Liffiton Family History 2010

Born in London England in 1845, George John Liffiton travelled by ship at the age of four with his parents, George and Jane Liffiton, to Montreal, Canada. The son of a tailor, he learned his father’s trade, and was working in his father’s shop at the age of sixteen in 1861.

Eight years later he was still working with his father at 616 Lagauchetiere, Montreal, but by 1871 at the age of twenty-six, George John was working 147 kilometers to the southwest in Dundas, Winchester, Ontario.

At the age of thirty-one, in 1876, George married Emma LeMay, nineteen, at Detroit, Michigan. She was from Amherstburg, Ontario. They settled in Thorold, Ontario, further southwest near Buffalo, New York, where three of their children were born. In 1877 Emma gave birth to Augusta Jane Rose Liffiton, who went by the name Elsie. Their second child, Georgina Amelia, born in 1878, lived only three months. A third, George Henry, was born at Thorold, Ontario, in 1879.

About the same time, George and his family moved to Seaforth, Ontario, 240 km northeast of Detroit. He worked as a cutter in Duncan and Duncan, a clothing establishment. On April 24th, 1883, at Seaforth, Emma gave birth to their fourth child, Richard, but eight days later Emma died. She was twenty-six.

Besides his work as a tailor, George was active as a member of St. Thomas Church and a teacher in the Sabbath School. He was also a member of the Canadian Order of Foresters. After the death of Emma, George’s widowed mother, Jane Liffiton, resided with the family most of the time.

For several years George suffered from Bright’s disease of the kidneys, and he outlived his wife by only seven years. After a short confinement at his home, he died on Friday, 12 December, 1890 at the age of forty-five. Initially at least his children were left the care of his sixty-nine year old mother.

George's eldest child, Elsie, died four months after her father of “brain fever” in Kingston, Ontario at the age of fourteen. As adults his sons immigrated to the United States, George Henry settling with his family in Freehold, New Jersey, and Richard living with his wife in the Los Angeles area.

George John Liffiton is buried at the Maitlandbank Cemetery located at Roxboro near Seaforth, Ontario, Canada. His obituary says he was well-respected and that a large number of people took part in his funeral procession.

So far a photograph of George John Liffiton or of any member of his family has not been located. Emma’s gravesite is yet to be identified. Thanks to Mardy and David Elliot for taking the photograph of George's headstone in 1997. The inscription reads "In Memory Geo. J. Liffiton died Dec. 13, 1890 in his 46th year," and on the base, "I am the resurrection." Note both the date of his death and his age on the headstone conflict with other records.