William Bristow

b. 8 Feb 1846 Woolwich Twp, Waterloo Co, Ontario, Canada
m. 22 Jul 1867 Howick Twp, Huron Co, Ontario
d. 8 Apr 1875 Wallace Twp, Perth Co, Ontario

Married:

Amanda Harris

b. 14 Jan 1844 Rockton, Wentworth Co, Ontario
m2. John Jefferson, 26 Sep 1881 Listowel, Perth Co, Ontario
d. 19 Feb 1930 Kitchener, Waterloo Co, Ontario

Children:

William Edward (Erastus is on birth registration)

b. 24 Aug 1869 Wallace Twp, Perth Co, Ontario
dnm
d. 22 Jun 1922 Indian Head, Qu'Appelle Dist, Saskatchewan

Sidney John

b. 11 Apr 1870 Wallace Twp, Perth Co, Ontario
m. Matilda Elliott @ 1912 Grenfell, Qu'Appelle Dist, Saskatchewan
1 known child
d. 8 Sep 1966 Grenfell, Qu'Appelle Dist, Saskatchewan

Frank Dustin

b. 11 Jan 1872 Wallace Twp, Perth Co, Ontario
m. Sarah Hodgkin, 29 Jun 1896 Guelph, Wellington Co, Ontario
7 known children
d. 3 Apr 1963 Elmira, Waterloo Co, Ontario

Mabel Inez

b. 28 May 1873 Wallace Twp, Perth Co, Ontario
m. Jacob M Stoner, 27 Jun 1895 Wells Co, Indiana, USA
3 known children
d. 1 Aug 1943 Lima, Allen Co, Ohio, USA

Marguerite Emma S.

b. 5 Aug 1875 Fordwich, Huron Co, Ontario
m. Charles Wm. Benedick, 29 Aug 1898 Port Huron, St Clair Co, Michigan, USA
9 known children
d. 28 Jun 1950

The item where I found Marguerite Emma suggests that she was adopted by a family named Goff. Seems reasonable since she was born after the death of her father. By the 1881 Census I found;

William Jr. parked with his cousin Alex Peterson & family
Sidney parked with his Aunt Fanny Peterson
Frank parked with the Isaac Hilborn family
Mabel parked with the David Betzner family
Emma (haven't found her in the 1881 or 1891 Ontario census yet)

Mabel says she came to USA in 1893
Emma says she came to USA in 1897

Port Huron is a likely port of entry as the girls had two uncles, Sylvester & Elijah Harris, and their families living in Port Huron. None of the Bristow children lived with Amanda after her marriage to John Jefferson in 1881, and she became a stepmother to John's children by his first wife, and started a second family with him, having 4 more children.

The two older boys headed west in the late 1800s. William, who remained a confirmed bachelor, died in a tragic barn fire.

Many researchers have tried to find the names of the Harris girls' parents. I have narrowed it down to, father; Teneyck Harris, likely son of one of the many Elijah Harrises, and, mother; Mary Hendershott, the daughter of Morris Hendershott and Margaret Weaver. I zeroed in on Teneyck Harris as I followed the marriages and deaths of their children. John and Kenneth were the other forenames given for the Harris sire in some records.

In 1861 Teneyk Harus (spelling as per enumerator who had atrocious handwriting) is alive and in Wallace Twp close by the Bristows. He is not likely to be found in the 1851 census as there are too many sections of that census that have not survived. All of their children, who said at some juncture in there life where they were born, claim some part of Wentworth County as their natal place. Teneyck is not around by the 1871 census, but his widow, Mary, and their children remaining at home are. She remarries in 1873 to Edmund Thomas of Howick, formerly of Elmira. [The cemetery at the south end of Elmira is on property that Edmund Thomas provided, and the local Baptist Chapel used to meet at the Thomas house.]

With this Bristow Family in Ontario it is best to follow the Baptist records.


Information provided by Roger Miller, Guelph, Ontario Revised 25/11/2012

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