What's New - December 28, 2024
Genealogy Stuff
Research re the Carrying Place book
New family tree info added in the last three months is mostly related to research on the book, so mainly the primary families at the Carrying Place. This includes the Asa Weller family, the Robert Young family and the Robert Wilkins family. These were the three main movers-and-shakers in the early settlement times at the Carrying Place. There was already lots of info for these family groups, but this new focus on the portage caused me to do some very specific work on land records and Crown Land Petitions which motivated collection of some additional details. I have been very intent on understanding the life and context of the main buildings related to these families, especially the ones that were there during the War of 1812. Some of the new info comes from this work. I expect there will be more in the future as the book develops.
The Wellers at the Carrying Place
The new book will include some elements of setting the record straight in a published work. There has been lots of confusion about William Weller, the Stagecoach King and his relation, or not, to the Asa Weller family at the Carrying Place. The corrected version of this has been well documented in www.treesbydan.com for more than a decade at this point, but the same thing will be explained in the context of the wider history of the portage in this new book.
The Young Family at the Carrying Place
Robert Young was a very interesting fellow in his own right, and his family tree is extensive. At the same time, there are several other Young families who settled in the area around the same time, and we must work to keep them separate in the data. One early settler presents a particular problem, and that is Stephen Young. He was said to have come from Vermont a few years after Asa Weller and Robert Young came to Upper Canda, but researchers have yet to agree on ancestors for him. He married Lucy Marsh, a daughter of Mathias Marsh, so was well connected, but his origins are still uncertain. He is certainly not directly related to Robert Young, although some histories say he was a half-broher of Asa Weller. I have yet to see any evidence to support that or even how it could be possible. I await the proof!
The Wilkins Family at the Carrying Place
A significant point of confusion for me was related to the father, Robert Wilkins, and the son, Robert Charles Wilkins. Which one was the Commissariat Agent during the War of 1812? Which one owned which land at the east end of the Carrying Place? Detailed research and lots of different documents eventually resolved this confusion for me. Robert Wilkins, the father, was the initial trader and land owner on the Murray side at the east end of the portage. His son, Robert Charles Wilkins, was very young when he was appointed Captain of the Northumberland County Militia and was in Kingston acting in that role when he was appointed Agent for the Commissariat at the Carrying Place early in the war. His name was persistently written in documents as Robert Charles Wilkins, or Robert C. Wilkins or R.C. Wilkins, with the obvious intent of identifying the son as opposed to the father. R.C. Wilkins owned land and had his home on the Ameliasburgh Township side of the portage after the war and would later be a member of parliament, using "Hon." on his name. The current data for these people includes a lot more detail than before.