Recollections: The Reid family tree

Dad used to say that the Ontario Scots were clannish, but this is understandable and necessary for pioneers. Out west, sticking together helped stave off "prairie madness," a very real and dangerous condition caused by hardship, isolation, and horrible weather.

Our paternal grandparents, Pete Fraser and Annie Reid, both came from large Ontario families. Like the Frasers, half of the Reids (Peter, Margaret, Tena, Sandy and Annie) ventured west in the early 1900s (to the Dakota Territory) and half (Mary, Neil, Donald and Kate) stayed in Ontario. As with the Frasers, the Reids were a close family, and there was much travel between "out west" and "down east."

Kintyre, Scotland

Dad's maternal grandparents, Christena (Taylor) and Peter Reid, both came to Canada in the 1850s from the Kintyre Peninsula, Scotland, she with her family, and Peter by himself, a single man in his twenties looking for work as a blacksmith. The two married in 1860, in Paisley, Ontario, (about 200 km NW of Toronto near Lake Huron) and raised a large family.

The Reid farm, Lot 3, Concession 5, Elderslie Township, Ontario

Dad had four aunts (Mary, Margaret, Tena and Kate), four uncles (Peter, Sandy, Neil and Donald) and 33 cousins on his mother's side. His mom, Annie Reid, was the youngest of Peter and Christena Reid's nine children. There were 20 years between first-born Mary (b. 1861) and Annie (b. 1881).

The Reid family tree is braided, given that three Reids married three Muirs (siblings from another family of nine). We are indebted to the work of Mary MacKay, who untangled it all in her history book, Far Spread the Sparks from Cantire. Dad was happy to contribute content and many Reid photos from his mother's collection.

I've illustrated the initial family tree here (Annie's siblings) and their children (Dad's cousins). It is a mere excerpt from Mary's 328-page work, which contains full histories and subsequent info up to 1993.

Ontario pioneers Peter Reid (April 18, 1829 - February 4, 1895)

and wife Christena Taylor (October 23, 1839 - May 28, 1925)

Children and Grandchildren of Peter Reid and Christena Taylor

I. Mary (October 22, 1861 – May 24, 1951) 90 years

Mary (Reid) Muir

m. Robert S. Muir
pioneer settlers in Turnberry Township, Ontario
1. George m. Leta Dalton (a) Dalton (b) Mary
2. Peter m. Florence Trann (a) Patricia
3. Margaret m. Thomas Wallace (a) Marion (b) Donald (c) Florence
m. Oliver Stokes; no family
4. Robert m. Dora Hershey; no family
5. Norman m. Helen Ball; no family

II. Margaret (November 11, 1863 – February 14, 1946) 81 years

Margaret (Reid) Muir

m. George Muir
homesteaded in Hannah, N.D.
1. George d. age 19, T.B.
2. Christena m. Wallace Trann (a) George (b) Bernice (c) Thelma
3. Margaret Edna (Maggie) m. Thomas Till (a) Laverne
4. Peter (Pete) m. Esther Gemmill; no family
5. Annie m. George Bouey (a) Ion

III. Peter (March 29, 1866 – March 12, 1936) 70 years

Peter Reid

m. Henrietta E. Balfour;
sheriff and warden, Bismarck, N.D.
1. Austin Peter m. Ester Munson (a) Russell
2. Neil Ewart m. Pearl Gilmore (separated) (a) Bette (b) Neil (c) Mary Maud
3. Russell Samuel; unmarried
4. Sterling Alexander m. Esther Zellmer (divorced) (a) Lois (b) Jean
m. Latona Brown (c) Peggy

IV. Christena (Tena) (February 14, 1868 – March 26, 1937) 69 years

Tena (Reid) Moffatt

m. James Moffatt
homesteaded in Hannah, N.D.
1. Peter William m. Alice Thody (a) Helen (b) Norma Jean (c) Marvin (d) Janice
2. James Walter m. Emma Siverston (a) Marjorie (b) Bonnie Jean
3. Leslie Alexander; unmarried

V. Alexander (Sandy) (February 19, 1870 – March 27, 1941) 71 years

Sandy Reid

m. Janet Elizabeth Muir (Nettie)
farmer and banker in Hannah, N.D.
1. Jean; unmarried

VI. Neil (May 2, 1872 – October 31, 1956) 84 years

Neil Reid

m. Agnes Aitken
farmed in Elderslie Township, Ontario
1. Mary Jean m. Francis Cumming; no family
2. Laura Christena m. George McCurdy (a) June (b) Mary
3. Peter Aitken; unmarried

VII. Donald (May 14, 1875 – May 20, 1947) 72 years

Donald Reid

m. Clara Isabella McIntyre
farmed home place in Elderslie Township, Ontario
1. Peter Gordon m. Jessie MacKinnon (a) Mary Lynn (b) Donald (c) Heather
2. Mabel Donalda m. Bel Brown (a) Donald (b) John (c) Calvin
3. John Alexander m. Marion Keith (a) Ian (b) Ron (c) David (d) Keith (e) Bob
4. Wilfred MacIntyre m. Juanita Jacklin (a) Doug (b) Jim (c) Scott
m. Dorothy Oswald Orr; no family
5. Wilbert (twin of Wilfred) died at birth
6. Margaret Christena m. Wilson Ledingham (a) Susan
7. Isabel Lilllian m. William Chiller (a) Chris (b) Don

VIII. Catherine (Kate) (March 26, 1878 – September 21, 1954) 76 years

Kate (Reid) Walpole

m. Herbert Walpole
farmed Elderslie and Paisley, Ontario
1. Christena May m. Fred Goodfellow (a) Jack (b) Earl (c) Lorraine
m. Kitchener Crawley; no family
2. Herbert George (Bert) m. Jean Murray (a) Margaret (b) Murray (c) Cathy (d) Ruth
3. Peter (Pete) Reid; unmarried
4. Annie Irma Priscilla m. Alfred Thompson (a) Bill (b) Kay (c) Lois (d) Anne (e) Phyllis (f) Lloyd
5. Mary Lillian Kathleen m. Fred Patterson (a) Bonnie Jean (b) David (c) Lynn (d) Heather

IX. Annie (January 5, 1881 – January 28, 1969) 88 years