Smiths of Lewis
Neil Smith, his wife Christina Campbell and children Alexander, Donald, Angus, Allan, John and Jane left their island home in the summer of 1851 bound for Canada. Upon arrival in America, they first stayed in Hamilton for the winter. The next spring they settled in North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, where they shared a log cabin with a family of MacGregors. By the year 1857 the family is in Bruce County, Ontario, where they have purchased a 100 acre farm, Lot 21 Concession 3. One tax record indicates that they also owned Lot 20, but they did not hold on to it for more than a year. The records show that Alexander is the property owner and head of household, so I assuming that Neil died in Perth.
The farm stayed in the Smith family for almost one hundred years before being sold. The descendants of this family have spread across Canada and the United States.
John Smith, son of Neil, married Mary MacIver in 1875 and took over the farm. They had a family consisting of Kenneth Neil, Angus, Daniel William, John Alexander, George Allan and Marybelle.
Angus Smith is my grandfather. Angus was a plasterer, having been taught by his father. He plastered train stations across Canada as the railroad moved westward. He married Christena MacDonald of Ripley, Ontario and they moved to Melville, Saskatchewan. They and their family moved often, Angus following the work of plastering train stations. The last stop of the railroad was North Vancouver, British Columbia. This is where I am from.