When I first learned that I had Loyalist ancestry, I wasn't surprised. My dad had a special interest in the history of Upper Canada and took the family to several different historic sites. He had a silver buckle that was passed down through the family for a few generations back to the Revolutionary war period. I started my research assuming that I knew my own name, wrong! My dad probably died not even knowing that his grandfather was born John Haines, he only knew that his name was John Hines. My dad was only five years old when his grandfather died.
When I found John Hines' death record on Ancestry.com I found the name of his parents, Benjamin Hines? and Sarah Freysman?.
I started to search and search and search. There was nothing about Bnjamin Hines, born in England. I left messages on several surname boards and got a reply from a cousin saying that Benjamin's name wasn't Hines, it was Haines and they were from the Niagara region. I looked up the family in the 1851 census of Canada West, taken in 1852, and found this family:
This census is for Niagara Township in Lincoln County, Ontario. I noticed that there is a Freisman family living nearby, so I assume that this is Sarah's family.
Benamin and Sarah Haines (Hanes) were living in the same area, they are listed on the same page.
After further searching I found Benjamin's sister in the 1851 census, and John, Sarah's brother on the same page. I know that Benjamin had a sister named Lany, but I haven't found any record of her after 1828, when she got her Order in Council as a DUE. John Freisman's wife's name is Laney, could this be Benjamin's sister?
I also found this in the 1861 Canada West census for Niagara Township, Lincoln County, Ontario:
It appears that Joseph was living with his
grandmother, Maria(Mary) Freisman, age 90, in 1861.
In 1871 he was still living with his parents:
John was married to Harriet Fernetta Doan and living in Moulton Township in 1881.
In 1891 John was still using the Haines surname when the census of Dorchester Township, Sherbrooke was taken:
John's mother, Sarah was widowed by the 1891 census of Aldborough Township, Elgin County:
Sarah died in 1892:
By 1901 John has changed his surname to Hines and was living in Rochester Township, Essex County:
By 1911 his youngest daughter had died and he moved with his familly to Essex:
