Summary
1855-Jul-05: James was born to David MacKenzie & Margaret Wilson at Maryton, Forfarshire (Angus), Scotland.
1855-Jul-22: James was baptised at Maryton, Forfarshire (Angus), Scotland.
1861: Scotland Census at the home of his grandfather (James MacKenzie), at Dunnichen, Angus, Scotland
1871: Scotland Census with parents & siblings in Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland.
1879-Dec-29: James married Catherine C. Burry at Tarbrax, Lanarkshire, Scotland. James & Catherine will have 9 children, their last will die in infancy.
1881: Scotland Census with his wife, 5 month-old son David, and James' grandfather James, at Liff, Benvie and lnvergowrie, Angus, Scotland
1907-Mar-31: Ireland Census with wife & 6 children at Ballyard, Tipperary, Ireland
1911-Apr-02: Ireland Census with wife & their 3 youngest children, and Catherine's uncle George Burry, at Boltown, Kilskeer, Meath, Ireland
1912: Before April, James, Catherine & most of their family immigrate to Canada.
1912-Apr-17: James and his sons James Albert and Robert Colin, applied for entry to homesteads just north of the river from Estuary, Saskatchewan. James' homestead was at NW-20-23-27-W3, which is 7 km NE of Estuary, SK and 19 km E of Empress, AB. All three homesteads would eventually be "proved-up", and granted patents.
1916-Jun-01: Canada Census in the Saskatchewan Provincial "Asylum", in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
1920-Jan-09: Daughter Jessie Alexina, died in a hospital in Saskatchewan after a months-long illness. Her obituary in the Empress Express said, "... heartfelt sympathy of all goes out to the sorrowing mother, brothers, and sisters." No mention is made of her father. That can be explained if he was a mental patient.
1920-Dec-01: James received a Homestead Patent Grant for his homestead at NW-20-23-27-W3. Perhaps James wasn't always in a mental hospital, and also had help from his sons, because 8 years after "gaining entry" to his homestead, it is finally "proved-up". There must have been exceptions made in his case, because usually the Canadian Government only gave people 5 years to do it. Unfortunately there are no other records.
1921-Jun-01: Canada Census in the Saskatchewan Provincial Mental Hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
1925-Mar-19: James dies in the Souris Valley Mental Health Hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Death Register #981.
Saskatchewan Death Register #981
Last Name: MCKENZIE
First Name: JAMES
Sex: M
Death Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 1925 / 3 / 19
Place of Death: WEYBURN MENTAL HOSPITAL
The Health Department in Saskatchewan recorded that they buried him in the Saskatchewan Mental Hospital Cemetery at Weyburn, Saskatchewan in Plot SMH - P 0010 (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55931025). Yet we have this supposed grave for him here in the Empress Cemetery. Perhaps the family wanted to bury him here in the family plots by his brother (Alexander Thompson MacKenzie), daughter (Jessie Alexina MacKenzie), and daughter-in-law (Victoria Alice (Warr) MacKenzie), but couldn't. What we have here may be a "cenotaph", meaning a marker for someone who is not actually buried there.
