1900 Belhaven, Ontario looking South. Courtesy of http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/
2013 Belhaven, Ontario looking South. Courtesy of Google Earth.
Can you spot the differences between the 2 photos above? If you click them they enlarge for clear views of Belhaven taken from the same spot but 102 yrs apart. Sure, the false front is gone from the bottom photo and the front verandah is enclosed, but look at the shape and positions of the windows, as well as the placement of the power poles.
If you compare these photos with the one in last week's 1911 Courtship Letter you see that the James Nelson family farm is situated down the road and among those trees on the left.
If you compare these photos with the one in last week's 1911 Courtship Letter you see that the James Nelson family farm is situated down the road and among those trees on the left.
Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated: 1st Oct 1911 (events confirm date as 25th)
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink - In Ethel's last letter she blamed the pen for the messy letter with smudges, but this letter is almost as bad, if not worse. I believe it may be the ink and not the pen because even after 102 yrs, the ink smudges on my hands - as if it still hasn't dried. Good thing I've made a point of placing each opened letter in a large ziploc bag while handling it or it will be illegible before the next 100 yrs rolls around.
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form and written as 1, 3, 2, 4 although I've set them in order here for legibility.
People/places mentioned in this letter:
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- *Christie Nelson - Ethel's 11 yr old sister
- *Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia and *Joe Perrault of *Grand Coulee, SK
- *Fanny - 16 yr old cousin of Veda's on the Perrault side (Noah teases her)
- **Mabel Wright of Queensville - this week's Genealogy Notes
- Mrs. Walker *Prosser - neighbor and mother of *Cecil Prosser
- *Cecil Prosser - future husband of Sadie
- Frank *Morton - neighbor and friend
- Stanley *Bruels - neighbor and brother of Ethel's friend, Maud
- Edith Draper of Belhaven - check labels for *Edith/Edythe Draper
- *Mahoney girls & Dora - close neighbors and friends
- Stanley *Mahoney - brother of the Mahoney girls
- West boys - the men who went to work the huge *western *harvest in August
Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- *Sutton Fair - Sutton is a few miles northeast of Belhaven
- *Queensville - several miles south of Belhaven
Cliche/Phrase
- hustle - I've always thought this was a modern word
Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing. If you don't see a label, use the search box at the top of page.
** see Genealogy Notes below
Dated: 1st Oct 1911 (events confirm date as 25th)
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink - In Ethel's last letter she blamed the pen for the messy letter with smudges, but this letter is almost as bad, if not worse. I believe it may be the ink and not the pen because even after 102 yrs, the ink smudges on my hands - as if it still hasn't dried. Good thing I've made a point of placing each opened letter in a large ziploc bag while handling it or it will be illegible before the next 100 yrs rolls around.
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form and written as 1, 3, 2, 4 although I've set them in order here for legibility.
People/places mentioned in this letter:
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- *Christie Nelson - Ethel's 11 yr old sister
- *Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia and *Joe Perrault of *Grand Coulee, SK
- *Fanny - 16 yr old cousin of Veda's on the Perrault side (Noah teases her)
- **Mabel Wright of Queensville - this week's Genealogy Notes
- Mrs. Walker *Prosser - neighbor and mother of *Cecil Prosser
- *Cecil Prosser - future husband of Sadie
- Frank *Morton - neighbor and friend
- Stanley *Bruels - neighbor and brother of Ethel's friend, Maud
- Edith Draper of Belhaven - check labels for *Edith/Edythe Draper
- *Mahoney girls & Dora - close neighbors and friends
- Stanley *Mahoney - brother of the Mahoney girls
- West boys - the men who went to work the huge *western *harvest in August
Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- *Sutton Fair - Sutton is a few miles northeast of Belhaven
- *Queensville - several miles south of Belhaven
Cliche/Phrase
- hustle - I've always thought this was a modern word
Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing. If you don't see a label, use the search box at the top of page.
** see Genealogy Notes below
| Belhaven. P.O. 1st Oct. 1911. Mr N.C. Draper, Grand. Coulee, Sask., My Dear Noah, - Well another Sunday is here. and it is much like last Sunday. raining of course. we are having such of a lot of rain. It rains about ever other day. We had planed on going to church this morning. but guess we will stay at home now. Say you must be getting in a hustle for winter having it snow up there all ready. we heard that it snowed nearly 8" and that you could'nt see the shocks of grain for snow. You have your threshing done. hav'nt you? hope so anyway. |
| 2. Mabel Wright of Queensville came home with Sadie Friday night to stay over Sunday. We three girls are going up to Sunday School and home with Mrs Walker Prosser for tea. that was our plans but of course if it keeps on rainging why it just means Stay at home. Say Cecil Prosser has left home. and is working for Frank Morton. We heard Stanley Bruels left home also. I hav'nt saw any of our West boys home yet. Suppose there would be some of them disapointed that is as far as work goes. Say Noah, May I ask how long do you intend to Stay down here this winter? until Spring "eh" as long as you get home in time to do your spring work. and come as soon as you can, for. I am rather lonesome. for its a long time to be |
| 3. apart from one whom I really love, Time is passing though. Edith Draper of Belhaven has been very low. with her heart, they think She is better though now. Saw Mahoney girls & Stanley up at at choir practise last night, Say Dora is the same old girl. She certainly can talk. There is no danger of going to sleep at our practises. The girls are down in the front room playing the organ, so am having lot of music while I am writing. I wonder how many more Sundays I will be found here at this certain place writing. I hope not many, that is as I am writing to-day. Oh say! it is just pouring now. Wish it only quit for a while. |
| 4 I hav'nt saw a soul go to church yet. Suppose Veda has got started at College now. think I shall have to write her a card. I guess she will have a lively time something like Sadie has at H. School. I don't blame them for it, do you? I'll never forget the last year I went to school. if we did'nt have a good time it was'nt our fault. we did our best. Christie is here waiting for me to study our S. School lesson to-gether. Such good little girls as we are "eh", Well Sutton Fair is over. and such a day as they had, rained all day long, Newmarket isnt until nearly a month yet. Say would'nt I delight in walking into your place now. I wonder what I'd find you doing. or would I find you down at Fanny's. "ha ha" you kid. I must close for this time. Love & xxxxxEthel and a good embrace. xxxxxx |
Genealogy Notes
Mabel Wright - Mabel Wright of Queensville came home with Sadie Friday night to stay over Sunday.
Ethel had written the line about Mabel as if Noah knew who she was talking about. Was Mabel one of the many relatives of the Draper and Nelson families who resided in and around Queensville, East Gwillimbury Twp?
A quick search of the family tree showed only one person of the Wright family - Clarinda Wright b 1794 who married Lewis Card b 1793. But with Wright being Clarinda's maiden name, any offspring would bear the surname of Card. Of course, Mabel could descended from one of Clarinda's brothers, but with 100+ years between Clarinda's and Mabel's birth dates, I'd need more information before trying to search for that connection.
Instead, I decided to go backwards using the ancestry.ca search engine...
Step 1 - Search for Mabel Wright, Queensville, 1911
Result: 1911 Canada census showing Mabel Wright, 16 yrs old of East Gwillimbury
Parents - John and Mary Wright and lots of siblings
Ancestry Hints - Mabel Wright Birth Record
Step 2 - Pull up Mabel Wright's Birth Record for Mother's Maiden Name
Result: Parents - John A Wright and Mary Ann Cunningham
Step 3 - Search for marriage record of John Wright and Mary Ann Cunningham
Results: Marriage Record of Oct 16, 1878 in East Gwillimbury
Parents of John A Wright: John and Mercy Wright
Step 4 - Search for marriage record of John and Mercy Wright as no hint given
Results: Early Marriage Record showing Jan 11, 1848
No parents listed, but shows bride as Mercy Pearson and John's birth of abt 1809
Step 5 - Search for John Wright b 1809 and Mercy Pearson
Results: Another member's tree showing John William Wright b 1809 Hull, England
Step 6 - Search for John William Wright, b 1809, Hull, Yorkshire, England
Results: - Several member tree's with slightly different dates and spouses
- many 1841 England census records for John Wright
Step 7 - Search Passenger and Immigration lists for travel between 1808 and 1848
Reason - John married Mercy in 1848 Ontario which is where she was born
Results - pages of listings for several England & Wales Criminal Registers, 1791-1892, and the discovery that the name of John Wright is as common in the UK as John Smith is in the US
Summary - I stopped searching the ancestry records as it became too intensive and I wasn't getting anywhere.
New Search using Local history book on East Gwillimbur :
East Gwillimbury in the Nineteenth Century by Gladys M. Rolling, Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1967
This book contains several mentions of the Wright family in East Gwillimbury and Queensville including some of those mentioned above. It also has many references to other families who are related to the Drapers, Glovers, and Nelsons. Again, it's too inconclusive to make a direct connection at this point, so I'll let the search end here for now.
Although I didn't get the answer I was seeking, I hope that by following the steps of my search, you will have gained an idea of how easy it is to find people, and in particular maiden names, etc to help in your own search.
Ethel had written the line about Mabel as if Noah knew who she was talking about. Was Mabel one of the many relatives of the Draper and Nelson families who resided in and around Queensville, East Gwillimbury Twp?
A quick search of the family tree showed only one person of the Wright family - Clarinda Wright b 1794 who married Lewis Card b 1793. But with Wright being Clarinda's maiden name, any offspring would bear the surname of Card. Of course, Mabel could descended from one of Clarinda's brothers, but with 100+ years between Clarinda's and Mabel's birth dates, I'd need more information before trying to search for that connection.
Instead, I decided to go backwards using the ancestry.ca search engine...
Step 1 - Search for Mabel Wright, Queensville, 1911
Result: 1911 Canada census showing Mabel Wright, 16 yrs old of East Gwillimbury
Parents - John and Mary Wright and lots of siblings
Ancestry Hints - Mabel Wright Birth Record
Step 2 - Pull up Mabel Wright's Birth Record for Mother's Maiden Name
Result: Parents - John A Wright and Mary Ann Cunningham
Step 3 - Search for marriage record of John Wright and Mary Ann Cunningham
Results: Marriage Record of Oct 16, 1878 in East Gwillimbury
Parents of John A Wright: John and Mercy Wright
Step 4 - Search for marriage record of John and Mercy Wright as no hint given
Results: Early Marriage Record showing Jan 11, 1848
No parents listed, but shows bride as Mercy Pearson and John's birth of abt 1809
Step 5 - Search for John Wright b 1809 and Mercy Pearson
Results: Another member's tree showing John William Wright b 1809 Hull, England
Step 6 - Search for John William Wright, b 1809, Hull, Yorkshire, England
Results: - Several member tree's with slightly different dates and spouses
- many 1841 England census records for John Wright
Step 7 - Search Passenger and Immigration lists for travel between 1808 and 1848
Reason - John married Mercy in 1848 Ontario which is where she was born
Results - pages of listings for several England & Wales Criminal Registers, 1791-1892, and the discovery that the name of John Wright is as common in the UK as John Smith is in the US
Summary - I stopped searching the ancestry records as it became too intensive and I wasn't getting anywhere.
New Search using Local history book on East Gwillimbur :
East Gwillimbury in the Nineteenth Century by Gladys M. Rolling, Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1967
This book contains several mentions of the Wright family in East Gwillimbury and Queensville including some of those mentioned above. It also has many references to other families who are related to the Drapers, Glovers, and Nelsons. Again, it's too inconclusive to make a direct connection at this point, so I'll let the search end here for now.
Although I didn't get the answer I was seeking, I hope that by following the steps of my search, you will have gained an idea of how easy it is to find people, and in particular maiden names, etc to help in your own search.
