The Brick Walls - Dan MacDonald's Website

The Descendants of Chrysostom McLellan and Annie Mahan

Although I have never taken an active role in researching the PEI MacLellan families, they are of interest to me through their many connections to the Hickeys of Indian River. I therefore tend to note any reference to MacLellan that I come across even though, for the most part, I have not bothered to compile these notes into proper family files. However, I have managed to organize a file on one small branch of the MacLellans due to some research I did for a friend.

My friend contacted me for information on a Chrysostom McLellan. Originally from Indian River, he went first to Amherst where he apprenticed as a carriage builder. After marrying Annie Mahan, whose family came from Cap-Pelé, NB, they went to Harcourt, in Kent County, NB, before finally settling in the Moncton area. Most of the research I did into this family involved the family of Chrysostom's wife, Annie. The basic results of that effort, mostly extracts from Catholic parish registers, can be seen on this site in the files St. Bartholomew's RC, Melrose, NB and Ste. Thérèse d'Avila RC, Cap-Pelé, NB.

Chrysostom's roots are a little more complicated, especially where I have not previously made any concerted efforts to research the MacLellan families in detail. The problem is that there appears to be at least two families of Donald and Catherine MacLellan in the Indian River area. Unfortunately, I do not have sufficient information to distinguish between the two. Eventually, I may find the time to concentrate on the MacLellan families and overcome this brick wall. For now, I will simply present what I know of Chrysostom, Annie, and their children.

This file is a work-in-progress and is therefore subject to change at any time. The date of the latest update will be listed at the bottom of this page. As always, I welcome any updates, additions, or corrections to this informatiom.

First Generation

1. Chrysostom¹ McLellan

Chrysostom was born at Indian River, Lot 18, Prince Edward Island, the son of Donald and Catherine MacLellan. His gravestone lists his date of birth as 1861. However, the only child by that name listed in the records for St. Mary's RC Church, Indian River, was born on 9 April 1852 and baptized on 11 April 1852.

He married Martha Ann Mahan on 2 September 1889 at Cap-Pelé, New Brunswick. Called "Annie", she was born in 1871, likely in the Melrose area of Westmorland County, New Brunswick. Annie was the daughter of Patrick Mahan and Catherine Mahoney.

Chrysostom was a carriage builder by trade. In 1891, he was working at Amherst, Nova Scotia, having been enumerated there in the Federal census of that year. By the mid-1890's, the family had moved to the Harcourt area of Kent County, NB. Finally, by the latter part of the 1890's, they had relocated once again, this time to Moncton, where they were to remain.

Chrysostom passed away at Moncton on 22 April 1913, aged 58. Annie died at Moncton on 12 November 1943. They are buried together at the Catholic Cemetery on Shediac Road, Moncton, NB.

Children (possibly incomplete):

2. i. Catherine Mabel McLellan was born on 10 August 1892. She was baptized at St. Paul-de-Kent, NB, on 11 September 1892. On 14 September 1924, she was married at St. Bernards's RC Church, Moncton, to Arthur Francis Curran. By 1943, at the time of her mother's death, she and her husband were residing in Toronto, Ontario.

3. ii. George Cornelius McLellan was born on 4 May 1894. He was baptized at St. Paul-de-Kent on 8 July 1894. In 1913, at the time of his father's death, he was working for the Inter-Colonial Railway Auditor of Disbursements Office, Moncton. During the First World War, he enlisted in the Canadian Army and was deployed overseas. George was killed in action in France on 18 September 1916, while serving with the 60th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Québec Regiment). He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial in France, as well as listed on his parent's gravestone at the Shediac Road cemetery, Moncton.

4. iii. Carson James McLellan was born on 2 April 1896. He was baptized at St. Paul-de-Kent on 14 June 1896. His father's obituary states he was living in Ashmont, Massachusetts, in 1913.

5. iv. Charles Henry McLellan was born on 3 September 1898. He was baptized at Moncton on 18 September 1898.

6. v. Harold Patrick McLellan was born 16 June 1900. He was baptized at Moncton on 22 June 1900.

Notes:

Chrysostom spelled his surname "McLellan", and I have used that form for him and his children. However, it is difficult to determine when a specific spelling variation came into practice for any one family. Therefore, my own tendency is to use the proper Gaelic "Mac" whenever I am uncertain as to how the people in question actually spelled it, if they were even capable of spelling their own name. For that reason, references to Chrysostom's parents and the PEI MacLellan families in general will be made using "Mac" rather than "Mc".
It is believed, through family sources, that Chrysostom's mother, Catherine, may have been related to Father Peter MacIntyre, the 3rd Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown. I have insufficient information at the present time to either confirm or deny this fact.
I have not yet examined the 1901 New Brunswick census.
I currently have no information on the Maryetta McLellan and Charles J. McLellan that are listed on the gravestone. Nor do I know what their exact relationship to Chrysostom and Annie may be.

Sources:

1891 Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Census. Transcript of the original from the Don Lewis Collection.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission on-line database entry for 445371 George Cornelius McLellan, available through their web-site at http://www.cwgc.org

Gravestone survey by Dan MacDonald, completed in 2000, for the Catholic Cemetery, Old Shediac Road, Moncton, New Brunswick.

Obituary for Chrysostom McLellan, published in the Moncton Daily Times, 23 April 1913.

Obituary for Annie McLellan, published in the Moncton Daily Times, 13 November 1943.