Margaret Hastie
ID # 4355, (1805-1873)
| Birth | Margaret Hastie was born in 1805 at Scotland. |
| Marriage | She married Duncan Ferguson on 9 December 1841 at Dumfries Township, Gore District. Per microfilm GS2987 First Church, Galt. After publication of banns in Dumfries, Dec. 9, 1841 (date of marriage) Duncan Ferguson and Margaret Speers, both of Dumfries Witnesses Duncan McKellar and James Nicol. This is how the marriage is shown in the marriage records of First Church at Galt and the marriage was probably performed by Rev. James Strang. Galt, in Dumfries Township, was in the Gore District from its establishment in 1816 until the system came into being. Strang began to keep marriage records from 1833 and he made marginal notes to the effect that he submitted the records up to a given date to Robert Berrie who was the District clerk at Hamilton. The surviving Gore District marriage register begins with entries dated 1843. After a few entries some 1842 records do appear, but they have the look of being late submissions. It has long been believed that there was an earlier register, now missing, and Strang's marginal notations make it clear enough that this will have been the case. See notes for Margaret discussing the available information for what we now know are two marriages previous to her marriage to Duncan Ferguson. |
| Marriage | She married (--?--) Speers. |
| Marriage | She married Gideon Goodfellow. |
| Death | She died on 29 May 1873 at North Dumfries Township, Waterloo County. |
| Burial | She was buried on 31 May 1873 at Section 2, Mountview Cemetery, Galt. |
| Note | She Information found in First Church records (see marriage notes) shows Margaret's name as Speers as of Duncan and Margaret's marriage in 1841. The inscription on Margaret's stone in section 2 of Mountview and with other Ferguson burials shows her name as Hastie. Duncan, in his will (GS2 reel 200 memorial 1678), remembers his step daughter Jean Walker. Walker will no doubt be Jean's married name. Since Duncan married Margaret in 1841, we must believe that she had a previous marriage to have had a daughter. Duncan's third wife Susannah was previously married to Dransfield Thornton, but no record has been found of them having children. Hence, it seems likely that Jean is the daughter of Margaret. This, it may now be said, is correct, though the answer proved to be unexpected. With nothing more to go on than Jean Walker's name in Duncan's will, a search was made of the 1851 and 1861 censuses. Nothing reasonable was found. The 1871 census at Galt (so presented, though the names on the page look rather more to be from the Ayr area of North Dumfries) does show a Jane Walker married to an Andrew Walker. Andrew is shown as a farmer, age 41; Jane is shown as age 38, and both are shown as C. Presbyterian. Andrew is shown as being born in Scotland and Jane in Ontario. With this information and entirely by guesswork the District marriages were checked without success, but the county marriage records are another matter. See Waterloo County Marriages, MS248 reel 16, Vol. 76, page 3, or available at Familysearch, which shows marriages solemnized by George Irving of the Canada Presbyterian Church for the year ending 31 December, A.D. 1863. This shows the marriage of Andrew Walker, age 26, born Scotland, residing Waterloo (town or township not stated), parents John Walker and Isab. Murray, to Jane Goodfellow, 24, born Canada, residing North Dumfries, parents Gideon Goodfellow and Margt Hastie. The witness was John Dalgleish of Waterloo. (The clergyman, George Irving served at Stanley Street Presbyterian Church in Ayr.) Andrew and Jane Walker are buried together in Section 3 of Mountview Cemetery in Galt. He died in 1892 and she in 1901. Hence, the evidence is that Margaret Hastie was married twice prior to her marriage to Duncan Ferguson - first to a Gideon Goodfellow and, second, to a man by the name of Speers. Burials for Gideon Goodfellow or a Speers have yet to be found. Minimal support for the Speers, or Spears, connection comes from the 1834 assessment for Dumfries Township. Appearing therein are a James Hastie, possibly Margaret's father, and a Thomas Spears, perhaps a father-in-law. This is hardly solid evidence, but is a line of investigation. (Note, the 1834 assessment of Dumfries is reproduced at the back of Andrew Taylor's Our Todays and Yesterdays, 1969, and presently available from the North Dumfries township office.) Death reg. 008488-73 North Dumfries, Waterloo Co. Margaret Ferguson died 29th May 1873. Age 68. Farmer's wife. Born Scotland. Presbyterian U.P. Physician and informant Dr. L. Richardson, Galt. Cause of death gangrene following fall from buggy - 7 days. First Church does have death or burial records for this era, though it isn't always clear from the entry which is which. Considering that the death registration for Margaret shows her death as being 29th May, then the First Church entry for Mrs. Duncan Ferguson of May 31 is reasonably a burial record and is shown as such here. |
Children of Margaret Hastie and Duncan Ferguson |
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Child of Margaret Hastie and Gideon Goodfellow |
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| Last Edited | 21 Jun 2019 |