My Family Tree

In the PEI Baptismal Index, Charles James was born to Charles Dyment and Elizabeth MacDougall on July 21 1861. This is the date of birth given by the Charles Dyment, married to Joanna Brooks, in the 1901 census. Charles J. Dyment married three times and lived in Lots 13, 8 and 7 on Prince Edward Island.

However, Charles was not married, or living at home, in the 1881 census. There was a Charles Dyment, age 18, in the household of William Dyment in that year, listed at the end of William's children and this could be him.

In the 1861 census and on the Lakes's Map of 1862, William Dyment's farm was shown next to that of W. Brooks, who was probably the father of Charles' first wife. In the 1880 atlas, William's neighbours were Roger Brooks, father of Charles' second wife, Joanna, and the farm where Abigail Brooks was living. Robert and Tamar England, parents of Charles' third wife were close by as well.

Charles' first wife Abigail Brooks was possibly the Abigail Brooks, age 15, living next door in the household of Thomas and Annie Wood, along with five other children named Brooks, in Lot 7 in the 1881 census. An Abegal Brooks was born on 15 November 1865, daughter of William David and Mary Ann Brooks. There was a gravestone for Wm. David Brooks, who died March 1874 at 40 in the Bethel Cemetery so it is possible the Brooks children were orphans in 1881.

In PEI Marriage Registers, Charles J. Dyment was married to Abigail Brooks on March 31 1886, by Rev. Lodge, Methodist Minister, Western PEI circuit. Witnesses were H. Brooks and Mrs. Lodge, wife of the minister at West Cape PEI. According to the PEI Baptismal Index, they had two children, Elizabeth Ann (1886) and Walter Haviland. Abigail died May 1 1890 at the age of 24 and was buried in the Bethel Bible Christian/United Cemetery. In the 1891 census, Charles (28) was a widower living in Lot 8 with his two children, Lebbie Ann (1886) and Walter (1888). They were living in a wooden house, one and a half stories, with 2 rooms.

In 1898 Charles Dyment purchased 30 acres in Lot 7 from Hugh McArthur (his uncle by marriage?).

By 1901, Charles had remarried, to Joanna Brooks, and had three children living at home: Annie E. (1886), Walter H. (1888) and Edna (1894). A son, Guy, had died at 11 months in 1898. They were living in Lot 7.

Joanna Louisa Brooks was born 3 September 1851, daughter of Roger Brooks and Abigail. Johanna Diamond received from Benjamin Brooks 62 acres in trust in 1893, and release of her dower in 1900 from Phoelia Brooks.

After Joanna died in 1922, Charles married the much younger Ella England, daughter of Robert Scott England and Tamar MacDougall. In the 1928 Cummins Atlas, Charles Dyment's farm is the former Roger Brooks farm in Lot 7.

Charles was named in his sister's obituary in 1928, and was named as a brother of Levi Dyment's in a newspaper article. He could be found in Canadian voter's lists up to 1939. After that, Mrs. Charles Dyment was a widow. His gravestone gives his dates as 1861-1939. Charles' obituary mentions only Levi as a surviving brother, although two of his sisters were still living on the Island.

Dyment Charles Charlottetown Patriot 29 June 1939 Of Bethel, age 78

Some sources say that there was a Charles, born to John Dyment and his wife Margaret Silliker, in 1862; this seems unlikely because the birth would have predated their marriage by a few years. Another Charles Dyment, b. 1860-1865 in PEI, could not be identified.