Barbara (McArthur) Dyment (abt. 1815 - bef. 1860)

Ancestors

Wife of Donald Ramsay — married 24 Oct 1833 in Prince Edward Island

Wife of Humphrey Dyment Jr. — married May 1843 in Presbyterian Church, Richmond Lot 16, Prince Edward Island

Descendants

Died before 1860 before about age 45 in Lot 13, Prince, Prince Edward Island

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jane Dyment [send private message]

Biography

Barbara left very few records. She was said to be the twin sister of Effie McArthur, who married William Dyment, which would make her the daughter of Malcolm McArthur and Ann McDougall.^[1]

On her marriage record to Humphrey Dyment in 1843 in Lot 16 she was a widow^[2], and it is possible she was the same Barbara McArthur who had married Donald Ramsay a few years earlier.^[3]

Barbara and Humphrey had two children, George and Thomas. ^[4]She died sometime after the birth of her son Thomas in 1848, and before 1860, when her widower husband Humphrey remarried.

Research Notes

I haven't been able to find a death notice or gravestone for Barbara. Almost all the gravestones still standing on PEI were photographed by a volunteer for Billion Graves, and the PEI Genealogical Society did transcripts several years ago. There's a possibility she was buried in a Presbyterian cemetery, or with her first husband. The Presbyterian cemetery in Birch Hill had a lot of broken stones around the back of the church, sandstone markers weathered, and older stones did sink. About 25 Island newspapers were indexed by Leland Currie in his database/CD "A Century of Immigration, Marriage and Death Records in Prince Edward Island Newspapers" that covers up to 1900.

Most men with children married soon after the death of a wife, which argues for a date of death closer to 1860. On the other hand, Humphrey had his married sister Sarah living next to him.

Many unsourced Dyment family trees include a daughter Alice, but this was her grand-daughter. ^[5]

I have wondered if Humphrey's first farm on the Northam Road came through Barbara? No proof!!

Also looked at whether or not McArthur was her maiden or married name - the Presbyterian minister could have used either. No marriage of a Barbara and a McArthur found, however.

Sources

1. ↑ However, if she was the sister of an Effie McArthur, there was also the Effie McArthur from Lot 16 who married Walter Chappell. This Effie was born around 1807 in Lot 16.
2. ↑ "Prince Edward Island Marriage Registers, 1832-1888," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBJ-KRKP : 11 March 2015), Humphrey Dimond and Barbara MacArthur, May 1843; citing , Prince Edward Island, Canada, Public Archives, Charlottetown; FHL microfilm 1,630,091.
3. ↑ "Prince Edward Island Marriage Registers, 1832-1888," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBJ-KXWJ : 11 March 2015), Donald Ramsay and Barbara McArthur, 24 Oct 1833; citing , Prince Edward Island, Canada, Public Archives, Charlottetown; FHL microfilm 1,630,091. It would not have been unusual for a Scottish minister to use her maiden name on the second marriage record
4. ↑ Neither son was in the PEI Baptismal Index, but George's marriage and death records said his parents were Humphrey and Barbara, and Thomas' death record said Humphrey Dyment and Barbara McArthur
5. ↑ Daughter of Thomas and Matilda; born 1876 after Barbara's death. "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4ZS-77T : 10 March 2021), Frank A. Williams and Alice A. Dyment, 29 Jul 1900; citing Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,843,723.

• Death record for son, Thomas. Washington State Digital Archives Washington State Death Records 1916 Mother Barbara McArthur
• "Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N438-J26 : 10 March 2021), George Diment and Agnes Matthews, 31 Aug 1880; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 1,433,041. Son of Humphrey and Barbara
• New Jersey death record for George said parents were Humphrey and Barbara