My Family Tree

I was unable to find a birth or baptismal record for Anna, who was probably born in Ireland, since her birth was not recorded in New Brunswick or PEI. According to her gravestone she died at age 41, which puts her date of birth at 1814, which would fit with her having children from 1835-1853.

The links with the family of Thomas and Jane are (1) John Crawford Abbott was a witness at her marriage; (2) Jane Crawford Abbott was in the household of Joseph Burchill in 1860 and (3) her husband Joseph Burchill was a witness at an Abbott family marriage.

Anna Abbott and Joseph Burchill, both of the Parish of Newcastle, were married in Northumberland County New Brunswick in St. Paul's Anglican Church on 11 June 1834. There were four children for Joseph Burchill, ship's carpenter and Ann in St. Paul's records: Jane, born August 24 1835; John, in 1838; George on 26 December 1840, and Joseph 28 August 1843. The next children were Catherine Ann, born September 1845 in Buffalo, New York; Andrew in 1847; Robert in 1848; Lucretia in 1851 and Sarah Jane in 1853. Most of the surviving children in this family gave their place of birth as Buffalo, New York, which is understandable since they must have lived there from an early age.

Of Joseph and Anna's children, the children known to survive to adulthood were John, George, Joseph, Robert and Lucretia. Daughter Jane had died in 1838 in New Brunswick. There were no further records found for Catherine, Andrew, or Sarah Jane.

The administration papers for the estate of Joseph Burchill, who had died in 1865, listed the following: his widow Ann (his second wife, also named Ann), sons John (27), George B. (25), Joseph (22), Robert (17) and Lucretia (14). There was also a guardianship record for the two youngest minor children. A biography of daughter Lucretia said that Lucretia was the youngest of 6 children, another indication that the actual youngest child Sarah Jane must have died young.

It looks like Anna and Joseph followed the same route as her sister Jane and husband Andrew Woodside - to New York State, and then to Davenport, Iowa, with some family members going on to Colorado and other western states. Anna died before the 1860 US census, and she is probably the Anna Burchill who died at the age of 41 in Davenport, Iowa.

d. Chatham (Northumberland Co.), 10th inst., Jane BURCHILL d/o Joseph BURCHILL, age 2 years 4 mos.
Daniel F. Johnson : Volume 7 Number 795
Date January 16 1838
County Northumberland
Place Chatham
Newspaper The Gleaner and Northumberland Schediasma