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JOHN LAUGHTON (1829 - 1896)
Information is now being added for the family of John Laughton, based on the
information we have received from
Lindy Ryan Laughton from Plano, Texas. Additional information was received in
the files from John Ivan Laughton in March 2009 which are now also included.John Laughton 1829 is reported to have emigrated to
Walkerton, Ontario Canada in 1853, which is the start of the Laughton Clan in
Ontario, Canada and the subsequent Laughton Clan that emigrated to the United
States. He married Catherine Margaret Murphy on July 5, 1859. It is reported
that the John Laughton 1829 and some members of the family moved to Niagara
Falls, New York (USA) in 1892. The records suggest that he emigrated to Canada
with his brother Jerome on the S. S. Jamaica on May 20, 1853.
The Summary
Card received from John Ivan in March 2009 noted that John 1829 eloped with
his bride Kathleen Murphy and set sail from Glasgow, heading to Montreal,
on the 20th of May 1853. The summary card states that John initially settled in
Hamilton, then Niagara-on-the-Lake and finally Walkerton. There is a note of the
reverse of this card that relates to his sister Sarah
Laughton 1833, whose granddaughter "Sally Dishan" also came to
America.
In the March 2009 files from John Ivan Laughton 1929 there
was a short history of the John Laughton 1829 clan and their emigration to
Canada. Here is what was reported:
JOHN the eldest son of JOHN and JANE
LAUGHTON for economic reasons, left the farm at VIGGA (96 acres) and moved to
Kirkwall where he became an excellent carpenter, but unfortunately jobs were
scarce, so JOHN and his new bride KATHLEEN (nee) MURPHY sailed for Canada on
the 20th of May in the yeast of the LORD 1853 from Glascow to . Montreal Que.
on the S.S.-Jamaica. " I have seen these documents..J.L." My great
aunt Julia had these in here possession, but where they got to is unknown. I
tried to get in touch with JACK BLACK in Florida, but I think he has passed
away and I don't know if there is any next of kin.
Why did the LAUGHTON'S select Canada, well there are a few reasons how this
could have have happened. Near Stromness there is spot called Kogin's Well
which is the "watering hole" for the HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S ships
from 1670 - 1891, also Captain Cook's vessels RESOLUTION and DISCOUVERY took
on water at the same location. Every year the Hudson's Bay Company agent in
Stromness recruited fifty to a hundred men for service in the Canadian
Northwest Company. A century and a half ago, seventy - eight percent of all
the white men employed by the company were from the Orkneys. So Canada must
have have been well know to the residents of the Isles. There was vestages of
the Norse who were migrators from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, willing to
explore new lands. To Orkneymen the Islands have been their cradle, the world
their home. The seas have not been limits, but highways to every quarter of
the globe, in search of a better quality of life, just as the Norse left their
Scandinavian homes hundred of years before. Being on the 59 a Latitude places
the Orkneys in the same plane as Stockholm,Helsinki,Leningrad. Alaska Pan
handle & northern British Columbia & must have made for a shorter
growing season so for those on the farm with large families difficulties must
have been experienced.
In February 2009, access to the new 1891
Canadian Census provided information on the John Laughton 1829 Family residing
in Walkerton, Ontario prior to their move to Niagara Falls, New York USA.
Here is a snapshot of that information. This image is in two parts, as Maggie on
Edward were on the following page. See also the Laughton
Document Listing on this web site.
John Laughton 1829 Family in Walkerton, Ontario.
Click on images to see full size version.
An obituary notice for each of his daughter's (see
images below) enabled us to identify the burial of father, mother and some
of the children at the Fairview
Cemetery in Niagara Falls Canada. The information from the Fairview grave
markers enabled us to confirm the dates:
 | John Laughton (August 15, 1829 in Holm, Orkney Scotland
- June 9, 1896 in Niagara Falls NY) |
| Catherine (Kathleen) Margaret "Maggie" his
wife (August 25, 1838 Mayo Co., Ireland - March 26, 1896 in Niagara Falls
NY) |
| Daughter Jane / Jennie (April 15, 1870 in Walkerton ON
- January 23, 1927 in Walkerton ON) |
| Daughter Julia (November 25, 1866 in Hamilton ON -
December 30, 1960 in Niagara Falls NY) - see newspaper obituary that follows |
| Daughter Margaret E. (June 17, 1874 Walkerton ON -
January 10, 1964 Niagara Falls NY) |
| Bruce Laughton (1901-1904) - initially thought to be an
infant son of John and Kathleen, then discovered to be the infant son of
Edward who was killed by a train. Buried at brother John's plot as it was
the only family plot at the time in the cemetery. |
There is a separate plot in the same Fairview Cemetery in
Niagara Falls ON for Edward Laughton and his wife Bertha: (see note above re
son Bruce buried in John's plot)
| Edward (July 24, 1876 - October 3, 1970) |
| Edward's wife Bertha "Bert" Loosley (May 11,
1880 - November 10, 1964) |
Children of John Laughton 1829 that are buried elsewhere,
not in Fairview Cemetery ON, are recorded as follows:
A group photo of the family of John Laughton came to the surface in June 2008
via contact from Lindy Ryan Laughton, wife of David Michael Laughton who is a
great grandson of this John Laughton 1829, thus grandson of
William Severn Laughton. Lindy's husband, David Michael "Mike" Laughton, is the grandson
of William Severn Laughton, great nephew of John Hugh Laughton, and great
grandson of John Laughton 1829.
Lindy Ryan Laughton has provided the Family
Group Sheet of John Laughton 1829 (in PDF format) that provides extensive
details on himself, spouse and children. This information has now been cross
referenced against the information compiled previously.
Photos Courtesy of Lindy Ryan Laughton, Plano Texas (June 2008) and John Ivan
Laughton, Nelson B.C. (April 2009).
(click on any photo to see it in larger scale)
John Laughton 1829 Family Photograph
Photo courtesy of Lindy Ryan Laughton
John Laughton 1829 Family Photograph
Photo courtesy of John Ivan Laughton
From Original Photograph
John Laughton 1829
Photo in John Ivan Laughton March 2009 Package
(see here for
names on reverse)
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Initially we had received two (2)
photographs of the John Laughton 1829 family, as shown. I have not
determined which is the original and which is the copy, so both are
included.
Starting at the top of this picture you will note
that there is a picture of John Hugh Laughton
(William Severn Laughton's brother) who is holding a smaller picture of his
wife Louise Estelle Van Wyck (from where many of
those that followed received the middle name "Van Wyck").
Left to right standing in the back row are some
of the sons and daughters of John 1829:
Mary 1863, Edward 1876, William Severn 1872,
David B. 1861, and Julia 1867
Left to right centre in the middle row are the
parents:
John Laughton 1829 and his wife Kathleen Murphy Laughton 1829
Left to right seated in front:
Jane "Jeanie" [or Jean "Jennie"] 1870 (daughter),
Mary "Minnie" McAlmon (David's wife) and Oscie (Minnie's sister) and
Margaret Elizabeth 1876 (daughter)
In the March 2009 package from John Ivan
Laughton here was an original of the photograph, which we have now
scanned and show here. This one we have cropped. It has a different
listing on the reverse that states the following:
Back row: Julia, Edward, William, David,
Margaret
Middle: Jennie, John, Kathleen, Irene
Front: Mary Eleanor "Minnie", Sister Pearl
At some point in the future, once the
"who-is-who" is resolved, we will remove the redundant
pictures.
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John Laughton 1829
Photo courtesy of John Ivan Laughton
|
You will
notice the striking similarity of this man to that shown in the centre
of the picture above. Perhaps it was taken at the same time? |
Sister of Julia Laughton
Photo courtesy of John Ivan Laughton
|
This
photograph accompanied the picture shown above for Julia Laughton.
It was labeled "Julia's Sister". We are waiting to see
if anyone knows whether it is:
| Jean "Jennie" Laughton |
| Margaret Elizabeth Laughton |
| Mary Ann Laughton |
My personal analysis of the family photograph
suggests that this is a photograph of Margaret Elizabeth
Laughton. There is a close resemblance in the facial features and
those features do not appear in Mary or Jean. This
photograph was also in the package for "Julia Laughton",
however we have now removed that as one identified as Julia. |
The Laughton "Sisters"
John Ivan Laughton Collection
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This
photograph depicts the daughters of John Laughton 1829. labeled from
left to right as follows:
Aunt Mary (Mary Ann
Laughton 1863)
Mother (Mary Eleanor "Minnie", David's
wife)
Aunt Jen (Jennie Robertson Laughton 1870)
Margaret (Margaret Elizabeth Laughton 1874)
The fact that this photo refers to Minnie as
"Mother" suggests that it came from John
Addison Corbett Laughton 1895, father of John Ivan
Laughton 1929 who provided the picture.
The back of this picture has
another photo titled "Laughton's Taghum Reunion". Thanks
to Chris Bostwick (CEFSG), Taghum has been identified as a small
unincorporated community about 10 km south of Nelson, British Columbia.
Click on this small thumbnail to see the full
picture.
Laughton Reunion
John Ivan Laughton Collection
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Funeral Card
Kathleen Margaret Laughton (nee Murphy)
Wife of John Laughton 1829
Died March 26, 1896
Buried Niagara Falls Fairview Cemetery
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John Ivan Laughton Collection
See Niagara Falls
Cemetery Collection |
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