Joshua Vincent & Hannah Treen

Joshua is the 5th child & third son of George Vincent & Mary Higgins and he married Hannah in 1833 at Wallace, NS - Joshua is my 5x grandfather.

Joshua & Hannah had 12 children, all born in Wallace, NS and at least 32 grandchildren:

• Benjamin Treen who married Samantha Darling & Laura Worcester and settled in WA
•  John William who married Mary Ann Rogers (my line)
• Elizabeth Ellen who married John 'David' Muirhead & Thomas Walsh
• George 'Josh' who married Matilda Swallow
•  James Edward who married Nancy Heather
• Levi who married Catherine Quillivan and settled in MA
•  James & Charles who died at approx 20 years of age
• Mary Jane who died at the age of 5 & Henry at the age of 7
• Mary Jane (the 2nd) married a Christopher McLean
• Philip never married and followed his brother to WA

Based on GR's booklet, it appears Joshua settled down in Wallace once he married. Beforehand, he travelled to the various towns working on, if not building, various mills in the area as he was a carpenter by trade.  

He was the family's business representative given that he was the only one of his father's family who could read or write and based on the censuses, he made sure all his children could do the same.

By all accounts, Joshua was a hard worker and perhaps he was not as successful as he would have liked or he was overwrought with grief to explain the report of his miserly behavior with his daughter-in-law.

George 'Josh' Vincent married Matilda Swallow in 1859 and died of consumption shortly after the birth of his daughter at the age of 24 in 1861. 

As Marilyn Symonds wrote on her blog, "Something To Bragg About":

"My sense is that Matilda's life was not a happy one.  Being widowed at 22 with an infant to care for must have been difficult in those days. After George's death, there was a documented family battle over settling his debts and paying for Matilda's board and room at the home of Amos Purdy in Wallace River. Joshua Vincent, George's father, charged the 180 pound estate 120 pounds belonging to her for his time and labour in putting in a crop at their New Annan Road farm and 45 pounds for the time and materials required to build a barn - leaving her with next to nothing."

Whatever transpired between Joshua and Matilda to result in this bitter battle is hard to say but she had to resort to petitioning to keep a few animals to provide for her and her daughter.

The surname Vincent may mean to conquer but surely conquering a young widowed mother was not the intention. I'd like to think there was more to the story - staying naive has it's advantages!

Charles Vincent & Sophia Murray

Murray Point Cemetery, Merigomish, NS
Courtesy of Jody M MacKeil

Charles was 2nd son of George Vincent & Mary Higgins born Mar 1800 at Onslow, NS. He was a timber man & farmer and remained in Barney's River until his death in Nov 1830, leaving a young widow & three children. 

His wife, Sophia Murray from Scotland, never remarried and died in 1870 at West New Annan. She was buried at New Annan Bell Gift Cemetery.  

The 3 children were Sophia, Olive & George and this was the small family that was brought to New Annan in the dead of winter by Charles' older brother James.

The Whiddens

Samuel Whidden

Courtesy of Arlene Smith-Lowe

Sophia Vincent married Samuel Whidden and had 15 children! Samuel, was a farmer and the son of Eddy Whidden & Sarah Fisher.

Both Samuel & Sophia are buried at the Folly Village Cemetery in Glenholme, NS.

Sophia's Obit in the Presbyterian Witness

Died - at the home of her son, David Whidden, Folly, Londonderry, aged 83 years, 5 months. She was the daughter of Charles & Sophia Murray Vincent, of Barney's River, Pictou, Co., & sister of Mrs. Olive Marshall & Mr. George Vincent, who reside in New Annan. She was married to Samuel Whidden, of Greenfield, Col. Co., and had 15 children. Those who survive her are: Mrs. John Ackles & Mrs. Hamilton Jobb, Londonderry; Mrs. John Wilson & Maggie Jane, Dorchester, Mass.; Charles Whidden, Brookfield, James Vincent, Boston; David, Folly; & George R., Oakland, California. She has 58 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

[that Rebecca 'Grandma' Whidden from a previous post - her husband was David and they moved west after his mother's death]

The Marshalls

Olive Vincent married Robert Marshall.  Born in Nova Scotia, he was the son of James & Mary Marshall who were from Scotland.

New Annan Bell Gift Cemetery - Courtesy of Murray Sands

New Annan Bell Gift Cemetery - Courtesy of Murray Sands

Olive & Robert had 6 children - 3 died before they were 5 years of age.   





The surviving 3: Sophia married Thomas Williams, a fella from Wales; Mary married Daniel Graham; and Charles married a Margaret Graham.

The Vincents

George Vincent 1828-1910

The nephew who bought the land that once belonged to his uncle James was George Vincent and he married Sarah Morrison and had 9 children.  

The two are buried at the New Annan Bell Gift Cemetery having died within months of each other.

Truro Daily News, 7 Jan 1911

On Oct. 11, George Vincent, Sr. died at West New Annan. On Dec. 19 his widow, Mrs. Sarah Vincent past away after a short illness. In the immediate family there are left one daughter, Mrs. Thompson, in Five Islands; and four sons, Charles in Onslow; Robert in New Annan and James and Murray in the United States.

It is George's line that brings us the author of '46 Acres, 5 Hoggs and a Family' - his great-grandson Gerald Robert Vincent.

Jeney, Sarah & James Vincent

The two oldest girls of George Vincent & Mary Higgins were Jeney and Sarah Vincent and a family tale was that they might have died during a bad winter in the unheated lean-to of the house - GR indicated they both died in the early 1850s.

This corresponds with the Cemetery entry for Sarah but given that Sarah died in Aug, it does suggest that the "freezing to death" was simply one of those family tales, at least in Sarah's case.  

GR also stated that the tale involved two spinster sisters, but according to GeneJanes site, Sarah had married a George Everett.

He died in 1870 and was buried in New Annan Gift Bell Cemetery with his wife - the inscription reads:
In memory of George Everett

Who Died Oct 30, 1870, Aged 72 years

Sarah's stone reads:

In memory of Sarah, Wife of George Everett

Who Died Aug 25, 1852, In the 56th year of her life

Not in my innocence I trust, I bow before thee in the dust, but through my Savior's blood alone, I look for mercy at thy Throne

This without a marriage entry does not prove that Sarah was a Vincent.  

From the sources I reviewed, they all indicated that Sarah & George had two children but one was not identified. 

Philip Everett married Catherine 'Kitty' Creighton, the daughter of Andrew Creighton & Sarah Smith who were from Scotland and went on to have at least 7 children; Philip and Kitty's children all relocated to the United States.  I couldn't find a death entry for Philip other than the cemetery entry at the Colchester Museum site.

I found the identity of their 2nd child when I stumbled across her death entry on Family Search.  It not only identified her but also confirmed the pairing of George & Sarah.  

It indicates that her father George Everett was from England but other trees I looked at put him from Ireland - I went with England until proven otherwise based on this record.  FHL Mary E Everett Brown Death Entry

Mary Everett married a Henry Brown and she died in Boston.  Mary Everett & Henry Brown had two children but only Louise survived and she married a Max Haase.  

Lastly, James Vincent, the oldest unmarried boy who played a pivotal role in the survival of his brother Charles' family. Like the other boys, he did own land that he eventually sold to a certain rescued nephew. GR indicates that James returned to Pictou Town and managed a store until his death.  He is buried at New Annan Bell Gift with the other family members.

George Vincent and Mary Higgins

It is said that the surname Vincent means "to conquer" - so far, it does appear that the Vincents did find ways to overcome obstacles!

Our 12 yr old and only known son of Charles of Fishkill survived and went on to marry a Mary 'Polly' Higgins and had 13 children that we know of.

GR Vincent's chart of 1986

The two unnamed daughters are Catherine Mary 'Kate' Vincent who married  John Smith and Lydia who married  Joshua Stevens.  

GR wrote of a family lore where two spinster sisters, Jeney & Sarah, died one winter in an unheated lean-to bedroom at the back of the house . That may have been Jeney's fate but Sarah married a George Everett.  

James did not to marry and he is credited with bringing over his brother's wife and children to New Annan from Pictou in the middle of the winter after Charles died ("46 Acres...", pg 45).

George became a shoemaker, which answers my question of who was the first and sold the family land for 40 pounds to chase his dream. The family flourished for a time in Pictou but when the bottom fell out of the timber business, the family secured land in New Annan and regrouped.

George and Polly were married 40 years and with 13 children, they firmly established our line in Nova Scotia! 

George and Mary are both buried at the New Annan Bell Gift Cemetery in West New Annan, NS.  Inscription:

In Memory of 

George Vincent Who Died the 11 Nov 1833, Age 62 Years

Remember Me As You Pass By

As I am Now So You Must Be

Therefore Prepare to Follow Me

Charles of Fishkill (abt 1741-1803)

As mentioned in the last blog, some Vincents were labelled 'Notorious Loyalists' by the Committee for Detecting Conspiracies so when when Charles of Fishkill went to appeal for his losses, I imagine his pleas were met with little sympathy.

Note the comment on the left - "Vals It too high" - in the end, he got 250 pounds sterling against 459 pounds NY currency (click on image for larger view)

In GR Vincent's booklet, "46 Acres, 5 Hoggs and a Family", pg 10, he outlines how he concluded that a Philip Vincent was Charles' father.  He based this on a Philip being named in Michael's will, and that Charles named Michael as his 'childless' Uncle.  He asserts that unlike the rest of the family who were well documented, Philip was perhaps a tradesman (blacksmith) who did not own land and that he died before the war which could explain the lack of records.

This fits in with a record for a blacksmith named Charles Vincent, 17 years old, 5 ft 8 who became a soldier in the NY Provincials in 1759 and years later receiving a parcel of land for his own small family from a his Uncle.  

In 1776, Charles joined the Queen's American Rangers - a hated unit given that they were mainly American-born Tories.  Once he recovered from an illness in PA, he joined DeLancey's Westchester Loyalists and remained with them until they disbanded in Cumberland.

In 1783, Charles with his wife and son in tow, were sent to Nova Scotia.

After a bit of fussing about as one would imagine in the chaos of relocation, Charles settled on lot 26N of the Cobequid Grant and started again.  

The Cobequid Grant area was in Cumberland, Westchester is below the word Cumberland on the 1898 NS map below.  

Ironically, this fertile land was gained by the British deporting the local Acadians around 1755; however, the order did not come from London. 

The Governor of Massachusetts, William Shirley, and Commander-in-Chief of the North American forces, in his grief for the loss of his son while fighting the Canadiens (the Seven Year War with the French & the Natives), he exacted his revenge.

One can imagine the struggles facing that the little family of three in establishing their new home.  

And, it's a wonder with only one son at 12 yrs of age that any of us are around to talk about it!