Please let me apologize, on behalf of my 2Ggrandfather, who wrote "August 15, 1857 Meaford C No. America" in his Family Bible almost 150 years ago. I'm quite sure he meant Meaford, the town in what is now Grey County, because the 1932 Florida obituary of George Chesterman (whose birth was being recorded in the Bible) reported his birthplace as Owen Sound, probably because Owen Sound is slightly larger than Meaford, I think. Tom Beatson On Oct 2, 2006, at 6:52 PM, Susie Lewis wrote: > Good Point > > I was actually assuming there was a Meaford county based on the e- > mail. > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: "Alfreda Veenstra" <aveenstra@rogers.com> > Reply-To: can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com > To: <can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com> > Subject: Re: [CAN-ONT-GREY] Meaford, Agenbough, etc. > Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 17:27:50 -0400 > > Do wish folks would refrain from using abbreviations. So many of > the place > names in USA and CA are the same in both countries as well as in > the Old > Countries. Very confusing. > > ie > ON CA which we here in Canada assume means Ontario, Canada however > Americans > assume it to mean Ontario, California. There are thousands more > that can be > confused. > > I'm assuming that > Meaford C No. America - means > Meaford, Canada, North America > or > Should you be looking for a Meaford County somewhere? > > Good luck with your research. > > Alfreda > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tom Beatson" <tombeatson@cox.net> > To: <can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 3:32 PM > Subject: Re: [CAN-ONT-GREY] Meaford, Agenbough, etc. > > >> I now have the copy of the pages from the Family Bible. There is no >> mention of "Meathford", just Meaford, so apparently that was a >> problem with my cousin's memory. The Bible makes it clear that my >> Ggrandfather George William Chesterman was born "August 15, 1857 >> Meaford C No. America". No other births were recorded. On another >> page the marriage of George's parents was recorded. They were DJ >> Chesterman and Martha Sandys on May 21st 1854 in "the Episcopal >> Church city of Ogenburgh North America". My guess is that Ogenburgh >> was actually Ogdensburg, New York, on the St. Lawrence River, and I >> plan to contact the Episcopal church in Ogdensburg. >> >> The Chestermans didn't remain in Meaford very long, because they were >> back in England for the 1861 census. Family legend claims that DJ >> (David James) was a Methodist minister, and I am wondering if they >> may have been involved with the Underground Railroad. The Chesterman >> family is white, not black. If anyone in Meaford or Owen Sound can >> provide me with a way to verify my Underground Railroad suspicion I >> would be very greatful. >> >> Tom Beatson >> Phoenix, Arizona USA >> >> On Sep 25, 2006, at 1:49 PM, Tom Beatson wrote: >> >>> Thank you Kit for the suggestion. I am awaiting delivery via snail >>> mail of a copy of the pages from the family bible, to see if I can >>> find any other clues. The GGgrandparents in this bible were David >>> James (DJ) Chesterman and Martha Sandys. Their only child was my >>> Ggrandfather George William Chesterman, who for some unknown reason >>> changed his middle name from William to Sanford when he was about >>> 25. >>> George's Ontario marriage record in Lanark County, 20 July 1882, >>> shows his birthplace as Meaford. I suspect that DJ and Martha >>> started >>> the family bible some years after their marriage in 1854 and the >>> birth of George in 1857, when they no longer lived in or near Grey >>> County, and had to kind of guess at the names of Meathford and >>> Agenbough.

Hi Tom, The following information was obtained from the Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Registry. Walsingham Township, is in Norfolk County in Southern Ontario. Vol Pg# Dist./Co. Area Given-name Surname Father Mother Residence Birthplace Birthdate Bapt-date Bapt-place Minister 1 136 Talbot/London Walsingham Twp. Mary Jane Chesterman John Nancy Walsingham Walsingham 1849-05-20 1854-05-16 Walsingham Whiting, Rev. M. 1 136 Talbot/London Walsingham Twp. William Chesterman John Nancy Walsingham Walsingham 1842-04-12 1854-05-16 Walsingham Whiting, Rev. M. Is there any connection? Regards, Ted Smith Native of St. Vincent Township, Grey County, Ontario -----Original Message----- From: can-ont-grey-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:can-ont-grey-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Tom Beatson Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 11:10 PM To: can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CAN-ONT-GREY] Meaford, Agenbough, etc. Please let me apologize, on behalf of my 2Ggrandfather, who wrote "August 15, 1857 Meaford C No. America" in his Family Bible almost 150 years ago. I'm quite sure he meant Meaford, the town in what is now Grey County, because the 1932 Florida obituary of George Chesterman (whose birth was being recorded in the Bible) reported his birthplace as Owen Sound, probably because Owen Sound is slightly larger than Meaford, I think. Tom Beatson On Oct 2, 2006, at 6:52 PM, Susie Lewis wrote: > Good Point > > I was actually assuming there was a Meaford county based on the e- > mail. > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: "Alfreda Veenstra" <aveenstra@rogers.com> > Reply-To: can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com > To: <can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com> > Subject: Re: [CAN-ONT-GREY] Meaford, Agenbough, etc. > Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 17:27:50 -0400 > > Do wish folks would refrain from using abbreviations. So many of > the place > names in USA and CA are the same in both countries as well as in > the Old > Countries. Very confusing. > > ie > ON CA which we here in Canada assume means Ontario, Canada however > Americans > assume it to mean Ontario, California. There are thousands more > that can be > confused. > > I'm assuming that > Meaford C No. America - means > Meaford, Canada, North America > or > Should you be looking for a Meaford County somewhere? > > Good luck with your research. > > Alfreda > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tom Beatson" <tombeatson@cox.net> > To: <can-ont-grey@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 3:32 PM > Subject: Re: [CAN-ONT-GREY] Meaford, Agenbough, etc. > > >> I now have the copy of the pages from the Family Bible. There is no >> mention of "Meathford", just Meaford, so apparently that was a >> problem with my cousin's memory. The Bible makes it clear that my >> Ggrandfather George William Chesterman was born "August 15, 1857 >> Meaford C No. America". No other births were recorded. On another >> page the marriage of George's parents was recorded. They were DJ >> Chesterman and Martha Sandys on May 21st 1854 in "the Episcopal >> Church city of Ogenburgh North America". My guess is that Ogenburgh >> was actually Ogdensburg, New York, on the St. Lawrence River, and I >> plan to contact the Episcopal church in Ogdensburg. >> >> The Chestermans didn't remain in Meaford very long, because they were >> back in England for the 1861 census. Family legend claims that DJ >> (David James) was a Methodist minister, and I am wondering if they >> may have been involved with the Underground Railroad. The Chesterman >> family is white, not black. If anyone in Meaford or Owen Sound can >> provide me with a way to verify my Underground Railroad suspicion I >> would be very greatful. >> >> Tom Beatson >> Phoenix, Arizona USA >> >> On Sep 25, 2006, at 1:49 PM, Tom Beatson wrote: >> >>> Thank you Kit for the suggestion. I am awaiting delivery via snail >>> mail of a copy of the pages from the family bible, to see if I can >>> find any other clues. The GGgrandparents in this bible were David >>> James (DJ) Chesterman and Martha Sandys. Their only child was my >>> Ggrandfather George William Chesterman, who for some unknown reason >>> changed his middle name from William to Sanford when he was about >>> 25. >>> George's Ontario marriage record in Lanark County, 20 July 1882, >>> shows his birthplace as Meaford. I suspect that DJ and Martha >>> started >>> the family bible some years after their marriage in 1854 and the >>> birth of George in 1857, when they no longer lived in or near Grey >>> County, and had to kind of guess at the names of Meathford and >>> Agenbough. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CAN-ONT-GREY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.12.4/449 - Release Date: 9/15/2006 -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.12.4/449 - Release Date: 9/15/2006

On Oct 2, 2006, at 8:39 PM, Ted Smith wrote: > Hi Tom, > > The following information was obtained from the Wesleyan Methodist > Baptismal > Registry. <snip> Thanks Ted, but the Chestermans you found do not match up with any of mine. However, it's interesting that you were looking in the Methodist records, because according to family legend, my 2Ggrandfather DJ Chesterman was a Methodist minister. I don't know if he was ordained or not. After this Chesterman family of 3 returned to England for the 1861 and 1871 censuses, they returned to Lanark County, Ontario for the 1881 census, and were recorded as being Methodists. This was also declared in the 1882 marriage record of son George. I don't know what drew DJ and Martha Chesterman to the Meaford and Owen Sound area in 1855-1860, but I suspect it had something to do with the Methodist church, and perhaps the Underground Railroad. Tom Beatson