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My mother’s family has the distinction of owning
the famous yet common name of “Smith”. Family lore had it that
the Smiths were “Empire Loyalists” and “Yorkshiremen,” terms that
sounded exotic, but unfortunately came with no proof. In 1999,
when I vowed to unravel my family history, I soon found the name
I was looking for was “Thomas Smith”, one of the most common names in
English. Every index loomed with hundreds of Smiths and multiple Thomas!
The
first Thomas in my tree was my grandfather, Thomas William. On hints
from my mother, I traced his history to Ridgeville, Manitoba where
copies of original land applications1 showed him with his brother and father homesteading from 1884 through 1898. A copy of a local community history2
suggested the father, James Smith, had moved west from Ontario.
Various census reports and directories in the Toronto area soon
pinpointed the family farming and running an inn in the village of Norway3
. The head of this household turned out to be yet another
(you guessed it) Thomas! It was clear from several census reports
that Thomas had been English born about 1802, but when had he
come to Canada and with whom? If he was a Loyalist, as family
lore would have it, did his family travel north from the USA?
These are the burning questions I’d like to answer.
My first sighting of Thomas in Canada is in 1823. A “Thomas Smith” is
#399 in the nominal rolls of the 1st regiment of East York militia. The
date, location and his age are right. I’m confident this is my
“Thomas.” In 1830, a missionary marriage4
for Thomas Smith and Ann Carmack (or Camach) was performed at the site
of the current John the Baptist Anglican church of Norway. About 1831,
the couples first child, Ann, was born5
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1
Correspondence and homestead application #134313 submitted to Gov of
Can by Thomas William Smith age 20 for NE section 12, township 1, range
4E, very near the town of Ridgeville, Manitoba
2 Rural Municipality of Franklin turns a century 1883-1983
3
Norway is described in the Gazetteer of British North America
1873 as a post-village in York county, Ontario, 4 1/2 miles from
Toronto. It contains 1 store, 1 hotel and a brewery.
4
This information was emailed by, Mary-Anne Nicholls, the
Archivist for the Anglican church in Toronto. The marriage is further
confirmed circumstantially by the first child being named “Ann” and the
birth approximately one year after the marriage.
5 Ann
Smith’s birth was determined from her obituary found in The Ontario
Register for April 15,1848. “Passed away at age 17 at her father’s
house, the Norway Steam Sawmill Inn.”
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| Will the Real Thomas Please Stand Up! |
| A competition to describe a research challenge was posted at the local
geneology association. I sent off the essay about my Thomas Smith and received a favourable reply and
sympathy from the committee.
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followed by other children: Elizabeth in 1833 (1851/1861 census)6; James in 1836 (cemetery records7); Richard in 1840 (cemetery records8) and Mary in 1844 (1851/1861 census ).
The 1861 census contained several
other bits of information which have been helpful in tracking
Thomas. The area of the census was described as “bounded on the
North by Ward #2, on South by Kingston Road on the West by Don Mill
Road and on the East by the line between York and Scarboro. More
specifically, the Smith’s property was in the East half of Ward #1 in
the township of York. Thomas was a widower, whose youngest
daughter, Mary, was residing in Barrie although he lived in East York.
The eldest daughter, Elizabeth, has moved away from the York property.
The Barrie connection surfaces again in the 1881 census9.
There is a Thomas Smith of the right age housed in the house of Thomas
Crindle and wife Elizabeth in Barrie. Richard Smith is living in
Manitoba but James can be found also living in the Barrie area10 .
Two years later, James and his family also move to Manitoba, perhaps
after the death of his father. I’ve been unable to trace the eldest
daughter, Elizabeth, who likely married between 1851 and 1861.
(She was 18 in 1851.) Could she be Elizabeth Crindle?
Perhaps the youngest daughter, Mary, also married and moved to
elsewhere in Ontario. She would have been in her early twenties
in 1867. I believe finding descendents of these two daughters
might hold the key to discovering the roots of the father, Thomas.
| 6 The
family composition in the 1851 census (C-11760 p. 416) was confirmed in
the 1861 census (C-1090 p.19), however by 1871 the family had
dispersed. Note that the 1861 census lists a Robert Smith age 23 which
I believe is a mistake for Richard. There is also confusion over
the ages of Richard and James. I have used the graveyard records
rather than the census to determine these births.
7 St. Johns Cathedral, Winnipeg: south1/2, Lot 33, Block 34
8 St. Johns Cathdral, Winnipeg: north1/2, Lot 4, Block 34
9 The 1881 census was derived from the SearchAncestors website; http://www.grl.com/SearchAncestors.aspx
10 Sunnidale, simcoe North: NAC C-13251 Dist 139 Subdist D Page 11 Family 43
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Thomas was very active in the Anglican Church. He’s mentioned in a publication called The Story of 100 Years of the Church of St. John the Baptist Norway11
. In about the year 1853, the petitioners along Kingston Road
near Woodbine began the process of establishing a church. Thomas
Smith, “farmer and innkeeper” was among the early parishioners.
The remarks column for 1861 census contains the following remark
referring to the Smith property: “English Church Cost $500 contain
about 100 settings” I’ve been unable to interpret this remark
successfully. Was the building previously a church? Was the
tavern run by the family, sometimes used as a church?
The 1871 census12
shows Thomas (69) living with Ann Weymouth (55) and her three
daughters. I’ve considered there was an association between
Thomas and Ann but have been unable to trace them. Weymouth’s are
listed in the Norway Church history mentioned above.
The descendents of Richard Smith13
, the brother of James, might have information about Thomas. His
descendents settled in Fort William, Ontario. The following
children were born in Fort William: Josie Smith, Louise A. Smith,
Sydney Smith, Nelson Noel Smith14 born 15 April 1869, Ardagh Gilbert (Jimmy) Smith born 9 March 1889. Other children were Thomas Samuel Smith15 born 1867 in Richmond, Quebec, J.R. Smith born March 1871 in Toronto and James Henry Smith16 born 30 March 1871 in Toronto. He married Agnes Noel17 , 27 June 1865 in Durham, Quebec. I have been unable to find any of Richard’s descendents.
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11 Available at the National Archives in Ottawa but I have a copy.
12 District #45, East York, page 13
13 The information on Richard Smith’s family has been gleaned from family sources, not always substantiated.
14 The following incomplete information re.children: Kathleen (Anderson) Smith and Richard Noel Smith born 1899
15
From the obituary of Thomas Samuel Smith I have the following
children: Mrs. D. L. Bole, Mrs. Dr. J. Chisholm, Mrs. Roy Campbell, and
son Thomas Henry Smith of Fort William. Thomas Samuel died August
1928 in Fort William.
16 Married to Agnes Pauline Cooper. He died 4 December 1948 in Duncan, British Columbia. There were no children.
17
Registers of the Congregational Church of Durham, Quebec; on the
back of folio 4, Quebec National Archives, microfilm #149.61
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