52 Ancestors Year 2 #27: Mary Yuiel and how I found her

     Mary Yuiel was my Grandmother's Father's Mother, my 2nd Great Grandmother.  The only data the family had about her was that she born in Edinburgh, Scotland and her father was William Yuiel. I first found her in the 1861 Census of Canada East in Bristol, Pontiac, Quebec.  She was married to Benjamin Lester Hudson and they had three children. She was 25 (so born about 1836) and born in Scotland.  They lived in a 1 1/2 story log house with Ben's parents and were members of the Church of England.  Their oldest child was 5 so they were likely married in 1855 when Mary was 19.

     Ben and Mary and family moved to Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan with his father and several other family members between March 1865 (when Benjamin Melvin was born) and April 1869 (when Archibald was born in Saginaw.  We find them in the 1870 US Census for Saginaw Ward 4 with six children and Ben's father, Robert B..  Mary is 33 (born about 1837), born in Scotland, with parents of foreign birth. The next record we have of her is her death certificate, she died 28 Dec 1874.  This says born in Scotland, age 35, father William Yuell, mother Yuell, living in Canada, died of confinement.  So she died in childbirth.  The child must have been stillborn or died shortly after birth as this child has not been included in the list of children. I believe that her husband was devastated by her death as he farmed out his children to relatives and his three older sons to a logging camp, moved to a different county, remarried, had a son, lost that wife and came back to Saginaw. He married a third time and divorced that wife. I suspect that we don't know much about her because Ben probably didn't want to talk about her and my Great Grandfather, Ben, was only 9 when she died.

     But, being a genealogist and researching the family history, I wanted to know about her.  I couldn't find any record of her in Edinburgh, Scotland. I couldn't find a William Yuiel who fit any of the facts I had.  I did find Ann Yuill in Onslow, Pontiac, Quebec in the 1861 Census of Canada East.  She is listed as 65, Widow. Just a family ahead of her is JaneYuil, age 20, Single, born in Scotland.  Possibly mother and sister of Mary? There is an Archibald Yuil in Bristol.  In the 1871 Census, Ann Yuill is living with Archibald and his family,  Mary's brother? Continuing to search I found a family tree on Ancestry that had Mary Yuiel and gave her parents as Thomas Yuill and Annie Nesbit. So Annie and Ann, I felt I was on the right track here.  I looked for Thomas and Annie Nesbit on Family Search and elsewhere and found nothing. But I found a marriage record on Family Search for Archibald Yuill and Ann Nesbit. Now, Mary and Ben had named their last son Archibald.  This name does not appear in the Hudson family line prior to this. So it seemed to be likely that Mary had named her son after her own father.  Back to Family Search and I found birth records for Mary Yuill, daughter of Archibald Yuill and Ann Nesbit as well as Jane, Archibald with Thomas and William (brothers, not fathers!) and others. Eventually I also found a death record for Isabella Yuill Lindsay in Michigan which gave her parents as Archie Yuill and Ann Nesbit! Ann was living with the Lindsays in the 1861 Census but it had her noted as not a family member.

     Mary was born in Campsie, Stirlingshire, Scotland, on the opposite side of Scotland from Edinburgh! I was able to trace her ancestry back to about 1660 in Stirlingshire.  The name Yuill (and variations) is a clan that is part of the Buchanan Clan, named for a son of a Buchanan Chief who was born on Christmas Day. I have more to do in tracing this family but haven't gotten to them yet! But at least we were able to find Mary and give her her place in the family and history.