Our family history online

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OUR
FAMILY HISTORY





GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY






By

Donald Dean Parker, Sr

Published bv the Aurhor




TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title-page, Preface, and Table of Contents Pages

Ireland - The Ancestral Home - - - - - - 1-6

Map of Ireland _ - - __-___-__2

The Irish Rebellion of 1793 and Its Aftermath - - - - - 7-10

Ireland - From the Rebellion of 1798 until 1850 - - - 11-U

Ulster and the Scotch-Irish _-__ - _ - _ 15-17

Early British Immigration into Canada ________ 18-25

The French Canadians and Their Neighbors about 1830 - 26-28
Experiences along the St. Lawrence in 184.2 - - - -29

Religious and Moral Conditions among the Canadian Pioneers - - 30-31

The History of Canadian Land Settlement _______ 32

Life of the Early Settler in Canada ________ 33-35

A Pioneer Cabin and Its Equipment ________ 35

Places Where Our Ancestors Lived (Map of the Montreal Region) - - 36

County Down - Ancestral Home of the Pattersons ______ pi_2

Hillsborough - -. - - - - -_ P2

Patterson Pedigree - - - - - - - P3

Patterson Family History __-_ - - _-_ P4-11

Map of Northeastern Ireland - - - - - - - - - - - P12

Londonderry County - Home of the Pattison and Lennox Families - - Rl-2

Kilrea _____ - ____ - _- R2

Pattison and Patterson Pedigree _________ R3

Pattioon and Patterson Family History ________ R4.-5

Richardson Patterson __________ R6-10

William James Patterson - - - - - - Rll-22

Additional Patterson Notes _________ R22-23

The Donald Dean Parker Family _____-_-_ R24

Lawson Family History - - - - - - - R25-30

Other Lawson Information __________ R31-33

Happy Holiday Greetings, 1951, from the Donald D. Parkers - - - R34

Lennox Pedigree _____________ Ll-3

Lennox Family History ____ - - - - L4-10

Thomas Lennox and His Descendants ____ - __ _ll-23

Additional Lennox Notes - - - - - L23-28



Cornwall County - Early Home of the Traces _______ ~l-2

The History of the Bible Christians __ - -__- T3

Map of Victoria County and Part of Ontario - - - - T4

Early Conditions in Victoria County and Ontario _____ T5-10

Early Conditions in Simcoe County and Ontario ______ Tli-13

Map of Simcoe County and York __' - - _ - _ T12

Simcoe County in the Nineteenth Century - - - - T14-23

Essa Township ____________ T17-20

Oro, Flos, and Tiny Townships - - - - - T21-22

Elmvale _-____ - - - - T22-23

Traces, Pattersons, and Methodism near Elmvale ______ T24-25

Trace Pedigree - - - - - - - T 26-2 7

The Trace's of Cornwall County, England (and map of Cornwall) - - T28-30

Trace Family History ____ - - - - T31-41

John Trace, Jr., Family History __ - - - - T42-61

Additional Notes - T41 - - - - - T61-66



The French Canadians and the King's Girls - - - - Al-3

Montreal and Vicinity - Map - - - - M

Quebec and the French Canadians. in 1749 -..-;- ~ ~ " " " " A ^-9

Montreal and Vicinity in 1753 - - - - - AID

The French Canadians about 1910 - - - • - - - ' - - ~- : All-12

The -French Canadians about 1920 - - - - - A13-14

Oriein of Our French Canadian Ancestors ______ A15-17

Places Where the French Canadian Ancestors Lived - Map - A1S

Ancestors of the Montreal Region . - - - -. - - - - •. A19-2D

Facts from the Parish Registers - - - - - A21-22

Luc Courville's Marriaee Contract ____ - - - A23-25

The Ancestry of Luc Courville, Sr. - - - - A25

Courville Homes - Cedres and Isle Perrot _______ A26-27

Possible Courville Ancestry - - '.. - - - - - - - - A28-31

French Canadian Ancestors __'_-_ - - - A32-46

5th through the 10th Generations back ______ A32

10th through the 13th Generations, back ______ A33-34

Abbreviations and Places of Residence _______ a35

_th through the 13th Generations bac_ - - . - - - - - A36-46

Summary and. Observations - - - - - - - - - A4.6

Courville Pedigree - - - - - - - A47-4 55

Courville Family - - - - - - - A49-56

Additional Notes ___-__ - - - A57

The ?as<?more Family _____ - - -_- A58-65

Additional Notes _____ - -__-_ A65-66

The Evans Family - - - - - - - A 67-70

Additional Courville end Passmore Notes ______ a70

Index of persons and pictures - - - - - End

Index of maos and pictures

Map of Ireland _____________ 2

Map of the Montreal Region - - - - - -36, AlB

Mao of Northeastern Ireland __________ pi2

Map of Victoria County and Ontario - - - - - T4..

Map of Simcce County and York _________ -]_2

Small inset map of Cornwall County, England ______ ?28

Map of Montreal and Vicinity __________ a/.

Picture index ______________ 2nd



IP-ELAND - THE ANCESTRAL HOME

Ireland, especially its northern part known as Ulster, vas the home of
the ancestors of many who v-ill read this family history. Ireland's early his-
tory is lost in fable and legend. Before the time of Christ Celtic tribes
had conquered the island. About 430 A.D., through the activity of St. Pat-
rick, Christianity was introduced. A little later Irish monks settled on the
vest coast of Scotland and began the conversion of the wild Scots living there.
Just before 600 A.D. the conversion of the English began.

The first Norse invasions occurred in 795 and about 850 they established
themselves at Dublin, setting up a kingdom there. After 1066 when the Normans
conquered England, many Normans settled in Ireland where they were absorbed
into the population. The English asserted their authority over Ire-land, but
as late as 1485 only Dublin and a few towns along the east coast were under
English rule. In 15^1 the Irish Parliament gave the English king, Henry VIII,
the title of King of Ireland. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth, who ruled from
1558 to 1603, brought about a conquest of the entire island, accompanied by
the usual cruelty and injustice which prevailed in that ape. In certain areas
"the lorinp of a cor or the voice of a ploughman could scarcely be heard."
Famine killed far more than the sword. England was fast becoming Protestant
during Elizabeth' s time and an effort was made to change the religion of the
Irish, but they remained true to their Catholic faith.

James I ( 1603-1625) succeeded the queen. Irish armed resistance was at
an end, so the king began to firmly establish English rule. Ireland vas divid-
ed into counties and the whole of northern Ireland was at the disposal of the
English government. The counties of Tyrone, Donee-al, Armagh, Cavan, Fermanagh,
and Derry rere parcelled out among the Enelish and Scotch colonists, our ances-
tors who arrived in Ulster at that time. Portions only were reserved for the
native Irish and intermarriage with them was forbidden and strictly enforced.
The site of Derry was granted to the citizens of London, who fortified and arm-
ed it. Londonderry thus became the chief bulwark of the colonists in two
great wars. Ulster soon became the most prosperous and loyal part of Ireland.
In Ulster the dominant religion nas Presbyterian, having arrived with the Scots,
but Anglicans and Catholics ^ere also to be found in considerable numbers.
The English persecuted both the Presbyterians and Catholics as they tried to
force them to accept Anglican views. The rebellion which began in 1641 lasted
for nine years, being finally put down by Oliver Cromwell's army from England.
The ruthlessness of war left the island with a population of 850,000, of whom
150,000 were English and Scots - mainly in the north. The Irish Catholic gent-
ry were removed from their estates and their lands were given to new colonists.
Stern measures were taken against Catholics, but all classes of Protestants
were tolerated. By 1685 the Catholic share of the fertile lands of Ireland
had been reduced from tvo-thirds to one-third.

Life was pleasant only for those who conformed to the state religion which
was Anglicanism, known as the Church of Ireland. Catholicism was tolerated
but its adherents -ere subject to frequent alarms and to great severities.
The Presbyterians ^ere soon so persecuted that the influx of Scots into Ireland
was stopped. Quakerism began getting a good foothold. Under James II, 16 8 5-
16*9, the lot of the Presbyterians "as especially hard. Tar broke out anew



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MAP OF IRELAND
J\^— The Parkers lived in Carlo*.
t^ P 1 * Croziers lived in Cavan.
The Pattersons lived in Down.
The Pattisons and Lennoxes lived
in Londonderry.
The T/estgates lived in Mayo.
Ulster is the northern third o^
Ireland.



and Londonderry and Enniskillen, both in Ulster, closed their eates as a lone
siege began. James II fled to France from whence in March 1689 he returned to
Ireland with some French troops. The Act of Settlement was repealed thus prac-
tically confiscating the property of all Presbyterians. The dispossessed Prot-
estants escaped by sea or flocked into Ulster, where a gallant stand was made.
The glories of the siege of Londonderry and Enniskillen will live as long as
the English language. From April 18, 1690, the Prote stents of the north of
Ireland defended themselves within Londonderry's walls against James ii until
the siege was raised in August. The result of the war was that the Irish Cath-
olics aided by the French were entirely beaten; the Protestant colonists aided
by England were entirely victorious. More than a million acres were forfeited
by their Irish owners and Catholic interest in the land was further diminished.
In despair of ever changing conditions in Ireland, the young and strong men
enlisted in foreign armies; 450,000 are said to have emigrated for this purpose
between 1691 and 17/, 5.

Lars were now passed which greatly helped the Protestants vhile restrict-
ing the Catholics. No Catholic could teach a school or any child but his own.
Mixed marriages v.ere forbidden between persons ovning property. All estates
had to be equally divided r-.mong the children of Catholics. Long leases on
property were forbidden. Priests from abroad vere forbidden while priests in
Ireland were required to remain in their o^n parishes. No Catholic was per-
mitted to have arms, nor could he om a horse worth more than ?24. These and
similar laws were systematically evaded. Catholics steadily lost land to Prot-
estants and by 1800 owned only one-tenth of the land though they made up about
tro-thirds of the population of Z, 500,000.

The Scottish Presbyterians who defended Londonderry were treated little
better than the Irish Catholics who besieged it. By 1720 bare toleration had
been granted. Many emigrated to the American colonies, carrying with them an
undying hatred of England which had much to do with their great part in the
American Revolution. But the Ulster peasants were never as badly off as those
of the south end test. A famine began in the winter of 1739 and one-fifth of
the population, or 400,000, are supposed to have perished.

The Irish Parliament made no pretense of representing the masses of the
island. The House of Commons consisted of 300 members, 200 of whom were chosen
by 100 individuals; nearly 50 of the 200 were elected by ten persons. From
1692 until 1829 no Catholic could be a member. Presbyterians and other Dissent-
ers (non-Anglicans) were eligible and were also entitled to vote, which Catho-
lics were not. It has been said that "the Irish Parliament, even after 1782,
was of legislative bodies the most corruptible and the most corrupt." The Prot-
estant •Anclo-Irish, as opposed to the Scotch-Irish of Ulster, had a monopoly
of all state positions. They also had a state-supported church, which no other
church had, even tnough they composed only one in nine of the population.

Ireland's population in 1700 was 1,000,000. By 1800 it had rrora to 4,500,
000, of whom at least 3,000,000 were Catholics; 500,000 Anglicans; 1,000,000
Presbyterians and Dissenters. A social gulf separated the Anelo-Irish from
other Protestant inhabitants, business people, or farmers. But much farther
doT-n the social and economic scale vere the native Catholic Irish. The Irish
were the hewers of wood and the drawers of water. Probably nine-tenths of the
population were enpaced in agriculture. Though the soil r?s fertile and t^o-
thirds. of the 19.4 million acres i"ere cultivable, the climate wns equable but
very moist and uncertain. Heavy autumn rains ruined many promisinr crops.



The most important cause of social and economic unrest in the past several
centuries was the fact that the landlords, with their great estates, and many
of the big middlemen and occupying tenants who rented from them were of English
blood, Protestant in religion, and tracing their titles of ornership to success-
ful dispossession of the ancient Irish race. Among the latter the tradition
of a descent from the lawful owner was strong. They would not agree that the
land of their ancestors rightfully belonged to the English proprietors. In
other countries where landlord and tenant were of the same race, or of the same
religion, or where the landlord's title rested upon peaceful acquisition of his
land, there was much to alleviate and soften the relations between them. But
in Ireland not one of these conditions was present.

With few exceptions the landlords spent nothing for improvements on their
land and buildings'. Unlike in England, a tenant who had no lease, or one whose
lease had expired, would get no favor. If the landlord could get a higher rent
from anybody else, the old tenant would have to leave. Evils were increased
by the existence of a great number of absentee landlords, having no care for
or knowledge of their tenants. In Carlow and a fe-v nearby counties the tenants
were much more industrious than elsewhere but even so, "their manuring was triv-
ial, their tackle and implements wretched, their teams weak, their profits
small, and their living little better than the cottiers they employed - circum-
stances necessarily resulting from the smallness of their capitals."

By 1200 the standard of living was still exceedingly lov for the peasantry.
Potatoes, supplemented perhaps by a little milk, rere the chief food. Bread
was seldom seen. Their cabins were of the most miserable kind. The walls were
five to seven feet high, enclosing only one room. The door was usually also
the window. The furniture consisted of a table, one or several broken stools,
a pot for boiling potatoes, and sometimes a bed. Cows, calves, pigs, dogs, and
cats shared these humble rooms. Clothing was very scanty. Children scarcely
evtr had shoes or stockings, nor often did their parents. About 1800 not one
fourth of the people of Ireland had shoes or stockings. After 1782 the rent
of land doubled in the next two decades. A laborer in 1796 worked for six
pence a day.

Since there seemed to be little hope of remedying these conditions by law-
ful means, there came into existence a succession of organizations, some with
and some without a religious connection, but all having a foundation in the un-
favorable economic and social conditions. One of the fitst was the T"hiteboys,
so-called from wearing their shirts over their clothes during their nightly ex-
cursions. In 186?, during their second year, they numbered 600 or 700 in rater-
ford County in the southeast. The White boys and other associations enforced
their lawless orders by shocking and cruel outrrres. Houses and barns and gran-
aries were leveled, crops laid waste, pasture lands plourhed, cattle maimed and
killed, meadows thrown open to cattle, orchards torn up.

Among their objects was the redress of all grievances. The Thiteboys were
impartial in dealing with clergymen of all faiths, for they felt the clerical
tithes were too hirh. Catholic bishops and clergy resolutely opposed them and
their methods, thourh most of the members were Catholics. The Ehiteboys were
mainly in the south, but in 1764 in the north the Oakboys got started. Their
name came from wearing branches of oak trees in their hats, and their orincipal
seat of operations was County Armagh. Their chief object was to correct abuses
in^the making and repairing of reads. "Each householder was, at this oeriod,
obliged to contribute labour for this purpose, but distribution of the' work was



unfair, and the rich were exempted; further, roads were frequently made to ad-
vantage individuals of influence rather than the public." After a time other
objectives included the reduction of tithes, the regulation of the price of
land, especially of pent does. The Oakboys apperred in bodies of 400 or 500,
sometimes bended by farmers with property. Eeinr of r. better class then the
Fhiteboys, they vent to fever extremes. Though they threatened and insulted,
not a sinrle life was lost, nor a sinple person hurt in the County of Armagh,
where they were stronpest. The Oakboys' road grievances were corrected within
a year.

In 1772 the Hearts of Steel caused much concern in the counties of Antrim
and Down in Ulster, though other nearby counties were also affected. Their un-
lawful methods were more like those of the Fhiteboys of the south. Many emi-
grated to the American colonies. Though quelled, this movement's baneful ef-
fects rere felt for a time in the north. The Protestant and Presbyterian farm-
ers, as part of the conquering and dominant race, ''ere the prosperous and dis-
ciplined portion of the agricultural community. They disliked, distrusted,
and feared the lo^er classes, who were mostly Irish Catholics.

When laws -rere passed forbidding the unauthorized possession of arms, the
Protestants took upon themselves the duty of enforcing the statutes. Thus the
Peep of Day Boys and the Break of Day Boys, who comprised some Presbyterians,
were formed, and commenced nightly searches of the houses of Catholics for arms.
Violence begat violence, and much religious hatred and bigotry was aroused.
The Catholics formed a counter organization, called the Defenders which soon
took aggressive action. They spread to counties where there were no strong
bodies of Protestants to alarm them, and in many cases they became mere gangs
of robbers, breaking into and plundering houses and committing other outrages.
There were many collisions in the county of Armagh, where the Protestants were
in the majority. A conflict took place in the fall of 1795 in which 20 or 30
Catholic Defenders were killed near the Diamond, followed by a terrible perse-
cution of other Catholics. The Protestant rabble of Armagh and adjoining coun-
ties tried to drive the Catholics from their region.. "The webs and looms of
the poor Catholic weavers were cut and destroyed, every article of furniture
was shattered or burnt. The houses were often set on fire... Several Catholic
chapels were burnt, and the persecution. .. soon extended over a wide area in the
counties of Tyrone, Down, Antrim, and Derry." Some believe the Defenders were
equally to blame. A Down official testified that "a general terror prevails
amongst the Protestants in this neighbourhood that their throats are to be cut
by the Papists, aided by the militia...."

The formation of the Orange Society grew out of this trouble in 1795. The
Peep of Day Boys dropped that name and took on that of Orangemen, about which
more will be said later. In 17?7 an act created c. police force of 3000 con-
stables and 250 chief constables. This force, which was purely Protestrnt,
was utterly inefficient and inadequate to meet the disturbed conditions.

Other aspects of Ireland's history need attention, such as her language,
financial, and industrial situations. The Irish language was spoken by the
common people in the central -estern part of the island, known as Connaught.
Many there understood no English. Irish was spoken very generally through the
other three provinces, except among the descendants of the Scotch in the north.
Nearly one half of Ireland's population were unable to understand a continued
discourse in English.

About the year 1800 there was a great scarcity of gold and silver coins



* 6

in Ireland. There was much ignorance as to the value of money, whether in
coins or in notes. Substitutes for coins had to be used, colled the tally sys-
tem. Ireland's roads at this time were one of its best features. Even down
to 1850 they T-ere better than the English roads.

Ireland alrays felt aggrieved because of restrictions placed on her trade
end industry by the English legislature. In the 1660's it was forbidden to
ship Irish cattle into England, so the Irish turned from cattle to sheep breed-
ing". They soon produced the best wool in Europe. At the end of that century
the manufacture of woolen goods was England's greatest industry. The Irish
seemed to be their serious rivals. The industry flourished in Protestant hands,
not alone in Ulster but in the south as well. Ireland had also a linen indus-
try which, though flourishing, was not comparable in importance to the roolen.
It, too, was in Protestant hands. England had no important linen industry and
so looked with favor upon an encouragement of that industry in Ireland. Thus
the British officials induced the Irish Parliament to pass an act in 169 s im-
posing heavy duties upon all woolen goods exported out of Ireland. In 1699
the English Parliament prohibited the export of all woolen goods from Ireland
to any part of the world except fo England, and there only under restrictions.
Thus, the Irish woolen trade wasjiestroyed at once, for there was no hone mar-
ket because of the general poverty and the lack of a wealthy middle class. The
Irish and Scotch-Irish ever afterward resented the extermination of their wool-
en trade. Smuggling developed on a large scale, the indented coast offering
great facilities. The moral effect was disastrous, as it tended to make Ire-
land the least law-abiding country in Europe. Some writers believe that if the
woolen trade had been encouraged "or allowed to continue, Protestantism and
Anglicization and loyalty to the British connection would have been strengthen-
ed; that another Ulster would have arisen in the south; and that Ulster itself
would have been greatly strengthened.

Linen manufacturing began in the late 1600' s. By 1710 about 1,700,000
yards were being made and exported; by 1750 this rose to about 11,000,000; by
1790 to about 37,500,000 at which figure it remained until 1820. By 1S23 it
rose to about 46,500,000, but after 1825 it began to decline rapidly owing to
the importation of English and Scotch yarns made by machine, which undersold
the home-made article of Ireland. After 1S30 the great linen trade of Ulster
began. As hand-spinning died out gradually in other provinces, nearly all the
linen manufacturing of Ireland became concentrated in Ulster where flax ras
chiefly grown. By 1839 forty mills were engaged in linen manufacturing and
employed 9017 persons. The demand for a free export trade grew so strong that
in 1779 the British government repealed the acts prohibiting Irish export of
woolens. By 1837 woolen mills were all situated in Dublin or in the south.

Cotton manufacturing "as introduced into Ireland in 1777 and increased
rapidly, employing 13,500 workers^ by 1800, chiefly in and near Belfast. By
1800 the cotton manufacture had ra'bre than doubled in Ireland. By l s 39 there
were only 24 cotton mills, employing only 4622 persons. After 1846 the cotton
industry decreased to only six factories employing 1620 persons.

Meanwhile the population was increasing by prodigious bounds. From one
million in 1700 it grev to five in 1800. Much of this increase took place from
1785, when the population was 2,845,932, to 1803 when it was nearly double that
figure - 5,356,594. By 1845 it swelled to 8,295,061. The greater part of the
people were dependent on the potato alone for food.







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The Bewleys of Lochinvar, 1890

Seated, left to right: Jessie Bewley Parker, Elizabeth Bewley, Jane
Patterson (the widow of John Pearson Bewley), Mary Jane Bewley, Annie
Bewley Daniels. Standing, left to right: Sarah Moore Bewley Behrens,
George Patterson Bewley, John Edward Bewley, Alice Bewley Stonnell.





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Lochinvar - The Bewley home after 1888



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1799 AMD ITS AFTERMATH .

Ireland was seething with discontent and political unrest in the 1780' s
and 1790' s. An alien, landlord, and Protestant garrison, living in the midst