Orlando Fenwick Rutherford (1818 - 1884)

Born 16 Jul 1818 in Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Pherrill) Rutherford — married 30 Oct 1837 in Toronto, York, Home District, Upper Canada

Descendants

Died 28 Mar 1884 at age 65 in Tillsonburg, Dereham, Oxford, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dave Rutherford [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Rutherford Name Study.

Orlando was born on July 16, 1818 in Barbados. He was baptized on September 25, 1818 at St. Michael's Parish, Barbados.^[1] His parents had ended up there as actors in Mr. Sykes Travelling Company. His father abandoned the family and set sail for England at the same time as his mother went into labor for his birth. So he never knew his father. Named after his mother's brother, who had recently died of Yellow Fever, Orlando was known at home as Roland.

The family moved to New York when he was about four^[2] and his mother died when he was about ten years old leaving him and his siblings in the care of his grandmother Eliza Fenwick. His mother's death would be reported by Charles Lamb: "I have only to tell, with extreme regret, that poor Elisa Fenwick (that was) Mrs. Rutherford is dead; and that we have received a most heart broken letter from her mother left with four grandchildren, orphans of a scoundrel lurking about the pothouses of Little Russell Street."^[3]
After the death of his mother, his grandmother took a teaching job at Niagara on the Lake on the frontier of Upper Canada. Orlando's first job there, at the age of thirteen, would be helping on the farm of a Mr. Nellis in nearby Chippewa. But it would be short lived. In October of 1831 his grandmother would write to friends in New York that Roland had come home again, his place having been taken by an orphaned nephew of Nellis' wife.^[4]

Mr. Nellis must have been John Y Nelles who married Rachel Cockcroft at Chippewa in 1826 and settled there. Rachel's brother James had died in July of that year. While I have been unable to find a record of his wife and children, it seems likely that James would have married like all of his siblings when he immigrated from England and his premature death in his thirties would have left behind a widow and young family.

Orlando would eventually be apprenticed to a farmer for three years. After completing his apprenticeship, he worked briefly for Stephen Pherrill, one of the leading farmers in Scarborough at the time.

At the time, his grandmother would write that Orlando had learned more about farming in three months at the Pherrill farm than he had in his entire apprenticeship. She said that he liked farming and it appeared to have been a wise choice for him, as in-door work always seemed to give him headaches. She described him as "shrewd, steady, moral and decidedly good-tempered..."^[5]

Within months he had married the farmer's daughter. He married Elizabeth Pherrill in Toronto in October of 1837. The service was performed by Rev. James Harris of the First Presbyterian Church of Toronto. Elizabeth's brother and sister (William & Eliza Ann) were witnesses.^[6]
Shortly after the wedding he became a pioneer, clearing a piece of land in the London District (near modern day Tillsonburg) which his grandmother and guardian Eliza Fenwick obtained for him. From her correspondence, it was apparent that Orlando's grandmother had little use for his in-laws, but she came to feel that Elizabeth was a good choice as his wife and helpmate.^[7]

Their first son William was born in 1838. Stephen followed in 1840. Between 1842 and 1846, their children Charles, Elizabeth and John David were born and then baptized by Rev. James Stewart at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Dunwich Township. The family was living at Concession 11, Lot 8, Dereham Township.^[8] Mary Jane was born in 1849 and Thomas Savage was the youngest child, born in 1850.
On July 22, 1845, Orlando was confirmed at St. Charles Anglican Church, Dereham, by the visiting Bishop of Toronto, John Strachan.^[9] In 1871 Orlando was the name listed in the Orange Directory of Western Ontario for the Tillsonburg #254 chapter of the organization.^[10]
By the time of the 1881 census, Orlando was a widower. He was listed living with his youngest child, Thomas and his family in Dereham.^[11]

The Apr 3 1884 issue of the weekly Ingersoll Chronicle reported that: Mr. A.F. Rutherford, one of the oldest residents of Dereham passed away Friday, 28th.^[12]
He is likely buried with his wife in the Tillsonburg Pioneer Cemetery. It is believed that there were between 300-400 burials there, but only about one hundred stones & partial stones are still extant. The first image, showing the state of the cemetery in 1958 gives us an idea how the information was lost. The second image on the right shows the cemetery as it has been restored, as of 2015.

Sources

1. ↑ "Caribbean, Births and Baptisms, 1590-1928," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XLK7-69P : accessed 24 Aug 2014), Orlando Fenwick Rutherford, 16 Jul 1818; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 1157926.
2. ↑ New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, M237, 1820-1897, Roll 003, pg. 258 of 1098.
3. ↑ The Complete Works and Letters of Charles Lamb, BENNETT A. CERF · DONALD S. KLOPFER THE MODERN LIBRARY NEW YORK. pg. 927.
4. ↑ Letter from Eliza Fenwick to Reuben Moffat, Oct. 31, 1831.
5. ↑ Correspondence from Eliza Fenwick, Upper Canada College Toronto, to Reuben Moffat, Sep. 18, 1837
6. ↑ "Ontario, District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2C1-LCF9 : 30 November 2016), Orlando Rutherford and Elizabeth Phinnell, 30 Oct 1838; citing Home Township, Algoma, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,030,052.
7. ↑ Entered by Dave Rutherford, 24 Sep 2022
8. ↑ Baptisms at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Dunwich Township 1842-1869.
9. ↑ Names of Persons confirmed at St. Charles Church, Dereham by Bishop Strachan, 22 July 1845: Talbot Times Newsletter, March 1994, Volume XIII, Issue One.
10. ↑ Canadian Orange Historical Site entered by Brett Rutherford
11. ↑ 1881 Census of Canada, Ontario, Oxford South, Dereham, pg. 68 of 94.
12. ↑ The Ingersol Chronicle, Thursday April 3 1884, page 2; Accessed on Canadiana, 9 Oct 2022.

See also:

• Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada, Volume 13; Alexander Grant, Rowsell, 1868; pp. 476-484.

• 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Canada West (Ontario), Oxford County, Dereham, pg. 37 of 147.

• 1861 Census of Canada, Canada West, Oxford, pg. 939 of 1245.

• 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, Oxford South, Dereham, pg. 41 of 156.

• "Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD2S-L9V : 11 December 2014), Orlando Fenwick Rutherford in entry for Thomas Rutherford, 23 Jun 1924; citing Tillsonburg, Oxford, Ontario, yr 1924 cn 24522, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 2,022,141.

• Ancestry.com - Ruther01 Family Tree - Brett Rutherford

• John Moffat and his wife Hannah along with their son Reuben and daughter Adeline were friends of the author Eliza Fenwick and her granddaughter Elizabeth Rutherford. John acted as a mentor and also managed Eliza's financial affairs, perhaps even subsidising some of her ventures. Their original correspondence, ranging from 1830-1840, has been preserved in a collection at the New York Historical Society and transcribed by Professor Lissa Paul of Brock University.