Back to Family Index

Hewitt Family Of Charlotte County, New Brunswick

Page Mounted August 2005

Table of Contents:

I. Introduction	f. Nancy Hewitt
II. Crown Grants	g. Samuel Hewitt
III. Adam Hewitt	h. Elizabeth Hewitt
IV. James Hewitt, Senior	i. Betsy J Hewitt
a. Black Adam Hewitt	j. John Alexander Hewitt
b. James Hewitt, Junior	V. Robert Hewitt
i. Thomas Alexander Hewitt, from the History of Solano, California	VI. Red Adam Hewitt
c. William Hewitt	VII. The Surname Hewitt and Origins of the Hewitts in Northern Ireland
i. The Children of William Hewitt and Catherine Amy Wilson	VIII. Maps
ii. The Children of William Hewitt and Sarah Henry	IX. Photographs
d. Mary Hewitt and George Wrigley       e. Robert Hewitt

Introduction

This is the interpretation of the data collected on the Hewitt families of Charlotte County, New Brunswick. Numerous sources were consulted and all are available upon request. The facts in the database that I have compiled are often inaccurate or conflicting, prompting the following elucidation. The mass of the data and the respective sources is large and largely confusing that I have not included it here.

This report is my work I claim all rights to it. I encourage suggestions and alternate interpretations, but not wholesale copying and distribution of this report. Due credit to sources is given as I have described above, but only listed below when citing quoting from published works.

Please contact the author for source information or corrections.

William D. Romanski
16 Boulder Road
Hopkinton, RI 02833

Crown Grants

      TO TOP

One way of obtaining land, besides outright purchasing, was to apply to the Crown for a grant. A petition would be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor, who would decide whether or not the land would be granted. The allowance of a grant was often determined by primarily loyalty to the Crown-which is judged often by military service-and, secondarily, need. Most often though is a general need for resilient and industrious settlers. If the grant would be allowed, a survey of the granted land would be undertaken. The grant could be reclaimed by the Crown if certain conditions were not met. Such conditions often included settlement and improvement of the land, and payment for the survey itself. Once the land was granted, the grantee could do with it as he or she pleased.

James and Robert Hewitt each applied for the granting of land, with intent to purchase at three shillings an acre. The two petitions were identical, excepting the names of the petitioners. James and Robert were British Subjects, born in the County of Down in Ireland, residing in the parish of Saint Patrick, who did not own land. Clearly stated were their intentions of immediately settling land, if granted, and improving that land. The petitions describe the land as "on the Eastern side of the Digdeguash in the Parish aforesaid [Saint Patrick], on the eastern side of the line marked out for a Road from Fredericton to Saint Andrews." This petition further notes that the land is in a "wilderness state," and that a proper survey of the land had not yet been made to determine whether these lots were already applied for.

James was granted one hundred three acres on the east side of the new road from Fredericton to Saint Andrews, located in the Tryon Settlement, north of Rollingdam Station. Robert was not granted land. It seems quite reasonable that this indeed the land that was petitioned for. This new road to Fredericton was never run out properly and today it peters out as an impassable dirt road. This tract of land was not granted until 1851, nearly thirteen years after the Crown was petitioned. Robert was not granted land. A James Hewitt was granted 200 acres of land in the Pennfield Parish in 1855. I have yet to determine which James this is and what became of the land.

Adam Hewitt

     TO TOP
Adam Hewitt was born in Ireland about 1744. He married some time before 1798 (see below The Surname Hewitt and Origins of the Hewitts in Northern Ireland). He had two sons that are known: Robert 1798, and James 1805. Adam is said to have arrived in New Brunswick in 1820, James in 1818 and Robert in 1824. Although Adam and James give different dates of arrival, it is likely, accounting for James's young age that Adam and James traveled together, and Robert (and his wife Ann) traveled separately later. It is not known whether Adam's wife was in the province or whether there were other children. Only speculation can be made about the movements and lives of Adam, Robert, and James before their appearance in official records in 1831, at which time James and Robert (and most likely Adam) were living in Saint Patrick.

Adam was 107 years old at the time of the 1851 census, and living with his son James. It was noted in that document that he was infirm. He likely died shortly thereafter, definitely before 1861. He never owned any land in Charlotte County, nor was assessed for taxes.

James Hewitt, Senior

     TO TOP
James Hewitt was born in County Down, Ireland about 1804. He married Jane O'Neil, native of County Antrim, who came to the Province about 1818. They certainly did not marry in Ireland, for they would have each been about 14 years of age at their departure. A record of their marriage, which would be about 1826, is not to be found in Charlotte County, New Brunswick or in numerous specific counties in Maine. It is possible that they were either married in another county of New Brunswick or that their marriage was not registered officially.

The Hewitts lived on the main road in Rollingdam at the point where the Meadow Road intersects with the Rollingdam road, known alternately at times as McCann's Corner and Simpson's corner, although the road from there to Whittier Ridge was not run out until well after the Hewitt's settlement there. The only record that I could find of James acquiring land in Saint Patrick is the original grant, but he did not reside on this granted land (although he must have let it to someone, so as to keep even with the requirements of the grant). At some point he must have acquired land in Rollingdam proper, where he lived. I suspect that the land included a good portion of the Lot 2, granted to Hector Morrison in 1818. This is not a clear description but puts the land along the Meadow Road. The area was once called Hewitt Station, indicating the stop of the railroad line from McAdam to St Andrews, and is still called Hewitt by some. James is supposed to have given his son John 80 acres of this land in 1871.

James was assessed for taxation as a landholder at the corner of Meadow Road and the Rollingdam Road in 1831, 1832, and 1833, putting his arrival at that spot a few years before his application for a grant in 1838. Henry Simpson sold Lot 3, originally granted to George D Morrison, to William Simpson sometime between 1824. Henry was not assessed for the land in 1831 or 1832, but William was in 1833. William Simpson sold the land to James Simpson in 1832; no mention of the Hewitts owning land there is noted in the deed. No mention is made either in the transactions concerning Lot 2, originally granted to Hector Morrison, made in 1834 or 1837.

The 1861 census enumerated the output of James's farm. He was in possession of 260 acres, 30 of which were improved. This land had a total cash value of $1500. He had 1 horse, 4 milk cows, 1 working ox, 4 cattle, 12 sheep and 2 pigs. His stores included: 400 pounds of pork, 200 pounds of butter, 40 pounds of wool, 10 tons of hay from 12 acres, 150 bushels of oats from 7 acres, 150 bushels of potatoes from 1 ½ acres, and $25 worth of "cloth and other home manufacture." It was certainly a productive place with enough output to support a family.

James and Jane Hewitt had 10 children: Adam 1827, James 1829, William 1831, Mary 1832, Robert 1833, Nancy 1834, Samuel 1837, Elizabeth 1839, Betsy J 1841, and John Alexander 1846. James died in 1881 and was buried in the Rollingdam Cemetery. His stone claims that he was aged 77 years and 3 months and was a native of County Down, Ireland. His wife Jane was laid beside him in 1886, the stone noting that she was 82 and native of County Antrim.

The Hewitt family, including both James Hewitt and his brother Robert (below) were quite active in the Presbyterian Church. There was situated a Presbyterian church on the Whittier Ridge Road, which both Hewitt families attended in the 1850's and 1860's. In a history of that church the Hewitts are mentioned as one of the important families. In 1869 the Church was dismantled and moved to the Rollingdam road. In the adjacent cemetery many Hewitts are buried.

Black Adam Hewitt

     TO TOP
The Rev Charles Smith notes that because of the three Adam Hewitts living in Rollingdam in the mid-nineteenth century, it was necessary to add a more particular description to their name in conversation. He claims that James Hewitt's son Adam was called "Red" Adam, due to his red hair, and Robert's son Adam was called "Black" Adam because of the distinct color of his hair. [Tax assessment records of 1861 and 1862 referred to these Adams as "Adam Red" and "Adam Black."] These monikers were probably sufficient to not confuse them with the centenarian Adam, who must have been distinct, hair or no. These are his words:

Robert's son Adam may well have been the one known as Black Adam, due to his black hair; and the distinction of Red Adam from Whittier Ridge. Black Adam lived in Greenoch [sic].

I agree with the Reverend Smith that Red Adam lived on Whittier's Ridge and Black Adam in Greenock, but I think he has the fathers of these two mixed up. I believe that Black Adam was James's son and Red Adam was Robert's son. Whether this is true or not it is only a matter of filing.

Adam (b. 10 March 1827, New Brunswick) was working in the lumber business in 1851 but had settled into farming later on. Adam married Elmira Greenlaw, daughter of Levi Greenlaw and Mary Montgomery, in 1856. They had nine children: George about 1856, Robert William 1859, James 1863, Alice M 1865, Flora J 1870, Ufena 1872, Ivy M 1875, Charles Herbert 1878, and Gertrude 1891. George died some time before 1871. James, Alice and Flora died sometime before 1881. Ufena died sometime before 1901. The family lived primarily in the Dumbarton parish. In 1861 Adam and his young family were living in Greenock near his in-laws the Levi Greenlaws. The family was in St David Parish in 1871. By 1881 they were on the Whittier Ridge. According to the Reverend Smith, Red Adam lived on Whittier Ridge "at the foot of the Whittier Ridge Road," as he puts it. I can't quite determine where the house stood. Smith says that "Adam's son William followed him and raised his family there." William Charles Hewitt, son of Adam of Robert Hewitt (b. 1798), was granted land on Whittier Ridge, by Clarence Lake, in 1898. This might be the William that Smith is referring to. By 1901 Adam, son of James, was living in the St David Parish, probably no longer in possession of the land on Whittier Ridge.

The 1861 census recorded the output of Adam's farm in Greenock at that time. He lived nearby to his new in-laws at that date, possibly on land purchased from William H Emerson. The farm was 100 acres, 36 of which were improved. Its cash value was $900. He had 1 horse, 3 milk cows, 3 cattle, 9 sheep and 2 pigs. His stores included: 200 pounds of pork, 400 pounds of butter, 24 pounds of wool, 18 tons of hay from 12 acres, 20 bushels of barley from 1 acre, 100 bushels of oats from 5 acres, 100 bushels of potatoes from 1 acre, and $12 worth of "cloth and other Home Manufactures." It is unknown how long he was in possession of this farm.

Robert William (b. 1859), called William, probably to distinguish him from other Robert Hewitts in the area, married Temperance Leona Nesbit in 1882. They had one daughter Mable Gertrude, born 1883 in St Stephen. She married Ira Brown in 1904 and had three children: Phyllis Eileen 1905, Roy Robert 1906, and Frank Vernon 1908. Robert William died in 1927.

Ivy M (b. 1 August 1875) married Clarence Wilbur Dean in 1901 in Maine. They had two children: Dewey Edward 1899, and Gertrude Celia 1902. Gertrude Celia married William Henry Marshall in 1946. Clarence died in 1926. Ivy was living with her father in St David Parish in 1901 It is unknown when Ivy died.

Charles Herbert (b. 4 August 1880) was married twice. His first wife was named Georgia. They must have married about 1915. Georgia died April 3, 1916, two days after a child George was born. George died later that month. Charles married next to Hattie E Haney in 1922. It is unknown if they had any children.

Gertrude Hewitt (b. 2 September 1891) was living in St David parish at the time of the 1901 census with her father, brother Charles, sister Ivy and Ivy' child Dewey. It is unknown what became of Gertrude.

James Hewitt, Junior

     TO TOP
James (b. 7 February 1829, Rollingdam) married Nancy Montgomery, daughter of William Montgomery and Mary Ann Creighton, in 1855. By 1871 it appears that they were living in McMinn, probably at the "Homestead," located about 9/10 of a mile from where the Rollingdam Road splits, one heading toward Waweig, the other towards Digdeguash intersecting the modern Route 760. This land was part of the grant to William Charles McStay of 300 acres. I don't have much information yet of this tract of land, but it is known that James did farm it. James and Nancy had nine: Mary Emeline 1856, Rachel Jane 1858, Nancy Elizabeth 1860, George Wellington 1862, James Franklin 1865, William 1867, Robert Melvin 1868, Thomas Alexander 1871, and Samuel Milton 1878.

In 1861 it seems that James was in possession of some 120 acres of land out on Whittier Ridge, near his brother William. He had improved 30 acres of this land. His livestock included 1 horse, 4 milk cows, 5 cattle, 12 sheep and 2 pigs. His stores included 300 pounds of pork, 300 pounds of butter, 30 pounds of wool, 10 tons of hay from 15 acres, 100 bushels of oats from 5 acres, 50 bushels of potatoes from 1 acre, and $30 worth of "cloth and other home manufacture." He and his family had left this farm for McMinn by 1871.

James died September 16, 1893, aged 64 years, seven months. Nancy died January 1, 1911. There exist no headstones for James and Nancy at the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemeteries in Rollingdam, but it is possible they are buried there. Another possibility of their final resting place is on the Homestead tract itself in McMinn.

Mary Emeline (b. 13 August 1856) married John McCracken about 1874. They lived in Waweig, where their children were born: Mary Alice 1875, Nancy E 1879, Bertha 1880, Jane R 1881, James W 1884, Phoebe Ora 1886, John R 1889, and Milton Hewitt 1891. John died sometime between 1891 and 1901 and Mary remarried to James William Wade. I can't say for sure what became of this family but there was a James Wade living in Boston in 1910 with his son-in-law and daughter William and Bertha Milligan, James coming to the US in 1903. There is also a Mary Wade who died in Boston in 1906, who may be the same, but more research is needed.

Rachel Jane (b. 29 March 1858) married Robert John McCrum, son of William McCrum and Jane Hall, in Bayside in 1878, the Reverend William Millen performed the rite. They lived on the Boyd Road, not quite to Elmsville, about 1 1/3 miles from the Clarence Ridge Road, on the east side of the road. The house was in existence until just a couple of years ago. The old barn remained until just recently when Paul Johnson took it down. All that is left of the place is some unusable lumber and the foundation of the old house. Along the dooryard there still grow several very old apple trees that were certainly planted there by our forebears. It is likely that all of Robert and Rachel's children were born there (and several grandchildren, I reckon). Robert may have worked this land before he was married and brought his new wife home there. Nonetheless, Robert and Rachel's family consisted of eight children: Hester Elizabeth 1879, Sarah Jane 1881, Elsie Marie 1884, Clara Mable 1887, Guy Chester 1891, Adelaide Mildred 1894, Myrtle Victoria 1897, and Lloyd George 1901. Rachel Jane died in February of 1918 from blood poisoning. She cut her hand. It was treated some time later at Miner's Hospital in St Andrews but unsuccessfully. She was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery next to her husband who had died five months earlier.

Hester Elizabeth married Herbert Wall in 1908. They had two children: Malcom 1914, and Cecil. Sarah Jane, called Sadie, married Samuel McIninch Carson, son of Wilson Carson and Maragret McIninch, in 1906. They lived in Chilliwhack, British Columbia. When Sadie died in 1950 she was buried at Chilliwhack. Later, though, her remains were reinterred in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery. They did not have any children. Elsie Marie married William Budd, son of Osbourne Budd and Eliza Love, in 1908. This marriage did not last and no children came of it. Elsie died in 1972 and was laid to rest next to her parents and sister Sadie in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery. Clara Mable worked at the Waltham Watch factory in Waltham, Massachusetts before marrying Oscar Johnson in 1913. Their first three children were born on the Boyd Road at the McCrum place. Oscar and Clara settled on a farm bought from Chester Small on the Meadow Road in Rollingdam in spring of 1918. They had nine children: Rachel Eileen 1914, Blair Wylie 1916, Iris 1917, Hewitt McCrum 1919, Lois Jane 1921, Robert John 1923, Mary Eleanore 1926, Ross David 1929, and Paul Grey Blanchard 1930. Clara died in 1979 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Guy Chester married Margaret Pheeney in York in 1916. They lived in York County and two children were born there: Robert 1921, and Rodger 1931. Robert married Pauline Bishop and had three children: Barbara, Harold, and Philip. Robert currently lives in Ontario and is the present owner of the McCrum farm on Boyd Road. Rodger and his wife Christa had two children: Guy and Peter. Guy died in 1972 and was buried at the Rockland Cemetery in York County.

Adelaide Mildred married Harold A Johnson in 1914. They lived for a time on the Oscar Johnson farm on the Meadow Road. They had seven children: Merle, Pauline, Rachel, Gloria, Ruth, Rolf, and Harold Royden (who died an infant). Merle married Ester Young and had children: Rayden and Gene. Pauline married Burton Kennedy and had one daughter Pamela. Rachel married Fred Bartlett and had five children: David, Carson, Marilyn, Douglas, and Rodger. Gloria married Ernest Heighton. Ruth married Earl Irving. Adelaide died in 1983 and was buried at the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Myrtle Victoria studied to be a nurse in Massachusetts. She was living in Hopkinton, Massachusetts in 1920. Soon thereafter she married Sydney James Polson.

Lloyd George married Mildred Helen Evel Scott in Dufferin in 1925.

Nancy Elizabeth (b. 4 March 1860) married James McCrum, brother of Robert McCrum above, in 1878 at Bayside. They lived at Rollingdam, where their children were born: Sedgefield Robert 1879, Percy 1882, James Frank 1884, Ora Edith 1887, Winifred Celia 1890, Vivian Bernice 1893, and Loren 1894. Sedgefield Robert married Ila Beals in Maine in 1907. He was living in Borth Berwick at the time. He died in 1957 and was buried at the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery. Percy died in 1907 and was buried in the same. James Frank married Viola Coleman; they were both living at Bath at the time. They lived in Waterville, Maine, where James worked as a railroad engineer. They had at least one child, Ralf, born in 1916. Ora Edith married Frank King in 1911. She died in 1928 in Rumford, Maine. Winifred Celia died in 1964 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery. Vivian Bernice died in 1958 and was there buried as well. Loren died in 1964 and there too was buried. Nancy Elizabeth died in 1922 and was buried in Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery, where her husband would be interred in 1930.

George Wellington (b. 17 March 1862) was living in New Brunswick as late as 1881. He was living in the Lake Precinct of Whatcom County, Washington in 1900 working as a logger, and traveling with a Charles Rutter, but he disappears after that. That census record showed that George was then currently married and had been for nine years. It seems likely that he died before 1910.

James Franklin (b. 7 June 1865) did indeed go to California, Eureka, precisely, which is where he married Phoebe Edithora Yates of Myrtle Grove. He was there as early as 1883 but by 1900 had moved to the Lake Precinct of Whatcom County, Washington. His brothers George Wellington and Thomas Alexander were also in that place in 1900. James worked as a laborer and later as a gardener. The family remained in Whatcom County until some time in the 1920's when the moved to Santa Barbara, California. James died in 1930.

James and Phoebe (called Edith) had two children: Anna Mable (b. 1893) and Mary A (b. 1898). I can't say what happened to Mary. Anna was working as a bookkeeper for a meat market in 1920. She married a man Tendeland after 1920 and died in Santa Barbara in 1980. William John (b. 20 March 1867) is last noted in the 1881 census. I could find no record of him in Washington, California, or Oregon. Robert Melvin (b. 20 April 1868) was in Whatcom County by 1920 working as a gardener for a hotel. He was married to a woman named Marie about 1914. Robert died in that county in 1940.

Thomas Alexander (b. 2 May 1871) left for California 1888. In 1900 he was working in Whatcom county with his brothers. He was married to Harriet Ganthier about 1897. By 1910 the family was living in Napa, California and in 1914 they had moved to St Helena. See article below. Thomas died in 1926.

Samuel Milton (b. 6 October 1878), called Milton, being the only son to stay in the Province, inherited the farm, and lived there to his death in 1951. The farm was passed from Milton to a nephew, Lloyd McCrum (see above) who later sold it out of the family. Milton married Myrtle Roach in 1911. They had two daughters, Audrey and Lottie.

Thomas A Hewitt

TO TOP History of Solano County, California
Hunt, Marguerite; Gunn, Harry Lawrence
S J Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1926 Thomas A Hewitt, prominent and successful fuel and feed dealer of St Helena, was born in Charlotte county, New Brunswick, on the 2d of May, 1871. He received his education in the schools of his home neighborhood, and he then secured work as a logger on the West Grand lake. He also learned the trade of a blacksmith. In 1888 Mr Hewitt came to Seattle, Washington, and later went to Bellingham, that state. There together with his brother, he bought fourteen head of oxen and engaged in logging in Lake Watson, following that line of work until the spring of 1895, when he came to Napa. Here he again worked at the blacksmith's trade, being employed in Williams' blacksmith shop, and some time later he entered the employ of the Napa Soda Springs Company as a wagon driver. At the end of four months he became the driver of a delivery wagon for the mercantile establishment of J A McClellan, of Napa, and subsequently entered the employ of Captain Hatt, who was engaged in the warehouse business in that city. In 1914, Mr Hewitt came to St Helena and embarked in the feed and fuel business, in which he met with success from the beginning and in which he continued to the present time. He carries a full line of both feed and fuel and gives prompt service, his dealing in the public having been of such character as to win for him universal confidence and regard.

In December, 1895, Mr Hewitt was married to Miss Hattie Ganther, who was born at Napa Soda Springs, Napa county. Her father, Nelson Ganther, was the pioneer stone mason of Napa county, and he built all but one of the buildings at the Napa soda springs twenty-nine years ago, they being constructed entirely from native stone, found in the county,. He also erected the attractive and substantial stone arch over the entrance to the Napa State Hospital grounds. To Mr and Mrs Hewitt have been born two daughters: Mrs Edna Handle, of Napa; and Shirley May who remains at home. Mr Hewitt is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

William Hewitt

TO TOP William (b. 25 February 1831, Rollingdam) married Catherine Amy Wilson, of Sorrel Ridge, about 1858. William too worked lumbering for a while, eventually settling into farming. The family lived in the Clarence Ridge Road about a quarter of a mile from the lower bridge in Rollingdam. (The Clarence Ridge Road runs from the eastern end of the Meadow Road out past Whittier Ridge to Clarence Ridge.) From what I can tell they might have been at that spot as early as 1861, when William is known to have farmed 16 of 50 total acres out that way. The exact location of the land I do not have, although it does appear to be on the Clarence Ridge Road. Williams had at that time 2 milk cows, 5 cattle, and 2 pigs. His output was 200 pounds of pork, 150 pounds of butter, 5 pounds of wool, 5 tons of hay from 5 acres, 25 bushels of oats from 2 acres, and 300 bushels of potatoes from 1 ½ acres.

William and Catherine had five children: Isadore Emery 1859, James 1861, William Harris 1862, Elias Howard 1864, and Frederick Robert in 1868. Catherine died in 1874. William married Sarah Henry in 1881. They had seven children: Eva 1882, Effie M 1884, Mary Eliza 1885, Genevieve Jane 1888, Hazen Arthur 1894, Emerson R 1897, and James Levi Ellsworth 1900. William died in 1920 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

The Children of William Hewitt and Catherine Amy Wilson

Isadore Emery (b. 16 August 1859) married Benjamin McCrum, son of William McCrum and Jane Hall, in 1885 at Rollingdam. They had one daughter Emma born 1886. Benjamin left for Eureka, California not long after the birth of his daughter, at the request of his brother (of brothers) for the possibility of lucrative work. His new wife and infant daughter were forced to remain in New Brunswick, because the baby was four months premature and would not survive the journey. Benjamin himself was taken with asthma in California and left the Eureka area for milder climate. Isadore and Emma made it eventually to California in 1905, but Benjamin had flown the coop. It would later be discovered by Emma that Benjamin resettled. Isadore proved to be a nagging and fault-finding wife, and Benjamin apparently didn't mind being lost from her and remarrying. Isadore and Emma were living with Isadore's brother William in 1910 in Eureka, not far from another brother Frederick. They were there in that neighborhood again in 1920, Emma having married. Isadore moved with Emma and her family to Portland, Oregon and were there living by the time of the 1930 census. She returned to California sometime before her death in Eureka in 1947.

James (b. 1861) likely died sometime before 1871.

William Harris (b. 1862) left for California in 1895. He was naturalized as a citizen of the United States in 1901. He was living in Eureka in 1920 with his sister Isadore. He died in Humboldt County in 1942.

Elias Howard (b. 1864) was still in Charlotte County in 1881. He too could have gone to California.

Frederick Robert "Fred" (b. 1868) married Mary A Harvey. They were living in Eureka in 1910 with daughter Mary Catherine. I have been unable to trace them after that.

Children of William Hewitt and Sarah Henry

Eva (b. 2 May 1882) married George R Stevens in 1904. They had at least one child: George William Donald Stevens, born 1906.

Effie M (b. 9 September 1884) married Samuel Hill Nixon some time before 1906. They had one child: Lawrence Hill 1906. Effie died in 1952 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Mary Eliza (b. 24 December 1887) never married, as far as I can tell. She died in 1961 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Genevieve Jane (b. 18 September 1889) was still living as late as 1901, for the census, but it is unknown what became of her.

Hazen Arthur (b. 24 August 1894) married Myrtle H Johnson in 1913. They had one son Harold Alton. Harold Alton married Evelyn Young in Maine in 1936. Hazen died in 1914 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Emerson R (b. 19 July 1897) was still living as late as the 1901 census, but it is unknown what became of him.

James Levi Ellsworth (b. 10 January 1900) married Amy May Smith. Details about their family are unknown. James died December 25, 1972 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Mary Hewitt and George Wrigley

TO TOP Mary Hewitt (b. 1832) married George R Wrigley in 1853. They lived on that "corner" at which Mary's parents lived. Perhaps the "Wrigley Line" that the Rev Smith refers to is in fact the boundary line of the George Wrigley property. Mary, George and their family appeared in the 1861, but not in 1871, 1881 or 1901. Mary and George are buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery, George dying in 1876 and Mary in 1910, according to the stone. The census taker must have missed this family, several times.

The George Wrigley farm in the 1861 agricultural census boasted two hired hands, one male, one female. The farm itself totaled 200 acres, 40 of which were improved, for a total value of $1500. He had 3 horses, 6milk cows, 11 cattle, 11 sheep, and 5 pigs. His produce included 600 pounds of pork, 600 pounds of butter, 40 pounds of wool, 40 tons of hay from 25 acres, 400 bushels of oats from 11 acres, 25 bushels of turnips from 2 acres, 200 bushels of potatoes from 2 acres, and $12 worth of "Cloth and other home manufacture."

The same Reverend Smith claims that Mary and George had seven children. I can only account for five: James 1854, Mary Elizabeth 1856, George Edward 1858, Ella Maria 1862, and Joseph 1865.

James (b. 1854) appeared in the 1881 census in Dumbarton, living with his grandparents, James and Jane Hewitt. It is unclear if they were residing on the Hewitt farm or the Wrigley farm. He married a woman named Julia in about 1882. He left for California in 1886. Julia and her first child left for Bucksport, California in 1887. James and Julia had seven children: George J 1885, Arthur E 1888, Alice 1890, James P 1892, Esther 1894, Harold 1896, and Earl 1898. He died in Humboldt County in 1913, aged 59.

Mary Elizabeth (b. 12 June 1856) appeared last in the 1861 census. It is possible that died before 1871 or that she married. George Edward (b. 11 September 1858) left for California in 1883. He married Mary E Glew, likely in California. They lived in Bucksport, Humboldt County where George operated a fruit farm. They had three children: Ruth 1900, Theodore Radcliff 1902, and Irving Harpster 1908. Theodore was practicing dentistry in 1930, and was married, also to a Mary. George died in 1932 in Humboldt County at the age of 73. Ella Maria (b. 24 October 1862) was baptized in the Presbyterian church in 1863 and that is the last record I have found of her.

Joseph (b. 2 October 1865) married Orissa Arvilla Mitchell in 1897. If one is to trust the Reverend Smith they lived on the Wrigley place in Rollingdam, just north of the old Wrigley place of Joseph's parents. Joseph and Orissa had four children: Sarah Alice 1898, Edna 1900, Edward Carl 1906, and a female child in 1912.

Robert Hewitt

TO TOP Robert (b. April 1834) married Sarah Cookson, daughter of Ralph and Ann Cookson of St Croix parish, about 1861. They had one son Edward 1861 and one daughter Leila Ada 1862. Robert died in 1870 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery. Sarah was living with the Hewitts in Rollingdam in the 1861 census, working as a schoolteacher, and still "Sarah Cookson." Sarah's fate is unknown.

Edward (b. October 1860) was living in his grandfather's household in Rollingdam in 1861, four months old at that time. His parents were not married yet. He died in 1865 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist cemetery. A stone still survives, although in bad shape. Other stones in the vicinity are illegible and probably mark the resting places of his mother and possibly two other siblings. Leila Ada (b. 18 August 1862), called Ada, was living in St Croix with her grandparents in 1881. She married, probably that year, to Charles Haddon Spurgeon Rigby, son of Henry Rigby and Mary Ann McCurdy of Bayside. They had three children: Hazen Frederick 1882, Helena 1885, Percy 1887. They were living in St Andrews parish for the census in 1901.

Charles (b. 1866) I conjecture to be the son of Robert and Sarah. He died in Dumbarton in October of 1870, aged 4 years. It is likely that he was the son of William or Samuel Hewitt, but the age lends right for another child of Robert's, and the mysterious stones in the cemetery near Robert imply others of his own family buried there close to the time of his own death.

Nancy Hewitt

TO TOP Nancy (b. 1835) married George Hanson not long before her death in 1861. They did not have any children.

Samuel Hewitt

TO TOP Samuel (b. 1837) married Jane Agnes Ray about 1866. They lived in Rollingdam in Greenock, near cousin Adam Hewitt, son of Robert, where her worked as a section man. They may have in fact resided in what is called Hewitt, primarily on the Meadow Road. I can't say when that area was called Hewitt, although Samuel's death notice says he is of "Hewitt's siding, on the NB Railroad." They had eight children: Adelaide Mary 1867, Gertrude Ethel 1870, George 1871, Arthur E 1874, Bessie 1877, Bertha M 1879, Beatrice and Nora. Samuel cut his throat with a razor Tuesday morning December 4, 1883. He is buried in the Rollingdam Cemetery. His widow Jane married John Peacock in 1885.

Adelaide Mary (b. July 1867) married Samuel McCann in Rollingdam in 1889. She died in 1893 at Rollingdam. It is unlikely that they had any surviving children.

Gertrude Ethel (b. 1 August 1870) married Robert Peacock, brother of John Peacock. They had seven children: Sarah Edith 1890, Arthur E 1893, Bertram C 1896, Beatrice Jane 1898, Elda, Ernest Robert 1905, and Ruth Kathleen 1911. Sarah Edith married Ernest Garfield Woodard in 1911. Arthur died in 1911 and was buried in the Rollingdam Cemetery. Bertram married Pearl Evelyn McRae in 1920. He died in 1922. Beatrice Jane married Warren Mitchell McKinney in 1919. Nothing is known of Elda except for the mention by the Reverend Smith. Ernest Robert married Marion Alberta Mitchell in 1927. Ruth married Robert Livingston McMorran in 1935.

George M (b. March 1871) died some time before 1881.
Arthur E (b. November 1874) died 3 January 1886 of Black Diphtheria and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Bessie (b. 1877) was still living as of 1901. It is interesting to note that she was called Peacock in the census of that year.

Bertha M (b. February 1879) died 16 December 1885 of Black Diphtheria and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Beatrice (b. 14 December 1881) too was called Peacock in the 1901 census.

Nora (b. 13 July 1882) also was called Peacock in the 1901 census.

Elizabeth Hewitt

TO TOP Elizabeth Hewitt (b. 28 February 1840) married Edward Howard in 1859. They lived in the town of St Andrews at Carleton and Sophia Streets, where they raised their family. Edward was born in England, about 1831 and came to New Brunswick some time before 1861. After Edward was married he was working as a trackmaster, or foreman, of the railroad. They had six children: Mary Elizabeth 1860, Susan 1865, Bessie 1867, William Robert 1871, Charles Ketchum 1878, George Arthur Edward 1880. Edward died 3 October 1893, "aged 70 years," according to his headstone, and was buried in the St Andrews Rural Cemetery. Elizabeth died in 1907 and was there buried.

Mary Elizabeth (b. 1860) appears in the 1871 census, but I could not find her by the name Howard in the 1881 census. Perhaps she married, died or possibly living in the US.

Susan (b. 1865) appears in the 1881 census, the latest record I could at this time find. Perhaps she married, died or possibly living in the US.

Bessie (b. 1867) appears in the 1881 census, the latest record I could at this time find. Perhaps she married, died or possibly living in the US.

William Robert (b. 14 September 1871) last appears in the record in 1881 as well.

Charles Ketchum (b. 28 August 1878) last appears in the record in 1881 as well.

George Arthur Edward (b. 17 July 1880) last appears in the record in 1881 as well.

Betsy J Hewitt

     TO TOP
Betsy J (b. 1841) died or married after 1861. It should be noted that Betsy and Elizabeth are not the same person, for they appear in the same record individually.

John Alexander Hewitt

     TO TOP

John Alexander (b. 1846) was given land in a deed from his father in Rollingdam, at the Corners, in 1871. He was also married in 1871 to Sarah Jane Miles, daughter of Thomas Miles, esq., and his wife Elizabeth. Sarah died shortly after in 1878 and was buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery. It is unknown whether they had any children, if so none survived to 1881. John petitioned the crown to purchase land on Flume Ridge in 1868, but was the petition never came of anything.

John married Emma Maude Graham 11 December 1879 in St Andrews. They had nine children: Vera Margaret 1881, Cecil Graham 1882, Edith Kathleen 1884, Donald 1885, Colin Ernest 1887, Jean Kyle 1888, James 1890, Ronald John 1892, and Hilda Marie 1893. John was living in Rollingdam as late as 1891 but is said to have died in St Andrews in 1896. After his death, I am not sure what happened to the farm. His children were very young; none could take the farm themselves. John did make a sale of land in Dumbarton to a James Hewitt late in the 1800's, but I don't know the date of this transaction, nor which James Hewitt was involved. Upon John's death, Emma and the children moved to St Andrews to stay with her parents. Emma died in 1940.

Vera Margaret (b. 28 January 1881), called Maud, married Thomas K Harris in 1907. They had one daughter Margaret, born 1908. Vera died in 1973. Margaret married Cliff Brown. She died in 1991.

Cecil Graham (b. 25 September 1882) married Daniel Gerald Hanson in 1913. They lived in Bath, New Brunswick. They had one child, John Frederick, 1924-1997. Cecil died in 1980 in Bath. Daniel died in 1968 in Bath.

Edith Kathleen (b. 1 April 1884) married Frank Leavitt Mallory in 1921 in St Andrews. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, 1922-1995, who married Kent Ross. Edith died in 1947 and Frank in 1963.

Donald (b. September 1885) died before 1901.

Colin Ernest (b. 14 March 1887) married Florence Anning in 1925. They had one daughter born in 1926. Colin died in 1963 and Florence in 1972.

Jean Kyle (b 17 January 1888) married Leo Crocker and later Alfred King. Jean died in 1989.

James (b. 1890) died some time before 1901.

Ronald John (b. 18 January 1892) married Rachel Ina Howe in 1931. He died in 1958.

Hilda Marie (b. 22 April 1893) married Hartley Atcheson Wentworth in 1917. She died in 1981.

Robert Hewitt

     TO TOP
Robert Hewitt (b. 1798, Down, Ireland) came to New Brunswick in 1823, a couple of years after his father and brother, his wife Ann coming the next year. It seems they were married in Ireland, as no record of their marriage has been found in New Brunswick. Robert and family is said to have lived "on the main road," supposedly near James, before relocating. In 1845, Robert acquired eighty-nine acres from Moses Jameson. Robert farmer this land. This land was part of Lot 7, granted to Jameson in 1835, and was located in the 2nd Range of the Clarence Hill (Ridge) settlement. He was still living up on the Clarence Ridge with his son-in-law John Wilson and daughter Mary Ann in 1871. It is unclear whether he was still in possession of the Jameson land, and it known that he didn't pass it to his son Adam. Robert died sometime between 1871 and 1881. His wife Ann died sometime between 1851 and 1861.

Robert and his family were members of Saint Patrick's Scottish Kirk, which was first located on the Whittier Ridge Road. A history of that church mentions Robert as a prominent member of that church. The church was dismantled and moved from the Whittier Ridge Road to the Rollingdam Road in 1869. Robert and Ann had two children that are known: Adam 1828, and Mary Ann 1832.

Red Adam Hewitt

     TO TOP
Adam Hewitt (b. 1828), called Red Adam (see Adam Hewitt, issue of James Hewitt, Sr., above), married Sarah Margaret McClaskey in 1855. They were living on the Clarence Ridge in 1861 with Adam's father Robert, but had relocated to Greenock by 1871 and lived there until at least 1891. It is likely that Adam and Sarah both died between 1891 and 1901. Adam and Sarah had six children: George Oliver 1856, William Charles 1858, Olive 1860, Sedilia 1862, Cyrus 1867, and Ivray 1874.

The farm in 1861 was 150 acres, 40 improved, valued at $900. This was probably the at least in part some of the 89 acres Adam's father Robert acquired from Moses Jameson. There was one male farmhand employed. Adam had 3 horse, 4 milk cows, 2 working oxen, 4 cattle, 11 sheep, and 2 pigs. His stores included 350 pounds of pork, 400 pounds of butter, 34 pounds of wool, 19 tons of hay from 19 acres, 8 bushels of barley from ¼ acre, 200 bushels of oats from 8 acres, 35 bushels of buckwheat from 1 acre, 83 bushels of turnips from ¼ acre, 105 bushels of potatoes from 1 acre, and $24 worth of "cloth and other home manufacture."

George Oliver (b. 26 May 1856) went West some time between 1881 and 1891, working for a time in a lumbering firm in western Ontario. He was a foreman for the Hollister, Jewell & Co. for nine years. He died in the woods of Ontario in 1891. The St Croix Courier reports:

Our Whittier Ridge correspondent writes: On Feb. 2nd, the lifeless remains of Geo. O. HEWITT eldest s/o Adam HEWITT and Margaret HEWITT were brought back to his home. He had reached the 35th year of his age. The cause of death, according to the verdict reached by Coroner McCullough, was haemorrhage into the brain. Our brother was called to depart this life, Jan. 26th in the lumber woods of Grand River, Western Ontario. His body was found late in the afternoon. It was kindly cared for and sealed in a metal casket and sent home by D.H. GEORGE, manager of the firm by whom Hewitt was employed and with whom he had made his home for the past two years. The firm referred to is Hollister, Jewell & Co. with whom deceased had served eleven years during which nine years he had acted in capacity of foreman. His remains were taken to his parental home and from thence on Feb. 4th to the cemetery at Rolling Dam and there interred by the side of a brother and sisters who had gone on before.

26 February 1891

One sister before him were like Olive. The brother ad other sister or sisters are unknown.

William Charles (b. 11 June 1858) married Annie Edna Turner in 1884. They lived on the Whittier Ridge. William was granted 14 acres in St Patrick between the Whittier Ridge and Clarence Ridge, where the family likely lived. They had ten children: Shelton Whitmore 1886, Granville L 1888, Frederick S 1890, Ruby A 1890, George Oliver 1892, Leonard 1893, Lillian May 1895, Lottie Velma 1898, Roy Howard (d. 1907), and a nameless son (d. 1905, 8 days old). William and his wife were both living as of 1901. They were buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery, the dates of their deaths are not known.

Olive (b. 21 October 1860) died sometime between 1861 and 1871 and was buried as above described.

Sedalia (b. 22 Jun) married Henry S Turner in 1885. They seemed to have lived in Elmsville, but that fact is disputable. They had one daughter Leafy A, born 1888. Henry died in 1932 and Sedelia in 1945. They are both buried in the Rollingdam United and Baptist Cemetery.

Cyrus (b. 10 July 1867) married Sarah McFarlane in 1891. They had at least one child: Harold A Hewitt, born 1892. Cyrus died in 1944.

The Surname Hewitt and Origins of the Hewitts in Northern Ireland

     TO TOP
The name Hewitt in Ireland is usually associated with the Province of Ulster, settled by English in the 17th century. In England, Hewitt was noted in Dorset. The Hewitts were granted lands by Duke William "The Conqueror" of Normandy, for their assistance to him at the famed Battle of Hastings in 1066. The name is said to be derived from a diminutive form of the forename Hugh, and is associated with the MacDonald Clan of the highlands of Scotland.

Many Hewitt families ended up in Northern Ireland, probably in the mid eighteenth century. By the mid 1800s Moira parish of County Down counted the most Hewitts. The Latter Day Saints have computerized the parish registers of many of the parishes in that County. An Adam Hewitt married a Mary McDonald in 1786 in the parish of Moira. This is an intriguing possibility. The same records do not yield baptismal records of James and Robert, or marriage records for Robert and Ann, though. Even an extensive search of all records in Ulster may not yield the origins of these Hewitts there.

Sources:
Hewitt, http://www.goireland.com/genealogy/scripts/Family.asp?FamilyID=1342
MacDonald, http://www.rampantscotland.com/clans/blclanmacdonald.htm
The Surnames of Ireland, MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, Portland, OR, 1999.

Maps

     TO TOP
The first map shows the Crown grants in the area of the Tryon Settlement. The lot granted to James Hewitt is Lot 20 of 103 acres.

The second map shows the Rollingdam area, as well as the place known as Hewitt (Station). The place where the Meadow Road crosses the Rollingdam Road is where the James and Jane Hewitt house stood at one time. The lot of 300 acres granted to Hector Morrison is the lot the James owned.

Further down the Rollingdam Road towards McMinn is where the homestead of James Hewitt, Jr. stood. The second map shows this area as well. James is believed to have owned a portion of the lot granted to William Charles McStay.

Photographs

     TO TOP

These photographs were found in the mass of photographs that came from the Oscar and Clara Johnson farm on Meadow Road. My grandmother Iris Johnson Romanski says that the older photographs probably came from the Hewitt homestead in McMinn after it was sold. The homestead was last owned by Samuel Hewitt, the last surviving child of James and Nancy Hewitt. That which was in the house passed to his niece, Clara Mable McCrum Johnson.

The photographs are not labeled or notated in any way, but I have two ideas for who might be pictured in the photograph. First a bit of an education was needed in the types of photography used in each instance. I consulted a source on old photographic techniques and I came to these conclusions.

The first photograph is called an Ambrotype. A negative image was applied to a piece of glass. When the glass is viewed itself it doesn't yield much more than splotches of darkness on an otherwise transparent frame of glass. But when the glass holding that negative image is placed against an opaque background, the negative image comes to life, in this case showing a woman and apparently her two daughters.

Ambrotype photography was popular because of its low price compared to its predecessor, the Daguerreotype. It was used generally from 1854 to about 1865. So this narrow frame of time leads me to believe that the particular Ambrotype in question depicts Nancy Montgomery Hewitt and her two daughters Mary Emeline (right) and Rachel Jane (left), and was taken about 1860.

Without a doubt, the second photograph is what was called a Tintype. It is really not made of tin but is made of iron. I believe this one to be of the Brown period in which the tinting of the photo was that color. That puts the production of this to be between 1870 and 1885. Thus I believe that this is a wedding photograph of Robert John McCrum and Rachel Jane Hewitt, taken in 1878.

The third photograph came to me from Carolyn Jackson Appleby. It shows, left to right, Samuel Milton Hewitt (b 1878), his wife Myrtle "Nettie" Roach (b 1889), John Alexander "Sandy" McCracken (b 1889), and his wife Ethel Gillis.

The fourth also was sent to me by Carolyn Appleby. This is no doubt Samuel Milton Hewitt and his daughter Lottie. It was taken in 1942.

Sources:

Willis, Rob and Maureen, Dating Old Photographs, http://www.classyimage.com/dating.htm

TO TOP