The Janet Calder Mystery

The posts that I have been writing in this Calder Family Research Blog have basically revolved around the story that Robert L. Lake told just prior to his death in 1982. He was very clear in his recollections about the Calder family descendants, his grandmothers family, for example he was able to name all of Elizabeth Calder Smith’s children; he knew that Nina Calder had married twice and had children of both marriages and their names etc. Robert new there was a sister Charlotte who is even a bigger mystery than Janet is but we have to start some place.

Robert Lake believed, Janet Calder was born in the United States subsequent research places her birth about 1843, but no record has ever been found to-date that would tend to confirm this. Robert said the only information he had ever known was that she married a MORGAN, no evidence that this was a first name or for that matter whether Morgan was his first or last name.

It wasn’t until relatively recently when a lead was developed through the Smith Family line that opened the possibility that Janet or Jennett Calder may not have come to the United States at all. Documents that have been located indicate that a family of 4 Calder’s migrated from Scotland they were, John, Elizabeth, Elizabeth and Christianna, to Lancaster, Glengarry Co., Ontario Canada.

The Canadian Census of 1851 of Lancaster identifies John the towns Blacksmith and his family along with all of the individuals important to our Calder story; however that is getting ahead of the overall picture at this point we will get back to this.

The potential is that Janet stayed in Canada and did not migrate to the US as her sister's did or may have in a different area; information has not been developed at this point to support either theory.