Amy Johnson Crow, on her blog No Story Too Small, has challenged her fellow bloggers to post 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This is week twenty-three.
I don’t know very much about my great-great-grandmother Melissa Haight. She was born around 1819 to Harrison and Agnes (Doan) Haight. I am assuming she was born somewhere in Ontario County, Ontario.
I next pick up her trail around the time of her marriage to Reuben Thomas, sometime around 1841.
The 1851 census shows farmer Reuben (32) and Melissa (31) at home with Nicholas (7), Harrison (5), Philander (4), Sophronia (2) and Silas (1). Not shown is eldest daughter Agnes who passed away at three years of age. Also with the family is a servant, Catherine MacVale (20). The family is living in Whitby, Ontario.
The 1861 census shows Reuben (43), Melissa (incorrectly shown as 29), Nicholas (16), Harrison (15), Philander (13), Sophronia (12), Silas (10), Idilia (5) and Cynthia (2). In the gap between Silas and Idilia were William and Jane. William passed away at not quite a month old and Jane was not quite a year old when she died.
In 1871, Reuben (53) and Melissa (50) are still living in Whitby with Sophronia (21), Silas (20), Idilia (15), Cynthia (11), and Eva (10). Reuben and Silas are both listed as farmers.
Melissa passed away on February 27, 1873 at only 54. Reuben outlived her by decades, dying in 1909 at age 91.
