12 for ’26: Gleeson Family: John Gleeson Timeline in Canada

My 2x-great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson, was born on 13 February 1860 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada.[1] Through her, I am eligible for Canadian citizenship. I should work on gathering all the documents I need to prove my relationship to her. The problem I have is there is no marriage record for her and her husband, John H. Sullivan.[2] I also have no marriage record for her parents either, though with full-text search, I will investigate the records for John Gleeson and his wife, Margaret Tierney. I have previously written about this family for my BCG renewal. It will be interesting if more can be learned about them. This month, I will also investigate the parentage of Margaret Tierney.

Timeline of John Gleeson
Carleton County, Ontario, is further divided by townships. The earliest records show the Gleeson family lived in Goulbourn township. After being married, they had their children baptized at St. Philip Catholic Church in Richmond. However, their land was closer to Lanark County. Early days of Ottawa was known as Bytown, and before St Philip Church, Catholics went to Notre Dame of Ottawa.

John Gleeson was born in Canada to Irish-born parents, sometime in early 1830s. Without a baptism record, I have no direct evidence of his parentage. He appeared in the 1851 household of Martin Gleeson with sisters, Mary and Honora. He was 18.[3]

He married Margaret Tierney on 15 February 1858. No marriage record has been located, but they celebrated their 50th anniversary in February 1908. The newspaper article named their wedding date as 15 February 1858.[4]

Two weeks before the wedding, on 30 January 1858, his father, Martin Gleeson, sold the 100-acre farm he owned to John, with the stipulation that he have “free use and occupancy of the dwelling house now erected on the land and seven acres of south westerly angle of said half.”[5] Martin did not live there long, as he died on 9 October 1859.[6] He shares a stone with Ann Gleeson, who died on 9 April 1848.

Their first child, Martin, was born 25 January 1859.[7] Their second child, Anna Maria, was born 13 February 1860.[8]

By 1861, he is married to Margaret and their daughter, Anna.[9] But Martin is not in the household. It is possible he is the two-year-old Martin Gleeson in the household of James Garland on the next page.

After the death of his father, he mortgaged the property from John Hammett Pinkey of Ottawa for £150 and fifteen percent interest on 14 March 1860. It was discharged on 10 December 1862.[10]

He then purchased, on 4 March 1861, another lot in Goulbourn, totaling 50 acres at a cost of £225 from James & Elizabeth Burrows of Lanark County. The description was west half of the southwest half of lot no 3 in the 2nd Concession.[11] This land was adjacent to the land he already owned. Now he had 150 acres.

On the 15 September 1862, he mortgaged his 150 acres of land with the Canada Permanent Building & Saving Society of the City of Toronto for the sum of $1200.[12] He paid off this mortgage on 30 December 1865.[13]

Directories of the area listed John Gleeson in Concession 2, lot 2, in 1865 and 1867. He was the only Gleeson in Goulbourn township.[14]

On 27 December 1865, he took out another mortgage from Philip Thompson of Ottawa for $1400.[15] He paid the mortgage off on 4 July 1868.[16]

Children born since the 1861 census were:

• John James, born 23 November 1861, baptized 1 December 1861 with Michael Tierney and Honora Caully as sponsors.[17]
• Mary Martha, born 8 July 1863, baptized 2 August 1863 with James Douras and Susan Smith as sponsors.[18]
• Elizabeth, born 20 November 1865, baptized 24 December 1865 with sponsors John Tierney and MaryAnn Tierney.[19]
• Helena Mary, born 31 October 1867, baptized 10 November 1867 with sponsors James Tierney and Jane Tierney.[20]
• Michael Peter, born 29 June 1869, baptized 18 July 1869 with sponsors being Michael Tierney and Ellen Mary Tierney.[21]

On 3 July 1868, John and Margaret took out a mortgage on the two lots for $2000, to be paid on 10 July 1873.[22] This mortgage was paid off on 6 February 1875.[23]

The family lived on their farm in 1871. The household included a 40-year-old servant. Martin is listed in the household this time and included the above-named baptized children. Elizabeth was named as Eiza and Helen as Ellen. Perhaps the enumerated misheard the names.

Gleeson, John, 37 yr, b. Ontario, Catholic, Irish, farmer, married,
Margret, f, 36, Ontario, Catholic, Irish, married,
Martin, m, 12, Ontario, Catholic, Irish, school
John, m, 9, Ontario, Catholic, Irish, school
Michael, m, 1, Ontario, Catholic, Irish,
Anna, f, 11, Ontario, Catholic, Irish, school
Martha, f, 8, Ontario, Catholic, Irish, school
Eiza, f, 6, Ontario, Catholic, Irish, school
Ellen, f, 3, Ontario, Catholic, Irish,
Delaney, Ann Delaney, f, 40, Ireland, Catholic, Irish, servant[24]

William Charles was born 1 June 1871 and was baptized on 25 June. The sponsors were Michael Tierney and Ellen Mary Tierney.[25]

Margaret Teresa was born 28 July 1873 and baptized on 24 August 1873. Sponsors were John Whelan and Catharine Whelan.[26]

Tax lists from 1873 and 1874 described that he had 100 acres of the 150 acres cleared, and that his livestock totaled 8 cattle, 3 hogs, and 4 horses in 1873, and fewer in 1874: 6 cattle, 2 hogs, and 2 horses.[27]

On 11 December 1874, John and Margaret sold the 150 acres of land to Pierce Brennan of Montague, Lanark County for $3500.[28] Likely some of this money was used to pay off the mortgage to William Shaw.

The Move to Ottawa
The likely timeframe of their move to Ottawa is after the sale of the farm in late 1874. Their last child, Francis Thomas, was born on 29 December 1877, and was baptized at the Basilique Notre Dame cathedral in Ottawa on 1 January 1878. Sponsors were Philipp Lowry and Marriane Suzanne Dubreil.[29]

No further records were found of them in Canada, as they emigrated to the United States, first settling in Dakota Territory. Next time, we’ll continue with the timeline in the U.S.

---

[1] St. Philip Church, Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, Canada, "Regi Rich 2 1845-1868," 1860, baptism no. 6, Ann Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-SXC : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, image 176 of 566.

[2] The marriage records at Holy Family Church in Mitchell, South Dakota don’t start until sometime in 1882.

[3] 1851 Census of Canada West, Carleton Co, Ontario, Sched. A, ED 7, Goulburn Township, p. 95-96 (stamped), lines 22-26, Martin Gleeson; LAC film C-11716.

[4] "Mr. and Mrs. John Gleeson, Who Celebrated Their Golden Wedding on Saturday," The Sunday Oregonian, 23 Feb 1908, section 3, p. 5, col. 2.

[5] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B1, p. 467-69, Memorial 13388, Martin Gleeson to John Gleeson, 1858; imaged, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-CSF5-3 : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 00834734, image 252 of 522.

[6] Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257916108/martin-gleeson : accessed 30 May 2026), memorial 257916108, Martin Gleeson (1787-1859), Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery, Fallowfield, Ottawa Municipality, Ontario, Canada, photo of stone by David Saint. No records of burials were in the St. Patrick Church records for 1859, only baptisms.

[7] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 2, 1845-1868, 1859, B2, Martin Gleeson; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-SDY : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, item 120 of 235.

[8] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 2, 1845-1868, 1860, B6, Ann Gleeson; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-SXC : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, item 126 of 235.

[9] 1861 Census of Province of Canada, Canada West, Carleton Co, Ontario, pop. sched, Enum. Dist. 1, Goulbourn Township, p. 12, lines 21-23, John Gleeson, farmer, & p. 13, line 3, Martin Gleeson; LAC roll C-1012-1013.

[10] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B2, p. 56, Memorial 15559, mortgage, John & Margaret Gleeson to John Hammett Pinkey, 1860; FamilySearch  (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-CSF2-S : accessed 1 Jun 2026); IGN 008344734, image 304 of 522. Discharge note written on the above deed. No record of 20021 in the deed book.

[11] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B2, p. 124, Memorial 17457, James Burrows to John Gleason, 1861; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-CSFK-H : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 008344734, image 337 of 522.

[12] Carleton Co, Ont., deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B2, p. 219, Memorial 19963, mortgage, John & Margaret Gleeson to Canada Permanent Building and Savings Society of Toronto, 1862; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-CSNP-2 : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 008344734, image 386 of 522.

[13] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, B2, p. 418, Memorial 25874, mortgage release, Canada Permanent Building & Savings Society to John Gleeson, 1865, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-CSNK-3 : accessed 5 June 2026), IGN 008344734, image 486 of 522.

[14] Mitchell & Co's Ottawa City Directory, 1864-5 (W. C. Chewett & Co: Toronto, 1864), p. 236, John Gleeson; imaged, “Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3789/images/30819_104038__0003-00134 : accessed 1 Jun 2026). Also, James Sutherland, compiler, Ottawa City and Counties of Carleton and Russell Diectory, 1866-7 (Hunter, Rose & Co: Ottawa, 1866), Goulbourne, p. 232, John Gleeson; imaged, “Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3789/images/40403_108784-00138 : accessed 1 Jun 2026).

[15] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B2, p. 412-13, Memorial 25805, mortgage, John & Margaret Gleeson to Philip Thompson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-CSNK-7 : accessed 5 June 2026), IGN 008344734, image 483 of 522.

[16] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B3, p. 239, Memorial 28473, Philip Thompson to John Gleeson, 1868, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-W1W3 : accessed 6 Jun 2026), IGN 008344735, image 137 of 270.

[17] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 2, 1845-1868, 1861, B57, John James Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YWH-SX1 : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, image 194 of 566.

[18] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 2, 1845-1868, 1863, B32, Mary Martha Gleeson, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YWH-S8T : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, image 208 of 566.

[19] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 2, 1845-1868, 1865, B55, Elizabeth Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-S6F : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, image 226 of 566.

[20] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 2, 1845-1868, 1867, B34, Helena Mary Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-SHY : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, image 284 of 566.

[21] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 3, 1868-1903, 1869, B17, Michael Peter Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-SWZ : accessed 1 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, image 295 of 566.

[22] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, B3, p. 234, no. 28418, mortgage, John & Margaret Gleason to Wm M Shaw, 1868, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-WBBP : accessed 5 June 2026), IGN 008344735, image 135 of 270.

[23] Carleton Co, Ontario, deeds, Goulbourn Township, v. B5, p. 237-38, no. 775, mortgage release, Eliza Jane Shaw to John & Margaret Gleason, 1875; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTY-73J3-2 : accessed 5 June 2026), IGN 008344737, images 144-45 of 469.

[24] 1871 Census of Canada, Carleton Co, Ontario, pop. sched, district 78, sub-district D2nd Div, Township of Goulbourn, page 11, dwelling 33, family 33, John Gleason; LAC film C-10016. Note, the spelling of this township has also been found as Goulbourne in documents.

[25] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip’s Catholic Church, parish records, vol. 3, 1868-1903, 1871, B 13, William Charles Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWH-SJ3 : accessed 5 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, item 302 of 566.

[26] Richmond, Carleton Co, Ontario, St. Philip's Church, parish records, vol. 3, 1868-1903, 1873, p. 41, no. B20, Margarett Teresa Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YWH-3C9 : accessed 5 Jun 2026), IGN 005106839, item 311 of 566.

[27] Ontario, Canada, tax assessment rolls, Carleton Co, Goulbourn Township, 1873, no. 33, John Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLG-LSGW-W : accessed 5 June 2026), IGN 008200642, item 2, image 4 of 36. Ibid, 1874, no. 34, John Gleeson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLG-LSLN-3 : accessed 5 June 2026), IGN 008200642, item 4, image 5 of 38.

[28] Carleton Co, Ontario, deed, v. 62, p. 222, no. 765, John & Margaret Gleason to Pierce Brennan, 1874, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSY3-67QR-N : accessed 5 Jun 2026), IGN 008349323, image 302 of 792.

[29] Ottawa, Carleton Co, Ontario, Basilique Notre Dame, baptism volume 1876-1880, 1878, no. B1, Francis Thomas Gleson, imaged "Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1109/records/619601 : accessed 5 Jun 2026). 

Copyright © 2011-2026 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.