Matilda Bonner and David Ross- Part I

On February 4, 2011 I wrote about Matilda Bonner and David Ross.  Today I would like to update the information.  In reviewing what I had written and doing some more research, I gained additional information.   One of the keys that sent me looking was the 1900 census where Matilda indicated she had given birth to 13 children and 10 were still living.  I went back to the earlier census information and identified other children of Matilda and David.  Originally on February 4, 2011, I had named the following children of David and Matilda Ross.
William
Edward
Margaret
George
Matilda
Ann
Alma
Charles G.

The 1861 New Brunswick census names David and Matilda Ross and their children and birth year.
John Ross 1852
James T. Ross 1854
Ann C. Ross  1856
William E. Ross 1858
Isabella J. Ross 1860
All five of the children were born in New Brunswick, Canada.  It was a challenge finding them all because the  1861 census lists only individual listings and not the whole family on one page.  The way I located them was that first I looked for David Ross and noted he was listed on sheet 10, line 371.  Then I found Matilda on sheet 10, line 372.  From there I just began looking for Ross children who could be found on sheet 10, in proximity to lines 371 and 372. I found a Ross family member on page 10 for lines 371-377.

Margaret Ross was also born in 1864 in New Brunswick, 3 years after the 1871 census. She is present on the 1871 Kemptown, Colchester, Nova Scotia census.  Other children of the Ross family that were born in Nova Scotia and on the 1871 census include:
Ann C. (noted to be Christy A.) 1856
Isabella J. 1860
Margaret 1864
Alfred and Albert Ross twins were born in December 1865 in NS, but only Albert is listed on this census.  That is curious because I located the death record of Alfred in 1903 in Massachusetts.
George Henry Ross  1867, NS
Matilda Ross 1869 NS

So far, that's ten children of the 13 Matilda reported on the 1900 census.  Other Ross children I have found include  Ada M. Ross born in 1872 in Nova Scotia, Charles G. Ross born in 1874 in Maine and then David Brooks Ross was born in Maine.  The marriage records for David indicate he was born in 1866 in Maine, but that's very inconsistent with the birth years and birth locations of the other children because in 1866, the family was in Nova Scotia.   I suspect he was born in 1876.

In 1880, the family is in Portland ME.  Those appearing on this census are David and Matilda and their children:  Edward age 19, Margaret age 15, George age 11, Ann age 9, Alma age 7 and Charles G. age 5.  David Brooks Ross does not appear on this census.

I have found nothing about John Ross who was born in 1852 in New Brunswick.  Regarding James T. Ross,  there is an interesting extraction from a New Brunswick newspaper in 1870 about James Thomas Ross.  It is as follows:

Date:  March 7, 1870
County:  Saint John
Place:  Saint John, New Brunswick
Newspaper:  The Daily Telegraph


Runaway- A lad about 10 years old was found by Police Saturday eve. in the bar room of a man by the name of Mr. Warburton on Duke St. (St. John)  He says his name is James Thomas Ross and has been living for at least 6 or 7 years with his grandfather, James Bonner, farmer who lives between Truro & Riversdale, N.S.  He wanted to see his father, David Ross, Carpenter, Fredericton.


This is an interesting extraction because the names and places all fit for James T. Ross.  His grandfather's name was indeed James Bonner, Matilda's father. The Ross family was in Nova Scotia at that time, but I have no official record that James Bonner was also there, except this newspaper article. The next record I found related to James T. Ross was his death record in 1907 in Chelsea, MA.  He died on 16 Oct 1907 with stomach cancer.  He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, MA.

Ann C. Ross who was born in 1856 is seen on the 1861 New Brunswick census.  She again appears on the 1871 census as Christy A. Ross.  In the marriage records of Massachusetts,  Christina the daughter of David and Matilda Ross is noted to be marrying Tisdale B. Talbot on 03 Jan 1903 in Boston..  In this marriage record, she is named as Christina Doyle, so she must have married before marrying Mr. Talbot, but I found no record of the marriage to Mr. Doyle.  In 1910, Tisdale and Christina appear on the census in Boston.  I have found no other records for Christina Ross Talbot or Tisdale Talbot.

William E. Ross was born in 1858 in New Brunswick.  He is on the 1861 New Brunswick census but not on the 1871 Nova Scotia census.  He does appear in 1880 on the Portland ME census.  He is listed as Edward, age 19 which suggests he was born in 1861.  Although the 1858 birthdate and the 1861 date don't match exactly, I do believe Edward is William E. Ross.  Edward Ross died in Worcester MA on 10 July 1911.  He was living in the Worcester State Hospital in Worcester MA.  It was an insane asylum.  His death record indicates he was born in New Brunswick in 1862, had been in the hospital for 6 months and 11 days.  It indicates that he died of paralysis which he had for 2 years, as well as heat exhaustion he had for 5 days.  Edward is buried at the Glenwood Cemetery in Everett, MA.  There is quite a bit written about the history of Worcester State Hospital.  Just googling the name will bring many links to information as well as photos.  Here is one of the links:    http://www.opacity.us/site56_worcester_state_hospital.htm

There are many photos of the hospital and descriptions of some of the "treatments" that patients received.  Insulin shock therapy and sweat therapy were just a few.  If you have an interest in "old abandoned asylums", Worcester will give you plenty of information.

I'll stop Part I here and continue with Part II on the next blog entry.  There is more to write about the children of Matilda Bonner and David Ross.  Scroll down further on this page to read Part II.