Gemini - Google's AI Now Available in Canada

After being one of the few countries in the world without access to Google's AI tool, Bard, us folks in Canada now have access to Google's new Gemini AI app on the desktop.

Screen capture taken on 8 Feb 2024 of part of the Gemini landing page retrieved using Firefox from a location in Canada.

If you are used to using the free version of ChatGPT (version 3.5) then you will be familiar with all the usual gotchas. I'm not going to go into using the tool since much smarter folks with greater understandings on how these tools work have written about AI and Genealogy. Here are just some of the resources I've used in the past:

• AI Genealogy Insights
• Family Tree Magazine: A Genealogist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence by Thomas MacEntee 
• Facebook Group: Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Hound on the Hunt: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) For Genealogy - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Ontario Ancestors February 1, 2024 Webinar: AI and Genealogy: Trouble Ahead? by Thomas MacEntee (OGS member only)

Instead I'm going to give you an example of why you need to double check everything you get back from these tools if you are asking specific research questions.

In the following edited conversation my questions in bold and Gemini's answers in italics, I posed the following:

Put yourself in the role of an experienced genealogist
In Upper Canada, when were Catholic priests first permitted to perform marriages?

The story of when Catholic priests could officially perform marriages in Upper Canada (now Ontario) is a bit convoluted and involves multiple milestones:

Pre-1834:

• Restricted Recognition: Catholic marriages were not legally recognized under British common law, which dominated Upper Canada.
• Religious Ceremonies: Catholic priests performed marriage ceremonies, but these had no legal standing. Couples often married twice: once in a Catholic ceremony and once with a government official to legalize the union.
• Challenges and Ambiguity: This situation created challenges for Catholics, particularly regarding inheritance and property rights. Some couples only had the Catholic ceremony, leading to legal disputes later.

1834:

• Partial Change: The Marriage Act of 1834 permitted "any clergyman regularly ordained" to solemnize marriages. This technically included Catholic priests, but...
• Unresolved Confusion: The Act didn't explicitly mention Catholics, and some officials remained hesitant to accept clergy outside the Church of England.

1851:

• Clarification and Recognition: The Marriage Act Amendment Act of 1851 explicitly named "regularly ordained ministers of the Roman Catholic Church" as authorized to perform marriages.
• Full Legal Recognition: From this point onwards, Catholic marriages performed by priests had full legal validity in Upper Canada.

Important Points:

• Gradual Process: It wasn't a single switch in 1834. Recognition took time and legal clarification.
• Local Variations: Even after 1851, some local officials might have initially resisted accepting Catholic marriages.
• Documentation: If you're researching an ancestor's marriage in Upper Canada, consider both the Catholic ceremony date and the legal registration date to get a complete picture.

Remember, understanding historical context is crucial. While Catholic marriages faced legal hurdles, perseverance and advocacy ultimately led to full recognition, reflecting the evolving religious landscape of Upper Canada.

At first blush, this is actually a pretty good response. It told me about the acts involved and gave me some background. However, wanted to see what sources it might have used.

 

Can you provide any sources where you found that information?
Certainly! Here are some reliable sources where I found the information about the legal recognition of Catholic marriage ceremonies in Upper Canada:

Primary Sources:

• Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada: https://www.oba.org/Home
• Marriage Act Amendment Act of 1851, Upper Canada: https://www.oba.org/Home

Secondary Sources:

• "Courtship, Love, and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century English Canada" by Cecilia Morgan: <invalid URL removed> (Chapter 2 delves into legal recognition of Catholic marriages)
• "The History of Canadian Law: Public and Private Law to 1914" by P.B.W. Goold: https://www.amazon.com/Canadian-Law-Introduction-Neil-Boyd/dp/0176724427 (Chapter 8 discusses marriage laws and religious ceremonies)
• Library and Archives Canada website: https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng (Offers digitized archival records related to marriage laws and petitions)

Additional Resources:

• Archives of Ontario website: https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/index.aspx (Provides access to historical land and marriage records)
• Canadian Catholic Historical Association: https://cchahistory.ca/ (Offers resources and publications on Catholic history in Canada)

These sources provide valuable insights into the legal evolution of marriage laws in Upper Canada and the recognition of Catholic marriage ceremonies. By exploring them further, you can gain a deeper understanding of your ancestors' experiences and the historical context surrounding their marriage.

That's even better. Except when I when to the first site, the Ontario Bar Association, I couldn't find any resources that dealt with those historical marriage acts in Upper Canada. That was the first sign to me that something wasn't quite right. 

So I asked Gemini this question about that marriage act.

 

Can you provide more information about the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada?

The Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada: A Deeper Dive

The Marriage Act of 1834, passed in the then-province of Upper Canada, marked a significant change in the legal landscape of marriage. Here's a breakdown of its key features and the context surrounding it:

[...additional details omitted for brevity]

Full Text of the Act: https://www.oba.org/Home

[...additional information omitted for brevity]

A good summary of the act but I still wanted to read the original act and I still couldn't find it.

I can't find the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada. Is there any more information you can provide to help me locate the original act?

I apologize! While I mentioned the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada, the link I provided wasn't specific enough. Here are some resources where you can find the original act:
Digital Copies:

• The Law Society of Upper Canada: This website offers access to various historical legal documents, including the Statutes of Upper Canada. You can find the Marriage Act of 1834 here: https://www.oba.org/Home
• Library and Archives Canada: This website contains digitized copies of historical documents, including Upper Canada statutes. You can search for the Marriage Act of 1834 here: https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng

 

I played around in the Library and Archives Canada site with no luck. But I also noticed they called the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) site the "Law Society of Upper Canada". That was another red flag for me. Those are two different organizations. Also, since about 2017 the "Law Society of Upper Canada" is now known as the "Law Society of Ontario". Hmmm.

I'm sorry, but I must be an idiot since I still can find that act

Please don't call yourself an idiot! Finding historical documents can be quite challenging, and it's not at all a reflection of your intelligence. I apologize if my previous instructions weren't clear enough. Let's try a different approach.

 

At least it is kind. It also gave me detailed instructions (yay!) for using the OBA site but I guess that the site had changed since Google last looked at it for teaching its AI system since the instructions didn't work.

Meanwhile, while all this was happening I was making use of my favourite Canada Pre-Confederation law site "British North American Legislative Database, 1758-1867". This site is really useful when you come across a notional like "4 & 5 William IV c. 7" which was in one of the responses Gemini displayed at one point.

Only one problem, I couldn't find any acts referring to marriage in the 4th and 5th years of the reign of William IV in that database. So I popped over the "Statutes of Her Majesty's province of Upper Canada" collection on Canadiana where I checked the Statutes of Upper Canada from 1833 to 1835. Chapter 7 in any of those years didn't apply to the solemnization of marriage. I also check the "Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom/William IV" page on WikiSource and it did have acts listed from the session of Parliament listed under "1834 (4 & 5 Will. IV)". But chapter 7 was about "Postage in North American Colonies Act 1834".

I had noticed on the "British North American Legislative Database, 1758-1867" site that in 1831 there was the "An Act to make valid certain Marriages heretofore contracted, and to provide for the future Solemnization of Matrimony in this Province. (The Royal Assent to this Bill was signified, by Message of His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, to the Legislative Council and Assembly of this Province on the Second day of March, 1831.)".

So I called Gemini on this issue:

Are you certain that the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada actually exists? I found an act from 1831 in the first year of William IV's reign (1 William IV c. 1) and a later act from 1847 affirming the 1831 act. But I've found no references to an 1834 act

I apologize for the confusion I caused. You're absolutely right, I made a mistake. There was no Marriage Act of 1834 in Upper Canada. The relevant legislation related to marriage during that period is as follows:

1. An Act to alter and amend the Laws now in force in this Province respecting the Solemnization of Marriage (1 William IV, c. 1, 1831): This act permitted "any clergyman regularly ordained according to the forms of law of any religious denomination in this Province" to perform marriages. However, it was initially interpreted ambiguously and didn't explicitly mention specific denominations like Catholics.

2. An Act to amend the Act passed in the first Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled, 'An Act to alter and amend the Laws now in force in this Province respecting the Solemnization of Marriage' (10 Victoria, c. 56, 1847): This act clarified the 1831 legislation by explicitly naming "regularly ordained ministers of the Roman Catholic Church" among those authorized to perform marriages.

The confusion likely arose from conflicting sources or misinterpretations. I deeply regret misleading you and appreciate you bringing this to my attention. It's important to be accurate and provide reliable information.

Oops!

I keep saying this, and I will continue to say this, when asking for fact based information from the current iterations of what is commonly referred to as AI, it is like asking an overly confident 8 year old child a question. They, AI and the child, will often continue to insist the answer provided is correct until you tell and show them they are wrong.

By the way, ChatGPT 3.5 had the same problems with this question and it really had me going down the rabbit hole looking for nonexistent acts.

So now I  keep asking the simple question "Are you sure about that answer?" when asking research oriented questions to the AI tools.

To be honest, I have found these tools useful when asking for general guidance in my research such as what resources should I look in when I might have hit a genealogical brick wall. Or even when I updated my bio for my talks.

Lesson for today:

Just like any fact or event we come across in our genealogy research, everything we get from these AI tools such as ChatGTP, Gemini, etc. needs to be double checked and verified through our own resources. 

Enjoy playing with Gemini!

Finding on the Ground: An Ontario Concession/Lot on a Map

You have finally figured out where your rural Ontario ancestor lived by finding the location in the census records (1851, 1861, 1871, 1901, or 1911) or through other means and have the township, concession, and lot details. Now you want to take a road trip and actually stand where they may have trod. 

So let's find that location on a map!

At the end of my previous post "Finding on the Ground - A Rural Route Address in Ontario" I skipped over the detailed process of how to do this. Now I'm going to walk you through the steps I took but using a different property than in that example.

The first step is to visit the Ontario "Topographic maps" site and click on the "Make a topographic map now" button. This will redirect you to the "Make a Topographic Map" page hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. After a few moments a disclaimer will appear concerning the Ontario Parcel Licence Agreement. Read through it and at the bottom of the box click the "I Accept" button to continue (assuming you do agree to the license).

At the top of the page is a menu bar. Click on the word "Navigation" then the "Search" button (as highlighted below):

Screen capture of the menu bar with Navigation selected and the Search button highlighted from the Ontario "Make a Topographic Map" site.

A menu will appear asking how you want to Perform a Search. Since you have the Township, Concession, and Lot of the property you will want to select "Lot/Concession/Township" from the list:

Screen capture of the "Perform a Search" menu from the Ontario "Make a Topographic Map" site.

You are now prompted for the Township, Concession, and Lot details. Each of the items to be filled in need to be selected from the drop down item list. The Concession and Lot items change based on the Township and Concession selected.

Here is filled in the details for my 4th great-grandfather, Alexander Fraser, who resided in Drummond Township, on the 2nd Concession in lot 12 in the 1851 and 1816 censuses of Canada West.

Screen capture of the "Search by Twp/Lot/Concession" menu from the Ontario "Make a Topographic Map" site with details of Drummond Township, Concession 2, Lot 12 filled in.

Clicking on the Search button will bring you to the property on the map and highlight it in orange like you see below.

Screen capture of the search result returned by "Search by Twp/Lot/Concession" from the Ontario "Make a Topographic Map" site for Drummond Township, Concession 2, Lot 12.

You can zoom in and out of the map to see where the property is in relation to other places. In the bottom corner of the map beside the scale bar there is even a button to show an imagery map instead of the default topographic map.

Great, you have the location on the map. 

But what about getting directions to the place? 

For this I generally just right-click my mouse (I have a Windows computer, not too certain how a Mac or iPad user will do that) on the orange box near a road. This will being up a box with different actions. However, it also gives the latitude and longitude of where you right-clicked.

Screen capture of the search result returned by "Search by Twp/Lot/Concession" from the Ontario "Make a Topographic Map" site for Drummond Township, Concession 2, Lot 12 with the action box displayed.

We now have the location of Lat: 44.937° N and Lon: 76.194° W. You can even copy that text into your clipboard. Why do that? For the next step which is using Google Maps.

Open up Google Maps and in the Search Google Maps box put in the coordinates you got from the map on the Make a Topographic Map site.

Screen capture from Google Maps with the coordinates entered for 44.937° N 76.194° W.

Just a heads up, you have to remove the "Lat:" and "Lon:" words if you do a copy and paste of the coordinates for this to work.

If everything has worked properly then Google will bring you to the location on their map.

Screen capture from Google Maps for the coordinates 44.937° N 76.194° W and Satellite view selected.

With the location pinpointed you can ask Google for driving directions, save the location if you have logged in with your Google account, send to your phone, or even share with others via social media. If the Google Streetview car has driven past the place you can even see what the view looks like if you were standing on the road.

You might even make your own custom Google Map highlighting the various properties of nearby ancestors and other connected relatives.

Enjoy your road trip!

Finding on the Ground - A Rural Route Address in Ontario

In a recent post in the Ontario Ancestors group on Facebook a person asked:

"Living in the UK I am not familiar with Canadian addresses. The one below I have been told refers to Rural Route 2, it is meant to be farm, but I am not sure it had a name. I found in correspondence from the 1940s and I am keen to find a more exact location if possible, as Google Maps isn't terribly helpful."

I thought I would do a little case study of how to possibly find the location of the property. Be forewarned, there are assumptions being made since this is all the information I had at the time.

The first step I took was to look in the "Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980" collection found on Ancestry since that collection does cover more recent, from a genealogy point of view, events. 

Screen capture of the results from searching the "Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980" on Ancestry with first name Margaret, last name Cowie, keyword Kemptville.

Knowing that Kemptville is the Leeds and Grenville United Counties the first entry from 1949 looks really promising.

Canada, Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980, 1949 Voters List for the Electoral District of Grenville-Dundas. Rural Polling Divition No. 46-1, Township of South Gower: 1 [3140 stamped], Mrs. Margaret Cowie; digital images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Mar 2021); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm M-4836.

Looking at the line for Mrs. Margaret Cowie, the address appears to match exactly what was originally posted in the query. Of course, this is an assumption that it is the correct person since we don't have any other details but let's go with this. Just above her is listed "Cowie, Alexander, gentleman, RR2 Kemptville".  Odds are, but not completely certain, Alexander is her husband.

Assuming that is the correct household, where are they?

For that we need to look at the top of that same page:

Canada, Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980, 1949 Voters List for the Electoral District of Grenville-Dundas. Rural Polling Divition No. 46-1, Township of South Gower: 1 [3140 stamped], heading; digital images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Mar 2021); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm M-4836.

We see that the voters list is from the Township of South Gower and is "Comprising the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Concessions of South Gower, and not including the the 2nd and 3rd Concessions of South Gower which were formerly part of North Gower". 

With the details we have gathered: name, township, and date, we have enough basic information for the next step, visiting the Ontario Land Registry Access site AKA OnLand. 

So what can we find in the Abstract/Parcel Register Books within the Historical Books section for the Grenville Land Registry Office (LRO)? After filtering by South Gower in the Township/Municipality box I selected the book for "Concessions 1, 2 , 3". Then it just became an exercise of looking through the pages. 

Screen capture from Onland.ca of the Abstract/Parcel Register Book in the Historical Books section of the Grenville Land Registry office filtered on South Gower.

There are 253 pages but that is easy (compared to some of the other books) since I don't need to read all the pages but only the lines around the 1940s.

On image 33 of that book I came across a transaction for "Deed Under Power of Sale" on 8 Jan 1941 from "The Commissioner of Agricultural Loans" to "Alexander Cowie and Margaret Cowie, Joint Tenants" for the Front half, 100 acres on Concession 1 Lot 6. The names and time period appear to be right. That just might be the property that is being sought.

Grenville (LRO 15), Ontario South Gower Concession 1, 2, 3: 33, G-3018, Deed Under Power of Sale to Alexander Cowie and Margaret Cowie, Jt. Tenants, 8 Jan 1941; digital images, Teranet Property & Registration Services, OnLand: Ontario Land Registry Access (https://www.onland.ca/ : accessed 20 Mar 2021).

So where is Concession 1, Lot 6 in South Gower? For that I went to the digitized map from The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project for South Gower. These maps were created between the 1860s and 1880s. 

Map of South Gower, Grenville County, Ontario from the The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project.

On that map we are fortunate to actually have a name listed on the property. Checking the Map of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville created under the direction of H. F. Walling in 1861, which just so happens to match the map from The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project, it would seem that the tract of land was occupied by a Mrs. Tripp around 1861. That matches up with the transactions found on the previous page in the Abstract/Parcel Register Book where I found an entry for an Alexander and Margaret Cowie.

What about putting that property on a map that includes current details. For that I popped over to Topographic maps on the Ontario Government site. Once I accepted the "Ontario Parcel License Agreement" disclaimer I then selected from the Navigation bar the option to Search. One of the options is to search by Lot/Concession/Township. So I selected from the various drop down boxes the township of South Gower, Concession 1, Lot 6 and it brought me to the property on the map.

Using the information from that map and a little bit of playing around in Google Maps here is where the property is on a map of today:

Concession 1, Lot 6 in the township of South Gower highlighted in a screen capture from Google Maps.

Is it 100% percent certain this is where the Margaret Cowie in the address we are looking for resided?

 Not a chance

I've had to make several assumptions. However, unless other information is forthcoming it is a good starting point. This short case study also shows how you can use various online resources to possibly locate a person just from a Rural Route address in Ontario.

The Fair Captive

After a recent question was asked in my blog concerning Caleb Howe, my 5th great-grandfather, I decided to review what I had about him, his siblings, and his parents, Caleb Howe and Jemima Sawtelle. The good part about doing this kind of review is that I was able to finally add an older brother, William, into the tree as a child of Caleb and Jemima. However, it also started me down an interesting rabbit hole of research concerning the story of Jemima.

My encounter with Jemima's story was years ago when I came across the genealogy of the Howe family posted under the Phipps Family Pages. There I learned about the "Fair Captive" and the story of her capture during the French and Indian War. The write up on that web page mentioned that "Jemima's story became part of the "American Preceptor"..." Courtesy of the Internet Archive I was able find and download various editions of the "The American Preceptor; being a new Selection of Lessons for Reading and Speaking. Designed for the Use of Schools" by Caleb Bingham, initially the 1837 edition but recently I was able to find the 1801 edition on the Internet Archive. For general reading I prefer the 1837 edition since the earlier editions make use of the "long s" or "ſ" so that a word like "disposed" looks like "diſpoſed" as you can see below.

Caleb Bingham. American Preceptor; Being a New Selection of Lessons for Reading and Speaking. Designed for the Use of Schools (Boston, Massachusetts: Manning and Loring, 1801), p 183; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/americanprecept09binggoog/page/n1/mode/2up : accessed 20 May 2020).

Until you get used to reading text like that it can get confusing at times. By the way, you will have an opportunity to practice reading words with the "long s" by the end of this post.

But where did this "Fair Captive" designation come from? Please bear with me as the journey is a bit of a long one since it is all about following clues and, in one case, a bit of luck and cobbled with experience.

I started with a simple Google search with the keywords of "Jemima Sawtelle" and one of the first results was from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography for SAWTELLE, JEMIMA (Phipps; Howe; Tute). The good thing about this dictionary is that they include a list of sources used. In that list was mentioned the book New England captives carried to Canada between 1677 and 1760 during the French and Indian wars by Emma Lewis Coleman published in 1925. On pages 314-321 Jemima's story is recounted and even a few sources are stated in the footnotes. I like when I come across sources mentioned in foot or end notes!

pp.316-317:

Colonel Schuyler was again her friend, interesting himself in her ransom as is shown by the following letter from Dr. Benjamin Stakes, Surgeon of New Jersey troops, who frequently acted for him. Written in New Haven in December, 1757, it was addressed to Ebenezer Hinsdale, who enclosed it to Gov. Benning Wentworth.³¹

³¹N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., V, 256

p.319:

Schuyler's official list³⁴ gives "Miss How, and boys William, Josia and Peter."
³⁴ N. Y. Docs., X, 882

Fortunately Ms. Coleman includes in her appendix of the book the abbreviations that she used. One of them, "N. Y. Docs." was defined as "Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York". However, "N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll." wasn't defined but from other definitions it seemed reasonable that it was "New Hampshire Historical Society Collections".

After a bit of searching through various catalogues such as Google Books, HathiTrust, and the Internet Archive it turns out that those aren't exactly the titles of the works that Ms. Coleman was referencing.

Starting with that possible "N.H. Hist. Soc. Coll., V, 256" it took a little bit of searching but I finally turned up "Collections of the New-Hampshire Historical Society, Volume V" on the Internet Archive and on pages 256 to 258 I came across transcriptions of the letters mentioned.

[John Farmer, Nathaniel Bouton, Isaac Hill]. Collections of the New-Hampshire Historical Society, Vol. V (Concord, New Hampshire: New Hampshire Historical Society, 1837), pp.254-256, Letter of Col. Ebenezer Hindsdale to Gov. Benning Wentwork-1755; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/collectionsnewh06socigoog/page/n7/mode/2up : accessed 18 May 2020).

For "N. Y. Docs." the title turned out to be "Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York; procured in Holland, England and France, Volume X". What was interesting to me was that the "Miss How, and the boys William Josia and Peter" was not written that way, at least in the 1858 edition:

E. B. O'Callaghan, editor, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York; procured in Holland, England and France, Vol. X, (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1858), pp.882; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ10newyuoft/page/n4/mode/2up : accessed 18 May 2020); List of English prisoners delivered to Colonel Schuyler, &c.

E. B. O'Callaghan, editor, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York; procured in Holland, England and France, Vol. X, (Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1858), pp.883; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ10newyuoft/page/n4/mode/2up : accessed 18 May 2020); List of English prisoners delivered to Colonel Schuyler, &c.

These are transcriptions from documents in the Archives of the "Ministère de la Marine et des Colonies;" of the "Ministère de la Guerre," and in the "Bibliothèque de Roi," at Paris. Of course, going to France at this time is not in the cards. However, on a whim as I was writing this, I did a search for the archives in question and one web site mentioned that:

Les originaux sont conservés aux Archives nationales de France. Les Archives nationales du Canada possèdent des copies des documents de la série B et d'autres séries.

That got me thinking, what about searching the Library and Archives Canada site. Even if it is just a microfilm number, once the pandemic subsides and buildings open up to the public, I can look up the microfilm. My initial search of the archives collections using the keywords "Ministère de la Marine et des Colonies" returned more than 2000 matches. That's a lot to review but not unrealistic. But what about "Schuyler"? Were there less matches and could I find one that might apply?

I couldn't believe it when the third item in the list of 789 results was "["Rôle des prisonniers anglais remis au colonel Schuyler". Certificat signé ...]. 1758, novembre, 01". That is exactly the document I was looking for. Even more amazing was that they have been digitized and put online:

"Rôle des prisonniers anglais remis au colonel Schuyler." Série C11A. Correspondance générale; Canada [document textuel (surtout des microformes)] (R11577-4-2-F). Library and Archives Canada microfilm F-103, p.289 and 291[stamped]. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa; digital images, Library and Archives Canada (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3073215 : accessed 20 May 2020). 

As you can see, unlike what Ms. Coleman recorded, Miss How and her sons are not listed together but on separate pages in different categories.

Looking back at the various sources cited in the entry for Jemima Sawtelle in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography also mentioned in The history of New-Hampshire by Jeremy Belknap. Again, this book is available on the Internet Archive in various editions. I always prefer the edition closest to the time of the events.

Jeremy Belknap, A.M., The History of New-Hampshire, Vol. III, (Boston, Massachusetts: Belknap and Young, 1792), pp.370-388, A particular Account of the Captivity of Mrs Jemima Howe, by the Rev. Bunker Gay, of Hinsdale, in a Letter to the Author; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofnewham03belk/page/n10/mode/2up : accessed 18 May 2020).

In the stories that were published they reference Maj. Israel Putnam and in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography one of the sources is "An essay on the life of the Honorable Major-General Israel Putnam..." by David Humphreys. That wasn't too hard to chase down although there are multiple digitized copies available. The oldest edition I could find was "An Essay of the Life of the Honorable Major-General Israel Putnam: Addressed to the State Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut" published in 1788.

At the houſe of Colonel Schuyler, Major Putnam became acquainted with Mrs. Howe, a fair captive, whoſe hiſtory would not be read without emotion if it could be written in the ſame affecting manner, in which I have often heard it told. She was ſtill young and handſome herſelf, though ſhe had two daughters of marriagable age. Diſtreſs, which had taken ſomewhat from the original redundancy of her bloom and added a ſoftening paleneſs to her cheeks, rendered her appearance the more engaging. Her face, that ſeemed to have been formed for the aſſemblage of dimples and ſmiles, was clouded, with care. The nature ſweetness was not, however, ſoured by deſpondency and petulance; but chaſtened by humility and reſignation. This mild daughter of ſorrow looked as if ſhe had known the day of proſperity, when ſerenity and gladneſs of ſoul were the inmates of her boſom. That day was paſt, and the once lively features now aſſumed a tender melancholy, which witneſſed her irreparable loſs.

David Humphreys, An Essay of the Life of the Honorable Major-General Israel Putnam: Addressed to the State Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut,  (Hartford, Connecticut: Hudson and Goodwin, 1788), pp.74-81; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/essayonlifeofhon1788hump/page/n3/mode/2up : accessed 18 May 2020).

Although the story as recorded by Mr. Humphreys in the telling of Israel Putnam's life is romanticized it does add some dimension to the story of Jemima How. The description of her definitely describes a "fair captive."

Jemima's story has been told in numerous publications in addition to the ones mentioned above. Some appear to be derived from the account recorded by Rev. Bunker Gay.

• Indian Captivities or Life in the Wigwam pp.156-165
• Harper's new monthly magazine, volume 12, "Israel Putnam," p.588
• Marguerite Allis, Not without peril, a novel by Marguerite Allis, founded on the life and adventures of Jemima Sartwell, one of the first settlers in Vermont.
• Angela Marco, Fair captive, a colonial story
  

Her monumental inscription tells the tale of her life.

Mrs. Jemima Tute Succeſsively Relict of Meſsrs. William Phips, Caleb Howe & Amos Tute The firſt two were killed by Indians Phips July 5th AD 1743 Howe June 27th 1755 When Howe was killed She & her Children Then ſeven in number Were carried into Captivity. The oldest a Daughter went to France And was married to a French Gentleman The youngeſt was torn from her breaſt And periſhed with Hunger By the aid of ſome benevolent Gent'n And her own perſonal Heroiſm She recovered the Reſt She had two by her laſt Huſband She outlived him & them And died March 7th 1805 aged 82 Having pasted thro more viciſsitudes And endured more hardſhips Than any of her Cotemporaries No more can Savage Foes annoy Nor aught her wideſread Fame Deſtroy

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 May 2020), memorial page for Jemima Sawtelle(Phipps/Howe) Tute (7 Mar 1723–7 Mar 1805), Find a Grave Memorial no. 17509287, citing North Vernon Cemetery, North Vernon, Windham County, Vermont, USA; Maintained by John Clay Harris (contributor 47322896).

So follow those citations in the books you come across that mention your ancestors. You never know what documents that you will come across will lead you.

Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay of New Zealand, part 1

I'm continuing my research into the New Zealand branch of my line descended from Charles McKinlay and Jane(t) Finlay by looking at Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay.

Ancestors of Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay

The reason I got interested in him was that one of the public trees on Ancestry had the following location for his death, "Panama in route to New Zealand" in 1918. That got me curious. What was he doing going to New Zealand by way Panama? So I took a look at that tree and noticed that there was record pointing to the "UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947" collection on Ancestry. The image of the record had the following text:

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

COROZAL AMERICAN MILITARY CEMETERY

McKINLAY, Pte. Charles Thomas Walter, 63390. Wellington Regt., N.Z.E.F. Died at sea en route to New Zealand 22nd April, 1918. Age 30. Son of Mrs. F. B. Thomas (formerly McKinlay), of Cumberland St., Dunedin; husband of Isabella McKinlay, of 54, Murray St., Caversham, Dunedin. Sect C. Row 2. Grave 14.

Hmmm, some very interesting details in that record. I knew that Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay's father, James, had died shortly after Charles birth. I hadn't realized that Johan Riddell (or Riddle as she signed it in the marriage register) had remarried. Looks like I might need to look for an F. B. Thomas and a possible marriage in New Zealand or even Australia for him to a Riddel/Riddle/McKinlay [added to my to-do list].

I now also know that he married an Isabella. I need to keep focused so I add another to-do item and that is to search for marriages to an Isabella by Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay.

Yet this record states that he died at sea not Panama but he wasn't buried at sea. Curiouser and curiouser.

So I turned to an old friend of mine for assistance, Google. I typed in Charles' full name and asked Google to search for him in the hopes something of interest might pop up. And did it as can be seen below:

Google search results for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay

So I clicked on the Auckland Museum link for the online cenotaph for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay. A treasure trove of information was displayed including a picture of Charles in uniform from the Auckland Weekly News in 1918. I wonder if I could find any mention of his death in a New Zealand newspaper. Yet another item in my to-do list, this time to search in Papers Past courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

But continuing with the Online Cenotaph page (keep focused!) I see all kinds of additional information about Charles and towards the bottom I see something I was least expecting. A list of the sources used to create the page:

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• Military Personnel File
• FamNet: The Family History Network record page

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission site and information I knew about and the FamNet site search didn't find anything in their search engine. But that middle one, Military Personnel File, that pointed to the Archive New Zealand web site. Have they done what Library and Archives Canada is still working on? Digitizing the service files from World War I?

Screen capture of Archives New Zealand search results for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay, 63390

Clicking on the "record online" tab on the screen and then Charles' name brought up his services file and I could download each page to my computer. Can you say a happy researcher?

Screen capture of Archive New Zealand military service file for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay

Much downloading and reading was then started. Page 2 of his file had the answer to the question of "Where did he really die?"

New Zealand, "WW1 Army Service file for Charles Thomas Walter McKinlay, 63390," History Sheet; digital images, Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand, Archives New Zealand (http://archives.govt.nz/ : accessed 21 Jan 2018). 

"He died on board the H.S. [Hospital Ship] Marama during the passage through the Panama Canal at Pedro Miguel of Carcinoma Rectum 22 April 1918."

and

"Died 11 am. 22.4.16 during passage through Canal. Buried at Balboa Cem by Chap. Read with full Mil Honours. The U.S. Army supplying firing party."

So that question has been answered but what else can be found about him? That's for part 2!