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James Nesbitt Family Page 1, 2 << 3 >> 4, 5, 6, 7, Index

Descendents of James Nesbitt (ca 1775 – 28 Dec, 1851)
and Catherine 'Elspeth' Carr (3 Nov 1776 – before May, 1837)

Second Immigrant Generation
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Entry last updated 12 Feb 2008

5. Elspeth Nesbitt . Daughter of James Nesbitt & Catherine 'Elspeth' Carr. Born 11 Sep 1818 in Eng. Died 12 Nov 1911 in Calais, Maine. Buried 14 Nov 1911 in Calais, Me.

    Sharon Howland has the grandfather clock from this family.   Elspeth, wife of James Nesbitt, portrait is painted on it. The following note is attached inside the clock:   "This story of the old clock was related by Mrs David Larner, wife of David S. Larner, who in turn was told the story by the owners, Mr and Mrs John Larner, 83 Union St., Calais, Maine.   Both Mr and Mrs John Larner lived with their son and family for years at the above address.   The clock was made by a member of the family, a clockmaker for the wedding present of Mr and Mrs James Nesbitt (Elspeth), parents of Elspeth Nesbitt Larner.   Elspeth Nesbitt Larner was born Sept 11, 1818 and died Nov 14, 1911.   The old clock was made about 1802 or 1803.   It has kept excellent time through the years."

    From newspaper obituary (Calais, Me., 1911):

    Mrs Elspeth Larner, relict of the last John Larner, and probably the oldest woman in this city, died at the home of her son, David S. Larner, 85 Union street, early Sunday morning, Nov. 12, aged 93 years and 2 months.   Death was due to the infirmities of old age.   Born in Berwick, England, Sept. 11, 1818, she, with the rest of the family, came to this country at the age of 12 years, and settled in Harvey Settlement, N.B.   At that early period Harvey and all York County, was a vast wilderness, being practically uninhabited by human beings.   After a stay there they migrated to Milltown, Me., thence to Robbinston, and later to Calais, where she has since lived.   She has been a permanent resident of Calais for 54 years.   The place where Mrs Larner was born in England is situated on the River Tweed, directly on the boundary line between that country and Scotland; geographically the same as Calais and St. Stephen, which undoubtedly had a lot to do with their fixing Calais as their final home.   In her own home she practiced all the thrift and good qualities that the people of her native country are noted for.   Mrs Larner raised a large family of 11 children of which seven are living, namely:   John and David S., who reside in Calais, Mrs Elizabeth Furbush of Princeton, Thomas of Princeton, Mrs Anne Vaughan of New York city, Robert A. of Wausau, Wis., and George of Orono.   She also leaves 20 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.   Mrs Larner at the time of her death was the oldest member of the Congregational church of this city.   Deceased had been confined to her bed for 11 years, being utterly unable to move without assistance.   During the entire period of her illness, her every want has been kindly administered to by her children.   The people of our city will regret the passing away of one so long a resident, as she was known by all and universally respected.   Until only a few weeks ago her mind was unusually bright for one so advanced in years, and the anecdotes and experiences in the old country were often listened to by her friends with great delight.   She retained until the end the quaint mode of speech of the country of her birth, being a rich and pleasing mixture of Scotch and English dialect.

    Funeral services will be held Tuesday, Nov 14, and will be conducted by Rev. R. A. McDonald, assisted by Rev. C. G. McCully, pastor emeritous of the Congregational church.

    She married John Larner. Born 29 Sep 1815 in Eng. Died 14 Aug 1900 in Calais, Maine. Buried in Calais, Me.

    Information on John Larner, Elspeth Nesbitt and family was taken from photocopy of birth records of Nesbitts and Larners in their Family Bible Dictionary, obituary for Elspeth, and family information   provided by Sharon Howland.

    John and Elspeth Larner transferred to the Calais Congregational Church from Robbinston, Maine in October 1873.

    They had the following children:

  14   i.   Elizabeth Larner

  15   ii.   John Larner

  16   iii.   James Larner

  17   iv.   Thomas Larner

  18   v.   Ann Larner

  19   vi.   George Larner

  20   vii.   Edward Larner

  21   viii.   Robert Larner

  22   ix.   Franklin Larner

  23   x.   Elispeth Larner

  24   xi.   David Sewell Larner

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