Jane Rosebella Howie - Hastings

Rev. Calvin John Hastings, Cora May Hastings, Jane Rosebella Howie - Hastings.
Photo from the Lawrence Frizzle Collection, Brome, Quebec.

Cora May Hastings was born December 15th, 1880 in Brome, Quebec, Canada. Standing in the center between her parents in the photo above.  Her mother Was Jane Rosebella Howie, and her father was Rev. Calvin John Hasings. When Jane Rosebella Howie was born on July 28, 1849, in Brome, Quebec, Canada her father, James Howie Jr., my second Great Grandfather was 28.  Her mother, Ann Howie, nee Stewart, was 25. Ann (Stewart) Howie photo appears at the end of this post.   Rosebella married Calvin John Hastings.  They were married New Years Eve, December 31, 1880 in the Methodist Church of Shefford, Quebec, Canada. They had one son and one daughter together between 1876 and 1880, Armand Hill Hastings, and Cora May Hastings.  Armand Hill was born April 10th, 1876.  Unfortunately, he died that same year, on September 15, 1876.  Rev. C. J. Hastings died March 21, 1901.

Memorial of Armand Hill Hastings

 
Rosebella then  at age 58, married Peter McKenny Hitchcock on December 24, 1907, in Philipsburg, Quebec.  Christmas Eve. 
Peter Hitchcock, and his first wife Elisabeth, and their daughter Della May we find living next to the James Howie Jr. family on the 1861 Census of Canada. In the township of Stanbridge, Canada. The proximity to the Howie family probably added to how they ended up knowing each other, and getting married.
Della May, Rosebella's Step-Daughter, married a Richard Smith (1859 - 1905) who was born in the United States, in Lisbon, Grafton, New Hampshire.  They had four children. Their Second Son, Eugene Francis Peter Smith (1890 - 1919) brings a special connection to Canadian's who served during World War I. Eugene was a Great-Step-Son to Rosebella. 

The Military Badge of the British & Commonwealth
The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons

Eugene F.P. Smith served for three years in The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons prior to Canada joining the allied forces of WWI, and attested his allegiance to His Majesty King George V. 

King George V

 The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons was a Calvary Regiment of the Canadian Army.  If his service to his country of three years was not enough, in 1914 he joined the first contingent of the Canadian Overseas Expedition Force, "CEF" which formed in Valcartier Quebec in 1914.  This enlistment was voluntary, as conscription was not enforced. Here I have clipped his signature and oath from the attestation form.

He would have adorned to his military uniform many badges and metals, to include these:

The distinguishing patch of the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF.

He served as a Private in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Riffles Battalion.  They embarked for Great Britain June 12th 1915.  They later arrived in France September 22, 1915.  This unit fought to the end of the war.  

Eugene returned home, and married his bride Eva Rebecca Price (1892-1977) on June 12, 1918. He unfortunately died of tuberculosis in Riceburg Quebec, on the 20th of October 1919 at the age of 29 years old, before ever setting eyes on his one and only daughter, Thelma Imogene Smith who was born on the 9th of December 1919.  

Here is his final resting place, and memorial.

Photo courtesy of Graceti on Find A Grave Memorial # 121204425

Jane Rosebella (Howie) died on April 12, 1947, in Colchester, Vermont, at the age of 97, and was buried in Brome-Centre, Quebec Canada.

Jane Rosebella's sister Ann Craig Howie, who was named after her mother, was born on August 4, 1850, in Quebec when Jane Rosebella was 1 year old.

The resemblance between the two sisters is remarkable.

Annie Craig Howie-MacFarlane

Jane Rosebella Howie-Hastings

I have one more photo I wish to share, and that is of my second Great Grand Mother
 Ann Craig Stewart-Howie, with her Grand Daughter Cora May Hastings.

Ann Craig Stewart - Howie, and Grand daughter Cora May Hastings-Goodrich.

When Cora May Hastings was born on December 15, 1880, in Brome, Quebec, her father, Rev. Calvin Hastings, was 33 and her mother, Jane, was 31. She married Max William Goodrich on October 3, 1906, in Montgomery, Vermont. They had three children during their marriage. She died on January 4, 1938, in Oxford, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 57, and was buried in Brome Centre Cemetery.

Without Ancestry.com I would never have had access to the above photos, or have made the connections with cousins in far away places.  The photo of Rev. Calvin John Hastings, and family are from the collection of Lawrence Frizzle.  He is the great grand nephew of my Great Grand Aunts Jane & Annie.  A BIG Thank you to Lawrence Frizzle.

FRANKTOWN CASTLE

Tomorrow Sunday June 21st, 2015 a closing service will be held at 10:00AM for St. Pauls Church in Franktown, Ontario, Canada. 

     While I have never had the pleasure of driving along highway 15 on my way into Ottawa, It is my understanding that you could not miss seeing the Castle of the St. Paul Church.  I may never have known of the history of this Church if not for my perseverance.  You may have read in an earlier post of the MacFarlane family.  As a child I had discovered old photos and newspaper clippings my grandfather had kept. For many years I saved these old documents, later to discover they were of John Calvin MacFarlane (1889-1954), his wife Mildred Agnes Courtney and their daughter, Audrey Lenore Stuart MacFarlane (1922-2012).  As you may recall I had posted these photos to the internet in hopes of discovering who they were.  It was not until the passing of Audrey in 2012 that I would learn the story, and our family connection. 

Rev. Alexander Hastie MacFarlane
C. 1922. Ontario Canada

     Calvin MacFarlane was the son of Reverend Alexander Hastie MacFarlane, and the Great Reverend was the Minister of St. Paul Church. A cousin recently notified me that the Castle had been put up for sale for $199,000 in September 2014.  St. Paul's Church was built in 1901 for the cost of $6,100. 

St. Paul's 2005

The Stone Spire

The Church was designed by the famous Ottawa architect Moses Chamberlain Edey.

Moses Chamberlain Edey
Photo from Wikipedia

Rev. A.H. MacFarlane was born on June 29, 1848, in Dumbarton, Scotland, his father, James Edmond MacFarlane, was 29 and his mother, Mary Brooks, was 29. Both of Dumbarton, Scotland.   The Reverend married Ann Craig Howie on July 3, 1877, in Mansonville, Canada. They had six children in 10 years. He died on January 13, 1927. 

Rev. A.H. MacFarlane Family C. 1900 Canada

     Rev. A.H. MacFarlane emigrated prior to 1860 as a young boy with his parents and eight siblings from Scotland to Canada.  He grew up on Quay Street in Dumbarton Scotland, his father John MacFarlane was an officer of the town.  In 1861 the family is found residing in a one story log home in Brome, Canada.  His parents went on to live in Canada for thirty more years. 

Headstones of Mary Brooks & James E. MacFarlane.
Knowlton Cemetery Canada.
Photo by: Graceti

     After more than a century in operation, the congregation of St. Paul's Church decided to sell it.  After many months on the market for $199,000 they had to lower the price by $50,000 to sell this historic Romanesque style Church and historic landmark.  Rev. A. H. MacFarlane retired in 1913.  

Scottish Presbyterian Church of Saint Andrew,
 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. c. 1860

On December 25, 1820, 194 years ago, my Third Great Grand parents James Howie & Jean Ross were married by Rev. Robert Easton in the Scottish Presbyterian Church of Saint Andrew, in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The United States had not yet formed. In fact Spain owned most of the South West which included Texas. They had immigrated from Scotland to the British Colony of Lower Canada, and were under the rule of King George III. James Monroe was the President of the United States, and the White House as we know it today had just been built after the British had burned it to the ground in 1814. Stores in New York City had just begun advertising Christmas Shopping for the very first time that December. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Marriage certificate of James Howie & Jean Ross 25 December 1820.