By the time Billy was almost two our mother had another baby. They named him Joseph, I enjoyed pushing Joey in the stroller with Billy toddling along beside me. When Joey was 15 months something happened beyond our control as a family and eventually we children ended up at the CAS and were made wards of the crown. Two of us were adopted out and the other two were fostered out.
​
I was concerned about Billy and wondered how he would cope. He was only two. I was one of the ones adopted out. I kept asking for my brother Billy. My adopted Family tried to get him, but his foster mother didn’t want to give him up. I never forgot him, probably the fact that my adopted family had already adopted another boy named Bill, kept my little brother Billy in the forefront of my mind.

I went to Toronto to work at Canada Life when I was 19, but I never forgot my brother Billy.    I knew what  the children's aid was like, back then.  It  was like banging your head  against a  brick wall.  They even  had set up some kind of system to add your name to a list and when your name came up, they would zero in on your particular search   Nothing materialized with that plan. 

At 21, the feeling to keep up the search was still there, so I phoned the CAS in Timmins to see if they would relent and put me in touch with someone  who could help.  To my surprise the woman that handled our case back in 1949 answered the phone. She was  so glad to hear from me.  She was retiring soon and said that she would be glad to help me. A few days later she phoned and told me my brother Bill was in Toronto and told  me that he  had been looking for me as well.  After he was through the Childen's Aid system, he had come to Toronto, because he had heard that Toronto was the meeting place.

Hover over pics for caption, click to enlarge:

4th Generation:

Arthur Youmans was born about 1729 in White Plains, Westchester Co., New York Province the eldest child of Eleazer & Mary Youmans and died on 27 Apr 1800 in Kingston, Frontenac Co., Upper Canada.  Arthur married Sarah Orser Oakley about 1754 in Hempstead, Queens Co., New York Province.  Sarah was born about 1731 and in died in Warwick, Orange County, New York Province.

In the Sons and Daughters of American Loyalists by William D. Reid pg 349 he list Arthur Youmans as a Loyalist, also the Executive Council List RG 1 L7 Vol 52A, lists Arthur as well.

Taken from story written by Jean Norry on Arthur Youmans:

Arthur Youmans (who always spelled his name Yeomans) was in Beverley Robinson's Regiment, the Loyal Americans, and based in New York City for most of the war.  Arthur and his brother James joined on October 11th of 1777... as indicated by the muster rolls.  This means he found a place for his family to live on Long Island and then he went off to join the army.  He was on guard duty in various places around New York for those 5 years between 1777 and 1783.  Arthur had been a moderately well to do land owner in Smith's Clove in Orange County before the war.  His father Eleazer had been a successful millwright in Westchester County in the 1760s, at White Plains and at Peekskill.  Arthur would have known many of the Loyalist refugees and the Loyal American soldiers from Westchester County.  On August 22nd of 1783 the Loyal American muster roll has this notation for Arthur, "gone into the country for his family".  They may have left on the last British ship out of New York City.  The evacuation took place that fall, the port of New York was handed over to the Americans on Sept. 15th of  that year, so they probably left New York on one of the last  troop  ships  leaving in September.  No doubt they went directly to Quebec City and then in a river boat up to Sorel Island.

Cursor over photos for caption, click on to enlarge:

Quick Link: Youmans History

Author:  Keith Millard

Istead (& Highstead & Isted) Family Name Origins:

In medieval England, most citizens (excepting royalty) did not possess a family surname, but were simply known by their location or their profession, such as James the baker, or Robert the smith, or John of Highstead. Their children were known as Robert's son or the daughter of James, etc., and the vast majority of the population lived in tiny villages of 200 or fewer people. Everyone knew everyone else that was living there.

In the 14th Century, the Government of John of Gaunt introduced a poll tax on every citizen, and a surname was required to identify each person. Thus, Robert the baker became Robert Baker, and John of Highstead became John Highstead.  Note that everyone living in the community, whether biologically connected or not, took the surname of Highstead.  Almost everyone was unable to read or write and name spellings were totally at the whim of the clerk or parish priest, either of whom were often only semi-literate themselves, so the spelling of the names changed as time went on, mainly due to the phonetic sound of the names. 

As an example, suppose William Highstead had three sons, William, Robert, and James; William Jr stays in Highstead and his children carry the name Highstead, Robert marries a girl from a nearby village and settles there and the priest enters his marriage name as Isted and his children carry the name Isted, and James also marries a girl from another village and settles there and the priest enters his marriage name as Istead and his children carry the name Istead.
 
The name Highstead has been seen to be recorded in small numbers in some ten counties of England and Northern Ireland, and this is an unusual surname.  The International Genealogical Index "suggests" that it may be a form of Highstead, now a locality and formerly a village in the county of Kent, which if so, has been dialectically corrupted with this surname.  However this is very possible particularly if as seems likely we are dealing with a "lost" medieval village surname.  Highstead means "high farm" or literally a farm probably further up a hill or valley than Low or Lower farm.  The surname was certainly recorded in Elizabethan times (1558 – 1603), with that of Richard Isted at the church of St Michael Bassishaw, in the city of London, on May 31st 1601.

The Gallery below shows the location of Highstead, Kent, from various perspectives, as well as the worldwide distribution of family name per million persons (in that country or region) for all three specific family names (Highstead, Istead, and Isted).  Of particular interest for this essay is the name Istead, and in Ontario there are 101 Istead names per million population or about 1,000 named Istead, with the heaviest concentration being in Prince Edward County.

Click on photos to enlarge, cursor over for caption: