Smith Buchanan
ID # 1210, (1845-1935)
| Father | William Buchanan (1800-1880) |
| Mother | Jane Maria Griffith (1803-1887) |
| Baptism | Smith Buchanan was baptized in 1845 at North Dumfries Twp., Gore District. |
| Marriage | He married Martha Jane Main, daughter of George Main and Margaret Hamilton, on 6 August 1873 at St. George, South Dumfries Twp., Brant Co.. Marriage reg. 004705-73 South Dumfries, Brant County, Smith Buchanan, 28, bachelor, farmer, Wesleyan Methodist. Born and residing North Dumfries. Parents William and Jane Buchanan. Martha Main, 20, spinster, Wesleyan Methodist. Born Beverly, residing North Dumfries. Parents George and Margaret Main. Witnesses Mary H. Andrews and Emily Andrews, both of St. George. Clergyman Rev. Alfred Andrews. On August 6, 1873, at St. George. It would appear that the witnesses were members of the clergyman's family. The marriage registration is rather faded. Martha's name may have been recorded thereon as Maria. If so, likely, David Baptie, the South Dumfries Township clerk, had difficulty with the handwriting of the reporting clergyman. From a reasonably generous record of documentation, we may say that her name was Martha. |
| Death | He died on 25 September 1935 at Branchton, North Dumfries, Waterloo County. |
| Burial | He was buried on 28 September 1935 at Section 1, Mountview Cemetery, Galt. |
| Note | Smith Buchanan's family history is of some interest. He was the second to last of thirteen children. He is the grandson of John Buchanan and his wife Margaret McArthur who were among the first pioneers of Dumfries Township, settling in the Branchton area in 1817. They were accompanied by their 17 year old son William who married Jane Maria Griffith (variously spelled). Her parentage remains unresolved, but there is evidence that her mother was a Rosebrugh. The Rosebrughs were among the earliest settlers in the Branchton area and there are excellent family trees available telling us about them, but maddeningly incomplete when spelling out just who the mother of Jane Maria Griffith was. Living in early Dumfries Township, apparently not far from Branchton, was a Smith family and one of Jane Maria's sisters, Lavinia, is believed to have married Eli Smith. To confuse the issue, Smith Buchanan had a sister Lavinia Buchanan who married Samuel Smith, possibly related to the Dumfries Smiths, but born in Wales and with his parents and siblings already established in Brant Township in what became Bruce County, near Walkerton, Ontario. Just when Lavinia Buchanan Smith died is unknown, but it is believed to be before the 1881 Canadian census. She had a daughter Henrietta, who was enumerated twice in the 1871 census, at her parental home near Walkerton, but also at the home of her grandparents Buchanan at Branchton. It's germane to mention this here for Henrietta later married Elam Ellis, the daughter of John Ellis and Jane Vrooman of Garafraxa Township. The only reasonable and possible connection that would have brought Henrietta of the Walkerton area into contact with the Ellis family in Garafraxa is the Main family connection. Martha Main Buchanan was half sister to Caroline Main Vrooman, the wife of Elam Vrooman, brother of Jane Vrooman Ellis. A William Smith, age 13, is in the George Buchanan household in North Dumfries at the time of the 1881 census. He is the brother of Henrietta. In 1891, William Smith is with Smith and Martha Buchanan and spent much of the rest of his life with them. William Smith died on 2 January 1949 in Branchton and was buried on 4 January 1949 in Mountview Cemetery, Galt. The September 27, 1935 edition of the Brantford Expositor carried an obituary for Smith Buchanan: Smith Buchanan, well known Branchton resident, passed away on Wednesday at his home there, in his 91st year. He had been ill for a week. He was born on the family homestead near Branchton in 1845, the son of the late William Buchanan and Maria Jane Griffin. He was the last surviving member of a family of twelve, his nearest surviving relatives being two nephews, W.H. Buchanan and William Smith, both of Branchton. The funeral will be conducted Saturday afternoon from his home in Branchton, with interment in Mount View Cemetery, Galt. |
| Last Edited | 27 Sep 2017 |