FRANCIS SINNETT
Francis Sinnett (Sinnott, Zenette, et al.) described himself as
French as did all the people of this name in Charlotte Co., NB in 1871. In
later censuses his descendants also called themselves French. It is safe to
say, then, that this family was of French origin, Acadian or Quebecois.
According to census records they were either members of the Church of England
or Methodists or Baptists. Francis Sinnett first petitioned for land in
Petersville, Queens Co., NB, and came into association with the Ogden family
there. In 1843, Thomas Liston, and immigrant from Ireland, petitioned for land
in Petersville, and by 1845 had married Letitia Sinnett. They apparently
remained in this area, specifically in the part called Douglas Valley, until at
least 1852, but by 1856, Thomas Liston had died. Letitia Liston appears in a
St. John newspaper announcement of her marriage to Simpson J. Murphy of
Pennfield, Charlotte Co., NB, in March of 1856. She was apparently living in
Portland, a part of the city of St. John, at the time.
Simpson Murphy had several lots of land in what is called the Creevey
Settlement in Clarendon and Pennfield parishes, Charlotte Co., NB. His land
was adjacent to that of several members of the Ogden family and by 1871,
Francis Sinnett, George, Michael, and John Sinnett, had land in the same area.
There is a John Murphy in Petersville, Queens, who may have been Simpson
Murphy's father (Simpson named his only son John), but this needs further
investigation.
It is possible that the Sinnetts, Murphys, and Ogdens knew each other in
Petersville and moved en masse to the Creevey Settlement in the 1860s or even
earlier, though most of the actual land grants were in the 1870s. Other
Petersville families are also represented in Creevey Settlement. In 1870, the
Murphys were living in Vanceboro, Maine, where they are enumerated in the US census for that year. Before 1879, however, they had settled their family
in Millville, York Co., NB.
Buried under the family monument in Millville is a Francis Zenette, whose age at death in
1879 was 96 years. The Francis Sinnett in Creevey Settlement, is 70 years old
in the 1871 census, which leaves us uncertain about whether these are the same
person. There is no other record of a Francis Sinnett that would indicate two
men of the name, possibly father and son, so I think that either the grave
record or the census record is inaccurate. The Francis Zenette buried in
Millville is, in any case, certainly the father or grandfather of Letitia
Sinnett Liston Murphy, and the Sinnetts of Creevey Settlement are certainly her
brothers.
In searching for possible French families of the name Sinnett, I was steered in
the direction of two family lines with the surname SENET in the province of
Quebec. The only Francois Senet I could find was christened in 1801
near Montreal. If this is the same person as the Francis
Sinnett in the 1871 Charlotte Co. census, the fit is very good, for the age
(70) is exactly rigtht. Unfortunately the previously mentioned grave record
doesn't corroborate this, so I can't say for a certainty that I have found the
parentage of Francis Sinnett/Zenette.
The full range of spellings for Sinnett that I have found are:
SINNETT, SINNET, SINET, SINETT, ZINETT, ZINNETT, ZENETTE, SINNOT, SINNOTT,
SYNNOTT.
The spelling with 'o' is quite common with the Irish families of the
name, and there is a family in Queensbury Parish, York Co., of Irish descent,
of the name Sinnett/Sinnott. My research indicates, however, that the Irish
Sinnetts were also of French origin. They were apparently Huguenots who
migrated to Ireland under persecution, settling mainly in Wexford county. I
don't know, but I think that by the time of their emigration to Canada they had
begun to identify themselves as Irish, not French. This helps us to
distinguish between the descendants of Francis Sinnett and the many Irish
families of the name in New Brunswick.
To summarize, Francis Sinnett may have been born c 1782/3, according to his
grave record. In some documents, his surname was also spelt SINNOTT. If the
1871 census return information is correct, it is possible that he was
christened as Francois Senet on 27 July 1801 at Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec,
Canada. He married Hannah (--?--) before 1871. He died on 5 September 1879 at
Millville, York, New Brunswick, and his name is recorded as Francis ZENETTE on
the gravestone in Millville Cemetery.
Return to the Norwood Family Page
Francis Sinnett's Descendants