Anastasia WESSELL^[1]

1883 - 1970  (86 years)

• Name	Anastasia WESSELL
  Birth	18 Dec 1883	Sheet Harbour Passage, Halifax, NS   [2]
  Gender	Female
  Death	21 Aug 1970	Halifax, Halifax, NS   [3]
  	Cause: myocardial infarction
  Person ID	I49854	A Few Relatives of Bob and Mary Hegerich
  Last Modified	6 Aug 2022

  
  

  Father	John George WESSELL,   b. 14 Feb 1835, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Catherine Ellen LAWLOR,   b. 1853, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. Yes, date unknown
  Marriage	28 Jun 1872	Sheet Harbour, Halifax, NS   [4]
  Family ID	F77406	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Percival Seymour VERGE,   b. 22 Aug 1881, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. 31 Jul 1944, Halifax, Halifax, NS (Age 62 years)
  Marriage	20 Sep 1903	Sheet Harbour Passage, Halifax, NS   [5]
  Children	1. Austin VERGE,   b. Aug 1904, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. Jan 1983, Mississauga, Peel, ON (Age ~ 78 years)   2. Joseph Watson VERGE,   b. Jan 1906, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. Bef 1999, Canada (Age ~ 92 years)   3. Marjorie Ellen VERGE,   b. Mar 1909, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. 21 Oct 1972, Halifax, Halifax, NS (Age ~ 63 years)   4. Jessie Elizabeth VERGE,   b. Jul 1910, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. 28 Mar 1999, Halifax, Halifax, NS (Age ~ 88 years)   5. Simeon Percival VERGE,   b. 1912, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. 26 Feb 1977, Halifax, Halifax, NS (Age 65 years)   6. Bertha Odell VERGE,   b. 13 Dec 1917, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. 13 Nov 1990, Halifax, Halifax, NS (Age 72 years)   7. Mary Virginia VERGE,   b. 1920, Sober Island, Halifax, NS d. 1 Aug 2011, Halifax, Halifax, NS (Age 91 years)
  Family ID	F9686	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Jun 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Anastasia Wessel was baptised in Sheet Harbour by a priest from St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church  21 January 1882. Her parents are given in that record as John Wessel and wife Ellen Lawlor. Her marriage record gives her mother's maiden name as Susan which corresponds with the oral history relted by a number of Sober Island VERGE's. The same tradition stated that John Wessel was married at least 3 times. This can be verified as there are three marriages on record for him. None of the marriages on record are to Susan and it appears that Anastasia was the illegitimate child by Susan raised by John Wessel and his wife Catherine Ellen Lawlor. Oral tradition also gave this Susan's name as Cope. However there is no record of a Susan Cope living in the Sheet Harbour area altough there seems to be several Susan Cope's in later years. It turns out that Susan Cope was baptized by St. Peter's Church 12 March 1859 as Susannah Molly, daughter of Charles and Nancy Molly "Squaw". Molly Cope was the matriarch of the family and her name "Molly" was often used as a surname by both her Paul and Cope descendants. This Susan Cope or Susan Molly was undoubtedly the grandchild of Molly Cope. [Researched by Blake Conrad] A quick calcuation shows that Anastasia WESSELL was 37.5% Mi'kmaq. Anastasia Wessel was baptised in Sheet Harbour by a priest from St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church  21 January 1882. Her parents are given in that record as John Wessel and wife Ellen Lawlor. Her marriage record gives her mother's maiden name as Susan which corresponds with the oral history relted by a number of Sober Island VERGE's. The same tradition stated that John Wessel was married at least 3 times. This can be verified as there are three marriages on record for him. None of the marriages on record are to Susan and it appears that Anastasia was the illegitimate child by Susan raised by John Wessel and his wife Catherine Ellen Lawlor. Oral tradition also gave this Susan's name as Cope. However there is no record of a Susan Cope living in the Sheet Harbour area altough there seems to be several Susan Cope's in later years. It turns out that Susan Cope was baptized by St. Peter's Church 12 March 1859 as Susannah Molly, daughter of Charles and Nancy Molly "Squaw". Molly Cope was the matriarch of the family and her name "Molly" was often used as a surname by both her Paul and Cope descendants. This Susan Cope or Susan Molly was undoubtedly the grandchild of Molly Cope. [Researched by Blake Conrad] A quick calcuation shows that Anastasia WESSELL was 37.5% Mi'kmaq.

  
  

• Sources

  [S8385] Obituary Notice for Simeon P. Verge. [S81] 1901 Census of *NS*, Halifax County, Sheet Harbour, Div 1, family #1. [S2345] Obituary Notice for Anastasia Verge. [S12554] !NS Historical Vital Statistics, Year: 1873 book: 1816 page: 8 number: 111. [S12554] !NS Historical Vital Statistics, Year: 1903 - Book: 1820 - Page: 64 - Number: 378.