- Patrick was born in Rathellin/R?th Ail?n Townland, Leighlinbridge, Carlow, Ireland.
Brothers Patrick and Martin Burns, and their widowed mother Margaret, immigrated to Ontario from Ireland abt. 1851. Margaret married Cornelius Madden (also a widower with adult children), and in the marriage settlement Madden gave Margaret's sons what would become the original Burns homestead in Ramsay Twp (East ? Lot 10, Con. 12), which was located opposite to the Madden homestead. (Concession 12 is now Golden Line Road, and Lot 10 is located where it intersects with Old Almonte Road, on what would be the southwest corner.) Patrick and Martin lived and farmed on the property, together. Patrick married in 1859, and brought his new wife Mariah there; Margaret also joined them there following Madden's death. By the 1861 Census of Canada, Martin was no longer living with Patrick on the property, his whereabouts unknown. The following notice then appeared in the The Perth Courier on March 20, 1863: "Sheriff's Sale of Land at Public Auction - Lands and tenements of Patrick Byrne at the suit of Martin Byrne, East ? Lot 10, 12th Concesion [sic] Ramsay". So, Martin sued Patrick, almost certainly for his 1/2 share of the property. The presence of the lawsuit indicates Patrick didn't recognize Martin's claim, and the fact that it was successful (resulting in the forced sale) shows that Martin was judged to be in the right. With this information, Martin's absence from the property in 1861 might indicate that the dispute over it went back at least that far. Regardless, Patrick and Martin came to an agreement and and avoided both the auction sale and any division of the land, though the details are unknown. Patrick died of sunstroke just a few years later, in 1867, while working in the fields, with his 6 year old twins, Martin and Peter, at his side. Martin returned to the property after Patrick's death and remained there for the rest of his life (another 31 years), helping Patrick's widow Mariah run the farm, and raise her 4 children. After Martin died in 1907, Mariah left the Burns homestead and moved to nearby Almonte, where she died in 1911. [H. Presley, 2g-grandson]
|
1829 - 1867 (~ 37 years)
