Isabelle (Fraser) Pike (abt. 1840 - 1920)

Born about 8 Oct 1840 in New Brunswick, Canada

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 26 Sep 1920 at about age 79 in Oak Point, Quebec, Canada

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Biography

Isabella Fraser was born on October 8, 1840, in Campbellton, New Brunswick^[1], which is about 30 kms from Escuminac Flats, just across the Restigouche River from the Quebec village of Cross Point. Her father, Allan Fraser, was 26, and her mother, Jean Carmichael, was 22. Before she turned 21, Isabelle Fraser’s family had moved to Escuminac Flats^[2], very close to the Pike family – the Fraser and Pike names appear on the censuses within a couple of properties of each other. She married Samuel "Sam" Pike in 1869 at the age of 28. They had eight children in 22 years: Joseph Pike (1869–1922); Janie Pike (1871-1940); Robert B Pike (1872-?); Harper (1875-1959); Samuel Pike (1877-1965); Victoria “Annie” Pike (1879-1958); Guillford Henry Pike (1881-1945); and Bruce Robert Pike (1891-?). Isabella would have been 50 when Bruce was born, which is unreasonable. The church records reveal that Bruce was actually Janie’s “illegitimate son”^[3]; the father’s name was not listed. Five years later, Janie had moved to Wisconsin^[4], and immediately married Isaac Munroe, a New Brunswicker, who had moved to the States when Janie was only 1. She was there on her own until her brothers Harper and Robert B followed a few years later.

Isabella led a fairly normal life. She married a boy who was five years older and lived just down the road. She had known him all her life. Her older sister married his older brother. She had a moderately large family – five natural-born boys, one adopted grandson, and two daughters; all who lived to get married, most who had kids. She saw her youngest son go to war and return without ever reaching the frontlines. She lived a long life and died on September 25, 1920, a three-minute walk from where she was born, just 14 days short of her 80th birthday. Her Death Record states that “She was buried on the twenty seventh day of the same month (September) in the Presbyterian cemetery of Escuminac Flats. (Young) Samuel Pike witness; David (illegible) witness.” She and her husband, Old Sam, share the same gravestone in the Escuminac Flats cemetery.

Isabella's Death Record gives a quick summary of the major events of her life: "Isabella Fraser Pike wife of the late Samuel Pike, of Escuminac Flats Province of Quebec was born in Campbellton N.B. on the eighth day of October in the year eighteen hundred and fourty (8 Oct 1840) and died in Escuminac Flats on the Twenty Fifth day of September in the year Nineteen Hundred and Twenty (25 Sep 1920) and was buried on the Twenty seventh day of the same month in the Presbyterian cemetery of Escuminac Flats. Lewis J King Minister Samuel Pike witness David (unknown) witness"^[5]

References

1. ↑ 1861 Census of Canada; Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1269-1270
2. ↑ 1881 Census of Canada; Year: 1881; Census Place: St Jean l'Evangeliste, Bonaventure, Quebec; Roll: C_13187; Page: 24; Family No: 89
3. ↑ Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968; Institut Généalogique Drouin; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Drouin Collection; Author: Gabriel Drouin, comp.
4. ↑ 1900 United States Federal Census; Year: 1900; Census Place: Crystal Falls, Iron, Michigan; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0075; FHL microfilm: 1240718
5. ↑ Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968 - Isalella Fraser Pike

See Also:

Death Date - photo of gravestone (along with husband's) Preferred First Name - photo of gravestone Other Names - 1881, 1891, 1901, and 1911 Censuses of Canada