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Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 7 May 2014 7:53PM GMT
Classification: Query
Is this the John Forgie son of Gilbert and Martha (Beattie) Forgie? I just discovered my Scottish lineage. I am a descendant of Gilbert and Margaret Stewart's daughter Isabella I believe. Very interesting to find stories :)

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 8 May 2014 2:43AM GMT
Classification: Query
No This is a different John Forgie.
However, my ancestor is John Forgie, son of GIlbert and Martha Beattie.
He was older than his half sister, Isabel, but the all came to the same initial settlement in Lanark Township as part of the Scotish Settlments of 1820 and 1821.
I have tracked John from there, but not Isabel

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 8 May 2014 9:44AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Forgie Stewart Tomlinson Thomlinson
Hello: Isabel or Isabella Forgie, daughter of Gilbert Forgie and Margaret Stewart, was born in Govan (near Glasgow) in 1813 and emigrated with the family to the Lanark area in 1820. About 1830 she married John Tomlinson (sometimes spelled Thomlinson). Both seem to have died in 1863. They had several children: William; Margaret (1831-1921); Gilbert (1833-1888); Jonathan (1833-1885); Isabella (1835-1907); Mary (1837-1882); and John (1838-?). I think that the Tomlinsons moved from the Lanark area to around Maryborough, Wellington Co in the mid 1850s - which is about the time that Alexander and his family moved to the Wingham, Huron Co area.

Isabella was the sister of my 2X great grandfather, Alexander Stewart Forgie (1818-1897). John (who replied earlier) is a descendant of their half-brother, John Forgie* (1799-1884). See my tree The Ancestors for more info and sources. *Who was not Captain John Forgie of the Steamship Olive but a successful Ottawa businessman.

All good wishes,
Mary

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 8 May 2014 1:14PM GMT
Classification: Query
Yes he married twice. His first wife, Mary Craig, died giving birth to my G grandmother, Eliza Workman, who was brought up until she was 12 by her aunt and uncle, Graham Forgie and Ann Gemmill, on a farm in Lanark. John Forgie's second wife, Helen O'Connor was a much younger RC whom his son and two daughters rejected, so his later life had additional troubling issues. As a destitute widow after his death, Helen pleaded to the Ottawa city council for assistance over the gaol financial failure, and after that failed, she and important Ottawa friends appealed in writing in 1891 to Sir John A for help (their letters are on file at Ancestry.ca). She died probably in poverty in St. Vincent's Hospital in Ottawa in 1914. The hand-down oral history of Helen that I remember from my grand-parents and mother is not very complete.

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 9 Jun 2015 4:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Thomlinson-Allan
Hi Mary,

Sorry for such a late reply, I just found this response. Thank you for the information. I have found your tree on ancestry, it has such wonderful information. Thank You for all of your hard work :) I do have the Thomlinson's in Maryborough, Wellington. Isabel and John Thomlinson are my 4th Great Grandparents. (I also live not that far from Wingham, Huron, Ontario). Their daughter Mary married Alexander William Allan of Lanark and they moved to Maryborough, Wellington some time between 1856-1860. They had 12 children. Are you in Canada?

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 16 Jun 2015 6:22PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hello Mary

Sorry this is so late...I hope you are still out there.

I, too, am descended from Gilbert Forgie and Martha Beattie. Their son Graham is my 3rd great grandfather.

In my tree, John Forgie (1799 - 01 Apr 1884) is Graham's brother. John died in Bruce, Ontario (per the Ontario, Canada Deaths, 1869-1934), certificate number 002196. He married Mary Craig 07 May 1839 in Bathurst, Lanark, Ontario by Rev John Cruickshank. He then married Hellen "Ellen" O'Connor, 17 Nov 1858 (several years after Mary's death) in Leeds & Grenville, Ontario. Hellen died 07 Apr 1912 in Carleton, Ottawa, Ontario, certificate number 019057. I have two known children for John Forgie and Mary Craig being Mary Forgie Garvey and Eliza V Forgie Workman. I show no issue with John and Hellen.

There is a John Forgie, born 1836 in Lanark who married Jane Kellough. There is a possibility he is the son of Gilbert and Martha Stewart, though I have not found any proof. This may be the Captain you seek.

That being said, there is also a John Forgie, born 1836 in Lanark and died 30 Apr 1899 in Bathurst, certificate number 014256. He lived in Leeds, Brockville, and is buried in Smiths Falls. He is the son of Thomas Forgie and Catherine Findley, and grandson of Gilbert Forgie and Martha Beattie. He married, first, Dulcabella Green and had a son, John J Forgie, born Nov 1870 in Smiths Falls. He married, second, Sophia Matilda Playfair in 1882 and had 6 known children with her.

There is also a John Forgie, born 1828 in Lanark and died 03 Jun 1884 in Almonte, Lanark, Ontario. He is my gg-granduncle. He married, first, Annie Grace in 1855 and had a daughter, Annie Gemmill Forgie. He married, second, Jessie Hamilton in 1864 and had 7 known children.

I am interested in the birth date of your Capt John Forgie, as there are several John Forgie's in the Gilbert Forgie descendants.

Happy Hunting!
Mary

Re: Captain John Forgie, Olive Steamship, Smiths Falls

Posted: 17 Jun 2015 9:34AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Forgie Kellough
Hello Mary:

Yes, I'm still out here - and delighted to hear from another descendant of Gilbert Forgie. There are a lot of us!

And there are a lot of John Forgies!

Captain John Forgie unfortunately remains a mystery. I'm beginning to suspect that he wasn't connected at all with our ancestors but have yet to find any evidence of who he might have been.

John Forgie (1799-1884) was a wealthy businessman in Ottawa who was bankrupted by a poor investment (backing the building of the Carleton County Jail). The Ancestry transcription of his death record suggests he died in Bruce, Ontario - but in fact he died in Ottawa (as did all the other folk on the same page as his death registration) - and is buried there in Beechwood Cemetery. One of his descendants has corroborated this.

John Forgie, the son of Thomas and Catherine, appears to have been a farmer. And you would certainly know if your gg-grand uncle had been a ship's captain.

New to me is the John Forgie (b 1836) who married Jane Kellough. I know that some family trees suggest that Gilbert and Martha had a son of that name born about that year - but Martha would have been about 50 years old at that time. Not entirely impossible, I suppose. Do you know of any records (census, marriage) confirming his existence? The Jane Kellough link is interesting - as the second wife of Gilbert and Martha's son Alexander (my 3x great grandfather) was Agnes Nancy Kellough (1818-1895). There's probably some connection there - a niece?

Alas, I don't know the date of Capt John Forgie's birth. The only details I've ever found were the 2 newspaper articles from 1888 and 1889. They suggest that he was resident in Smith's Falls at the time. But that's all I know.

It's a puzzle I'd love to solve.

All good wishes,
Mary


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