Wow, the Fox side of the family is very interesting and colorful. My mother rarely spoke of her ancestors, and I never paid attention when she did. While researching her side of our family I found many similar family trees with linkages to Canada’s founding father Sir John A MacDonald (thru our great grandfather Hugh McDonald), Pennsylvania Dutch, United Empire Loyalists and some rather impressive royalty back in Scotland in the form of Robert the Bruce, Scotland’s King Robert the First. Intrigued? I was so please read on.
In May of 2023 Phyllis and I decided to take a trip to England, Wales and the south of Scotland – something both of us have probably always wanted to do because of our heritage. This caused me to be a bit interested in some of my Welsh heritage so I joined Ancestry.ca and did some research. I tell the Gwilliam side of the equation at this page. On this page I wanted to lay out what I learned about the Fox side of our family – my mother born Shirley Ethel Fox.
A quick overview of how everyone fits in to this particular timeline:
- Scotland – Alasdair N MacDonald 1716 –
- He had a son John A MacDonald (1736 – 1822)
- His son John J MacDonald (1772 – 1838), married Mary Calhoun (1776 – 1831)
- Their son Hugh McDonald (1804 – 1891), married Elizabeth Willan (1815 – 1853), second marriage to Anna Sheldon (1824 – 1912)
- Solomon Peter “P” Fox (1830 – 1906), married Hugh and Anna’s daughter Ann McDonald (1838 – 1921)
- Their son Herbert Hercules Fox (1873 – 1957), married Mary Ann Lane (1876 – 1948)
- They had a daughter Eva Celina Fox (1914 – 1987)
- Her first daughter, while unwed, was Shirley Ethel Fox (1932 – 2020) who was my mother!
- Me and my siblings!
Now those first 2 observations are fuzzy, and the reason for our Hugh to be a McDonald rather than a MacDonald is also fuzzy. Regards the name change one storyline on several Ancestry.ca family trees is that Hugh and Sir John A MacDonald were first cousins (which they may well be, I couldn’t prove it), and Hugh did not like Sir John A’s politics or drinking so changed his name to “Mc.” Seems a tad hard to accept as one would be changing their heritage from Scottish to Irish. A lovely Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex Ontario from 1905 shares a lot of Hugh’s history. This item shows his parents as McDonald – but even those articles can be error prone. The article also says Hugh’s parents are John and Mary. To be Sir John’s cousin his parents should be John and Jean. Again, they may actually be cousins but I couldn’t find the direct link. Regardless, we are of the Clan Donald, or MacDonald, and come from the same area as noted in the picture below.
Whether McDonald or MacDonald they were true Scottish. Oh, but the Fox ancestors were not British or Irish as the surname “Fox” might suggest. They originated in Germany in the form of Hans Michel Fuchs who was married to Anna Christina Uxol. One of their offspring, Philip Adam Fuchs, with his wife Catherine, imigrated to the USA in 1765 to central Pennsylvania. Based on the ship records his name change from Fuchs to Fox apparently happened on the way to USA. A few years after their arrival was the moment in history the 13 new American colonies were not getting along well with Britain. This was evident in the American Revolution that went from 1775 to 1783. Those early settlers loyal to the British monarchy were called United Empire Loyalists (UEL) and either fought on the British side, or exited from the USA losing everything they had built. Philip Adam Fuchs was one of those UEL. He, and his family, picked up and resettled in the Essex area of Ontario. Two notes here:
- Their first move to USA was part of the Pennsylvania Dutch (yes, we are ancestors of Pennsylvania Dutch and United Empire Loyalists) coming from the western area of Germany. I saw several Canadian censuses filled out showing their nationality as Dutch rather than German I guess because of the Pennsylvania Dutch background? Later years the census would say German.
- Before moving to Canada they showed their residence as Baltimore, Maryland. Not sure why as many other records showed they were in central Pennsylvania. Trying to cast doubt about their origins? A temporary move before leaving USA? Trying to avoid persecution by the Americans? Farm one area, live in another? One will never know.
A Family Tree to Follow
A little more detail about each
Hans Michel Fuchs
Born March 8, 1706 Richen, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
Died January 14, 1770 Richen, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
Han’s wife Anna Christina Uxol
Born October 2, 1710 Richen, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
Died December 26, 1774 Richen, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
Philip Adam Fox (Fuchs)
Born July 13, 1749 Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany
Died October 13, 1815 Essex, Ontario
Emigrated to central Pennsylvania USA, later Baltimore, Maryland
Philip’s wife Catherine Larmache
Born April 8, 1752 Hessen, Germany
Died April 15, 1802 Essex, Ontario
Philip Adam Fox Jr
Born August 4, 1776 Baltimore, Maryland
Died November 10, 1838 Essex, Ontario
Philip jr’s wife Sarah Mary Snyder (Snider)
Born February 16, 1784 Baltimore, Maryland
Died May 8, 1861 Essex, Ontario
Solomon Peter “P” Fox
Born April 20, 1830 Essex, Ontario
Died December 3, 1906 buried Brandon, MB
Solomon’s wife Ann McDonald (you read about the McDonalds above)
Born January 1, 1838 Essex, Ontario
Died April 6, 1921 buried Brandon, MB
Herbert Hercules Fox
Born April 22, 1873 Gosfield, Ontario
Died February 10, 1957 New Westminster, BC
Farmed in Manitoba and eventually Saskatchewan (see below). He and Mary Anna raised Shirley.
Herbert’s wife Mary Anna Lane
Born September 16, 1876 Essex, Ontario
Died August 10, 1948 buried Grenfell, SK
Eva Celina Fox
Born March 29, 1914 Grenfell, SK (25 17 8 2)
Died May 20, 1987 Saskatoon, SK
Later Eva married Arthur Richard Ransom May 20, 1934
Shirley Ethel Gwilliam
Born April 9, 1932 Grenfell, SK
Died November 2, 2020 buried Summerberry, SK
Eva’s other children with Arthur (who have passed on):
- Florence Ransom (Hartman) September 12, 1934 to September 14, 2018
- Louise Georgia Ann July 21, 1936 to September 3, 2015