Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday - David Johnston & Hannah Hemingway


David Johnston
Oct 25 1816 Nov 6 1892
His wife
Hannah Hemingway
Mar 4 1819 Oct 13 1887
Their daughter
Caroline Johnston
Apr 18 1857 Apr 20 1877

David Johnston and Hannah Hemingway are my great great grandparents.
They are buried in Hagerman East Cemetery in Markham Township, York County, Ontario (now the Town of Markham).

My mother's eldest sister knew that David Johnston and Hannah Hemingway had lived in the Unionville area of Markham. My mother and I made a trip to the area and started looking for cemeteries. We did not find them on our first trip.

One day, while at a meeting of the Bruce Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, we were sharing what we were doing in our research. I said that we had gone down to the area but had not found the gravestone for David Johnston and Hannah Hemingway. It was my good fortune that there was someone there from Markham who offered, after the meeting, to check for me. I gave her the particulars as far as I knew them at the time.

Imagine my delight that some time later when an envelop arrived with photographs of some stones with transcriptions. The marker is lying flat on the ground. I do not know if that is how it was originally placed. I was certainly thankful to that person. I was later able to pay return visits to the area to continue my research.

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