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From the Mayflower to Milford Corner
Mapping the Mayflower Connection of the Children of Forman Rice of Bear River, NS
Introduction: During research into the Sherriff side of my mother S Dora (Rice) Riley’s family I noted that another researcher had casually suggested that the Sherriffs had connections to the “Pilgrims” of the first Mayflower voyage which arrived at what later became known as Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts in December of 1620. As is the wont with such information, it was impossible not to attempt to verify it and what follows is the result of the investigation c2016.
Setting the Historical Stage: In 1534 King Henry Vlll created the Church of England with himself its “head” when the Roman Catholic Church would not grant him a divorce. Subsequently, every British citizen was expected to attend the Church of England, and those who didn’t were punished by the State. One group of farmers in Northern England, known disparagingly as the “Separatists”, began to worship in secret, knowing full well that it was treasonous. They were hunted and persecuted by the State and many of them faced the loss of their homes and their livelihood. As a result, they began the difficult task of seeking a better place to live.
The Separatists eventually fixated on the goal of seeking freedom in the Americas; however, immediate ‘escape’ for many of them was to migrate across the English Channel to Holland, a much more religiously diverse and tolerant country. The bulk of the newcomers settled in or around Leiden in west central Holland from which location the preparation and planning for the Atlantic crossing and their own colony in the New World got seriously underway.
The initial Mayflower voyage hosted some 102 “Pilgrims” (that name was not coined until the early 1800s), roughly half of whom died that first winter from starvation, exposure, and disease. Just over 50 colonists are believed to have attended that celebrated first Thanksgiving – 22 men, four married women (78%, or 18, of the women arriving on the ship died during that first winter), and more than 25 children and teenagers – a celebration believed to have taken place between late September and mid-November, 1621. The Indigenous partakers of that first Thanksgiving are estimated to have numbered something over one hundred individuals. In the next few years, the Plymouth colony came to house about 2,600 Pilgrims; the colony was swallowed up in the next few decades by the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony.
A word on the Puritans. Unlike the Pilgrims, who believed that the state of the Church of England was so gross that separation therefrom was the only avenue, a second group of reformers, who came to be known as Puritans, thought the Church could be reformed from within. Both groups believed in a more congregationalist form of church organization and beliefs, with the head of the church being not the Pope or the King but Jesus Christ, and the use of democratically driven decision making within. The Puritans believed they could achieve their aims within the Church of England. Such meant they were not regarded as outlaws but allowed to accumulate wealth and power within the English state.
Like the Pilgrims the Puritans also saw the advantages of the New World, not the least of which would be the opportunity to create the ideal church, and in 1630 they arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 17 ships carrying 1,000 passengers, money, resources, and “divinely ordained arrogance”. Just 10 years later the population of the Colony had risen to some 20,000 souls.
As for the family tree that follows, please consider it an informational compilation as opposed to original research. The material therein has been extracted from existing online sources, many of which have been identified in the text. Other additional information (e.g., the identity of the full slates of David Sherriff and Forman Rice children have been suppressed in the interest of brevity and associated efficiency of eventual consumption of this article; that information is available on the Family History pages of this website.
The following family tree traces the movement of Mayflower arriving passenger Mary Allerton through seven generations to the birth of Seretha Dora Rice (the writer’s mother) in Milford Corner, Digby County NS in 1906. Mary had been born in Leiden, Holland to Isaac Allerton and Mary Norris while the couple was awaiting transport to the ‘freedom’ that was seen to be America. Mary was 4 when she and her family arrived at Plymouth in late 1620; her mother died during the first winter. In 1636 Mary married in Plymouth one Thomas Cushman who had arrived in the colony with his father in 1621 on the ship Fortune. Mary (Allerton) Cushman, who died in 1699, is recorded as the last surviving passenger of the Mayflower’s first voyage to Massachusetts.
Mary and Thomas had eight children, the youngest of whom, daughter Lydia Cushman, married another Plymouth resident, one William Harlow, Jr. and it was through this Harlow line that “Mayflower ‘DNA’” moved from Plymouth, MA via Liverpool and Caledonia, Queens County, NS, to Milford Corner, Digby County, NS. The ‘chain of custody’ for that Mayflower DNA can be summarized as follows: i) Mary Allerton b c1616 Leiden Holland, m Thomas Cushman; ii) Lydia Cushman b c1659 Plymouth, MA m Robert Harlow; iii) Robert Harlow b 1668 Plymouth, MA m Susanna Cole; iv) Robert Harlow Jr b c1727 Plymouth, MA m Jane West, arrived in Liverpool, NS in 1760; v) Zoeth Harlow b 1778 Liverpool, NS m Experience Hopkins; vi) Zoeth Harlow Jr b 1802 Liverpool, NS m Hannah Page; vii) Hypsobeth Harlow b 1828 in ‘Caledonia’, NS m David Sherriff; viii) Hannah Sherriff b 1867 in Caledonia, NS m Forman Rice; ix) Seretha Dora Rice b 1906 in Milford Corner.
It is of interest that Hannah Sherriff was not the first family carrier of “Mayflower DNA” to Milford Corner; however, she was the first propagator of that DNA in that location. Her aunt, Eliza Harlow, also of Caledonia, had become Forman Rice’s stepmother by marrying his father Benjamin C Rice of Milford Corner as his third wife in 1881; she and Benjamin had no issue. It is therefore not difficult to rationalize why young Forman may have been drawn “through the woods” to Caledonia and the Sherriff family girls when he entertained the notion of marriage in 1894.
From the Mayflower to Milford Corner - The DNA Route
Generation One
1. Mary Allerton, b. c1616 in Leiden. Holland (daughter of Isaac Allerton and Mary Norris).
Note 1: Mary and Thomas are reported to have had 8 children of which daughter Lydia Cushman was the youngest.
Note 2: Mary is reported by MayflowerHistory.com to have died in1699, the last surviving Mayflower passenger.
She married Thomas Cushman, c1636 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, b. Feb 8, 1607/08 in Canterbury, England (son of Robert Cushman and Sarah Reder), d. Dec 11, 1691 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA.
Note 1: Caleb Johnson's MayflowerHistory.com indicates that the Thomas Cushman, who married Mary Allerton, came to America in the company of his father Robert, on the ship Fortune in 1621.
Children:
2. i. Lydia Cushman, b. Dec 13, 1659.
Generation Two
2. Lydia Cushman, b. Dec 13, 1659 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, d. Feb 11, 1717 in Plymouth, Plymouth.
Note 1: Lydia was reported to have been the youngest of 8 children; She married William Harlow, b. 2, Jun 1657, (son of Sergeant William Harlow and Rebecca Bartlett), d. Jan 28, 1711.
Note 2: Lydia's siblings have elsewhere been given as Thomas, Mary, Sarah, Isaac, Elkanah, Fear, and Eleaser.
Note 3: William Harlow's probate record from Mayflower Deeds and Probates, 1600-1850, p 516: Estate of William Harlow of Plymouth, MA <Plymouth Co, PR #9306> <3:107> Letters 7 Mar 1711/12 widow Lidia Harlow app'td admx. <3:108> Inventory taken Feb 28, 1711/12, by Thomas Faunce, Benjamin Warren, Isaac Cushman, incl. 12 pounds of linnen and wollen yarn which in our judgement is needful to bee left for shirting for ye children. <3:134> Appraisers app'td Mar 28, 1712 viz: Enzine Benjamin Warren, Deacon Thomas Clarke, Ebenezer Holmes, all of Plymouth; land in Plymouth, Middleborough, Wopohock (sp), Millers Neck. <3:135) Division: 21 Jun 1712, to widow Lydia and following chil., viz: Thomas Harlow (eldest son), William Harlow (2nd son), Robert Harlow (3d son) Isaac Harlow (4th son); Thomas Doten, son eldest dau Elizabeth, dec'd, Mary (2nd dau), Lydia (3d dau) Rebecca (youngest dau) <3:137> 21 June 1712, widow Lydia Harlow appl'd gdn. of Robert and Lydia Harlow. <5:192> Agreement 29 Apr. 1725 between brothers and sisters of Isaac Harlow, viz: Thomas Harlow, William Harlow, Thomas Doty son of Elizabeth (eldest sister); Robert Harlow, Barnabas Churchill, Lydia Churchill, Rebecca Harlow. The same page contained additional entries on matters probate regarding Lydia Harlow and her family, including a July 11, 1720 letter/bond regarding Lydia's estate itself whereby son Thomas Harlow, husbandman, was applying to the court to be the estate administrator.
Note 4: For the record, the Murphy Warren Family Tree by amyushka2000 on Ancestry.com gives Lydia's DoB simply as 1655 in Plymouth, and her DoD as Feb 11, 1718. Ancestry's Millennium File gives similar vitals.
She married William Jr. Harlow, 1683 in Plymouth, Plymouth, b. Jun 2, 1657 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA (son of William Harlow and Rebecca Bartlett), d. bef Mar 11, 1711/12 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA.
Note 1: William Harlow and Lydia Cushman's children are given in the Murphy Warren Family Tree by amyushka2000 on Ancestry.com as follows: Elizabeth (1683-1712): Thomas Sr (1686-1746); Lydia (1689-1739); William (1691-1749); Robert (1695-1753); Mary (1699-1720); Rebecca (1700 - ); Isaac (1700-1724).
Note 2: This same schedule of children has been set out in Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol 2 as follows: Elizabeth, b 3rd week Feb, 1683, d pre Jun 21, 1712; Deacon Thomas, b Mar 17, 1686, d Plymouth Nov 12, 1746; Daughter, b Feb 5, 1687, d Mar 5, 1687/8; William b aft 1691, d pre Mar 1749; Robert, b aft 1691; Mary b pre 1699; d pre-Jul 11, 1720, unmarried; Lydia Harlow (no dates); Rebecca, b bet 1698/9 (under 14 in 1712) and 1700 (under 21, 1721); Isaac, b bet 1698/9 (under 14 in 1712) and 1700 (under 21 in 1721, d pre Apr 30, 1724, unmarried.
Note 3: The Murphy Warren Family Tree also gives William’s YoD as 1711 and not 1712 as herein reported.
Children:
3. i. Robert Harlow, b. Aug 2, 1688.
Generation Three
3. Robert Harlow, b. Aug 2, 1688 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, d. Jul 29, 1777 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA.
Note 1: Family Data Collection - Births, Edmund West compiler, Ancestry, 2001 gives Robert's YoB as 1695; The Family Data Collection - Births database was created while gathering genealogical data for use in the study of human genetics and disease.
Note 2: He married (1) Susanna Elizabeth Cole, Oct 10, 1717 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, b. Nov 19, 1696 in Little Compton, Newport, RI (daughter of John Cole and Susannah Gray), d. Feb 17, 1748 in Plympton, Plymouth, MA.
Note 3: Robert’s wife's first name has been given as both Elizabeth and Susanna; Mayflower Births and Deaths Vol 2 sets Robert's first wife out as Susanna; this file will record her as Susanna Elizabeth Cole until more definitive Information is available.
Note 4: Extracted from <https://www.findagrave.com Aug 28, 2020: Susanna was a daughter of John Cole & Susannah Gray. She was married on 10 Oct 1717 at Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts to Robert Harlow. They had: Ebenezer Harlow; Isaac Harlow; Robert Harlow; Reuben Harlow; James Harlow; and Benjamin Harlow.
Note 5: Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol 2, ascribes the following 14 children to Robert Harlow and Susanna Cole: Ebenezer b Plympton Apr 16, 1719; Son, b Plympton Apr 1721, lived 2 weeks; Son b Plympton, Jun 1722, lived 2 weeks; Benjamin, b Sep 17, 1723, d Aug 12, 1792; Isaac, b Aug 3, 1725; Robert b Jan 30, 1727/28; Reuben, b Apr 5, 1730; Son b Dec 1731, died young; James, b Dec 7, 1732; Son b Oct 1734, died young; Susanna, b Apr 17, 1736, d Feb 24, 1748/9; Mary b May 5, 1939; Elizabeth, b Apr 1, 1743; Submit, b Jun 7, 1745.
Note 6: Extracted from <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196160917/robert-harlow> Marriage (2nd) to Remember (Bates) Wetherhead, daughter of David Bates and Abigail Hallet, widow of John Wetherhead, on Sep 15, 1749, at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They had: Susanna Harlow and Lydia Harlow.
Note 7: MA, Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 gives a date for the Harlow-Wetherhead Plympton marriage of Aug 12, 1848
Children:
4. i. Robert Harlow, b. Jan 30, 1727/28.
Generation Four
4. Robert Harlow, b. Jan 30, 1727/28 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, d. Mar 17, 1794 in Liverpool, NS.
Note 1: He married Jane West, Mar 27, 1749 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, b. in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA (daughter of Silas West and Mary Cobb), d. Mar 12, 1828 in Liverpool, Queens, NS.
Note 2: Robert was noted to have been the 6th of 14 children, 10 of whom lived to adulthood. In the 1838 census of Liverpool Tp, Queens Co, Robert is shown as a farmer with a family of 1M<6, 2M6-14, 1F6-14, 1M>14, 2F>14 plus self for a family total of 8.
Note 3: Robert and Jane are reported to have come to Liverpool in 1760; however, TBS in another location also indicates their first three children were born in Plymouth and that would appear to be, in addition to Sarah who died early, Jean, 1753, and Robert, 1755, and Sarah, 1757. The couple's first NS-born child was Silas Harlow, b 1862, and who was reported to have died off the mouth of Halifax harbour in 1780 in a skirmish between an English and an American privateer.
Note 4: The relevant note in T Breton Smith (Lunenburg/Liverpool counties of NS genealogical compiler) is as follows: "Long 1860: The line of Harlow descent is - William, William, Robert, Robert, the latter being the Liverpool pioneer. Robert Harlow and Jane had three children born in Plymouth and two in Liverpool. Robert's wife was Jane (Jean) West, daughter of Silas and Mary West. Another Harlow - Josiah - came from Wareham, Mass, to which place he had moved from Plymouth. And the history of Chatham says that John Thomas Harlow, born in Plymouth in 1745, died in Liverpool in 1822. In the census of 1787 three Harlow families are mentioned, viz, Josiah, Robert, and Robert, Junr. with families of six, seven, and six. The Harlows were a numerous and influential family in Plymouth, holding many public positions. The Liverpool Robert was the son of Robert who married Susannah, daughter of John Cole of Plympton; this latter Robert born in 1688, was the son of William born in 1657, who married Lydia Cushman, daughter of Thomas Cushman, son of William [sic; Robert] Cushman who came in the Fortune in 1621. William's father, also William, appeared as a young man in Lynn in 1637, removed to Sandwich, and then to Plymouth, where he married in 1647, Rebecca, daughter of Robert Bartlett, who came in the Ann in 1623, and married in 1628, Mary, daughter of Richard Warren, who came in the Mayflower."
Note 5: If this was Sarah 'Jane' West (and it is likely that it was) then Jane, widow of Robert Harlow, ("Sarah"), d Mar 12, 1828 at Liverpool, NS (TBS on Queens County families).
Children:
15. xi. Zoeth Harlow, b. Jul 2, 1778, Liverpool, Queens, NS, d. 1856 in Liverpool, Queens, NS.
Generation Five
15. Zoeth Harlow, b. Jul 2, 1778 in Liverpool, Queens, NS, d. 1856 in Liverpool, Queens, NS.
Note 1: In 1838 Zoeth's family consisted of 3 individuals, one female < 6, one female >14 and himself; he was noted to be a laborer.
Note 2: There is a record in the U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s of one Zoeth Harlow arriving NS in 1801.
He married Experience Hopkins, b. 1778 in Liverpool, Queens, NS (daughter of John Hopkins and Susannah Jones), d. 1864.
Note 1: Experience is also reported to have been b in 1788.
Children:
16. i. Zoeth Henry Harlow, b. Oct 15, 1802.
Generation Six
16. Zoeth Henry Harlow, b. Oct 15, 1802 in USA, d. Nov 28, 1883.
Note 1: In the NE Historical and Genealogical file Zoeth's b is given as Oct 15, 1802, b USA. Parents Zoeth Hopkins and Experience Hopkins. Zoeth Henry is reported to have been the oldest of three children.
Note 2: In the 1871 (p 30) census Zoeth and family were living in Caledonia, Queens as follows: Zoheth Harlow, 68 (b c1803), b NS, farmer, married; Hannah, 68 (b c1803), b NS, married; Eliza, 33, b NS, Phebe, 30, b NS.
Note 3: In the 1881 (p 32) census Zoeth and family were living in Caledonia, Queens as follows: Zoheth Harlow, 79 (b c1802), b NS, farmer, widowed; Mariah, 51(b c1830), b NS; Eliza, 40, b NS.
He married Hannah Page, Nov 4, 1828 in Liverpool, Queens, NS (daughter of Eli Page and "Peney" Freeman), d. Oct 27, 1875.
Children:
19. i. Hypsobeth Harlow, b. Sep 2, 1828.
20. ii. Eliza Harlow, b. Aug. 2, 1833.
21. iii. Mariah Harlow, b. c1830.
Generation Seven
19. Hypsobeth Harlow, b. Sep 2, 1828 in Devonshire, NS, d. Mar 27, 1925 in Liverpool, NS.
Note 1: The spelling of her first name shown here is the traditional way as per the 1891 census; however, her first name in her daughter Isabelle's 1907 marriage record was Hsypobeth, and from the 1908 marriage record of daughter Jessie it was Hypsobeth. In son George's marriage record Hypsobeth appears to be given as "Zibbie".
Note 2: Hypsobeth's last name was extracted from her son George's 1933 death record; as well it also appeared in the Sherriff Family Bible.
Note 3: The Family Bible gave Hypsobeth's age at death as 96y6m27d; it was given as 96y5m25d in her death record; both gave the same date of birth and death. According to her death record Hypsobeth had been living in Liverpool for 23 years (c1902). The informant on the death record was Mrs. Mary Ritchie, daughter. Hypsobeth is reported to have died from "senility" over-printed by two years of being "mentally unbalanced".
Note 4: Note that Sophia's birth record gives David and Hypsobeth's date and place of marriage as 25 Dec, 1872 in Devonshire; Isabell's birth record gives it as Dec 26, 1851, and Hannah's birth record gives it as Dec 26, 1850 (consistent with the Sherriff Family Bible), also in Devonshire. While the day given in Sophia's birth record is reasonably consistent with the Dec 26 of the Family Bible and that in her sister's records, the year is obviously incorrect. This file accepts the detail of the Sherriff Family Bible and Hannah's birth record as the most likely date of the parents' marriage. The location of the marriage, Devonshire, if it was a specific community, appears to have "disappeared", at least in name. However, it is noteworthy that the Devonshire road runs north-south through today's Whiteburn Mines, Queens County. The latter is located perhaps three kilometers south of West Caledonia and perhaps 4 km east of Kejimkujik National Park.
Note 5: In 1901 69-year-old Mrs. David Sherrif was living in Caledonia with daughters Jessie and Sophia in the household; in 1911 80-year-old Hypsobeth (b Sep 1830) was living in Liverpool with her daughter Jessie Ritchie and family.
Note 6: In 1921 then 91-year-old Hypsobeth was living with her daughter Jessie Ritchie and family at 6 Main Street, Liverpool. She noted her parents to have been born in Canada.
She married David Sherriff, Dec 26, 1850 in Devonshire, NS, b. May 14, 1821 in Aberdeen, Scotland (son of Alexander Sherriff), d. May 31, 1900 in NS, buried in Caledonia, NS.
Note 1: In the 1861 census (Abstract 1) David Shirreffs was shown with a family of 7, 4 males and 3 females.
Note 2: The treatise on Queens County families by Thomas Brenton Smith, 1700-1950 indicates that David is supposed to have arrived in Canada, with his father, at 12.5 years of age; given that David's DoB is set at May 1821 that would make his date of arrival as the fall of 1833.
Note 3: The 1871 census (Queens, Caledonia, p 25/26) provided the following on the David Shirriff family (all designated W Methodists, all children Scotch): David, 47, b Scotland, Scotch, farmer; Hypsobeth, 39, b NS, English; Alexander, 19, b NS, farmer; George, 17, b NS, farmer; Mary, 15, b NS; Zobeth K?, 13, b NS; Caroline, 11, b NS; Silverat, 9, b NS; Hypsobeth, 6, b NS; Hannah, 4, b NS; Isabella, 1, b NS.
Note 4: The 1881 census (Queens, Caledonia, p4/5) shows the David Sherriffs (note the "s") family as follows: David Sherriffs, 60, b Scotland, married, Scottish, farmer; Hypsobeth, 49, b NS, married, C Methodist, English; Alexander, 29, b NS, Scottish, farmer; Mary, 26, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Caroline, 21, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Silorate, 19, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Hypsobeth, 17, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Hannah, 14, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Isebell, 11, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Sophia, 8, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Jessie, 6, b NS, Baptist, Scottish; Benjamin Harlow, 36, b NS, C Methodist, English, farm laborer.
Note 5: The 1891 census outlined the David Sherriff family in the Caledonia sub district of Queen's Co as follows: David, male, head, 70, (b c1821), b Scotland, parents b Scotland, Protestant; Hypsabeth, female, wife, 61, (b c1930), b NS, parents b NS, Methodist; dau Caroline, 30, (b c1861) Baptist, b NS, parents b Scotland/NS; dau Jennie, 28, (b c1863) Methodist, b NS, parents b Scotland/NS; dau Hannah, 25, (b c1866), Methodist, b NS, parents b Scotland/NS; dau Isabelle, 22, (b c1869) Methodist, b NS, parents b Scotland/NS; dau Sophia,19, (b c1872), b NS, parents b Scotland/NS; dau Jessie, 17, (b c1874), Methodist, b NS, parents b Scotland/NS.
Note 6: The NS Land Grant Map Sheet 24 shows the following "Sherriffs" having received land grants north and west of Lake Rossignol, Queens Co (WSW of Caledonia):
i) Lot 1731, 100 acres in the name of David Sheriffs immediately south of the west end of Tobeatic Lake ii) Lot 1886 in two corner-tied parcels of 100ac each situated just east of the Shelburne River and SE of Sand Lake ascribed to D & J Sheriffs (David and John??) iii) Lot 2279, 100 acres in the name of John Sherriffs et al west of the Keggemakooge River and N of Lake Rossignol iv) Lot 3280 one parcel of 130 acres at the SE end of Little Tupper Lake and immediately west of the Shelburne River in the name of David Sheriffs and Zoeth Harlow (would appear to be son-in-law/father-in-law) v) Lot 15504, 50 acres in the name of Alexander Sheriff (likely, the younger) south of Mill Cove toward the west end of Tobeatic Lake
Note 7: David Sheriffs is noted in McAlpine's 1869 Directory as being a farmer living in Caledonia; David was the only Sherriff listed.
Note 8: As reported by Thomas Brunton Smith: Liverpool Advance, Jun 6, 1900: Deaths: At Caledonia, May 31st, David Sheriff, Esq., aged 80 years. Smith added: Left Aberdeen. Scotland at the age of 12 1/2 years to come to Caledonia, NS. Married Hypsobeth Harlow (Despite marked differences in age will of #5259 John Sheriffs referred to David as brother. Some think relationship was half-brother. TBS).
Children:
29. viii. Hannah Sherriff, b. Sep 12, 1867.
20. Eliza Harlow", b. Aug. 2, 1833, d. May 12, 1910 in Milford Corner, Digby, NS, buried 1910 in Bear River, Annapolis, NS.
Note 1: GWK (George W King, a Rice Association researcher) had her name as Harrow while MM (Marion McCormick, the NS Rice researcher) had name as Harlow; this file has used the latter spelling as it was common in the area.
Note 2: Eliza is shown in the 1891 and 1901 census as living with Benjamin with, in 1891, a 22-year-old Forman in the family and in 1901 it appeared that the parents were by that time living with Forman and family. In 1911 66-year-old Eliza continued to live with stepson Forman and family on the farm at Milford Corner.
She married Benjamin C Rice, Aug. 13, 1881, b. Feb. 26, 1823 in Bridgeport, NS (son of William Rice and Jane Paterson Cushing), d. Oct. 13, 1902 in Bear River, NS.
Note 1: In the 1861 census (Abstract 6) Benjamin was noted to be living in Digby County with a family of 2 males and 3 females
Note 2: In the 1871 census (p 64) Benjamin continued to be living in Digby County's Hillsburg poling district with the following detail: Rice, Benjamin, 48, b NS, married, Methodist, English, farmer; Soretha (so spelled!), 28, b NS, married, Baptist, English; Eliza, 14, b NS, Baptist, English; Prissela, 10, Baptist, English; Benny, 7, Baptist, English, Thomas, 2, Baptist, English. Stephen Rice, 28, and his wife Adelina, 21, were living next door.
Note 3: Benjamin continued to be living in Hillsburg at the time of the 1881 census (p 6) which listed: Benjamin Rice, 58, widowed, b NS, W Methodist, English, farmer; Prisciela, 19, b NS, W Methodist, English; Benjamin, 26, b NS, W Methodist, English, farmer; Forman, 12, b NS, W Methodist, English; Edith, 9, b NS, W Methodist, English. Living next door was Charles Rice, 42, and his wife Eliza, 32 and children Stanley, 6, and Stella, 2. The William Rice (48) family lived two doors away.
Note 4: In 1891 the Benjamin Rice family was noted by the census (p 37) to still be located in Hillsburg but smaller in size: Benjamin Rice, 67, married, b NS, parents b NS, Methodist, farmer; Eliza, wife, 57, b NS; Forman, 22, son, single. Also living with the family were William H Thomas, 25, married, and his wife and Benjamin's daughter, Edith, 19.
Note 5: In 1901 Benjamin, 78, b Feb 26, 1823, and Lizzie (Eliza Harlow), 67, b Aug 3, 1833, were living with son Forman and his family in Hillsburg, NS.
Note 6: Benjamin's marriage record to Soretha Poole indicated he was 45, a bachelor farmer, living in Hillsburg, b in Bridgeport (read the Annapolis County side of Bear River), and that his parents were William (a farmer) and Jane Rice.
Note 7: From Wayne Walker's Digby County Probate Abstracts: 1627. Probate Acts Book 4, page 1: will proved 5 Nov 1902 by executors Eliza RICE and Frank JONES of Bear River. Probate Will Books, Vol. 5, page 336: Last Will and Testament of Benjamin RICE of Bear River, farmer, dated 28 Jan 1901, recorded in probate court on 11 Feb 1903. Will listed wife Eliza RICE. Children: daughters Inice RICE and Edith THOMAS wife of William THOMAS. Sons: Benjamin J. RICE, Thomas L. RICE and Forman L. RICE. Executors: Eliza RICE and Frank JONES of Bear River. Estate File A1495 (1903): original will on file. He died 14 Oct 1902 at Bear River.
21. Mariah Harlow, b. c1830 in NS.
Generation Eight
29. Hannah Sherriff, b. Sep 12, 1867 in Whiteburn, NS, d. Aug 13, 1947 in Sissaboo Road, Digby, NS, buried Aug 16, 1947 in Bear River, NS.
Note 1: Hannah's birth record gives her parents' marriage date as Dec 26, 1850 in Devon Shire [Queens Co]. The birth informant was Mariah Harlow, likely her aunt. Mariah was also listed as the informant on the next birth record entry, that of Frank Clifford b Jan 4 in Milton, Queens Co, to parents John G Morton, merchant, of Milton and his wife Georgina Morton who were reported to have been married in Halifax in 1864.
Note 2: The 1901 census gives Hannah's DoB as Sep 13, 1867; her birth and death records and the Sherriff Family Bible give it as Feb 12, 1967 and that date has been used in this file. The family name is spelled "Shirriffs" in Hannah's birth record; the informant in the birth record was Mariah Harlow, and the deputy registrar was George Middlemas.
Note 3: Hannah ("Sherriffs") died at her son Max Rice's house situated on the NW corner of the Sissaboo and Clarke roads at the top of Sissaboo Hill running west from Bear River. She died of ovarian cancer complicated by pneumonia and her grandson Ray recalls her having grown a large "stomach" in her last year or so. She was reported to have been 79y11m1d of age at the time of her death. Son Max was the informant.
Note 4: Hannah Sherriff was the niece of Forman's stepmother Eliza Harlow through Hannah's mother Hypsobeth Harlow to whom Eliza was a sister.
Note 5: The vitals on the three unnamed infants were extracted from the Thomas B Smith file on the Caledonia Sherriff family as provided by John Henry Ritchie.
She married Forman LeClair Rice, Aug 8, 1894 in Caledonia, NS, b. Jan 8, 1868 in Nova Scotia (son of Benjamin C Rice and Soretha Jane Poole), d. Apr 2, 1943 in Milford Corner, NS, buried Aug 4, 1943 in Bear River, NS.
Note 1: The 1891 census shows 22-year-old farmer Forman Rice living with father Benjamin and stepmother Eliza [Harlow] in Hillsburg, NS
Note 2: Forman's connection to the relatively distant Caledonia Sherriff family would have been through his stepmother Eliza Harlow, whose sister Hypsobeth was married to Hanna's father David Sherriff of Caledonia, Lunenburg Co. At the time that Forman married Hannah (1894) six of the eight Sherriff girls would have been unmarried, although it is possible that Hannah's older sister Caroline had already made her way to the US.
Note 3: Forman and Hannah were married in Caledonia, NS, both at age 26, he listed as a farmer b Bear River, she b Caledonia. His parents were given as Beny and Cretha, hers as David and Hipsobeth, both farmers.
Note 4: The 1901 census for Hillsburg District of Digby County gave Forman, age 34, b Jan 8, 1869; wife Hannah 35, b Sept 13, 1868; daughter Ethel, 4, b Sept 8, 1896; daughter Edith L 2, b Dec 28, 1898; daughter Beulah 1, born Sept 6, 1900. At the time of the census the couple and children appeared to be living with parents Benjamin, 78, b Feb 26, 1823 and Lizzie, 67, b Aug 3, 1833.
Note 5: The Forman Rice family was listed in the 1911 census for Hillsburg, Digby Co (p 17) as follows: Rice, Foreman Le., head, b Jan 1869, 42, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist, farmer; Hannah, wife, b Sep 1866, 44, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist; Ethel M, b Sep 1896, 14, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist; Edith E, b Dec 1897, 13, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist; Beulah B, b Sep 1899, 11; Rex R, b Apr 1901, 10, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist; Boyd B, b Mar 1903, 8, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist; Soretha D, b May 1906, 5, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist; Kenneth Le., b Sep 1910, 8/12, b NS, English, Canadian, Methodist, and mother Eliza, 66, b NS Jan 1845.
Note 6: The Sherriff Family Bible appears to have incorrectly extended Forman's life by 10 days. He died at 75y2m24d of age of a cerebral hemorrhage complicated by hypertension, arterial sclerosis, and a gastric ulcer. Son Kenneth was the informant.
53. viii. Seretha "Dora" Rice, b. May 12 1906.
An Important Sidebar:
Piecing Together the Louis Harlow Family Story Introduction: As a kid I was aware of the presence of Harlows on the adjacent Bear River Indian Reserve. When it became clear that I, too, had Harlow’s in my family background and Harlows who connected to the Mayflower, it was only natural that I would take a look at that other Bear River branch of the Harlow family and determine if indeed we may be related. Having done so it was only natural that I share the information with my older (12 years) half-sister Thelma (Krant) Kelly who grew up in Bear River.
In December of 2016 Thelma advised that my birth on Jan 22, 1942 was the second birth attended that day in Digby General Hospital by Bear River doctor Dr. Lovett; according to Thelma, Dr. Lovett had been there earlier in the day to attend the birth by a Harlow woman from the Bear River Reserve. Apparently, she and my mother had bonded while awaiting birth in the hospital, and when subsequently in the village the Harlow lady would often stop in and visit my mother in the little house by the bridge next Louie Banks’ blacksmith shop. Now it seemed almost inevitable that the noted Harlow woman should be able to be traced back to Louie Harlow, and with my mother’s awareness of her own Harlow connection (her maternal grandmother was a Harlow, as was her paternal step-grandmother, her grandfather’s third wife; in fact, those two Harlow women were sisters) and it would not have taken much to initiate a friendship under the circumstances. I had to assume that the lady and family had moved before I was old enough to recognize her. While Thelma made several suggestions as to who my Harlow birth companion may have been, none proved viable in my memory bank. Even though it was evident that we should have attended Oakdene School at the same time, none of my Oakdene schoolmates from "Indian Hill" fit the bill. So, all the more reason to investigate the Harlows from the Bear River Reserve.
So, here is where that exploration into the Bear River Harlow connection led, with the initial focus on one Louis Harlow, who, it turns out, is my third cousin, twice removed.
An Introduction to Bear River’s Louis Harlow (1876-1967): In his treatise on Queens County families, 1700-1950, Thomas Brenton Smith provided the following note in respect to Louie Harlow: “In 1953 Sam Glode [a Mi’kmaq with roots in Lequille,] DMC [Distinguished Military Cross], says: Louis Harlow, as a young man, lived in Bear River, where he was known by his mother’s name, as Louis Labrador. But about 1898 he came to Caledonia, living there about a year. While here, people reputed to know, told him that his name was Harlow, his father being #5112 [in the TBS numbering system] John Harlow (white) of Caledonia, who was operating a mill at Bear River, when he fell in with the Labrador woman. From that time he [Louis] called himself Harlow.”
TBS also gave the following [augmented] family sketch:
Father: John Harlow (white) of Caledonia, son of John Harlow and Susannah Smith Mother: [Fannie] Labrador (Indian) of Bear River [1st] Wife: Elizabeth Michael (Indian) [1872-1919] dau of Aleck Michael [and Mary A] Son: James [1903-1975], lived at Shubenacadie, married a dau of Simeon Pictou of Bear River Daughter: Louisa [1906-1924], died in USA, unmarried Son: Charles [1910- ?] married a dau [Florence] of Joe Paul of Lequille Daughter: Clara [1912-1962], last known in New York, unmarried [died NS]
Again in 1953, the same Sam Glode indicated to Smith that Louis Harlow was a “great guide” and that Sam had trapped furs with him; Sam also provided the following story: Sam says on one occasion both Louis and he were guiding for Del Thomas, at Milford. The season being over Sam returned to Liverpool, and Louis went back to Bear River. Here Louis goes hunting one day, with some snow on the ground, and seeing something coming fired at it. Went up to look at it, and found that he had shot a steer belonging to Welcome Thomas. Having shot it, he cleaned it, and carried it back to his hut. Thomas, having heard the shot, and the steer not returning, went to investigate, found the scene of the crime and traced the footsteps right up to Louis’s quarters, evening [sic] finding bloodstains on the chopping block, where Louis had further dissected the animal. Louis was scared, and he had to won up, and Welcome Thomas demanded the carcass, and sixty dollars, or it was jail. Louis promised to get it and walked fifteen miles to Milford, and told the story to Del Thomas, and wanted to borrow the sixty dollars to settle the affair. Del wouldn’t trust Louis with the cash, but did give him a cheque for the amount, as it would be secured from next season’s guiding. Sam says the other guides kidded him a lot about it, and asked why he shot it, to which Louis would only reply, “I doan know.”
We are aware from several sources that Louis was an experienced guide and woodsman and that both he and his two sons, James and Charles, participated in sporting ‘guides meets’ both in Nova Scotia at Lake Williams and at ‘Kedgie’ as well as in the ‘Boston States”; all three of them were present and competed at, among others, the competition in the Boston Gardens in 1934. Louis, as well as his second wife Madeline (1876-1967), were both accomplished craft-persons and Louis used the off-season to manufacture ash baskets and axe handles which were sold to both locals and tourists.
Determining Louis’ Mother: The identity of Louis’ mother is not readily obvious, and she is identified with difficulty. Her name would have appeared to be Fannie Toney as set out in Louis’ 1920 marriage record with his second wife Madeline Pictou, and as Elizabeth Toney as identified by her granddaughter-in-law Sarah (Pictou) Harlow in a 1991 interview. She is believed to appear in the 1871 census for Hillsburg, Digby County as Fannie Labrador, 22 (b c1849), wife of Abraham Labrador, 30, and associated with Hannah Labrador, 4, likely her daughter, and Abram Tony, 16, interpreted to be her brother. Her pre-1871 family is yet to be identified.
Determining Louis’ Father: Louis’ father’s identity is set out initially in the Sam Glode piece by Thomas Brenton Smith above and is supported via an interview by Louis’ granddaughter-in-law in 1991 as follows: From L'sitkuk - The Story of the Bear River Mi'kmaw Community, p 166, by Darlene A Ricker, pub 1997, quoting Sarah (Pictou) Harlow: "The Reason the Harlows got to Bear River was on account of John Harlow [1831-1912], a white, Irish, Indian agent from way back [i.e., the 1870's]. His gravestone is in Caledonia. [sic; he is actually buried in Pennsylvania]. He left his trademark on the Hill. He married Elizabeth Toney. She was from here. She was pure-blooded Mi'kmaw Indian. They were married [no available evidence of a marriage; John Harlow and his non-native family (wife plus 2 children) were enumerated together in Bear River in the1881 census and migrated to Pennsylvania in 1883] and lived in Bear River. They had one child." [one assumes this is a reference to Louis (Labrador) Harlow].
John Harlow is readily traced back through his father John Harlow (1799-1877), through his grandfather Abner Harlow (1772-1850) to his great grandfather Robert Harlow (1727-1794) who brought the family to Liverpool, NS from MA in 1760. John the younger is a fourth great grandson to Mayflower passenger Mary Allerton
Determining Ray’s birthday companion: This following obituary, quietly discovered online in 2016, allowed resolution of the identity of my January 1942 birthday companion at the Digby General Hospital. Of interest, not only were we birthday mates, but we also had formal family ties, turning out to being fourth cousins, once removed.
The Great Irony: Your writer started down this road of confirming what were at best his possible serendipitous family connections to the 1620 arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts, a circumstance of North American antiquity treated with both great reverence and great celebration by our American neighbors; the intent was nothing more than simply to determine if the connection was real. And it turned out to be so, for both my immediate Rice family as well as that other Harlow connection in Bear River.
But then I asked myself “How would Louis Harlow, now determined to be my actual 3rd cousin twice removed, view those circumstances?” In pondering that question I placed us around an early evening campfire out on the land, our appetites appeased by a fine feed of fresh Nova Scotia brookies from a nearby stream, washed down with stirring cups of King Cole tea. “Louie,” I’d ask, “What do you make of your Harlow family connection to some of the earliest Pilgrims ever to arrive in North America?”
Louie would intently ponder the question, smoke from his pipe curling up around his head, and after about 5 minutes would quietly respond “Riley, my direct ancestors on my mother’s side are known to have been in these lands for some 3000 years, since before the founding of Christianity, and other more distant Indigenous peoples for perhaps 10,000 years as they pursued the abundant food sources that were pioneering the lands being released by the retreating glacier. Your 'Pilgrims’ arrived but 800 years ago! Perhaps the better question, Cousin, is what do you make of your Toney connections to this land that go back into the real North American antiquity?”
Ah, the uncomfortable wisdom of the campfire!
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