Verifying a Loyalist Ancestor

Sandy asked "Looking for anyone related to Peter Wyckoff (1765-1797) who married Catherine Plato (1769-1856). Her second marriage was to John Clendenning (1760-). Want to prove Loyalist ties for these two. Their son Peter (1794-1881) married Abigail Gilbert (1790-1834) daughter of Isaac Gilbert UE (1742-1822)."

My answer:

 There are 8 results for John Clendenning (and variant spellings) in the Upper Canada Land Petitions online database. 

To find out how to use the index information to view the actual petition(s) online, see Searching Ontario Canada Land Records, eh? 

You will also want to obtain the petition for Catherine Clendennan to see if it is Catherine Plato.

Verify For Yourself By Viewing the Original Record

Jenny asked "Looking for parents of my 3rd great grandfather Samuel(or Lemuel, or Randall) Goss b. abt 1798 NY. 

What I have: wife Grace Fenton b.29 Feb 1808 in N. Gwillumbury, York Co., Ontario, Canada. MARRIAGE DATE UNKNOWN ? 

 Samuel Goss emigration Aug. 29, 1829 N. Gwillumbury, York Co., Ontario, Canada. Son Thomas Randall Goss b.18 Dec. 1830 in N. Gwillumbury, York Co., Ontario, Canada. Thomas's Death record has father Randall. One marriage record father Samuel, another marriage record father Lemuel. 

Son: John Fenton Goss b. Sept. 1831 or 1835 NY marriage record to 2nd wife Emma Stephens, states father; Samuel Goss. 1860 census Lewiston, Niagara, New York, USA: GOSS, John, Abigail, John 29, Abigail 36, Clara E. 5, Ann E. 2, Allice 6/12 & Lemuel Goss 61 NY."

1829 Naturalization Record for Lemuel Goss

My answer: It's important to remember that the death record with the name "Randall" was not given by Thomas himself. Therefore, depending who the informant was, it may not be correct. The marriage records however are far more likely to be accurate, if we assume that Thomas himself provided the info. Also "S" and "L" are very often confused in old handwriting. So if you have only seen a transcribed or indexed record and not the original, it may be that there is only ONE name being recorded (either Samuel OR Lemuel) and not two

Being curious, I brought up the two images for both of Thomas' marriages (on Ancestry) They both give his father as "Lemuel". It is very clear on both images

I next found the record and image for that 1829 immigration. It is LEMUEL Goss's Naturalization record, not his year of immigration. He no doubt immigrated some time before he naturalized. He lives in N. Gwillimbury as you said and the date is what you had. The difference is that the name on the image is LEMUEL, not Samuel. So you have three good primary records now that provide his name - Lemuel, not Samuel.


It's always important to verify indexes or transcriptions of records by viewing the actual record yourself. In this case you can see that there were several mis-transcriptions of Lemuel to Samuel.

Don't Be Sidetracked by Online Family Trees Before Obtaining Basic Records

John asked this question:

" I've been seeking information on the parents of my great, great grandfather, John Barry. There, I've run into a brick wall. My information is from a family Bible record that goes back to 1810. John Barry married Johanna Harrington on 23 Feb. 1840 in Ireland. Witnesses were Daniel Harrington and Patrick Barry. The report identified the Diocesan Area as Cork & Ross and the Parochial Area as Durris (Muintervara). I know John and Johanna (I've found two spellings for her first name) had one child in Ireland who survived the trip to Canada in 1846. Family legend claims two children died aboard ship and were buried at sea. I've been told that local parish records in Cork prior to 1820 have been destroyed so I cannot pursue more on Patrick or Mary. Any ideas? I have found some possible death records on Ancestry.com that I can't authenticate. What might I try now?  John Barry, 1810-1880, married Johanna(?) Harrington, 1815-1883, on 23 Feb. 1840"

In response to a question I posed, John stated that he had found about 15 family trees on Ancestry but they had lots of incorrect information. 

1871 Census Caradoc Twp, Middlesex Co. Ontario

My response:

You can confirm that family lore by visiting the census records. I had a quick look on  Ancestry.com and found John and Johanna in Caradoc, Middlesex County in 1871. Living next door were John Harrington and wife Jane and family. John Harrington and Johanna are quite possibly siblings. 

In the 1861 Agricultural census John Barry and John Harrington are shown sharing (50 acres each) Lot 1 Conc. 8 in Caradoc. In 1881 Michael Barry, Johanna Barry and James Barry live next door to John Harrington and family. No doubt  John Barry died between 1871 and 1881.

You need to get the images for all these records and study the neighbours, occupations of individuals etc. For eg John Barry and John Harrington are noted as farmers - that means they likely bought land and your next step would be to check the CLRI *and* the Abstract Indexes to Deeds for more information on their land purchases! For help with the CLRI and the AI to D, see http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/clri.shtml

The death certificate of a daughter of John Harrington and Jane gives Jane's maiden name as Barry. It looks like siblings married siblings.  It seems you have a lot of records available to help you put these families together and learn more about them

Start with Census and Vital Registrations

Patricia asked this question "I am in search of Archie Angle who lived near Moulton Station in the early 1920'2 he was married to Lucretia Putnam, who is my grandmother's sister we have been the library in Dunnville and to the town records in Cayuga nothing turned up we would like to know his date of birth, date of death and where he is buried please"

First3 Results for search of Archie Angle in Ontario 1900-1950

My answer:   

Patricia - If you go to FamilySearch.org and search for Archie Angle living in Ontario 1900-1950 you will find his birth (with parents' names), and several census records with spouse Lucretia. There's a lot there for Archie and it will take you back a few generations. Follow the onlne census records and the birth, marriage and death records.

As an example Archie is found as a single man in the 1901 census (with his parents Archie & Lucretia) You can also find his father's death with parents' names, also his father and mother's marriage- so you can jump back 3 generations very quickly and easily.