Filling in the Gaps in a Life Story

Just when I think I have Great Aunt Margaret Matilda figured out, she has a surprise in store.  

I have known for 50 years that prior to her marriage to Robert John "Red Bob" Buchanan, my grandfather's brother, she was married to a man named Harvey Tibbetts. I had found them living in Iowa in the 1880 US census.

1880 United States Census

Census Place: Valley, Pottawattamie, Iowa

Source: FHL Film 1254361 National Archives Film T9-0361   Page 161 D

          Relation Sex Marr Race Age   Birthplace

Harvay TIBBETTS Self M M W 29 CANADA    Occ: Farmer Fa:VT Mo. CANADA

Margaret TIBBETTS   Wife F M   W 18   CANADA    Occ: Keeps House Fa: IRE.  Mo: IRE

This week Ancestry sent me this hint:

Iowa, Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996

Name: Harvey Tibbitts

Gender: Male

Marriage Date: 19 Feb 1880

Marriage Place: Pottawattamie, Iowa

Spouse: Margaret M. Abrahams

FHL Film Number: 1018502

Reference ID: P 275

The pieces all fit together except the surname Abrahams. She was only 18 at the time of this marriage so a previous marriage is possible but not likely. I try to keep an open mind, remembering that Maggie was not beyond inventing "facts" when she found it convenient. But in this case, why invent a different surname? 

She often said was given away by her mother Bessie Glenn when she was a small child.

Her granddaughter, Jean Hunter said “They dressed her up real cute and had her dance on the table so the neighbors would think she was cute and take her to live with them!” Also to kind of confirm this Mavis Johnson Buchanan (Uncle Eddie's daughter-in-law) told me years ago that "When Granny Gilberds [Bessie Glenn] hitched up with Henry, he did not want to have anything to do with the Buchanan kids!"

Maybe that foster family's name was Abrahams. This record shows some promise of being the foster family of Margaret Matilda Buchanan, my great Aunt: 

1871 Census of Canada 

Name:    Margaret Abraham

Gender:    Female

Age:    8

Birth Year:    1863

Birth Place:    Ontario

Religion:    Church Of England

Origin:    Irish

Province:    Ontario

District:    Perth North

District Number:    30

Division:    04

Subdistrict:    Elma

Subdistrict Number:    e

Household Members    

Name    Age

Thomas Abraham    50

Barbara Abraham    45

Robert Abraham    22

William Abraham    20

Joseph Abraham    17

Margaret Abraham    8

This fits nicely. I note the the 9 year gap between Joseph and Margaret, her age, the locality. Elma is where the James Buchanan family lived. The origin for the whole family is given as Irish, so it is not a useful clue.

Here is the James Buchanan family in 1861. Margaret was born about 1862.

1861 Census

Buchanan James Farmer Ireland Wes. Meth Elma 36 Married Male Lot 25 Concession 11

Buchanan Elizabeth Ireland Wes. Meth Elma 22? Married Female

Buchanan M. J. Upper Canada  Wes. Meth Elma 2 Single Female

Buchanan Andrew Upper Canada  Wes. Meth Elma 1 Single Male

According to the local history "The Elmanac", page 566, a William Abraham bought Lot 32 in Concession 12 in 1866. From the map in the Elmanac, this property looks to be about 4 miles from there the James Buchanan family was living in 1861, This would be the William Abraham aged 30 in the 1861 census of Elma, living with Thomas, and presumably a younger brother.

1861 Census  Canada West > Perth

28 Thomas Abraham Male 38 1823 Ireland Married

29 Barbary Abraham Female 40 1821 Ireland Married

30 Robert Abraham Male 12 1849 Ireland Single

31 W Henry Abraham Male 10 1851 Ireland Single

32 Joseph Abraham Male 8 1853 Upper Canada Single

33 Wm Abraham Male 30 1831 Ireland Single

This William is the only Abraham mentioned in The Elmanac, and there is no biography for him. 

The Thomas Abraham family appear to have moved to Pottawattamie county, Iowa in the late 1870s, which would explain how Maggie got there. 

The parents and the two youngest sons are in the 1880 census, but spelled Abram.

1880 United States Federal Census > Iowa, Pottawattamie, Valley, 188

Abram Thomas White Male 55 1825 Self Married Ireland Ireland Ireland

Abram Barbery White Female 55 1825 Wife Married Ireland Ireland Ireland

Abram William White Male 27 1853 Son Single Ireland Ireland Ireland

Abram Joseph White Male 25 1855 Son Single Canada Ireland Ireland

Maggie, of course is in the same census as Margaret Tibbetts. 

William and Joseph both married there as well. William married Mary Jane Armstrong.

Joseph married Sarah Armstrong. Both wives were born in Ontario, and may be sisters.

Harvey Tibbetts seems to have died in 1881 or 1882, because Maggie married Robert John Buchanan in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada on 10 Dec 1883. In between, Maggie apparently went back to Ontario, then followed other Buchanans to western Manitoba. The other members of the Abraham family also moved back to Ontario. I find no records of Robert Abraham after 1871. William Abraham, the brother of Thomas stayed in Ontario, and married Elizabeth Fullerton, daughter of Thomas and Ellen Fullerton on 2 Apr 1880 in  Perth county, Ontario. He lists his parents as William and Mary Abraham of County Fermanagh, Ireland. 

Maggie later forgave her father, but continued to feel hurt that her mother had given her away. Her daughter Isabell (ever a peacemaker) told her, "I am sure that Grandma did what she thought was best for you. She probably couldn't provide for you." To which Maggie would reply, "No one is ever that poor! We raised 14 children!" Maggie and "Red Bob" had 8 children of their own, and raised 6 others. 

Maggie was one of the people for whom I have a special fondness. These records have filled in gaps in her personal story.