Very little is know about William Caldwell and his family. William was born c1831, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada and married Barbara Eleanor Day, c1858.
Eleanor, as she usually was known, married (2) David Hughes, 1865, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada and died on 18 November 1924, Coal Creek, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada. She and David Hughes had four daughters together.
Now, let’s get back to William. In 1861, William and Barbara Elenor Caldwell were enumerated living with William’s older brother, James, who was unmarried. They, in turn, were living next door to their parents, Robert and Sarah (Porter) Caldwell and the younger members of the family.
The youngest child, Sarah Ann Caldwell, was identified as a granddaughter, aged 2 years old.
The 1861 census day for New Brunswick was 15 August 1861. I mention this because William was dead by 20 March 1862, when his heirs – his siblings and widow Elenor – sold his land.
This might explain why toddler Sarah Ann was living with her grandparents and not her parents, who were next door. Had William died by the time the census taker came around, but was living on Census Day? Or was William ill and/or dying and the baby was living with Robert and Sarah to protect her from illness?
For whatever reason, Sarah Ann was raised by her grandparents and, as already mentioned, her widowed mother married David Hughes in 1865.
Child:
- Sarah Ann, born c1859, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada; living with her grandparents in 1861 and 1871, Waterborough, Queens, New Brunswick, Canada. She received a bequest of “a good common education and at the age of eighteen she shall have a suit of clothes on and a suit off and a feather Bed and bedding and a Cow” in the 1870 deed filed by her grandfather, Robert Caldwell.
It is unknown whether Sarah An married, perhaps in the late 1870s or if she died unmarried. She is not at home in 1881 with her grandmother and has not been found in any later records.
If she died young, then William Caldwell has no descendants today.
If you are descended from Sarah Ann or can shed any light on what happened to her, please leave a comment.