Catharine (Lawrence) Smith (abt. 1796 - 1879)

Born about 9 May 1796 in Claverack, Columbia, New York, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 23 Jan 1879 at about age 82 in Oakland, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

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Her birth and place of birth is based on information published in her death notice printed in the Christian Advocate. The name Claverie bears a similarity to the town of Claverack, along the Hudson river in an area of Columbia County, New York, where her husband John Smith's family was based. Her maiden name "Lawrence" is thanks to its inscription on her tombstone, as well as the death notice. We know a little about when she migrated from Pennsylvania to Ontario in the beginning decades of the 1800's thanks to the death registrations left by her sons and daughters.

Thanks to Catharine (Lawrence) Smith's long life we have a few answers which would have otherwise left details unknown to us. She outlived her daughter Obedience (Smith) Haviland, who died at age 30, by almost 35 years, and Obedience's daughter, Melinda (Haviland) Edy who died at age 42, in 1874. Helen (Edy) Brown surely would have personally known her great-grandmother as a 10 year old around the time Catharine Smith died in 1879.

Catharine was 18 when she had her first child in 1814, which corresponds to Catharine Lawrence and John Smith marriage date in 1811, which was stated in the Christian Advocate death notice. Their children were born as follows: Obedience (Smith) Haviland (1813-1844); Polly (Smith) Miller (1815-?); Abigail (Smith) Eddy (PA, USA 1817-1881); Louisa (Smith) Fairchild (1823-1844); Samuel Lawrence Smith (b: USA 1824-1895) ; Adeline (Smith) Laing (1827-1890); Calvin Smith (1830-1833); Hannah (Smith) Atkinson (b: Canada 1832-1905); Catharine (Smith) McAlister (b: Windham, Norfolk 1834-1918); Clarissa Jane (Smith) Lewis (b: Canada 1834-1911)

In the 1850's the Smiths were living with 3 of their children in Walpole township, Haldimand County. After John Smith died around 1857, Catharine moved in with the family of daughter Clarissa Lewis. By the time of the 1871 Census she had moved up the road to Oakland, Brant County, and was living with the family of her daughter Catharine McAlister. Another daughter, Polly Miller, also a widow, was living under the same roof.

At the time of her death on January 23, 1879^[1], Catharine Smith, 83 years old, was likely still living with the McAlister family, as Wellington McAlister was listed as the informant on the death registration. (Summary by G. Patrick MacKay.)

Notes

Grand daughter Jane (Eddy) Diamond's 1910 death certificate states mother Abigail was born in Pennsylvania around 1817.

Catherine lives at various addresses with her children according to census in the Oakland area.

1851 - Husband John is still alive and Catherine is living with him and children Adaline, Catherine and Samuel (See Below)

1861 - She's living with the family of daughter Clarissa (Smith) Lewis (See below)

1871 - She's living with widowed Polly (Smith) Miller (See below)

1879, January 23 - Catharine dies and her daughter Catherine McAllister's husband is the informant (See below)

A Charles Lewis owned land in Walpole Twp, Haldimand County in the late 1870's around the time his mother inlaw, Catharine Smith died in 1879. It's located where Concession Rd 16 meets hwy 20, just over 3 km west of Hagersville. Source.

Clarissa (Lewis), died in 1911, and both parents are identified on her death registration as John Smith and Catherine Lawrence, both citizens of the U.S.

It would also seem she would have been a young mother to have given birth to Obedience in 1813.

According to the book "Ancestors Georger and Hamilton Families" by Judy Danz Swanson, 2019, "(Marshall Lawrence) was born on 1 March 1796 in Columbia County, New York of unknown parents. He died 18 March 1873 in Brooklyn, Kings County, NY, at the age of 77 years...He did have one known sister, Catherine Lawrence Smith who's (sic) photograph has been identified."

Leads

DNA matches

Ongoing DNA research shows Catharine's descendants share matches with those connected to Judah Monis Lawrence (1736-1810), theorized to be Catharine's paternal grandfather. There are genetic matches between some descendants of Catherine and several descendants of Elizabeth (Wetmore) & Judah Monis Lawrence 1. One might presume Judah Monis Lawrence 2 and his Canadian connection would be a more obvious profile to be Catharine's father but at the present no apparent genetic connection can be made.

Children

Children of John Smith and Kitty Lawrence

i. Obedience (Smith) Haviland b. Feb 14 1813 USA; d. Jan 23 1844, Upper Canada; m. Benjamin Haviland, Dec 21, 1830, Norfolk, UC; 3 children

ii. Polly (Smith) Miller b. c1814 Ohio, USA; d. March 12, 1880, Creston, Union County, Iowa, USA; m. John Miller, Apr 5 1838, Talbot UC; 7 children

iii. Abigail (Smith) Eddy b. Jul 12 1817, Genesee, NY USA; d. 1881, Brant Co., Ont; m. John Eddy, Mar 12, 1839 Oakland, Ont; 7 children

iv. Elizabeth (Smith) McAlister b. 1823, New York, USA; April 17, 1861 in Brant County, Ont.; m. Wellington McAlister; 7 children

v. Louisa (Smith) Fairchild b. Jan 22 1823 USA; d. Jan 11 1844; m. Abiel Fairchild; 2 children

vi. Samuel Lawrence Smith b. 1824, USA; d. February 4 1895, Brant Co., Ont; m. Rachel King; 6 children

vii. Adeline (Smith) Laing b. 1827, USA; d. January 31 1890, Acton, Ont; m. Adam Laing; 6 children

viii. Calvin Smith b. Sept 1830; d. July 29 1833, Townsend, Ont. UC

ix. Hannah (Smith) Atkinson b. Jan 12 1832, Upper Canada; d. Mar 5 1905, Brantford, Ont; m. Thomas Atkinson, Jan 1, 1855, Norfolk Co., Ont; 9 children

x. Clarissa (Smith) Lewis b. Mar 11 1832, Ont; d. Dec 18 1911, Charlotteville, Norfolk, Ont; m. Charles W. Lewis; 10 children

xi. Catherine (Smith) McAlister b. 1834, Windham, Ont; d. May 3 1918, Norfolk, Ont; m. Wellington McAlister, May 6 1862, Oakland, Brant, Ont.; 5 children

Census Data

1851 Census^[2] - Haldimand County, Walpole Township

John Smith - Farmer, b:USA, 68 (1783)

Catharine Smith - b:USA, 56 (1795)

Adaline Smith - b:USA, 25 (1826)

Catharine Smith - b:Canada, 16 (1835)

Samuel Smith - Labouer, b:USA, 26 (1825)

1861 Census^[3] - Walpole Twp, Haldimand County, single story frame house

Charles Lewis - Farmer, b: USA, 38 (1823)

Levi Lewis - Labourer, b: CW, 10 (1851)

John Lewis - Labourer, b: CW, 4 (1857)

Charles Lewis - Labourer, b: CW, 1 (1860)

Clarissa Lewis - Labourer, b: CW, 27 (1834)

Eliza Lewis - Labourer, b: CW, 8 (1853)

Betsey Lewis - Labourer, b: CW, 6 (1855)

Catharine Smith - b: USA, 65 (1796)

Betsey Lewis - b: USA, 75 (1786)

1871 Census^[4] - Oakland, Brant county

McAlister, Wellington - 54, Canada, Irish, Farmer, Married, Baptist.

McAlister, Catherine - 36, Canada, English, Married, Baptist.

McAlister, Owen - 21, Canada, Irish, Farmer, Baptist.

McAlister, Obedience - 18, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Elizabeth - 16, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Arthur - 12, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Robert - 10, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Charley - 7, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Arney - 5, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Amanda - 3, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

McAlister, Maud - 1, Canada, Irish, Baptist.

Smith, Catharine - 75 U.S.A., Widowed, Methodist N.C.

Miller, Polly - 56 U.S.A., Widowed, Methodist N.C.

Death

Death of Catharine Smith^[5]

Death: January 23, 1879 (83)

Place: Oakland, Brant County, Ontario, Canada

Cause: Paralysis and Old Age, about 6 months

Informant: W. McAlister, farmer, Oakland, Ont.

Birthplace: USA

Religion: Methodist

Death Notice

SMITH, Mrs. Kitty, nee Lawrence, was born in the town of Claverie, New York, May 9, 1796, and married John Smith, October 28, 1811. In 1831, they came to Canada. She died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. A. McAlister, Oakland township, January 23, 1879, and was buried in the Oakland cemetery. Mrs. Smith had 10 children - 9 daughters and 1 son - 7 of whom survived their mother. (Source: The Christian Advocate, May 14, 1879, p. 4, 0.) Transcribed by G. Patrick MacKay.

Burial

Burial of Catharine Smith

Place: Oakland Cemetery

Town: Oakland, Brant County

Province: Ontario

Country: Canada

We now know Catharine "Kitty" Smith is buried in Oakland Cemetery with her birth name inscribed on the family stone marker of Wellington McAllister, her son inlaw, and husband of her youngest daughter Catharine.

FindaGrave link.

Sources

• G. P. MacKay, Ahnentafel GM-127, firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Graeme and others.

1. ↑ "Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947." index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 13 February 2012). entry for Catharine Smith, died 27 January 1879; citing Death Records, FHL microfilm 1,862,174; Reference number: yr 1879 cn 1216; Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.
2. ↑ 1851 Census; Census Place: Walpole, Haldimand County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C_11725; Page: 71; Line: 6.
3. ↑ 1861 Census; Census Place: Walpole , Haldimand, Canada West; Roll: C-1029-1030; Page: 98.
4. ↑ 1871 Canada Census, Oakland, Brant South or West, Microfilm C-9914, page 34; Ottawa, Canada: Library and Archives Canada
5. ↑ Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938. Series: MS935; Reel: 20 Reg# 001216. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.