Descendants of Jane Harvie
Children of Joshua Pitman Terfry and Jane
A. Harvie were:
+ 1. Starritt Dennison Terfry
+ 1. Starritt Dennison Terfry
SECOND GENERATION
1.
Starritt Dennison Terfry, born 7 Oct 1864 9, 17
in St. Croix, Hants County, Nova Scotia. He married in Nova Scotia,
Canada, likely between 1893 and his Apr. 1894 arrival in the
USA, Mary Jane McLean,
b. 27 Dec. 1868 9, 17 in Canada.
THIRD GENERATION
2.
Churchill Dennison Terfry, born 16 Apr 1897 9, 17 in
Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; died aged 91 years
on 4 Jan 1989 9 in Everett, MA. He married 1924
9 an unknown (name unreadable in 1930 census) born
ca. 1901.
To
provide information on Jane A. Terfry née Harvie
contact: 
SOURCES:
1 Rev. McLeod Harvey, From Old Scotia to New Scotia - A Family of Harveys, Hants Journal Press, (circa 1945) p.13 "Daniel married Jane Burton and had a daughter, Jane who married Joshua Terfry".
2 Hants Co. Court of Probate, Distribution of Personal Property Order, dated 23 Apr 1866 named her as "Jane A".
3 Index to the Presbyterian Witness (PW) . (marriage - Joshua's surname appears as Terfry, death - Augusta's appears as Terfrey)
4 Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Genealogies, No. 87, dated 30 April 1901, pp 586 through 609. George S. Brown, Yarmouth Nova Scotia Genealogies, transcribed from the Yarmouth Herald, (1993) [ISBN 0-8063-1372-2]. Not personally checked. Fred. E Crowell, New Englanders in Nova Scotia, Transcripts from the Yarmouth Herald Newspapers. Not personally checked.
5 A Record of Deaths 1873-1890 Hants County and Vicinity, a "diary" record found in the residence of Thomas Curry of Curry's Corner. It lists the death of Joshua Trefry of St. Croix, as 14 Jul 1883, age 64 years (collection of the West Hants Historical Society, Windsor, Hants Co., N.S.)
6 Vital Stats from Nova Scotia Newspapers: 1844-1847 (GANS). Nova Scotian newspaper of Mon. 11 Aug. 1845 - died at Newport in same house (1) 29 July, Jane Ann, 22 (23), wife of David Harvey, and d/o W. Burton, Windsor (2) 1 Aug. Rebecca, 72, wife of Andrew Harvey,(Sr.)
7 Original of the 1 Sep 1862 letter held by R.P. Harvey, Lower Sackville, Hants Co., N.S.
8 1871 Hants Co. Census (enunerated at 2 Apr 1871, ages given were those at next birthday), St. Croix, #33/35, Joshua Trefy (sic) age 50, storekeeper, married; Jane 26, married; Starritt, 7. All born in Nova Scotia, all Presbyterian & with fathers of Irish origin. 1881 Hants Co. Census enumerated at 4 Apr 1881, ages given were those at last birthday), St. Croix, #114, Joshua Trefry age 60, trader, father's origin French, Jane 35, married, father of Scotch descent, Staret 19, father of Scotch descent. Note: according to 1871 census Starratt was born during the 12 months to 2 Apr 1865 - consistent with his Nov. 1864 birth date in the 1900 US Census - and establishing Jane was his mother. However his 1881 census age of 19 calculates to a birth during the 12 months to 2 Apr 1862 resulting in Jane not being his mother! Jane's ages in both census calculate to a post 4 Apr 1845 birth date - i.e. she would have turned 36 on or after 5 Apr 1881.
9 1900 US Census - S. Dennison Terfry, age 36, b. Nov. 1864, married 6 years (calculates to a ca. 1893 marriage), emmigrated 1890, owns own home free of mortgage, Wedgewood St., Everett, Middlesex, Massachusetts, spouse Mary, age 32, born Dec. 1867, 1 birth/1 living child, Churchill D., age 3, born April 1897, Massachusetts.
1910 US Census as at 15 Apr 1910 - Starritt D. Terfry, age 34 (calculating to a 1876 birth & probably intended to be 44 calculating to a ca. 1866 birth) - listed as residing near Boston at 20, Wedgewood St. Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with occupation of Machine Worker in a Last Factory, & spouse Mary J. (age 41 calculating to a ca. 1868 birth) & one son Churchill D. aged 13 (b. ca. 1897) born MA. Parents married 17 years (i.e. ca. 1893), no previous children, both and their parents born Canada, US immigration year 1890, neither parent naturalised.
1920 US Census as at 1 Jan 1920 - mostly unreadable except for address same as 1910 & 1920, Churchill only child, both Starratt D. and Mary born Canada, immigration year given as 1889.
1930 US Census taken as at 1 Jan 1930 - same address 20 Wedgewood St., Everett, home owned, value $3600, no radio, Starrett D. age 64 (caculates to a ca. 1865 birth), spouse Mary age 60 (ca. 1869 birth), respective ages when married 30 & 26 (both calculating to a ca. 1895 marriage year), both born Canada, immigration year 1896, both naturalised, Starrett's occputation given as Rubber Worker. At same address son Churchill, age 32 (so b. ca. 1898), a grocery store salesman, with spouse name unreadable who was aged 29 (so b. ca. 1901), both born MA, one son listed age 4 but his name unreadable. Respective ages at the marriage of 26 and 23 calculates to a ca. 1924 marriage.
Massachusetts Vital Records, Vol. 467, p.174 (New England Historical Genealogical Society) - Churchill Terfry, occupation Shipper, born April 16, 1897 in Everett, MA, father Starrit, mother Mary J. McLean.
Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003 - Cert. #013633, Churchill D. Terfry, born 16 Apr 1897, died 4 Jan 1989 in Everett, Massachusetts.
SSDI (Social Security Death Index) lists the deaths, with respective social security numbers of 013-03-3533 & 013-03-3542 - i.e. only 9 apart - at the same Everett city address of (1) Churchill D. Tefry b. 16 Apr 1897, d. 4 Jan 1989 & (2) C. L. Terfry (would be Constance Louise) b. 17 Mar 1908, d. 8 Apr 1993.
10 John Harvie (1730-1822) of Newport, Nova Scotia: Three Generations of Descendants, Robert Paton Harvey, Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Vol 6, #4 December 1976, p. 10
11 Leland H. Harvie, The Harvie/Harvey Family of Hants County, Nova Scotia, Hantsport (1984) p. 220 & elsewhere in the book re "Samuel" Dennison Harvie / Zylphia Terfry marriage.
12 Hants Co. Court of Probate, Warrant dated 12 Jun 1866 appointing valuers of the real estate.
13 Spicer, Masters of sail : the era of square-rigged vessels in the maritime provinces, Ryerson Press (1968), p. 59, 1838-1877 Bennett Smith built 35 vessels at Windsor & 1864-1890 Shubael Dimock built at least 12 square-riggers plus numerous schooners. p. 58, 1840-1903 Ezra Churchill's yard at Hantsport built 88 vessels & 1852-1894 J.B. North's built 54 vessels. p. 60, at least five of Bennet Smith's vessels, not only had the reputation of paying for themselves, but adding at least a $100,000 each to their owners wealth. His 350-ton bargue Avon was launched at a time of high cotton freights and paid for itself on its maiden voyage. p. 58, ownership of a vessel was usually held in 64 shares. Well established shipbuilders usually owned a controlling interest, and the less well established, as few as a 4/64 shareholding.
14 Ibid p.182 - "in 1876 an ordinary seaman on the Calcutta received 3 pounds per month, in 1884 an ordinary seaman on the Birnam Wood received 2 pounds 10 shillings per month, and same on the Glooscap in 1892". P. 128, "A Maitland shipbuilders wage book, dated Dec. 1860, listed weekly wages for his 33 workers ranged from one pound ten shillings to three pounds fifteen".
15 Ralph A. Harvie, The Story of a Bluenose Barque : The John A. Harvie, 1876-1880, The Mariner's Mirror, (International Journal of The Society for Nautical Research), Vol. 71, No. 4, Nov 1985, p. 381, 1863-1881 the John Harvie shipyard at Avondale built 19 vessels.
16 Pearl Brown, Ramblings over roads and hills of Newport Township, p.96 - Dennison Harvie (son of James Harvie and Eliza Fish) m. Zylphia Trefry p. 16-17 - a Joshua Trefry attended school at Ardoise Hill District #5. p. 29 - Trefry on a list of land-holders on N. side of OLD ROAD late 1700's. Also see p.10 of 1 for Zylphia Trefry (sic) marr. to Dennison Harvie.
17 The Starritt Dennison Terfry (sic) 12 Sep 1919 USA Petition for Naturalization (#43636 - folio 138) and his 5 Jun 1916 Declartion of Intention (#51176), both personally signed, gave his birth date as 12 Sep 1919 - note a one month variation from Nov. 1864 in the 1900 census. Wife Mary Jane's D.O.B. differed by one year from 27 Dec. 1868 in the Petition to Dec 1867 in the 1900 census. The Declaration gave Starritt's height as 5 ft. 5 inches, weight as 125 pounds, hair color - brown, eyes - gray, complexion - medium. The Peition stated his only child was Churchill Dennison Terfry born 1 Apr. 1897, who signed the Petition as one of the two witnesses, and gave his occupation as a salesman residing in Everett. The other witness was Walter Franklin McIntire a printer by occupation residing Everett.
18 Certificate of Naturalization #1761139 dated 19 Jan 1920.
In 1894 he emigrated from his St. Croix birth
place in Hants County, Nova Scotia to the USA where from at least
1900 he resided about five kilometres north of the city centre of
Boston, Massachusetts at 20 Wedgewood, Everett City. He became an
American citizen on 19 Jan 1920 18.
In the 1910 census his occupation was given as machine worker in
a last factory (a component used in making shoes). His 1916
Declaration of Intention to become a citizen gave his occupation
as night manager and his 1919 Petition for Naturalization as an
elevator operator. The 1930 census had his occupation as rubber
worker. In the Declaration he gave his last residence in Nova
Scotia as St. Croix and stated at the time his wife Mary Jane had
been residing with him. The date of the emigration from Nova Scotia
was given as 3 Apr. 1894, the place of departure as Yarmouth in
the Declaration and Halifax in the Petition, and Boston was the
place of arrival in the USA.
Only
child of Starritt Dennison Terfry and Mary Jane McLean was:
+ 2. Churchill Dennison Terfry
+ 2. Churchill Dennison Terfry
THIRD GENERATION
2.
Churchill Dennison Terfry, born 16 Apr 1897 9, 17 in
Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; died aged 91 years
on 4 Jan 1989 9 in Everett, MA. He married 1924
9 an unknown (name unreadable in 1930 census) born
ca. 1901. Children of Churchill Dennison Terfry
and an unknown spouse were:
3. A Son, b. ca. 1926 9 in Everett, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts.
3. A Son, b. ca. 1926 9 in Everett, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts.
Jane's Early History
Her mother's
given names were Jane Ann so it is likely her second initial
of "A" was also Ann. Jane's age as given in the 1871 and 1881 Canadian
census calculate to her having been born during the twelve months post
4 Apr 1845 8. So when her mother died on 29 Jul 1845 she
would have been less than four months old. She would have been born on Roseway Farm at Avondale. Her father Daniel purchased the section with the house on
it from his father Andrew in 1841. In mid-summer 1845 tragedy struck
the household when within three days Jane and her brother Walter lost
both their 22 year old mother and their 72 year old grandmother Rebecca
Harvie 6. Shortly afterwards they acquired a
step-mother and a first cousin Andrew Harvie as a step-brother, when
with infant children to care for their father married the widow of his
deceased brother Andrew Harvie. About 1851 they were orphaned when
their father Daniel died from injuries received in an accident in a
gypsum mine he part-owned.
It is known from a 1925 letter, written by Jane's Australia resident older brother Walter to their half-sister Caroline Hill in Kern County, California, that following their father's death the five children from his two marriages were split into two groups. It seems this split would have occurred about 1854 following a mortgagee auction of their late father's portion of Roseway Farm and its purchase by their uncle and guardian James Harvie. Jane and Walter then left their late father's farm and went to live with their Burton grandparents on a large leased property located about six miles from Windsor being worked by three of their grandparent's five sons - Alexander, William and Walter Burton. It is likely about this time their stepmother with their three half-sisters and step-brother moved into the village of Avondale where Walter Harvie wrote the three half-sisters were living in the year 1859 when he left Nova Scotia never to return.
In the cited letter Walter Harvie also wrote that from about 1856, upon expiry of the lease of the Burton property near Windsor, and before he first went to sea with his uncle Capt. William P. Harvie on the Avondale for a six month voyage to the West Indies, he went to live for two years with his uncle William Burton on his property that was seemingly situated in the Latties Brook/Burtons area about 7 miles south of Maitland near the head of Cobequid Bay in north eastern Hants County. A Walter and John Burton had been granted land there in 1829. That gave rise to the naming of the locality "Burtons", and later the same for the railway station there from which the farmers sent their cream to market, a locality name persisting to this day on the topographical map. He also wrote when the lease on the property near Windsor had expired his grandparents and uncle Alexander returned to their own property at St. Croix. No doubt they were accompanied there by his sister Jane.
So Jane Harvie and her brother Walter ceased to share a place of residence from when she was about twelve years of age and he was about thirteen. It is apparent thereafter, that apart from via correspondence, they would have had almost no contact.
It is known from a 1925 letter, written by Jane's Australia resident older brother Walter to their half-sister Caroline Hill in Kern County, California, that following their father's death the five children from his two marriages were split into two groups. It seems this split would have occurred about 1854 following a mortgagee auction of their late father's portion of Roseway Farm and its purchase by their uncle and guardian James Harvie. Jane and Walter then left their late father's farm and went to live with their Burton grandparents on a large leased property located about six miles from Windsor being worked by three of their grandparent's five sons - Alexander, William and Walter Burton. It is likely about this time their stepmother with their three half-sisters and step-brother moved into the village of Avondale where Walter Harvie wrote the three half-sisters were living in the year 1859 when he left Nova Scotia never to return.
In the cited letter Walter Harvie also wrote that from about 1856, upon expiry of the lease of the Burton property near Windsor, and before he first went to sea with his uncle Capt. William P. Harvie on the Avondale for a six month voyage to the West Indies, he went to live for two years with his uncle William Burton on his property that was seemingly situated in the Latties Brook/Burtons area about 7 miles south of Maitland near the head of Cobequid Bay in north eastern Hants County. A Walter and John Burton had been granted land there in 1829. That gave rise to the naming of the locality "Burtons", and later the same for the railway station there from which the farmers sent their cream to market, a locality name persisting to this day on the topographical map. He also wrote when the lease on the property near Windsor had expired his grandparents and uncle Alexander returned to their own property at St. Croix. No doubt they were accompanied there by his sister Jane.
So Jane Harvie and her brother Walter ceased to share a place of residence from when she was about twelve years of age and he was about thirteen. It is apparent thereafter, that apart from via correspondence, they would have had almost no contact.
Marriage
The next
known of Jane comes from a letter dated 1 Sep
1862 written by her uncle and guardian James Harvie (1803-1890)
addressed to her brother Walter Harvie in Sydney, Australia. He wrote
that Walter's sister Jane was a very steady girl who he had been told
had an "excellent place" with Mr. George Sweet at St. Croix 7. A year later at
18 years of age so described "steady girl" Jane married the local St.
Croix storekeeper Joshua Pitman Terfry who was just shy of his 42nd
birthday and a widower of six months standing. Jane with husband Joshua
and a son Starratt (sic) appeared at St. Croix near Windsor in both the
1871 and the 1881 census 8. The 1871 A.F. Church Map of
Hants County has the Joshua Terfry store marked as "J. Trefry Store"
and situated on the southern side of the St. Croix to Windsor road.
Apart from Starritt, whose given name has been found in Nova Scotian and USA records variously rendered as Starratt, Starrett, Starritt, Starrit, Starett, and Staret, and whose second given name of Dennison was the surname of his father's first wife, no other children were listed for the couple at either census. The absence of additional children during the 17 years between Starritt's's Nov. 1864 birth and the 1881 census makes it unlikely there would have been any others concieved beween 1881 and Joshua's July 1883 death. However as Jane was about 38 years of age when her husband died, if she had remarried it cannot be excluded that she could have had additional children. Thus the question of whether there were any others will remain open until she is located in the 1891 Canadian census or in the USA (perhaps Boston area) to where she could have emmigrated. If she remarried in Nova Scotia the marriage should have been indexed in the Nova Scotia Vitals Index that first went online in March 2007. However it has no marriage indexed for a Jane Terfry or for the surname variants. Similarly there is no death of a Jane Tefry indexed during the two periods that are covered by the index from 1864 to 1877 and then from 1908 to 1930. Thus it is possible if she remained in Nova Scotia and did not remarry that she could have died there during the period from 1877 to 1908 hen no death records were maintained under the name of Jane Terfry or that she died there after the (current at year 2007) 1930 ending of the death index. The indication from census records is that son Starritt married in Nova Scotia between 1893 and April 1894 when he emigrated to the USA. However there is no marriage indexed for him in Nova Scotia so unless the marriage record has been lost or missed in the indexing it seems he must have married elsewhere in Canada or in the USA. His Oct. 1864 birth in Nova Scotia is not indexed which is not significant as 1864 was the first year the Government began official birth records and many births would not have been registered.
When he died it is not known if Joshua Terfry still owned the St. Croix store. Likely he did as his son Starritt was still living in St. Croix when he emigrated to the USA in April 1894. In the 1871 census Joshua was listed as a "storekeeper" and in 1881 as a "trader". A 1976 article in the Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly stated Joshua was a "merchant" in Hantsport. However such seems unlikely unless he had an additional store there as the record of his 1883 death had residence as St. Croix where the evidence suggests he had lived for at least the previous 20 years 10. In his 1984 book on the genealogy of the Harvie family Leland H. Harvie wrote that Jane resided at Avondale 11. However there is no known evidence Jane resided there after she was about 10 years of age. If for some reason she returned to live in that locality after her husband's 1883 death it follows she had either remarried, so would be listed in the census under another surname, or had moved elsewhere before the 1891 census as neither a Jane Terfry or son Starritt were listed as residing in Avondale in the 1891 census. They also did not appear in the 1891 or 1896 directories for the nearby major Hants County shiretown of Windsor, and did not appear in Windsor, Hantsport or the Kempt / Summerville area at the 1891 census, and were not listed in the 1871-1901 census indexes for Lunenburg Co., Queen's Co., and Halifax Co. (excludes Halifax city). However in addition to Halifax City there were about 14 other counties in Nova Scotia alone to which they could have moved between 1883 and 1891 which makes locating them difficult until such time as an index of the 1891 Canadian census becomes available.
Starritt would have been aged 21 when his father died so was entitled at that time to the full inheritance of his father's estate. With the great wooden shipbuilding era having ended in Hants County, if the St. Croix store was still owned, that Starritt may have sold it and with Jane moved elsewhere in Nova Scotia or Canada. However as Starritt's USA naturalization papers have him still living in St. Croix in April 1894 then he at least seeminly could not have moved elsewhere before then. As there is no Jane Terfry listed in the index to the 1901 census of Canada it would seem that by then Jane must have either emigrated or died, or if she had remained and remarried, was listed in that census under her married surname.
After the 1881 Hants County census Starritt was next found in the 1900 census of the USA residing in the city of Everett, located about 5 kilometres north of the city center of Boston, Massachusetts, and married to a Mary Jane McLean with one son Churchill D. who was born in Everett in April 1897. The four US census records from 1900 to 1930 indicate Churchill was an only child and he continued residing in Everett until his death in 1989. Recorded as dying in Everett in 1993 was a Constance Louise Terfry born 1908. Churchill married ca. 1924 an unknown (name unreadable in the 1930 census) listed in that census as born ca. 1901. However his wife's name in that census appears to have been shorter than "Constance L." so it's possible Constance Louise was an unmarried daughter or a second wife. An alternative is she was an 18 years older than him wife of Churchill's ca. 1926 born son whose given names are also unreadable in the 1930 census and are thus unknown ? 9 When the 1940 US census becomes available these relationships should be able to be clarified.
From the data in the 1900 to 1930 US census records it can be concluded Starritt likely married Mary Jane McLean in Canada between 1893 and April 1894. The year of their emigration from Nova Scotia to the USA varied from 1890 given in the 1900 and 1910 census, to 1889 in the 1920, and to 1896 in the 1930 and a precise date of 3 Apr 1894 of their arrival in Boston was given in Starritt's 1919 Petition for Naturalization to become a US citizen. Thus it is expected Jane and son Starritt should be found listed somewhere in the 1891 census of Canada and most probably in respect of Starritt still in St. Croix in Hants County.
If Churchill's ca. 1926 born son of unknown name is still alive or a descendant can be located some knowledge of Jane's post 1883 history may become known. Churchill's son would have been just old enough to have enlisted in the US military late in WW II. However the NARA database of the names of the over nine million men and women who enlisted between 1938 and 1946 quite amazingly contains the name of only one person with the Terfry surname - an Edward D. Tefry b. 1917 who enlisted in Boston in 1945 and who at that time was living in Norfolk, Massachusetts. He would be the Edward Terfry listed in the SSDI as born 20 May 1917 and as dying in Dec 1983 with his last known residence given as Canada. The SSDI also has a Edward E. Terfry born 12 Jul 1945 who died 28 Mar 2001 whose social security number was issued in Massachusetts. It seems very likely Starritt named his son Churchill after the prominent Hants Co. identity Ezra Churchill, whose shipyard was located in Hantsport near St. Croix where Starritt was raised, and whose 1860 built house in Hantsport named "The Cedars" has for many years in part housed a museum and community center. At one time Hantsport was the fifth largest ship building center in the world. Perhaps Starritt's merchant father Joshua had invested as a part-owner in some of the eighty-eight ships built in the Churchill Shipyards or perhaps after his father's death his mother Jane remarried someone associated with the shipyards ? 13
Apart from Starritt, whose given name has been found in Nova Scotian and USA records variously rendered as Starratt, Starrett, Starritt, Starrit, Starett, and Staret, and whose second given name of Dennison was the surname of his father's first wife, no other children were listed for the couple at either census. The absence of additional children during the 17 years between Starritt's's Nov. 1864 birth and the 1881 census makes it unlikely there would have been any others concieved beween 1881 and Joshua's July 1883 death. However as Jane was about 38 years of age when her husband died, if she had remarried it cannot be excluded that she could have had additional children. Thus the question of whether there were any others will remain open until she is located in the 1891 Canadian census or in the USA (perhaps Boston area) to where she could have emmigrated. If she remarried in Nova Scotia the marriage should have been indexed in the Nova Scotia Vitals Index that first went online in March 2007. However it has no marriage indexed for a Jane Terfry or for the surname variants. Similarly there is no death of a Jane Tefry indexed during the two periods that are covered by the index from 1864 to 1877 and then from 1908 to 1930. Thus it is possible if she remained in Nova Scotia and did not remarry that she could have died there during the period from 1877 to 1908 hen no death records were maintained under the name of Jane Terfry or that she died there after the (current at year 2007) 1930 ending of the death index. The indication from census records is that son Starritt married in Nova Scotia between 1893 and April 1894 when he emigrated to the USA. However there is no marriage indexed for him in Nova Scotia so unless the marriage record has been lost or missed in the indexing it seems he must have married elsewhere in Canada or in the USA. His Oct. 1864 birth in Nova Scotia is not indexed which is not significant as 1864 was the first year the Government began official birth records and many births would not have been registered.
When he died it is not known if Joshua Terfry still owned the St. Croix store. Likely he did as his son Starritt was still living in St. Croix when he emigrated to the USA in April 1894. In the 1871 census Joshua was listed as a "storekeeper" and in 1881 as a "trader". A 1976 article in the Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly stated Joshua was a "merchant" in Hantsport. However such seems unlikely unless he had an additional store there as the record of his 1883 death had residence as St. Croix where the evidence suggests he had lived for at least the previous 20 years 10. In his 1984 book on the genealogy of the Harvie family Leland H. Harvie wrote that Jane resided at Avondale 11. However there is no known evidence Jane resided there after she was about 10 years of age. If for some reason she returned to live in that locality after her husband's 1883 death it follows she had either remarried, so would be listed in the census under another surname, or had moved elsewhere before the 1891 census as neither a Jane Terfry or son Starritt were listed as residing in Avondale in the 1891 census. They also did not appear in the 1891 or 1896 directories for the nearby major Hants County shiretown of Windsor, and did not appear in Windsor, Hantsport or the Kempt / Summerville area at the 1891 census, and were not listed in the 1871-1901 census indexes for Lunenburg Co., Queen's Co., and Halifax Co. (excludes Halifax city). However in addition to Halifax City there were about 14 other counties in Nova Scotia alone to which they could have moved between 1883 and 1891 which makes locating them difficult until such time as an index of the 1891 Canadian census becomes available.
Starritt would have been aged 21 when his father died so was entitled at that time to the full inheritance of his father's estate. With the great wooden shipbuilding era having ended in Hants County, if the St. Croix store was still owned, that Starritt may have sold it and with Jane moved elsewhere in Nova Scotia or Canada. However as Starritt's USA naturalization papers have him still living in St. Croix in April 1894 then he at least seeminly could not have moved elsewhere before then. As there is no Jane Terfry listed in the index to the 1901 census of Canada it would seem that by then Jane must have either emigrated or died, or if she had remained and remarried, was listed in that census under her married surname.
After the 1881 Hants County census Starritt was next found in the 1900 census of the USA residing in the city of Everett, located about 5 kilometres north of the city center of Boston, Massachusetts, and married to a Mary Jane McLean with one son Churchill D. who was born in Everett in April 1897. The four US census records from 1900 to 1930 indicate Churchill was an only child and he continued residing in Everett until his death in 1989. Recorded as dying in Everett in 1993 was a Constance Louise Terfry born 1908. Churchill married ca. 1924 an unknown (name unreadable in the 1930 census) listed in that census as born ca. 1901. However his wife's name in that census appears to have been shorter than "Constance L." so it's possible Constance Louise was an unmarried daughter or a second wife. An alternative is she was an 18 years older than him wife of Churchill's ca. 1926 born son whose given names are also unreadable in the 1930 census and are thus unknown ? 9 When the 1940 US census becomes available these relationships should be able to be clarified.
From the data in the 1900 to 1930 US census records it can be concluded Starritt likely married Mary Jane McLean in Canada between 1893 and April 1894. The year of their emigration from Nova Scotia to the USA varied from 1890 given in the 1900 and 1910 census, to 1889 in the 1920, and to 1896 in the 1930 and a precise date of 3 Apr 1894 of their arrival in Boston was given in Starritt's 1919 Petition for Naturalization to become a US citizen. Thus it is expected Jane and son Starritt should be found listed somewhere in the 1891 census of Canada and most probably in respect of Starritt still in St. Croix in Hants County.
If Churchill's ca. 1926 born son of unknown name is still alive or a descendant can be located some knowledge of Jane's post 1883 history may become known. Churchill's son would have been just old enough to have enlisted in the US military late in WW II. However the NARA database of the names of the over nine million men and women who enlisted between 1938 and 1946 quite amazingly contains the name of only one person with the Terfry surname - an Edward D. Tefry b. 1917 who enlisted in Boston in 1945 and who at that time was living in Norfolk, Massachusetts. He would be the Edward Terfry listed in the SSDI as born 20 May 1917 and as dying in Dec 1983 with his last known residence given as Canada. The SSDI also has a Edward E. Terfry born 12 Jul 1945 who died 28 Mar 2001 whose social security number was issued in Massachusetts. It seems very likely Starritt named his son Churchill after the prominent Hants Co. identity Ezra Churchill, whose shipyard was located in Hantsport near St. Croix where Starritt was raised, and whose 1860 built house in Hantsport named "The Cedars" has for many years in part housed a museum and community center. At one time Hantsport was the fifth largest ship building center in the world. Perhaps Starritt's merchant father Joshua had invested as a part-owner in some of the eighty-eight ships built in the Churchill Shipyards or perhaps after his father's death his mother Jane remarried someone associated with the shipyards ? 13
Father's Estate
As none of Jane's letters to Walter Harvie in Australia are known to have survived only a guess can be made as to when Walter and Jane last had contact. It is possible contact may have ended as early as the late 1860's. Walter wrote of receiving from the administrator of his late father's estate a form of a power of attorney for him to appoint someone to act for him in the matter of disbursement of the estate, and of having appointed his uncle Alexander Burton, and instructed him to turn over any moneys subsequently received by him to his sister Jane.
On the face of it that might seem an extraordinary thing to have done. However there were no banks where Walter was in 1865 at Boat Harbour (Bellinger River) in New South Wales. When he had arrived there in 1863 to take up a job as a bullock team driver for a wage of £1 a week he later wrote there were only 20 white men and 2 white women living in the district and the livestock comprised just one grey horse. The nearest bank would have been at Kempsey some 60-70 miles distant then reached only by boat or by walking along the beach and crossing several rivers. In any event he would have had no agent at Kempsey or a bank account let alone knowledge of international money transfers. Presumably he must have trustingly envisaged his sister Jane would keep the money safe for him until some time in the future when he could set up satisfactory arrangements to have it transmitted to him wherever he was in the world or could collect it personally when he returned home to Nova Scotia. A major factor would clearly have been that he had been conditioned by manifestly misleading statements, contained in a 1 Sep 1862 letter from his uncle James Harvie, to believe that if he were to subsequently receive any money at all from his father's estate the amount would not be significant. His uncle had told him the estate was worth roughly 400 pounds (the 1866 valuation was actually £358 for the personal estate plus £1086 for the real estate), and that his stepmother was due a third as her dower right. So the most Walter could have expected was a one fifth share of about £200 pounds or about £40. However his uncle also pointed out there were "considerable expenses in the way of the way of dyke rates" which by implication would be eating into anything he might expect to receive. (in fact his uncle should have properly been paying rent for the use of the reclaimed agricultural land far exceeding the rates levied to maintain and repair the dyke system).
In the 1925 letter to his half-sister Caroline Walter advised, that after forwarding the power of attorney to his uncle Alexander he had heard nothing further on the matter of his father's estate, and whilst he had subsequently received letters from his sister Jane she had not mentioned receiving any money from the estate. However from the Hants County probate file it is clear that upon reaching the age of 21 years, whereupon she became legally entitled to receive her share of her late father's estate, an application was made to the court by herself and her husband Joshua for the distribution to occur. The question that begs an answer is why did Jane in her letters to Walter not tell him of having instigated this action and of having circa 1866 received approximately 200 pounds as her share of the personal and real estate ? The only possible reason for Jane to have been silent in her letters about such an important matter must surely have been that she and her husband, in accord with the power of attorney, and the instructions given by Walter to his Uncle Alexander to turn over to her any moneys received on his behalf to Jane, had in fact also received Walter's share in addition to her own but chose not to tell him. It must be presumed Walter would have advised Jane of the instructions given to his Uncle Alexander and likely would have also conveyed to her his expectation, engendered by his Uncle James Harvie's 1862 letter, that they could expect to receive little if anything from their father's estate.
Judge Bowman's order dated 23rd April 1866 for the distribution of the personal estate stated Jane and her husband Joshua Terfry were in attendance with their proctor and through him consented to his order 2. In a warrant dated 12 June 1866 sundry persons were appointed to value and divide the real estate. Judge Bowman stated it was made pursuant to an application by Joshua Terfry and his wife Jane A. Terfry for a division of the real estate of her late father 12. So Jane and her husband were clearly the instigators of the distribution. The April 1866 order was actually that the money due to Jane be paid on her behalf to her husband Joshua Terfry. Perhaps in an age when wives obeyed their husbands, especially one then almost twice her age, it was the hand of Joshua the merchant who stayed the hand of "steady" Jane from making any mention of the receipt of the moneys due to Walter from the distributions of their father's estate when she wrote to her brother in Australia. Why tell Walter in such a far off place who was expecting to receive little or nothing when there were undoubtedly a plethora of enticing investment opportunities available to them right on their own doorstep in such forms as potentially highly profitable shares in ships to be built in the nearby Windsor, Hantsport and Avondale shipyards into which Joshua the merchant could place Walter's share for his own benefit ? 15
The circa 1866 approximate 200 pounds distribution (4 years wages @ one pound a week) was not the only estate distribution in which Jane's brother Walter did not receive his share. Judge Bowman in the April order provided for a sum of 41 pounds to be set aside and invested, with the income to be paid to his stepmother for her life, and thereafter for the principal to be split equally among the five Daniel Harvie children. In addition the land forming part of the widow's dower, in which she also had only a lifetime interest, was valued at 380 pounds in 1866. Upon her death in 1875 that land should have been sold, and together with the 41 pounds aforementioned, the five children should have then received in addition to the 1866/67 approximate 200 pounds distribution, an equal share of approx. 85 pounds each.
Conservatively estimated, assuming no change in values, Walter Harvie missed out on receiving his entitlement to distributions of about 250 pounds from his father's estate which should have been forthcoming in the period between 1866 to about 1876. It is an inescapable conclusion that Jane and her husband Joshua in addition to Jane share must have received this money on his behalf without ever advising him of its receipt. It would seem the only moneys ever received by Walter from his father's estate were those monies he mentioned in his 1925 letter to his sister Caroline as having been provided to him through his uncle James during the eight years from his father's death in about 1851 up until he departed Nova Scotia in 1859. The probate court orders show that sum to have been precisely £42. By comparison with Walter's share added to her own, Jane and Joshua's total receipts would have been about 540 pounds, amounting then to about 7-10 years wages for a working man or 20 years wages for an "ordinary" seaman - although higher wages were paid to seasonal workers in the Hants County shipbuilding industry particularly to specialist workers in that industry such as carvers, riggers, fasteners, joiners, caulkers and dubbers 14.
With compound interest the sum foregone would have amounted to considerably greater than the 250 pounds by the time the estate should have been finally settled after the widow's death in 1875. There was a third estate distribution to which both Jane and Walter were entitled but it seems neither would have received their share because they had long departed Hants County, and their whereabouts, and even perhaps knowledge of whether they were still alive, was unknown as indicated by the non-appearance of their names in the relevant probate file. This entitlement occurred following the death of the aforementioned "power of attorney" uncle Alexander Burton who died on 29 May 1908 without a will or living issue. As a surviving nephew and niece, in accord with the statutory formula, they were entitled to "take" in the distribution of his estate.
Terfry / Trefry Genealogy
In respect of
Terfry genealogy a 1901 published genealogy of the Trefry (sic) family
stated James Trefry married Sarah Russell in Marblehead, Massachusetts
on 8 June 1702, and that he was the son of a Thomas and Sarah Trefry
beyond whom the earlier Trefry genealogy is uncertain 4. No link from the Trefry family
of Marblehead has been yet established to the Treffrey family of Fowey
in Cornwall, England, from whom many with the Trefry/Terfry surname
claim descent. James Trefry's son John, born in Marblehead on 10 Sep
1711, married Hannah Pitman on 23 Sep 1734. It was their son Joshua
Pitman Trefry born on 25 May 1740, who after marrying Mary Allen in
Marblehead in 1762, together with his father John emigrated to the
Yarmouth area in Nova Scotia where he was granted land in the Chebogue
Point area. He was the first of very many Trefry/Terfry's to bear
Joshua Pitman as given names, later bestowed by his son Thomas on Jane
Harvie's husband. It is said that Jane's husband's grandfather Joshua
Pitman was a ship's captain, and died in Yarmouth on 7 Feb 1820, before
the 1821 birth of his grandson Joshua.
One of Jane's husband's sisters Zylphia Terfry born in 1814 also married a Harvie family member - Samuel Dennison Harvie 16, 1. Additional to Joshua and his sister Zylphia it seems others of the same line adopted the Terfry spelling. The Hants County deed registers for 1854/55 record a number of mortgages in which the grantee was Mark Terfry with his occupation described as "gentleman". It is presumed he was the same Mark Terfry who appeared as a innkeeper in Newport at the 1838 Hants/Kings Co. census, with a seven member household comprising himself and 2 males over 14, and 4 females over 14. He may have been the Mark Trefry who was the twin brother of Thomas - the father of the aforementioned Joshua Pitman and Zylphia Terfry. It has been noted when the 250 licensed passenger ferry "Rotundas" was launched on 14 Jan 1911, that operated until 1935 from its home at Summerville servicing the St. Croix and Avon River centres of Windsor, Avondale, Centre Burlington, Hantsport and Summerville, that it had at its helm a Captain Terfry.
The records for Hants County probates list seven probates for persons with the surname spelling of Terfry and several for Trefry. However there is no probate for either Jane or Joshua listed under either surname spelling or under their soundex equivalents.
One of Jane's husband's sisters Zylphia Terfry born in 1814 also married a Harvie family member - Samuel Dennison Harvie 16, 1. Additional to Joshua and his sister Zylphia it seems others of the same line adopted the Terfry spelling. The Hants County deed registers for 1854/55 record a number of mortgages in which the grantee was Mark Terfry with his occupation described as "gentleman". It is presumed he was the same Mark Terfry who appeared as a innkeeper in Newport at the 1838 Hants/Kings Co. census, with a seven member household comprising himself and 2 males over 14, and 4 females over 14. He may have been the Mark Trefry who was the twin brother of Thomas - the father of the aforementioned Joshua Pitman and Zylphia Terfry. It has been noted when the 250 licensed passenger ferry "Rotundas" was launched on 14 Jan 1911, that operated until 1935 from its home at Summerville servicing the St. Croix and Avon River centres of Windsor, Avondale, Centre Burlington, Hantsport and Summerville, that it had at its helm a Captain Terfry.
The records for Hants County probates list seven probates for persons with the surname spelling of Terfry and several for Trefry. However there is no probate for either Jane or Joshua listed under either surname spelling or under their soundex equivalents.
SOURCES:
1 Rev. McLeod Harvey, From Old Scotia to New Scotia - A Family of Harveys, Hants Journal Press, (circa 1945) p.13 "Daniel married Jane Burton and had a daughter, Jane who married Joshua Terfry".
2 Hants Co. Court of Probate, Distribution of Personal Property Order, dated 23 Apr 1866 named her as "Jane A".
3 Index to the Presbyterian Witness (PW) . (marriage - Joshua's surname appears as Terfry, death - Augusta's appears as Terfrey)
4 Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Genealogies, No. 87, dated 30 April 1901, pp 586 through 609. George S. Brown, Yarmouth Nova Scotia Genealogies, transcribed from the Yarmouth Herald, (1993) [ISBN 0-8063-1372-2]. Not personally checked. Fred. E Crowell, New Englanders in Nova Scotia, Transcripts from the Yarmouth Herald Newspapers. Not personally checked.
5 A Record of Deaths 1873-1890 Hants County and Vicinity, a "diary" record found in the residence of Thomas Curry of Curry's Corner. It lists the death of Joshua Trefry of St. Croix, as 14 Jul 1883, age 64 years (collection of the West Hants Historical Society, Windsor, Hants Co., N.S.)
6 Vital Stats from Nova Scotia Newspapers: 1844-1847 (GANS). Nova Scotian newspaper of Mon. 11 Aug. 1845 - died at Newport in same house (1) 29 July, Jane Ann, 22 (23), wife of David Harvey, and d/o W. Burton, Windsor (2) 1 Aug. Rebecca, 72, wife of Andrew Harvey,(Sr.)
7 Original of the 1 Sep 1862 letter held by R.P. Harvey, Lower Sackville, Hants Co., N.S.
8 1871 Hants Co. Census (enunerated at 2 Apr 1871, ages given were those at next birthday), St. Croix, #33/35, Joshua Trefy (sic) age 50, storekeeper, married; Jane 26, married; Starritt, 7. All born in Nova Scotia, all Presbyterian & with fathers of Irish origin. 1881 Hants Co. Census enumerated at 4 Apr 1881, ages given were those at last birthday), St. Croix, #114, Joshua Trefry age 60, trader, father's origin French, Jane 35, married, father of Scotch descent, Staret 19, father of Scotch descent. Note: according to 1871 census Starratt was born during the 12 months to 2 Apr 1865 - consistent with his Nov. 1864 birth date in the 1900 US Census - and establishing Jane was his mother. However his 1881 census age of 19 calculates to a birth during the 12 months to 2 Apr 1862 resulting in Jane not being his mother! Jane's ages in both census calculate to a post 4 Apr 1845 birth date - i.e. she would have turned 36 on or after 5 Apr 1881.
9 1900 US Census - S. Dennison Terfry, age 36, b. Nov. 1864, married 6 years (calculates to a ca. 1893 marriage), emmigrated 1890, owns own home free of mortgage, Wedgewood St., Everett, Middlesex, Massachusetts, spouse Mary, age 32, born Dec. 1867, 1 birth/1 living child, Churchill D., age 3, born April 1897, Massachusetts.
1910 US Census as at 15 Apr 1910 - Starritt D. Terfry, age 34 (calculating to a 1876 birth & probably intended to be 44 calculating to a ca. 1866 birth) - listed as residing near Boston at 20, Wedgewood St. Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with occupation of Machine Worker in a Last Factory, & spouse Mary J. (age 41 calculating to a ca. 1868 birth) & one son Churchill D. aged 13 (b. ca. 1897) born MA. Parents married 17 years (i.e. ca. 1893), no previous children, both and their parents born Canada, US immigration year 1890, neither parent naturalised.
1920 US Census as at 1 Jan 1920 - mostly unreadable except for address same as 1910 & 1920, Churchill only child, both Starratt D. and Mary born Canada, immigration year given as 1889.
1930 US Census taken as at 1 Jan 1930 - same address 20 Wedgewood St., Everett, home owned, value $3600, no radio, Starrett D. age 64 (caculates to a ca. 1865 birth), spouse Mary age 60 (ca. 1869 birth), respective ages when married 30 & 26 (both calculating to a ca. 1895 marriage year), both born Canada, immigration year 1896, both naturalised, Starrett's occputation given as Rubber Worker. At same address son Churchill, age 32 (so b. ca. 1898), a grocery store salesman, with spouse name unreadable who was aged 29 (so b. ca. 1901), both born MA, one son listed age 4 but his name unreadable. Respective ages at the marriage of 26 and 23 calculates to a ca. 1924 marriage.
Massachusetts Vital Records, Vol. 467, p.174 (New England Historical Genealogical Society) - Churchill Terfry, occupation Shipper, born April 16, 1897 in Everett, MA, father Starrit, mother Mary J. McLean.
Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003 - Cert. #013633, Churchill D. Terfry, born 16 Apr 1897, died 4 Jan 1989 in Everett, Massachusetts.
SSDI (Social Security Death Index) lists the deaths, with respective social security numbers of 013-03-3533 & 013-03-3542 - i.e. only 9 apart - at the same Everett city address of (1) Churchill D. Tefry b. 16 Apr 1897, d. 4 Jan 1989 & (2) C. L. Terfry (would be Constance Louise) b. 17 Mar 1908, d. 8 Apr 1993.
10 John Harvie (1730-1822) of Newport, Nova Scotia: Three Generations of Descendants, Robert Paton Harvey, Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Vol 6, #4 December 1976, p. 10
11 Leland H. Harvie, The Harvie/Harvey Family of Hants County, Nova Scotia, Hantsport (1984) p. 220 & elsewhere in the book re "Samuel" Dennison Harvie / Zylphia Terfry marriage.
12 Hants Co. Court of Probate, Warrant dated 12 Jun 1866 appointing valuers of the real estate.
13 Spicer, Masters of sail : the era of square-rigged vessels in the maritime provinces, Ryerson Press (1968), p. 59, 1838-1877 Bennett Smith built 35 vessels at Windsor & 1864-1890 Shubael Dimock built at least 12 square-riggers plus numerous schooners. p. 58, 1840-1903 Ezra Churchill's yard at Hantsport built 88 vessels & 1852-1894 J.B. North's built 54 vessels. p. 60, at least five of Bennet Smith's vessels, not only had the reputation of paying for themselves, but adding at least a $100,000 each to their owners wealth. His 350-ton bargue Avon was launched at a time of high cotton freights and paid for itself on its maiden voyage. p. 58, ownership of a vessel was usually held in 64 shares. Well established shipbuilders usually owned a controlling interest, and the less well established, as few as a 4/64 shareholding.
14 Ibid p.182 - "in 1876 an ordinary seaman on the Calcutta received 3 pounds per month, in 1884 an ordinary seaman on the Birnam Wood received 2 pounds 10 shillings per month, and same on the Glooscap in 1892". P. 128, "A Maitland shipbuilders wage book, dated Dec. 1860, listed weekly wages for his 33 workers ranged from one pound ten shillings to three pounds fifteen".
15 Ralph A. Harvie, The Story of a Bluenose Barque : The John A. Harvie, 1876-1880, The Mariner's Mirror, (International Journal of The Society for Nautical Research), Vol. 71, No. 4, Nov 1985, p. 381, 1863-1881 the John Harvie shipyard at Avondale built 19 vessels.
16 Pearl Brown, Ramblings over roads and hills of Newport Township, p.96 - Dennison Harvie (son of James Harvie and Eliza Fish) m. Zylphia Trefry p. 16-17 - a Joshua Trefry attended school at Ardoise Hill District #5. p. 29 - Trefry on a list of land-holders on N. side of OLD ROAD late 1700's. Also see p.10 of 1 for Zylphia Trefry (sic) marr. to Dennison Harvie.
17 The Starritt Dennison Terfry (sic) 12 Sep 1919 USA Petition for Naturalization (#43636 - folio 138) and his 5 Jun 1916 Declartion of Intention (#51176), both personally signed, gave his birth date as 12 Sep 1919 - note a one month variation from Nov. 1864 in the 1900 census. Wife Mary Jane's D.O.B. differed by one year from 27 Dec. 1868 in the Petition to Dec 1867 in the 1900 census. The Declaration gave Starritt's height as 5 ft. 5 inches, weight as 125 pounds, hair color - brown, eyes - gray, complexion - medium. The Peition stated his only child was Churchill Dennison Terfry born 1 Apr. 1897, who signed the Petition as one of the two witnesses, and gave his occupation as a salesman residing in Everett. The other witness was Walter Franklin McIntire a printer by occupation residing Everett.
18 Certificate of Naturalization #1761139 dated 19 Jan 1920.
Researched & compiled by J. Raymond, Brisbane, QLD., Australia 1999 - updated 30 Jun 2007
