In about 1965 Marie’s cousin, Gordon Chisholm Bennett, son of Emma [Chisholm] Bennett, sent our branch of the family information about the Chisholms from Ontario, their genealogy, the curse and the "famous" Chisholm Monument. [1]

" May all your children die young…", states one of the many newspaper stories about the "Irish Curse" that reportedly affected William Chisholm, his wife Frances Oswell Grant, and six of their children. The first was written in 1925 in the London (Ontario) Free Press, and was based on an interview with a woman, Ella Lewis, who said she heard the story from her father when she was young. In this story, William Chisholm was a captain of a lumber schooner on Lake Erie and was cursed by an old Irishwoman when her son was killed in a shipwreck. [2] Other articles written between 1925 and 1954 gave various versions of the story. Most had dates, names and other facts which were wrong and were based largely on the folklore that had developed about the family and the monument. Only one story, "New Light on Chisholm Family Monument," written in 1954 had much factual information. [3]

It is true that most of this large family, including the parents, died between 1828 and 1835, and that a beautiful and impressive monument in their honor was built in the St. Thomas churchyard. The late George Thorman wrote a very scholarly book relating the various versions of the curse, history of the family and the monument and possible reasons for the deaths of the Chisholms. The book is called Myth or Reality, The Chisholm Family of Elgin County, 1819-1835. Various theories have been made for these deaths, including TB and typhoid. One daughter, Frances, may have died in a runaway horse accident. Some may have died of cholera which took many lives in Southern Ontario around that time. One of the Chisholm sons, Dr. Archibald Chisholm, practiced medicine in London, Ontario and was thought to have died from cholera in an epidemic there in 1830. As George Thorman said in his book, it is unfortunate that an "Irish Curse" is not a recognized disease. [4]

Who was this Chisholm family? According to Gordon Chisholm Bennett and Stan Cowan who have researched the family genealogy, the first immigrants to North America of this Chisholm branch were Alexander and Kenneth Chisholm of Fasnakyle, who left Scotland and arrived in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1785. They were from the line of Colin Chisholm of Knockfin. Alexander stayed in Nova Scotia, but Kenneth Chisholm, his wife Mary McKenzie, and their son William settled in South Kortright in the Delaware River Valley of New York. Here Kenneth died around 1804. [1] [5]

William and his wife Frances Oswell Grant had nine children; Mary, William, Frances, Archibald, Kenneth, Jr., Alexander, Lewis, Ann, and Robert Bruce. Around 1819 William’s family moved to Elgin County, Ontario, except for Kenneth, Jr., who probably died young, and the oldest daughter Mary who had married William Cowan two years before. In Ontario they settled in the Talbot Settlement of Southwold Township near St. Thomas. According to family tradition, William was in the lumber trade between Port Stanley, Ontario, and various US cities on the Great Lakes. They became a prominent and prosperous family in Elgin County. Robert Bruce Chisholm, the only surviving son, continued in the timber business for a while and in 1836 moved to Chicago where he supplied lumber for the building of a harbor. [1] [5]

After settling the family affairs after the deaths of his parents and siblings, Robert became interested in mining. He married, Sarah Van Valkenburgh from the Toronto area in 1840, and they moved to the United States where he pursued mining in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Their children were William Wallace, Oliver Perry, George Stewart, Robert Bruce, Jr., Mary Emma, and Frances who died young. In time, he settled his wife and some of his family on a large farm in Elgin, Illinois, but continued prospecting and investing in mines in several western states, and even Mexico. Some of his sons were also involved in these mining ventures. [1]

While prospecting in Little Cottonwood Canyon, near Alta, Utah in 1868, Robert Bruce, Sr., and a partner, J.W. Woodman, discovered a rich silver vein. Robert called the new mine "Emma" in honor of his only surviving daughter, Mary Emma. It was an extremely rich mine and was developed by Robert and his partners with the help of his son William Wallace. Around 1872 it was sold to a syndicate for several million dollars which was divided between the partners. This mine later was involved in a scandal between the syndicate and British investors that resulted in a congressional investigation. Robert Bruce, Sr., now very wealthy, retired to Elgin, Illinois where he built a beautiful home which was called Castle Comfort. He and some of his children invested in other mines including the successful Centennial Eureka in Utah which was also developed by William Wallace Chisholm. [1] Robert Bruce, Sr., also invested in horses and diamonds. [6]

In 1873, Robert Bruce Chisholm, Sr., commissioned the beautiful marble monument in St. Thomas, in honor of his parents and siblings. It was built by the London, Ontario, firm of Hooker and Wilkens for an estimated sum of between $2000 and $5000. [4] Over the years the monument deteriorated but it has recently been restored to its former beauty. [7] After Sarah’s death in 1878, Robert Bruce, Sr., went to live with his son Robert Bruce, Jr., and his family in Oakland, California where he died in 1891. He was buried in the family plot in Elgin, Illinois. His children inherited and divided his large estate. Each was said to have inherited over one million dollars. [5] [8]

Daughter, Mary Emma [Chisholm] Bennett and her brother George Stewart Chisholm stayed in Illinois. William Wallace Chisholm settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Oliver Perry Chisholm settled in Bozeman, Montana. [6] All but William Wallace had descendants who undoubtedly have interesting stories of their own they could relate.

Robert Bruce Chisholm, Jr., was also in the mining business, mainly in California. He and his wife Ida May [Lynch] Chisholm settled in Oakland where their oldest children, Robert Bruce, III, Helen and Ida were born. Around 1892, he moved his family to Manhatten, Montana where he built and ran a general store for a few years. Here two more daughters, Emma and Marie were born. [6]

When Marie was very young they returned to California and settled in Los Angeles. Robert Bruce, Jr., continued investing in the mining business and one of his mines, the Avawatz Crown, was near Death Valley. He was acquainted with Walter Scott who became known as the famous Death Valley Scotty. Marie remembered him visiting their home when she was small, but was afraid of him after hearing him once threaten her father. In later years, however, Marie enjoyed visiting Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley and liked telling stories about him. [8]

Ida May Chisholm was an invalid for several years, and after her death in Nov. 1909, Robert’s health also failed and he was unable to continue in his business. He moved to Banning, a small town in Riverside County which is at the foot of Mt. San Gorgonio, the tallest mountain in Southern California. He and the three younger girls lived with his oldest daughter Helen and her husband, Paul Davis. Before his death, he set up a trust fund for his three younger daughters with what was left of his money. In Nov. 1911, at the age of 62, Robert died and was buried in the Banning cemetery [8]

Marie idolized her older brother Robert Bruce, III. He was chosen to pose for the statue of "the god of electricity" by the artist, Louis Saint Gaudens. He was the sculptor for this and several other statues that are still on the Union Station in Washington, DC. Robert Bruce, III, became a coach at Pomona College, married and had a son who died at birth. Unfortunately, he died prematurely from TB in 1914, like so many people in those days. Marie and her sisters had lost their parents and brother all in the span of a few years. This loss affected Marie all her life. Ida, Emma, and Marie should have been well provided for, but the lawyer in charge of the trust fund, spent their money, and when discovered, committed suicide. This left the sisters basically penniless. They lived with Helen and her husband in Banning before moving back to Los Angeles where they found jobs including working as extras in the early movie industry. [8]

In time, the sisters all married and raised families in Southern California. Although the family fortune of Robert Bruce Chisholm, Jr. was lost, his descendants, still mostly in California, continue to be proud of their Chisholm heritage and still enjoy relating the stories about the curse, the monument and the mine.

Footnotes-

[1] Gordon Chisholm Bennett, (son of Mary Emma [Chisholm] Bennett), " A Brief History of the Chisholms, Past and Present," unpublished, and other research.

[2] "Curse of Ireland," London Free Press, London, Ontario, Nov. 28, 1925.

[3] "New Light on Chisholm Family Monument," St. Thomas Times-Journal, Sept. 25, 1954.

[4] George Thorman, Myth and Reality, the Chisholm Family in

Elgin County, 1819-1835, (1992). Information about this book can be found on the Chisholm Society Website for Canada.

[5] Stan Cowan, (descendant of Mary [Chisholm] Cowan), " Research on the Cowan and Chisholm Families," unpublished.

[6] Nellie [Lynch] McDonnell, (sister of Ida May [Lynch] Chisholm), "Memoirs" unpublished, 1944.

[7] Information about restoration of the Chisholm Monument can be found on the Chisholm Society Website for Canada.

[8] Marianne Bailiff, "Life of Ida [Chisholm] Bailiff", (a daughter of Robert Bruce Chisholm, Jr.), unpublished, 1984, and other research.

*Thanks to Katie Valentine and Brian Masschaele for information they

sent from the Elgin County (Ontario) Archives about the Chisholm family.

** Thanks to Richard Chisholm Bennett, (grandson of Mary Emma [Chisholm] Bennett), and Marianne Bailiff for use of some of their Chisholm pictures.

Written May 2005