My Family Tree

Elizabeth Dyment is not in the PEI Baptismal Index, but there is ample evidence to place her with the family of Humphrey Dyment and Mary Ashton. The newspaper announcement of her marriage to Cornelius said she was the youngest daughter of Mr. Humphrey Dymond, of Lot 13. Protestant and Evangelical Witness Apr 27, 1861.

Elizabeth Dymant married Cornelius McArthur on February 12 1861. Witnesses at the marriage were James MacDougall (who was Sarah Dyment's first husband) and John and Sam Ramsay. The marriage bond, dated 7 February 1861, was taken out by Cornelius McArthur, Lot 7, and Humphrey Dymant, Lot 13. Cornelius was known to the Dyment family - he had been one of the witnesses at Humphrey Dyment Jr.'s marriage to Nancy McDougall in 1860.

If Elizabeth was the single female under 16 in Humphrey's household in the 1861 census, then her date of birth would have been closer to 1844. Two other Dyment girls married at a young age, so as the last child living at home, Elizabeth too may have been eager to marry and leave her parent's home.

On US census forms, Cornelius said he had emigrated to the States in 1865 or 1867, and Cornelius and Elizabeth sold some of their land in Lot 7 in 1866. As a result of a suit undertaken by James Yeo against Cornelius McArthur, Richard Hunt, the sheriff, seized 50 acres of property in Lot 7 in July 1867. The newspaper notice said that Cornelius' wife Elizabeth was living there, possibly while Cornelius was in Massachusetts. There is also a document that places the couple in in Brighton, Massachusetts around this time: Cornelius and Elizabeth Dyment from PEI registered the birth of a son, "Josephius McCartey", born in PEI on April 9 1867, the date of birth of their son Alvah. Both Cornelius and his brother Mathias were in a Massachusetts city directory in 1869 and 1870, in Cambridge.

Their son Alvah's obituary said that he had come to Massachusetts at the age of three, about 1870 or 1871, and their youngest son William sometimes gave his place of birth as Massachusetts. This was his place of birth in his obituary. However, it is possible that Cornelius had gone ahead to Massachusetts, leaving his family on the Island to follow later. I was unable to find Cornelius in the US 1870 census although his brother Mathias was living there. Cornelius does not seem to have used the nick-name Neil, so I have disregarded census entries for Neil McArthur.

None of Cornelius and Elizabeth's four children were in the PEI Baptismal Index. Phineas' parents were on his death record, and Cornelius and Elizabeth Dyment were listed as parents in the obituaries of Melvina, Alvah and William. The children later gave different places of birth on census forms, so it is difficult to state with certainty where Cornelius and Elizabeth were living at the time of their children's births.

Elizabeth died on the Island in 1870, possibly at the home of her parents.

After Elizabeth's death, Cornelius married Katherine Jane Rogers in 1871 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cornelius and Katy can be found in the 1880 US census with their blended family.
SELF Cornelius Mcarthur M 45 Canada
WIFE Katie Jane Mcarthur F 27 Canada
SON Phinuis Mcarthur M 17 Canada - Phineas C.
DAU Mulvina Mcarthur F 16 Canada - Melvina
DAU Alva Mcarthur F 14 Canada - Alvah
SON Wm. J. Mcarthur M 12 Canada - William Ervin
SON James G. Mcarthur M 8 Massachusetts, United States
DAU Sarah Ann Mcarthur F 5 Massachusetts, United States
DAU Elizth Jane Mcarthur F 1 Massachusetts, United States
Roderick Rogers M 31 Canada

By the time of the 1900 census, all of his children from his first marriage had left home. Phineus and Melvina went out to Washington State, but after marrying they returned to Massachusetts. Alvah and William stayed in Massachusetts.

The photo of the unidentified woman came from a collection of photos held by the Sexton family, descendants of Cornelius and Elizabeth. The woman's hair style and collar with a pin were common around the time of the US Civil War, and the original was possibly an albumen print. It was originally labelled as being Cornelius' mother, Nellie, but she would have been a much older woman in the mid-to-late 1860s. The photo was similar to one of Cornelius, and does not resemble his second wife, Katie Rogers. I believe this photograph is Elizabeth Dyment McArthur, possibly taken around 1867 or 1868 in Massachusetts.