Welcome! If this is your first visit to our blog, please read our Intro post here. To date we have written posts about all known members of the first, second, and third generations of descendants of William Loney of Co Longford, Ireland and we will continue to add new information about their lives and families in the days and weeks to come.
If you are looking for information on someone in particular, you can use the “Search” feature in the upper right hand corner of this page.
We hope that the information you find here will be helpful to you in your genealogical research and we remain forever optimistic that we will hear from family members who have some old photos to share.
In last week’s post we wrote about James Ferrier and Jannet Robb, the grandparents of Maria Ferrier. Maria was the wife of Stephen Alexander Cunningham (son of John Cunningham and Susannah West and grandchild of Ann Loney and Peter Cunningham).
In today’s post we’ll be talking about Maria’s parents, James Ferrier and Bethuh Maria Felker. Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about them so additionally, we’ll be writing about James’ sister, Janet F. Ferrier and her husband George Strachan. We’ll explain why later.
James Ferrier was born 22 April, 1829 in Dundee, Angus (formerly Forfarshire), Scotland. He immigrated to Canada with his parents and siblings in 1846. They eventually settled in West Garafraxa, Wellington Co, Ontario near the village of Douglas which is now called Belwood.
On 5 Nov, 1852, James married Bethuh Maria Felker.
Bethuh and James were just a few months apart in age. She was born 9 Dec, 1829 in Garafraxa. Her parents, Lewis Felker and Mary Meredith, were from the United States. In next week’s post we’ll be talking more about them and how they came to be in Canada.
All the records we have for James indicate that he was a farmer. He and Bethuh had eleven known children.
James Ferrier passed away on 25 Jan, 1891 in Grand Valley, Dufferin County, Ontario. He is buried in Union Cemetery in Grand Valley.
Bethuh Maria Felker passed away on 24 Oct, 1895 in Grand Valley. She is also buried in Union Cemetery.
Do you have additional information about James Ferrier or Bethuh Maria Felker? Perhaps a picture? We’d love to hear from you!
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And now, on to James’ sister, Janet F. Ferrier.
So, why are we writing about Janet? In a previous post we discussed Lewis Renzo Loney and his wife, Hannah Elizabeth Strachan. Lewis was the son of William “Wild Bill” Loney and Catherine Jane Johnston (grandchild of Charles Loney and Isabella Fee). This made him the second cousin of Stephen Alexander Cunningham. Additionally, Lewis’ wife Hannah’s grandmother was Janet F. Ferrier, Stephen’s father’s sister. Confused? If so, you might find it helpful to read this post where we talk about the bilineal relationship that was created when James married Maria and Lewis Renzo married Hannah.
Janet F. Ferrier was born on 21 Dec, 1844 in Dundee, Angus (Forfarshire) Scotland. She was christened there on 29 Dec, 1844.
Janet F. Ferrier
She immigrated with her family to Canada in 1846 or 1849. They landed in Montreal.
According to the History of the Ferrier Family, written about 1939, Janet was a “favorite maiden with all who knew her”. She sometime went by the nickname of Jesse.
On 10 April, 1863 she married George Strachan in Belwood, Wellington Co, Ontario. George was born 1, 4, or 5 Feb, 1841 in Claremont/ Pickering, Durhan Co, Ontario.
George Strachan
They settled in the NW ¼ of concession 7, the 6th line. By 1871 they had moved to Collingwood, Grey (East), Ontario.
In 1892, they moved to Box Alder (south of Devlin, Rainy River, Ontario. They came by way of Rat Portagel (Kenora today) and sailed up the Rainy River. Janet’s brother-in-law Charley Strachan told how they got stuck on a sand bar and were held up for three days.
When they arrived they had to clear poplar trees to get a spot large enough to build on and the bark was left on the logs of their cabin.
Their house was always open to the minister and it was used as a church for the community. Settlers going to and fro up and down the Rainy River were always welcome to a bed and meals and it is said that they were highly esteemed and honored by all with whom they came in contact. They carried their food on their backs from the nearest point on the river.
We know that for some period of time George taught school in Emo, Rainy River, Ontario. At one time he would come from Owen Sound and live on the Shortreed farm (where the school was first located) to teach for six months. He received a salary of $300.00 a year. The remaining six months of the year he would teach in Big Fork. Later records show that in 1892 he was paid $29.00 a month.
In the 1901 census the couple was living in Aylesworth Twp, Algoma District. In 1911 they were living in Woodyatt – Devlin Township, NW ¼ of 4?, in the Thunder Bay and Rainy River District.
On 10 April, 1913 Janet and George celebrated their Golden wedding anniversary.
Janet F. Ferrier died 4 June, 1920 and is buried in the La Valle Union Cemetery, Box Alder.
George Strachan died the next year on 22 May, 1921 and is buried with his wife in the La Valle Union cemetery.
Loney Family from County Longford, Ireland 