Ancestral Lines of Chester Everts Howell - (PDF ... - Adkinshorton.net

In 1819 Archibald second son of Alexander Fletcher sent a petition to theGovernor and Council of Ontario for land. The document sets forth the factsthat Archibald was a native of the Province and had never been out of it; thathe had means for cultivating and improving land and that he was aged upwardsof nineteen years (dated 25 August 1819). Whether Archibald ever lived on theland granted him is unknown. No record concerning him between this date of1819 and when he married Rachel Peck about 1829 has come to hand. For hisbride who was some 14 years younger than he, was built in Bowmanville nearhis father's home a fine brick house of dignified appearance. It was in thishouse that his daughter Miriam lived and through its bordering lanes she rodeher pony. In her coloring, stature and disposition Miriam resembled the pensketch of her grandfather Alexander. In contrast her father Archibald hasbeen described by two grandchildren as blond and six feet tall.Archibald born about 1800, it would seem, was not by nature a man of business.He enjoyed hand working on intricate details and even late in life mademodels for inventions and fashioned pieces of furniture for his grandchildren.About 1855 he began to sell his property holdings in Bowmanville. With the proceedshe purchased a business in Blenheim, Kent County, Ontario to be run withhis sons. This business failed, perhaps to poor planning, but also partly to thedepression in business that accompanied the pre-Civil War period. From Blenheimhe went with his family to Fenton, Michigan where a daughter and a sonwere living. Here his wife Rachel became ill and just before her death in 1862they returned to the Blenheim where their son James was living. That yearEmma their youngest child was 12 years old.The ten children of Archibald and Rachel Peck Fletcher:John Alexander born about 1830 died 1910 married Jane MuirMiles Archibald b. about 1831 mar. (1) Mary Ann Nelson (2) Mila --Miriam born 1834 died 1913 married Henry Howe ConnorWesley Drummond mar. a Miss Redhead; in 1863 was living in Cal.Mary Jane 1838-1918 mar. James Kelly of the Queen's Own, London, EnglandJames 1840-1894 married Janet Lowrey (or Laurie)George Duncan b. about 1841; lived at one time in Saginaw, Mich.Sarah Ann b. about 1844; mar. Charles Colbraith of DetroitJulia Etta b. about 1848; mar. William Topple; res. ChicagoEmma born 15 June 1850 d. 3 Jan. 1939 mar. Lyman SavageAll of the children were born in Canada except Miriam, later called Mariam,who was born near Syracuse while her mother was visiting the Peck family,which by tradition was connected with the Methodist Peck family of that region.John Alexander Fletcher oldest son of Archibald & Rachel was usually calledAlex. He resembled his father; was tall and blond; he married Jane Muir in1852. She died 9 May 1885 a victim of pioneering in the Winnipeg region. It waswith this son Alex that his father Archibald started west about 1882 to settle onopen land. At various times John Alex lived near Emerson, Manitoba; atDrayton, Dakota and at Keewatin, Ontario near Lake of the Woods where he diedSept. 1910. However he was buried at Little Britain, a place near Selkirk, justnorth of Winnipeg next to his wife. It is interesting to note on a map made somefifty years later than his death there, that in the region just north of Keewatinwhich is on the edge of the Lake of the Woods there is (in an area yet withouti::