Isabella McLellan

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/145478475
• _FGRAVE: 145478475

Notes:

Died:
My great-great-grandmother's name was Isabella McLellan Manary. When I first began genealogy in 1980, no one I contacted even knew her name. Through the years, the family has learned much about her: her date of birth and death, the probable year of her marriage, the places she lived, some sketchy data on her husband and quite detailed statistics on her 14 children. She was not literate and left no diaries or letters and it was years before a photo of her finally came to light. But through research and statistical comparisons, it became apparent that she was a remarkable woman. Isabella came with her family to Canada in 1821 from Scotland, likely from Renfrewshire where all the related McLellans came from. She would have been 7 years old at the time. Although the marriage record hasn't been found, Isabella would have been 17 when she married James Manary. James, who was from County Tyrone or County Armagh in Ireland, was 38, 21 years older than Isabella. He had arrived only a year earlier and probably had much work left to do on his house and farm. Over the span of 25 years, Isabella bore 14 children. The last child was born in 1857, when Isabella was 43 and James was 64. Every one of their children survived into adulthood, married, and had their own families. Compared to the statistics in Ontario at that time, to have 14 children and have every one survive was almost unknown. What does this say about her? Probably that both she and James were unusually healthy and produced healthy children; that Lanark County was quite remote and not as subject to contagious diseases; and that, most of all, Isabella was probably a very conscientious mother. And how did her children feel about her? A clue is the fact that the name Isabella seemed to be held in high esteem: several of her granddaughters were named Isabella and the name survives in the family to this day (although the holders of the name might not be aware of where it originated). The family was close-knit and many of the children married brothers and sisters from neighbouring families. They also migrated together, almost half the family moving to South Dakota in the late 1870s and 1880s. At the time of James' death in Quebec in 1872, Isabella was 58. He had willed her their farm and she was surrounded by the rest of her family. But in 1881, when she was 67, she decided to sell the farm and move to South Dakota, along with a few of her children and families. Even in this present mobile age, it would be surprising for a woman of 67 to sell her estate, leave familiar surroundings, family, and friends, and make a difficult migration of approximately 1200 miles. This would seem to establish beyond a doubt her adventurousness, her robust health, and her strong ties with her children. Compared with her contemporaries, Isabella appears to have been an unusually strong and independent woman. Not afraid of a challenge, she emigrated from her native Scotland as a young girl, began her own family at the age of 17, moved from Ontario to Quebec, and finally, as a vigorous woman of 67, moved to untamed land in South Dakota. Her large tombstone in Canistota, South Dakota (shared with her youngest daughter, Elizabeth Manary Vellow), reads, with telling sentiment:
My mother!
We miss the sunshine of thy face
We miss thy kind and willing hand,
Thy fond and earnest care.
Our home is dark without thee
We miss thee everywhere.

Contributor: Barbara MacPherson (49469077)

Isabella married James Manary in 1831. James was born in 1793 in Ballygawley, Tyrone, Northern Ireland; died on 1 Sep 1872 in Bristol, Outaouais Region, Quebec, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6419766
• _FGRAVE: 6419766

Family/Spouse: Minnie Sophie Kurth Meier. Minnie was born on 20 May 1849; died on 14 May 1922 in Marion County, Iowa, United States; was buried in Silverton Cemetery, Silverton, Marion County, Oregon, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

David married Jane McLellan in 1854. Jane was born on 20 Mar 1830 in Scotland; died on 13 Sep 1884 in Montrose, McCook County, South Dakota, United States; was buried in Montrose Cemetery, Montrose, McCook County, South Dakota, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/171123124
• _FGRAVE: 171123124

Notes:

Buried:
The date on the stone says 1849 but I have his DOB as 1852

Robert married Harriet Sheffield on 3 Aug 1869 in Lanark County, Ontario, Canada. Harriet was born on 22 Jul 1851 in Bristol, Outaouais Region, Quebec, Ontario; died about 1875 in Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141697475
• _FGRAVE: 141697475

Mary married Robert Potter on 26 Jun 1889 in Arnprior, Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Robert (son of Thomas Arthur Potter and Rachel Evans) was born on 25 Aug 1864 in Admaston, Admaston/Bromley Township, Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada; died on 14 Apr 1924 in Regina, Regina Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada; was buried in Kennedy Cemetery, Kennedy, Estevan Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/203134665
• _FGRAVE: 203134665

James married Mary Ann Staye in 1894. Mary was born in 1873; died in 1940; was buried in Aldergrove Cemetery, Smeaton, Melford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138845835
• _FGRAVE: 138845835
• _HASHTAG: DNA - Maternal Connection

Notes:

_HASHTAG:
a relative on the path between a DNA Match and a common ancestor

Died:
ONTARIO BIRTH REGISTER
Name: Edina Potter
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 17 Jun 1893
Birth Place: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
Father: Robert Potter
Mother: Mary Manary
==========
ALBERTA DEATH REGISTER
Name: Edna Hunt
Gender: Female
Death Date: 27 Jun 1958
Death Place: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Registration Number: 004-689

Edna married John Benjamin Hunt on 10 Jan 1912 in Vandura, Saskatchewan, Canada. John (son of William Duncan Hunt and Melissa Urquhart) was born on 19 Sep 1882 in Lancaster, Glengarry County, Ontario, Canada; died on 9 Jan 1968 in Fort Saint John, Peace River Regional District, British Columbia, Canada; was buried in Mountain View Memorial Gardens, Calgary, Calgary Census Division, Alberta, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• Name: Mary Anne Potter
• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141535907
• _FGRAVE: 141535907

Family/Spouse: Neil McDougall. Neil was born in 1897; died on 11 May 1996; was buried in South Side Cemetery, Moosomin, Melville Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Francis Clara Potter
• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141546410
• _FGRAVE: 141546410
• _HASHTAG: DNA - Maternal Connection

Notes:

_HASHTAG:
a relative on the path between a DNA Match and a common ancestor

Clara married William J. McLeod on 18 Apr 1928. William (son of John Stuart McLeod and Margaret Macaskill) was born in 1894 in Fort Qu'Appelle, Regina Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada; died on 8 May 1968 in Regina, Regina Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada; was buried in South Side Cemetery, Moosomin, Melville Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• _FGLINK: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135901458
• _FGRAVE: 135901458

Mabel married Neil McDougall after 1954. Neil was born in 1897; died on 11 May 1996; was buried in South Side Cemetery, Moosomin, Melville Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]