Week 35 - George Chester Kinnaird

George Chester Kinnaird (1819 - ?)

My great great grandfather George Chester Kinnaird was born in Upper Canada in 1819 son of Irish immigrants, Francis Kinnaird and Jane Gordon.  I have found record of 2 more boys in their family, Hugh (1815 - 1851) and Francis (1818 - ?).

 The Military Depot at Perth, Lanark County have land records from 1817 online.  They say:

362.Francis Kinnard, emigrant, 1 adult male, 1 adult female, 2 males over 12, 1 male under 12, 1 female over 12, 1 female under 12, country Ireland, ship Sally, July 18, 1817, located Oct. 3, 1817 Bastard, CR8, R8. SDP

Thanks to Shirley Hackett for the explanation that follows:

 I think that CR8 R8 means the rear portion of lot 8 in concession 8 of Bastard Township [Leeds County]. That is only about two miles from the boundary of Kitley Township."SDP" meaning Settlling Duties Performed, and was probably added later.  These Irish emigrants had to prove they had actually settled on the land and were making improvements (clearing etc) before the final grants were made, usually 3 or so years later.Most of these settlers were from County Wexford and County Carlow Ireland. 

Census records for 1818 in Bastard County (on line 95) have a Francis Canard with a wife, 3 sons and 2 daughters.

George Chester Kinnaird was married to Ann Wallace around 1850 but I have not yet found the record of it. In the Kitley Township 1851 census of Canada, George C "Kinnaud" is 31 and living with his wife Ann who is 24 and born in Ireland.  They have a 2 year old son Hugh and George's mother Jane at 67 years old is living with them.  Jane Gordon was born in 1785 in Ireland.  The census record says they had 75 acres of land with 30 under cultivation, 15 in crop and 15 in pasture.  The other 45 is declared as wooded.  George claimed 6 acres of wheat in 1851 that produced 100 bushels.  Location of their land is Concession 6, lot 10.

George and Ann had three more children,  Margaret in 1852, Nancy in 1854 and Ellen in 1857.  According to her stone pictured above in Toledo Presbyterian Cemetery, Ann Wallace died in 1859 at the age of 32. 

On April 22, 1860, a marriage between George "Kincaid" and Mary Ann Nesbit is registered in Leeds and Grenville County.  George's parents are listed as Francis Kincaid and Jane Gordon.  Mary Ann's are James Nesbit and Margaret Seymour.  She was born in Ireland and both bride and groom claim Kitley Township as their present residence.  What I have seen online is a transcription of the marriage certificate so his surname it may have been copied wrong or perhaps this is how he spelled it?

On the 1861 census he is with new wife Mary Ann and his 4 children with Ann Wallace in a one story log house. Hugh is 11, Margaret is 8, Nancy is 7 and Ellen is 4.  His last name was enumerated as "Kenaird".

 Mary Ann and George have 3 children who each have their own biography in this blog.William George - my great grandfather - was eldest, next was Elizabeth and youngest was James (who was blind).  All three are baptized in St. Andrews Presbyterian in Toledo in 1863 and 1864 but then George Chester is never in a census or any other record again.  With all the misspelling I have found of his surname though, he may be there somewhere but I haven't found him yet!

I did find a another marriage registration in 1868 for his second wife Mary Ann although the record has her last name as Redmond.   I am not sure if it was a clerical error or perhaps she was trying to avoid her first husband! Her parents are listed as James and Margaret Nisbit on this document where she marries Thomas Levi Cummings who becomes the step father to her 3 children.  The 1871 and 1881 census list her children's surname as Cummings instead of Kinnaird.  

I can't yet find the record of the death of George Chester Kinnaird or where he might be buried. Always more searching to do...