NEWTON FAMILY - PART 6 - FIRE, WHAT FIRE?

If you have been following my blog, I've been tracing the Robert Newton family recently.  I believe that Robert Newton (1821-1899) was the brother of  William, Henry, Maria and possibly George Newton.  I know from documentation that William, Henry and Maria are siblings, and their parents are Henry Newton and Mary Bryan(t).  Robert Newton was a witness to the marriage of George Newton in Simcoe County.  George may be a brother or a near relative.

My last post discussed Ester Ann Newton the oldest daughter of Robert Newton and Margaret Fallis (1827-1855).  Ester Ann (1849-1933) married Thomas Campbell and she died in Manitoba  in 1933.

My internet buddy, Heather is descended from Ester Ann and Thomas Campbell's family.  She was also researching the Newtons.  She had a scrapbook with newspaper articles that someone in her family had collected.  Unfortunately there were no dates or names of the publications attached to the articles.  Nevertheless, her family still lived in Huron County in Ontario so that is probably where the newspapers were published.  That was where Robert Newton and his family had lived before they went to Manitoba.

Heather had an article that recounted Ester Ann Campbell's death.  The article from a paper in Huron County was entitled:  Mrs. Thos. Campbell Passes - Mother of Mrs. J. Patterson, Fordwich was Last Survivor of Fire Tragedy in Fordwich in 1864.   The article seemed to be a reprint of the article in the The Recorder, Bossevain Manitoba (see this blog Newton Family - Part 5) with an added paragraph:

"The death  of Mrs. Campbell will recall to the minds of pioneer settlers in this district a tragic fire which occurred in Fordwich on January 12, 1864.  Mrs. Campbell was the last survivor of three persons rescued when a store, located just north of where Wm. Wade's stable now stands, was burned to the ground and in which five lives were lost.  The victims were William McAuly, 60 years of age; John Miller, 35 years; Michael Bloomly (sic), 18 years; Susan Newton, 11 years, all burned to death, while Lydia Newton died a few days later from effects of burns sustained.   The latter two were sisters of Mrs. Campbell who as at that time in her 16th year."

Michael Bloomily, Susan Newton, Lydia Newton were all names I had researched.  Susan Newton, age 11 was the missing Susan Newton (1853-1864) from the 1871 census.  She was a daughter of Robert Newton and Margaret Fallis.  There was another Susan listed on the 1871 born in 1864 to Robert and his second wife Isabella McKnight.

Michael Bloomily (abt 1843-1864) was the son of Lydia Hill (abt 1806-1864) and Michael Bloomily (1803-bef Mar 1862).  When  Michael Bloomily senior died, Lydia married Henry Newton.

I believe that last part of the article is incorrect. "The latter two were sisters of Mrs. Campbell..."  I think, Susan was the sister and Lydia was an aunt.

The fire started in a store owned by Henry Newton.  Further investigation revealed another article in the Huron and Bruce Advertiser - Semi-weekly Signal newspaper that it was a two-storey house and store owned by Henry Newton.  This article indicates that indeed Susan Newton is a niece of Henry and Lydia Newton and Ester Ann Newton is described as a "relative".  Apparently Ester Ann Newton escaped by leaping through a window while the others perished in the house.   How sad.  It was thought the fire had been set deliberately.

And there was my link.  Susan Newton, age 11 is the daughter of  Robert Newton and Margaret Fallis.  She is listed as the niece of Henry and Lydia Newton.  That makes Henry Newton her paternal uncle which makes Robert and Henry et al siblings.

I now feel confident adding Robert's parents as Henry Newton (senior) and Mary Bryan(t).

NEWTON FAMILY - PART 3

As I continued my search for Robert Newton's parents I spent quite a bit of time researching the other Newtons in the area.  My research into William, Maria and Henry Newton took a lot of digging and at some points I wondered if I was just spinning my wheels.  Sometimes my husband asks me how the family "shrub" is progressing, as my research seems to spread sideways like a shrub instead of vertically like the tree it is supposed resemble.

Here's what I knew for sure:

• Henry, William and Maria were brothers and sister.
• George Newton was also a possible relative.
• They were born in Ireland about the same time as Robert.
• They were Protestant.
• They were farmers.
• They lived in the same geographical area of Ontario.
• Their parents were Henry Newton and Mary Bryan(t) or a variation.

Question:  Were they related to Robert Newton born about 1820, in Ireland, a protestant who lived in Albion, Peel County, Wallace, Perth County, Howick, Huron County and Manitoba?

I started my search using Ancestry and Family Search to see what information was available.  I had already  found the marriage registrations for Henry Newton , who had been married twice.  It was his  marriage that gave me his parents names.

Henry Newton born about 1828 married Lydia Hill in 1862 in Waterloo.  It turned out that Lydia had been married before to a Michael Bloomily and they had a son Michael Bloomily.  Lydia died in 1864 and Henry remarried in 1865.  He married Susan Ghent in Wellington County. Susan Ghent had also been married before to a Daniel Sutherland who died in 1862.  Henry and Susan had a daughter in Fordwich, Huron County in 1868.

Willliam Newton born about 1826 married Eleanor Holt about 1855 in Waterloo County and they had at least 8 children born in the Waterloo area.

Maria Newton born about 1828 married Thomas Holt about 1847, possibly in Toronto.  They had at least 12 children born in Welllington County.  Eleanor Holt and Thomas Holt were brother and sister as were Maria Newton and William Newton.

George Newton born about 1821 married Letitia Eason in Simcoe County, Robert Newton was a witness.

I contacted several researchers through Ancestry who had trees on the website.  They were researching the Holt family and had little information on the Newtons.  However one researcher indicated that Henry Newton senior had died when Maria Newton was a teenager around 13 years old and her mother Mary Bryan(t) had died before that.  This information was from family knowledge and I have not found any concrete proof of this information.  However if Henry Newton senior died about 1841, it would explain why he was not listed in an 1851 census Peel County.

At this point I decided to turn my attention to Robert Newton's children.  Some moved to Manitoba and some children stayed in Ontario.  I was hoping perhaps by researching these children, I might uncover some further information to help me.  If you have been following this blog and the Newton family you might remember that Robert Newton was the father of at least 16 children.  Oh, boy.