A Surname Inquiry
Johnston
I am looking for a birth record for DONALD JAMES JOHNSTON. He was born in May, 1891 in Brunel/Stephenson. At the time of his birth he lived with his parents, Thomas Johnston and Catherine (McDonald) Johnston. Donald had several siblings: John, Robert and Thomas Jr. They were listed in the 1891 Census as living in the Brunel/Stephenson township. Thomas Sr. may have been working as a surveyor or potentially a "lumberman." We have been looking for a long time for his birth record or baptism record. Later in life Donald listed his place of birth as Orillia. However, the census in 1891 was taken only about 6 weeks before he was born so a birth in Orillia may be questionable. We have looked in Orillia area for records but found nothing. The family left Ontario in 1899 and moved to Duluth, Minnesota. My wife is the granddaughter of Donald. She is trying to locate birth records for him so she can claim citizenship as a descendant. Any information is very appreciated!
2 comments
Diane Shaw
All this information below is stuff you likely already have. Sorry to say that I couldn’t find out much. I only have Ancestry.ca so cannot get into american information.
I did check the Weslayan Methodist Baptist list but no luck under any Johnston spelling.
WW2 draft card gave Orillia as place of birth and WW1 gave just Ontario.
1886 they were in Rama, 1893 in Bracebridge and 1891 maybe Orillia.
Norman Cecil Johnston’s birth was sworn to by his older brother Robert as being born in Bracebridge Ontario 10 Sept 1893. This was given as a Evidence of Birth in 1943 in Duluth Minnesota under the Canada Evidence Act, file # 90182. This looks like there was no birth registration.
Thomas Jr b 18 Jan 1886. Birth registered Township of Rama which is in Simcoe County but may have been listed as Ontario County in 1886. Lot 3 Concession C. Father is listed as lumberman.
Rama is down around Orillia. Bracebridge is further north.
In the north government registrations apparently were only taken a couple times a year when the government agent came around and collected the information. Much information was missed.
Have you checked with the Canadian government department over the citizen stuff? I would think that with the irregularities in gathering the information in the 1890s that his place of birth given as Orillia should be accepted as true as it is on his WW2 Draft card. [He was awfully old to be going to war] . Any other US government papers that would have his POB on it? Social security?
This is a stupid question but have you checked on familysearch.org?
This is a long shot but what about border crossings? Marriage certificate?
Good luck.
Brian Drake
I’ve searched all of what you have recommended. I don’t think that his birth was ever registered anywhere. He had an older sister who was born in 1888 and died two years later when she fell down a well. I never found any record of her birth or death. Then Donald was born in 1891 and his birth record is missing. Then his younger brother Norman was born in 1893 and his birth wasn’t registered until the 1930’s – Norman’s late birth registration was notarized by Donald. But still no record of Donald, anywhere. I have lots of records of his activities in Minnesota. He always claimed to have been born in Canada on every document he signed. Unfortunately, Immigration Canada has made it fairly clear that unless you can find an ancestors birth record or two other Canadian official records, then we cannot use him in the application. The search goes on. Fortunately for my wife, she also had four great-grandparents that were also born in Canada and I have found two of their birth records. Thank you for responding with information. I really appreciate it!!