Cole FANs: Mary Jane (Cole) Orr

Surrounding My Brick-Wall Ancestors.

In an earlier post, Cole FANs: Joshua Levi Cole, I introduced the youngest child of my brick-wall ancestors - and founding Canadian Cole family members - Henry "Harry" Cole (Abt. 1790-1849) and his spouse Elizabeth "Eliza" Churchill (Abt. 1790-1875). Now meet Joshua's older sister, Mary Jane Cole Orr.

In researching Joshua as part of my F-A-N (Friends-Associates-Neighbours) research strategy for his parents, I uncovered a tantalizing clue to his mother's whereabouts in the 1870s (see Author's Notes [1] below). But I also discovered that he didn't go alone when he moved to Medonte Township in Simcoe County: he relocated with an older sister and her family. 

Encouraged by this early success in my FAN strategy, and eager to find more clues about this generation of the Cole family, I turned my attention to Joshua's close associate - his sister Mary Jane Cole Orr.

Mary Jane Cole Orr (1822-1901).

Given the intriguing clues about my brick-wall ancestors found in researching their youngest child Joshua Levi Cole, I was excited to look into his close association in Simcoe County with older sister Mary Jane Cole Orr (see Figure 1 at right).

Figure 1: Mary Jane (Cole) Orr
at her Medonte Township home in June 1890

Mary Jane Cole was the fourth of nine known children born to parents (and Canadian Cole founders) Henry "Harry" Cole and Elizabeth Churchill. A descendant of Irish Palatine and English-Irish settlers, Mary Jane was born in County Tipperary, Ireland - probably in Kilcooly Civil Parish - in 1822 (see Author's Notes [2] below). 

At the age of 2, she immigrated to Ontario, Canada with her parents and older brothers Henry and Peter, settling near Streetsville in Toronto Township, Peel County, Ontario.

 

In 1845, at the age of 23, Mary Jane married Guy Hamilton Orr, the son of a neighbouring family. Her (probable) sister Eliza Cole (1825-1856, who later married Henry Cook in 1848 and moved west to Goderich Township) and Robert Miller were witnesses. 

For a time, Mary Jane and Guy Hamilton Orr settled on a farm near Streetsville (lot location is still to be determined) and raised their young family. In addition to the Cole and Orr families, 1851 census records indicate that the Sparlings (in-laws of Jane's older brother Henry) were close neighbours at that time. It is interesting to note that the Cooks, Orrs and Sparlings all came to the Streetsville area from County Tipperary, Ireland about the same time as the Coles, and appear to be maintining family associations that they had in the Old Country.

 

After the death of her father Harry in 1849, Mary Jane and her spouse began to set their sights on land in Simcoe County, north of their home in Peel County. Mary Jane and her spouse Guy Hamilton Orr - along with her youngest brother Joshua Levi Cole - moved together from the Cole family's original "home base" in Streetsville (now in the municipality of Mississauga), Toronto Township, Peel County, northward about 150 km to the Coldwater area of Simcoe County. 

By 1856, Mary Jane, Guy Hamilton, and Joshua had settled in Medonte Township. Mary Jane and Guy Hamilton Orr received a land grant for 100 acres at Lot 17, Concession 12 in the NE part of the township, near the Coldwater Post Office (see Figure 2 below).

Figure 2: Distance from Streetsville, Peel County to
 Coldwater, Simcoe County

Time passed and the family prospered, with Mary Jane’s spouse becoming Deputy Reeve of Medonte Township. But sadness touched the family when, in 1875, Mary Jane’s mother Elizabeth Churchill Cole died. And two of Mary Jane’s and Guy’s own children – twins Henrietta and Charlotte – died at a young age.

 

Eventually, Mary Jane and Guy’s children grew up and left the family home, marrying and raising families of their own. Then, on 16 July 1890, sadness again touched the family when Mary Jane’s spouse Guy died at the family home; he was 69 years old. After Guy’s death, Mary Jane resided in the household of her oldest son William and his family (it is currently unknown if this was at the original homestead at Lot 17 Concession 12).

Mary Jane died in Medonte Township on 20 February 1901 at the age of 79, after suffering from declining health for several years. Her final resting place is currently unknown.

Post-script: Researching FANs Yields Insight and More Clues.

While I didn't find any direct references to Mary Jane's parents during my search of Mary Jane and her family, I gained insight into more of her siblings, as well as her own children with spouse Guy Hamilton Orr. A clearer picture of the first-generation Coles in Ontario was starting to emerge, and I uncovered relevant details such as:

• In discovering Mary Jane's marriage record, I found evidence of: her sister Eliza Cole's whereabouts before her own marriage to Henry Cook and subsequent relocation west to Goderich Township; as well as an association to another County Tipperary (and Irish Palatine) family, the Millers.
• In the obituary of Mary Jane's spouse, I found the exact year that she left Streetsville, and with whom (including other neighbours). 
• In tracing Mary Jane's descendants, as well as those of her brother Joshua, I discovered through AncestryDNA several matches to individuals descended from these two siblings, lending confirmation that I was on the right track. 

After I complete researching the main details of the lives of Mary Jane's eight siblings (i.e., more Cole FANs of parents Harry Cole and Elizabeth Churchill), I plan to return to Mary Jane and her (especially older) siblings in a second round of research to focus on their young adult life in the Coles' early "home base" at Streetsville, Toronto Township. 

My intent is to use these first-generation Cole FANs as a proxy for researching their elusive parents Harry and Elizabeth. Hunting for more clues about the Coles' early settlement and associations in Streetsville hopefully will yield further clues to their whereabouts and associations in County Tipperary, Ireland prior to their emigration in the 1820s. Stay tuned.

Author's Notes:

[1] Elizabeth's death date and burial location are not well-established or well-corroborated, so I was excited to discover in Joshua's Ontario land records an annuity interest registered in Elizabeth's name against his land in Medonte Township, Simcoe County. His mother Elizabeth was alive, well, and living in Toronto Township, Peel County in 1874.

[2] Alternate birth years for Mary Jane are 1823 and 1825, and an alternate birth location is Ontario, Canada; given the date of her father Harry's Canadian land petition records, I remain skeptical that she was born in Canada.

                                                                                                                                                                      

Sources:

Data, information and resources attached to Brant-LeComte Family Tree, my public tree on Ancestry.ca.

Photo credit (Figure 1):  bluegrass419; photo of Mary Jane Cole Orr at her home in Simcoe County; Jun 1890; originally shared on Ancestry.ca 8 Jul 2009; last accessed on 20 Jul 2024. 

Photo credit (Figure 2): GoogleMaps 2024; snip of map from search results for "Streetsville Ontario to Coldwater Ontario distance"; accessed on 20 Jul 2024.