1911 Courtship: June 15 Dear Noah

4/14/2013

Lightning Bolt captured at Draper's Acres, Montmartre, Saskatchewan, Canada, August 2010 by Anita Mae Draper

Although this photo was taken 99 yrs after Ethel writes about it in her letter, electrical storms still have a whop of power behind them. In this week's genealogy notes, I'm posting some of the newspaper articles that talk about that week of June 1911 because what Ethel didn't know is that a tornado whipped through the area to the north and west of her... within an hour's drive by today's standards.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (born 31 May 1890)
Dated:  June, 1911 (from the content, I've deduced it was written on June 15th)
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask. (To my Dear Noah)
Mailed from:  Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, blue ink
Written on: Light bluey/gray, slightly thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6 inches, folded in half. The paper is folded in half with the first page on the front and last on the back, but inside, she's turned the paper and written across the short width and turned both pages into one long page. Hence this letter has only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- Pa -  *James Henry Nelson
- our man - *hired man
- *Sheppard's - neighbors
- *Crowder's - neighbors
- Morell's - neighbors
- John Warner
- Dora *Mahoney - Ethel's neighbor and school friend
- Hattie and Stella - more school friends

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing.
** see Genealogy Notes below

Belhaven June, 11

Mr N.C. Draper.
Grand Coulee,
Sask.

To my Dear Noah,-
Rec'd your
letter last night. Sadie and
I were up to the office, and
had to run nearly all the way
home, to get out off the rain,
Pa and our man were up
to Keswick. They saw 4 fires
coming home. Say do you have
such thunder storms up there
They seam to do so much

damage. The thunder last night was just
a continuous roar.
The masons have been here working all
last week. We are having a bee to-morrow
getting the timber home. It was shipped to Keswick.
You ask if we thot the barns were set
on fire. We heard Morells said they thot
Sheppards set them on fire. Of course it
looked rather suspicious because we decided
that we wouldn't sell to them. And
the day of Morell's fire, Shepard & Morelle
had a lawsuit and sheppard had to pay
Morell $600.00. But we never have had
any idea how ours was started.
I started this letter this forenoon so here
I am again to finish up. We were up to
S. School and since we came home there
has been a very heavy wind & thunder
storm we couldn't see over half way
to Crowders. It blowed one of apple trees
all the way across the field, blowed
the fence nearly quite a bit all down. The big tree
between our place and the corner is partly down.
Our harvest tree was blowed down too.

Edna Crowder & Sadie are going to sing
at Belhaven to-night.
Pa is just going to hire men to
work at the barn, and John Warrner
is going to oversee. Say! will you
have to board the men. I guess
some body will have some work.
We cooked for 16 nearly all last
week. Well they tell me now it was
an elm that blew across the field.
It is just lovely out now. every thing
seems so fresh.
Saw Dora & Hattie to-day.
Stella has been up this last week.
left her old hubby by to keep batch.
Hope you were successful
in your base ball game. I guess
I must ring off for this time. Just
wait until I see you. and I guess I'll
have enough to say. "eh" Love from your Sweetheart
xxxxxxxxxx

Genealogy Notes

The weather in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States was horrid in 1911. Perhaps not the worst on record, but bad enough to have everyone talking about it... including an Aussie newspaper I've posted below. It seemed every time I turned a page in the June 16th edition The Newmarket Era reports of the tornado, electrical storms, damage and destruction were waiting. I've transcribed some of the more illegible ones.

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 6

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 6 (Under Belhaven)

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. Australia) Monday 12 June 1911 Page 7

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 5

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 7

BELHAVEN.

Mr. James Nelson has started at
his wall and intends framing as soon
as possible.
The thunder-storm and the wind on
Sunday night did a great deal of
damage. The lightning struck Mr.
Ezra King's barn, tearing off a few
boards. The wind took some of Mr.
John Brook's hen house coop off and
broke the telephone wires.
...
The Bethel people had a bee on
Wednesday and fixed up the church.
Since the storm, they need another.

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 Pg 3

The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 Pg 6

Great Electric Storm,
About ten o'clock last Saturday
morning thick clouds stretched across
the heavens like a pall and the dark-
ness of night settled down upon us,
followed by a thunderstorm and a
downpour of rain. Again on Satur-
day night lightning was almost contin-
uous and the most spectacular for
many a day. Vivid forks descended,
followed by crashing peals of thun-
der and accompanied by more heavy
rains.
Farmers in Whitechurch tells us that
they could see four fires burning at
once and information since received,
continues the report, Fred Ham-
shaw's barn in Pickering Township,
was burned to the ground, with prac-
tically all the contents; Mr. Wagg,
near Stouffville, lost his barn and
other outbuildings; another barn was
destroyed in Vaughan Township and
one in King Tp. Jas. Stewart, a
Scarboro farmer, had a mare and colt
struck and instantly killed.
During another storm on Sunday
afternoon Wellington Curtis of Ket-
tleby had a similar experience, los-
ing a mare and colt, and another
farmer in the same neighborhood had
a cow killed by lightning. But the
storm Sunday afternoon appears to
have been more severe at Roache's
Point and Orchard Beach. Capt. El-
din says the storm on Lake Simcoe
was the worst he ever knew. Five
large boats were blown down on Dr.
Westley's lot at the Point, nearly half
of the pine trees in Mr. Edgar's
grove were levelled, part of a veran-
dah was torn off a cottage at the
Point, about a hundred trees were
blown down in the old Dodge deer
park as well as a long stretch of the
Idzh? cedar fence; a windmill was down
and a barn nearby and a number of
good trees were blown across the road
way along the Orchard Beach shore.
Mr. Porter's boat was at anchor in
the bay and had some of the rigging
torn off. Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Wat-
kin was out in the storm and had an
exciting experience, as well as Mr.
G. A. Bills?, who went to the rescue.