William was twice married; his first wife died in Ireland, leaving him with at least three children-- William Jr., Matilda and Mary. William Sr. married again, this time to Mary Ann (Creighton) and soon thereafter left for Canada. William, with his three children and new bride, landed in St. Andrews. Immediately he obtained work in the busy shipyards of that port plying his trade as Blacksmith, Nail maker and Filer.
Land was granted him on the Digdeguash River ( an original Crown grant ) and soon thereafter a log house was built near the McFARLANE mills ( as a temporary measure ) on the west side of the main road, a few yards north of where the United Church now stands. There were no graves or churches there at that time (1827) though further back burials were to begin very shortly thereafter.
While here two children were
born to this second marriage-- Jane and Nancy. Meanwhile their new home
was being built up on the Whittier Ridge road. Perhaps I had better pause
at this point and briefly mention again the children of his first marriage;
William Jr. lived on Whittier Ridge, he also was twice married, first to
Ann McGREEDY having eleven children in this union; then to Jane (or
Elizabeth?) JOHNSON. Three more children were born to this marriage.
His farm was afterward owned and occupied by Peter ASHLEY and his family.
Matilda MONTGOMERY is believed to have
married a Samuel McGUIRE; and Mary is said to have married Levi GREENLAW
and raised a family of 12 children.
Returning to the family in their cozy, but crude log house by the mill,-- family history has it that in 1831 they moved into their new frame house. These settlers, William Sr. and his wife Mary, were this writer's mother's Paternal Grand-Parents. In addition to a daughter who died in infancy a total of nine children graced this second family. Jane, who married a Jacob SIMPSON, Nancy, married James HEWITT of McMinn; Robert (my maternal grandfather) married Amy MURPHY; Rachael married Thomas CATHCART; Rebecca married Robert MONTGOMERY (the main road at Rollingdam); Christopher (Christie) went west about 1864; John married Mary Etta MURPHY and lived on Whittier Ridge road; Margaret, who married Farnham WILEY; Joseph married Leola SIMPSON of Rollingdam. Grand-father Robert was affectionately called "Yankee Bob" because of his many years (some 40 of them) in the hemlock-bark business in Maine-- in the Spednic Lake and Grand Lake Stream areas; this title distinguished him from " Little Bob" MONTGOMERY who lived on the main road. Robert's two children were Lucy Ann (the author's mother) and Christie. Great-grandfather William's stone reads; William Montgomery, died July 1, 1880, aged 75". His wife Mary, lived to be 99 years of age, born 1808 but no further data is left to us as to the date of her death, but was well remembered by her numerous grand-children-- all of whom have also passed on.
Written by Rev. Charles M. Smith, Rollingdam,
NB
Found in the July 27th edition of the Saint
Croix Courier.
By permission of the Saint Croix Courier.
Page Loaded Dec 16, 1999
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