The Maiden Name and Parents of Robert Harrison's Wife Mary

Research Note by Wesley Johnston - begun 21 Jun 2016, last updated 23 Jun 2016 - initial version is in progress and not yet completed

DO NOT RELY ON COPIES OF THIS NOTE IN OTHER TREES WITHOUT CHECKING THE ORIGINAL OF THIS NOTE IN MY TREE TO SEE IF I HAVE MADE UPDATES THAT HAVE MADE PRIOR COPIES IN OTHER TREES OBSOLETE.

The Issue: Records in Conflict with Family Story

I am told that there is a history of the LAMB family that was written by Charles Edwin LAMB's daughter-in-law Gwendoline (ETTY) LAMB, who interviewed him and that this history says that he told her that his maternal grandmother Mary's maiden name was LAKE and her parents were James and Mary LAKE.

However this is highly surprising, since it was the same Charles Edwin LAMB who certified on the 4 Nov 1910 death record of his mother Mary Jane (HARRISON) LAMB that her mother's maiden name was Mary WARD.

I have not seen the history that has been passed down. But I am very skeptical about its accuracy prior to the birth of Charles Edwin LAMB in 1870, since it apparently relies on his memory. Gwendoline ETTY did not marry Charles Edwin LAMB's son Fred LAMB until 1931, when Charles Edwin LAMB was 61 years old. So her interview of him took place more than 20 years after he had stated in 1910 that Mary's maiden name was WARD.

Another reason for my skepticism is that I am also told that the history does not include Robert and Mary's daughter Sarah HARRISON and her BUTSON children. Sarah had died several years before Charles Edwin LAMB was born. And even though Charles Edwin LAMB's older half-siblings William Leslie LAMB and Etta LAMB witnessed the marriages of two of Sarah's daughters (Susanna BUTSON 2 Feb 1880, Sarah BUTSON 5 Jul 1883) in Manchester -- apparently at the LAMB family home. Charles Edwin LAMB was just 10 and 13 at the time and had apparently forgotten about this by 1931.

The confusion in Gwendoline's history about Mary's maiden name thus seems to have come about through a story that Mary had said that she was a LAKE. And this was in fact true, since -- as we will see below -- her mother was Sarah LAKE. And her father's name was indeed James, but he was James WARD. But somehow about 60 years after Mary passed away, this story became that her maiden name was LAKE and that she had married a man named WARD before she married Robert HARRISON. This was apparently Gwendoline's and perhaps even Charles Edwin's attempt to reconcile Charles Edwin's 1930's fragmentary memories into a consistent whole -- a whole that wound up contradicting what Charles Edwin had said in 1910.

So this research note lays out the evidence that has led me to conclude that Mary's maiden name was WARD and that her parents were James WARD and Sarah LAKE, daughter of Christopher LAKE and his wife Susanna, whose maiden name has yet to be established.

Mary Jane (HARRISON) LAMB's 1910 Death Record

Mary Jane LAMB's death record is on the first entry of the page (record numbered 4) for the Township of Reach in Ontario County on page 158 of Ontario County's 1910 death records. Ancestry has the image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/8946/ONMS935_156-0705/1166632

She died 4 Nov 1910. Her information is Certified By Charles E. LAMB of Manchester on "Nov 2/10" (clearly one digit of the date was left off - the next record was made 26 Nov and the prior record 26 Oct). He gave her birthdate as 7 Jul 1832, with her birth in Frontenac County and her age 78 years, 3 months, 28 days, She died on lot 13 of concession 5 (the LAMB family home and farm). She was a widowed housewife. Her father was Robert HARRISON. Her maother's maiden name was Mary WARD.

1861 Census

Mary appears only in the 1861 Census. She was living in Reach Township at the time of the 1851 Census, which was actually taken in 1852. We know this because her husband Robert HARRISON appears in the agricultural schedule of Reach. But only one page of the 1851/2 Reach population schedule survives and does not include the family. By 1871, Mary had apparently died, since I find no record of her.

The family resided in Ops Township of Victoria County in 1861, where they appear on page 52 of the County, in Enumeration District No. 4. Her husband Robert HARRISON on line 42 shows their marriage year as 1828. Both Robert and Mary were 60, he born Ireland and she born Canada. Their religion was  United Presbyterian. (Robert was Scots-Irish, which is probably the origin of their religious choice.)

So Mary was born about 1801. This is the only governement record of Mary herself that I have found.

What We Know About Mary

We know that Mary was born about 1801, with the maiden name Mary WARD. We know that she married Robert HARRISON in 1828. We know that they lived in Reach Township (Concession 1, Lot 17) of Ontario County in 1852. We know that they lived in Ops Township of Victoria County in 1861. Presumably, Mary had died prior to the 1871 census.

9 May 1828 Land Sale Deed - David FRASER to Robert HARRISON witnessed by James WARD

On 9 May 1828, David FRASER sold to Robert HARRISON for 50 pounds 50 acres of land in Ernest Town Township, part of lot 40 in Concession 6. The record si on page 545 of volume E of the books of Addington Deeds. It is "Memorial No. 932" which is an official recording of the deed by David FRASER. The original deed was witnessed by James WARD, and the Memorial was witnessed by Samuel WARD and James WARD.

I have not found the 1828 marriage record of Robert HARRISON and Mary WARD. The 1861 Census says that they were married in 1828. Thus this land record in which Mary's father James WARD and her husband Robert HARRISON appear in the same record is the only record I have found that ties them together at that time.

It is impossible to tell if Robert purchased the land before or after the marriage.