more photos from the Reunion

More photos from our Reunion:

This is a great photo of 3rd cousins: Nancy, descended from Mary Gray Cowey, Neil, also descended from Mary Gray Cowey, Rena, descended from James Cowey, Grey, descended from Robert Semple Cowie, and Francis, descended from John Campbell Cowie.

The Cowey/Cowie Reunion

I am totally overwhelmed. Thank you all, on behalf of Nancy, Francis, Grey, and myself, for attending this first Cowey/Cowie Reunion. We were flying by the seat of our pants, never having organized an event like this before. One of the most frequent comments I've heard has been, "I wish so and so could have been here". Let's hope they were all looking in somehow.

If anyone has photos that they would like to post on this website, scan and email them to me, or to Nancy, and we'll post them. I was so busy trying to meet and talk to as many people as I could, I only took about 8 photos!!

What I would appreciate receiving at this point are family stories. I am interested in what our ancestors did for a living, etc. My ultimate goal is to complete a book I'm in the process of writing and make it available to everyone.

For your information, Nancy tells me that 102 people were at our Reunion. Amazing. We are now waiting for the Colborne Chronicle newspaper.

Countdown to Reunion

Hi Everyone,

The date for the Cowie reunion is not far away. If you have not already registered and are planning to attend, could you please let us know so that we can make final preparations. There will be a prize for the 20th family to register via email at cowey.reunion@hotmail.com Don't forget your food, lawn chairs, and cameras. See you Sunday, July 20.

British North America

On May 29, 1840, John Cowey, his wife Jane, and their five children set sail from Leith, Scotland, bound for British North America. The trip took about 8 weeks. On September 8, 1840, the family arrived in Upper Canada, at the harbour of Colborne, according to an entry in Robert Semple Cowie's bible. Why the County of Northumberland? There were familiar Northumbrian names waiting for them: Wooler, Warkworth, Norham, and Alnwick. They settled in Cramahe Township.

The early days were harsh. Among the worst winters ever recorded was the winter of 1842-1843. Many animals starved to death.

In the 1842 census of Cramahe Township, John, Jane and their family are living on property owned by J. Steele, Esquire. Using tenancy as a means of moving up the agricultural ladder to ownership was a common and viable strategy used by Cramahe farmers. The family would have been unable to own land back in Northumbria.

In the census of 1851, the family is living in a 1 1/2 story log house with Robert, a miller, Mark, a farm labourer, and their daughter Mary on 100 acres on Lot 26, Concession 6, Cramahe Township. Sons John and James were labourers on D. Campbell's 200 acre farm west of the Cowey farm.

The typical log homes were temporary residences. Most were either 18 X 20 ft., or 20 X 30 ft. These homes were usually 9 logs high. They usually consisted of a single room with an overhead loft. Walls were of planked or squared logs with dove-tailed corners. They were heated by burning wood.

In the 1851 agricultural census, we find the following information about the Cowey farm:
Of the 100 acres, 40 acres were under cultivation and 60 acres remained forested. John had 5 acres of wheat, 2 acres of peas, 2 acres of oats, and 2 acres of potatoes. The family also had 3 milk cows, 2 calves, 4 horses, 7 sheep, and 6 pigs. They had achieved a great deal in a short eleven years.

On May 17, 1853, John purchased the 100 acres of the South 1/2 of Lot 26, on Concession 6, Cramahe Township. The land was purchased from the Hon. George H. Markland of Kingston for 160 British pounds. (The Canadian dollar became legal tender in 1858). The Hon. Markland was a member of the Family Compact. A mortgage of $2550 was taken out in 1860, held by Andrew Jeffery and discharged in 1866.

John had also indicated intent to purchase property in Simcoe County, but changed his mind and remained in Cramahe Township.

On December 10, 1860, John purchased 99 acres of the North 1/2 of Lot 26 on Concession 5, with an additional 1 acre added from the North West 1/4 in 1861. Their home, in 1861, was listed as a 1 1/2 story framed house.

1874 was a busy and prosperous year for the Coweys. On February 4, John sold the North 1/2 (100 acres) of Lot 26 to his son John Campbell, now married with 3 children, for $1.00.

On March 21, John sold 70 acres of Lot 26, "that part lying south of Cole Creek", to Levi Simmons for $2800.

On August 24, John and his son Mark purchased the the North 1/2 of Lot 27 on Concession 5 from Josias Gillard. A mortgage of $6000 was held by Josias, and discharged on November 7, 1883.

On October 14, John and Mark puchased the North 1/2 of Lot 28 on Concession 5. This particular property had originally been purchased on October 26, 1833, by the Canada Company from the Crown. Then, on June 24, 1835, The Canada Company acquired the South 1/2 of Lot 28. This parcel was then sold in 1843 to Ephraim Doolittle. The North 1/2 passed through various ownerships until it was sold by James Cockburn to John and Mark Cowey. This became the Cowey homestead.

By the 1880's, Robert had married Christina Inglis, and had begun his move out West after establishing a grist mill in Norham. James had married Helen Kerr and was raising a family. John Campbell had married Amelia Bawden and was raising a family. Mary Gray had married Robert Laing Broomfield and was also raising a family. Only Mark was unmarried and he lived with John and Jane.

On April 17, 1891, John sold sold 30 acres of "that part lying south of Cole Creek" of the South 1/2 of Lot 26 to his son Mark for "natural love and affection and $1.00". He also granted to Mark for "natural love and affection and $1.00" the North West 1/4 of Lot 27. Mark was also granted the North 1/2 of Lot 28 for "natural love and affection and $1.00".

John and Jane celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in 1896. John had been slightly injured in a fall, and Jane was "poorly", also due to a fall.

On May 16, 1896, Jane Gray passed away from old age. The funeral service took place at the family residence on Lot 28, on Tuesday the 19th, at 2 pm., and Jane was then buried in the cemetary at Castleton.

On January 29, 1899, John passed away from old age. His funeral service was also held at his residence, on Tuesday the 31st, at 1 pm., and he was then buried in the cemetary at Castleton.

"Berwick and Kelso Warder" (continued) Part 3

"The Canada Company have also urged on the Government, as shown by a paper moved for by the Earl of Mountcashell, and laid on the table of the House of Lords, the justice of appropriating the money amounting to £60 000, due from them in respect of their purchase of Crown lands, to establish a scheme to encourage, direct, and facilitate, emigration to Canada.

That the debt payable by the Canada Company, together with the proceeds of the sale of the crown revenue lands, should be applied to purposes of emigration, is dictated equally by the interests and necessities of the British North American provinces, and by that impartial policy which should regulate the parent state in the relations with all its dependencies. It is too obvious, to require statement, that the unlimited extent of fertile territory in British North America, still remaining unoccupied, must continue unproductive and valueless, unless its resources are developed by the united operation of capital and industry; and it is equally evident that this can only result from emigration on a large scale, to be accomplished by the expenditure of ample funds. The money which may be raised by the judicious and systematic sale, at a moderate rate, of the crown reserve lands, would materially aid in attaining this end; and it is difficult to justify the diversion from an object so legitimate to purposes of ordinary state expenditure, of the large sums paid to government by the Canada Company in respect of grants of lands. This diversion is open to further objection; for while a boon so important has been denied to British North America, it has been conceded to other British colonies, in contravention of the most manifest principles of justice; and the Australian dominions of the Crown have derived from the preference thus extended to them, advantages which cannot be overrated.

A committee has been formed of members of the Colonial Society impressed with the importance of, and interested in, the colonization of British North America, and to this object they are indefatigably and zealously devoting their attention, their experience, and their influence..."

This article continues on at length, but certainly provides insight into the reasons for the push to urge emigration to British North America.

"Berwick and Kelso Warder" (continued)

" British North America possesses inexhaustible physical capabilities of greatness and of wealth; she has a territory which is spread out to an interminable extent, and fertile in almost every production, conducing to the necessities and gratification of man; her navigable rivers, her capacious and and convenient ports, and the broad, blue bosom of the Atlantic main, which connects her with the mother country and its other colonies, and with the kingdoms of Europe - all give to her the means and the facility of acquiring the most ample and the most permanent strength. Taxation can scarcely be said to exist in British North America. Servants and labourers, and mechanics, of all descriptions, are certain of employment and ample remuneration; and instances are numerous of persons in this class having sent home money from their savings to assist in bringing out their indigent relations. The public works in progress will furnish employment for many years to any number of labourers coming from Great Britain, and will continue to sustain the high wages they receive for their work. In the possessions of the British Crown on the continent of America an adequate and industrious population would cause agriculture and commerce to flourish to a boundless extent. In those fine provinces, so little known, and so imperfectly appreciated, by the parent state, the sources of productive industry are inexhaustible, and every human being sent from the mother country, enjoying sound health and well-regulated habits, may find employment suited to all the gradations of strength, skill, and capacity; a country so prolific with respect to sources of human industry is at our very door, within four weeks' sail of our shores, and is now brought by means of steam navigation within less than 14 days' distance. It requires but an extended emigration to cause an immense and rapid increase of its individual prosperity and general welfare; whilst, on the other hand, the over-crowded and famishing districts require but a transfer to these colonies to effect a great diminution of national misery, pregnant with alarm, as to its ultimate consequences. Nor is there any reason to fear that the demand for labour will be checked by the number of persons from this country seeking employment. Persons going at first as labourers are able to save money so quickly, and so soon to become independent, and able themselves to afford employment to others, that it may safely be said, that, in proportion to the number of new settlers in the province, will be the increased demand for additional labourers. That the present moment is the most propitious for the establishment of a scheme of emigration, on a large and effective scale, cannot be denied. Our fellow subjects in Upper Canada, as may be seen by the annexed address to her Majesty the Queen, from the House of Assembly, implore their Sovereign in tones of blended loyalty, patriotism, and sympathy, which cannot be read without emotion, that a plan emanating from her councils, may be established, which shall enable the surplus population of the United Kingdom to be happily transferred from their present dreadful position, to the unpeopled and unsettled lands of that fertile and extensive region, a transfer which will materially strengthen and effectually preserve the British colonial dependencies on that continent, and most firmly rivet the bonds of affection and interest which attach them to the parent state." (to be continued)

Emigration to Canada

The following is a copy of a newspaper article printed in the "Berwick and Kelso Warder" in the Spring of 1840. It provides an insight into the lives of the peasantry of Scotland, and what many of the Border families were hoping to escape from, potentially, in their futures. It also provides an interesting look at the perception of Canada from the aristocrats of 19th century Great Britain.

Emigration To Canada

British North American Colonial Committee

A meeting of the committee was held at the Colonial Society, St. Jame's Square, on Wednesday week, for the purpose of receiving and approving an address to the nobility, clergy, and gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, calling upon them to promote emigration to British North America, as the best means of relieving the more populous parts of the United Kingdom...of the large masses of individuals who are at present in a state of destitution, and of extending the influence and securing the dominion of the mother country. The address, which has been drawn up by Dr. Rolph and Mr. Hughes, was at the last meeting referred to a sub-committee for consideration.

Dr. Rolph read the following address:-

"In many parts of the United Kingdom the redundancy of population has become a formidable, deeply seated, and rapidly increasing evil, extending its withering influence through every portion of the country, assuming an aggravated character in numerous districts of Ireland, and reducing the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland to a state of destitution, from the contemplation of which the mind recoils with pain and horror. In the latter districts more especially, the existence of a large proportion of the population is barely sustained on the most scanty, precarious, and unwholesome diet; large masses are in danger of being swept away, and districts depopulated by famine and misery in their most appalling forms; whilst the moral and social evils resulting from the physical condition of the unhappy sufferers are daily producing the most disastrous effects. These sufferings, and the demoralization which may be feared as their consequence, are rapidly sinking this unhappy, but noble-minded peasantry, distinguished for their independence, their provident, self-denying, and social virtues, to a state of helpless and unparalleled wretchedness; and an immediate remedy is admitted to be indispensable alike by the divine, the statesman, and the philanthropist. The period has confessedly arrived when this remedy can be no longer delayed - the wide-spreading desolation must be arrested- the moral contagion stayed; and it becomes the grave and solemn duty of all who sympathise with human suffering, and are interested in the welfare of our fellow-subjects, but more especially of those immediately connected with the afflicted districts, to ponder earnestly on the means which emigration holds out a certain corrective, if not entire cure, of an evil, which, if allowed to operate longer, uncounteracted, must exhaust the resources of the country, and at no distant period sink all classes to the level of that which is now lowest. This duty becomes more imperatively incumbent on the nobility, clergy, proprietors, and others connected with the Highlands and the Isles of Scotland from the fearfully aggravated form which pauperism has there attained; nor is the removal of this surplus population less their duty than interest.

Whilst this country is thus overburthened by a redundant suffering population, the resources of British North America remain undeveloped, and lie dormant, from the want of labourers.

The inhabitants of Great Britain have been too apt to consider Canada as merely a region of ice and snow, of pine forests and lakes, of Trappers and Indians, with a few forts and villages intermixed, and producing only furs and ship-timber. But this is a very imperfect view of this interesting country, which is growing in population and improving in cultivation more rapidly, perhaps, than any part of the United States, if we except the territory of Michigan, and must become, at no very distant period, a wealthy, powerful, and populous province.

The climate of Canada is singularly healthy, and in salubrity is unquestionably superior to the United States. The cold of winter is divested of more than half its gloom by the extreme dryness of the atmosphere; and the heat of summer is attempered by delightful breezes from the lakes. The higher latitude repels all the summer epidemics that ravage the United States. Even in the severity of its winters, all that is injurious will yield to the thinning of the forests, the draining of the swamps, and the other labours of the accumulating population.

If we look at the map, a truth rarely adverted to when we speak of Canada, is apparent to the eye, that a large portion of the province lying immediately northward of Lake Erie, is situated in a lower latitude than the greater part of Michigan, lower than all that fine and fertile region along the great canal in the state of New York, very little further north than the Pennsylvania line, and in the same parallel with the fertile, productive, and wealthy state of Massachusetts. But it is well known that the climate is much less severe between the same parallels as we approach the west; thus Pittsburgh has a softer winter and a shorter one than Philadelphia, and Buffalo than Albany; so Upper Canada is much milder than Massachusetts. An eminent English geographer observes that ' the action of the climate upon agricultural productions in British North America is more favourable than in others which have the same mean temperature. The intense heat of the short summer ripens corn and fruits, which will not thrive in regions where the same warmth is more equally distributed throughout the year. Thus Quebec agrees in mean annual temperature with Christiana; yet wheat, scarcely ever attempted in Norway, is the staple of Lower Canada. The Upper Province nearly coincides with the north of England; yet the grape, the peach, and melon come to as much perfection as in their native soil. Even rice is found growing wild. In this respect British America seems not to fall short of European countries under the same latitude. Its winter cold at the same time enables it to combine the products of the northern with those of the southern climates. By the side of the fruits above-mentioned flourish the strawberry, the cranberry, and the raspberry, while the evergreen pines are copiously intermingled with the oak, the elm, and others of ampler foliage.' It has also been observed, in reference to this subject, that 'the most populous portion of Russia is 20 degrees to the north of the North American border of Upper Canada, and the colonists crowding to the country are Britons, a race proverbally successful in all the tasks to be achieved by patient vigor and fearless adventure. These men require only room - their native energies will do the rest. The forest will be cleared, the morass drained, the prairie will be a corn-field, the huge lakes - those mediterraneans of the New World - will be covered with the products of the mineral and agricultural wealth of the country; coal has been already discovered in great abundance, iron and various metals are already worked, the hills abound in every kind of limestone up to the purist marble.'

A great part of Upper Canada is delightfully situated for an agricultural country; free from mountains, it is, nevertheless abundantly watered and almost surrounded and intersected by navigable rivers and lakes, on which its produce is easily transported to various and extensive markets. It possesses a soil as well as climate peculiarly favourable to the growth of wheat, and immense quantities are grown in it. The Welland Canal connects the navigation of Lakes Erie and Ontario; the Rideau Canal, constructed round the obstructions in the St. Lawrence, opens a free communication by water from the north-western extremity of Lake Huron to Montreal, and thence to the Atlantic; and it is in contemplation to form a second line of communication by connecting Lakes Huron and Simcoe with the long and extensive chain of lakes and rivers throughout the Newcastle district, or improving the navigation of the Ottawa River, and connecting it with Lake Huron, opening a great field for agricultural and commercial enterprise. The advantages of the navigation of these canals and the St. Lawrence, are as exclusively British, as the navigation of the Mississippi is American; and the British Government, in order to augment and foster these important interests, admits Canadian produce into her ports at a very small duty. The Provincial Legislature has petitioned for a further remission of the duties on tobacco - the western section of the province having been discovered to be peculiarly favourable for its growth. It is also ascertained that the climate and soil, especially that of the western part of Upper Canada, are admirably adapted for the growth of the white mulberry, to the cultivation of which the attention of the United States has long been earnestly directed." (to be continued)