U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N This site is undergoing a major overhaul in response to the new terms of service implemented by the hosting service effective March 1, 2012. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About half of the people with the surname "Mains" now living in Canada can trace their ancestry to Thomas Mains (ca. 1773 - 1853) and his wife Margaret Burley (ca. 1783 - 1863). Thomas and Margaret lived on the townland of Corragole, near Kinawley, County Fermanagh, Ireland. Five of their children; John, James, Eliza, William and Henry immigrated to Canada in the 1830's and 1840's and first settled in Carleton County, Ontario.
Thomas and Margaret had eight children.
Much of what is known about Thomas and Margaret and their family is found in a letter written by their son Noble Mains to his brother John in 1867. Two handwritten copies of this letter, transcribed in 1908 are known to exist. Corragole, County Fermanagh copyright 2009 Google Maps
No records which confirm the dates when the Mains siblings immigrated to Canada have yet been found. From the records that are available it appears that John immigrated first, possibly as early as 1833, followed soon afterward by James and Eliza. It is thought that William and Henry may have arrived in Canada following the great famine of 1846 - 1847. They all first came to Carleton County, Ontario, settling about twenty miles south west of Ottawa. It appears that they settled among former neighbors from Ireland as a number of the early settlers - Montgomery, Trimble, Kettles, Hicks, Neelin, Brownlee, Tubman and Roe also emigrated from the neighboring villages of Kinawley and Swanlinbar in Ireland. Although not yet confirmed, it is thought that "dear old Aunt Barbara" mentioned in Noble's letter of 1867 was possibly Mrs. Andrew Trimble and Uncle James Brownlee's daughter was possibly Easter Ann (Brownlee) Hill. Key to Carleton County Map
A James Mains homestead
 B John Mains homestead
C Malakoff Cemetery
D William Mains homestead
E Rideauvale Cemetery
F Springhill Cemetery
G James Mains second homestead
H Eliza (Mains) Morton homestead
K Munster Union Cemetery
M John Mains (son of John) farm, owned
by the family (1883 - 1992) Carleton County, Ontario copyright 2009 Google Maps
N Thomas Mains (son of John) farm, owned (click on map to enlarge)
by the family (1868 - present)
P Thomas Morton sawmill, owned by the
family, (ca. 1885 - present)
Our Mains ancestors were very devout; the letter written by Noble gives a glimpse of the devoutly held beliefs of our ancestors. Please respect our ancestors and refrain from using the information contained on this website for religious purposes. All rights reserved, 2012. No part of any of the content of this website may be reproduced, distributed, modified, framed, cached, adapted or made available in any form by any photographic, electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopy, microfilm, or other means, or incorporated into or used in any information storage and retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the prior written permission of the owner. |
