...an early genealogical history (c1820-c1860) of the Betts who immigrated to PEI...
last updated Jun 25, 2005
The focus of this article is solely on PEI Betts, and primarily on the early settlers. While we will willing help anyone, please remember that our intention is to document the early Betts on PEI with a cutoff date of about 1860. For the decendants of Isaac b1784 (our direct line) we are thirsty for more information... so if you have anything from theory to documentation please contact us. If you are a descendant of either William or David, we might have limited information beyond this article. Please note that all dates are "circa", they are shown for timeline purposes only and are not intended to be accurate genealogical references.
The three Betts discussed here are brothers, sons of Benjamin (these are his only sons with a PEI connection) born 1739 USA who fled to Canada c1783. There is a book entitled Betts Family History by Warren Robbins, which unfortunately is fraught with errors. During our research we found haunting similarites and a lack of sources in many descendants' reports, and it is apparent that many genealogists have copied directly from this book or each other.
We are extremely grateful to many many people who have helped us, and frankly the list is so long that out of fear of excluding someone we will not list them......but you have our deepest thanks! We are especially grateful to Al Betts for working so closely on this with us.
We know that William was born c1782 at Wallace, that he married Elizabeth Purdy, that he died 1857 and is buried at Wallace. Many people follow the quote from Robbins that says William's nephew William (son of Benjamin Jr., son of Benjamin) "lived with his Uncle William at Charlottetown until his death, at which time he moved to Maine and became a carriage maker....". This however is the singular piece of evidence placing William in PEI, we do not believe he ever resided on the island.
The 1827 Wallace census shows William as a farmer on 45 acres, with four males, four females, and having one birth that year. William married Elizabeth Purdy (daughter of Colonel Gilbert Purdy) and according to Valley of the Remsheg published by the Pugwash Historical Society "William moved to Malagash because he married Elizabeth Purdy and acquired land next to her family".
Most researchers believe the following are the children of William and Elizabeth (note this is compilation of various genealogists), followed by my opinion:
Joseph (his father is positively Isaac, not William), Martha (father probably is William), Silas (father is very likely Isaac), Mary (father probably is William), Clarissa (father is likely Isaac), William Henry Purdy (reportedly born c1818, had a son Henry bc1850, obviously father would be William), Lavina (suspect father is Isaac), Bethia (suspect father is Isaac), Jesse or Jessie (believe this person never existed, or perhaps an error since Isaac Jr. had a son Jesse).
David was born c1781 at Wallace (the records of the Church of England at Richmond {St. Eleanor's} show David baptized on May 11, 1854 at the age of 73, and he states his birthplace as {somewhat illegible} "Mirarsiche"). In the section on Isaac we will show the immigration to PEI as 1820, but whether David immigrated with Isaac is not known for sure. He is not in the 1827 Wallace census and his son David married a PEI native c1824; we are assuming he did.
David Jr. married Susanna Darby, a native of St. Eleanor's (Lot 17....her father Benjamin is very early settler, appearing in the 1798 census) and they had at least eight children born at St. Eleanor's (all appear in the Church of England, Richmond{(St. Eleanor's}) baptismal records and it is believed that David Jr. died at St. Eleanor's; Susanna died in 1856 at the age of 55 at St. Eleanor's
Isaac was born c1784 at Wallace and immigrated to the island in 1820 (Meachams Atlas of 1880 correctly places his son Joseph on 95 acres, and he states his year of immigration was 1820). In 1827 he published an advertisement in The PEI Register offering a 20s reward for information leading the conviction of someone who cut off the tail of his ox, and he lists his residence as Nine Mile House (Lot 65). All of the land in PEI was originally apportioned out to persons, usually in England, who had earned the favor of the Crown. These people were supposedly responsible for colonizing the Island, but in fact they did little with it beyond anything that lined their own pockets. Confederation ultimately put an end to this system and anyone who had leased their land (or who could prove they had been on it for a period of time) was ultimately sold the property by the Commissioner of Public Lands.
It is suspected that Isaac, like many others, simply squatted on his farm (alternately referred to as 95 or 100 acres, the original document has 100 scratched out with 95 written above it). In March of 1832 he leased it from Lady Wood and Misses Fanning for 999 years. In October of 1839 he transferred the lease to his son Joseph. While Joseph remained on this land, it would not be until 1877 that actual title was transferred, for the sum of $161.
Isaac's next documented appearance is not until the 1841 census of Lot 8, but it would be fair to assume that at the time of the transfer of the Lot 65 farm in late 1839 he made his way across the island. This is further demonstrated by the fact that when the 1841 census was taken he had already built a saw & grist mill:
Isaac Betts SR, one male 60+, one female 45-60 (this would be Isaac's wife), three males (this would be Silas, Isaac and Daniel) and four females 16-45 (this would be Clarissa, perhaps Lavina and Bethia, plus Isaac Jr's wife Lydia), three males and three females under 16 (this would be Isaac Jr. & Lydia's children Dickison and Elizabeth, with four unknown). His occupation is shown as farmer and sawmill operator (defined as the only sawmill in the township), holding 100 acres, and having one horse, four cattle, and four hogs. He states that "the number of acres held by verbal agreement" is 100. At the end of the section there is a census taker's note that refers to the need for a road in the vicinity of the Betts' Mill.
The fact that Isaac SR is mentioned in the 1841 census specifically as "SR", indicates that he did have a son named Isaac. According to The Islander 10 Aug. 1849, "Isaac Betts SR died in West Cape on the 1st of August, age 65, leaving a wife and ten children" (note ten children, which shows there are children who remain unidentified). It is worth noting that Isaac SR gives his age at 60+ when in fact he was only about 57 or 58, but the census takers were known to be far from accurate. There is a couple of underlying suggestions that Isaac SR might have been somewhat prosperous, given such issues as offering a 20 shilling reward back in 1827, the fact that his obituary was published (this cost money, a rare commodity), and running a sawmill in addition to farming.
Isaac Sr's wife is unknown, other than the fact that she did outlive him, and the following we believe are his children:
NOTE: John H who married Rebecca, is likely the son of John, another brother to Isaac Sr. While John H seemed to "follow" Isaac Jr. through New Brunswick and we often suspected he was another sibling, his later years were spent with Joseph in Charlottetown and in the 1891 census he states his father was born in the province of Quebec...which is were John SR was known to have been born.
Isaac Jr.:
Isaac was born c1810 at Wallace and would have immigrated with his father in 1820 to Lot 65, then moved to Lot 8 c1839 as discussed above. He married Lydia Dickison of Wallace NS on Dec 31, 1835, at Wallace (Source: 1832-1843 Parish Records of Rev H McKenzie, Church of Scotland). Based on various censii, Lydia was eight years younger than Isaac. Isaac and Lydia had the following children (their birthyears calculated from various censii):
The above information suggests that Lydia would have been 55 years old when her last child, Archie, was born. There are also some curious gaps between the ages of the the last two children; they might in fact be grandchildren. Isaac's first mainland appearance is in the 1861 Hillsborough Parish, Albert County, NB (with Lydia and all of the children except Dickison) as a labourer and in 1871 at the same location, but as a farmer. In 1881 they have moved to Harvey Parish. Isaac died sometime between 1881 and 1891, during which time they moved to Moncton to live with their eldest daughter Elizabeth. Lydia died sometime after 1891; they are both buried in the Elmwood Cemetery at Moncton.
Dickison appears to be the only person who remained on PEI when Isaac and his family left. The 1861 census shows him on Lot 8 with 100 acres. The census does not mention the sawmill, but the 1863 PEI Land Survey still lists him as the mill owner. The census also suggests a tragedy, he is alone and states he experienced a death within the past year (we assume this to be his wife). We estimate his age at around 23/24 years old at this time, and that shortly before when Isaac left for NB, he remained behind. The "holdings" as mentioned in the census still suggest some prosperity, but shortly after Dickison disappears.
Jesse (this is my direct line) would have traveled back to NB with his father and on Dec 24, 1870 he married Delilah Hoar; she was already pregnant with their first child. Their daughter Laura Myrtle was born in 1871, and a son Watson Seymour (my grandfather) in 1875, both believed to be born in Hillsborough. In 1871, likely for financial reasons, they show in the census living with Delilah's parents. Tragedy struck in 1877 and Delilah died from consumption (TB). Curiously, neither Jesse nor his children can be found in 1881 census. Family lore suggests that the children were raised by the Hoars. Laura, for some reason, left for Maine probably around age eleven or twelve. Watson reappears in the 1891 census working as a farm hand, very close to Delilah's sister Charlotte (who had married David Wilbur). In 1898 Watson married David and Charlotte's daughter (his first cousin) Naomi. They had six children (one was my mother).
Ye old disclaimer: We've worked very very hard at this, trying not to perpetuate errors and to document our sources, but are very open to discussion. In particular for the descendants of Isaac b1784 (our direct line) we are thirsty for more information... so if you have anything from theory to documentation please contact us.