Canada 150 Genealogy Challenge

As you probably already know, Canada celebrated the 150th anniversary of Confederation on Saturday, the day that the colonies were united under the Constitution Act.

I'm a bit late, but I am taking up Patricia Greber's challenge to list my Canadian ancestors living in Canada in 1867 when Confederation was accomplished. The challenge is to list their names, the year they arrived in Canada (can be approximate) and where they originally settled.

John Dean

Elizabeth Nimmo

Denison Minser Bean

Isabella Frances Parker (Center)

James Dean - 3rd great grandfather                               by 1837                 Harrington Twnshp, Quebec
Jane Irwin - 3rd great grandmother                                by 1837                 Montreal, Quebec

John Dean - 2nd great grandfather                                  b. 1839                 St. Patrick, Quebec

Elizabeth Louden - 3rd great grandmother                          1851-1856       Montreal, Quebec

Elizabeth Nimmo - 2nd great grandmother                          1851-1856      Montreal, Quebec

Mark Bean - 3rd great grandfather                                   b. 1806                Hatley Township, Quebec

Denison Minser Bean - 2nd great grandfather                 b. 1848                Hatley Township, Quebec

John Emery - 3rd great grandfather                                      1805-1829     Hatley Township, Quebec

Jane Louisa Emery - 2nd great grandmother                    b. 1850               Hatley Township, Quebec

George Lakin Parker - 2nd great grandmother                     1840               St. Angelique, Quebec
Lucy A. B. Hamilton - 2nd great grandmother                b. 1828                Montreal, Quebec

Isabella Francis Parker - great grandmother                     b. 1867               Manotick, Ontario


James Dean and Jane Irwin both came from Ireland, according to census records, and were married Montreal, Quebec in 1837 at a Scotch Presbyterian Church.

Oral family history says that Elizabeth Louden and her children, including Elizabeth Nimmo, came from Scotland. Census records say Ireland right up to Elizabeth Nimmo's last census, 1921, which says Scotland. I also may have found the family in the Scottish census in 1851 but that is to be determined. Elizabeth Louden first appears in a Montreal directory in 1856.

John Emery appears to have been born in Newbury, New Hampshire in 1805. He may have come as a child, but his first record in Canada, so far, is his marriage to my 3rd great-grandmother, Fanny Chamberlin, in 1829.

George Lakin Parker came to Canada as a child from Barton, Vermont so his parents may also have been alive and in Canada for Confederation, but that is yet to be determined, as is the status of Lucy Hamilton's parents in 1867.

I've made so many fascinating discoveries about my direct and collateral Canadian ancestors preparing for the Dean reunion next month, but putting this list together emphasizes how much I don't know. So much family, only 24 hours in a day!