the US, belated greetings for Independence Day! It's a day I always enjoy as it's also my birthday as well as that of the USA.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

2009-07-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day to you all! I can't help but wonder how our ancestors felt about Confederation 142 years ago. Of course, James Thomas (JT) McIlmoyl (my great-grandfather) would have been aware of the importance of it even though he was likely in the Cariboo, digging for gold. However, as he was from Ontario, it would have meant more to him than to my local (Southern Vancouver Island) ancestors among whom was JT's future wife, Mary Ann Simpson. The Colony of Vancouver's Island had only joined with the mainland Colony to form the Colony of British Columbia the previous year (1866) and wouldn't join with and become a part of Canada for another 4 years. When that event did occur, it followed a period of intense discussion of the pros and cons of British Columbia joining Confederation as a part of Canada. In an interview published in the Victoria Times in 1917, JT was quoted as saying,"......Many persons at the time considered that in joining the union, the colony was dealing itself the final blow of destruction. Such, however, was not the case and the vast majority of those who had come from Eastern Canada recognized what partnership with that section of the Dominion would eventually mean......" JT went on to relate how, when he was elected to the Legislature in 1878, his government informed the Canadian government the following Spring (1879) that if they didn't progress satisfactorily towards completing the agreement (railroad) as promised that BC would petition to separate from the Dominion. Fortunately, this was eventually done and British Columbia has remained a part of the Dominion of Canada and is taking part in celebrating the country's birthday today.

So while you're celebrating our country's 142nd birthday today and, for those of us in BC, the 138th anniversary of joining the Dominion, have a thought for what it must have meant for our McIlmoyl ancestors at the time. Have a safe and happy holiday today and, above all, have fun!

Welcome and Introduction

2009-06-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 'McIlmoyl(e) Family in North America' genealogy blog. I've started this blog as a way to connect with other McIlmoyl(e) family researchers and gather info on family lines in addition to my own in order to write the story of this family over the past 235 years in North America. The story begins in June of 1774 when John McIlmoyl and his wife Mary Dysart McIlmoyl set out from Ahoghill Parish in County Antrim, Ireland with their children James, Samuel, John, Mary, Hugh, Thomas and infant Jane. Their eldest son, Archibald, was already in North America with a Dysart uncle in Virginia. They were also accompanied by a servant Neil McNeil. They initially settled in Ballstown (Balston), Province of New York only to be caught up within a year or so in the American Revolution. As supporters of the British King, they were labelled as Tories or Loyalists thus becoming enemies of their neighbours who were rebelling against the Crown. From this time until the early 1780s, there are many stories to tell. I have a fair amount of these however there are a couple of seriously missing pieces of the puzzle.

1. After the passage receipt which included his name, nothing more has been found on Samuel. Some researchers have made assumptions that James & Samuel are the same person, however this is very unlikely as they are listed separately on the passage receipt thus each would have been charged for. So, what happened to Samuel? Was he killed in the AR?

2. Likewise, there is little if any documentation on John Jr. after their arrival. Family stories variously say he was killed in the Battle of Saratoga with Burgoyne or killed at the time the family was settling on their new land on the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. One researcher several generations back mixed up this John with one of a subsequent generation which created another inaccurate story of what actually happened to John Jr.

3. Some researchers have confused Jane with the name of Leah as the result of an erroneous transcription of Jane's marriage in the church register. The writing was not easy to read and somehow was misread as Leah. This caused some to think her name was Jane Leah which is incorrect. None of this generation had two forenames. I have read the original record and have a copy of it and her name is clearly Jane.

4. The spelling of the name is a story unto itself.....looking at original signatures of most of the first and second generations of this family in North America, there was no 'e' on the end of their surname. At some point, especially with Hugh's descendants, someone probably added a 'flourish' to the end of the name causing it to be spelled with an 'e' by many of the successive generations. For some reason, this was not the case of most of Thomas' descendants, particularly those who came West. Added to this interesting twist, in the mid 1800s, a cousin (many times removed) came from Ireland to Maryland, USA and spelled his surname McElmoyle. Fortunately, this cousin contacted one of our ancestors, John O'Donoghue McIlmoyl, who had prepared a family tree which included both a chart and an anecdotal report and explained how his name came to be spelled differently yet still be a member of the family. This of course means that I am also interested in hearing from descendants of Archibald McElmoyle and his siblings who also came to North America as a part of the story.

5. A critical puzzle piece that's missing is information on Mary Dysart McIlmoyl. Who were her parents? When did she die? Where? There is no mention of her in any of the records I've found in Canada which makes me suspect that she died prior to or during their escape to Canada or perhaps even shortly after their arrival in North America.

I look forward to hearing from cousins who can fill in some of the blanks and will post summaries of some of what I already know in future posts.

8-)
JoanMC