Ellen Lockhart (abt. 1817 - 1899)

Born about 1817 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of James Kerr Clezie — married 11 Jun 1840 in Troy, New York, USA

Descendants

Died 27 Oct 1899 at about age 82 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Rick Heiser [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Lockhart Name Study.

Ellen was born at Paisley, Renfrewshire, in southern Scotland, about 1816-17. No birth or baptism record has yet been found. If one is eventually found it might well show her name as Helen. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Helen Orr, in accord with the traditional Scottish naming pattern: "first daughter after mother's mother" but as a slight variation it was written "Ellen".

Why can't a record be found of her birth or baptism? I'm told that church records from Paisley were stored in boxes in a damp basement; the records got wet and many of them were destroyed by mildew. Is that correct?

Ellen's parents, William Lockhart and Margaret Henderson, were married in 1811 at Paisley. Sons were born in 1812 & 1814, followed by Ellen, the first daughter. The 1860 census at Cleveland, Ohio said Ellen was born in 1816; the 1880 census said born in 1819; her death certificate said born in 1817. All just estimates.

About 1828-30, this Lockhart family emigrated from Scotland to Canada. They settled near Montréal. The 1831 Canada census at the village of St. Philippe, Québec, south of Montréal, showed William Lockhart, with his wife and 6 unnamed daughters. It seems likely to be this family. The sons apparently lived elsewhere, or maybe were away in the militia. Ellen was the eldest of the daughters.

Ellen’s father, William Lockhart, sold property at Montréal in Sept 1833. He died soon afterwards, age 44, during an outbreak of cholera. A last child was born at Montréal in Dec 1833 and the child’s baptism record noted that his father was deceased. The widow Margaret - unable to cope alone with her nine children, ranging in age from 21 to the newborn baby - soon remarried to a widower, John Cloyd or Cloyde, who had children of his own. They moved with their combined family to Troy, New York, where the Erie Canal (built 1817-25) offered employment. It was the gateway to the Great Lakes and the West beyond.

The U.S. census taken in June, 1840 at Troy showed the Cloyd(e) household:

1 male aged under 15 (Robert Henderson Lockhart); 2 males aged 15-20 (John Lockhart and John Cloyd, Junior); 1 male aged 50-60 (John Cloyde, Senior); 1 female aged 5-10 (Jane Lockhart); 4 females aged 10-15 (Janet Lockhart, Margaret Lockhart, Ellen Cloyd(e) & Jane Cloyd(e); 1 female aged 40-50 (Margaret Henderson).

So, Ellen Lockhart was not living at home at time of the census. Ten days after the census began, Ellen married James Clezie, on 11 June 1840 at Second Street Presbyterian Church in Troy. They both were about age 24. (Coincidentally, James Clezie was a 2nd cousin of George Clazy, who was ordained as minister of Paisley High Church in Scotland, where Ellen's parents had been married in 1811. It is possible - but speculative - whether the cousins even knew each other. At age 16 in 1832, James migrated to Canada with his parents.)

Less than a year after their marriage, Ellen and James had their first child born in May, 1841 at Troy. The child died in July, 1841 and was buried at Mount Ida Cemetery, where the record shows "James Clezie". Was that the child's name? Or merely the father, who paid for the burial plot? Unclear.

Ellen & James then moved to Toronto about 1842-3, to rejoin the Clezie family. Their next son, George Alexander Clezie, was born in June 1843 - likely at Toronto but no clear evidence has been found. James Clezie (the father) was listed in Toronto directories, 1844-53. A daughter was born in 1849 but died in 1852, shown in the cemetery record as "Helen Orr Clezie" - named after Margaret Henderson's mother, Helen Orr. Soon after this death, James & Ellen moved with their remaining children to Cleveland, Ohio, in late 1852 or early 1853. Their next child, William James Clezie, was born in December, 1852. Most records say he was born in New York, while some say born in Ohio. Which was it? 19th century records were poor. No evidence of his birthplace has been found.

James Clezie was listed in Cleveland directories from 1854-76, at various addresses.

Ellen’s step-father, John Cloyd(e), seems to have died before 1860, likely in New York. Ellen’s mother, Margaret, twice-widowed, moved to Chicago, shown in the 1860 census living with her daughter Janet and son-in-law Alex McNeill. Margaret died at Chicago in 1879, age 87.

James Clezie died at Cleveland in 1880. The census taken two months after his death showed his widow "Ellen Cleasey", 61, lived with daughter Margaret and son-in-law Miles Beebe. The unusual spelling of the surname suggests that Ellen perhaps could not read or write; the census-taker wrote the name phonetically.

Ellen died at Cleveland in October 1899 and was buried at Woodland Cemetery. The death certificate said she was 82 and died from "old age". Her last address was 36 Brenton Street, which in 1906 had its name changed to 73rd Street Southeast.

The attached photo is thought to be of Ellen. In 1915, after the death of her son, George Alexander Clezie, a tin-type image was found in a box with his valued papers. My father, a trained photographer, converted the tin image into a paper photo. Ellen seems the likeliest subject of the portrait but that, too, is speculative - we cannot be sure.

^[1]

Do you have information about Ellen Lockhart? Please contribute to her biography. Everything on WikiTree is a collaborative work-in-progress.

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Rick Heiser, Feb 15, 2013

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 16 May 2016, 20:11), entry for Ellen Lockhart(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:KN4J-FXN); contributed by various users.

• Information from Henry Bertram Heiser (1906-1998)

• Many thanks to Janey Canuck at RootsChat and Nae X at Wikitree! Both helped solve the 200-year-old puzzle of Ellen’s origin.

• 1831 Canada census, St. Philippe, Québec

• 1844-52 Toronto directories

• 1860, 1880 & 1890 U.S. censuses, Cleveland, Ohio

• Ohio death certificate, 27 Oct 1899

• www.familysearch.org

• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 08 June 2020), memorial page for Ellen Lockhart Clezie (1816–27 Oct 1899), Find A Grave: Memorial #134184810, citing Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Nae x (contributor 48310390) .

Acknowledgments

• Thanks to Rick Heiser for starting this profile.