John McNeish 1811 - 1878, Margaret Mitchell1817 - 1892

This is the grave marker for John McNeish, 1811 – 1878, his wife Margaret Mitchell, 1817 – 1892 and eldest daughter Mary Ann, 1842 – 1894. They are interred at Molesworth Cemetery. The cemetery is on Hwy 86 about 17.4 km West of Listowel. You still have 6 km to go when you get to Molesworth. It is about half way between Listowel and Wingham.

When John McNeish came to Canada he brought his wife and three Children with him. Two more children were born in Perth county, Ontario. He was born in Scotland in 1811 and died in Perth County in 1878. He is interred at Molesworth Cemetery.

He brought his wife, Margaret Mitchell who was born 1817 and died 1892 and His eldest daughter Mary Ann, born 1842 and died 1894 who are interred with him. Also his too eldest sons came with him. John, who married Ellen Cooper, was born 1848 and died 1914. Andrew was born 1851 and died 1921. We know very little about John, but at some point, Andrew moved to Bruce Mines. I’m not sure how long he lived there, but he is interred at Molesworth.

Sometime after the birth of Andrew, the family came to Ontario. Census records show that the first to be born in Ontario was James. In 1897, James moved with his wife, Margaret Cooper, a sister of Ellen, to join his brother, Andrew, at Bruce Mines. They made the move with seven children in tow. James A, Elizabeth, Edith, Mary, Clara, Russell and Ella. An eighth child, Percy, was born at Bruce Mines.

The Youngest Child of John McNeish and Margaret Mitchell was Margaret Jane McNeish. She was born in 1857 and died in 1943. She married James Brown who was much older than her. It appears that he may have been a long time family friend as a 1861 Census lists a Margaret McNeish (married) in Oxford county with an out of area address of Wallace, Ontario, directly after a James Brown (single) who was 31 years old at the time. Wallace was the township that the McNeish family lived in when the1871 census was done. They do not appear in the 1861 census but were very likely getting settled there at that time. There is some evidence, then, that his wife was visiting James Brown in 1861. Perhaps the family was with her and Mr. Brown met his future wife when she was only 4 years old.

James Brown is interred at Molesworth with his wife and her brother, Andrew. He died on January 22, 1918 when aged 87 years, 10 months and 16 days.

I have found a directory listing from an 1885 – 88 Directory listing for the Stratford area that list members of the McNeish family as living in Wallace Township. The address given for Andrew, John, James and Margaret is concession 1 lot 60 with the post office as being Molesworth. A North Perth travel agency has told me that this lot would be at the heart of the present day Molesworth community.

I will attempt to go to Molesworth to visit the graves of my ancestors and determine if any others may be buried there. I will also try to locate concession 1 lot 60 to see if there is any possibility that the 1800’s dwelling still exists. Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated.