My Family Tree

I found David's name in my mother's notes about the Humphrey family, included in a list of children of Charles Humphrey Sr. Unfortunately, Mom didn't always note the exact connection, or her sources of information, which often were oral. DNA indicates that David was indeed a son of Charles Humphrey and Janet Bowman. I bet his middle name was Bowman.

It is interesting that my mother knew that David's wife was a Stewart from the Montague area of PEI, because that was not an easy connection to make, even with existing records. She must have had a personal source of information on the family, which leads me to belive that David does belong with Charles and Janet.

David was born on Prince Edward Island, and said on census records that both of his parents were born in Scotland, which fits with the family of Charles and Janet. His religion affiliation changed, but was Church of England in two census records. There were other Humphrey/Humphreys families on the Island, but they were all of English extraction. This is supported by the 1861, 1881, 1891 census records, and PEI baptismal records.

David was sometimes called Humphreys, but this was also true of Charles and James Humphrey.

There was a male of David's age in the household of Charles Sr. in the 1861 census of PEI, born on the Island. David's name did not appear in the 1864/65 New Brunswick directory, and he first appears in New Brunswick records around 1869, which was after Janet Humphrey moved to Sunbury County, and perhaps also when Adelaide Stewart Fiddler of Sunbury became a widow.

As noted above, my mother's notes said that David married a Stewart from Montague. He married Adelaide Fiddler, a widow, from Sunbury/Queens County in New Brunswick. David and Adelaide had to get a bond to get married, perhaps an indication that at least one of them was not well known in the community. In the 1871 census, there was no indication that David and Adelaide had married in 1870, which puts their date of marriage at 1869, the year the bond was issued.

Adelaide Stewart, from Georgetown PEI married James Fiddler from Northfield in Fredericton in 1862. There was a James Fiddler, a widower from England with a one-year-old son born in 1860 in PEI, who had been living in Sunbury Co. New Brunswick, according to the 1861 census. Christiana Stewart from PEI married William Fiddler, from England, in Charlottetown PEI; they later moved to Sunbury County, New Brunswick and could be found there in the 1861 census with children Thomas (11, b. PEI), Sarah (7), Margaret (4) and Hannah (2). Also in the household were John Fiddler, William's father, who had been born in England in 1799, and William's sister Mary, age 15, who was born in PEI.

My guess is that Adelaide and Christiana were sisters who married two Fiddler brothers. Janet Humphrey married another brother or close relative, George Fiddler, in 1866, and also moved to the same parish of Sunbury County New Brunswick. It makes sense that David would be related to Janet, and be her brother.

David was a farmer and a mason, and Charles Humphrey Sr. was a stone cutter. Two of David and Adelaide's daughters were given the same name as two Humphrey sisters. I think this adds to the DNA evidence.

Name HUMPHREY, DAVID B.
Year 1869
Role GROOM
Point of Origin QUEENS COUNTY
County Queens
Microfilm F-9099
Reference 1869-763
Name FIDDLER, ADELAIDE
Role BRIDE
Point of Origin QUEENS COUNTY

The census of 1871 record for David and Adelaide lists three Fiddler children (John, Louisa, Ida), who later appear in the 1881 census as Humphreys along with David and Adelaide's three daughters (Jannett, Dorcas and Gladys Sophia). In 1891, David and Adelaide were listed separately from the next household of William Dykeman and Dorcas Humphrey Dykeman and Gladys Humphrey Thompson, but only one house was described. David's occupation was farmer, and William was a farm labourer, so it looks like they were actually living together in one household. David and Adelaide can be found in census records for Northfield, Sunbury County up until 1921. They gave their religion as Church of Scotland, Church of England and Presbyterian.

David and Adelaide sold some of their land to a son-in-law William Dykeman. In the 1921 census, David (77) and Adelaide (88) were living with their daughter and son-in-law (William Dykeman) in Northfield Parish. David was Church of England; Adelaide was Presbyterian.

However, they were not found in the NB death records, which are spotty throughout the 1920s; nor are they in local cemetery or church records.

According to my mother's notes, David and Janet Humphrey were both buried in Redbank Cemetery, but I have been unable to confirm this. A New Brunswick volunteer visited some of the churches and graveyards in the area, but could not find David, Adelaide or Janet.