| Notes |
- Andrew Gordon Craig (20 SEP 1839 in Lanark, Canada ), per unsourced Ancestry.com entry
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/18988703/person/740815029
AAS / 27 Dec 2012
++++++++++++++++++++++
Chapter Fourteen
The Story of Helen
The "Mystery Man" was our name for John Vanderpoole Guthrie. However even more mysterious than he, is Helen, the seventh of James and Margaret's ten children. She must be called the "Mystery Lady" of the family.
The only chronicled event of her life found thus far is her marriage record from an early church register: "Andrew Craig of Lanark, Lanark Township, son of Adam Craig and Janet Gemmill, to Helen Guthrie of Darling, Darling Township, daughter of James Guthrie and Margaret Reid. John Robertson, Lanark, Witness. March 6, 1863."
No birth or baptismal registry has been located, so we do not know the exact day of her birth. 1840 is the approximate year.
The census records are informative, especially for her when there is so little else to go on:
In 1852, James Guthrie, the census-taker, included in the listing of his own family "Nellie, age 12."
The 1861 Census record lists "Ellen, age 20."
The 1871 Census gives this information: "Craig, Andrew G., Baptist, grocer; Ellen, age 31, Church of Scotland; Jessie Anne 11, James E. 7." Her marriage took place between the 1861 and the 1871 census.
Our next reference is a report in the Lanark Era that the wedding of James Somerville and Lizzie Guthrie took place at the home of Mr. A. G. Craig of Lanark on July 23, 1872. The "home of Mr. A. G. Craig" undoubtedly was that of Andrew G. Craig and his wife Helen, Lizzie's sister.
Helen's mother died on December 6, 1873. The following year on June 25th, Peter Guthrie filed Probate Court records stating that "Ellen Craig, wife of Andrew G. Craig, who resides in the said village of Lanark" was one of the lawful children of Margaret Guthrie. This is the last specific mention of Helen. The remainder of our research sought to trace the whereabouts of the Andrew G. Craigs, and no reference to her was ever found.
Andrew Craig's father died on the 29th of November, 1873. However the first paper in the probate procedure was not signed until August 6, 1875. It stated that Adam Craig left a lawful wife Janet, and eight children surviving him, his only next of kin: No. 5 on the list was Andrew Craig of Marysville, California, a butcher.
Sometime therefore between June 25, 1874, and August 6, 1875, Andrew Craig traveled to California.
Andrew's brother Adam Craig of Rosetta, Ontario, died in December, 1914. His probate papers indicated that his brother Andrew Craig was residing in Nevada, USA. We consulted the Nevada Historical Society, but they could not help us. We decided to wait until the Federal Government completed their project of indexing all of the census records in order to search for an Andrew Craig in the State of Nevada.
Then one day while looking on a California map for Marysville, we noticed a nearby town named Nevada City. We concluded that Nevada City was a likely place to do some searching for Andrew. So in 1979 we planned a trip to the west coast. In Marysville we found no trace of either Andrew Craig or his wife; however, we found Andrew's death certificate in the Nevada City Court House (Cert. #2950 on page 217 of Book 5). We learned that he died on May 10, 1932, age 93. At the public library we studied microfilmed newspapers of that date and then were able to read his obituary, published on May 11, 1932:
"HOSPITAL INMATE SINCE 1913 DIES AT AGE 91 YEARS
"Andrew Craig, known to many Nevada City people as Adam Craig, died yesterday at County Hospital, where he had been an inmate since November 15, 1913. He was a native of Canada, aged 93 years.
"He resided in California 61 years and in Nevada City 52 years. He was a butcher by trade and was employed in various shops in this county. He is survived by a niece, Mary Morrison Craig of New York."
The Morning Union reported on May 12, 1932:
"CRAIG Funeral Today. The funeral of the late Andrew (Adam) Craig will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock from the Holmes Funeral Home in the city. Rev. H. H. Buckner will officiate and interment will be made in Pine Grove Cemetery."
None of our further inquiries by letter has been successful. We have come to the conclusion that Helen died between, June 25, 1874, and August 6, 1875. In 1897 Archibald Guthrie, had the remains of his family moved from the various cemeteries where they had been buried and reinterred in Greenwood at Middleville. Christina Craig was moved there; Helen could have been another if our conjecture is valid. There are no records to prove this.
Guthrie tradition always was that Christina and Helen both married Craig boys, but they were cousins, not brothers. Family members seem to agree that Helen and Andrew Craig had no family. This ends what we know about Helen- -she is indeed a "Mystery Lady."
[The Story of James Guthrie and His Family, Bonnie Guthrie Kuehl, 1984] [2]
|
1839 - 1932 (92 years)
Obituary
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
- Aft 1873
