Brinston General Store is located in Brinston, now part of the Municipality of South Dundas.
One Brinston family has given its name to a small community in eastern Ontario. Brinston, or Brinston's Corners as it was once known, is about 75-85 kilometres (47-53 miles) by road, depending on route chosen, south-east of Canada's national capital of Ottawa.
Information on the establishment of Brinston comes from a book published in 1905 - excerpt below. Before the incorporation of South Dundas in 1998, Brinston was part of Matilda Township. Thomas Brinston, mentioned below, was born about 1828 in County Fermanagh, Ireland. On 11 January 1859 Thomas married Catherine Barton, likely related to George Barton, also mentioned below. The marriage record shows her parents as James and Mary Barton, his as John and Jane Brinston. Catherine died in 1883 and Thomas in 1888. Both are buried in St. John the Baptist Anglican Cemetery at Iroquois, about 13 kilometres (8 miles) south-east of Brinston and close to the St. Lawrence River.
From The story of Dundas, being a history of the county of Dundas from 1784 to 1904, chapter XVII. page 322.
Searching the 1851 Canadian census under the usual spelling variations for Brinston provided no results for Thomas, although his grave marker says he immigrated in 1850. If he was not yet settled he may not have been enumerated.
The 1851 census does not identify families, households or relationships. In Dundas County there are 9 people named Barton, 4 of them with the given name James! Three of them show up on the same page and seem to be different generations of the same family (see census image below). The other James is listed elsewhere as a 46 year old teacher also born in Ireland and adhering to the Church of England. Katherine Barton, aged 20, born in Ireland and Church of England, is enumerated as a servant on a different page following a young farming couple with two children, and appears to be the woman who later married Thomas Brinston.
The only George Barton in the 1851 census is a 5 year old child. The reported ages of the two James Bartons and the two Jane Bartons do not seem feasible for parents of 20 year old Catherine/Katharine. It is, however, very likely they are her relatives. The ages and birthplaces of the children suggest an immigration year between 1837 and 1846.
Seven of nine Bartons in Dundas census district, 1851.
The 1861 census shows Thomas and Catherine Brinson, with ages clearly wrong according to all other evidence, but with two children Albert and John who are also found in later enumerations. In 1871 the family was recorded as Brinstone with children Albert, John, Mary J. and George. This census lists deaths in the past 12 months including Thomas William Brinston, aged 5. George died in 1875. The three eldest children married and had their own families.
Two of Thomas and Catherine's grandchildren, Lloyd (1905-1986) and Verda (1908- ), with their mother Luella Thompson Brinston (married to John James Brinston) and her parents.
After Catherine’s death Thomas married Margaret Scott and they had a son Thomas Alexander who also married and had his own family.
Thus far neither Thomas Brinston nor Catherine Barton have been found in Irish records.
Old photo of Brinston United Church, Gilmour Road, Brinston.
You can learn more about the Brinston General Store here: https://themorrisburgnews.wixsite.com/mysite/post/brinston-general-store-the-coolest-little-store-you-ve-probably-never-heard-of
Acknowledgement
Photographs and information from Smyth Carter book provided by Marlene Lewis of Ontario.
References
Brinston Families Worldwide. https://brinston.one-name.net/
Carter, Smyth. The story of Dundas, being a history of the county of Dundas from 1784 to 1904. Iroquois, Ontario: The St. Laurence News Publishing House, 1905. Full text at Internet Archives. https://archive.org/stream/storyofdundasbei00cartuoft/storyofdundasbei00cartuoft_djvu.txt
Canadian Census of 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1901. Library and Archives Canada. https://www.baclac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx
Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1936. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.ca/
Ontario County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869. Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/
Ontario Genealogical Society. Canadian Headstones. https://canadianheadstones.com/