My Family Tree

Son of John Dyment and Harriet Cotton.

From census records, Samuel Dyment was born about 1852. No birth record was found for Samuel, but he was named in his father's will, and John Dyment was given as his father's name on his death record. He gave his birth date as July 22 1852 on the 1901 census.

Samuel and his brother John Clarke had been left the family homestead by their father, and asked to provide for their mother and unmarried sisters. Samuel was to give his brother an interest in a second farm in Lot 13, of 125 acres. A survey map of Lot 13 dated 1875 shows a 125 acre farm on the Western Road with an owner whose name could be Dimond; a later map dated 1878 is much clearer and the name on the plot is definitely Samuel Dyment. The two farms above Samuel's were owned by Colin and Owen Green. The name of Samuel Dyment was also written above that of his father (or possibly his brother John?) on the odd-shaped lot on what was called the Canada Road in Lot 13, roughly above the location of Humphrey Dyment's farm on the Northam Road. These maps of Lot 13 were found on the website Island Imagined. On 1 November 1889, there was a conveyance of land from John C. Dyment to Samuel Dyment, which was probably his share of one of the two farms mentioned in John's will. Clark may have gone off the Island to find work.

Samuel married Katherine (Cassie) Gillis ( b.about 1850, d. 7 Mar 1899) around 1877. I have been unable to find a birth record for Catherine or Cassie Gillis, or a marriage record/bond or license for Samuel and Cassie. There is a gravestone for Cassie Gillis, wife of Samuel Dyment, in the Bideford United Church Cemetery. She died at the age of 49. Two of her children gave her name as Catherine on records, and this was the name she gave for the 1881 census.

In the 1881 census, Samuel and Catherine (Cassie) were living with John William (3) and Samuel Charles (1). They were Methodists. By 1891, the family had increased with the addition of two girls, Harriet M. (9) and Annie M. (7). No birth records for these children were found in the PEI Baptismal Index. All were born on the Island, and all gave their religion as Methodist. Their house was wood, one and a half stories, with four rooms.

Both Samuel and Cassie said that both of their parents had been born on Prince Edward Island. If their children were named after grandparents, then Catherine's father could have been William. Her mother could have been Mae, Annie, or Matilda.

Cassie died March 7, 1899 and was buried in Bideford.

Samuel's second wife was Mary McLennan, a widow from Victoria West. They were married on 21 June 1899. On this record in the Master Name Index card, his name was given as Samuel C. Wesley Dyment. The C could be for Charles - or it could very well be "Samuel Cotton Dyment", after his mother's father. A McLeod family tree says she was Mary McLeod.

Samuel and his wife conveyed 125 acres of land in Lot 13 to John A. Brace in 1899.

In 1901, Samuel (48) and his second wife Mary (51) were living in Lot 13 with sons James W. (1896), John W. (1877), Wesley (1879), and daughters Harriet (1881), and Annie (1882). Samuel and Mary were members of the Presbyterian Church. James was described as an adopted son in the next census.

There was one news item about Samuel in the Guardian newspaper in 1910, saying that he hadn't been well that winter. In 1911, only their adopted son, James, was living with them.

Samuel's daughters Hattie and Annie went to the United States. On Annie's marriage record, her parents' names were given as Samuel Dimond and Cassie Gillis; Hattie's marriage record said Samuel and Catherine. Earle Dyment's notes say: "John Dyment, brother of Wesley went to the USA and there was never any word from him again."

From US census records, neither daughter had any children.

In the 1921 census, Samuel, age 69, and Mary were living alone. Samuel's second wife died at the age of 72 in 1921. According to her obituary, Samuel was still living at that time, but none of his children - adopted or otherwise - were named in her obituary.

From the Agriculturist 18 June 1921, accessed on PEI Ancestry:
...on Wednesday morning June 8th when the Angel of death visited the home of Samuel Dyment and claimed Mrs. Dyment (nee McLeod) at the age of 72 yrs. Mrs. Dyment was born at Hartsville, P.E.I. and with her parents moved to Victoria West 52 years ago. She leaves to mourn a sorrowing husband... (however, this is practically the same obit. that was written for another Mary McLeod: "Mary MacLeod, beloved wife of Lemuel Moore. The late Mrs. Moore was born in Hartsville in 1851 and moved with her parents, brothers and sisters when only a young girl to Victoria West."). Another sister was Isabella McLeod Mooney (1845-1929), but none of the sisters could be found in the PEI Baptismal Index.

A Dyment family tree said that Samuel lived with his adopted son James after Mary's death, and on his death record his address was Higgins Road, which was where James lived.

Samuel died in 1923. Mary McLeod Dyment was buried in Victoria West, and according to Roger Dyment & Connie Ladner's Dyment Genealogy, Samuel was buried beside her. This was confirmed on his death record.

Name Samuel Dyment
Age 70
Residence Higgins Road
Date of Death 1 March 1923
Entry Number 184
Source RG19/s2/ss6: Death registration books, 1923