Obituary: Mrs. Samuel Reid, Sr.

Personal archives of author.

Hopefully, you are all familiar with "The Diary", a transcription project I have been working on, posting pages of the 1895 diary of Carrie E. Reid.

On the side, I have also been working to determine exactly who Carrie was, and how her family is connected to mine. In the process, I have been using other materials found in the same collection in which the diary originally came to me; what I refer to as the "Carlyle Collection". Most of this material was either owned or gathered (or both) by Carrie (Brown) Carlyle, my great great aunt, and her descendants.

One of those pieces is the obituary of Mrs. Samuel Reid, Sr. (Seen here. The original newspaper print, it does not include a newspaper name or date.)  A bit of mystery of its own, as Mrs. Reid's given name or maiden name is never mentioned in the document. It does, however, give enough information to identify her, and her immediate family line.

May I introduce you to... Nancy (Marlin) Reid, the maternal grandmother of my 1st great grand aunt's husband, Samuel Reid.

Included with the original is a photo copy and some notes, indicating her death occurred in 1908.  Canadian records actually indicate it was 1907, 22 of January. She was 94 years old when she passed away, having been born in 1813.

So. Who was Nancy in relation to Carrie? Well, she had several sons', as you can read in the column, but only one daughter that I know of: Jane. She married one James Carlyle, who was born in Scotland in 1841, and immigrated to Canada sometime before 1875. Together, Jane and James had at least four children: Adam (the husband of Carrie Brown), Elizabeth, or Lizzie, as she is referred to in The Diary; Bert, an assumed brother from the transcription of The Diary, and of course, Carrie, our author. Nancy was their grandmother. Possible one listed as living near the Carlyle family (you'll have to wait for further posts from The Diary for that one!). Unfortunately for my family, Adam had already left the house when Carrie started putting her thoughts on paper on 1 Jan 1895, but I'm still hoping he'll show up soon enough. He wasn't yet married, but was out on his own. Maybe he'll come home to visit. 

"Grandma Carlyle", Carrie L. (Brown) Carlyle, wife of Adam Carlyle.
With  her daughter and family. Date unknown.
Personal archives of author.

The story, and life, of Mrs. Samuel Reid, Sr., really is worth reading, so take a minute to examine the obituary also. The writer left a broad suggestion at the end for the youth of Canada, but more so, to all of us. I certainly wish I had a photo of this remarkable woman... then again, maybe I do. Just another reason to keep digging into the mysteries that the "Carlyle Collection" has provided for me. 

By the way, "Reids' Mills" was located in Carleton County, Ontario, and is still a community today.