Hi Donald -
I kept meaning to reply, but it's been an exciting time going through the contents of this box - there are 188 postcards and almost as many letters, and a couple dozen photographs, some from the mid 1800s. It's one thing to see historical records detailing where your ancestors lived, from census and land records, birth registrations, etc. but quite another thing altogether to read the correspondence between them, seeing how they interacted with each other, celebrated birthdays, Christmas, etc. One postcard is addressed to my great grandmother, and 'Annie' from Listowel is detailing how her and her sister in law are planning a big excursion to Detroit, staying in Port Huron, and that my great grandmother "better come!". Another details taking the "9-2" from Listowel to London and arriving at "the station" around noon, and where to meet... And several are from "Polly" with a postmark in Listowel but I can't find a "Polly" anywhere in the tree, which leads me to believe it was a nickname. There are even property tax receipts, newspaper clippings, bank books, and even receipts from the early 1900's for payment of burial plots. The oldest letter I've found is from 1885 and is a love letter to my great-great grandmother's brother from an unidentified woman. The oldest photograph is from the 1850s and depicts my great-great grandmother's brother - it's case and frame is almost identical to this:
https://www.truevintageantiques.com/pro ... ancestors/ It appears my great-grandmother was somewhat of a pack-rat when it came to correspondence, and I'm so glad she was!
I'd assumed that my great grandfather, John Henderson Livingstone, had lost contact with his older sister and younger brother, because they ended up living so far apart (his sister in Uxbridge Ontario and brother in Saskatchewan). I naively assumed that the distance meant there would be no further contact, but the letters and photographs proved otherwise, and showed that, despite the distance, they kept in regular contact throughout the years, sending letters about events in their lives, and photographs of their children to each other! I recall your story about the photograph from a relative and remember hoping that one day I'd find something similar in my journey, so I can now fully appreciate what that must have meant to you. Despite my great grandfather's untimely death in 1918 due to Spanish Influenza, the Livingstone relatives kept in constant contact with my great grandmother, even after she eventually remarried.
One of the postcards is from an 'Alex Livingston', addressed to my great grandmother, and he starts the letter with "Dear Cousin". Others also refer to her as cousin, so the connection between them is certain. Unfortunately there are no clues as to the possible Quebec connection, but I've only seen a fraction of it and can't wait to see what else is there.
I'm still trying to make sense of this Listowel family connection, their obvious ties through correspondence and regular in-person visits, and my DNA match on ancestry.ca to a Sarah Livingstone from Quebec, with the Banks family (from Terrbonne) living literally next-door to my great-great grandfather Archibald Livingstone and his wife Susannah Doig. It can't all be coincidence, although I've come to appreciate how inaccurate ancestry.ca DNA hits can be and am now very cautious. As you mentioned an Archibald Livingstone from Terrbonne Quebec ended up in Kingston - I'm going to further research that so I can more clearly understand where that Archibald ended up. When I saw 'Neil' as a middle name for John Neil Livingstone (born 1857) it caught my attention because of Neil Livingstone, father of Sarah Livingstone (my DNA hit) and an Archibald Livingstone in Terrbonne county, Quebec, with the Banks family also, and then the Banks family in Innisfil next-door to Archibald. There are just so many connections here that I can't ignore them.
After spending a couple of days building up the Listowel Livingstone family tree on ancestry.ca, I reached out to someone who attached a photograph of one of the individuals. Her daughter-in-law has information about the family, and I've been in contact but a response will be delayed for a couple of weeks due to visiting relatives on her part. They seem eager to exchange information, and the postcards and letters I provided them certainly proved the connection - they were intrigued, so hopefully something will come of that connection. One of the photographs in the box has an imprint showing Listowel, Ontario and depicts 3 small children, obviously siblings, so hopefully the recognize them. I continue to refine that tree in an attempt to find someone to reach out to for possible information.
If you recall the Scotch Road Cemetery Association - they are holding their 46th annual meeting Sunday October 14 at 1:30pm in Calumet, QC. As of now I'm planning on being there, as I have to take my daughter to Peterborough, Ontario on the 13th and that puts me roughly half way there from Windsor, Ontario where I live, so I'm thinking it makes sense. I'm hoping to connect with those folks as their knowledge of the area will be invaluable in future Quebec investigations and understanding of the area. In the past I've corresponded with Cecil McPhee, who has been very knowledgeable of the history of Grenville, etc. I believe it was his ancestors that donated the land for the Scotch Road Cemetery and who is currently president of the Scotch Road Cemetery Association (SRCA). In the same thread I corresponded with Gordon Rainey (treasurer SRCA) and David Cameron (secretary SRCA). If you are interested in attending let me know and I'll send you the particulars. Not sure where you are located, but if you want to car-pool let me know - I'll meet you in Peterborough

I obtained a copy of "Ottawa River Canals" by Robert Legget - he clearly put a lot of time and effort into the book. A lot of what I've been reading I recall from reading the digitized microfilm of communications from DuVernet, but unfortunately I found no mention of an Archibald Livingstone. I have a few unspoken-for vacation days and would absolutely use them travelling to gather additional records/information/etc. I'd just need direction on where/how to get it.
As I was drafting this response, I checked FamilyTreeDNA.com and my Y-DNA results are now in! I'm exhausted and will have to look into this further in the morning, but here's hoping that assists in this investigation.