Lavinia Buchanan

MS248 reel 5 Vol. 1 page 4.
Brant County
Return of marriages solemnized by me William Smith - a minister of the Regular Baptist Ch. St. George, South Dumfries, Co. of Brant
Samuel Smith, 20, born Wales, residing Brant Township, parents Thos and Jane Smith.
(1st name badly written) Buchanan, 21, born Dumfries, residing N. Dumfries. Parents Wm. Buchanan and Jane Griffith.
Witnesses Arthur Willett and Harriet Buchanan, both of N. Dumfries.
On 12 Jany., 1858.

Samuel Smith, as noted, was a resident of Brant Township. This is in Bruce County, near Walkerton. We have no information as to any Dumfries connections that he may have had whereby he met Lavinia.

The county marriage registrations do not typically provide the exact location of the marriage. It's entirely possible that Rev. Smith performed the marriage at the home of the bride's family - in North Dumfries in Waterloo County - but recorded the marriage as being held in Brant County. Rev. Acheson in Galt recorded marriages in Waterloo County that could be shown to have been performed in Wentworth County. The Baptist newspaper, The Christian Messenger, shows extractions of marriages as they appear in the paper for 1858, but there appear to be many issues missing. The available extractions for 1859 is much more extensive.

Arthur and Harriet appear next on the list of marriages, being married some five weeks later.

We will note here that William Buchanan's siblings were Presbyterians. William and his family, however, were apparently Baptists.