Anita Mae Draper
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100 Year Old Postcards

6/24/2012

 
Yesterday, I finished sorting the box of letters and photos handed down from Ethel Isabell Nelson (1890-1974). I think the best way to describe the experience is to quote my teenage son who said, "Mom, you sure seem interested in those letters."

Well, yes. I am. It seems like every time I have one question answered, there are several more wanting the same. Here's one example...

Last week's post was 1909: To Noah, A Letter From Home where we read a letter - or perhaps dissected would be a better word - from Noah's father, David Draper. The whole point of the letter was that David was hurt and couldn't run the farm any longer. He wanted Noah to come home to take over the chores and keep everything running smoothly.

If you recall the letter, it starts by saying... and remember, I'm quote it all verbatim...
         Grand Coulee Feb the 21 1909

 
Well Noah... 
You see, I assumed David was sending it to Noah who had gone ahead and applied for a homestead/bought land in Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan, in preparation to his marriage to Ethel.

As I looked at the other letters this week, however, I noticed that most of them had another location after the salutation. David doesn't use a saluation and so he doesn't have the second location.

On all the others, the first location - the one beside the date - is where the letter is from.

And the second location - beneath the saluation is where it's going.

With that thought process, last week's letter is from David, Sarah and Louie, who are all in Grand Coulee already. Of course, that means they didn't move out in the 4 months between David writing the letter and his passing away, but earlier. How much earlier? I don't know. But this is what I do know:

- 1901 Canada census records show the Draper's were still in Ontario.
- 1906 Saskatchewan census shows they hadn't arrived in the west yet.
- 1909 - Dec 29th,  Noah buys land in Saskatchewan.
- 1911 Canada census records show they were no longer in Ontario.

So the mystery is to find out when they moved from Ontario to Saskatchewan, and which members of the family moved with them. *Stay tuned as I will be posting updates as I find them.

I found 3 postcards that fit in this time period. Although they don't answer the question of the westward move, they provide clues toward the answer. First, let's look at a map stretching from Belhaven, Ontario which is where the Draper family was living, to Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan where they ended up.
Picture
Grand Coulee (Regina), Saskatchewan on the left (west) side and Belhaven, Ontario on the right (east).

Postcard #1 to Ethel Nelson

Author of Postcard: Sadye (Sadie) Nelson, 12 yrs old (1895-1970)
Dated: June 26, 1907
Addressed to: Miss Ethel Nelson, Belhaven, Ont.
Mailed from: Huntsville, Ontario, Canada (Green A on map)
Relationship: sister
Profession:  student 
Writing  instrument: Black ink, possibly fountain pen
Stamp: 1 cent Canada
Picture
Picture
Huntsville June 25
Dear Sister and all the rest.
We are all well. hoping you
are the same. we have
had 5 thunder storms here
since last Wensday. there
was a terrible storm here
yesterday. this picture is
right across the river from
us. Write soon and tell me
the news. Bye Bye now
S. N.

 

 

Miss Ethel Nelson
Belhaven
Ont.

Huntsville is/was where the people from Toronto and area go to vacation for the summer, like cottage country. I've found in other letters that the Nelson Family went up there every summer, so it's nice to see what it looks like.

We can add another piece to the puzzle:
 1907 - 17 yr old Ethel was still living at Belhaven.

~~~~~~~

Postcard #2 to Noah Draper

Author of Postcard: Percy R. Draper, 25 yrs old (1883-1939)
Dated: December 25th, 1908
Addressed to: Mr. NC Draper, Burks Falls, Ont (North of green A on map)
Mailed from: Ignace, Ont (Green B on map)
Relationship: Brother
Profession:  Farmer
Writing instrument: Pencil
Stamp: 1 cent Canada
Picture
Picture
Ignace
Dec the 25, 08
NCD   Well you
will see by this that
we are on our way
to Toronto go by
Sudbury.  CPR
Percy

 

Mr. N.C. Draper
Burks Falls
Ont.

This postcard is one of the reasons I began to suspect that Noah's family had already moved from Belhaven, Ontario to Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan. It's Christmas Day.

Twenty-one year old Noah is in Burk's Falls, which is an hour or two north of Belhaven. The Huntsville resort in Postcard #1 is  between Belhaven and Burk's Falls. We don't know why Noah is there, but he's old enough to have gone out to get a job.

Noah's older brother, Percy, is on his way east - presumably to visit the Belhaven family they left behind. Toronto is one hour south of Belhaven. 

I like to think that Percy and Noah will meet at Belhaven for Christmas, but I really don't know. I need to find and decipher more letters. I'll also do more searches in the Burk's Falls area like check the directory/phone book, etc to see what I can dig up.

Another piece to the puzzle:
1908 - Percy is on an eastbound train, so he must be coming from Saskatchewan.

Since we know the Draper's weren't on the 1906 Saskatchewan census, the window of their move is now between June 1906 and Dec 1908.
~~~~~~~

Postcard #3 to Ethel Nelson

Author of Postcard: Ella (?) No further info is known at this time
Dated: February 4, 1910
Addressed to: Miss Ethel Nelson in Toronto, Ontario
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship: ? possibly a friend
Writing instrument: Blue inked pen, possibly fountain
Stamp: missing
Picture
Picture
Dear Ethel
Hope you are
having a good time
I was to S.S. on Sunday
and Sadie said you
could have them with
fishers and I think that
will be all right if you think so.
Send the sample
if you think best
Don't stay too long.
Bye-bye  Ella (or Eulla)

Miss Ethel Nelson
1123 College St.
Toronto

Postcard #3 is a another puzzle:
- I don't know the author, Ella.
- I don't know what she means by 'fishers'.
- I don't know anything about the 'sample'.

However, this postcard is important because it's proof that Ethel lived in Toronto for a time before marrying Noah. In some of the other letters, mention is made of her time in Toronto, but until I read this, I didn't know any dates. It wasn't uncommon for people in this area to work in Toronto during the week, and go home for the weekends. Neither back then, or now. 

We now have the following information on Ethel:
1905 - age 15 - passed entrance exam for collegiate or high school
1908 - age 18 - worked in Toronto, although we don't know at what occupation

Again, the postcards are raising more questions, but like the letter, they're puzzle pieces in the life of Noah and Ethel.

Have you picked up anything from these postcards that I have missed?

Suzie Johnson
6/27/2012 12:13:53 am

Anita, what a treasure. I love these postcards. That church is gorgeous. I was wondering about the sample, too. I wonder if she was helping Ella make something and wanted her to approve what she had so far. I have no clue about fishers. I just keep thinking of fish and fishing but I wonder if it was slang for something else?

Anita Mae
6/28/2012 04:06:50 am

Hey Suzie, glad you dropped by. That church is in Newmarket which happens to be the town of Nelson's birth. I was quite surprised when I read the caption.

Re the sample - they made most of their dresses from what I read in the letters, so it could be a fabric sample. Except that it would be referred to as fabric swatches unless the term wasn't common back then in farming areas. On the census under the profession heading, they were referred to as a farmer's
wife and farmer's daughter.

Fishers could be slang, or it could be the name of a family. I've noticed some of the letters/postcards don't show rhyme or reason for capitalization.

Geoff Bowerman
6/30/2012 04:39:57 pm

Thanks Anita, another interesting find. Noah's marriage record of 1911 shows that though he was married in Ontario, he was a resident of Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan, and had been since June or July (bad handwriting) of 1903. Drop me a line via regular e-mail and I'll send you a copy and some notes on descendants of Evelyn Amelia Draper (my line), Ethel Maud, and Percy Roy.

Anita Mae
7/2/2012 01:22:04 pm

Geoff, thank you very much for dropping by. I pulled up Noah and Ethel's marriage certificate, and by golly, you're right. I hadn't noticed that part. Shhh - don't tell Nelson, he thinks I'm great at research which is why I'm helping him. Haha.

So nice to meet you. And now, I'm doubly glad we decided to share Ethel's treasure box of letters and other goodies. Yes indeed, I'll send you an email. Hopefully you can help straighten out the names of Percy's kids among other things. :)


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