William Gillespie

ID # 9613, (1827-1907)
Pedigree
BirthWilliam Gillespie was born in 1827 at Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland. 
MarriageHe married Helen Penman on 11 December 1846 at Kinghorn, Fife. 
DeathHe died on 7 September 1907 at Seaforth, Huron County, Ontario. 
BurialHe was buried on 10 September 1907 at Maitlandbank Cemetery, McKillop Twp., Huron Co.. 
NoteAncestry presents some excellent information relating to the family of William Gillespie and Helen Penman while they lived their early lives in Scotland. Mostly, the sources for the information presented are accredited to the Scottish census years and also to databases for births and baptisms. These latter refer to:

Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

and

Original data: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

The above source information, rather more simply put, is referred to as Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950.

None of the above are presented with images, census years included. All are as transcribed.

There is a birth that is probably that of William Gillespie, though certainty is lacking.

This tells that William Gillespie was born in Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland, on 13 November, 1827. His parents are shown as John Gillespie and Catharine Turpie.

Further study may confirm whether he is in fact the same as the subject of this biography.

Our first clear information for William and Helen is taken from the Scottish census of 1851. This places the family in Kinghorn, Fife, and tells that this is where William was born. His wife, Helen (Penman) is said to be born in Auchterderan, Fife. Most of their children are said to be born in Kinghorn, except Joseph who was said to be born in Burntisland, Fife.

The 1861 census places the family in Aberdour, Fife. And here, we find the birth of a male child, not named, born on 5 January, 1862, in Aberdour. No such child appears in the 1871 census and so we must believe that the child did not survive. Since the child was unnamed, it seems that his lifespan was brief.

The 1871 census has the family back in Kinghorn. Through these three censuses there resided with them a sister of Helen Penman Gillespie's, Cecil (sometimes rendered as Cecilia). Cecil appears with her sister's family on the passenger list of the ship that brought the family to Canada in 1873. (Cecilia died in Seaforth, Huron
County, in 1896.)

In July of 1873, William and Helen appear on a passenger list for the SS Manitoban, out of Glasgow. This is destined Quebec City, though, interestingly, the family is recorded as being ultimately destined for New York. How correct this may be, we do not know, but there is quite a biography for William on page 8 of the September 13, 1907, edition of Seaforth's Huron Expositor. This tells that when the family came to Canada from Scotland in 1873, they first settled in the village of Clinton before moving on to Hullett Township. New York, state or city, receives no mention. The destination of New York, as it appears in the destination column of the 1873 passenger list for the names of the family members, may have originally been intended, but it also may have been entered in error. Considering the following, the latter seems the more likely.

Overseas shipping to Canada often terminated at Quebec City as did the Manitoban. If persons were then travelling beyound Quebec, they either took smaller vessels up the St. Lawrence river, or by 1873 could have travelled by rail. The Archives of Ontario has an online index for assisted immigration registers and is entirely a transcription. These represent four volumes as created by the Toronto Emigrant office between 1865 and 1883. These relate to rail travel and this was indeed used by the Gillespie family. They are indexed under the name of W. Gillespie. This is dated to July 17, 1873, and it almost certainly relates to the family, though the wording is a bit odd.
The train trip is from Quebec City to Oakville. It tells that there was one male adult and 7 children. The total number in the party is given as 9. There is no mention of adult women, but unquestionably Helen and her sister Cecil were with the party. It does seem unlikely that this refers to another family. The short answer may be that Cecil's rail ticket was not financially assisted...that, or some information was missed in the transcription.

William's obituary has it that when the family first came to Canada, they settled in Clinton.This is a small town on present day Nbr. 8 Highway and sits between Seaforth and Goderich. The obituary tells that they resided there for some years before moving to a farm in Hullett Township of Huron County and that he then moved on to Seaforth. And this may in some manner be correct...it probably is. The 1881 census, however, has William and Ellen with son Joseph in McKillop Township.

The obituary goes on to say that William then moved on in 1883 to Sault Ste. Marie. We are not told just how long William remained in the Soo, but we must believe that his wife Helen and her sister Cecil went with him, for none of the three are to be found in Canada as of the 1891 census, and this includes a search of the Sault Ste. Marie 1891 census.

With this in mind, we must believe that the trio went to live with son David Gillespie and his wife Mary Carter. They resided in Rudyard Township of Chippewa County, Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is in Chippewa County.

And this, census-wise, presents us with difficulties. The family was no doubt recorded in the U.S. 1890 census, but the entire paper census was stored in a building that was, many years ago, destroyed by fire. Fragments of the census have survived, but that of the Soo is not one of the fragments. There were also some Michigan state censuses, but, again, not all of these have survived. Certainly not Chippewa County.

The family must have been back in Seaforth before 1896, for a Seaforth death registration exists for for Cecilia Penman dated October 14th of that year. Certainly, William and Helen are certainly in Seaforth as of the 1901 census.

Death reg. 014440-07 Seaforth, Huron Co.
William Gillespie died Sept. 7, 1907, age 81. Residence Goderich Street. Gentleman (retired), widowed. Born in Scotland. Presbyterian. Physician and informant H. H. Ross, M.B.

Helen Gillespie died in Seaforth in 1903. As shown above, her husband William died in 1907. William's obituary tells that he died on a Saturday, which was indeed September 7th, and that he was then buried on the following Tuesday and then buried in Maitlandbank Cemetery. This is in McKillop Township.

Your researcher has to hand two transcriptions of this cemetery, both of them really the same, one on paper and one digital. Nowhere do the names of William and Helen appear, nor does that of Cecilia Penman.

Which brings your researcher to a guess.

Find-a-Grave shows a photograph of what appears to be a family tomb in Maitlandbank Cemetery. The plaque on the outside wall indicates it is for William and Helen's son James and his family. It is possible that William, Helen, and Cecilia are buried herein. The problem is that the deceased of James' family were not herein interred until some years later.

That the Gillespies senior are buried in Maitlandbank, however, though not listed in the transcriptions, seems almost a certainty. 

Children of William Gillespie and Helen Penman
Last Edited24 May 2023