My Family Tree

From the Top of the Hill says of William and Sarah Mann that "another daughter married Rev. W. Tufts, Bedeque." This is most likely Elizabeth Hutchings Mann, who married Theodore W. Tuffts; her son William Mann Tuffts was a Presbyterian minister who served in Bedeque.

According to her death certificate, Elizabeth Hutchings Mann was born in Burlington, Prince Edward Island around 1819. She was probably named for her aunt Elizabeth, who had married John Hutchings; Hutchings had been one of the witnesses at the marriage of William Munn and Sarah Efford in Newfoundland. Given her responses to census takers in 1871 and 1881, it is also possible that she was born later than 1819, possibly as late as 1829. Having her first, and only child, at age 35, rather than 45, is somewhat more likely (but not impossible at the older age). Given that Sarah Mann had been angry with her mother, it is possible that she named a daughter after her sister, before naming a daughter Mary, after her mother. On the other hand, if William and Sarah followed traditional naming patterns, then this might mean that Elizabeth was born after her sister Mary, or between 1822 and 1829.

Also consider the difference in age between Elizabeth and her husband. According to the Presbyterian Witness, Elizabeth Mann spinster and Theodore W. Tuffts, a bachelor and mechanic from Halifax, were married 23 January 1864 by the Rev. Dr. Knox, an Independant Baptist. Elizabeth would have been 45 and her husband 22. 1864 - Book: 1800 - Page: 12254. Marriage bond for Mann and Tuffts

Their only son, William Mann Tuffts, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 26 August 1864. On his late application for a birth certificate, his widow stated that his father had been a merchant.

In the 1871 census of Nova Scotia, Elizabeth Tufts, age 42, was keeping a boarding house. Also in the household were Theodore Tufts, age 29 and a mason, and William, age 6. Relationships were not specified in this census, but both Elizabeth and Theodore gave their status as married. It seems likely that they would be a married couple with their son.

The Halifax City Directories, like McAlpines, further confuse the situation. In 1869, Theodore W. Tuffts was a salesman, living at 13 Creighton. Theodore Tuffts, plasterer (1871) and mason (1873), was at 13 Creighton, and around that time there were ads for T&H Tuffts, masons. In 1874 and 1875, according to a city directory, Elizabeth was the widow of Theodore, living at 11 Creighton Street, but Theodore Tuffts was back again at that address in the 1878 directory.

According to the 1881 census, Elizabeth was living in Halifax. She gave her marital status as married: she again gave her age as 40 and her place of birth as Prince Edward Island. Her husband was not in this census, and her son William was 16 and still in school. There was a Theodore W. Tuffts, born 1835 in Nova Scotia, married but living in lodgings and employed as a brick mason, listed in the United States 1870 census, but there were other Tuffts families in Nova Scotia who had a connection with Massachusetts.

In 1879, Elizabeth was running a boarding house, and by 1882 onwards, there was no reappearance by Theodore and Elizabeth was identified again as the widow of Theodore, or T. W. in city directories. From US records, it is quite possible that Theodore had left his wife and son started a second family in the United States, and Elizabeth was keeping up appearances. No death record was found for Theodore in Nova Scotia or Massachusetts records.

From Halifax City Archives:
The 1862 assessment roll for Creighton Street does not list any Tuffts as owners (civic address numbers are not given, just the names of owners). The city had no assessment records for the intervening years (1862-1883). Later registers give the following as owners:
1883 - #11 - Mrs. Elizabeth Tuffts
1890 - #11 - Mrs. Elizabeth Tuffts

Elizabeth continued to operate a boarding house until 1882. In 1884/85, William Tuffts, student, is listed as the occupant of the house in the city directory, and Elizabeth was listed in the Halifax City Directory as being at that address in 1888, and as the owner until 1890.

William was ordained as a Presbyterian Church Minister, and Elizabeth moved with his family to Prince Edward Island, and then to Ontario. They were in Lot 25 in 1891. Elizabeth noted on this census that she could read and write.

Elizabeth died in Hawkesbury, Ontario in April 1894 of complications due to diabetes at the age of 75, according to information supplied by her son on her death certificates. She was buried in a local graveyard. Her death certificate was found on ancestry.ca, and her death was noted in the Presbyterian Witness.

Transcriptions of vital stats from Eastern Ontario:
Friday May 4 1894
Mrs. Tuffts, mother of the Rev. W. M. Tuffts of Hawkesbury died very suddenly last Friday. Mrs. Tuffts, formerly a resident of Halifax Nova Scotia, had been living in Hawksbury since her son took charge of the Presbyterian congregation there. She had enjoyed good health till last winter when she had a severe attack of the grippe from which she never recovered and she finally succumbed last Friday. The funeral was largely attended for Mrs. Tuffts was highly respected. Services were conducted by Rev. James Bennett of L'Orignal and Rev. John Macleod of Vanleek Hill.

Other newspaper articles said that she was brought back for burial in North Bedeque Cemetery, but I'm not certain that this happened.

copyright Jane Dyment 2012