From The Scrapbook
February 8, 1991
By Dr. Bill Randall
Remembering John T. Craig
On December 23, 1990, the St. Andrews United Church had a significant part of their program related to the Craig family. Rev. Ruth Stuart baptized Lauren Craig, the daughter of Dan and Mars.
Watching the gentle ceremony were Aunts Wendy and Shelley, Uncle Andy and his wife Beth, Mar’s parents, the Dickinsons, Dan’s parents Murray and Helen Cochran Craig and grandfather T. Kay Craig.
The Church also unveiled a bronze plaque identifying the Sunday School Register which had been placed at the front of the Church in 1961 and dedicated to John T. Craig who at the age of 91 was present and had served for fifty-one years as the Superintendent of the Sunday School. Through the P.A. system a tape was played which had been recorded by T. Kay Craig in 1961 and contained the dedication speech I made and gave a brief biography of John Thompson Craig.
I was pleased to be a part of this service, because it brought back so many memories of the hours I had spent with John T. Craig. He had been born on the 24th or July in 1869, so when I first visited him he was 85 and had been blind for many years. He recognized my voice for he had been a faithful fan of Showers of Blessing and so we could share our memories of some of the really old hymns. He told me about his grandfather Thomas who had been a Precentor in the Scottish Church of Wooler, Northumberland Co. England.
CRAIG FAMILY
THOMAS JAMES CRAIGS
BORN: circa. 1770 Lanton, England
DIED: September 30, 1860 Harvey Settlement, age 90
Thomas married Ann, who died on October 16, 1811 In Kirknewton, England at the age of 41. They had 6 children of whom 4 were born in Lanton and 2 in Milfield. Several died in infancy and it is believed that only Walter survived to adulthood.
WALTER CRAIG
Born: December 7, 1805 Milfield
Died: December 8, 1900 Clarendon
Married circa. 1832 to ANN SINCLAIR
Born: November 28, 1804 England Died: December 3, 1895 Clarendon Walter and Ann emigrated to Clarendon, Pontiac County, Quebec in 1838 and had a family of 6 children and a foster son. Thomas then married Margaret Patterson on November 8, 1812 in Kirknewton. Margaret died on September 10, 1843 in Harvey Settlement at the age of 63. They had 6 children, all of whom emigrated to Harvey Settlement as adults.
JAMES CRAIG
Born: October 5, 1813 Lanton
Died: August 22, 1902 Harvey age 88
Married MARY HUME December 14, 1841 Harvey
Born: circa. 1816 Fenton, Northumberland
Died: August 24, 1899 Harvey
James and Mary emigrated to Harvey in 1837. James lived on Lot #11, 2nd tier.
They had a family of 8 children.
HENRY CRAIG
Born: January 22, 1815
Died: July 11, 1893 Harvey age 78
Married ISABEL KAY May 17, 1837
Born: May 27, 1805 Chillingham, England Died: March 13, 1881 Harvey age 75
Daughter of William and Isabelle Kay
They emigrated in 1837 and lived on Lot #11. They had 4 children: Isabella who married Alexander Wilson, Thomas Frank who married Isabel Thompson, Margaret who married John Palmer Stuart, and William who married Elizabeth Nesbitt. Isabel’s brother, Thomas Kay also emigrated in 1837.
WILLIAM CRAIG
Born: January 1, 1817
Died: October 4, 1892 Red Rock
Married MARGARET DIXON February 22, 1839 Coldstream, England
Born: March 1, 1817 Coldstream Died: March 23, 1886 or 1896
They emigrated to Harvey Settlement in 1843 and later moved to Red Rock
where they raised a family of 11 children.
THOMAS CRAIGS
Born: March 19, 1819
Died: March 14, 1903 Red Rock
Married MARGARET REID May 6, 1843 Coldstream
Born: circa. 1820 Dumfries, Scotland Died: circa. 1913 Red Rock? They emigrated to Harvey Settlement in 1843 and later moved to a farm in Red Rock where they raised a family of 12 children, the youngest Walter (Watt) being the only one to retain the spelling “Craigs”.
LUKE F. CRAIG
Born: July 1, 1821 Lanton
Died: October 23, 1911 Thorne Centre
Married CHRISTINA A. HEUGHAN JOHNSON
Born: circa. 1803 Scotland Died: February 22, 1875 Harvey
Married NANCY ROONEY
Born: circa. 1847 Bristol Ridge, Quebec Died: circa. 1937
Luke emigrated to Harvey Settlement with his parents and sister in 1841.
He moved to Thorne Centre, Pontiac County, Quebec in 1861 where he married
Nancy Rooney and raised a family of eight children.
ISABELLA CRAIG
Born: February 19, 1824 Milfield Died: Unknown
Married JAMES NESBITT October 28, 1844 Harvey
Born: circa. 1823 Died: Unknown
James emigrated in 1838 and was granted Lot #12, 2nd tier, which he sold to Archibald Rutherford in 1852. James and Isabella went to Australia with Robert Herbert on the “Revenue” from New York in 1852.
Sources of information: The Craig Family Genealogy compiled by Helen Craig from records of churches, cemeteries, census, and newspaper obituaries from the counties of York, N.B., Pontiac, Quebec and Northumberland, England.
Source: Rev. Bill Randall’s “From The Scrapbook Vol. One.”
