County Longford Family History

The Emigrant Families

A Descent Chart from Thomas Moffett (born circa1715)

Samuel Moffatt & Family

Samuel Moffatt was born in Bunacly Townland in 1788, the son of David Moffett who wrote the lease deed in 1777. A family reference gives the birth dates of his children, and the first, that of David Moffatt matches exactly with a Killashee Parish record. The family tale states his wife died in 1836 at the time of the birth of their 13th child Charles.

The family emigrated to Cumberland Township, Russell Co. in Upper Canada in 1837, and beginning in 1838 they show up on assessment records on Concession 5 Lot 15, east 1/2. Samuel disappears from the assessments, replaced by eldest son David in 1840. In turn David disappears, moving to Kippen, near Lake Huron in 1842, and the land is taken over by Richard Walsh and wife Eleanor Moffatt.

The Walsh family was allied, and was key to finding the roots of the families. They originated in Moydow Parish, Co. Longford, and in the Kenagh area of Kilcommock Parish.

The children are:

I David born January 5, 1814
II John born August 27, 1815
III Suzanna born October 4, 1816
IV Eleanor born March 8, 1818 (Mar Richard Walsh Sep 26, 1837)
V John born February 14, 1820 (Mar Eliza Walsh 1841)
VI Jane born June 5, 1822
VII Thomas born May 7, 1824
VIII Anne born March 17, 1826
IX Samuel born February 29, 1828
X Mary born June 3, 1829
XI James born August 16, 1831
XII Catherine born January 1, 1834
XIII Charles born December 10, 1836

Samuel Moffatt

Samuel Moffatt came to Canada from Ireland with eleven of his thirteen children in early 1837, several years before the great potato famine. According to family accounts, Samuel's wife Maria died in Ireland at the birth of Charles on Dec 10, 1836 but the family continued with plans to emigrate. The first son John died young, and the oldest daughter Suzanna, having married, stayed in Ireland.

Samuel was born Oct. 25, 1788, in Co. Longford, in the centre of Ireland. Specifically, he was born in Bunacly Townland, Killashee Parish to parents David & Martha Moffett. Samuel was probably named for his Uncle Samuel, who was a farmer in Stone Park Townland close to Abbeyderg, where his grandmother had McCloughrey relatives. His parents were farmers, living in a townland totally under cultivation. Their principal crop would have been oats, probably with some potatoes and barley.

Tragically, Samuel’s father died when he was 3 years old, and there is no indication whether the family moved in with David’s parents, Thomas & Jane Moffat of Kilmore, or made some other arrangement.

That Samuel and Maria Moffat were living as adults in Parish Killashee is shown by the birth of their first son David appearing in the Killashee Parish Register . However, after that birth the family removed to an unknown location in a different parish or county until the time of emigration in 1837, as no further Killashee records appear.

It would seem the allied Walsh family of Moydow Parish were the first to come to Canada. Perhaps letters back to Co. Longford about the land available encouraged the Moffatt family to emigrate.

SAMUEL MOFFATT IN ONTARIO

The family settled on 100 acres of land designated as the E1/2, Lot 15, Concession 5, Township of Cumberland near Bearbrook, Ont, some 12 miles south of the Ottawa River village of Cumberland. An early account indicated that "the settlement of the interior (of the Township) at that date was very sparse, though pioneers had begun to locate in the back concessions as early as 1824, but the want of highways proved a serious detriment to its development. The Bear Brook settlement near the southern boundary of the township, was the most important south of the river community."

Assessment records for 1838 and 1839 show Samuel developing the land and by 1839 he had three out of the 100 acres cultivated and owned one milch cow . The property was valued at £24 19s with an assessment (paid) of 3s 8p. In the 1840 assessment record, Samuel's name does not appear and David, the oldest son, now 26, is shown as occupying the property . Eight acres were now under cultivation and David owned 2 milch cows and 2 oxen. The property was valued at £40 8s and assessment 5s 91/2p. The same description held for 1841 but in 1842, David's name was missing and his brother-in-law, Richard Walsh (Eleanor's husband), was shown as owning it.

About 1840 Samuel Moffatt disappers. Samuel was 52 years old, with six children still under 15. It is very possible that he remarried and moved with his younger children to another area, and left the farm to son David. David seems to have done the same thing two years later and moved to Kippen, Ont. No record of the death or burial of Samuel in church records or archives at Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa has been found, and he is not listed in 1851 or subsequent census records for Cumberland or neighbouring townships. He may have moved elsewhere, got married, went to the "bush" as a lumberman, or died. It should be noted that many early farmers and sons spent the winters in the bush to earn cash from the lumber or logging companies. The death of any who died from disease or injury, or were drowned, may never have been reported or recorded. John and Eliza were married in 1841 but John is shown as occupying part of Lot 21, Concession 4 which he continued to do until 1848, the last assessment record found.

The land registry office was visited to find out whether the land was passed from Samuel to David, to Richard Walsh, etc by WILL or by DEED. This was of no help, as the township registry of ownership only began when a Letters Patent was issued on any property, which for E1/2 Lot 15 Concession 5, was granted to John Moffatt in April 1871.

It is likely Richard Walsh kept the land and developed it until he moved to Bristol, Que, in 1857 and John Moffatt thereafter. The Ontario Archives Land Record Index shows the property being transferred to John Moffatt Aug 24, 1858 (transfer type S). When John died in 1871 he left two farms, the E1/2 Lot 15 Concession 5 (homestead) which he left to his oldest son Samuel R. and the E1/2 Lot 14 Concession 5 which was split between his other two adult sons, Thomas and John.

The original property E1/2, Lot 15, Concession 5, was owned by John's heir Samuel R. Moffatt, then by Samuel R's son George, then George's son John. The property is no longer owned by the family. Thomas and John likely sold their properties not long after they inherited them, possibly to relatives.

There is very little information on most of Samuel's children, and what became of them is a mystery. Many official documents and records, both clerical and secular, no longer exist. They have either been lost or destroyed or else no contemporary records or entries were ever made. Few passenger lists have survived. The 1851 census records for Cumberland have been lost, therefore the first such record of family members was 1861, some 24 years after the family arrived from Ireland.

Also, as other researchers have found, many Canadians in the last century displayed an amazing flexibility in their religious adherence. As a result, it was not uncommon for an individual to be baptized into one denomination, married in another, and buried as a member of a third. While much of this practice can be attributed to the strong interest in religion which many pioneers displayed, it also occurred because of a drastic shortage of clergymen in rural Canada. At any rate, the practice has provided its own set of problems and a variety of denomination records must be searched for and examined to find or confirm dates for births, marriages, deaths or places of burial.

As well, burial grounds of various sizes existed before there were churches in many areas. Clerical circuit riders often visited communities only every few months and performed funeral and burial services well after the fact. Without Church records, many were never reported or recorded.

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