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This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to go to Halifax and walk where my ancestors lived and worked.  I was able to find more members of my family and a professional geneologist who specialized in the Halifax area.  Through the generosity of my dad we agreed to hire her for 6 hrs of her time.
I received the results on Friday... more questions about our family.

On one side it makes me feel better that for the past 30 years of combined effort from my Uncle Gary and Aunt Marion and myself trying to find more info a professional really struggled, on the other side I know we have a lot more to do to find our roots.

One thing that I have learned whilst researching is that having the right questions helps focus to find the right answers.  The info and questions that she posed are now a new way to look at trying to find more about our ancestors.

So, although the RESULTS were not what I was hoping for, I now know that the direction that I need to go will be a little different and perhaps that new direction will be what we need.


Here is the report:
First is the letter writen by a very competent and very good to work with Ginny Clark       don.clark@ns.sympatico.ca I highly recommend her.


Finally, here is a report of the search for information about the Bowie family in Halifax. I was not able to find very much new for you, which is the reason I kept on poking and procrastinating about writing up this letter. First let me say that I hunted for Bowie/ Bowes/ Bower/ Bowen/ Bouey or anything close; also I kept Cunningham and Callaghan in mind.


      I was hoping that I might uncover details about Margaret Cunningham or Johanna Kelly as requested by you. When I checked the Ancestry tree for James and Johanna I did not find very much other than the children you had listed for both couples. I started out looking for the marriage of William and Margaret with the hopes that I would at least find out where they were married and then maybe find her parents here in Halifax. I looked in all Halifax churches that have marriage registers for the early 1840s. However, I did NOT find any marriage information. If John Nelson was their first child, and if he was born in PEI as stated in 5 out of 6 sources, than one would suggest that his parents were married in that province, not Halifax. John says in all 4 census that he was born in PEI, only his marriage certificate says differently, born “Nova Scotia”; also his death certificate of 1917 confirmed PEI as well.


      PEI has a good collection of baptisms and marriages indexed on-line but I could not turn up any Bowie or similar name. You could perhaps hire someone on the PEI genealogist list [I recommend Robert Pierce or Bill & Elizabeth Glen] but I am still perplexed by the fact that you say you have a date for the marriage. If you could sometime have a really good hunt for the source, I would appreciate knowing, as it is driving me nuts! I attempted to check out the Catholic registers here, but they are very faint and although some are indexed, the pagination does not match anything we have on microfilm!


      We know there are Halifax and Dartmouth Bowes families, mainly in the printing business. So I steered clear of them, especially in the city directories as it was easier to pinpoint your Bowie family vs the Bowes family by Christian names and by where they lived. By knowing where your family lived, it helped me decide which churches they would have attended. We have the added complication of William being Presbyterian and his wife and kids being Catholic. I did find a Presbyterian baptism 1848 for a little James, but I am not sure it is the same family at this point. I did not find a burial yet for this little one, which would explain why there is another boy in the family [your James] born several years later 1851.


      I am also perplexed by the Bowie family in Antigonish as they have similar names and a British military connection, and then your James goes and married a second wife who was born in Antigonish….coincidence or connection? 
 
      Another puzzle, but one that I think does have a connection although I can't find it yet, is the James Wilson who was living with the family. Was he a cousin of some sort or just an old army pal of William's? You will note that he is in the same household with William and Margaret in 1871 and then with young Thomas and Elizabeth after their parents' death in the 1881 census. So at least the city directories confirmed that he was with the family…one son or another for many years, sometimes being labeled a boarder and never the other way around, so I don't think he owned the house. [I think the Bowie family rented as I didn't find a deed, but that doesn't mean they didn't buy it before or after the time I checked!]. I checked directories to see where and with whom the family lived. Sometimes spelling is not correct. It is common for the street numbers to change from year to year, but they are likely not moving each year, just inconsistent numbering of houses or poor directory reporting.


      Also very interesting is the early “marriage bond”, also on-line - for Jane Bowie who married Robert Bastie 1858….and who signed as a bondsman with Robert, but James Wilson! So Jane must be connected but whether she is the first child of Wm & Margaret, or a relative of Williams, I cannot prove. [She was born in Dublin].


      One bit I was able to get for you was the death records for the three little girls of James and Joanna, very sad. It does not say how but the first 2 died within weeks of each other, but it was probably a childhood disease. Why did you think that Mary and Agnes were placed in an orphanage? Was it because we found them in the 1901 census? [I couldn't locate them there now, but when Joanna died in 1892 there would have been three young boys in school but Mary and Agnes might have needed to be taken care of somewhere, like the Catholic orphanage. There is no mention of any daughters in James obituary although three sons are noted. If your John George went west in 1895 he would have been quite young. Perhaps he went to follow older brothers or cousins?


      I found the early children's deaths in Holy Cross RC cemetery. The “Halifax Catholic Cemetery commission” is on-line and searchable but awkward and slow. It doesn't limit the search to just one cemetery. Holy Cross is the earliest, with Mt Olivet starting in the 1890s, Gate of Heaven quite modern. I found Margaret Bowie but she is listed on the database as dying in 1973 and being cremated. [but was definitely in Holy Cross registers in 1873 and of course was NOT cremated.]This seems to be a problem for many names so keep an open mind for century mistakes! I tried looking for Kelly's but there just was not enough information to be sure I had any relatives of Johanna's. If you would like to work away at it [taking far too much of my time to continue] you could let me know of any buried nearby and dates and I could check it out further in the burial registers or obituaries. I will get copies of the cemetery registers for the little ones if you don't already have them. 


So I have posed as many questions as I have answered. Sorry! Read this over as well as the report of items I searched and let me know if anything jumps out.  I will be mailing a parcel with some photocopies, mainly obituaries. If you don't have the long form marriage licenses for James and his siblings, I can send them along as well. 



William Bowie   md c 1840  Margaret Cunningham
b.ca1807 Scotland   ?   b.ca 1816 Cork Ireland
d. 11 May 1877 Hfx      d.19 Nov 1873



issue:


[Jane???   b.ca 1839 Ireland md 1858 Hfx  Robert Bastie]
                                              Dublin

John Nelson  b.1842 PEI   md 1867  Ellen Byrnes/Burns
                  d 1917 Hfx  Hfx  b.ca1847 d 1891

William   b 1843 Hfx
                  d after 1881

Elizabeth  b 1848
                  d 1881?

[James?  bapt 1848]

James   b 1861 Hfx  md 1873 Johanna Kelly
                  d 1906 Hfx  Hfx  b.1854  d1892 Hfx
                                    Md 2^nd Catherine Macdonald
Margaret  b 1852

Frances  b 1854-55  md 1877 James W Keefe

Thomas  b1855   md  Margaret O'Donnell

 James Bowie  b 1861 Hfx  md 1873 Johanna Kelly                  d 1906 Hfx  Hfx  b.1854  d.1892 Hfx

      md 2^nd   Catherine MacDonald

Children:

Margaret Maud b. 1874
                  d. 1877 bur. May 30

Catherine  b 1875 

      d. 1877 bur June 6

Arthur Henry  b1875-77


Mary Magdalene     b. 1878
                  d. 1879 bur July 17

James William  1880 Aug.9


John George  b 1881-84         [to Alberta ca 1895]  
                  d 1969

Mary [Ellen]  1882      
            [orphanage ?]

James Patrick  b1887

      d1888

Agnes   1893 Jan 21  d.1923
            [mother died 1892 so should be 1892]

Bowie

NS Vital Statistics: on-line
marriages 1894#371: James is 40y bachelor, labourer of and born Hfx.
        & Catherine McDonald  spinster 37 born Antigonish
deaths Hfx County 1910 Catherine widow Maynard St

T. Punch “Religious Marriage Hfx City 1769-1841” and
H. Long's “NS Marriages 1769-1841” no Bowie/ Cunningham marriage.
NS Archives “Early Marriage Licenses 1848-1864”: no Bowie
On-line “Marriage Bonds” Jane Bowie md 1858 Robert Bastie. No further info but bond signed by James Wilson, labourer

AE Marble's Deaths, Burials and Probate in NS 1800-1841:
no William or Margaret Bowie that looked like a match.

Census:
1871 NS Census Halifax County: Halifax City
ward 3 div 2 p95 Margaret Bowie 35y b.NS RC Scotch  servant ---
living with Thomas & Margaret Fraser
ward 1 div 2 p 98: family of Wm & Margaret +6 ch  & James Wilson *copied
ward 6 div1 p64: John & Ellen Bowey & 2 children, John born PEI

1881 Census Halifax: online: John, James and families; Thomas and Elizabeth living with James Wilson, but no Wm or Margaret [dead] see also Robert & Jane Bastie
1891 Census Halifax: John & Ellen but couldn't find James and Joanna

Probate Records: Halifax County
mfm 19360 index to wills: vol.8: 1870-1877 vol 9: 1877-85  no Bowie
vol.10 1886-1915 no James Bowie
mfm 19381 index to estate files: vol 1:1750-1841:
      Bowie Jane, Hfx B108, William B109
      1842-1917: no Bowie
mfm 19397: estate files:
B108 Bowie, Jane LWT to son Charles, dau Lettice Wickham signed 1788
B109 Bowie William- merchant of Hfx d 21 Feb 1819. no wife/children, only sisters in Scotland, uncle Matthew Richardson, Hfx
No other Bowie

Registry of Deeds: Halifax County:
Vol. 2 1837-1851: faint but readable: no Bowie






Halifax Cemetery Records:mfm 12050 Holy Cross RC Cemetery
1871-1881 no William Bowie
*1873 Nov 22 Margaret Bowie 57y wife of William Bowie native of Cork
   [should be 47yr?]
*1877 May 30 Margaret Bowie 3y5m d/o James & Johanna Bowie b Hfx
*1877 June 6 Catherine Bowie  2y2m d/o James & Johanna Bowie  b.Hfx
1878 Dec 17 Ellen M Bowie 3m d/o Jno & Ellen Bowie b Hfx
1879 Jan 28 Henry S Bowie s/o John  Ellen Bowie b Hfx
*1879 July 17 Mary M Bowie  10 m d/o James & Johanna Bowie b Hfx
*[from on-line index only, not checked] James Patrick  bowie bu 15 Oct 1988[1888] s/o James & Johanna age 1y6m bu Holy Cross [cremated]
*1892 Nov 14  Johanna Bowie  41y wife of James Bowie b. Hfx

NS Vital Statistics: Deaths - online: [for cemetery]
Bowie James buried at Mt Olivet RC Cem 1906 mason
Bowie Catherine buried Heatherton, Antigonish County 1910


mfm 12048 Camp Hill Cemetery: indexed [did not check]
Bowie  Margaret   roll 1/26
    May     roll 1/496
    William   roll 1/1600
      William C   roll 1/496
      William Edm   roll 0/0

Index: St John's [Anglican] Cemetery: no Bowie
Wilson, JE     ---     ----   ---
      James-  1905 Dec 02 age 69y
      James M 1906 Jan 02    69y
      James Sutherland 1987



Obituaries     Acadian Recorder: *copied
Bowie Margaret 22 Nov 1873 p.3:
died 19^th short illness, wife of Wm bowie age 57y, native of Cork, res.53 Dresden Row
Bowie, William 14 May 1877 p3
died 11 May 1877 after illness, RA, 69^th yr, native of Paisley
      also Presb Witness: 19 May 1877 p160 same info.
Bowie James 26 Mar 1906 p3 and Mar.27 p 3 *copied
d. 25 March, bricklayer age 56y, died at VG hospital; next day paper:Died 25 March, 55^th yr, leaves widow and 3 sons.








Halifax Church Records

mfm 11485 St Josephs RC Orphanage:
baptisms 1894-1925 no Bowie [incomplete]

mfm 11512 St Marys RC: [indexed]
marriages 1830-1843:
p 149 married 18 Feb 1833: James Kelly s/o Edw & Catherine, Kilkenny
      & Joanna DeYoung of Eastern Passage d/o John & Barbara DeYoung
mfm 11506 St Marys RC:
marriages 1857-1873:
p146 James Bowie s/o William Bowie and Margaret Cunningham
& Johanna Kelly d/o John Kelly and Bridget Shea md Nov 1873
      witness Richard Hatchett and Elizabeth Bowie  *copied

mfm 11556 St Pauls Anglican:
marriages 1835-1845: no Bowie
1858 Robert Bastey, bachelor of this parish & Jane Bowie ---, of this parish,
      Md 17 Apr 1858. witness: James Wilson and Margaret Bastey

mfm 11473 St Georges Anglican:
marriages 1837-1847: no Bowie

mfm 15037 St Matthews Presbyterian: indexed:
Pg.263 baptism 24 Aug 1848 James s/o William & Margaret Bowie [no further info]
marriages, burials  1769-1856: no Bowie

mfm 15064: St Andrews Presbyterian:
marriages 1833-1849: no Bowie

mfm 11478 St Johns Presbyterian: [start 1843]
marriages 1843-1850: no Bowie




















NS Provincial Directories: Halifax City:  mfm 3368   h=house/residence  bds=boards
1864-65:
“Bowen”, William - waiter, bds 163 Hollis St
No Bowie
Wilson, James -h Wellington north South
      James - cooper, Black's Wharf
      James M- watchman, h 145 Gottingen St
      James - h 21 Birmingham St

Halifax City Directories mfm 3396-3403
1869-70
Bowie William -coachman h 22 Dresden Row
Wilson James -guard Provincial Penitentiary h 22 Dresden Row
1871-72 p 73-74 missing Bowie
Wilson J - turnkey, prov penitentiary h 24 Dresden Row
1872-73
Bowes William coachman - h 10 Church St
Bowie John- painter and carriage trimmer, h 24 Dresden Row
         William - h 24 Dresden Row
Wilson James -keeper penitentiary h 24 Dresden Row
1873-74
Bowes William - coachman to Col. Hornsby, Maynard St
Bowie John -trimmer  MJOB&CO --
Wilson James - letter carrier Maynard St
         James M - bookkeeper & grocer, 68 Maynard
[Dresden Row--no Bowes or Wilson]
1874-75 Bowie
James- mason, h 71 Dresden Row
John- carriage trimmer h Dresden Row
William- h 55 Dresden Row
Wilson- James coachman bds 55 Dresden Row
1875-76 Bowie
James- labourer h 201 Albermarle
John- carriage trimmer h 51 Dresden Row
William- h 53 Dresden Row
Wilson, James -labourer h 53 Dresden Row
1876-1877 Bowie
James- mason h 53 Dresden Row
John- carriage trimmer h 51 Dresden Row
William- h 53 Dresden Row
Wilson, James- bds  53 Dresden Row
1877-78 Bowie
Miss Elizabeth- h 53 Dresden Row r [rear]
James- mason h 53 Dresden Row
John- carriage trimmer h 49 Dresden Row
Thomas- tinsmith h 53 Dresden Row r [rear]
Wilson, James  h 53 Dresden Row





Halifax City Directories cont'd:

1878-79
Bowie Miss Elizabeth-h 53 Dresden Row
   James - mason h 16 Rotterdam
   John - carriage trimmer, h 49 Dresden Row
   Thomas - tinsmith h 16 Rotterdam
Wilson James -labourer bds 53 Dresden Row
1879-80
Bowie James -bricklayer h 216 Gottingen St
     John - carriage rimmer h 49 Dresden Row
    Thomas- tinsmith h Argyle St
1880-81
Bowie Ephraim - carpenter  h r 30 Lockman St
       James- bricklayer h Grafton St
      John - carriage trimmer, h 49 Dresden Row
      Thomas -labourer, h 9 Argyle St
  


1898-99: Bowie
Edward- tailor Clayton &Sos h 112 Queen St
James- mason h 79 Buckingham St
John- harness maker, Knight & Munro  h 174 Hollis St
John- employee DeWolf Son &Co bds Buckingham St corner Brunswick
William J- carriage painter bds 112 Queen St
1899-1900 Bowie
Charles -hostler Wm Parsons, bds 80 1/2 Gerrish St
Edward- tailor...h 38 Carleton St
James- - mason h 79 Buckingham St
John-.carriage painter bds Buckingham St cor Brunswick.
William J- carriage painter h 38 Carleton St

1900-1901 Bowie
Edward- tailor  h 38 Carleton St
James -mason h 79 Buckingham St
John -carriage trimmer h 266 Maynard St
William J -carriage painter bds 38 Carleton St
1901-1902
copied
James - mason h 79 Buckingham St

Huldah Ostlund Nelson

Huldah Ostlaun Nelson

This past week I had the priveledge to 'meet' a new cousin of mine.  He is the grandson of my grandma Mary Morton's sister Bertha Stone.  It has been a great pleasure getting to know him.  He sent me a picture of Huldah that I had never seen.

Huldah as a baby.

Huldah in her later years.

I really don't know much about her other than she was sick for most of my grandma's life and my grandma spent most of her youth nursing her.  My grandma was born Oct 12, 1916  and Huldah died the 1st of Feb 1930. Bertha was born 2 years after Mary and then Beth was born in 1923 so she wasn't quite 7 when her mother passed.
Huldah and Alonzo (Lon) meet when Lon came up from Utah in a cattle car with his brother Nels in 1904.  They married May 5, 1909 and purchased a farm one mile east of Stirling and made their home there.
Huldah's parents were Jonas and Bertha Anstrom Ostlund they were both from Torp V Norrland, Sweden.  They heard the gospel from LDS missionaries and were baptized there.  They immigrated to America and were married in Albert Lea, Minnesota December 4, 1974.  After the birth of their first child they moved to Elsinor, Utah, where Jonas owned and operated a store and was mayor.
In 1901 they moved to Stirling, Alberta where they built a lovely home.  Jonas was a successful farmer and also enjoyed growing flowers and various types of berries.  He was the first chairman on the town council and continued in that position for three years, 1907-1910.  He went back to Sweden on two missions.  Jonas and Bertha had nine children, four of whom died in childhood.
Albin 30 Oct 1875
Levi 3 March 1877 died 15 Oct 1877
Hjaldermar 14 Dec died 13 Jan 1942
Amanda 22 August 1880 died 5 Oct 1880
John Henry 14 Sept 188111 Jan 1989
Leonard 14 Sept 1881 died 8 Oct 1881
Daniel 24 Jun 1883 died 31 Dec 1931
Huldah
Clarence 12 June 1887 died 19 Aug 1946

I am very pleased that there will be a Nelson family reunion held this year in Stirling, AB.  It will be an excellent opportunity to get to know cousins and more about who we are and where we came from.  I do not have all the details.  I believe that it is from June 30- July 2.  Of course we all have to take in the Raymond parade.  I will have more details as the time gets closer.