When Great-Grandpa was killed in a hunting accident, the newspaper article mentioned that he was visiting his brother out West at the time. This would have been James, who lived near Neepawa, Manitoba. Two generations later our Uncle Steve met up with some of James’ descendants and got a fair bit of family info from them. I’ll include some of his notes in this post.
James Vance, born about 1842 or 43, married Elizabeth McNish on Sept 10, 1863.
The bride was 24, born in Scotland to John & Elizabeth McNish.
According to the 1871 census this couple was living in Perth County, Ontario and James was a stone mason.
James…………….age 27
Elizabeth……………..27
Margaret……………….7
Joseph…………………..5
Sarah Allen……………3
John………………………9 mos
From the 1881 census record:
James……………………37
Elizabeth……………….36
Margaret………………..17
Joseph……………………15
Sarah……………………..13
John……………………….11
James………………………7
Samuel…………………….4
William……………………2
From the 1891 census. They’d moved to Wallace Township in Wellington County by this time.
James……………………….47
Elizabeth…………………..47
Sarah A…………………….23
John………………………….20
James………………………..17
Samuel………………………14
William……………………..12
Edwin A…………………….10
Mary A……………………….8
Elizabeth…………………….5
The 1901 census records him farming in Township 25,& 26; Range 22 & 23, in the district of Dauphin, MB.
A census taken in 1906 shows James & Elizabeth with children William, Edwin and Elizabeth Jr. still at home.
According to Uncle Steve’s notes, James Vance’s family spread out all over, some ending up in BC, some near Toronto, some in the States.
(The following data needs to be verified.)
Margaret likely was married back in Ontario before the family came West. She would have been 37 by the 1901 census.
Joseph, James’ oldest son, married Janet Cooper on May 1, 1890 in Perth County.
(Marriage record says groom was 24, bride was 18; both were from the same area in Ontario.) They lived in McCreary, MB and had two children: Wilhelmina and Irene.
Sarah married John Henessy.
John married Ida. They lived on a farm near Saskatoon and had one son, Norman. ( I was excited when I read this! A phone search shows that there is a Norman living at Good Spirit Lake; I intend to give him a call.)
James Jr married Jen and they lived in Grandview, Mb. They had four children: Garfield, James, Margaret, and Harold.
Samuel married Beatrice Emily Allan, born in England. They had six children.
William married Frieda. They lived in Nelson, BC and had six children.
Edwin Allen married Sarah. They moved to the USA.
Mary A married Bob Scott. They lived in McCreary, MB and had several children.
Elizabeth married D. Roy Cameron. They lived in Grandview, MB and had three children.
Uncle Steve also included a Fred Vance who moved to the States and was never heard from again. When we lived in Ontario I got a letter from a descendent of this Fred, wanting to trace his family tree. But I can’t see any Fred in Uncle James’ family, unless one of the children took Fred as a name when he was an adult.
Uncle Steve also had it that James was the son of John Vance, whereas he was the son of Joseph and son-in-law of John.
Vance Turner Connect 
I marvel at what you have found out about our family tree.