Jonathan McDonald

[Rosinish]

Death cert. for Jonathan's wife should say "married to" with Jonathan's name & her maiden name which would be a good route to clarify who he is/was in regards to Mary (daughter) 

Annie

[Rosinish]

Ahh. sorry, just realised you don't know when or where he died 

Have you found the others on census after 1881 as I would imagine if he was still alive he would still be with family as he would be c 73 by then 

Have you tried variants of his name for a death e.g. Jon/ Johnathan MacDonald/McDonell etc.

Annie

[Rosinish]

The 1881 census has in the same household.....

Jonothan McDonald 63 b. Scotland Widowed Farmer

Have you found Jonathan on later census..........if not then you can look for a death 1881 - 1891.

Who is it you are trying to trace 1st 

This is the Mary McDonald Matheson I am trying to find information on in the 1881 census she was born about 1849 and is married to John Matheson.

John Mathewson   32
Mary Mathewson   32
Mary Ann Mathewson   3
John Mathewson   10/12
Ann Mathewson   10/12

You need to find out when they disappear from census to look for deaths in the 10 yr frame for Jonathan & Mary Mathieson (whichever spelling) 

Annie

[Jehane]

Hi Annie:
Thank you for the help and suggestions it's much appreciated.
Here is Mary McDonald Matheson in the 1891 census

John Matheson   41
Mary Matheson   42
Mary Matheson   12
Donald Matheson   10
Effy Matheson   10
Cathrine Matheson   7
Norman Matheson   5
Effey Matheson   77

She also appears in the 1901 census
John Matheron   51
Mary Matheron   52
Mary A Matheron   22
Donald Matheron   20
Catherine Matheron   17
Norman Matheson   16

She died in 1909 aged 60 and is buried in Caledonia, lot 60 PEI.  I have found lot's of information on her but do not know which McDonald family she belonged to.  Have not found any deaths for Jonathan McDonald so far on any of the local cemetery transcripts so guess I should be looking further for him first.  I need to make a trip to the PEI archives I guess.

[Rosinish]

Do you have any of the children's birth certs. 

This will tell you both parent's names with mother's maiden name.

You know he was a widower in 1881 so maybe her death cert would be a good start.

His name may be down as something different to Jonathan as I pointed out before.

When you then find a death cert. for his wife, you will have an idea of the name he used if not fully Jonathan & of course the spelling variants.

It is also essential to have an area close to where he was on last census for looking for the death.

Annie

[Rosinish]

I don't know what info. is on a Canadian death cert. 

Would it state his wife's name, his parent's names 

Annie

[Rosinish]

Hi,

I thought I would post this thread as an example of why documents are needed, not just census & index information.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=728684.0

Annie

[*Sandra*]

Hi,

There was no civil register on Prince Edward Island prior to 1906, vital statistics information is not readily available for that time period from one specific source. With the exception of some civil marriage records, church records provide the majority of early vital statistics information.  There are some civil marriage records, although incomplete, from 1886-1905 and some church baptismal records from 1886. Births from 1840 to 1905 are also held with the Director of Vital Statistics, Department of Health. Public Archives and Records Office
If you can find records, the quality of these records varies considerably, and some have been lost to fire, flood and general neglect.
From what I  have seen so far, there seems to be a lot of inter-marriages between the MacDonald and Matheson families during the 19th century, a minefield. 

http://www.gov.pe.ca/archives/index.php3?number=1019767&lang=e


Regards
Sandra