The Allison Family Story

The Allison family story is a slightly ugly tale. Quite literally, in the case of great-great-great-great grandpa William. Ugh. But I'm getting ahead of myself. To know our story, you first need to travel back to Northern Ireland in the mid-19th century. If you know your history, then you have an idea where this story is going already. Beginning in 1845, the failing potato crops led to what we Americans refer to as the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852). And this is where our story begins.

Sailing in Search of Better Potatoes

Our earliest known Allison ancestor, William Allison (b. 1810), was living in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with his wife Sarah Margaret (Monteith) Allison (b.1813) as the crops were failing and people were starving. At the time, the young couple had four small children: Mary Allison (b. 1840), Sarah Ann Allison (b. 1842), George Henry Allison (b. 2 Apr, 1844), and Margaret Allison (b. 1847). And one can not help but assume that when the young couple packed up their four tiny babies in 1847 and boarded a large ship for a dangerous voyage across the ocean, the famine must have been the primary cause. To date we do not know which ship the Allisons sailed on, but between 1845-1852, "coffin ships" frequently sailed out of unregulated ports to ferry Irish families to the United States and Canada. History has recorded that the conditions on the ships were deplorable. There was little food, no hygiene, no privacy, overcrowding, and lots of disease. Mortality rates were high during these voyages.

It's hard to know for sure if the entire Allison family survived the voyage. William and Sarah survived, along with all four of their young children listed above. But might they have had additional children who didn't survive the trip? Back in that era, young Catholic mothers would typically have a new baby every two years, almost like clockwork. And it is a bit suspicious that no births are recorded for Sarah Margaret between 1844 and 1847. Could there have been a baby born in 1846 whom history has forgotten? Who either succumbed during the ravages of the famine or perished aboard the ship? We have no way of knowing, but if I was pressed to guess, I believe it is likely.

Margaret (Monteith) Allison of Essex, Ontario, c.1860s

William Allison of Essex, Ontario, c.1860s

The Allisons in Ontario: Life in Early Rochester Township

The Irish immigrants settled for several years in Toronto, Ontario, where they continued to expand their family. They went on to have the following children: Robert Hugh Allison (b. 1849), William James Allison (b.12 Jul, 1852), Ellen Allison (b. 1854), and Nancy Allison (b. 1856).

By the mid-1860s , the Allisons decided to join a fledgling Irish Catholic community in Rochester Township, Ontario (in Essex County). Most of the children, by then grown, had chosen to stay close to the family home in Rochester Township. Eldest child, Mary Allison, was long-married to John Michel, whom she wed at the age of 17 in July of 1857 in Detroit, Michigan. She appears to be the only of the siblings to have not settled in Rochester Township with the family in the early days.

The next to marry was Sarah Ann Allison, who wed Robert Jordan Thomas in about 1861.

Losing Their Parents

Then, in 1867 the family lost its patriarch. Twenty years after fleeing Northern Ireland, William Allison passed away of unknown causes in 1867 at Rochester Township, Ontario, aged 57 years. His youngest child was only 11 years old. He had lived long enough to see at least two of his children marry and see them all safely and securely settled in their new home country.

Eldest son, my great-great-great grandfather, George Allison, married a woman named Mary Simon on September 21, 1874 in Rochester Township. The prominent Simon family had been founders of Rochester Township. The young farmer--who could not read or write--immediately began a family with his young bride with the birth of son William Adam Allison on November 8, 1876.

Sadly, this was the only child of George's whom grandmother Margaret (Monteith) Allison was able to meet. On Christmas Eve, 1878, matriarch Margaret fell ill with digestive problems. She passed away three days later on December 27, 1878 of inflammation of the bowels at age 65. Though neither William or his wife Margaret enjoyed extreme longevity, they had the blessings of all of their children surviving them.

But not by much, sadly.

Saying Goodbye to Siblings

The youngest girls of the family, Ellen and Nancy both were young enough that they were still spinsters at the time of their mother's death. And maybe they would have stayed spinsters, but they never lived long enough for us to know. In September, 1880, less than two years after mother Margaret's passing, Ellen Allison came down with a case of consumption. It took her life on September 30, 1880 in Rochester Township. Ellen was only 26 years old.

Just over a year later, little sister Nancy was working as a servant in London, Ontario when she passed away. On November 16, 1881 Nancy Allison expired from epilepsy in a case of sudden death. She was 25 years old.

Another sibling likely succumbed at a very young age. Robert Hugh Allison is rumored to have only lived until age 36, although we have no confirmation of this suggestion, nor do we have details about his demise.

George Allison's Family

Meanwhile, eldest boy George Allison continued his family with his wife Mary. They welcomed daughter Annie Allison in about 1879, followed by Maggie Allison on December 11, 1880. Then the couple welcomed twins Addie Allison and Ada Allison on September 6, 1886. Their final recorded child was Edna May Allison (b. 24 Apr, 1891). By the time Edna was born, father George was already 47 years old, and the older children were headed for marriage. The farmer undoubtedly lived a hard life, and it ended very early. George passed away at age 57 on June 30, 1901 after a battle with consumption for over 5 years. His wife, Mary, lived as a widow for the next 13 years before marrying again to William Leonard Ford in Ontario in 1914.

The Tale of the Terrible Ada

Not very long after her father, George's death, 18 year-old twin daughter Ada Allison wed 27 year-old James Isaac Boylan on September 23, 1904. The match may not have been entirely a case of true love, and probably had more to do with necessity. Less than 8 months later, Ada gave birth to son George Alfred Boylan (b. 14 May, 1905).

This was quite clearly not a happy match and family situation for Ada. By 1907 she ran off, leaving behind her husband and son, who was not yet two years old, to be with a man named Roy Vetor. On November 20, 1908, Ada gave birth to Roy's son, Russell Vetor. Yes, she was still legally married to James Boylan at the time. On Russell's birth certificate, the prudish government asked directly whether or not the father and mother were married. Ada answered affirmatively, citing their wedding date as March 22, 1907 in Detroit, Michigan. No record has been found to date of Ada and Roy ever officially marrying in the eyes of the government.

Of course, this isn't so surprising, considering James Boylan didn't file for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion until August 9, 1912. It's easy to imagine that Ada and Roy made a romantic match and may well have had a private civil ceremony to celebrate a form of marriage. But in the eyes of the government, it was bigamy.

It's hard not to cast Ada as the villain in this story. Based on the facts of the story, she badly cuckolded James Boylan and abandoned her baby boy so she could run off with another man, have his child, and make a second family for herself based on a web of lies. Perhaps she was a terrible person for this.

Or, if we want to give her the benefit of the doubt, it is feasible that the very young Ada was more of a victim of James's. If we see him not as a dopey cuckold, but instead, we suppose that he could have been a villain that was cruel, violent, and/or someone who forced himself on the teenage Ada (remember, he was much older at the time of their shotgun marriage), then Ada deserves a fair amount of pity. She most likely never wanted to marry James and did so under pressure. And her marriage to Roy was very long lasting. The two of them took in her mother later in life, suggesting she had her mother's approval in her second match--well, at least after some time.

So was Ada the villain or the victim?

Perhaps even her son George Boylan never knew the precise answer to that question. Shortly after his mother's departure, he was shipped off to live with his father's sister, Edith Newman and her husband Albert. George even ended up going by the name "George Newman" through much of his childhood. So one can imagine that while only a few long-gone souls know Ada Vetor's true role in the whole mess, from George's perspective, there was likely no good excuse to leave behind her baby son.

Much like her siblings (to the best of our knowledge), Ada lived a long life, passing away in 1965 in Ontario, Canada. Her final resting place, along with that of Roy and Russell, is currently unknown.

The Modern Allison Legacy

William and Sarah, the long-ago matriarch and patriarch who shepherded their family across the ocean during a time of peril, left behind an enduring legacy. Of their five children who survived long enough to reproduce, we currently only know details of son George Allison's family. His son William Adam Allison had six children of his own, carrying the Allison family name into the 20th century. George's five daughters carried on their legacies through the surnames Dobson, Brown, Wood, Crumb, Boylan, and Vetor, and each of them stayed close to the U.S.-Canada border in the Rochester Township area of Ontario.

William James Allison (youngest son of William and Margaret Allison) with family, c.1900s

William James Allison and wife Maryann, c.1930

Mary (Allison) Michel, c.1900s