Susannah Buchanan
ID # 4279, (1820-1911)
| Father | John Buchanan (1773-1829) |
| Mother | Margaret McArthur (1781-1844) |
| Birth | Susannah Buchanan was born on 23 October 1820 at Dumfries Township, Gore District. |
| Marriage | She married Dransfield Thornton on 16 December 1842 at Dumfries Township, Canada West. Marriage information is taken from microfilm LCM 30 at the United Church Archives. It is also to be found on microfilm GS2987, First Presbyterian Church - First Church was Presbyterian prior to church union - but the copy found on LCM 30 is more readable. Mrge 131 By license in Dumfries, December 16, 1842 Dransfield Thornton and Susannah Buchanan, both of Dumfries, Witnesses Charles Munro and Archibald Buchanan. Since the marriage was in Dumfries, it may have been at the home of the bride's mother, though there are other possibilities. Archibald Buchanan is Susannah Buchanan's brother. |
| Marriage | She married Duncan Ferguson on 23 November 1876 at Galt, Waterloo Co., Ontario. Marriage registration 011098-76, date of marriage November 23, 1876. Duncan Ferguson, age 73, resident of North Dumfries, born Livingston Co., New York State. Profession: Farmer. Father: Arch'd Ferguson. Mother's name illegible, but might be Christina McVean. The bride's name is given as that of her first husband, Dransfield Thornton. The clerk at Galt must have spotted it, for he wrote in pencil above, 'Husband's name', and possibly 'Susannah' scrawled in as well. Her age is given as 56, her residence as Dumfries (north or south not mentioned) and her parents are named as John Buchanan and Margaret McArthur. The witnesses are named as Alex'r Buchanan of Galt and (possibly) Mrs. J.K. Smith of Galt, wife of the minister. |
| Death | She died on 27 October 1911 at Galt, Waterloo Co., at age 91. |
| Burial | She was buried at Section 4, Mountview Cemetery, Galt, Ontario. |
| Note | There is no evidence that Dransfield and Susannah had children. Death reg. 031270-11 Galt, Waterloo Co. Susannah Buchanan Ferguson died Oct. 27, 1911 at 9:30 PM. Age 91 years, 4 days. Date of birth Oct. 23, 1820, at North Dumfries. Place of death Beverly Street. Widow. Parents John Buchanan, born Scotland and - McArthur, born Scotland. Physician Dr. S. E. Charlton. Informant Theron Buchanan. Both Susannah and her sister Christie appointed Theron Buchanan Sr. as their executor and it's rather more likely that he, rather than Theron Jr., would have been the informant of Susannah's death for registration purposes. Susannah left some bequests to her Ferguson step children; she left bequests to Phoebe Buchanan and Kate Hayes. She gives no location for them nor does she state their relationship, but the evidence is that they were nieces. She also leaves a bequest to Mrs. C.E. Wilson, said to be a cousin. The probate papers locate her in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Who she was has not at this point been ascertained. Interestingly, a subsidiary probate paper does name Phoebe Buchanan and Kate Hayes as nieces and locates Kate Hayes in Valleyfield, Illinois. Phoebe, who has been left some cash and household furniture is located in Galt. This would make some sense in terms of leaving household furniture, but the evidence to this point suggests that at this time Phoebe was resident in Illinois. She later moved west and was in Oregon. There is some possibility that she spent some time in Galt, perhaps caring for her aged aunts. She does not appear in the 1911 census at Galt. According to Susannah's obituary in the Galt Reporter, is shows that Phoebe Buchanan indeed came to Canada and spent quite some time nursing Susannah in her last extremity. |
| Last Edited | 14 Jun 2019 |