Family Moves

I had originally planned to continue discussing the vast amount of family information available within the Census reports that are currently accessible, however, some current day issues has caused me to go off on a tangent for this blog entry.

I am moving. My family has purchased a new home in Port Burwell, on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, and will be moving in there throughout the month of August. This upcoming move triggered fond memories of an exploration I took a couple of years ago through Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

When I began researching my family's history, I knew very little of my Dad's family beyond the basics; that my Father and Mother had moved up to Ontario from Quebec in the early 1950's and my Brother and I were born here. From personal records I knew that my dad was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick in 1919. I knew the name of my Paternal Grandparents, Crozier Sullivan and Mary Campbell. And that was just about all.

My two key finds were (a) a family bible that identified that my Grandfather was born in Bass River, New Brunswick and (b) DNA matching me with distant cousins in Prince Edward Island.

In September of 2018 I loaded my car and hitched up my tent trailer and took off to reverse engineer the migration and distribution my Father's family within Canada. My starting point was Scarborough, Ontario, where I grew up.

My first stop was my father's hometown and a visit to the Rural Cemetery in Campbellton. I already knew I'd find my family's burial plot there as years before I had accompanied my Dad's oldest Sister on her journey home after she passed away. Here in the Rural Cemetery is a memorial for my Grandmother's family, the Campbells. Buried in the family plot are my Aunt, my Paternal Grandparents, my Grandmother's parents and five of her brothers. While it was nice to visit and explore the cemetery, this was known territory and I was looking for the adventure of discovery.

My journey then took me to Bass River, New Brunswick but not directly. Trying to reach Bass River turn out to be a little bit of trial and error on the drive due to construction and road closures. When I finally found an open route, it was a bit serendipitous as the one road leading to town passed directly by the St. Mark's Presbyterian Cemetery, my ultimate destination. I knew this is where I needed to look due to information I had uncovered in the family bible, Canadian Census records and the invaluable online New Brunswick Public Archives. Here I found my Great-Grandfather, William Sullivan, and other members of my Grandfather Crozier's family.

My next destination was Prince Edward Island. I didn't know what I'd find there as my information was extremely vague. Canadian Census records for William Sullivan indicated that he was born in PEI and that his father was born in Ireland. DNA testing through 23 & Me connected me with some cousin in Prince County, Lot 13 around Tyne Valley and Port Hill. Not a lot to go on, but the string was there to pull on.

By this time I uncovered that my Great-Great-Grandfather was one of two brothers; either Thomas or David Sullivan. Once again serendipity stepped up to the plate. While exploring the county for cemeteries to document, I pulled into a Funeral Home to ask about any cemeteries in the area that I might have missed. Unfortunately (and fortunately), the Funeral Home was closed, so I went to a Pharmacy next door on the off chance the person there, being local, might be able to help

Well help she did. Turned out she was one of the local historians and had done a lot of research on the history and families of Port Hill. They even had a book set published documenting the families and right there were the details of my Great grandfather's family.

I found David Sullivan, my Great-Great-Grandfather, Thomas Sullivan, my Great-Great-Uncle and discovered their sister, Jane Sullivan, my Great-Great-Aunt. I also learned that the three of them came to Prince Edward Island from Belfast, Ireland in 1818. Needless to say this book set is a go to resource and is well thumbed.

The track of my Father's family Canadian migration comes from Belfast to Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick to Quebec to Ontario. From Ontario, members of this family have moved on to Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. We have off shoots of the family in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Now I'll add Port Burwell, Ontario to the list.