Janet Riddell Scott

My great-grandmother, Janet Riddell, was 23 years old when she married great-grandpa, David Scott. She was working in a woolen factory in Hawick, Scotland, and he was a journeyman blacksmith living in Liverpool, England. I imagine there was a bit of a flurry getting him home to Scotland so that they could be married before their first child, Mary, was born six days after the wedding. It was evidently not an uncommon situation. In most cases, the young man and woman would be called before the Kirk session, a church court of sorts, where they would confess their wrong doing and be disciplined — often with fines and/or public penitence of some sort. Usually, the marriage could then go ahead and if there was a child, it would be legitimate. In the meantime, those nine months must have been less than pleasant for Janet, who probably continued her work in the factory, went to church if she was allowed to, and tried to carry on as her condition became increasingly apparent, and the young man responsible was far away.

The only pictures we have of Janet Riddell are when she is older in Canada: very stately and refined, but with a melancholy look in her eyes. I’ve even felt a little impatient with her sometimes – why doesn’t she look happier?

Up until now, most of what we knew about the Scott family came from Aunt Elizabeth, the second to the youngest child born to David Scott and Janet Riddell. She always kept in touch with Daddy through letters and Christmas cards, and once sent us girls five dollars for Christmas. In 1948, Aunt Elizabeth wrote to Daddy: “Our family were: Mary, 1859, married John Robson, died 1887; Tom, 1861, married Nellie Elliott, died 1946; Janet, 1866, married Tom Goldie; Jean, 1869, married Dr. Jones; Elizabeth, 1876; Ann, 1879, died 1947; . . . Mary, Tom (your father), Janet and Jean were born in Hawick, Scotland. I (Elizabeth) was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ann was born in Thorold, Ontario, Canada. . . .”

Six children in twenty years. It took me awhile, but I finally realized that something didn’t add up quite right; so I started digging. . . .

Mary was born April 21, 1859 and our grandfather, Thomas, followed in August 1861. After that our records had a gap of five years, so I hunted for possible children that could fill that gap. Sure enough – a Janet Notman Scott was born to David Scott and Janet ‘Riddle’ on February 10, 1864. I don’t know what happened to her, but she evidently died sometime before 10 June 1866, because the baby that was born on that date was also named Janet. (It was a common practice to give the name of a child who had died to another baby in the same family.) (Jo on Langlands Road where the Scotts and Riddells lived)

Two years after the second Janet’s birth, Jean was born in November 1868; and then there was another gap of six years to fill. I discovered a boy, Walter, born to David Scott and Janet Riddle 4 September 1871 in Hawick.

1873 was an eventful year for the Scotts. Janet’s mother, Mary Riddell, died in May, and Thomas Scott, David’s father died in June. And in September, just three days after his birthday, two year old Walter died of ‘Hooping cough’, 14 days duration, and convulsions, 36 hours duration. And the Scotts decided to emigrate.

On April 18, 1874, David Scott, 40 years old, his wife Janet, who was 39, and their four living children, Mary, Thomas, Janet and Jean, arrived in Philadelphia on the USS Ohio, from Liverpool. (To see a picture of the SS Ohio go to this website: http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_shiplist.asp?co=amlin.) It was the sixth voyage of the Ohio, which had been built and launched less than two years previously by the American Steamship Company of Philadelphia. The Ohio and her three sister ships offered the first transatlantic service since the end of the American Civil War. Steerage passengers enjoyed a much greater degree of comfort and hygiene than was generally available at the time, but the crossing of approximately eleven days could not have been an entirely enjoyable one for Janet, who was seven months pregnant.

David took his family north to Ottawa, Canada. They settled in a small community called Rochesterville near the Nepean Quarry, where sandstone was being quarried to build the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. My guess is that David got a job as blacksmith at the quarry. In June, Janet gave birth to a little girl that they named Ann.

The Parliament buildings were finished by 1876, and I imagine David’s work was coming to an end; but Janet was expecting another baby in August. Baby Ann had turned two years in June. Less than a month later, on July 5th, she died. The Presbyterian minister who had been at the home, reported that she died of cholera morbus, but the doctor said it was dysentery. On August 31st, another little girl was born, whom they named Elizabeth.

Thorold, Ontario, near Niagara, is called ‘the town where ships climb the mountain’ because of the Welland Canal which goes through the town and, through the means of locks, raises the ships 99.5 meters, taking them from Lake Ontario, around Niagara Falls, to Port Colborne on Lake Erie. The first canal was built in 1824. By the time David Scott and his family moved to Thorold, that canal had been deepened and the original 40 locks replaced by only 27. (The current Welland Canal has only seven locks.) Perhaps David, with his background as a blacksmith and engine builder, moved to Thorold hoping for work on the canal. In Thorold, on 3 December 1877, the oldest daughter, Mary, was married to her cousin, John Robson, who had immigrated to Canada the previous year. And Janet’s last child, Ann Robson Scott, was born in Thorold 16 September 1878. She was given the name of the child who died two years earlier. (picture of Janet and Jean Scott)

The Gibson limestone quarry near Beamsville, about 15 miles from Thorold, opened in May 1884. According to David’s obituary, it was about this time that the family moved to Beamsville and David became head blacksmith at the quarry, which position he held until his death in 1902. They were through moving around, but life was still handing out some hard knocks. Mary and her husband John were also living in Beamsville when Mary’s fifth child, Walter, was born in January 1887. Less than two weeks later, Mary died of puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever. Janet, age 51, took the five children and their father into her home to raise and care for. Mary’s oldest daughter was eight years old, the same age as Janet’s youngest daughter Ann. The other children were ages six, four, two and newborn. (picture of the Robson children)

A situation such as this would require some adjusting; but Janet was a strong person and knew how to rally from hardship. The children loved their grandparents and their home. In fact, Walter, the youngest, eventually changed his name legally to Walter Robson Scott. Willie, the second to the oldest was a very kind and sweet boy. By 1896, at the age of 15, he had a job as a clerk, taught in the Sunday School and was loved and admired by all who knew him. He died of ‘peritonitus’ on May 3rd, 1896, after a week’s illness. He was 15 years, 9 months and two days old.

The following few years started a marriage trend for the Scott family. Thomas married Martha Ellen Elliott in April 1898 and Janet married Tom Goldie, a widower with several children, the same year in November. December 27, 1900, Jean married Wesley Jones, a veterinary surgeon from Iowa. When the 1901 census was taken, Ann, age 21, was the only one of Janet’s children at home. Jennie, 21, Edith, 16, and Walter, 14, were the Robson children still at home. Janet had their support and love when David, her husband of 43 years died suddenly of ‘paralysis of the heart’ at the age of 68.

(Janet Scott and Robson children, probably at the time of Willie's death.)

Jennie, Edith and David Robson soon married. Janet’s youngest daughters, Ann and Elizabeth, became nurses and never married. Walter Robson and his grandmother moved to Everett, Massachusetts in 1909, where he worked as a hardware salesman. Janet Riddell Scott died of acute bronchitis at the age of 81 at her home, 61 Chestnut Street, Everett, Massachusetts, on June 19, 1916. She was buried next to her husband, David, in the Mount Osborne Cemetery, Beamsville, Ontario. She was a strong, good woman. It is a privilege to be her great-granddaughter.