Out Of Our Past
Andrew Barr of Lennox
In the opening years of the 1800s, Elijah Buck settled in what was to become the town of Cobourg. Beginning with his arrival in 1808, Elijah acquired considerable property in the area. A settlement was established and for a time it became known as Buckville. The young community was renamed Cobourg in 1819.
By 1831, Elijah was selling his properties including a Tavern, his three storey house, a lot on which was built a stable and also 20 village lots. Elijah Buck died in Cobourg on 17 December 1842. His remains were interred in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Cobourg.
That same year of 1831, when Elijah was selling his lands, Rev. John Beatty came to live in Cobourg. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, John had married Sarah Sproule about 1805. They moved to the United States where a number of children were born. John and Sarah moved to the Toronto area by 1825. They did not remain in that town, but returned to Cobourg.
Sarah (Sproule) Beatty died at Cobourg 30 August 1832. Her earthly remains were interred in the Cobourg Union Cemetery. Some time later, Rev. John Beatty married again. His second wife was Rebecca (Brooke) Kemp. Rebecca was born 26 May 1782 in Norfolk County, England. Her marriage to Rev. John Beatty took place at the city of Toronto on 1 July 1834.
As a married couple, they resided at Cobourg for many years. John died at their home in Cobourg on 30 June 1863. He was laid to rest next to his first wife, Sarah, in the Cobourg Union Cemetery.
Rebecca (Brooke) Beatty died at Cobourg on 30 August 1887. Her stepson, Dr. John Beatty was the informant on Rebecca’s death registration. He included a most interesting little bit of history on that document. Under Remarks he noted: “Was in Paris with her first husband, an officer in the British Army, when that City was occupied by the allied army and saw the Great Napoleon surrender.”
W. H. Bartlett Print of Cobourg in the 1840s era
Dr. John Beatty of Cobourg
Of the children of Rev. John and Sarah (Sproule) Beatty, John Beatty Jr., like his father before him, became a significant member of the town of Cobourg. He was born about 1810 in the United States and came as a boy of about 15 years, to Toronto, Upper Canada, with his parents. It is reported that John married Eleanor Armstrong on 22 October 1833 in Cobourg. Eleanor was born in June 1811 in Ontario, a daughter of James Rogers and Hannah (Dougall) Armstrong.
Their first child, Edward James, was born in Toronto in 1837. Sarah Louisa, was born in Cobourg on 29 November 1840. She was followed by four sisters, Emma Mary, born 26 January 1841; Ella Frances, born 6 January 1845; Mary Adelaide, born 26 January 1847 and Emily Eliza, born 1 September 1848. The second son of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was Charles John, born in Cobourg on 20 July 1850. Edith Bertha Beatty was the youngest child of John and Eleanor. She was born 15 July 1854 at Cobourg.
Dr. John Beatty
Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty
John was not only a practicing doctor in the town of Cobourg, he was as well, active in community service. John held the position of Mayor for the years 1858, 1859, 1860, 1866 and 1867.
He numbered among the prominent faculty residing in the Cobourg area who served at Victoria College.
Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty died at their home in Cobourg on 4 November 1895. Her remains were interred in the Cobourg Union Cemetery. Dr. John Beatty followed his wife to the grave on 17 July 1898.
Lifetimes of the Children
Edward James, son of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born in Toronto in 1837. He died 8 August 1887 in Cobourg, Ontario.
Louisa Sarah, daughter of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born 29 November 1890 at Cobourg. About 1870, Louisa married John Daintry. John was born 25 May 1832 in Cheshire, England. The Daintry family arrived in Cobourg about 1845, moving up from the province of Quebec where they had spent time after arriving in Canada West. Louisa and John had four children. George Percival was born in 1871, Clara Louisa in 1872, Edith Muriel Frances in 1874 and Lillian Emily was born in 1879.
Edith Frances Daintry married William Henry Fitzhugh on 13 January 1897 at Cobourg. William was born 18 January 1867 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of Charles Lane Fitzhugh and Emma Shoenberger.
She died 15 August 1920 at Cobourg. William’s date of death is not known.
In the photo shown here at the left, is Edith Frances Daintry.
Emma Mary, daughter of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born 26 January 1841 at Cobourg. Emma died at the age of 6 years, at Cobourg on 10 August 1847.
Ella Frances, daughter of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born
6 January 1845 at Cobourg. Ella married twice during her lifetime. Her first husband was George King Shoenberger, born 18 December 1808 in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. They married on 17 January 1883 at Cobourg. George died at Clifton, Ohio, United States on 2 January 1892.
Ella then married again in 1897. Her second husband was Dr. Charles Albert Edwin Harriss. He was born 17 December 1862 in London, England. Ella Frances (Beatty) Harriss died in Ottawa, Ontario on 11 May 1924. Her husband, Charles Harriss, died 31 July 1929 at Ottawa.
Mary Adelaide, daughter of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born 26 January 1847 at Cobourg. As a young woman of twenty five years, she married William MacDougall. William was born 25 January 1822 in the town of York, Upper Canada. A son of Hannah Matthews and Daniel MacDougall, he was educated at Victoria College in Cobourg, Ontario. In 1845, he married his first wife, Amelia Caroline Easton. In 1862, William was called to the bar. From 1858 to 1867, he served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Canada.
During this same time frame, he also served as the Commissioner of Crown Lands from 1862 to 1864 in which latter year he was appointed Provincial Secretary.
His role in politics brought him into government during the years preceding the formation of our country. Thus, he participated in that governing group who in 1867, signed the document establishing Canada. Today those men are known as the Fathers of Confederation. After a lifetime of service, William McDougall died on 29 May 1905 at Ottawa, Ontario. His remains were interred in Beechwood Cemetery at Ottawa.
His second wife, Mary Adelaide (Beatty) MacDougall (in photo at right), died on 9 December 1934 at her home on Chapel Street in Ottawa. Her remains were interred in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.
Mary Adelaide Beatty Second wife of William MacDougall
Emily Eliza, daughter of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, who appears in the photo at left, was born 1 September 1848 at Cobourg, Ontario. On 4 April 1875, when she was twenty-seven years old, Emily married Charles Egerton Ryerson. Charles was born 5 July 1847 at Toronto. He as a son of Egerton Ryerson and Mary Armstrong. His father, Egerton, was a Methodist Minister, author, and educational administrator.
Emily and Charles were married 4 April 1875 at Cobourg, Ontario. They made their home in Toronto where Charles had employment as a barrister. At their home in the city, they raised a family of four sons and two daughters.
Charles Egerton Ryerson died at their home at 27 Cecil Street, Toronto on 4 June 1909. Emily Eliza (Beatty) Ryerson died in Toronto on 7 January 1947. Her remains were laid to rest in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
Charles John, son of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born 20 July 1850 at Cobourg. As an adult, Charles resided in Ottawa, Ontario where he worked as a clerk in the Federal Department of the Post Office. Charles did not marry. He died in Ottawa on 29 September 1902 at the age of 52 years.
Edith Bertha, daughter of John and Eleanor (Armstrong) Beatty, was born15 July 1854 at Cobourg. She was the youngest child in the family and lived at home with her parents until her marriage at the age of twenty-seven years.
Edith married Désiré Girouard on 6 October 1881 in Notre Dame of Ottawa Catholic Church. Désiré was born in St. Timothe, Quebec on 7 July 1836, a son of Jérémie and Hyppolite (Picard) Girouard. He completed a degree in Common Law at McGill University in 1860 and began practicing law. Désiré served many years as a Member of Parliament. On 28 Sept. 1895 he accepted a judgeship in the court a position which he served well over the following decade.
Edith and Désiré briefly resided in Ontario after their marriage. Their first son, Ernest, was born in Ontario in 1882. Thereafter, the family resided in Quebec for many years. In the 1890s, they made their home in Montreal. By 1901 they were living in Ottawa, Ontario with five of their blended family children.
Désiré Girouard died at their home in Ottawa on 22 March 1911. His remains were interred in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal, Quebec.
Edith Bertha (Beatty) Girouard died at their Ottawa home on 4 December 1920. Her remains were interred in the Notre-Dame of Ottawa Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario.
Photo Source: Library and Archives Canada/MIKAN 3423218
People of Canada
Andrew Barr of Lennox & Addintgon County, Ontario and Carroll County, Iowa
Andrew Barr was born in Scotland in March 1809. As a young man, Andrew, who was a son of John Barr and Ann Houston, married Agnes Reid. Their wedding took place on 19 July 1841. Andrew and Agnes settled into family life and before long had a household of six children. They had five sons and a daughter. Of these children, John was born in 1842, Matthew in 1843, Margaret in 1845 and Duncan in 1846. The names of the two other sons have not been established.
On 12 February 1848, at Paisley, Scotland, Agnes (Reid) Barr passed away. Some years later, in the summer of 1856, Andrew Barr moved his family to Canada West. They settled in Kaladar Township in Lenox & Addington County.
Andrew continued to reside in Lennox & Addington County, in Kaladar Township into the decade of the 1860s. With him at home on the census date in 1861, were his children: John, aged 19 years; Matthew aged 18 years; Margaret aged 16 and Duncan aged 15 years.
Ten years later, in 1871, Andrew had reached the age of 63 years and still resided in Kaladar Township. Only his daughter, Margaret, was by then living at home. She was married, her husband’s surname being Clark. They had a young three year old daughter, Alice. Nothing further has been discovered about what became of Margaret, her husband and daughter.
In 1872, Andrew moved to Carroll County, Iowa with his sons. From that time until his death on 23 September 1903, Andrew lived with his son, John Barr. When he died in 1903, his sons John and Matthew, were away in Scotland on a visit to their native land. They were not to learn of their father’s demise until returning to their home in Carroll County.
Duncan, the youngest of the boys, looked after the burial of their father to the Carroll City Cemetery. Other than knowing that Duncan survived his father, little more is learned about the lifetime of Duncan Barr.
At right is the headstone of Andrew Barr, his son, John and John’s wife, Elizabeth (Hunter) Barr in Carroll City Cemetery, Iowa.
Lifetimes of the Children
John, son of Andrew and Agnes (Reid) Barr, was born 19 March 1842 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He married at the age of 36 years, his bride being Elizabeth Hunter. She had been born 9 April 1853 in Perth, Lanark County, Canada West. Elizabeth, a daughter of Francis Hunter and Barbara Warwick, had gone to the United States in the year 1875. John and Elizabeth were married in Carroll City, Iowa on 1 January 1878.
A daughter, Agnes Barbara, was born to John and Elizabeth on 20 October 1878. This little girl only lived to the age of five years, her death occurring on 27 May 1883 at Carroll City, Iowa.
The next child born to John and Elizabeth was a son they named Frank Andrew. Frank was born on 30 March 1880 at Carroll City, Iowa. He grew up to marry Robina Bessie Provanche. They had two daughters and a son.
Brothers, Frank Andrew & John Hunter Barr, taken at Carroll City, Iowa
©SBest private collection
Younger than Frank were twin sisters, Nena Warwick and Nannie Rid Barr, born 3 October 1881 in Carroll County, Iowa. Nena never married but lived her entire life in the Carroll City area. When she died on 16 October 1977, the Carroll Daily Times newspaper ran an obituary for her the next day:
Nene Warwick Barr, 96, of the Carroll Manor, formerly of 117 E. 6th St., Carroll, died at the Carroll Manor, Sunday, following a long illness. Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home, Carroll, with the Rev. Allan Peterson, pastor of the United Presbyterian Church, Carroll, officiating. Burial will be in the Carroll City Cemetery under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home, Carroll. Friends may call at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home after 7 p.m. Monday. An Eastern Star memorial service by the Signet Chapter No. 1, OES will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home, Carroll.
Miss Barr, daughter of John and Elizabeth Hunter Barr, was born on Oct. 3, 1881 at the family farm four miles southwest of Carroll. She has lived all her life in Carroll County. She worked as a saleswoman at various places in Carroll including Lights Store and Smith Jewelry. She was a member of the Signet Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star of Carroll of which she was a Past Matron. She and her twin sister, Nan were two of the oldest members of the Carroll United Presbyterian Church. She was an honorary member of the U.P.W., a member of the Presbyterian Guild, Beulah Country Club and the Rebekah Lodge, Carroll.
Surviving are her twin sister, Mrs. Nan R. Ralph of Carroll, three nephews and two nieces.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers, Frank and John, and a sister.
Shown here is a photo of Nena Barr
©SBest private collection.
Twin sister, Nan Barr, married Truman Garfield Ralph. He was born 14 January 1882 in Hazel Green Township, Grant County, Wisconsin. They had three sons, LeRoy, born 1913, Raymond, born 1915 and John born in 1920. Truman Ralph died 19 October 1954, in Maple River Township, Carroll County, Iowa. His wife, Nan (Barr) Ralph died 6 December 1978 in Carroll County.
John Hunter Barr 1884 – 1973
©SBest private collection
John Hunter Barr was the younger of the two sons born to John Sr. and Elizabeth (Hunter) Barr. He was born in Carroll County on 11 September 1884. He is the other person shown beside his brother Frank, in the photograph above. John never married. His death occurred on 22 May 1973 at Carroll City. The Carroll Daily Times of 24 May 1973 ran his death notice:
Funeral services for John Hunter Barr, 88, of Carroll will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Dahn-Woodhouse Funeral Home here, with burial in the City Cemetery. There will be a memorial service by the Carroll Odd Fellows Lodge No. 279 at 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Friends may call starting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Mr. Barr died May 22 at St. Anthony Regional Hospital following a long illness. Prior to entering the hospital he resided at the Foley Rest Home, 225 North Walnut Street. He was born at Carroll Sept. 11, 1884, a son of John and Elizabeth Hunter Barr. He was a lifelong resident of Carroll county with the exception of 20 years he spent in Sioux City as a funeral director and embalmer. He farmed before retirement. He was a World War I veteran.
Mr. Barr was one of the oldest members of the Presbyterian Church in Carroll, having belonged since 1895. He formerly held membership in the Masonic Lodge at Sioux City, and he was a member and past noble grand of the IOOF Lodge No. 279 at Carroll.
He is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Nan Ralph and Nene Barr, both of Carroll; three nephews and two nieces. Preceding him in death were a brother, a sister and a nephew.
John Barr, born in Paisley, Scotland, died 14 September 1907 in Carroll County, Iowa, United States. Elizabeth (Hunter) Barr, wife of John, died in Maple River Township, Carroll County, Iowa on
16 January 1931. She and John rest in the Carroll City Cemetery.
Matthew Reid Barr was the other son of Andrew and Agnes (Reid) Barr who married. Matthew was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland on 15 April 1843. On 18 December 1866, in Wellington County, Ontario, Matthew was married to Mary Jane Thompson. Mary Jane was born about 1844 in Erin Township, Wellington County. Her parents were Arthur Thomas and Catherine Patterson.
Over the next three years, Matthew and Mary Jane resided in Erin Township. During that time, three children were born to them: Agnes Catherine in 1867; Andrew Thompson in 1868 and Mary Jane in 1871. Within a couple of weeks of the birth of her third child, Mary Jane (Thompson) Barr died on 17 April 1871. Following the death of his wife, Matthew Reid Barr went to lived in Carroll County, Iowa, in the United States. Matthew’s son Andrew Thompson Barr went to live in the States with his father. The two girls, Agnes Catherine and Mary Jane Barr, went to live with their maternal grandparents, Arthur and Catherine (Patterson) Thompson.
Matthew Reid Barr had remarried in the fall of 1874. His second wife was Mary Gardner Hunter. She had been born in Leeds & Grenville County, Ontario, on 24 May 1845. Mary was a daughter of William and Mary (Struthers) Hunter. Matthew and his second wife had a family of five children: Mary Elizabeth, born in 1876; Margaret, born in 1877; William, born 1879; Matthew, born 1882 and James born in 1883.
Matthew Reid Barr died 30 October 1927 in the city of Wells, Faribault, Minnesota. His wife, Mary Gardner (Hunter) Barr, died there on 22 February 1934. They rest in the family plot in Carroll City Cemetery.
Agnes Catherine, daughter of Matthew and his first wife, Mary Jane Thompson, married Henry Shortill on 22 March 1892 at Ballinafad, Erin Township, Wellington County, Ontario. They had a daughter, Agnes Jane born in 1894, a son Richard born in 1895 and another son, Mathew born in 1903.
Mary Jane, daughter of Matthew and his first wife, Mary Jane Thompson, married about 1890 to Henry Ward Snider. They also had three children: Cora Eva, born in 1891; Mabel Irene born in 1893 and Wickson Earl born in 1895. In the 1880s, Henry and Mary Jane lived in Erin Township, Wellington County. By 1911, Mary Jane resided in Toronto with the three children. Henry was not found with the family at this later date.
Andrew Thomas Barr, son of Matthew and his first wife, Mary Jane Thompson, went to live with his father in Iowa, in 1873. Born at Ballinafad, Erin Township, Ontario on 28 August 1868, he was just two years old when his mother died in 1871 and only five years old when he moved to the United States. During his lifetime, Andrew farmed for some years in Arcadia Township. Then in 1902 his moved to Nebraska and became a building contractor. This latter occupation he followed for the remainder of his lifetime. The last eighteen years of his lifetime were spent in Winnetoon, Nebraska.
Andrew did not marry. He died 26 December 1932 at his home in Winnetoon. His remains were brought to Carroll City for interment in the family plot in the Carroll City Cemetery.
Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew and his second wife, Mary Gardner Hunter, was born in January 1876 in Arcadia Township, Carroll County, Iowa. She married Frank A. Myers. They had a son, Francis Vernon, born in 1896.
Margaret Hamilton, daughter of Matthew and his second wife, Mary Gardner Hunter, was born in July 1877 in Arcadia Township, Carroll County, Iowa. She married Rollo Nicholas Pascoe. They had three children: Lois born in 1907; Donald born in 1909 and Yvonne born in 1909.
William Hunter Barr, son of Matthew and his second wife, Mary Gardner Hunter, was born in Arcadia Township on
28 December 1879. William became a doctor. His wife was Ida Estella Maust and they had a family of five children. William died in December 1952 in Minnesota.
Matthew Reid Barr Jr., son of Matthew and his second wife, Mary Gardner Hunter, was born in Arcadia Township on
28 January 1882. He married Ruby Alverna Ingram, who had been born 3 March 1884 in Benton Township, Lafayette County, Wisconsin. They had a daughter, Mary Helen, born in 1908.
James Barr, son of Matthew and his second wife, Mary Gardner Hunter, was born 10 July 1883 in Arcadia Township. After completing his elementary and secondary education, James went on to Drake University, from which he graduated in 1909. He then practiced law at Waterloo, Iowa, enjoying great success. Throughout James’ lifetime, his kindly manner and sincerity, established many friends for him. About 1915, he became very ill and had to close down his office. James returned to his parents’ home in Wells, Minnesota and for a time entered a sanitarium at Conrovia, California. He died in California on 9 February 1918 at the young age of 34 years, 6 months and 9 days.
One family photograph remains unexplained for this family. Taken in 1894, by Rohner’s Studio in Carroll City, Iowa, a simple message is signed on the reverse side:
Souvenior of my Graduation from the
Carroll Normal College on Aug. 4, 1894.
L. M. Barr
Who this young lady was, remains a mystery.
