Second Immigrant Generation
Descendents of Andrew Grey (ca 1785-94 – after 1861)
and 1. Mary Watson (unknown– aboard D'arcy summer, 1836)
and 2. Sarah Burgess ( ca 1810 – 11 Nov 1896)
First immigrant Generation
Descendents of William Messer (4 Dec 1799 – 21 Sep 1874)
and Alice (or Alison) Brown (~1795 – 19 Sep 1877)
Table of Contents
pre-immigrant generation
00
First immigranT Generation
01
Second immigranT Generation
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
Third immigranT Generation
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
Descendents of William Messer (4 Dec 1799 – 21 Sep 1874)
and Alice (or Alison) Brown (~1795 – 19 Sep 1877)
Pre-emigrant Generation
00. Walter Messer
Married to Ann UNKNOWN. Ann’s maiden name is unknown, and a record of Walter and Ann’s marriage has not yet been found.
They had the following known children:
2A i Eleanor
3A (1) ii William
Supplemental Information
Baptisms
Eleanor, daughter of Walter *Meser, (Taylor) and Ann his wife, was born in Tweedmouth 2 Jan 1796 and baptized 24 Jan 1796 by M. Blackhall, Minister, Golden Square Presbyterian Church, Berwick Upon Tweed records.
William, born in Tweedmouth, Northumberland, 4 Dec 1799, Eng. and baptized 19 Jan 1800 by Mr. Blackhall, Minister, Golden Square Presbyterian or Scotch Chruch, Berwick Upon Tweed records
*The spelling of the surname in these records is "Meser".
Descendents of William Messer (4 Dec 1799 – 21 Sep 1874)
and Alice (or Alison) Brown (~1795 – 19 Sep 1877)
First Immigrant Generation
1. William Messer
Son of Walter Messer and Ann UNKNOWN. Born in Tweedmouth, Northumberland, 4 Dec 1799, Eng. and baptized 19 Jan 1800 by Mr. Blackhall, Minister, Golden Square Presbyterian or Scotch Chruch, Berwick Upon Tweed records (The spelling of the surname in these records is "Meser"). Died 21 Sep 1874 in Harvey. Buried in Harvey Settlement Cemetery. Occupation Farmer. Religion Presbyterian. Based on William's obituary in the Daily Telegraph (below) his date of birth has often been erroneously listed as 1801.
Map and satellite imagery showing location of Ford, Northumberland where William Messer married Alison Brown in 1826 as well as places where he was born and (some) places where he was variously employed in the 1820's and 1830's based on christening listngs for his children. He worked as a hind at Downham Farm in 1827 and 1829 and at Paston (Pawston) Farm in 1832. See photographs and information on the history of these farms below. Many of his children were christened at Crookham. Google map compiled: Tim Patterson, 27 Nov 2007.a
In the marriage record for William Messer, his wife’s name was given as Alison Brown, married 24 Sep 1826 at Ford by Thomas Knight, Rector, and witnesses to the marriage were Walter Messer and William Brown.
The marriage record was signed by William Messer and Alison Brown, however it is interesting to note that in Sep 1843 NB Land Petition, when asking for land for his son Walter, William signed with an “X”.
William Messer, his wife Alice Brown, and children Elizabeth, 10 yr., Walter, 5 yr., William, 3 yr., and Thomas 9 mo., came to NB with the first settlers of Harvey in 1837. They were first granted Lot 6E, 100 acres in Harvey Settlement, which proved unsuitable for farming. In 1843 they moved to Lot V, fourth tract, north of Frog Lake.
In the 1861 Census, William owned or occupied 80 acres improved and 120 acres unimproved land, cash value of farm, 250 pounds; value of implements and machinery, 14 pounds. Had 2 horses, 5 milch cows, 9 other neat cattle, 14 sheep, 3 swine, and slaughtered 250 lb. pork. Produced 300 lb. butter, 33 lb. wool, 17 tons hay, 300 bu. oats, 25 bu. buckwheat, 5 bu. timothy, 150 bu. turnips, 100 bu. potatoes, and 4 bu. carrots.
The farm that William Messer founded on Frog Lake Road. Source: Tim Patterson, 10 Nov 2007.
From Daily Telegraph, 26 Sep 1874:
Died Harvey Settlement, 21st. inst., William Messer, native of Northumberland, England and emigrated to America in 1837, one of the original number that formed the well known colony in which he died. Having reached the age of 73, he leaves a widow and numerous circle of children and grandchildren.
"The Descendants of William and Margaret Messer 1837-1985" was compiled by Doris Messer; and further research on the Walter Messer and Isabella Speedy family and various branches of the Messer family was compiled by Allen and Stella Messer in 1995. Much of the information from these two sources has been included here with additional information on pre-emigration families provided by Prof. Bruce Elliott, Carleton University.
He married Alice (also known as Alison) Brown, daughter of William Brown, 24 Sep 1826 in Ford, England. Born Approx 1795 in England. Died 19 Sep 1877 in Harvey. Buried in Harvey Settlement Cemetery. Religion Presbyterian.
Undated tin type image of Alison Brown as an elderly woman (b. ca 1795, England - d. 19 Sep, 1877 Harvey Settlement). Source: Darryl Messer, Harvey, 26 Jul 2007
It was previously speculated that Alice was the daughter of James Brown and Martha Reed of Morpeth, but as more information has been discovered on the family of James Brown and Martha Reed, this possible link became less plausible. The listing of William Brown as Alice's father in the Crookham Presbyterian baptismal records now completely disproves the hypothesis.
Alice's brother, Thomas Brown was 37 years old, and single when he arrived in NB on the Cornelius of Sunderland, with the early settlers in 1837. Thomas Brown died 5 Aug 1859, aged 59 years, and is buried in Harvey Settlement Cemetery in the same grave site as Alice and William Brown's infant son James, who died 27 Mar 1845 at age 1 year 6 months (see entry for James for image of grave marker).
They had the following children (see detailed baptismal records for some children below):
2 i. Elizabeth Messer
*2a. ix. Ann b. 20 Feb 1829
3 ii. Nancy Messer
4 iii. Walter Messer
5 iv. William Messer
6 v. Thomas Messer
7 vi. Ann Isabel "Annie" Messer
8 vii. Alice Eleanor Messer
9 viii. James Messer
*Ann was previously undocumented and must have died young prior to emigration as another Ann was later born in New Brunswick. Ann's entry post dates the creation of the entry for the Messer family at this site. Thus the informal designation of 2a ix. She is also not found in the index. Numbering will be revised in the next update.
Gravestone (brown sandstone pillar) in Harvey Settlement Cemetery; Section A, Row 9, Plot 99
(left side)
William Messer, Died Sept 21, 1874 Aged 73 years, Native of Northumberland, England, His End Was Peace; and Alice, his wife, Died Sept 19 Aged 82 years
(facing woods)
Also Thomas, their son, Died July 20, 1860 Aged 23 Years
Supplemental Data
The scan of the letter below provided new information about the genealogical history of the Messer family has been made available by descendant Walter Messer, who had research done at the Northumberland Record Office in 1990. Source Dallas Davis, March 2007.
