Lauri,
Thanks for the edited post. The generic problem I have had with the early Sutherlands in NB is that the names George and James were pretty common names, and not being inside NB today, I can't just go down to the local church or cemetery and check things out. For example, with James there is an age conflict between the 1861 census age (b. 1826) and the gravestone age (b 1820).
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nbken/CemST_And.htmlI have a copy of the 1861 census, and I thought the cemetery gravestone age was a better fit for James, and that the census, like many census reports, could have wrong data. That assumption could have been very wrong - the gravestone could have been read incorrectly.
I've just checked my backup records for Samuel Kent and find none, so I can't support the link at this time. I do have a record of a George Sutherland marrying an Elizabeth Semple on 27 Oct 1826. Both were listed from what appears to be the Parish of Cranston, NB. I don't know where that is, and I'm not certain this record is my George. I suspect it may not be.
I am aware the parishes of Wellington and Carleton were created in 1814 as part of Northumberland County and that Kent County was formed from Northumberland County in 1826. Weldford Parish was established in 1835 from part of Richibucto Parish. Timing is everything, eh.
The Weldford 1871 census shows both George sr. and James unlisted (both were dead by this time) and Mary (Lawson) Sutherland is shown as the head of the family.
Ideally, I would have liked to reviewed the 1851 census, but as I recall, that census was somehow destroyed.
Thanks for your ongoing help.
John