THE WHITSIDE FAMILY HISTORY

The First Three Generations

Generation #1 - John Born before 1796

Generation #2 - James Sr.Died in Ireland 1810

Generation #3 - William H. 1809-1856 The Immigrant


Descendants of John Whitside

Generation No. 1

1. John1 Whitside He married Reachel MNU.

Notes for John Whitside:
In the 1796 Garvagh Presbyterian Church Visitation List that was read and interpreted, we find a Whitside family. James Brown made the lists, it would appear, from visits in 1796 and 1812. This would make it seem likely that the original was updated some 16 years after the first listing was made, but any difference in script styles is not easily evident so one can not be certain when any alterations were made.
The list is divided into the small area where the people resided and our interest is in XXIII BALLYAGAN (Ballyagan)
Ballyagan Bridge C85 16, Upper Ballyagan C85 16 and Lower Ballyagan C85 17.
#204
973 John Whitside
974 Reachel Whitside
975 Willm Whitside
976 John Whitside
977 Thomas Whitside
978 James Whitside
979 Arthur Whitside
ASSUMPTION!
Our James Whitside was known to be born in 1831 and from death records we know that his father William was born March 9, 1809. In William's family we have a John, William & James. From records at Cavanboy we have assumed that William H.'s father was James.
I will put this together that #978, James was William H. father and James father was John and his mother Reachel, which sounds like it should have been, Rachel.
All of this is to be proven and is of course suspect.

Please forgive me for these assumptions. There is no proof but I do not want to lose track of this research. It is a fit to be researched farther as time allows.

Children of John Whitside and Reachel MNU are:
2 i. James2 Whitside, born in Ireland; died 1810 in Ireland.
3 ii. William Whitside.
4 iii. John Whitside.
5 iv. Thomas Whitside.
6 v. Arthur Whitside.

Descendants of James Sr. Whitside

Generation No. 2

2. James2 Whitside (John1)1,2 was born in Ireland, and died 1810 in Ireland.

Notes for James Whitside:
See son William H. Whitside notes. Researching in Dublin Castle Genealogy in Ireland, I found reference to the sale of property to James Whitside, (no E). For want of any other evidence I have included this as a clue to William H. parent. There is no substantiation for this.
Note as was traditional, his first grandson by William H. was named James.
I made a trip to Ireland on one of my round the world annual trips and stopped in to Dublin Castle to see what I could find. I was informed at first that I probably would not find any reference to Whitside but rather all references would be to Whiteside. I was greatly pleased when we came across one entry that referred specifically to Whitside. The great fire in Dublin in 1924 wiped out all of the record books and therefore they had to revert to township directories, sales of land, etc. to trace back people.
The reference to Whitside that I found pertained to the sale of land recorded in Griffith's Valuation Year 1860 of Tithe Allotments and specifically recorded the book years 1826-and l834. This was in Aghaloo Parish in County-Tyrone. This recorded a sale of the James Adam farm to James Whitside. This farm was in a little place called Cavanboy. I traveled to Cavanboy and actually found the farm and discussed with the present owner the past history. I was also able to find markings on the farm indicating that James Adam built it in 1779.
I then searched out all churchyards for a 10-mile circumference of Cavanboy looking for Whitside's, or even Whitesides, but came up with nothing. As this is over the border into Northern Ireland, and a British helicopter was constantly watching me, I decided I would return to Dublin before dark with my search unfinished. I have not been back to Ireland since, but will some day continue.
William J. Whitside in 1996 also found the farm again. It is on the B45 road between Dungannon and Caledon. From the little village called Dyan it is a short distance north, just past the first road off to the left, (west). I believe it is at number 31A. I have a small detailed map of the area.
Aug. 27/00. I have found a reference to Whitsides on the internet. Using a lot of assuming, if you continue up the B45 road to Dungannon and on to A29 you will reach Garvagh, a distance of maybe 40 miles.
In the 1796 Garvagh Presbyterian Church Visitation List which was read and interpreted, we find a Whitside family. James Brown made the lists it would appear from visits in 1796 and 1812. This would make it seem likely that the original was updated some 16 years after the first listing was made, but any difference in script styles is not easily evident so one can not be certain when any alterations were made.
The list is divided into the small area where the people resided and our interest is in XXIII BALLYAGAN (Ballyagan)
Ballyagan Bridge C85 16, Upper Ballyagan C85 16 and Lower Ballyagan C85 17.
#204
973 John Whitside
974 Reachel Whitside
975 Willm Whitside
976 John Whitside
977 Thomas Whitside
978 James Whitside
979 Arthur Whitside
ASSUMPTION!
Our James Whitside was known to be born in 1831 and from death records we know that his father William was born March 9, 1809. In William's family we have a John, William & James.
I will put this together that #978, James was William H. father and James father was John and his mother Reachel, which sounds like it should have been, Rachel.
All of this is to be proven and is of course suspect.

Child of James Whitside is:
+ 7 i. William H.3 Whitside, born March 09, 1809 in Northern Ireland; died 1856 in Simcoe, Ont.

Descendants of William H. Whitside

Generation No. 3

7.William H.3 Whitside (James2, John1) was born March 09, 1809 in Northern Ireland, and died 1856 in Simcoe, Ont. He married (1) Martha Murray 1831 in Liverpool, England. She was born Abt. 1809, and died Abt. 1841. He married (2) Harriet Maria Shepherd May 04, 1843. She was born November 07, 1827.

Notes for William H. Whitside:
The Whitside name is reported to have come from Whiteside a common name in Lancashire, England and is derived from the Lands of Whiteside and the old spelling of "WHYTSYD, 1649). There was a Whytsyd at the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.
It has been difficult to trace the Whitside name back in Ireland. There are many Whitesides but no current Whitsides that I could find.
In the Church of Latter Day Saints, disk 9 of the I.G.I of the British Isles, there is an Agnes Whitside, 1601, Lancashire, England spouse John Davie. Many times this turns out to be a misspelling of the Whiteside name.
Re Whitsides before this, Don Whiteside of Ottawa, {The Whiteside Family Master Genealogist), reports that he found a town and cemetery in a small town just outside of Blackpool, Lancashire, called Poulton Le Fylde, that the cemetery holds many Whitesides. We assume that the Whitsides came from this same area before settling in Ireland.
This William was the first Whitside immigrant and the only evidence that I have points to his coming from Northern Ireland in 1843. Don Whiteside has him from 31 Talbot St. in Belfast in 1835? This has not been checked. My evidence for this source is in the records of his son James, who states his origins were in Ireland. See the Norfolk Historical Atlas of 1877 in which it states James Whiteside of Fredericksburg, date of settlement-1843, Nativity-IRELAND. See Master Source.
From a trip to Ireland and a search of the Genealogical records in the Dublin Castle where most old records are kept, I turned up the following record. From the Positive microfilm #4722 for Aghaloo, County of Tyrone, Vol 1- 1825 & Vol 2- 1837, Index Y for the Parish of Aghaloo, 13 October of 1837 CAVANBOY - NO 1-A31-R1-P17, James Whitside late Phillip Ward, Representative of James Adam. 2 pounds. We read this to be the record of the sale of the property by the late James Whitside, assumed father of William H. to Phillip Ward.
Cavanboy is a small village in the Parish of Aghaloo in County Tyrone.
I visited the home site listed in the above description in Cavanboy and found the house still intact. The house was built in 1739 by Charles Adam and rebuilt in 1899 by William Thompson. The corner stone of an addition to the building if I remember correctly had the initials J. W. and a date. The house was known as "Cavanboy House".
I also searched a number of the cemeteries in the surrounding towns but as time was short and as the "Troubles" were on, I gave up after I came under the scrutiny of a British helicopter.

One problem is a write up in "Who's Who in The United States ", (Chicago, Ill. 1897-1942, pg 134), on General Samuel Whitside. This states Samuel's father was a United States Consul. I have researched all State Dept. employee list in books in The National Archive in Washington and there is no record of William Whitside. I have also a letter dated July 18, 1990 from Sally M. Marks of the National Archives in Washington. They had done a search of the U.S. Consuls in Toronto as well as the State Department Letter's Of application and Recommendation for Public Office in addition to my personal search. They did not find any reference to W. H. Whitside in any offices of the U.S. government.

M#1: Marriage information from Samuel Russell of Chesapeake, Virginia, July/98 to RLW. This is the first information that I have ever had re William H. first wife's name. This was taken from a family book of the wife of Samuel Marmaduke Whitside, son of William H. wife's family the Mc Gavocks currently in the possession of Lillian Russell of Cornwall, New York.
M#2: Marriage records at N.H.S. Wm. Whiteside Married Harriet Shepherd in 1843 which accounts for the second family beginning with Martha Jane Whitside in 1845 (Note this is the name of his first wife), and ending with Robert in 1855. Reported death of Wm. Whiteside in 1856 would fit this.
CEN: 1852 - Simcoe Town - Norfolk County, Canada West, page 23, #12. Census shows William Whitside (S) 40 yrs of age, born Ireland Shoemaker, a Baptist living in Simcoe. Listed with Harriet M. Whitside age 26 born England, Episcopalian and with 3 children, Martha Jane, age 7, John age 3 and Levi age 2. All are listed in front page of the Whitside family Bible.
There is no record here of James, William J., David, Samuel or Sarian, his children by his first wife.
D: From Booklet Norfolk Newspaper records, Obituary Notices, Early Newspapers outside Norfolk Co. pre 1870: CANADIAN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE - 15 October 1856. "A few days since and inquest was held at Simcoe, on the body of Wm. Whitside, who had been found dead in the rear of the Old Baptist Church. It appears from the evidence that the deceased had long since been of intemperate habits, abandoned himself to drink during the few days previous to his death. The coroner's Jury, after giving their verdict in accordance with the facts, adopted the following resolution: The Jury also feel compelled to record their conviction that the open and shameless manner in which drunkenness has prevailed in this municipality, calls for the most immediate and stringent measures on the part of the municipal authorities to restrict the unlimited and free sale of intoxicating liquors to all classes, in order to prevent public decency from being outraged, and human life sacrificed, as in the case before us.
See also death notice copy in RLW file from the Toronto Globe newspaper of October 7, 1856 re Coroner's Inquest which is much as above. On the testimony of Dr. Covernton, the jury decided he died of apoplexy induced by habitual intoxication.
NOTE! It states that Mr. Whitside descended from an ancient and respectable family in the North of Ireland and had been many years a respectable resident of this county. The above was reported from The Norfolk Messenger. There are no know copies of this paper available.
This is Wm. Whitside Sr. he would have been 47 years of age. Born 1809, died 1856. This would agree with census report of 1851. He is not on the1861 census.
CEN: In 1861 Census there is no record of William. Jane E (Martha Jane) 17 yrs old living with Carlton family. Robert & Francis living with Alway Family, whose wife is shown as "Harriet" 35, born in England. So it appears that William died & Harriet remarried Mark Alway who was a harness maker. The other older children are out on their own. No sign of Levi, who would be 12. John, 13 living with the Markle family. George living with James Whitside family in Delhi. But, Family bible shows Fanny (Francis) Whiteside born in 1858. This is written in a different hand, could she be adopted or born illegitimate more than a year after William died? She also could have been someone taken in temporarily.
From Census data on children, I surmise that on his second marriage the older children had either already left home or were placed elsewhere or then left home.
At the marriage date of 1843, James the eldest was 12 and we know he went to Delhi, Ontario.
David would have been 8 yoa, Samuel 5 yoa and Sarian would have been 3.
Samuel has continuously claimed he was born in Toronto. Could he have been sent there to a relative?

Samuel Whitside's reference in all military documents as his birth place being Toronto and in particular Canada is worrisome. Now we have the fact that he was married in Liverpool, England.
I have researched our local sources of births and people living in Toronto at this time (1839) without any success.
Could William H. have come to Toronto prior to 1839 with his wife Martha Murray and Samuel was born there as well as Sarian. Could Martha have died in childbirth with Sarian in Toronto? It is possible that they came to get settled and left the older boys in Ireland with James Sr. and then brought to Canada and the Norfolk County area in 1843. William H. drinking problem could have forced him to make a change from Toronto to Simcoe and also to change his occupation to shoemaker. That is assuming he had a higher occupation before which Samuel alludes to?

Martha Murray:
Notes for Martha Murray:
M: Marriage information from Samuel Russell of Chesapeake Virginia, July/98 to RLW. This is the first information that I have ever had re William H. first wife's name
M: from data from Samuel L. Russell of Chesapeake, VA 2332, July 1998, e-mail to RLW. The data came from a book titled, "The McGavock Family, A Genealogical History of James McGavock and his Descendants From 1760 to 1903". The author i
is Rev. Robert Gray and printed in Richmond VA in 1903. The book is in possession of Samuel Russell's mother.

Harriet Maria Shepherd
Notes for Harriet Maria Shepherd:
This is William Sr.'s second wife.
M: From marriage records at the Simcoe Historical Society, Wm. Whiteside M. Harriet Shepherd, both of Charlotteville on 4th May 1834 Witness John Stage, John McCall.

Children of William Whitside and Martha Murray are:
8 i. James 4 Whitside, born February 09, 1831 in Ireland; died September 11, 1910 in Delhi, Norfolk, Ont.
9 ii. William Joshua 4 Whitside, born August 13, 1833 in Ireland.
10 iii. David 4 Whitside, born September 01, 1835 in Ireland; died December 21, 1891 in Woodhouse, Norfolk, Ont.
11 iv. Samuel Marmaduke 4 Whitside, born January 09, 1839 in Ireland; died December 15, 1904 in Washington, DC.
12 v. Sarian 4 Whitside, born October 1840 in Ireland; died Bef. 1851.

Children of William Whitside and Harriet Shepherd are:
13 i. Martha Jane 4 Whitside, born October 18, 1845 in Ontario, Canada.
14 ii. John 4 Whitside, born March 31, 1849 in Ontario, Canada.
15 iii. Levi 4 Whitside, born December 19, 1851; died in Ont.
16 iv. George Burton4 Whitside, born January 25, 1853 in Delhi, Norfolk, Ont.; died August 14, 1929 in Clare, Clare, MI.
17 v. Robert4 Whitside, born January 10, 1855; died November 22, 1931 in Norfolk Co. ON.
18 vi. Francis "Fanny"4Whitside, born May 15, 1858 in Simcoe, Norfolk, Ont.

 

 

 

 


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