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My great-great grandparents, Thomas and Sarah Roe and their four (or five)
children emigrated from Coon townlands, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland sometime
between 01 April 1832 and 26 September 1836. They settled in Montague Twp.
just south of The Pinery near Poole's Corners. |
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Of Thomas's ancestry, I know nothing. However, I do know that both he and
his brother John Roe married daughters of the Irish teacher and Wesleyan
Methodist churchman, Thomas Poole (1749 - Jan 3, 1849). According to an obituary
written by the sisters' nephew, William Henry Poole (1820-1896), John and
Eliza Roe remained in Ireland until her father died and then emigrated with
their eight sons to take up residence on Con. 10 in Montague
Twp. They remained there until shortly after the 1851 Canada Census, when
they emigrated to Huron County. I believe many of their descendants reside
in the area today. |
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Thomas and Sarah Roe had ten children: Thomas, John, Eliza, Richard,
William, Ann, William Henry, Sarah, Hester and Samuel. Thomas, Sr. built
one of the early schools in the district on his farm in 1857. He was
actively involved in the Orange Brotherhood. Thomas, Sr. (1796-1871) and
Sarah (1801-1879) are buried in the small Christ Church plot (Orange
Cemetery #31) on C6 along with their infant son William (1834-1838) and
some other family members and neighbors. |
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The oldest son, Thomas (1823-1903), was married twice. His first wife, Rebecca Fennel,
passed away at a very early age and so Thomas married Maria Dunbar. This
family moved to Minesing, just north of Barrie, shortly after the 1871
census was taken. They had five children that I know of, four of whom died
in a four-month period early in 1877 and a son, John Dunbar Roe, who
remained in the district. John married twice and fathered 10 children, the
last of whom died in late 1997. Many of his descendants live in Barrie.
Thomas and Maria, along with their four young children, are buried in the
Pioneer graveyard at Minesing. |
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John and Richard Roe settled on the 200 acres on Con. 10. Richard, my great
grandfather, married Jane (G)Leeson, the oldest Canadian-born daughter of
John Gleeson of Killinane Parish, Co. Carlow, and Mary Kidd of Coon.
Contrary to The Story of the Derry, which claims Mary and her family came
to Canada in 1818 (one member, John Kidd, did), John and Mary were married
in Ireland in 1823 and emigrated to Canada between 1829 and 1831. Mary's
parents, Andrew Kidd (1769-1854) and Jane Kilfoyle, and Mary's six younger
siblings, probably emigrated with them as there is no record of any of them
in Canada before the 1841 Heads of Household census. |
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and Jane also had eight children: Mary, John, Sarah, Thomas, William,
Albert, Henry [see photo] and Christena.
Richard died at early age (1832-1878). He is buried in Franktown
Public Cemetery, right beside the graves of his parents-in-law.
Jane kept the family farm until 1893. She was living in Merrickville until
her death in 1925 at age 92. I do not know where she is buried. Their
son William Roe (1865-1949) was my grandfather. On August
2, 1899, he married a
Lanark girl, Scyrina Sculland (1877-1955), but in Boissevain
Manitoba! |
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Scyrina was also descended from long-time Lanark County residents. Her
parents were William Jerome Sculland (1840-1921), an American from Vermont, and
Jane McInnes (1849-1933), the daughter of Thomas McInnes (1817-1890) and
Margaret Horn (1824-1901). Thomas was one of the four children of Alexander
McInnes (1769-18?) and Jean Johnstone (1772-1820) who emigrated to Canada
in 1820 (Jean died at sea). Margaret was descended from James Horn
(1787-1837) and Marrion Maggat (1787-1844), who also emigrated from
Scotland in 1820. Both families were members of the many emigration
societies that formed in Glasgow at that time. James, Marrion and Alexander
are all buried in Hopetown Public Cemetery. |
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My grandparents emigrated separately to Manitoba. I believe he went west
with his brother George in the late 1890s while she emigrated about the
same time with her sister Endora. After their marriage, William and Scyrina
settled in southwestern Manitoba, where they had eight children: Richard;
Violet; Henry; Mary Alena; Mervin; Harold; Sylvia and Ruth by 1914. All are now
deceased. About that time, George Roe moved his family to Smiths Falls, where they
settled for good. William and Scyrina moved also; they settled in
Shaunavon, Saskatchewan and raised their children there. William and
Scyrina are buried in Shaunavon Public Cemetery. |
May 2003