Owner: Lisa Bryson, lisa.buccimedia@shaw.ca
Area: Ontario, Minnesota, Newfoundland, and British Columbia
Bible History: My dad, Malcolm Bates Bryson who is known as Mack inherited this Bible from his mother Eleanore McCallum Bryson. Her grandfather Mathew Cowan started the entries with his marriage to Mary Caroline Gibbs. His family were railroad builders who originally emigrated from Ireland and may have been Scots Irish. They Cowan family moved from Ontario through the prairies (the town of Cowan Manitoba is said to be named after them) and then into St. Vincent Minnesota. Their children were born in Ontario, Manitoba and possibly the last one in Minnesota.
My grandmother's mother was Eleanore Cowan and she married Donald McCallum and then came to B.C. with him and that is where their four children were born and died. That Bible entries end with the birth of my grandmother, who was the fourth child of Eleanore and Donald McCallum, in 1910.
Births
- The following were written by Mathew Cowan, I believe:
- William Richard Cowan Born on the 7th August, 1858
- John Charles Cowan Born 21 February 1860
- Robert Thomas Cowan Born October 1861
- George Edward Born 22 December 1864
- William Gibbs Born March 1865 (corrected from what looks like 1866)
- Mathew George Richard Born 2nd February 1868
- Elizabeth Anne Maria Cowan Born January 5th 1870 at 4 a.m. (The way my family pronounced her names was Elizabeth Anna Mariah)
- Ellen (corrected to Eleanore, likely by herself) Amelia Matilda Cowan Born 28 October 1872 on Monday at 1/2 past eleven ( Not sure of the prior word) at night
- James Francis Nicholson Cowan Born August 14th 1874 Tuesday at (illegible)
- Frederick Thompson (latter name struck out with a line, then another name scribbled out, looks like Robinson) Nicholas Dure Cowan Born Sunday the 6th of August 1876 (illegible) in the morning
- Arthur Glover Dufferin Cowan Born 30th October 1878 at 9 p.m. Dufferin Manitoba
- Martha Margaret Caroline Cowan born at 7 (hard to read) o'clock April 13th 1881
- (The following is on a separate page, in what looks like looks like Eleanore Cowan McCallum's handwriting. Each "Vancouver B.C." inscription was added later in blue ink)
- Children of Eleanore Cowan McCallum and Donald McCallum
- Malcolm Cowan McCallumAug. 3 1903 Monday 20 minutes past one p.m. At 24 7th Ave. W Vancouver B.C.
- Mary Elizabeth McCallum July 23, 1905 Sunday morning 7 o'clock 24 7 Ave. W Vancouver B.C.
- Donald Robert Gibbs McCallum Feb 6 1907 Wednesday morning 5 o'clock 24 7 Ave W Vancouver B.C.
- Eleanore Ferguson McCallum Oct 25 1911 (In pencil in the margin is written 1910 in brackets. I believe I corrected this for my grandmother as a child when she told me her birth certificate showed her birth was in 1910 which had surprised her but which she accepted as correct) Wednesday evening half past eight Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver B.C.
Marriages
- Mathew Cowan and Mary Caroline Gibbs Married on the 28 August 1856 By the Rev. Ritchie
- Eleanore Cowan married Nov. 19, 1901 to Donald McCallum At St. Vincent Minn by Rev. W. Watson
- Robert Cowan married to Mary Mogg Vancouver B.C. Sept. 1902
- Frank Cowan married to Grace Simpson
- Arthur Cowan married to Winifred Chatfield
- (these last 4 entries look like they were done by Eleanore Cowan McCallum and the latter 3 were not complete for dates, as they were likely added much later from memory)
Deaths
- William Richard Died December 1st 1861 At 7 o'clock Sunday morning
- George Edward Died February 9th 1864 (He obviously died as an infant, sadly, but the birth and death dates don't make sense. Perhaps he was born one year and died the next.He is shown as being born 22 December 1864. Maybe he was born in Feb. 1863, and died Dec. 1864)
- Mary Caroline Gibbs Wife of Mathew Cowan Died (over written) April 6, 1901 St. Vincent
- William Gibbs Cowan Died Friday February 2nd 1906 At 3.10 pm St. Vincent's Minn
- Mathew Cowan Died Wednesday February 2nd 1907 - 88 yrs St. Vincent Minn
- John Charles Cowan Died Oct. 1st 1920 St. Vincent Minn
- Martha Margaret Caroline Cowan Armstrong Saturday morning 3.15 a.m. March 21st 1924 Vancouver B.C.
- Donald McCallum Died Jan 8 1939
- Mathew George Richard Died May 6 1947
- Robert Thomas Cowan Died (no date given, looks like these were entered by Eleanore Cowan McCallum, and she likely meant to add the date later)
Misc
There is an obituary in the Bible for a Toussaint relative who died in Newfoundland and who was a nephew of Mathew Cowan, I believe. His father was a consul from France to Newfoundland.
