General Notes

Another problem here with the records.  I shows Elizabeth having children at like 10 years old.  Error somewhere.

Gertrude Bernadette May said:   Betsy Bridekirk was an orphan in England.  A Quaker family that lived in England took Betsy with them when they moved to Canada and reared her as their own.  We don't know if Betsy was raised Quaker, but we do know that she received her Catholic confirmation later, at age 72, in 1885.

When James and Betsy married, they owned a farm.  They decided to move to the U.S.  They sold the farm and James took the money to go to the U.S. to purchase another farm for them to live.  He was never heard of again, and was presumed killed by the Indians.
Betsy and the children ,(the ones that weren't married yet), moved in with her son Timothy and his wife, Mary Tobin May, who were living in Petersborough, near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  They lived with Timothy and Mary until the family was  pretty well grown, moved to the U.S. with them, and then later purchased their own home in Ackley, Iowa. At the time of James' disappearance, their youngest child, Hariett, ( Hattie) was six months old.

On the spelling of Britekirk.;
The Byers spelled Betseys name "Britekirk"  and it is stated that Margaret Ellen MAY and Julia Ann MAY both pronounced it that way. / per Clare Mchale notes.