Mary Jane Grier/Morton, County Antrim/Canada/USA

Hi,

My name is Jeanette and I am a volunteer for IrelandXO. 

Did a little looking to see how I might be of help in your search and noticed a couple of items. The many searches and genealogies out on the web appear to have conflicting data on where and when your Mary and Alexander married. I have seen both Scotland and Canada.

There is also conflicting data on what Marys? last name actually was, as well as conflicting data on where Mary was from. I?ve seen Cork, Antrim and Sligo all listed. I do believe though that origination might just be county Sligo. If you could contact Bradford Baldwin at bjb3303@gmail.com and request a copy of the back of the sketch he has placed of Mary Jane Morton at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52927510  to confirm the noted area Mary was said to be from, it might clear this point up. It has been typed as Sligear online, however it could be Contae Shligigh, written as best as someone could who didn?t speak Irish, as Mary could not write it herself. You might find this interesting, http://www.forvo.com/word/contae_shligigh .

1831 Census Lower Canada does not show an Alexander Morton.

1835 Receipted in Lachute, Canada

1842 Census Argentuil (Seigneurie)  Deux-Montagnes, Lower Canada Alex and 3 other persons. This would be wife, Isabella and Alexander Jr. (or Alexander Jr and James A. If the sons birth dates are right.)

1851 Census Above LaChute Mills, # 12 Parish Deux Montagnes County, Canada Alex @ 44 DOB ABT 1808 Mary @37 DOB ABT 1815

Found the following information at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tweetybirdgenealogy/datescdncensus.html

?1851 census was taken January 12, 1852.  The age given on the census is the age for the NEXT BIRTHDAY (1852), not the age the of the person in 1851.?

1854 Daughter Isabella married George Chambers in Lachute in Protestants Du District de St. Jerome et Terrebonne. Alexander signed this page. Isabella died before 1861 and had 4 children by George. Found at LDS Family search. Establishes connection to an Alexander Morton in LaChute.

Biographical history of Ionia County Michigan give Alex and Mary Grier arriving 1854. I believe this date to be in error. Patricia Rohwer published genealogy gives the following. ?(Letter June 11, 1856, John Grier to Alexander Morton and Letter 9-20-1856, PO Inspector E.L. Freer, Montreal to Postmaster, Lachute)? This data from Patricia is very detailed in nature and I have seen other ?local? biographical works with wrong information written within it.

Sometimes the data is only as good as the person reporting to the writer. Audrain County MO, had my 2xGreat grandmothers last name wrong as well as the place of my 2x Grandfathers birth.  

1860 Ronald Township, Ionia County, Michigan has 1 Alexander @ 20 only. Do you have this census to double check with? If it has not been found you might have to go through page by page to locate as there could have been a transcription error or a mis-spelling error.

1870 Census Orleans Township, Ionia County, Michigan Alex@68 DOB ABT 1802 Mary @57 DOB ABT 1813 Both are living in their own domicile.

1880 Census Riverton Township, Mason County, Michigan Alex@78 DOB ABT 1802 Mary@70 DOB ABT 1810 living with son James A and his wife and family. I think this jump in Marys age might indicate that someone other than Alexander or Mary answered the census. 

Based on these dates though you might want to expand your search to include birth dates from 1810-1815 for Mary and expand Alexanders to range as far as 1808. Sometimes those attending to burial details did not actually know the years the person was born or stress resulted in a mis-memory.

Interestingly there was an Edward Morton and a James Baird in Ionia County for the time period 1839-1841. This lead would perhaps be worth checking into. http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx#searchTabIndex=0

Now one other item I discovered. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KFQW-R6L A death record for son John W Morton. This gives the mothers last name as Douglas and father Alexander Morton. DOB 10 Jun 1846, Montreal, Canada. If you haven?t obtained any of the death certs, http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-4645_4671---,00.html should be able to help.

Hope this all helps, Jeanette

Hello, Jeannette! Thank you for looking things up and responding. I do know that Alexander Morton was married twice, Mary was his second wife. I found that out recently. Bradford Baldwin is my uncle, married to my aunt who is also a descendant of Mary Grier/Alexander Morton. From the info my uncle sent recently, Alexander and Mary were married in Montreal, Canada after Alexander's first wife died. He and his first wife had  one or two children. James Baird is a family connection, I believe through Alexander Morton. Alexander has better genealogical files than Mary (!) and my uncle has recently sent me email of letters between John Grier, Mary's brother and Alexander Morton. In cursive script, they are difficult to read (of course) and I am puzzling them out. According to census information from USA, Mary did know how to read and write and Alexander was also a school teacher by trade. I will have to reread my info to acertain any other clues as to Mary's birth place. I agree that Sligo, County Antrim, etc are possibilities. I realize the names Mary Jane, and Grier are common names in Ireland, which makes the puzzle more difficult. Thank you for your time. Laura Jane Olson II, USA.