Catherine Kennedy ^{78,253,256,265}

  General Notes:

Letter from Hazel Anderson of Toronto, Ontario to James C. Anderson, dated July 31, 1976.

"Another item I have about Catherine Kennedy is that she had a brother John who worked for the Government, and he was evidently in Canada before them. He was the one who was instrumental in getting the Andersons and several other families with whom they had become friendly to move from Beckwith Township to South Monaghan, where he owned some better land. Catherine also had a sister Helen, who was married to a William Anderson, but as far as we know the two Anderson men were not related. Somewhere in my multitude of notes I have a list of the children of Helen and William. These were given to me by a descendant of theirs who lived in the Port Arthur or Thunder Bay area. I was not able to trace any really definite relationship between us from the information she sent, except that Helen was a sister of our Great Grandmother Katherine or Catherine. "

Note by James C. Anderson. Note that the 1820, 1821, and the 1822 census records for Beckwith twp, in Lanark County all show a John Kennedy, a single male. Could this be the John Kennedy to whom Hazel Anderson was referring?


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The cemetery monument in South Monaghan, Ontario indicates:

"Catherine Kennedy died June 4, 1838, age 44 yrs.."
This calculates to a birth date of 1794. A search in the Scottish Church records indicates fiding a christening of a Catharine Kennedy, christened 27 Jan, 1794 in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland to parents John Kennedy and Christian Carmichael.

Finding Helen Kennedy, the wife of William Anderson on the adjacent property to Alexander Anderson in 1851 and 1861 with seven year old George Kennedy visiting provides the important clue to finding the correct Kennedy family back in Scotland. The calculated age of Helen , wife of William Anderson is 1851 census less 54 years equals born in 1797.

The Scottish Church records do indeed have a Helen Kennedy, christened 6 Sept, 1797 in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland to the same parents as Catherine Kennedy, that being John Kennedy and Christian Carmichael. The entire family of this couple being Duncan, Margaret, Donald, Catharine, Christian, Helen and Elizabeth.

Note the duplication of many of the names of the parents and siblings of this family into the family of Alexander Anderson and wife Catharine :
John Anderson, Christiana Anderson, Duncan Anderson, Margaret Anderson,
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Alexr. ANDERSON Sex: M

Marriage(s):
Spouse: Cathrine KENNEDY
Marriage: 13 Dec 1820
Comrie, Perth, Scotland

Batch number: Dates Source Call No. Type Printout Call No. Type
M113415 1820-1855 1040075 Film 6901891 Film

This marriage record from the LDS IGI files is the ONLY marriage record found on the IGI files (International Genealogical Index) between an Alexander Anderson and a Catherine or Cathrine Kennedy
in the entire British Isles within +/- 20 years of 1820.
Comrie is a village 7 miles west of Crieff , Perthshire, Scotland.
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Also, Hazel Anderson stated that Catherine had a sister Helen or Elen married to a William Anderson. The 1851 census records for South Monaghan shows William and Elen right next door to our Alexander Anderson and the age of Elen (age 54) fits perfectly for a birthdate of 1797.
The 1861 census for William and Elen still in South Monaghan has the pleasant surprise of seven year old GEORGE KENNEDY visiting during the census taking which very conveniently ties William Anderson and his wife Elen into the Kennedy family.
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  Noted events in her life were:

• Immigration: from Scotland, 1821, Beckwith Twp, Lanark County, Ontario. "Beckwith, Irish and Scottish Identities in a Canadian Community" by Glen J. Lookwood, Beckwith Township, 1991.

Immgrants located in Beckwith as Settlers by the Richmond Military Settlement Office,

1821 Date Located Con. Lot
Alexander Anderson, Scotland, 29 Sep 1821, concession 8
lot 22NE

Catherine married Alexander Anderson on 13 Dec 1820 in Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland.²³³ (Alexander Anderson was born 1784-1792 ? in ??Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland? ^{78,242,243,249,266}, christened 30 Dec 1792 ? in ??Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland?,^246,247 died on 17 Mar 1882 in South Monaghan, Northumberland County, Ontario ^{78,103,248,249} and was buried in 1882 in Centreville, South Monaghan, Ontario, Canada.). The cause of his death was old age.

  Marriage Notes:

Comrie
Perth and Kinross
A village in highland Perth and Kinross, situated 7 miles (11km) west of Crieff where the broad valley of Strathearn narrows at the confluence of the Ruchill Water and River Lednock with the River Earn. Its name is derived from the Gaelic for the 'confluence of streams'. In 79 AD Agricola built one of his Highland line of forts here, calling the place Victoria. It later developed as a kirktown that expanded in 1796 with the influx of dispossessed Highland crofters who came from Glenlednock to work in the village's distillery and two breweries or as handloom weavers.
Between the Earn and Ruchill lies The Ross, a former crofting and weaving community that is still accessed by a stone bridge built in 1792. To the south of the Earn is the 'suburb' of Dalginross, formerly a separate village.
A prominent landmark is the White Church (1805) which is now used as a community centre and the focal point of the New Year Flambeaux procession which was originally performed to drive evil spirits from the village. At the head of Glenlednock are a reservoir and hydroelectric dam and on the summit of Dunmore overlooking Comrie is a monument built in 1812 to commemorate the first Lord Melville, Henry Dundas, who was Lord Advocate and Home Secretary under William Pitt the Younger.
To the west of the village is Aberuchill Castle (1602) and to the south are the former prisoner of war camp at Cultybraggan and the Auchingarroch Wildlife and Highland Cattle Centre. There are scenic walks to the north towards the Deil's Cauldron waterfall and Laggan Wood. The village has hotels, a caravan park, bowling green, public library and a 9-hole golf course.