George Sims and Maria Hanna Brown

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(George Sims – John W. Sims – Joseph Freeman Sims – Cameron Joseph Sims – James Hubert Sims)

**NOTE: Sims/Simms/Syms/Simes are often used interchangeably throughout the historical record. I’ve chosen to use Sims for the sake of simplicity.

George SIMS was born in Maryland c. 1790. He married Maria Hanna BROWN on 20 Jul 1816 at All Saints Anglican Church in Granville, Annapolis. [This information comes from proceedings of the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia (R. v. Smith, 2012 NSPC 84 (CanLII)), where a claimant’s ancestry was in question over Indigenous hunting rights.] Maria’s estimated DOB was 1790 in Nova Scotia.

**An interesting historical tidbit: All Saints Anglican Church stood in Granville for 200 years until it was disassembled and moved to Abita Springs in Louisiana, where it was reborn as a Baptist church. The rebuilders speculate that the wood from the structure is older and may have been salvaged from a French fort. Read more HERE **

In the wake of the American War of Independence, a wave of United Empire Loyalists came to Nova Scotia seeking refuge, and there were several thousand Black Loyalists among the newcomers. There were former slaves who had either bought their freedom or earned it through service to the British during the war, those born free, and those still in slavery or indentured service to white settlers. There was a community of Black Loyalists in Granville that grew throughout the 1800s, and a similar community developed nearby in Delap’s Cove. It’s likely that George may have come to Nova Scotia as part of this group.

According to the Provincial Court, the couple had twelve children, but I have only been able to find records for six:

  1. John W. SIMS* (1821-bef. 1910) m. Margaret Ann FRANCIS*
  2. Louisa SIMS (1824-1891) m. George JACKSON
  3. Amanella SIMS (1825-1880) m. STEVENS
  4. Arthurland SIMS (1831-1909) m. William PETERS
  5. Jacob Henry SIMS (1836- ) m. (1) Maria Bertha FOWLER (2) Cynthia (CUFF) JACKSON
  6. Johanna SIMS (1837-1907)
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Philip Hayes & Bridget Brennan / Patrick Sullivan & Anastasia Hayes

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(*Philip Hayes – Anastasia Hayes – Catherine Sullivan – Jeremiah Walden McGillivray)

Philip HAYES* was born c. 1790 in the Parish of Kilmalock, County Wexford (formerly part of the Roman Catholic parish of Crossabeg). According to Samuel Lewis’ 1849 A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Kilmalock (or Kilmalog) was a parish “in the union of Enniscorthy, barony of Ballaghkeen, county of Wexford, province of Leinster…In the Roman Catholic divisions, the parish forms part of the liberty of Crossabeg.” (p. 173)

There was a Philip Hays baptised 2 Aug 1786 in the Diocese of Ferns (another name for Crossabeg), the son of Patrick HAYES and Catherine SINNOT, which could be a match (from the Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms via the National Library of Ireland). Patrick and Catherine were married 13 Feb 1779 in the Diocese of Ferns. And there is a Philip Hayes listed in Erin’s Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada, 1761-1853 as arriving in Newfoundland in 1813, which could also be a match.

Philip married Bridget BRENNAN* on 9 Dec 1813 at the Roman Catholic Basillica in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The witnesses were Daniel Mahany and Mary McDonald. Wileen Keough, in her work The Slender Thread: Irish Women on the Southern Avalon, 1750-1860, briefly references the couple:

“Philip Hays from Kilmaback, Wexford, married Bridget Brennan, first-generation Irish Newfoundland daughter of James and Anstice Brennan of Cape Broyle, in 1813; the couple remained in Bridget’s home community.” (p. 20)

As Keough mentions, Bridget was the daughter of James BRENNAN*, who appears on the 1800 Census of Cap Broyle with Anstice* and three children: John (born c. 1789), Bridget (born c. 1793) and Catherine (born c. 1796). There is a James Brennan who appears on the “List of names of all Masters, Servants, and Dieters residing in the District of Ferryland for the Winter of 1799 & Spring 1800” as a “dieter” in the service of Richard DOWER. According to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, a dieter is “a) one who receives winter board and accommodation against the promise of cash or service in the next fishing season; b) one engaged in, in return for board, in the preparatory work of the fishing season.” (p. 140)

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Edward Fanning

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(*Edward Fanning – Sophia Adeline Fanning – William Charles Crooks – Norman Chipman Crooks – Ada Constance Crooks)

Edward FANNING and his wife Maria lived in Lunenburg, though I have not been able to confirm his origins with certainty. In 1784, an Edward Fanning, along with numerous others, was granted a 50 acre lot in Mason’s Division below Shelburne,  Queen’s County, on the Eastern side of the harbour. There is also an Edward Fanning that appears on the 1787 census for the Ragged Islands in Hebron, Queens County.

According to the “History of the County Lunenburg” by Mather Byles DesBrisay  (published in 1895), an Edward Fanning was among those illegally settled at Cape la Have “many years ago”. This group of settlers had “built houses, cleared land and fenced in hay lots, and claimed the right to sell sea manure from the beaches”, but they were ejected by the authorities and their homes torn down. It is unclear, though, whether any of these references relate to our Edward Fanning.

Edward and Maria had seven children:

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James William Crooks (1825-1856) and Sophia Adeline Fanning (1821-)

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(*James William Crooks – William Charles Crooks – Norman Chipman Crooks – Ada Constance Crooks)

James William CROOKS was born 26 Dec 1825 in Lunenburg, the son of William CROOKS and Margaret Ann ACKER. He was baptized on 3 Mar 1826 at the Dutch Reformed Church.  At some point circa 1842 (based on the DoB of their first child), James married Sophia Adeline FANNING, the daughter of Edward FANNING. Sophia was born 16 Aug 1821 and baptized 3 Mar 1822 at the Dutch Reformed Church in Lunenburg.

James died early circa 1856, when he was around 31 years old, leaving Sophia a widow with seven young children. In 1871, Sophia and some of her younger children were living in Isaac’s Harbour in the household of her oldest son James. In 1881, Sophia was living with her son John and her daughter Lydia, still in Isaac’s Harbour. And in 1891, Sophia was still living with John, now married with children, and her spinster daughter Lydia. Sophia likely died sometime before 1901, as she does not appear on the census for that year.

James and Sophia had seven children:

  1. James William CROOKS (1843 – bef. 1908) m. Elizabth BURKE
  2. Johanna CROOKS (1846-1915) m. (1) Henry WARRINGTON (2) Judson LUDDINGTON
  3. Sarah Jane CROOKS (1849-1931) m. (1) Duncan LATHAM (2) William Berton SILVER
  4. William Charles (Bill) CROOKS* (1849-1907) m. Ada Jane HULL
  5. Lydia CROOKS (1853-1929)
  6. John Herman CROOKS (1853-1920) m. Elizabeth Odessa LANGLEY
  7. Henry I. CROOKS (1857-1933) m. (1) Melissa FANNING (2) Effie BEESWANGER
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Lawrence Ling (1844-1918) & Harriett McGillivray (1852-1933)

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Lawrence LING was born on 7 Jan 1844 in Low Point, Cape Breton to James LING and Catherine MCDONALD.  In 1871, he was still living in his parents’ household and working as a coal miner.

On 5 Feb 1872 he married Harriett McGillivray (also appearing in the historical record as Henrietta), the daughter of Mary MCGILVARY and Frederick (or James) FISHWICK. Mary was the daughter of Hugh MCGILLIVRAY and Mary VENABLES, Hugh being the son of Donald Daniel MCGILLIVRAY (aka Donald the Soldier) whose life and descendants have been chronicled in this excellent work by Francis Xavier McGillivray.

Harriett was born on 9 Feb 1852 and baptised on the 19th at St. Joseph’s in North Sydney. The record of the baptism reads as followed:

“I the undersigned baptised Harriet born on the 9th [of February] the daughter of Frederick Fishwick and Mary McGilvary sponsors Catherine and Hugh McGilvary.”

The witnesses listed, Hugh and Catherine, are likely Mary’s siblings, although it’s also possible that the Hugh in question is Mary’s father. What is interesting is the absence of the word “lawful.” It seems Harriett was born out of wedlock, which is further supported by the complete absence of Fishwick in their lives going forward and by the fact the Mary, the mother, retained her maiden name. Fishwick’s given name is listed on Harriett’s marriage record as James, which further adds to the confusion.

After researching into the identity of Frederick/James Fishwick, I have come up with a possible match. A Frederick Fishwick was born on 8 Jan 1832 in St Botolph’s, Aldersgate (Middlesex, England) to Fairfax Fishwick and Rebecca James. He married Elizabeth Fisher in either 1853 or 1854 in Saint Katherine Creechurch. In 1871, he is listed as living in Halifax with his wife and several children, and a Frederick Fishwick appears on record as the owner of merchant vessels sailing out of Halifax. It’s possible that he came to Cape Breton as a young sailor around 1851 and then returned to Nova Scotia a few years later with his new wife.

How Harriett and Mary lived their lives during Harriett’s childhood is unknown, as I cannot find any record of them on the 1861 or 1871 census. In 1865, Harriett MacGillivray appears as a sponsor on the baptismal record of Mary, daughter of Hugh McGillivray Jr. (her uncle) and Margaret Burke. The baptism took place at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. Harriett appears again as a witness in July 1871 at the marriage of Alexander McGillivray (her uncle) and Frances McGillivray, and the other witness is Lawrence Ling. Harriett and Lawrence were likely engaged or courting at the time, as they were married the following February.

In 1872, Lawrence Ling was working as a coal cutter in Low Point. In 1881, his family was living in Lingan, and he was employed as a sailor. The 1891 census lists his residence as Lingan Mines and his occupation as pilot. Lawrence appears several times in the Reports of the Pilotage Authority of Sydney, Cape Breton (in the company of other related families – Petries, McGillivrays, Ratchfords, etc.)

In 1894, Lawrence earned $543.41 as a pilot. In 1905, he earned $818.04. In 1916, at the age of 72 years, he was still working and earned $1,137.17.

Harriett’s mother, Mary, lived with the couple from the time of their marriage to her death in 1908. Lawrence appears on the 1901 and 1911 census records for Victoria Mines with Harriett and several of their adult children. He died of a brain hemorrhage in 1918.

In 1921, a widowed Harriett was living in Low Point with her sons Bert and Robert and a 13-year-old girl named Eustace Livingstone, who is listed as her adopted daughter. Harriett died on 9 November 1933 in Victoria Mines. She and Lawrence had eight children:

1. Thomas James LING born 20 May 1873 and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. He married first Ellen (Nellie) CONDON on 19 Sep 1895 at St. Alphonsus. He was an engineer and served in the Royal Canadian Reg. No. 1 Tunnelling Company during the First World War. According to his attestation papers, he had blue eyes, brown hair, and a tattoo of a heart and anchor on forearm. Nellie died sometime between 1904 and 1910. She and Thomas had seven children:

  • Ethelina Gertrude LING born 03 Feb 1896 in Dominion. She worked as a nurse in Halifax and married Michael J. SHERIDAN on 4 Aug 1931.
  • Bertha Mary LING born 1 Aug 1897 in Dominion.  Died in 1917 in Halifax.
  • Lawrence Robert LING born 23 July 1898 in Dominion.
  • Joseph Charles LING born 20 Apr 1900 in Dominion.
  • Anna Matilda LING  born 2 Jul 1902.
  • Gertrude LING born 4 Apr 1903.
  • Mary Florence LING born 10 Sep 1904.

Thomas married secondly Julia Josephine EMBERLEY and had issue. He died 17 Feb 1944 in Glace Bay. Thomas and Julia had a daughter:

  • Nellie Mae LING born 1911. She married Beniah KENNEDY 10 Mar 1932 in Glace Bay. Nellie died 21 Nov 2007 in Glace Bay.


2. William LING born 01 Feb 1875. He married Catherine MCKINNON 17 Oct 1922 in Glace Bay. He was a miner and an engineer for the Dominion Coal Company. William died 15 Dec 1933 in New Aberdeen.

3. Rosalie (Rosella) LING born 12 Jun 1877 and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. She married Andrew J. LIVINGSTON on 1 Nov 1896 at St. Alphonsus. Died 19 Nov 1960 in Glace Bay. They had issue:

  • John Charles Hibbert LIVINGSTON born 11 Oct 1897 in Low Point and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. He served as a private in the First World War with the 1st Depot Battalion of the Nova Scotia Regiment and the Canadian Machine Gun Depot. He was also a miner and later worked for the civil service. John married Catherine Mary MCPHEE on 26 Oct 1920 in Little Bras d’Or. He died 7 Sep 1964 in Glace Bay.
  • Harold Randolph LIVINGSTON born 11 May 1899 in Reserve Mines. He immigrated to the United States in 1927 and worked as an office clerk. Harold married Margaret on 26 Jun 1929 in Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey and had issue. In 1930, he was working as a clerk for a furnace company, and in 1940, he was working as an accountant. Harold died 16 Aug 1986 in Elizabeth.
  • Catherine Emily (Sister Mary) LIVINGSTON born 17 Jan 1901 in Reserve Mines. She immigrated to Laredo, Texas, in 1938. In 1940, she was living in Dallas and working as a teacher at the House of the Good Shepherd. She died 17 Jan 1956 in Dallas.
  • Gilbert Lewis LIVINGSTON born 29 Jan 1903 and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. He was a miner. Gilbert married Florence MCDONALD on 26 Nov 1929 in Reserve Mines. He died 22 Jun 1941 in Halifax.
  • Mary Lauretta (Laura) LIVINGSTON born 23 Jul 1904 and baptized at St. Anthony’s in Glace Bay. She married Martin Joseph GOUTHRO, a miner, on 18 Jun 1929 in Dominion. Mary died 14 Apr 1932 in Glace Bay.
  • Joseph Bernard LIVINGSTON born 10 Jul 1906 in Dominion. He was a miner. Joseph married Margaret MCKINNON on 18 Nov 1930 in Reserve Mines.
  • Beatrice LIVINGSTON born 23 Jan 1908 in Glace Bay. She married Clifford BUTLER on 10 Jan 1937 in Boston, Mass.
  • Hilda Agnes LIVINGSTON born 6 Nov 1909 in Dominion. She died 16 Apr 1928 in Glace Bay.
  • Teresa (Sister Saintjohn Eudes) LIVINGSTON born 12 Jun 1911 in Glace Bay. She immigrated to the United States and worked as a teacher at Maryhurst Girls School in Louisville, Kenntucky. Died 1966 in Texas.
  • Lawrence Paul LIVINGSTON born 29 Jun 1913 in Glace Bay. Married Mafalda Margarita LEGNARO on 15 Aug 1944 in New Aberdeen. Died 4 Nov 1986 in Glace Bay.
  • Ninian Faustina LIVINGSTON born 1915 in Dominion. She married firstly Russell Joseph Wilfred MCPHERSON on 21 Jul 1936 in Dominion. They immigrated to the United States. She married secondly Arthur R. KUELL in May 1954 in New Jersey. Faustina died 7 Jun 2008 in Annville, Pennsylvania.
  • Barbara Rosella LIVINGSTON born 6 Oct 1916 in Glace Bay. She immigrated to the United States and was a nurse.
  • Dorothy LIVINGSTON born 1920 in Passchendaele. She married Anthony Ralph WRATHALL on 24 Jul 1941 in Passchendaele. Died 1993 in Glace Bay.

4. Catherine Maud LING born 8 Jan 1880 and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. She married Vincent James MCGILLIVRAY in 1902 at St. Alphonsus and had issue. Maud died in 1967.

  • Vincent James MCGILLIVRAY born 12 Oct 1909 in Victoria Mines. He married Margaret MUNRO on 11 May 1937 in Glace Bay and had issue. Vincent started out as a coal miner and later on became a funeral director in Glace Bay and New Waterford after attending the Boston School of Anatomy and Embalming. He eventually became president of V.J. McGillivray Funeral Homes. Vincent died 15 Aug 1972, and his business is now in the hands of his grandchildren. [Pottie, Erin. “Third generation back in control of V.J. McGillivray Funeral Homes.” Cape Breton Post. Feb 18, 2010.]
  • Mary Evelyn MCGILLIVRAY born 30 Aug 1911 in Victoria Mines. She worked as a superintendent at the New Waterford Hospital. On 15 Aug 1939 she married George Wilson MACPHERSON at Mt. Carmel Church in New Waterford.
  • Pauline MCGILLIVRAY 

5. Joseph Bernard LING born 25 Aug 1882 in Glace Bay. He was coal miner and married Emily Mildred JESSOME. They had issue. He married secondly Agnes MCNEIL. He died 29 Aug 1953 in New Waterford.

6. Herbert Leo (Bert) LING born 23 May 1888 in Low Point and baptized at St. Alphonsus. In 1917, he is listed as an apprentice pilot by the Pilotage District of Sydney. In 1921, he was still living in his parents’ household, and his occupation is listed as a farmer.  He was on the Board of Directors for the Dominion Coal Workers’ Relief Association. Bert died in 1975.

7. Mary Loretta (Laura) LING born 26 May 1890 in Low Point and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. She married Waldon Jeremiah MACGILLIVRAY, a pilot and coal miner, on 16 Jun 1916 in Victoria Mines. They had eleven children. Laura died on 30 Apr 1982, outliving her husband who died in 1976. Their children were:

  • Mary Geraldine MACGILLIVRAY (1917-2012). Married Roderick MACSWEEN and had issue.
  • Catherine Genevieve MACGILLIVRAY (1918-1998). Married Arthur BOUDREAU and had issue.
  • James Lawrence MACGILLIVRAY (1919-2015). Married and had issue.
  • Mary Loretta (Laura) MACGILLIVRAY (1920-2001). Married Justin MERRITT and had issue.
  • Mary MACGILLIVRAY (1921-2012). Married Bernard MACNEIL and had issue.
  • Blaise MACGILLIVRAY (1922-2012). Married Mary Ellen KAVANAUGH and had issue.
  • Veronica MACGILLIVRAY (1923). Died in infancy according to the Family History of Donald McGillivray and his Descendents.
  • Lenore MACGILLIVRAY (1924-2007). Married Lawrence PARKER.
  • Theresa Muriel MACGILLIVRAY (1926-2010). Married Herb HARTER and had issue.
  • Bernadette MACGILLIVRAY (1929-2013). Married Bill DUNPHY and had issue.
  • Waldon MACGILLIVRAY (1934-2009). Married Joan Gourley and had issue.

8. Amanda Beatrice LING born 30 Aug 1891 in Victoria Mines. Married Charles Francis BUTTS and had issue.

James Ling & Catherine McDonald

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James LING is my direct ancestor and the first of the Lings to settle in this part of Cape Breton Island. All that is known of his early life is what the census records tell us – that he was born in Ireland in either 1797 or 1803 (conflicting DOBs on different years of the census). How he came to Cape Breton remains a mystery. There are stories told in the family that he was pressed into service by the British Navy and jumped ship to start a new life in Nova Scotia, but this remains as speculation.

Early Irish Settlers in Cape Breton

James would have arrived in Cape Breton sometime before 1835, the date of his marriage. Irish settlers had been coming to Nova Scotia since the 1750s to escape economic hardship or lured by the prospect of owning land, and more would follow these early immigrants, with a second wave arriving between 1815 and 1845. This time overpopulated cities and religious persecution would also play a role. Shipwrecked sailors and deserters from the British Navy, tired of squalid conditions and dangers aboard ship, were also among those who sought a new life in Cape Breton. Many Irish immigrants also settled in Newfoundland first, as the boat fare was cheaper, and eventually made their way to Cape Breton or were driven out by famine and harsh conditions. The main areas of Irish settlement in Cape Breton were Lingan, Low Point, Glace Bay, and Sydney, areas rich in coal.

Marriage and Family

According to the records of the Catholic Diocese, James Ling married Catherine MCDONALD on 10 Nov 1835 at Sacred Heart in Sydney. The witnesses are listed as Patrick RYAN, Michael MAHON, and Flora MCDONALD [though the script is somewhat difficult to decipher].

According to census records, Catherine was born on Prince Edward Island in about 1821, but her early life and how she came to Cape Breton also remain a mystery. I have seen some genealogies listing her parents as Donald McDonald and Euphemia Bell, but I have yet to find any evidence to prove this claim. The Flora McDonald listed as a witness to her wedding could potentially be a sister, but that clue has so far yielded no results.

Catherine’s DoB as listed on the 1871 census means that she would have been only 14 when she married James Ling, so it may be more of a rough estimate (or clerical error).

On the 1838 Census return for the area stretching “From Flagstaff at Low Point to north head of Lingan” James and Catherine Ling are listed with two children, one male and one female, under the age of six. It is possible that they had a daughter who died young. James is listed as a farmer.

James Ling appears on the Census of 1861 (for Canada East, Canada West, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) as a resident of the Lingan Ferry district. His household consisted of six males and three females.

In 1856 the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, passed a series of resolutions granting money for various public services, including the maintenance of a ferry at Lingan. In 1859, John Young of Lingan was granted five pounds to “enable him to keep a ferry across the passage or strait between Lingan and Bridgeport.” In 1860, a further 20 pounds were granted to John Young for the same purpose. I imagine the Lingan Ferry district gets its name from this enterprise.

Catherine died in October of 1877 and was buried in Low Point. In the Low Point death registry, her name is listed directly after that of her son Alex LING, who died the same year at the age of 24. It is possible they died of the same illness or that her grief pushed her into decline. James appears as a widower on the 1881 census, but there is no record of him on the 1891 census, so it is presumed that he died sometime between 1881 and 1891.

James and Catherine had seven children:

  1. Thomas Norbert LING (1838-1914) married firstly Mary Ann LAFFIN and secondly Catherine ROACH.
  2. Lawrence LING (1844-1918) married Harriet MCGILLIVRAY.
  3. William Dan LING (1847-1940) married Catherine CARROLL.
  4. Flora LING (c. 1848- ) married Patrick KILDAY.
  5. Alex LING (1853-1877) worked as a coal miner until his early death at the age of 24. He was buried in Low Point in the presence of John MURPHY and James LING. The exact date/month of his death is not listed, but his mother is listed directly under him in the death registry, so it is possible they died of the same illness.
  6. Catherine LING (1855- ) was still alive and living with her family on the 1871 census.
  7. John LING (1859- ) married firstly Isabella MACDONALD and secondly Mary MCISAAC. 
CHILDREN OF JAMES LING AND CATHERINE MCDONALD
(1) THOMAS NORBERT LING (1838-1914)

Thomas Norbert LING was born in Lingan on 10 Oct 1838. Census records consistently put his date of birth on or around this time, though the record of his second marriage puts his date of birth as 1843. His parents were James LING and Catherine MCDONALD.

On 22 Aug 1861, he married Mary Ann LAFFIN, the daughter of John LAFFIN and Mary MULLINS. Mary Ann seems to have died sometime before 1867 (perhaps giving birth to their son John in 1864), as Thomas remarried in 1867.

Thomas and Mary Ann had two children:

1. Agnes LING, born 9 Jun 1862 and baptised 22 Jun 1862 at St. Joseph’s in New Waterford. She appears on the 1881 census living in the household of her maternal grandmother, Mary (MULLINS) LAFFIN.

2. John LING, born 21 Feb 1864 and baptised 23 Feb 1864 at St. Joseph’s in New Waterford. On 12 Jul 1881, a John Ling joined the crew of the barque Edina in Port Caledonia, Cape Breton. The date of birth matches, and John’s occupation is listed as seaman on the 1891 census. At age 16 he signed on to his first voyage as ship’s boy, or rather made his mark (X) as it appears he could not write. The Edina departed Newry, Ireland, on 214 May 1881 and arrived in London, England 28 Sep 1881. John was discharged from the crew at the end of the voyage.

In March-May 1866, Thomas served in the Seventh Regiment of the Cape Breton County Militia when the Fenians were threatening Eastern Canada. He applied in 1913 for a grant under the Fenian Raid Volunteer Bounty Act. His brother William Dan also served.

On 8 Sep 1867, Thomas married Catherine ROACH in Glace Bay. At the time of his marriage, he was working as a merchant. By 1891, he was employed as a pilot, and in 1901 he is listed on the census as a farmer. Thomas died on 2 Dec 1914.

Thomas and Catherine had three children:

1. James Henry LING was born on 18 Jun 1870. He married Sarah (Sadie) MCDONALD sometime between 1891 and 1894. The lived in Glace Bay and James worked as a carpenter. By 1911, James appears to be working as a teacher at a public school. He died on 22 Oct 1936 at the age of 66. James and Sadie had eight children:

  • Mary LING (1894- ) married Roderick MCNEIL on 7 Feb 1921 in New Waterford. Had issue.
  • John Thomas LING (1896-1956) married Christina MCLEOD in 1921 in Sydney and had issue. John served in WWI and was described on his attestation papers as having light hair, grey eyes, a medium complexion and as being 5’7.
  • Dorothy LING (1898- )
  • Daniel LING (1899- )
  • James Patrick LING (1901- )
  • Charles LING (1903- )
  • Catherine LING (1905- ) married Thomas MARSH.
  • Olive LING (1908-1926)

2. Margaret LING (1878- ) was born in about 1878 and was living with her family in Glace Bay in 1891.

3. Katie LING was born on 20 Oct 1878 and was baptized on 27 Oct 1878 at St. Anne’s in Glace Bay. Katie married John Alexander MURPHY on 10 Feb 1904 at St. Anne’s in Glace Bay. Katie and John had three children:

  • Thomas Alexander MURPHY (1905- )
  • Myrtle Margaret MURPHY (1907-1938) married Duncan MCDONALD.
  • Mary V. MURPHY (1918-1924). Died young.

(3) WILLIAM DAN LING (1847-1940)

William Edward “Dan” LING was born in April 1847 and was baptized on 6 Jun 1847 at St. Joseph’s in North Sydney. His parents were James LING and Catherine MCDONALD.

In March-May 1866, William served in the Seventh Regiment of the Cape Breton County Militia when the Fenians were threatening Eastern Canada. He applied in 1913 for a grant under the Fenian Raid Volunteer Bounty Act. His brother Thomas also served.

William was a coal miner. He married Catherine CARROLL on 13 Feb 1873, and they lived in Lingan (1881), Bridgeport (1901) and Reserve Mines (1911). William died on 21 Aug 1940 in Glace Bay. He and Catherine had seventeen children:

1. James LING was born in 1873 in Low Point. He died on 6 May 1875 of whooping cough.

2. Mary LING was born in 1873 in Low Point. She died on 26 Feb 1875 of croup.

3. Bridget Loretta LING was born 2 Apr 1875 in Low Point. She married Alexander CURRIE, a coal miner, on 22 Nov 1896 at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. Bridget died 1 Nov 1966 in Sydney, and she and Alexander had ten children:

  • James Hebert CURRIE was born on 1 Aug 1898 and was baptized on 17 Aug at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines.
  • Alexander CURRIE was born 16 Sep 1899 in Low Point.
  • Minerva CURRIE was born 1 May 1901 and baptized at St. Joseph’s in Reserve Mines. She immigrated to the United States and married Thomas TEDESCO. They lived in Massachusetts and had issue.
  • Annie Helen Mildred CURRIE born 25 Jan 1902, baptized 3 Feb at St. Joseph’s in Reserve Mines.
  • Joseph Russell CURRIE born 14 Jan 1904, baptized at St. Joseph’s in Reserve Mines.
  • Ambrose Bernard CURRIE born 24 Apr 1906 in Reserve Mines. He married Catherine MCLEAN and had issue.
  • Catherine Isabel CURRIE born 28 Nov 1906 in Reserve Mines.  Married Edward BATE on 4 Oct 1932 at St. Agnes Church in New Waterford.
  • William CURRIE born 1907.
  • Evelyn Bridget CURRIE born May 1909. Was a nun, and took the name Sister Louis-Rene. Died in Halifax in 2003.
  • Maurice Raphael CURRIE born 25 Oct 1910 in New Waterford. He was a coal miner. Maurice married Helena GOUTHRO in 1932.
  • Thomas CURRIE born 24 Feb 1912 in New Waterford. He was a coal miner. Thomas married Elizabeth MACMULLIN on 21 Oct 1941 at St. Stephen’s Church in Florence.
  • Duncan CURRIE born about 1916

4. Mary LING born 15 Aug 1876. She married Peter CAMPBELL, a boiler maker, in Nov 1902 at St. Joseph’s in Reserve Mines. They lived in Glace Bay (1911) and eventually moved to Vancouver (1921). They had two children:

  • Mary Blanche CAMPBELL born 19 Aug 1903 in Glace Bay. She married William Wallace WALKER, a machinist, on 3 Jun 1924 in Glace Bay. They moved to Massachusetts and had issue. She died on 23 Mar 1993 in Brockton.
  • John Edmund CAMPBELL born 29 Apr 1905. He immigrated to the United States, living in Boston and later Illinois.

5. Angelina H. LING born 1 Oct 1878. She immigrated to the United States, where she married Alonzo NICKERSON on 18 May 1907 in Boston.

6. John LING born 18 Jan 1881. He married Joanna MCPHEE on 13 Oct 1914 in Reserve Mines. John was a coal miner and died 14 Aug 1953 in Reserve Mines.

7. Thomas LING born about 1882. Was alive on the 1901 census.

8. William Leo LING born 15 Jul 1884 in New Victoria. In Jun 1915, he enlisted to fight in the First World War as part of 40th Battalion’s machine gun regiment. He was discharged in 1919 after being buried in a shell blast.

9. Margaret (Maggie) LING born 1885 in Glace Bay. Married William CHIASSON, a miner, in Reserve Mines in 1908.

10. Maud LING born about 1887.  She married John NICHOLSON and died in childbirth on 18 Jun 1909. Maud and John had two children:

  •  William NICHOLSON born 4 Aug 1907. He died in a mining accident in Glace Bay in 1927.
  • Mary Catherine NICHOLSON born Jun 1909. She died of cholera when she was twelve weeks old.

11. Catherine (Kate) LING born 22 Apr 1888 in Low Point. Baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines.

12. Leo Francis LING born 30 Sep 1889. Baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. Was as miner.

13. Blanche LING born about 1892. Married Raymond MCPHERSON on 25 Sep 1912 in Reserve Mines. They had six children:

  • Leo MCPHERSON born 1912 in Reserve Mines. Died 11 Aug 1947 in Glace Bay.
  • Mary A. MCPHERSON born 1913. She married Joseph Freeman DOUCETTE on 12 Nov 1935.
  • Catherine MCPHERSON born 1915. Died 15 Oct 1927 at the age of twelve.
  • Moses MCPHERSON born 1920
  • May Rose Ella MCPHERSON born 1921, died 24 Sep 1921 of cholera.
  • Natheia MCPHERSON born 19 Jul 1928, died 19 Mar 1930 of pneumonia.

14. Beatrice LING born 5 Nov 1894, baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. Married Wilfred MCPHERSON, lived in Reserve Mines and had issue. Died 12 Dec 1945 in Glace Bay. Beatrice and Wilfred had four children:

  • Joseph R. MCPHERSON born 1914 in Reserve Mines. He married Faustina LIVINGSTONE on 21 Jul 1936 in Dominion. He was a coal miner.
  • Margaret Catherine MCPHERSON born 1916 in Reserve Mines. She married Alfred JONES on 29 Jan 1935 at St. Joseph’s Church in Reserve Mines.
  • George MCPHERSON born about 1917.
  • Dan H. MCPHERSON born about 1918.

15. Gladys LING born 1895. She married Dan RAFFERTY in 1915 and had issue:

  • Hannora (Nora) LING born 6 Sep 1897 and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines. She married Michael MCNEIL on 16 Feb 1920 in Glace Bay.
  • Flora LING born 10 Feb 1899 and baptized at St. Alphonsus in Victoria Mines.

 

(4) FLORA LING (1847 – )

Flora LING was born in about 1848, presumably in the Lingan/Low Point area. Her parents were James LING and Catherine MCDONALD. She married Patrick GILDAY (also appearing in the historical record/transcriptions as Kilday and Hilday) in October of 1867 in Lingan.

Patrick was born in about 1844 in Little Bras d’Or and was an Irish Catholic coal miner. Like Flora’s brothers Thomas and William, Patrick served in the Nova Scotia militia during the Fenian Raids of 1866. The family was living in Lingan in 1871 and 1881, but by 1891 had moved to Glace Bay. Flora died sometime between 1901 and 1903, when Patrick remarried to Alice MURPHY on 3 Aug 1903.

Patrick died on 17 Feb 1919 in Glace Bay. He and Flora had seven children:

1. Ellen GILDAY born 19 Aug 1868 in Glace Bay. Was still living with her family in 1891.

2. Bridget GILDAY born 3 Jan 1870 in Glace Bay.

3. Clara A. GILDAY born 14 Mar 1872 in Glace Bay. She married Steven CAMPBELL, a blacksmith, around 1890 and had issue. The family appears on the 1901 census. Clara died in 1909 following the premature birth of her son Dominic. Stephen later remarried to Justine BOUDREAU in 1911 (her name appears as Agatha on the 1911 census, but the DoBs match – maybe a middle name?) Clara and Stephen had ten children:

  • Margaret E. (Maggie) CAMPBELL born 19 Jun 1891. Married Neil Francis CURRIE, a Glace Bay mechanic, on 29 Aug 1911. Died 17 Feb 1948 in Glace Bay.
  • Howard CAMPBELL born 1893 in Glace Bay. Worked as a blacksmith, clerk, and later as a salesman. Married Gertrude Myrtle MACKAY (b. 1918) 5 Mar 1935 in Bridgeport.
  • John Thomas CAMPBELL born 29 Jul 1895 in Glace Bay. Married Katherine MACKINNON on 27 Feb 1931 in Glace Bay.
  • Harry W. CAMPBELL born 28 Sep 1896 in Glace Bay.
  • Stephen Patrick CAMPBELL born 02 Jan 1899 in Glace Bay. On 8 Feb 1917, he enlisted in Sydney to fight in the First World War. On his attestation papers, his occupation is listed as horse shoeing (makes sense, as his father was a blacksmith). He served in France and Belgium as a private with No. 3 Nova Scotia Forestry Corps until demobilization in 1919.
  • Laura May CAMPBELL born 24 Dec 1899 in Glace Bay. She arrived in Vanceboro, Maine in 1921, and in 1927 she married Russell J. WEBBER in Manhattan.
  • Arthur Charles CAMPBELL born Apr 1902 in Glace Bay. By 1930 he had moved to British Columbia, where he married Edna Josephine ALBERS in New Westminster.
  • Florence Mary CAMPBELL born 12 Mar 1903 in Glace Bay. She married William BURKE, a coal miner, on 19 Jul 1923 in Glace Bay and had issue. In 1927 the couple immigrated to the United States and lived in Massachusetts. Florence died in Riverside, California on 24 Dec 1995.
  • Peter Hebbert CAMPBELL born 15 Dec 1904 in Glace Bay.
  • Dominic CAMPBELL born 7 May 1909 prematurely. He died an hour after birth.

4. Flora M. GILDAY born about 16 Apr 1874 in Glace Bay.

5. John Thomas GILDAY born Apr 1878 in Glace Bay. He married Catherine MCNEIL on 1 May 1900 in Sydney. They lived in Glace Bay, where John worked as a machinist and a miner. He died on 23 Feb 1930 in Glace Bay. He and Catherine had four children:

  • Florence Margaret GILDAY born about 1900. Married Roderick MORRISON.
  • Mary Aloysius GILDAY born 9 Mar 1903 in Glace Bay. Married Leo P. BOUDREAU on 27 May 1935 in Glace Bay.
  • Sadie Amabell GILDAY born 1 Apr 1909. May have died young as does not appear on the 1921 census.
  • Patrick GILDAY born about 1920.

6. Louisa GILDAY born about 1885 in Glace Bay. She married Wilbert Kingsley BENT on 20 Aug 1902 in Sydney. In 1916, they were living in Calgary, where Wilbert worked as a machinist. By 1921 they had moved to New Westminster, British Columbia. Louisa and Wilbert had five children:

  • Patricia BENT born 17 Mar 1903 in Glace Bay. She married Robert STEWART, a miner, on 1 Nov 1923 in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
  • Mildred Louisa May BENT born 17 Mar 1908 in Glace Bay.
  • Ines Cecilia BENT born about 1913 in British Columbia.
  • Kingsley BENT born 23 Dec 1913 on Vancouver Island and died 23 Apr 1932 in Halifax.
  • Clayton John De Vernot BENT born about 1917 in Alberta. He died in 2002 in Nanaimo.

7. James GILDAY born about 1887 in Glace Bay.