Biography of Reuben Traveller Jr. (1812-1898)

Reuben Traveller was born 18 August 1812 in London and baptized like the rest of the family in the Parish Church of St. Marylebone, St. Marylebone Road, in London on 6 September 1812.[1] The family left England while he was still a child, and he reached adulthood in Ontario, Canada. At the age of 23, by which time he was settled in Nepean, Carleton County (not far from Bytown/Ottawa), he married Henrietta Dow, the daughter of a prominent family there. The wedding took place on 6 July 1835 and was performed by John Burwell, an Episcopalian minister. The witnesses were Reuben's sister Sarah and her husband, William Henry.[2] The couple continued to live and farm in Nepean, and their children were born there. In 1851 they were still there, farming in close proximity to Reuben's brother Fortunatus and sister Marianne.[3]. A 1879 county atlas, digitized by McGill University as part of the Canadian County Atlas Digital Project, shows the location of Reuben's 100-acre farm on lot 30, Concession II, next to the farm owned by his brother-in-law, William Henry, and close to the farm owned by the Traveller estate, the property of his deceased brother Fortunatus.

Reuben died 31 August 1898, just a couple of weeks after his 86th birthday. His wife, Henrietta, had passed away almost a decade earlier, on 15 May 1889[4].

Children of Reuben Traveller and Henrietta Dow

1. Lavinia, born on 7 Jul 1836 in Nepean, Carleton Co., Ontario.
   
   
2. Thomas Lloyd, born on 4 Apr 1838 in Nepean.
   Thomas married Anne, the daughter of Nancy Smith and a father as yet unknown, on 3 May 1860. Thomas died at the young age of 38, on 14 January 1877, leaving Anne to raise their several daughters alone.
   
   
3. Abram Dow, born on 24 Dec 1839, probably in Nepean.
   Abram became a minister, and officiated at the marriages of some of his siblings.
   
   
4. Artimiss was born on 23 Dec 1841 and died on 8 Nov 1842, probably in Nepean.
   
   
5. Reuben Alfred was born on 17 Aug 1843, probably in Nepean, and died at the age of 19 on 16 Jun 1863.
   
   
6. Henrietta, born on 11 May 1845, probably in Nepean.
   She married William Taylor, a Nepean farmer (son of Robert and Emmeline Taylor), on 8 May 1879. This wedding was certainly a family affair; her brother Abram performed the ceremony, and her sister and brother, Sabra and Hamnett, were the witnesses.
   Henrietta died on 9 Mar 1912 at age 66.
   
   
7. Edwin was born on 13 May 1847, probably in Nepean.
   
   
8. Sabra was born on 20 Sep 1849, probably in Nepean.
   
   
9. Fortunatus was born on 8 Aug 1851, probably in Nepean.
   
   
10. Hamnett was born on 8 Sep 1853, probably in Nepean.
    Hamnett married Mary Harrington in Nepean on 2 September 1879, with his brother Abram officiating.
    
    
11. Mary Samania was born on 12 Jun 1855, probably in Nepean.
    
    

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