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1911 Courtship: Aug 13 Dear Ethel

9/30/2013

1911 Regina street scene on a postcard published by Valentine & Sons. The opening day of the Dominion Fair on July 28th, 1911 was the inaugural run of the Regina streetcar system. Courtesy of http://peel.library.ualberta.ca

Peel's Prairie Postcard Collection describes the above postcard as "Corner of 11th Avenue and Scarth Street with Post Office (later Old City Hall) on left, Imperial Bank of Canada on left foreground. A streetcar is visible in the road."

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Aug 11/11, but has been overwritten to show 13/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, My Dear Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed to: Huntsville, Ont
Mailed from: Grand Coulee. Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Black ink pen
Writing Paper: Thick paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, written on front and back like a book, but inside, paper is turned sideways and written across the short width and down both pages.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:

- Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell
- Joe's - Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia, and her husband, *Joe Perrault and family
- *Fanny - Niece of Joe Perrault

- my man *hired man
- well diggers - they are on the 3rd well site as the first 2 were dry

- the big Regina fair *Exhibition
- the coulee - *Grand Coulee
- 6 30 train - to *Regina
- **harvest
- **hail - see a recent video of hail in our yard

* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more on posts on the above people.
**More info under Genealogical Notes below this week's letter

Grand Coulee, Sask.
Aug. 13/11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Huntsville, Ont.
My. Dear Ethel; -
Well this is the end of a
nother week also the end
of the big Regina fair. was
in 3 days. had Fanny in on
Wed. had a big time but she
was not feeling very well don't
know how she is now havent
seen her. but I guess she
is alive. ha.ha.
Well I hope you feel as
well as this leaves me at
present only I am so lazy
I hate to get up for meals.
Ha. Ha.

Well I am all alone to day. Mother
went down to church and stayed
down and I am to go down tonight
after her but I am getting used to being
alone. for Thursday morning Mother
took my man down to the coulee
in time to catch the 6 30 am train
and came back Friday after noon
then I went down and met him
Friday night. Saturaday morning
when I got up he was out at the wagon
fooling with a blanket and & I went
in and built a fire & went out &
he had dissappeared and I havent
saw him since. but his clothes
are all here i guess he got dry and
went back to town. Ha. Ha.
Well we are having nice weather
here now to make up for the summer
I guess. will be starting harvest
week after next I guess and every
thing looks fine now if it dont get
frozen or hailed.
Well it is now Monday after-noon
just as I finished the other line along
come 3 fellows so I did'nt finish my
letter.
Went down after mother last
night & while there it hailed &
rained but the hail did not do

much damage. Mother & I went
over to Joes to wait untill
the storm was over & about
9 oclock we struck for home
and just got about half
way when it started to
pour. say I felt just as if
I had sat down in a
tub. Ha Ha. Mother got
wet to but not as much
as I did.
Well the well diggers
are still here but I hope
they will have water before
long I am getting tired of them.
Well. I guess this is all for
this time so good Bye. With
Lots of Love & a great big hug. xxx
And half a million kisses. xxxx
N.C.D.

Genealogy Notes

In this week's letter, Noah writes that the weather is finally nice and the crop will be ready for harvesting in the week after next. Of course, weather plays a big part in the timing of the harvest and there's always the threat of hail.

Hail can best be explained as chunks of ice, from tiny to golf-ball size or bigger, that fall in the summer when the weather is hot. You can have a perfectly wonderful day and suddenly, the sky will cloud over and you hear pinging as the hail bounces off of any exposed metal and plastic. It could be devastating to a gardener whose perfect tomatoes are bombarded, an orchardist whose fruit is pitted, and a farmer whose crop is flattened. One farmer might have a field of grain plastered to the ground, while in the next field, another farmer's crop is stil standing straight and waving as if in defiance of the weather.

The following video was taken this past July when a pebble-sized hail fell in our farmyard.

Before an hour or so had passed, the farmer who rents our land zipped down our road on his quad as he checked all his fields for damage. He was blessed because he didn't find any damage to speak of.

And if it wasn't hail, it was frost. But the harvest of 1911 had other problems because this new bread-basket of Canada had potentially the biggest crop ever. And now men were needed to get the grain off the land - hand labor for the most part. Because the western harvest was being been predicted as HUGE, the shortage of manpower had everyone scrambling, as can be attested by these newspaper snippets and ads...

The Newmarket Era. July 28, 1911, Pg 1

Like I said, the Canadian government had this huge harvest and they plastered the eastern newspapers with their ads. These ads are from just one newspaper - the Newmarket Era in York County, Ontario - and at a glance you see the cry for harvesters are listed on 4 different pages. Similar ads were carried for both the Canadian Northern Railway (CNR) and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The CNR on the right, however reads: Where the best crops are, the best wages are paid.

And this:

IMPORTANT - To reach Canadian Northern points it will be necessary to travel by Canadian Pacific Railway to Winnipeg.

Now that's interesting. So is the fact that the CPR is giving a discount for the ride home on a FARM LABORER TRAIN if the laborer can prove he worked 30 days or more in the west.

How many papers carried these ads? Take a wild guess and you begin to feel the magnitude and urgency the Canadians felt at getting the harvest off the ground.

But what happens when 50,000 men reach the west and the crops aren't ready? Keep reading...

The Newmarket Era. July 28, 1911, Pg 3

The Newmarket Era. July 28, 1911, Pg 7

The Newmarket Era. July 28, 1911, Pg 6

The Morning Leader (Regina), Aug 7, 1911, Page 8 of 18

The Morning Leader (Regina), Aug 9, 1911, Page 9 of 28

It must have been mayhem in the west at that time. Thousands of strange men walking the streets just waiting for the crops to ripen. Where did they sleep and eat? They went west to work, not to sleep in hotel rooms while sitting idle.

And yet, they weren't going to leave the populated areas and head out to the farms where they were needed until they were needed.

All anyone could do was wait for the crops to ripen and pray the weather stayed nice. What a stressful time.

1911 Courtship: Aug 13 Dear Noah

9/23/2013

The Portage Railway running the 1 1/8 mile track between North Portage on Peninsula Lake and South Portage on Lake of Bays, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. Published by Stedman Bros, Brantford, Ontario.

Since Ethel mentions "the portage" in this week's letter, I'm taking the opportunity to talk about the Portage Railway in this week's Genealogy Notes. So if you're a train buff, or know someone who is, you might want to let them know about the video, photos and links at the bottom of this post.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated: Aug 13, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask - My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Huntsville, Ont.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink
Written on: Off-white, beautifully textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 7 inches, folded in half with a pansy motif. This is standard early 20th century pre-folded notepaper. Ethel has written on the pages in booklet form numbering 1-4.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- Aunt Sarah - *Sarah Elizabeth Glover, sister of Ethel's mother
- *Uncle John - John Thomas Winter, Sarah's husband
- *Ernie (Ernest) Winter - 9 yr old son of Uncle John and Aunt Sarah
- Aunt Mary Rigler - Uncle John's aunt *Mary Breckon Rigler Sibley
- Uncle *Emanuel Nelson - Ethel's Pa's paternal uncle
- Mother - Ida Amelia Glover Nelson
- Pa - James Henry Nelson
- Ella Smith of Huntsville area
- Mary Smith of Belhaven

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- the portage - see Genealogy Notes
- *Toronto - 146 miles south of Huntsville
- Play: Modern Courtship

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

Huntsville Aug. 13, 1911

Mr N.C. Draper,
Grand Coulee,
My Dear Noah,
Oh, I hardly know
how to wrie to-day. I am
feeling so lonesome. Idont know
what is the matter with me but
I just feel as though I couldn't
stand it any longer, but this is
me right over, get the blue's I guess.
Well Noah I am not particuarly
run down with hard work.
Although I was feeling rather down
mostly all last week, but am

feeling better now. I guess you dont
need to worry about me. I think
I am too lazy to ever hurt myself.
Uncle John has just come in he has
been down to the station to try & get my
ticket extended, but the agent said we
had left it to - long. you see it runs
out to-morrow & my ticket would have
to go to Toronto, so I guess I will be
going home to-morrow afternoon.
Uncle John is going back to work to
night on the midnight. He didn't know
what to say when we told him his
Aunt Mary Rigler was married
We were to the show last night, one
play was "modern courtship". Say
it was certainly fine. The poor young
man was bald headed.

Had a letter from home saying they
were all quite well. although Uncle
isnt any better. I guess his time is short
& I am rather anxious to go home to see him
I guess you must be busy with all
your extra work this summer. Say!
dont you wish you had never saw the
East last winter. You think of me
perhaps overworking myself but what
about yourself. remember your just as
important in this world as I am. and
life is to short at is best. and we
must try & not do or use anything to
shorten our days. Aunt Sarah & I were
talking of who we thought we would
miss most. she thought she would rather
die than Uncle John or her children.

I have often thought I would rather die
than you. or any of my sisters or brothers
or mother & pa. I have often wondered if any
thing happened to you. if your folks would send
me word. I am sure I would want to know. I guess
you would know by my writing that I
was kind of out of my mind. (haha)
Ernie is trying his best to coax me
to stay until Wed. he wants me to
go to their S. School pincic on Tuesday
at the portage. I was to the portage on
Wednesday. & enjoyed my boat ride fine.
I expect a Miss Ella Smith to call
this afternoon. she is a 1st cousin of
Mary Smiths & Belhaven. Well I guess
the next mail I get from you will
be at Belhaven. I close for this time
With lots of love & xxxx from one whose
love is all for thee your Sweetheart.

Genealogy Notes

In this week's letter, Ethel writes that Ernie is going to a Sunday School picnic at the portage, and that she was there on Wednesday and enjoyed the boat ride.

All my research into what and where they were talking about pointed to one place: the portage between Peninsula Lake and Lake of Bays which was a short boat ride from Huntsville. The portage was only 1 1/8 mile long, but because there was a 100 foot height difference between the two lakes, the only way in 1911 to get from one lake to the other was on the Portage Railway - the shortest commercial railway in the world.

Also known as the Portage Flyer, the railway's main purpose was to transport cottagers and tourists from one steamboat to another. During my research, I happened upon Charlie Cooper's Railway Pages where a wealth of information can be found not only on the Portage Flyer, but on railroad history, railroad modelling, and toy trains.

The following map from Charlie Cooper's Railway Pages has the best diagram for showing you the location of the Portage Railway, while his website shows more detailed drawings of the actual route.

Black and white line drawing of the Portage Railway map courtesy of Niall MacKay at www.railwaypages.com

In the above map, I took the liberty of adding a red box to draw your attention to Huntsville, and a red line for the Portage Railway, the north end of which was called, North Portage, and the south end was known as South Portage.

ca 1925 The original Porter locomotives and the steamship Algonquin at North Portage. Photo by Leonard Davis. Courtesy of Huntsville & Lake of Bays Railway Society www.portageflyer.org

North Portal, Peninsula(r) Lake viewed from the water. Courtesy of Wiki Commons.

1948 - The Portage Flyer at South Portage, Lake of Bays, Muskoka, Ont. Photo by Annabelle Studio. Courtesy of Huntsville Public Library http://images.ourontario.ca/muskoka

In the following video on The Portage Flyer, John Allen gives a brief history of the this short narrow gauge railway using family photos, archival footage, and memories. This video really is a treat:

The rolling stock of the Portage Flyer was moved to the present location of the Muskoka Heritage Place in Huntsville where a group of dedicated volunteers from the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society have worked to put the Portage Flyer back in operation.

On July 1st, 2000, the Portage Flyer made it's inaugural run from the Muskoka Heritage Place to the round table at Fairy Lake and back again. Once billed as the World's Smallest Railway, the Portage Railroad now opens it's doors for tourists and historians every summer.

The Portage Flyer, Muskoka Heritage Place, Huntsville, Ontario. Photo courtesty of www.muskokaheritageplace.org

1911 Courtship Special: Aug 8 Dear Ethel From Ma

9/16/2013

L to R - Ida Amelia Glover Nelson, Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, Ethel Nelson Draper, James H Nelson, and a very young JD Nelson. ca 1916

The above image is part of a bigger photo that we found last summer in Ethel's Treasure Box but I didn't post it here because I couldn't place everyone. Now, thanks to the photos in the Norma Draper Family Albums, I've been able to confirm that the photo is 1916 and includes Ethel with her parents and her mother-in-law. I'm posting it here because this week's letter is from Ethel's ma and I thought you might like to see who's doing the writing.

Author of Letter: Ida Amelia Glover Nelson
Dated:  Aug 8th (1911)
Addressed to: Dear Ethel (Ethel is up in Huntsville, Ontario visiting Ida Amelia's sister, Sarah Elizabeth Glover Winter)
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship:  Ethel's ma
Profession:  Farmer's Wife
Writing instrument: Blue pen
Written on: Off-white, textured, and heavily stained, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 7 inches, folded in half with a flowery bough and hanging basket motif. Ida has written the pages in this order: 1, 3, 2, 4, although I've rearranged them for legibility.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- *Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- *Christie - Ethel's 11 yr old sister
- Uncle - *Emanuel Nelson - paternal uncle of Ethel's pa
- Sarah - *Sarah Elizabeth Glover - Ida Amelia's sister
- Gorden Crouder - Gordon *Crowder - a neighbor
- Loal Dales - Minister Lowel *Dales (not sure if related to Prof. Dales)
- Misses/Mrs Perry *Morton - a neighbor

Topics:
- **Doing the Wash

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 Aug 8th

Dear Ethel
got your letter
friday but have
been slow about
Writing you had
better come home
when your month
is in I am getting
tired I washed yester
had a big washing.
want to iron to
day Sadie is talking
to Crouders Gorden is
acting like goose went

with sadie friday night
we went to quartley metting
sunday and he had to come
and kept then from sunday
school then Sadie come home
from church with him and
left Christie co come with
anyone she could then
he was here last till
10 oclock. I am out with
them all to gether.
Uncle is some better is
up but doctor says he
will not live long you
tell us what day you can
come and get of at Uncles

then we can get you
there get some of
that thread if it is
nice for me. enough for
a pair of shams sadie
can be working some
Sadie failed so you
see there will be lots
of sewing to do if she
goes to school again.
and the pickles and
fruit soyou had better
come home I had the
headache again Sunday
after noon but done a big
days work yesterday.

(Written upside down across the top and down the left side)

How is Sarah would like to have her come down good by

good bye

washed 2 blankets and to
quilts besids the other clothes
cleaned the cellar made
a cake and had 9 men
have no men to day have
got the barn nearly all
done and all the cutting
done men are coming
this after noon to start
cemmenting the stable
floor Loal Dales was
here for tea on friday
and then he shingled
another half day misses
perry Morton said she
was coming down some
day but I wont have her till

(written up the right side)
you come home

Genealogy Notes

Wash day in the Ponoka, Alberta area, April 1913. Courtesy of the Glenbow Archives.

In this week's letter, Ethel's ma is feeling the strain of the extra workload while Ethel has a much needed vacation up in Huntsville. Electric washing machines didn't come along until 1916 so until then, the washing had to be done with the crank wheel like in the above photo. Let's take a walk through the early history of washing machines in this weeks' Genealogy Notes.

ca 1989, Visitors washing clothes, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

The photo shows clothes lying on the ground to dry for the lack of a clothesline. I can imagine this is what the majority of the pioneers had to do as they traveled across the United States and Canada in conestoga wagons and red river carts.

ca 1913, Dave Blacklock doing his laundry, Black Diamond, Alberta

If you were lucky enough, you had a washboard and tub to scrub your clothes with before hanging them on the line. Whether they were out on the range or living on the ranch, cowboys have always been responsible for their own laundry.

ca 1897, Bachelor washing clothes, Beynon, Alberta

An early washing machine had a handle to push and pull to agitate the clothes thereby relieving you the job of scrubbing them on a washboard. It also contain a roller mechanism which squeezed the water from the clothes instead of having to physically wring them all out.

ca 1901 Inscription: "Improved Imperial Washer. T. Eaton Co. Ltd. Canada." Courtesy of http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/collection/artifacts/M999.38.1/

According to the McCord Virtual Museum, the 1901 T. Eaton Co. catalogue showed this washing machine which contained a hand crank to agitate the clothes instead of the push/pull lever. Again, a roller system for squeezing out the water was included. From the height, it looks like this model saved a lot of back pain compared to the model in the previous photo.

The McCord Museum states, "It would take many years to discover the ideal material for the tubs of washing machines. After wood in the 1890s, came metal in the 1910s, which was replaced in the 1930s with enamelled steel, a material that had proved that it could stand up to a wide range of temperatures."

ca 1910's Thomas Iredale family doing laundry on verandah, Groton area, Alberta.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, electricity wasn't available for washing machines until about 1916, but some mechanically-minded folks were using belts to hook their washing machines to gasoline engines and other motors to save their arms from the dreary task of cranking the wheel.

This style of washing machine was so successful at washing clothes and wringing them out, that other than changing the composition to enamel on steel, it would be decades before improvements were made to the actual design of the machine.

It may have done a decent job of washing clothes, but raise your hand if you ever wore a shirt that was missing part, or a complete button because it'd been snapped off by the powerful wringer. Or have you ever been pulled into the wringer because it nabbed part of the clothing you were wearing when you weren't paying attention?

1911 Courtship: Aug 6 Dear Ethel

9/8/2013

Bathing at Cave and Basin, Banff, Alberta ca1900-1903

In this week's Courtship letter Noah writes that Joe is spending a few weeks in Banff for his rheumatism. For more information on the healing waters of Sulphur Mountain, check out the Genealogy Notes at the bottom of this post.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Aug 6/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, My Dear Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed to: Huntsville, Ont
Mailed from: Grand Coulee. Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Black ink pen and the ink is still wet when he folds the paper to write on the last page because it left impressions on the middle two pages.
Writing Paper: Thick paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, written on front and back like a book, but inside, paper is turned sideways and written across the short width and down both pages.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:

- mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell
- Steward - *Stewart Draper - Noah's cousin from Indian Head
- Joe - **Joe Perrault - husband of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia
- *Fanny - Niece of Joe Perrault
- carpenters
- furnace man
- plumber
- plasterers

- the show - the Regina *Exhibition
- the Head - *Indian Head, Sask
- Bannf - **Banff, Alberta
- Rheumatism

Phrases/Cliches in use at the time:
- eh
- lathing: nailing thin lath strips to the inner walls prior to plastering
- own up - admit

* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more on posts on the above people.
**More info under Genealogical Notes

Grand Coulee. Aug, 6/11

Miss. E. Nelson,
Huntsville, Ont.
My. Dear Ethel;-
Received your letter Friday
and you bet I was glad to
hear from you. Say Ethel you
never said you were run
down by hard work but I
beleive you are now own up
if you knew how I feel about
it you would take care of
your self, and as for me Iam
too lazy to work hard
enough to hurt me. guess
you know that. Eh.
Well Ethel the carpenters
are away at last but they are
not finished yet. they just done

the rough work this time. and they
will be away about 3 weeks and then
come back and finish.
The man was out here to day and
put in the pipes for the furnace
and the man is here now to do the
plumbing then when I get it lathed
the plasterers will be along.
Well I have been in to the show
twice Thursday & Sat was in alone
Thursday. & had mother Sat. was to
go in to-morrow & take Fanny. but it
is raining so I guess that is all off.
and I dont care much HaHa.
Say I wish it were you and I would
get in no mater what happened but
I guess it will be you next year eh.
Steward was up from the Head.
Sat and was going home to-night
but I guess he would not go for it
has been raining since about 3 pm.
Well Ethel I have just been laughing
untill I could hardly move the plumber
just came in and I got him ahold
of my Elitric battery and he didnt
think it was very strong but I
shoved in the wire in the post
& you should have seen him
jump & yell christ man. Ha Ha.
oh say it was rich.
Joe went up to Bannf last
week and expects to begone for

two or three weeks went up.
for his rheumatism hope
it does him good.
Well it has stoped raining
but dont know for how
long. I tell you it makes it
very disagreeable raining so
much we have had rain
every Sat now for 8 weeks
can you beat that.
Well I guess I am getting
near the end of this
epistal. Ha. Ha. say this has
been a long summer and
I will be glad when it is
over. how ever ithas been
a buisy onealso and that
helps some. Well good Bye for
this time with lots of love I
remain yours for ever. N.C.D.

Genealogy Notes

Joseph Andrew Perrault c1895

In this week's letter, Noah writes, "Joe went up to Bannf last week and expects to be gone for two or three weeks went up for his rheumatism hope it does him good."

Noah is writing about Banff in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, where many people go to soak in the healing waters of the sulphurous hot springs.

The Banff Hot Springs are a fascinating story of discovery because it was here, back in 1883 that Canadian Pacific railway workers, Frank McCabe and William McCardell used a fallen tree branch to descend into little-known underground cavern on the northeast face of Sulphur Mountain and then claimed ownership to the springs in the cave as well as the above-ground pool called the basin.

The Cave, Banff, Alberta c1880's heated by geothermal waters 3 kilometres down.

The men tried to charge a fee for admittance to the hot springs as well as sell specimens, but their claim was disputed as other parties claimed first discovery.

c1886 Sulphur Springs Basin, Banff, Alberta. Courtesy of the Glenbow Archives.

The government stepped in and reserved 10 square miles around the hot springs until the dispute could be settled. As it turned out, this was the birth of Banff National Park although it would be years before it became a reality.

From "Calgary Weekly Herald" newspaper, June 7, 1886.

With the claims settled, the government set about making the Cave and Basin accessible to all.

The Cave and Basin building, Banff, Alberta c1886-1894

c1911 Basin at Banff, Alberta.

Due to popular demand for the curative powers of the Sulphur Mountain hot springs, 1912 saw the water bottled and sold to the public. Due to its popularity, the original basin pool proved inadequate so in 1914, a new naturally heated swimming pool was built.

Cave and Basin Swimming Pool ca 1914-1918, Banff, Alberta

Back in the 1980s when my family explored Banff, there were 3 or 4 different hot springs open to us. Unfortunately, the Cave and Basin was closed due to the fact that it had recently been declared a National Historic Site and was going under renovations to include an Interpretive Centre. However, we enjoyed the healing waters of the Upper Springs, about 5 kilometres away, higher up the mountain. It was June, but that high up we were in the snow area, and all I remember was sitting in the beautiful, silky water, watching the steam rise into the cold mountain air, and observing the gorgeous mountains around us. What a fantastic experience.

But I'm getting far ahead of Joe's story... One hundred years earlier in the 1880's, another Canadian Pacific Railway employee, a Doctor Robert Brett, realized the healing power of the sulphur hot springs and established the Brett Sanitorium and Hotel. As well as treating railway workers, he treated the 'rich and famous' who came to experience the springs.

I'm guessing that if our Joe expects to be gone for 2-3 weeks, he's probably staying at the Sanitorium Hotel, also referred to as The Chateau or Brett's Chateau.

Sanitorium Hotel, 'The Chateau', Banff, Alberta c1910

1911 Courtship Letter: Aug 6 Dear Noah

9/3/2013

Regatta Scene at the Town dock, Huntsville, Ontario, c1908. Courtesy of Muskoka Images - a project of the Huntsville Public Library and the Muskoka Parry Sound Genealogy Group

I found the address where Ethel is visiting her Uncle John and Aunt Sarah while in Huntsville and my, oh my, the above photo is what Ethel can see from the back yard, although about twice the distance away. Check the Genealogy Notes for more info.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated: Aug 6 . 11
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask - My Dearest Noah
Mailed from: Huntsville, Ont.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink
Written on: Off-white, beautifully textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 7 inches, folded in half with a red carnation motif. This is standard early 20th century notepaper, pre-folded in booklet form. Ethel has written on the pages in booklet form numbering 1-4.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- Aunt Sarah - *Sarah Elizabeth Glover, sister of Ethel's mother
- *Uncle John - John Thomas Winter, Sarah's husband
- Uncle *Emanuel Nelson - Ethel's Pa's paternal uncle
- *Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- *Veda Perrault - Noah's 16 yr old niece in Grand Coulee
- Glover cousins

**Mr Bradley - Huntsville next door neighbor
**drunken men

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
Huntsville Fire Tournament
*Burk's Falls Fire Brigade (another post shows location on map)
H. Landing - Holland Landing, southwest of Belhaven

Cliches/Phrases:
- Try. & Try again, you'll succeed at last.
- put in lockup (jail)

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

To get you started, here's a photo I found in Aunt Norma's Treasure Box (see last post) of Uncle John and Aunt Sarah. Since the photo is taken at the wedding of their son Ernest, they look about 20 years older than they would in 1911. Read the names, too, because most of the front row have been mentioned in these courtship letters.

Wedding of Ernest R Winter and Lillian Dodd. Possibly early 1930's, location unknown. Courtesy of the Norma Draper Family Collection.

Huntsville, Aug 6. 11

Mr N. C. Draper.
Grand Coulee, Sask.
My Dearest Noah, -
Rec'd your letter
last week and was glad to hear
from you once again. It still found me
here at Uncle Johns having a very good
time. but am going home on Tuesday.
Aug 15th. I guess we will be busy
this next week running around &
working too. We are going on a boat
excursion on Wednesday. Had a big time

on Thursday last at the Fire Tournament.
Burk's Falls Brigade won the banner, but
Huntsville was the quickest. but they couldn't
take the banner on account of thier running
on thier own grounds. Now I wonder if I too
would'nt like for you to be here and
give me a little advice. Never mind
when we get the chance, I wonder if we
will have forgotten how to give advice. Eh
Well we have been rather lazy to-day
hav'nt been to church to-day. it has
been so dredfully hot. I wish your
busy time was over now, and that
you were on your way down here
Remember you are to come as
soon as you finish up nicely and
can get away. I don't want you

to stay away any longer than possible
It certainly is long enough as it is.
Sorry to hear you were defeated in
your base ball game. Try. & Try
again, you'll succeed at last. Aunt
Sarah is reading some comic jokes
Uncle John is coming home next Sat
to spend over Sunday. Well here I am
again, we have been out on the lawn
talking with Mr Bradley, the next door
neighbor. Mr Bradley was telling of
seeing so many young girls, (school girls
he called them) running around with
boys. It certainly is true here in town.
And say! the drunken men you see.
Some nights after we have gone to
bed you will here them going by. swearing

and yelling to the top of thier voice, and
the day of the Tournament, it was simply
awfull to see so many young men drunk.
& put in the lockup. Have saw more
drunkenmen since I came up, than I ever
seen before I believe. I hav'nt had a letter
from home this last week. but I guess they
must be all alive or I would have heard
Uncle Emmanuel was very low the last I
heard from them. I don't know whether
Sadie has passed her exams or not.
How is Veda? is she as lively as ever.
Say I have never answered her card. but
will some of thse days. Am going to stop
a couple of days on my way home at
H. Landing to see my cousins Glovers I am
to getting rather lonesome to see home once
again. I now must close for this time with
love from Ethel (xxxxxxxxxx lots of them & love)

Genealogy Notes

The Genealogy Notes this week involve the search for Uncle John and Aunt Sarah's house in Huntsville. Ethel has left clues in different letters without giving the address:

1911 Courtship: July 16 Dear Noah - Uncle John was. at the station to meet me. he had a row boat there. and so I had a good boat ride first of all...The river is just about 20 rods from their door. The boats are running all the time Sundays too.

1911 Courtship: July 23 Dear Noah - The big boats are running here everyday. The Ramona went out this afternoon. I have been down to the Wa Wa, and have been up on the Mountain.

This week Ethel mentions seeing and hearing all the drunken men walking by, which indicates she was living near the downtown core since that's usually where the dregs of society congregate due to it's normally central location.

But the clincher came when she mentioned Mr. Bradley as their next door neighbor. She's mentioned him before, but not who he was. Armed with that knowledge, I went back to the 1911 census record and searched for Mr. Bradley near John Winter's entry. And there it was - boxed in blue - right above the red box of John, Sarah, Ernest, and baby Mabel.

1911 Canada Census record for John Winter and family. Courtesy of Ancestry.ca

So now what? The profile of this page showed John Winter living on 11 Elne Street which I hadn't been able to find on a Huntsville map. But the page index also showed a Mr. Beadley vs Bradley. And then I noticed something I hadn't before... farther up the page - circled in red - is the word Elm. Not Elne, but Elm. And a few lines above that, the number 11. But that would mean all those families were living at 11 Elm St. Could that be right? Especially if they were visiting their neighbor on the lawn instead of a hallway like an apartment?

I opened Google Earth and searched for 11 Elm St, Huntsville, Ontario. The program zeroed in to a spot near downtown and near the river - across the river in fact, where I guessed Ethel was staying.

Huntsville, Ontario, Canada courtesy of Google Earth

As you can see in the above pic, it was a short boat ride from the train station on the left of the screen to the Winter house indicated with a yellow pin. Using Google Earth's red pin marker, you can see there is room for several houses in the trees at 11 Elm St. There was back then, and when I zoomed closer, there still are although the trees obscure them at ground level.

Ethel said they lived 20 rods from the river and could see all the boat traffic going by. The photo at the top of this post shows that she could see the town dock where the big boats berthed, as well as the swing bridge. It must have been exciting for her!

Huntsville Street View, courtesy of Google Earth.

Using Google Earth's Street View, we can stand on the street where the Swing Bridge begins and look toward the black arrow pointing to the location of Uncle John and Aunt Sarah. Puts it all in perspective, doesn't it.

Now about those drunken men mentioned in this letter... Huntsville had only been settled in the last quarter of the 19th century. Due to the rocky terrain however, farms were few and far between. Most people made their money by with the fledgling tourist trade or the logging industry. Huntsville was a gateway to the northern places like North Bay where the logging industry was the main industry. During the forest fire season, crews of fire fighters would be brought in to combat the blazes.

That put a lot of young, strong men in an area where they outnumbered the young single women by about 10 to 1 or more. And without a home life, the single men were spending their leisure time looking for a girl or trying to keep the one they had. Along with drinking away their loneliness - and maybe even homesickness, I'm sure a lot of fisti-cuffs erupted.

I think it's ironic that in a recent letter Ethel was worried about Noah hiring a girl to help feed his men in case he found the new girl was 'the one', when he's back on the prairies and probably spending too much time thinking about her and all those available men.

1911 Courtship: Aug 13 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Aug 13 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship Special: Aug 8 Dear Ethel From Ma

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Aug 6 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship Letter: Aug 6 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

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