The Case of Two Johns

Ok, that might not be the best title for this post but it all starts when two brothers name one of their sons John!

John William (Nov 1834) was my 4x grandfather, the son of Joshua Vincent & Hannah Treen.  His cousin John K (Dec 1833)was the son of Reuben Vincent & Mary Higgins.  


The only proof of John K I have that JK existed is this birth entry on Family Search

I know that John William Vincent and Mary Ann Rogers were married at Wallace, NS in 1855.  

And given that his parents were married at Wallace, I concluded that all the children were born there.  However,  Joshua travelled between Cumberland, Pictou and Colchester counties building mills - chasing the work at it were - so in reality, the children could have been born anywhere.  Mary Ann was born a bit east of Wallace at River John - both Wallace and River John are on the northern coast line of Nova Scotia.

In 1871, JW and his family are living in Truro, NS - have a close look at it below - the mixed religions and he does not declare his origin which means the children are the same.  William H, the oldest, is a shoemaker like his father.  The other children are Harriet A, George H, John L, David R, and Hannah; all listed as Baptists like their father; however,  James B at the top of pg 11 (not attached) was listed as Wesleyan Methodist like his mother.

Ancestry - 1871 Census of Canada, Truro, Colchester Co, NS, pg 10, line 13

In 1881, the family is in Pictou, NS - JW is still a Shoemaker but where is George & Harriet?  Who is Robinson & Burton? They had 2 more kids Charles & Edith and they are all Scottish Methodists? [John jr is a painter, Robinson is a butcher, William is a seaman]

Ancestry - 1881 Census of Canada, Pictou, Pictou Co, NS, pg 37, line 16

After much time fussing, kicking, screaming and hair-pulling, I figured out that David R was Robinson(later RD), that James B was Burton, that George had died and Harriet had married.  Oy!  But wait.....There is no 1891 census for the family - they have split up. 

William has disappeared, David has gone west; and  John Jr, Edith, Olive & Edward are with their mother in Boston by 1900 sans John W.  

Wait, what?......Who are Olive and Edward? 

Rinse and repeat that hissy fit from above and add in some dogged persistence and I discovered that Olive was Hannah and Edward was Charles ~~

I couldn't find  John W on an 1891 census but in 1901, he's a servant in the Upham household, working as a shoemaker in Brookfield, Colchester Co, NS; he's of English decent and a Methodist. Didn't he copy his wife before and say he was Scottish?

In 1906, John W (listed as J W) is in Manitoba and living around the corner from his son.  In 1911, he living next door to his son RD (David) in Winnipeg, MB BUT he's listed as John K, a lodger of Scottish decent working as a shoemaker and a 'Disciple'.  I believe this is John W as the DOB is declared as Nov 1831 (although one could argue his age is 77 not 79 making YOB 1834) matching the 1901 census DOB of Nov 1834 ( John K was Dec 1833). 

Ancestry - 1911 Census of Canada - Winnipeg, MB, pg 12, line 47 (RD line 38)

Then he disappears! Why was he going by John K? 

Although I use 1834 for his YOB based on the 1901 census, it is problematic.  He can't have been born in 1831 his parents weren't married until 17 Dec 1833.  The YOB at 1834 doesn't work because Benj, the oldest, was born Sep 1834; then there is a sister born Jun 1835.  That leaves that he was either born in 1836 OR that Hannah was pregnant when married?  Given he's born at the end of the year, Nov 1833 could be right, just before her marriage in Dec. 

OR - OR - OR - Could John W actually be John K and Josh & Hannah never had a son John W given the problem with the DOB?  And that the baptism for John K was actually John W mis-transcribed?  I need to order that record I think

We know John William was a shoemaker who got married and had children; that his family split up after the 1880s sometime.   We know he had connections to River John, NS including a couple of children born there.  

We know nothing of John K, not so much as a census

Did John K or John W die young and the other used his identity?  This is an important because it would be risky to use a living person's identity no?   Or did the other just not exist and this is all a typo!!!


~~After all that, it all comes down to this one piece of documentation~~

This death record for John K Vincent (indexed online under Vincint) who I believe is John William Vincent.


We have no records for John K but we know he was born at Onslow, not River John as this record shows

We know John W was Methodist who married, lived in and worked in Truro as a shoemaker 

AND

the informant is a Rogers, can't tell if that is JW Rogers or LM but John William Vincent married a Rogers girl!

 

There are too many ticks in the boxes for me not to conclude that this is John W 

So where does this leave me?  I am standing by this being John W's death entry. 

A while back I wrote that the family lore was that John W was on the run from Ireland and that the evidence suggested that wasn't true; however, what is true is that he and his family are guilty of a lot of misdirection!  

Was it because one was acting as the other?  If so, why?  If they had a child out of wedlock, terribly embarrassing back then, could it be they were trying to distance themselves from the rest of the family?  Is it too much of a coincidence that both boys could have been born in 1833 one in Nov the other Dec? Both boys did live in River John at one point so they must have met.

I think the real question is  - Are John K & John W one in the same and if so, who are the right parents?!?  

Could the Real Slim Shady please stand up!