David Smith & Rebecca Maxwell, early 1800s, Nova Scotia Canada...

Question

Looking for paternal fathers side. I have Stanley Smith, Lester, Herbert, Robert to what I have found in once source to be David Smith and Rebecca Maxwell, Nova Scotia area. I joined a free trial pay site and still couldn't find any more. Would appreciate any info...love to find some Smith relatives.

Comments

Hi Jenifer,

There were definitely Smith families in Liverpool (Smith-68660) (Smith-143470), and Barrington (Smith-137782) and https://archive.org/details/historyofbarring00crowuoft and  Yarmouth.

I do have access to some information behind a paywall, and don't mind sniffing some out for you, but there were a lot of Smiths!  If you have dates for Robert and Rebeca, or other information to identify which family, that would help focus a search.

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I posted on the next comment what I have, thanks so much for trying. I don't think that is the same David Smith, I was told we had relatives from Ireland.

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Don't give up!  Sometimes it takes a little time. I added a few notes and sources for Robert into his profile on WikiTree, I hope you don't mind. There are a few possible clues to family connections. 

• Maxwell narrows the search a little. They usually married within their community/parish.
• Plus his gravestone is shared with a possible sister Kate. 
• Also the children's names give some clues - they often based children's names on relatives and other members of the parish.  Names like Lamont, Harlow and Raymond might narrow the search.  I'll keep an eye peeled.  

A lot of NS information in the time frame for David and Rebecca is not yet online. The Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax has some excellent resources on microfilm - a few hours on my last visit helped to solve some tough brick walls.  If you can manage to get to Halifax, that might be all thats needed.

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Thanks, love the hunt.

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I notice that David Smith's occupation is given as a cabinet maker.  That may be useful in your searches to help differentiate the right David Smith. .

Answer 1

https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/   If they are born after 1860 you should be able to find them here. The site is free. E-mail me directly if you get stuck.

Comments

All I have, have been searching for this David Smith, pre 1860.  Name	David Smith
Sex	Male
Wife	Rebecca Maxwell
Son	Robert Copeland Smith

Other information in the record of Robert Copeland Smith

from Maine Vital Records

Name	Robert Copeland Smith
Event Type	Death
Event Date	02 Nov 1910
Event Place	Portland, Cumberland, Maine, United States
Event Place (Original)	Portland, , Maine
Gender	Male
Age	61
Birth Year (Estimated)	1849
Father's Name	David Smith
Mother's Name	Rebecca Maxwell

Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921

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On the presumption they were from Nova Scotia originally, I checked the 1861, 1871, 1881 Canadian Census at Library and Archives Canada and also checked Nova Scotia Vital Stats. Because of the common first and last names, there are literally hundreds of possibilities. It would be a daunting task to check them all but the original files can be seen on-line. Both sites are free and primary sources. You would just have to keep on looking until you ran into a file with father David, mother Rebecca and son Robert. That would likely be the one. What were the details of the the source that suggested the parents were from Nova Scotia? Can you pin a locality down within Nova Scotia?

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If you're looking for David Smith, b. 1805, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-146409 you can also look at the 1827 and 1838 Nova Scotia census returns

https://novascotia.ca/archives/census/1827.asp

and if his son Robert was born in New Brunswick in 1849 you might be able to find something at the New Brunswick archives:

http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/VISSE/?culture=en-CA

But also look under the appropriate Canada history project pages for additional resources (e.g.)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Nova_Scotia