The first known Dundas in our family tree was a family consisting of Barbara, Thomas, Margaret and Elizabeth. They were all born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada. Barbara and Margaret arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1848 aboard the Passenger Ship, "Lord Maidstone" which sailed out of Derry, Ireland. Thomas and Elizabeth arrived in Saint John in 1857 aboard the Ship, "Mary Ann".
Also in the family was an older brother William
and a sister Ann who
remained in Ireland until a later date. Their parents were
presumed to be dead prior to
their immigration, however, information from the Alfred Thomas
Family Tree indicates that
they had an Aunt in St John, NB, who ran a boarding house. Their
mother was named
Mary and apparently was married twice, the first time to a man
named Robinson by
whom she had one child, John, who remained in Ireland. Ann and
William came to
Canada and settled somewhere in Ontario but the family's
whereabouts today are
unknown. William was reported to have lived to the ripe old age
of 101 years. According to the Story
of Alfred Thomas, this family came from Fermanagh,
Ireland.
Barbara, the oldest girl, married John Reynolds in St John on 4
Oct 1850. Margaret
married Alfred Thomas, an immigrant from Wales, on 25 May 1850.
Thomas married
Janet Marshall, a Scottish immigrant. It is believed that Elizabeth
(also known as "Aunt Bessie") never married. She was listed in the
1861 Census as a servant living at the home of Nicholas Lister and
the 1871 Census lists her as a "weaver" living at a boarding house.
Janet Marshall was one of my great-great-grandmothers on the Reynolds side of the
family. She is apparently the only source of the Scotland Blood in the family tree. She
was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 1 July 1842 and died in West Somerville, Mass.,
USA on 5 May 1917. At the time of her marriage, she was living with a family named
Gass in Harvey who were believed to be her Uncle and Aunt. She was married very
young, apparently twice, first to Thomas Dundas and later to Nathan Dennis Moshier of
Harvey on 16 Aug 1872.
Thomas and Janet had six children and lived on a Land Grant at Thomas' Corners. This
land was described as: "100W SD, Magaguadavic River, Manners Sutton, York County,
of 100 Acres." Thomas died young at the age of 27 on 13 Jan 1871.
Their children were:
Mary Dundas, born 9 May 1859, died in St Stephen, NB., on 9 Jan 1908, married Joseph Thomas of Brockway;
Barbara Dundas, born 4 Dec 1861, died 11 Jun 1915, married William John Reynolds in St Stephen on 1 Feb 1882. These were my grand-parents; they had eleven children;
Elizabeth Dundas, born 10 Aug 1863, died in St Stephen, NB. on 3 April 1916, married Thomas Speedy of Manners-Sutton;
Jessie Ann Dundas, born 30 May 1865, died in West Somerville, Mass., USA on 11 May 1927, married to a Mr. McGee;
Margaret Dundas, born 26 Jan 1868, died in Belmont, Mass. on 24 Sep 1933, married to a Mr. Tobin;
Agnes Dundas, born 26 Oct 1869, died 20 Nov 1871 at home at the age of two;
At this time Thomas died and Janet married Nathan Dennis Moshier, born 8 May 1832
in Fayette, Maine, died 29 Dec 1920 in West Somerville, Mass.;
Their children were:
David Thomas Moshier, born 13 May 1875 in Thomaston, NB, died in Livermore Falls, Maine in 1909;
Sophia Pearl Moshier, born 2 Dec 1877 in Thomaston, NB, died in Watertown, Mass. in Oct 1948;
Frances Agnes Moshier-Leighton, born 26 Mar 1879 in Thomaston, NB, died in Watertown, Mass. on 28 Jan 1961;
Emily Betsy Moshier-North, born 26 Mar 1879 in Thomaston, NB, died in Belmont, Mass. on 3 Sep 1934;
Caroline Moshier-Damon-Fitz, born 25 Nov 1881 in Thomaston, NB, died in Watertown, Mass. on 12 Nov 1954;
Amos William Moshier, born 1 Mar 1883 in Thomaston, NB, died in Oct 1869;
Gilbert Lindsay Moshier, born 15 Apr 1886 in Thomaston, NB, died in West Somerville, Mass. on 12 Dec 1918.
Little is known of the Moshier family after they moved to the States, however, some of
the ladies were known to visit the St Stephen area. Elizabeth Lindsay-Lord has pictures
of some of them.
It should be noted that Barbara Dundas, child of Thomas and
Janet, married William John
Reynolds, child of Barbara Dundas and John Reynolds. They were
first cousins. The
two Barbaras shared the same maiden and married names, and later
in life were reported
to share the same house. This apparently created a situation
where Barbara, Jr., found
her mother-in-law/Aunt a difficult woman to live with.
The marriage of first cousins was fairly common as another
daughter of Janet and
Thomas, Mary, married her first cousin, Joseph Thomas, son of
Alfred Thomas and
Margaret Dundas.
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