The Weir Family
The original Weirs in Canada – James and Catherine Weir
The Weirs are descendants of James Weir, 17?? – 1865 and Catherine, 1783 – 1865, who came to Canada from Lanarkshire on the Clyde River in Scotland. They settled near Cobourg where he was the ‘postie’ (mailman) between Kingston and Hamilton, a position he held even after they moved to Otonabee in 1825 to Lot 12, Con. 5, east of Keene.
James’s sister, Janet Weir, 1774 -1829, was married to John Nelson, 1773 -1829 and came to Canada in 1818 where they lived at Lot 18, Con. 4 in Otonabee. They raised eight sons.
In the book, Forest to Farm: Early Days in Otonabee, by Gayle Nelson, Catherine writes to Peter Robinson:
Sir: I am desirous of purchasing Lot No 15, E1/2 in the 5th Concession in Township of Otonabee in Newcastle District, a Clergy Reserve for which I am willing to pay the estimated value subject to such terms of payment as the government may require.
I am, Sir, your Obedient Servant,~ Catherine Weir
James and Catherine had three children: Archibald, Andrew, and Janet.
Archibald, 1803 -1888,was the first to come to Otonabee at Lot 13, Con 5 (two farms south of the McCarthy homestead) in 1825. In the book, Forest to Farm: Early Days in Otonabee, there is a story told of Archie’s kindness to Mrs. William McNevan who landed in Otonabee with six children and a husband who died within six weeks.
“Little wonder she never forgot the kindness of old Archie Weir, father of Councillor ‘Baldy’ Weir, who went to live in Ashburnham. At this time, old Archie was driving a stage from Kingston to Toronto, and when he got to a big hill near Toronto, it was necessary to put on a double team. No doubt it was what was later known as Rouge Hills on Highway 2. When his route took him from Cobourg to Coldsprings, he was very good at bringing Mrs. McNevan provisions. She vowed he was the kindest-hearted man that ever lived.”
He married Elizabeth Marshall, 1823 -1903, sister of Ellen who married his brother, Andrew. She died at 80 after falling from the roof of a house while cleaning a chimney. My grandmother, Jennie Weir McCarthy, 1886-1965 called her Aunt Betsy and remembered her smoking corncob pipes.
They cleared the forests and suffered their first major loss when a boom of logs was lost on Rice Lake. Archibald was a progressive farmer, experimenting with a variety of grains. He retired to Keene in 1878 and lived in a small house behind Campbell McNeil’s store on the hill.
They had one son, Archibald Jr., 1861-1920. He married Janet McIntyre and built a house on the corner of Hunter and Roger Streets with wood from the farm. He was in the lumber business and a city alderman. They had no children of their own, but adopted two.
Andrew Weir, 1815 -1887 and Ellen Marshall, 1815 -1887, the grandparents of Jennie, married in Cobourg in 1839. They were married by Alexander Muir, composer of The Maple Leaf Forever. There is an existing copy of their wedding certificate.
Andrew Weir
Ellen Weir
They had eight children:
- Andrew, 1840 -1905, unmarried
- James, 1844 -1847, died aged three
- David, 1852 -1886, unmarried, died aged 34, falling from a ladder connected to the second floor of their log house
- Archibald, 1842 -1918, unmarried
- James, 1850 – 1914, the husband of Sarah Dixon, parents of Jenny Weir McCarthy
- Isabella, 1846 -1929, unmarried, who, along with Arch and Marsh raised the children of James and Sarah (Jennie, Marsh, Orm, and Rolly) after their mother died in Kaslo in 1897
- Marshall, 1857 -1923, married Annie McFarlane. He received a medal for serving in the Otonabee contingent in 1885 to quell the Riel Rebellion
- William, 1879, died in infancy
Janet, 1807-1883, the third child, married Robert Nelson of Lot 14, Con. 4 (the farm next to Arch Weir) and produced a family of ten, seven of whom predeceased their parents.
