Person:Janet Ballantyne (2)

Census records indicate that Janet's nickname was Jessie.The 1871 Census records give a birth year of 1835 but the Monument Inscription on her grave indicates that the birth year could be 1832. The Monument Inscription is now almost illegible on the stone but has been transcribed by OGS and is available at the Stratford Perth Archives. It reads: Janet/ Wife of Jas Shearer/Died Aug 7,1879/ Aged 47 yrs//Native of Lanarkshire Scotland Her obituary was very brief and there was no reference to her parents names. A news article describes her unfortunate demise.....It appears to have been published in the Stratford Beacon and was found amongst clippings in the Millar family archives.

                                                                ELMA 

PAINFUL ACCIDENT- An accident of an exceedingly painful nature occurred in this township on Wednesday evening last to Mrs. James Shearer. The well was covered with plank, which had been taken up a few days before to clean out the well and not nailed down again, and when Mrs. S. was standing on the cover, one of the boards gave way and let her through into the well, which is about 18 feet deep. She hung onto the top and screamed, but before the men who were in the house got to the spot, she had dropped into the well. In the meantime the board that slipped had fallen into the well and was standing end up, and on this Mrs. S. who is a stout, fleshy woman dropped, one foot on each side, lacerating her body in a fearful manner. After an ineffectual attempt to rescue her with a rope, a ladder was procured from a neighbours and Mr. William Shearer descended to her assistance. She ascended two or three steps of the ladder alone, but as soon as she had got out of the water which was only two or three feet deep she became insensible and had to be partly lifted, partly drawn out. Her recovery is very uncertain.

Further to that.... ELMA DEATH FROM INJURIES- Mrs. James Shearer died on Thursday morning from the effects of the accident narrated in last weeks BEACON. She suffered intense agony and her death was a merciful release. She was buried on Friday, the funeral being a very large one. Mr. Shearer has the sympathy of the entire neighbourhood in his great loss.Transcribed by Nolie Schneider and received via e-mail 16 Sep 2002

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Ada Jane Shearer and The Shearer Historians. Shearer Family History. (Created in Elma Township in 1938 and maintained by Shearer Reunion Historians. Information was reported by knowledgeable family members and was well maintained in the early years.).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Isa Cleland. Information that Isa researched on the Shearers. (This information was gathered by Isa until her death in 1999. Most is copied from the Shearer Family Tree.).
3. ↑ Solely based on name repetition in the James and Janet Shearer family, Janet's parent's were most likely to be named James and Isabella. No birth records can be found although there IS a birth record for a Janet Ballantyne b 1827 to a James and ELIZABETH Shearer. Elizabeth and Isabella are known to be somewhat interchangeable names during that time period. The likelihood is that her parents will never be known.