FAULKNER FAMILY - PART 4

George Lewis Faulkner was born in 1845 in Ireland, possibly Dublin.  He was the 2nd son of William Faulkner (1815 - ) and Annie Jane Crosby (1819 - 1876).  He died in Toronto, in the House of Industry in 1907.

As far as I can determine the William Faulkner family came to Canada between 1847 and 1849.  My great grandfather Ford Faulkner was born in Ontario, between the two dates.  The family was certainly living in Simcoe County by 1850 according to a baptism transcription.

George Lewis Faulkner married Mary Combs (1852 - ) in 1872 in Aurora, Ontario.  Mary's parents are listed as George and Phoebe Combs.  On the 1871 census, I found Mary living in Aurora with a Phoebe and  Robert P. Irwin.  I think Mary's father must have died and her mother re-married.  The witnesses to the marriage included an R.P. Irwin, who may have been Mary's step-father.  I haven't found George anywhere on the 1871 census.  He was not listed with his parents and I haven't come across a suitable candidate as yet.  However, there is a George L. Faulkner, Safemaker, listed in the 1871-1872 Toronto Directory, living on Queen Street East.

By the 1881 Census, George and Mary were living in Galt Ontario.  George is listed as a Safemaker and they have 4 children:

• Matilda "Tillie"  born 1873 Toronto
• Henry Lewis born 1875 Aurora
• Robert Crosby born 1877 Toronto
• Henrietta born 1881 Waterloo

By the 1891 Census, I had lost the family completely.  There was no family listed and I couldn't find the individual names either.  I assumed Mary Combs had died before 1896 as George married Jannett (Malcolm) Ling in 1896 in Galt Ontario.  Jannett was a widow, however George is listed as a bachelor.  I'm sure this is the right man he is listed as George L. Faulkner, parents William and Annie Faulkner, born in Ireland.  Well, I wonder what happened?

I dd some more research on Family Search and found that Henrietta and Henry Lewis Faulkner had died in the United States.

Henrietta married Christopher Reed Denham in Colorado in 1900.  Christopher Denham was born in Kentucky.  He lived in Colorado and the family moved to California.  Henrietta died in California in 1948.  According to the 1900 census Henrietta had emigrated  to the US in 1883.  Unfortunately, most of the 1890 US census was destroyed, so I haven't found where the family were located in 1890.

Another researcher on Ancestry has Matilda Faulkner marrying Charles Greely in Wisconsin in 1900.  I've discounted that for now as Matilda's parents are listed as John and Rosa Faulkner.

Henry Lewis Faulkner died in Washington State in 1924.  There was an interesting entry for the 1910 US Census.  I found a Harry L. living with with mother Mary  in Colorado.  I have no idea whether this is the same family, but it is interesting.  The age of Mary Faulkner and Harry L. Faulkner are consistent with the family I'm researching and they are both born in Canada and emigrated to the US in 1886.  I searched the 1900 US Census, but couldn't find Mary or Harry L. Faulkner.   Given that George Lewis Faulkner listed himself as a bachelor in 1896, it makes me wonder.

Further research for the 1901 Canada Census brought me more questions.  I haven't found George but I did find Jannet his second wife.  She is living in Galt with her parents, no George living with her.  She is listed as married.

George Lewis Faulkner died in 1907 in Toronto, in the Houses of Industry.  He is buried in the Necropolis Cemetery and his burial is listed as a Poor Adult Interment.

The questions remain did he take his family to the United States and then come back to Canada?  What happened to Mary Combs?  I haven't found a death certificate for her.  I haven't found any information on Robert Crosby Faulkner or Matilda Faulkner.  Did they go the the United States as well?

FAULKNER FAMILY - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

I have several pictures of the Faulkner family.  The picture below was in my grandmother's possession and we know it is a picture of  at least some Faulkners.  The question is who?   Here's my working theory, still to be proven.




Theory:
Top row:  Sarah Ann Newton, mother,  ?Ford  Faulkner, father
Middle row:  Baby Faulkner
Bottom row: Mary Smith great grandmother, Isabella Mcknight Newton, grandmother

It looks like it is 5 pictures that have been placed in one frame.   I've been working on assumption that the man and women in the top row are the parents of the baby.  Of course, the question remains, who is the baby.  It could be my grandmother Isabel May Faulkner Meehan (1885-1959).  And does that make the other two ladies the grandmothers?

I believe the lady on the top left is Sarah Ann Newton (1860-1933). I've based that assumption on this picture:

This is a picture of my grandmother's family. In the front from left to right: Isabel Faulkner, her parents Ford Faulkner, Sarah Ann Newton Faulkner.  The back row from left to right: her brothers  William Robert* Faulkner, Stewart Faulkner, Ford Crosby* Faulkner and Clifford Faulkner. (* I'm not sure if I have these 2 brothers in the right order).

Comparing the two photos I think I see a resemblance in Sarah Newton.  I'm not so sure about Ford Faulkner, the nose and cheeks look different.

Then I found this picture on the Internet.  It is a picture of George Mcknight (1807-1884) and  Mary Smith (1821-1909).  They are the grandparents of Sarah Ann Newton

As you can see its not very clear.  Its a copy of a copy.  I've been told it is a daguerreotype and it is printed backwards.  It looks to me that Mary Smith is the lady wearing the hat in the first picture.  Maybe its just the hat, but I think I see a resemblance.

If it is Mary Smith in the picture, could that mean that the lady on the bottom left of the picture is Isabella Mcknight Newton (1839-1913), the grandmother of the baby?

So the question remains:  who are these Faulkners?  My cousin who shared these pictures with me isn't sure.  We've come up with our assumptions but no definitive proof.  We know they belong in the family, but it's just another piece of the puzzle for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAULKNER FAMILY - PART 3

 Ford Faulkner was my great grandfather he was born about 1847 in Ontario.  According to his death certificate he was born in Toronto, Ontario.  There is a written notation in the family bible that suggests he may have been born in 1849.  The family were Methodists but to date I have only found one Methodist baptism record.  Unfortunately not for Ford, but for his brother William Joseph who was born 01 July 1850 in Tecumseth, Simcoe County and baptised in Bradford, Ontario.

Ford married Sarah Ann Newton in Fordwich, Huron County in 1879.  Sarah Ann's parents were Robert Newton and Isabella McKnight.  Sarah was born in 1860 in Wallace, Perth Ontario.

By 1851 Ford Faulkner's family were living in Simcoe County.  At some point before 1879, he and some of his family moved to Huron County.   The 1881 Census shows the family living in Howick, Huron County along with Sarah's brother Edward Newton.  At this time some of the other Newton family had moved to Manitoba, where Edward was to join them.  

The 1891 census shows the now growing family had moved to Toronto, St. Thomas Ward.  They are listed as lodgers with a Joseph and Ellen Kearney.  In 1901 they are living at 50 Blair Avenue in Toronto.

Ford and Sarah Ann had at least 8 children:

• William Robert  1880-1938
• Ford Crosby  1882 - 1920
• Bella May "Isabel"  1885 - 1959
• Stewart Clement  1887 -
• Edna (Twin)  1893 - 1893
• Gilbert (Twin)  1893 - 1893
• Herbert Russell  1894 - 1895
• Clifford Carlyle  1900 - 1942

Now back to the Family bible, the book that really got me interested in genealogy.  My paternal grandmother Isabel Faulkner Meehan gave the bible to my mother in the 1950's.  Isabel Faulkner had been raised in a strict Methodist family.  When she married George Meehan she became a Roman Catholic.  The bible had belonged to Isabel's mother Sarah Ann Newton.  It was presented to Sarah Ann by her father Robert Newton in 1884.   My mother didn't know at the time why she was given the bible and it remains a mystery to this day.  Perhaps, because it was a Protestant bible and my mother was a Protestant?

There are many names and dates in the bible, which have been very helpful in my research. I'm not sure whose hand writing appears in the book or if the dates were written as they occurred or after the fact.  Never the less, it's a wonderful artifact.

Ford Faulkner died in 1929  and Sara Ann died in 1933.  They are buried in St. John's Norway Cemetery in Toronto.

FAULKNER FAMILY - PART 1

William Faulkner was born about 1815 in Ireland, possibly in Dublin.  He married his wife, Annie Jane Crosby in Ireland before 1844.  William was a tailor and they settled in Simcoe County in Ontario.

According to the book Governor Simcoe Slept Here , published by the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local Historical Association, William was the first tailor in the village of Newton Robinson.   Newton Robinson was a village in the township of Tecumseh, County Simcoe about 20 miles south of Barrie and 50 miles north of Toronto.  I believe the village is now part of Bradford.  In 1852,  he occupied a  building as a tailor shop and a dwelling  in the village.  He sold his tailor business in 1868 to John Merrick.

Before emigrating to Canada, William and Annie Jane or Hannah as she is sometimes recorded, had at least 2 children:

•  John Crosby Faulkner born about 1844 in Dublin, Ireland
• George Lewis Faulkner born about 1845 in Ireland

After they arrived in Ontario, they had at least 5 more children:

• Ford Faulkner born 1847-1849  in Ontario, possibly Toronto
• William Joseph Faulkner born in 1850 in Tecumseh, Simcoe, Ontario
• Mary Jane Faulkner born about 1852 in Simcoe, Ontario
• Henrietta Faulkner born about 1853 in Simcoe, Ontario
• Annie Margaret Faulkner born about 1855 in Simcoe, Ontario

The forenames of Crosby, Ford and Lewis are used quite a bit in this Faulkner family.  I know that Annie Jane's maiden name was Crosby and so that is often used as a second name.  I've been wondering if Ford was also a family name.  There was a Jane Crosby born in Dublin, Ireland around 1829.  She came to Ontario and married a John Southeran/Southern/Sotheran.  According to some research on the Southeran family, Jane Crosby lived in Simcoe County and then moved to Huron County with her husband John.  On her death certificate her father is listed as Ford Crosby.  This branch of the Southeran family also uses Crosby and Ford as surnames.  I have no proof, but I think this Jane Crosby is somehow related to Annie Jane/Hannah Crosby.

Annie Jane died in 1876 and after that William Faulkner lived with his children.  On the 1881 Canada Census he was living with his daughter in Howick, Huron County.  By 1891, he was living in Muskoka, Parry Sound, living next door to his son William.  I don't know when he died.  I have not found him on the 1901 census.  So I have been assuming that he died between 1891 and 1901.

However, another researcher who is a descendant of William Faulkner, has his  eye glasses and glass case.  I'm wondering if William went to live with his daughter Annie Margaret in North Dakota.  Is a pair of glasses something you would leave in a will?  Or possibly it is just a family memento to remember a father?