JOHNSTON, Margaret ²

  General Notes:

Excerpt from "A History of the Branches of My Family" by Cecil Herbert Edward Johnston and edited by Stephen Robert Johnston:

According to material compiled by Margaret's granddaughter, Hazel Hardaker, William Wallace and Jane McLarg met James Johnston and Margaret Jane McFarlane on the voyage to Canada. The Wallaces took up a farm at Kincardine, Ontario and the Johnstons at Kingston, Ontario. Oliver was supposedly the second of five children of William Wallace and Jane McLarg. John, the eldest, was born 1829. He went to California during the gold rush and died there. Other children were William, Catherine, and Isabelle.

The 1861 census records for Richmond Township, Lennox and Addington County, Ontario show: Wallace, William 60, CE, Ireland; Margaret Irish 46; Oliver 25, UC; William 22; Margaret 20; Mary 16; Robert 14; John 12; Algine? 11. I feel that this is the family to which was born Oliver Wallace who married Margaret Johnston. After studying other Johnston records, I have to wonder if the Jane McLarg mentioned was not Jane McHarg, instead.

The land records for Hungerford Township, Hastings County, Ontario show:
1. June 30, 1801 The Crown granted lot 25, concession 1, Hungerford Township, Hastings County to Cathy Bowen.
2. June 8, 1831 Cathy Bowen sold to Archibald Caton for 34 pounds.
3. July 28, 1863 Archibald Caton and wife sold to Victoria Scholarship Endowment for $600.

Land records for west 1/2 of lot 25, beginning 1876:
4. Mar 1, 1876 Oliver Wallace and wife gave a mortgage on the 100 acres to Mary Prayter in the amount of $245.
5. This 100 acres deeded Mar 10, 1876 by the Board of Victoria College and the Rev Richard Jones, Treasurer, to Oliver Wallace.
6. Apr 12, 1877 Oliver Wallace and wife gave a mortgage on the 100 acres to John Webster and Robert Boyes in the amount of $138.
7. Feb 21, 1880 Oliver Wallace gave a deed on the 100 acres to Jason Lester & Boyes.
8. Apr 22, 1880 Jason Foster & Boyes gave a mortgage deed on the 100 acres to Oliver Wallace. No money amount is shown.
9. Apr 22, 1880 John Webster and Robert Boyes gave a mortgage deed on the 100 acres to Oliver Wallace.
10. Apr 22, 1880 Jason Foster & Boyes deeded the 100 acres to John Johnston.
11. Oct 8, 1883 John Johnston & wife deeded the 100 acres to George Henderson.

From the above, it appears to me that after their marriage, Oliver Wallace and wife bought this land subject to mortgages which they did not succeed in paying off.

I have not heard just when Oliver and Margaret began living on this property. It is quite possible that they rented it from Victoria College and moved there at the time of their marriage June 18, 1861. Apparently, on Mar 10, 1876 they made the attempt to buy it from the Board of Victoria College. This college was located in Cobourg, Ontario. It appears that they were not successful in paying for the property, and it was deeded to the mortgagee. It was probably then that they moved to a farm in Huron Township, Bruce County, Ontario.

At any rate, Margaret and Oliver Wallace settled on the west 1/2, lot 25, concession 1, Hungerford Township, Hastings County, Ontario. This farm lay a short distance east of the farm on which she grew up. It was there that their children were born. We saw this farm during visits to Lime Lake. Some of the children grew up there before the move to Kincardine. The family is listed on the 1871 census of Hungerford Township as follows: Oliver Wallace 39; Margaret 35; Mary Jane 10; William 8; Thomas James 6; Margaret 9 months. Apparently, the 1871 enumerator was very careless about ages.

The 1881 census for Huron Township, Bruce County, Ontario reads: Oliver Wallace 40, Quebec, P Meth, Irish, Laborer; Margaret 37, Ontario, P Meth, Irish; Mary Jane 18; William 16, in school; Thomas James 14, in school; Margaret E 10, in school; Sarah R 8, in school; Anne E 5; Robert H 2. Kincardine Township is just north of Huron Township.

In 1889 Oliver and Margaret decided that there were better prospects for their family in the West. Apparently, the older boys had found employment with the McBurney family in Pine River. Mary Jane "Minnie" and Margaret Elizabeth "Lizzie" had found good jobs in Detroit when the when the decision was made to move to Manitoba. Son William went west with his friend Tom McBurney early in 1889. He took up a homestead near Isabella in section 2, township 15, range 25. His father went out in September of 1889 with his son Jim. They took over two abandoned homesteads in the vicinity of the village of Lavinia, some four miles north and four miles west of Hamiota. The rest of the family came West in November of 1890. Oliver's farm was on SE 2-15-24 <Southeast quarter of section 2, township 15, range 24> and Jim's was nearby. The approximate ages of the family members in September of 1889 would be: Oliver 53, Margaret 45, Minnie 26, Bill 24, Jim 21, Lizzie 19, Sarah 16, Annie 13, Robert 11, Cassie 8, John 6, and Wes 2. So my Great Aunt Margaret had grown children and children not grown when she moved to Manitoba.

The jobs of Minnie and Lizzie in Detroit were good ones. However, Minnie agreed to go and keep house for Bill. Lizzie tried living on the farm, didn't like it, and moved to the city of Brandon, Manitoba.

The farm which Oliver Wallace worked was eventually bought by his wife's brother, Tom Johnston, who moved to the area in 1896. Jack Hawkins bought it from Uncle Tom. We visited Jack July 12, 1979 at his home in Hamiota. He was over 90 years of age.

Uncle Oliver Wallace died November 13, 1905. According to Rural Municipality of Hamiota records, he died November 13, 1905 at Lavinia, Manitoba of bronchitis after two days illness. Aunt Margaret lived on until March 24, 1923, and died at age 79. He was buried in the Hamiota Cemetery. Her name does not appear on his marker, so I assume she is buried elsewhere. If I can find out with whom she lived the last 19 years, perhaps I can determine where she is buried. Perhaps she was living with her daughter, Lizzie Hardaker, when she died, and is buried in the Brandon Cemetery. <At the time of the 1916 census, she was living with son Wes at Hamiota Village.> ³

  Facts and details for Margaret Johnston:

• She lived at log shanty in Hungerford Township, Hastings, Ontario, Canada in 1861. ⁴

• She lived in Hungerford Township, Hastings, Ontario, Canada in 1871. ⁵

• She lived in South Bruce, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada in 1881. ⁶

• She lived in Oak River, Westman, Manitoba, Canada in 1891. ⁷

• She lived in Hamiota, Westman, Manitoba, Canada from 1901 to 1916. ^{8 9 10}

• She was buried at the Hamiota Cemetery in Hamiota, Westman, Manitoba, Canada in Mar 1923. ¹¹

Margaret married Oliver WALLACE, son of William WALLACE and Margaret WILSON, on 18 Jun 1861.¹ (Oliver WALLACE was born in 1837 in , , Québec, Canada,¹ died on 13 Nov 1905 in Hamiota, Westman, Manitoba, Canada ^{1 12} and was buried in Nov 1905 in Hamiota, Westman, Manitoba, Canada ¹³.)