In the Fall of 1899, 31 year old Freeman Delmar Johnson and his 27 year old wife, Maggie Belva Hastings, immigrated from Ontario to Madison, Wisconsin. They brought with them Bertha (6 years old), Morley (5 years old), and infant Jean. Sons Arthur and Malcolm were born in Madison. Freeman worked as a machinist at the Northern Electrical Company in Madison until 1915 when he, his family, and his sister-in-law, Eva, moved to a farm about four miles from Elgin, Illinois. Eleven years later they moved again, this time into Elgin where he worked maintenance at the Chevrolet Automobile Company.
Freeman and Margaret (she prefered this name to Maggie) moved to Madison because Margaret's family had immigrated. Her parents (William and Martha Wilson Hastings) and her two brothers James and William had moved there in 1898. Most of her siblings joined the family in Madison in March of 1899.
Margaret Hasting's ancestors came to Canada in the early 1800s. Her grandfather, James Hastings was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. He moved to Canada as a young man, settling near Galt, Ontario. In 1838, 24 year old James married 16 year old Christiann McArthur. Christiann, born in Galt, was the daughter of Daniel McArthur (born in Ayreshire) and Catherine McMillan.
Margaret and her siblings were a close "clan". Despite great geographic distances, they stayed in touch throughout their lives. Similarly, Freeman and Margaret's children were close throughout their lifetimes.
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