Philip Harper
ID # 4040
| Birth | Philip Harper was born at Ireland. |
| Marriage | He married Elizabeth (--?--). |
| Death | He died at Ireland. |
| Note | He A biographical sketch of William Harper, found in the Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, 1906, and evidently based on fairly accurate summations of the lives of the family members, states that William's father died in Ireland. Such evidence that we can find indicates that his name was Philip. Other trees have reported Philip Harper as the husband of Elizabeth. For purposes of this tree we will rely on the fact that Robert, James and William all named their first born sons Philip. Philip Harper and his wife Elizabeth had at least three sons, Robert, James and William. The 1906 Historical Atlas of Wellington County says little in the matter of siblings for William and James, both of whom have otherwise interesting biographies. It states that William came to Arthur Township with his mother and one brother, unnamed, and leaves it at that for William's generation. James' biography is less accommodating. The Tweedsmuir Histories have a brief biography of James Harper's family and do mention three Harper brothers coming to Canada, but do not name James' siblings. The 1851 census provides us with more assistance. Elizabeth resides with her son James. Her age is given as 62 and she and James are shown as being of the Church of Scotland. Given the lack of other candidates, it seems safe to say that she is the Elizabeth Harper who is buried in Riverston, or Riverstown, Anglican Cemetery, which is located only a few miles south of the Harper farmsteads: Erected by/Wm. Harper/in memory of his mother/Elizabeth Harper/Died 2nd Nov. 1865/aged 79 years/A native of Co.Monaghan/Ireland/She's gone to dwell with saints above/And rest in God's eternal love. The gravestone inscription clearly ties Elizabeth to William. Why he is mentioned as the erector of the stone and his siblings are not isn't known. As to why Elizabeth was buried in an Anglican Cemetery, we could guess that it was near to hand, but it is also the case that her son Robert Harper was an Anglican. The Wellington District Marriage Register provides us with some further assistance. Robert Harper married Sarah Edge in 1845 and the witnesses were James Harper and Samuel Edge. This provides us with at least a tie between Robert and James and that they were brothers seems to be a reasonable conclusion. Interestingly, we find James Harper as witness in 1847 to the marriage of Robert Clarke and Margaret Harper, suggesting that there was a Harper sister. It should be mentioned that all these marriages referred to appear to be in Arthur Township. Margaret Clark's death registration in 1880 is uninformative as to her maiden name or family members, but it does give her birth place as Co. Cavan, Ireland. One further piece of evidence connecting the Clarks with the Harpers is shown in the marriage registration of Wilson Clark, son of Robert Clark and Margaret Harper, and Eliza Jane Kenney and dated 1888. One of the witnesses is James J. Harper of Maryborough in Arthur Township. This is almost certainly James Harper Jr., son of James Harper, brother of William and Robert. He would have been a first cousin to Wilson Clark. Another connection is that when Robert and Margaret Clark's daughter Ellen married in 1895, one of the witnesses was Flora Harper of Arthur Township. The only Flora Harper on the scene is Flora, daughter of William Harper. She will have been Ellen Clark's first cousin. The combination of documentation and circumstantial evidence is sufficiently strong that we may reasonably conclude that Margaret was a daughter of Philip and Elizabeth. As mentioned above, William Harper erected the stone to Elizabeth, his mother, at Riverstown Cemetery in Arthur Township. He was also apparently executor of her will. Elizabeth died in 1865 and her will was filed for probate with the Wellington County Surrogate Court in that year, according to peripheral probate papers. In 1869 there was a challenge to the will. It is not clear from where the challenge came. William surrenders his position as 'residuary legatee' to persons appointed by a judge for an examination of the matter. The state of her will at that point seems to be that of an application for Letters of Administration with Will Annexed. The only problem is that the will itself does not appear with these papers on the microfilmed copy of the file. For our purposes, it is safe to say that this is added confirmation of the relationship of William to Elizabeth. When Robert Harper died in 1884, his will was not in its original 'plight'. He had made additions and amendments after the will had been written, signed and witnessed. A judge ordered a review of the matter. However, it does tie Robert to William's family, for one of the executors appointed was William Harper Junr. of 10 W. O.S.R. This property was owned by William Harper Sr. There can be no doubt that this William Harper Junr. was Robert's nephew. Further documentation has been found that adds another daughter to the list of children of Philip and Elizabeth Harper. James Harper had a son named Robert Maw Harper. We find a will filed for probate in January of 1869 in Wellington County for Robert Maw of Erin Township. James Harper of Arthur Township is appointed an executor as is Ellen Maw, wife of Robert. The Home District Marriage Registry provides a record of a marriage between Robert Maw and Ellen Harper in Esquesing Township, but provides no help with Harper family relationships. Marriage and death registrations of the children of Robert and Ellen do show her name as Harper and one daughter, Annie, was a witness at the marriage of James Harper's eldest daughter Delilah. At this point, with reasonable certainty, we may safely say that Robert, James and William Harper were the sons of Philip and Elizabeth Harper and with confidence we can add daughters Margaret and Ellen. |
Children of Philip Harper and Elizabeth (--?--) |
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| Last Edited | 13 Oct 2020 |