I have decided to take a different approach with my search for my ancestors.  I have successfully been able to find evidence of my Grandfather & Great Grand father but beyond this I have had problems.  I know from my Great Grand Father’s Death Certificate that his father my Great Great Grandfather’s name was John Fraser and according to his death certificate his mother’s name was Flora McDonald.  Now my G Grandfather had several brothers and sisters and I have looked at several of their death certificates and I have confimed that indeed my GG Grandfather was John Fraser.  However, there is a slight confusion on the name of John’s wife.  On several documents it is stated as Flora McDonald but on others it is Gracie MacDonald.  I am not sure if Gracie was a nickname for Flora.

So what I know for sure is my GG Grandfather was John Fraser and his wife was Flora/Gracie MacDonald.  They were both born in Mabou, Inverness County.  At one point they left Mabou and moved to the Lowland Cove in Victoria Conty.  Here is where my problem begins there is no evidence of their existence with the exception of their names on their children’s death certificate.  I checked the Canadian Census for 1871, 1881 & 1891 and cannot find them. 

An interesting fact is on the 1871 Victoria County Census by G Grandfather Simon does not appear but all his brothers and sisters do.  They are living in the same house.  I have searched everywhere for Simon and his parents and cannot find them.   Since Simon was the youngest I assumed he had gone somewhere with his parents.  10 years later on the 1881 Canadian census for Victoria County Simon is living with his sister Margaret and her husband Angus MacDonald and again no sign of either of the parents. 

I have a copy of Mabou Pioneer 1 and there is no mention of my G G Grandfather.  I have been trying to get a copy of Mabou Pioneer II for many years and had no luck - perhaps they are mentioned there.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 9:42 am and is filed under Flora/Gracie McDonald, John Fraser, Meat Cove, The Lowland Cove. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One comment

Aileen Brophy
 1 

Hi Annmarie!
Re: “10 years later on the 1881 Canadian census for Victoria County Simon is living with his sister Margaret and her husband Angus MacDonald and again no sign of either of the parents. “
Simon’s sister Margaret, with whom he was living, is my Great Grandmother, so your Simon is my Great Granduncle. Margaret & Angus’s son is named John Simon, and he is my own Grandpa whom I loved dearly. He was a first and only son, but obviously named after John and Simon Fraser, Margaret’s people, as Angus McDonald’s father’s name was Neil.

I feel certain Gracie’s real name was Flora – as it is a much more traditional Hebridean Scots name than Grace, and also our Margaret named her only daughter “Flora Ann MacDonald, after her own mother. We knew her as “Aunt Flo”. I have a cousin named Flora Ann Whitty from the same area (Ingonish, from where Angus McDonald hailed). In history, Flora MacDonald was a heroine of Catholic Scots as she gave shelter to the fleeing Bonny Prince Charles, supposedly on the Isle of Barra.

Your blog is great. Hope I’ve done this correctly!
Cheers,
Aileen

June 18th, 2008 at 2:12 am