Category: Baseball

1911 Courtship: July 30 Dear Ethel

8/25/2013

Barn built by Noah Draper, 1911, Adams, Sask. From the Collection of the Norma Draper Family.

Take a look at the above photo because you are all in for a treat! Have you seen the TV commercial where the woman checks her receipt as she's leaving IKEA and shouts to her husband, "Start the car! Start the car!"

Well, that's how I felt last weekend in Grand Coulee... and if you check the Genealogy Notes after this week's letter, you'll find out why.

And the treat... a photograph of Noah with a small portion of the house he's building for Ethel behind him. (Note - Like most pioneers, Noah had to hunt for their food, so if you're squeamish, or an animal activist, you may not want to look.)

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: July 30/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, My Dearest Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed to: Huntsville, Ont
Mailed from: Grand Coulee. Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Black ink pen which lightens as he writes, until he dips it in the ink pot.
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like 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 wide width of both pages.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:

- *Percy Draper - Noah's 28 yr old brother
- my man - *hired man
- carpenters
- well diggers
- plasters
- furnace men
- plumbers

*baseball
*Belle Plaine

Phrases/Cliches in use at the time:
- O.K.
- eh
- loading a car of oats: filling a railroad grain car
- lathing: nailing thin lath strips to the inner walls prior to plastering
- drawing sand: ?
- greenhorns
- plod along

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

Grand Coulee. Sask.
July 30/11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Huntsville. Ont.
My Dearest Ethel; -
Received your letter all
O.K. and was glad you were
having a good time hope
it may last as long as time
and then some. Eh.
Well Ethel I guess you will
be wondering what I am
doing, but I wish you
were here to see and give
me a little advice once
in a while but I wish you
were here to see and give
me a little advice once
in a while but it could
not be that way. buthope
it will be soon eh.
Well. the carpenters are

here yet. they have the frame up. and two ply of board's
on also shingled and they will be here about a week yet
before it is ready for the plasters. expect to have the men
out to put in the furnace and also the plumbers
this week.
Have been loading a car of oats for Percy and
we will finish it tomorrow. I guess. then I will be
lathing and my man drawing sand. I can tell
you I will be glad when the house is finished.
The well diggers are still here. they have went
down 75' in two holes and struck stones in both
so they could not go any farther. they are down about 30'
in another. but the other holes will not cost me any
thing.
Say Ethel after our good start in base ball we
did not get the cup. Bell Plain beat us the last
game. 5 to 3. boo hoo. but out of 11 games we played we
won 8 and lost 3. not bad for greenhorns. Eh.

Well Kid in less than 5 months
you will I hope change your
name. Gee I wish it were
days. but I have a lot to
do before that time or rather
in the next 16 weeks for by
that time the rush will be
over thank goodness. say I
dont think I am much good
in a rush. or any other
time but still I manage to
plod along and intend to
keep on aploding as long
as possible. Ha. Ha. Well I
guess I will have to close
for this time so Bye Bye.
wish Icould deliver these
xxxxxx personally. write long letters
to your lover. N.C.D.

Genealogy Notes

I had to go to Moose Jaw last week, so I had phoned Sharon, grand daughter of Noah, several days ahead and asked if I could stop in Grand Coulee for a visit on my way. I told her I'd be bringing my portable scanner and asked if I could scan some photos. She said sure, and that she'd phone her sister, Patty, and see if she could join us since Patty was the family historian.

When I arrived, I was greeted by both Sharon and Patty - and a wide assortment of memorabilia and photo albums. Oh my Goodness there was lots. As Patty showed me image after image of a young Noah and Ethel and their growing family, tears sprang to my eyes. A photo of the first building Noah built on his land at Adams, near Grand Coulee was the barn pictured above. After turning the page, my gaze set on an image of the finished house. Oh, what a blessing to see the house he built for Ethel during those long months of separation filled only by the Courtship letters.

Here's a sneak preview of Noah and their house:

Noah Clement Draper after a hunting trip, standing in front of the house he built in 1911, Adams, Sask.

But as I pulled out my scanner, Patty said that I could take everything with me and scan/photocopy it all at home. Oh my Goodness!

And that's why I felt like the woman in the IKEA commercial as I drove away from Grand Coulee - I couldn't believe they'd let me borrow the hundreds of photos the albums contained. Oh my Goodness!

I think I've said 'Oh my Goodness' more times this past week than I have during my entire lifetime. And I'm not the only one who's amazed at what we're calling Norma's Treasure Box because I've seen Nelson pour over the albums with an expression of wonder on his face - sometimes because he recognizes a person or place, and others because it's the first time he's seen an image of someone - like Ethel's grandma.

It's an amazing time of discovery here at the Draper house, and I sure hope you join us on this adventure as we post photos of people mentioned in the Courtship letters.

4 Comments

1911 Courtship: Jul 9 Dear Ethel

6/3/2013

2 Comments

Hoodoos, Dinosaur Valley, Drumheller, Alberta, 1939, by Vogue Photography Studio. Courtesy of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta.

This week's letter is missing a huge chunk of writing, but there's enough there for me to see that Noah is comparing something to the Hoodoos. Hoodoos are weather-beaten land formations created by years of the wind carving into sandstone. Dinosaur Valley in Drumheller, Alberta is the closest batch of Hoodoos to Noah and are about a modern 5-6 hour drive west of Grand Coulee.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: July 9 (1911)
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Dear Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like 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 short length and down both pages.

This week's letter is missing a huge chunk which I couldn't find anywhere in Ethel's treasure box.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:
- *Veda 16 yr old daughter of Joe Perrault & Noah's sister, Eva Amelia
- *Fanny - Joe's niece
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister

- Bell Plaine (Belle Plaine)
- Moos Jaw (Moose Jaw)

Phrase: You could have bought us for a song

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

Grand Coulee, July 9

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
Dear Ethel; -
Received your letter Friday
and was glad to hear you were
well. Hope this finds you the
same. We are all O.K. and buisy
as setting hens. intend to
do the cement work this week
ing to put in the forms
w and then go into
Tuesday for half a
and make short
the carpenters will
I guess they
ed so much
et weather it
mmer I ever
ained every Sat.
onth.

Did not go up to Bell Plaine on the 1st on
account of rain but we went up the 4th and
got beat for the first time this summer
score was 12 to 3. say you could have bot.
us for a song. and we had about 30 or 40
people along to yell for us. Ha. Ha. I took
Ved Fanny along & after the game I told
were the Hoodoos. Ha Ha.
ine comes down here tomorrow
the last League game and
at we (will try) do to them
still after the game &
re on the envelope
nt beat us to bad.
we the letter open
de. Ha. Ha.
de is in Moos Jaw
ill not be able to get
ld sure like to go as

passing away and
s fine & I hope it keeps
. Eh. I tell you a fellow
more like working when he can
see a chance for returns & things look
promising now. Oh say I bot a cow
Tuesday gave $60. for her & I sure have all
the milk I can drink. Ha. Ha.
Well little girl I wish I were driving
up the fifth just now. oh say I guess
there would be no church to night for
us. eh. say. it seems queer to be writing
you all the time & not seeing you

but I guess that will not last
much longer. hope not anyway.
So Sadie is going to teach in
the West eh? Well I dont blame
her. just look at the difference in
the salary out here they get from
$6.60 to a thousand Dollars and
do not have near as big a school
to look after. fifteen to Twenty
Five is a good sized country
school of course they
in the towns, but I g
would be satisfied in
for a start.
Well Ethel I gues
to ring off and so
space for the big
night. it has started
So. good Bye for the
Your lonely. Lover.
PS Well we were beaten a

Genealogy Notes

In last week's letter of 1911 Courtship: July 9 Dear Noah Ethel mentioned the heat they were enduring especially since they had to do extra baking and cooking to feed all the men who came to help build the barn. The heat wave took its toll in Canada and the United States as can be seen in the following snippets. Location is Newmarket, Ontario unless otherwise stated.

The Newmarket Era. July 7, 1911, Pg 6

From Newmarket Era, but under:
TORONTO NEWS

The Newmarket Era. July 7th, 1911 - Page: 7

The Newmarket Era. July 14th, 1911 - Page: 3

The Newmarket Era. July 14th, 1911 - Page: 6

The Newmarket Era. July 14, 1911, Pg 6

The Newmarket Era. July 14th, 1911 - Page: 6

The Newmarket Era. July 14th, 1911 - Page: 5

The Newmarket Era. July 14, 1911 Pg 6

The Newmarket Era. July 14th, 1911 - Page: 1

And on the same page, this reality:

The Newmarket Era. July 14, 1911, Pg 1

The heat on Sunday was fierce--
100 in the shade is reported.

Sunday and Monday last were rec-
ord breakers for heat. Fancy the
thermometer bobbing around 103 deg.
Monday was Toronto's hottest day in
more than half a century. Three peo-
ple became victims of the heat. --
Nearly all Sunday night people were
lying about the lawns and door-steps.
During Saturday, Sunday and Monday
43 children died in the city. The
same days in Montreal there were
151 deaths among children.

New York, July 11. - Yesterday a
dozen victims were added to the toll
and scores of prostrations were re-ported. The death list at 11 o'clock
last night had 18 victims on it, the
count including the entire metropol-
itan district. Prostrations numbered
above 200.

Chicago, Ill., July 11. - Heat deaths
and prostrations continued yesterday,
although the maximum temperature
was only 89 degrees. Twelve deaths,
superintended by heat, and many
prostrations were reported.

...Two hundred people died from
sunstroke in New York last week.
...1200 horses died in five days of
New York's hot spell last week.

"Too Bloomin' Hot."

Three hundred immigrants arrived
from England Tuesday. WOne hun-
dred and seventy-five remained in
Toronto.
Several farmers who were on hand
looking for help, failed to induce any
of them to accept a position on the
farm-
"It is too blooming hot in this
country," was the answer one man
made.
The farmer was so disappointed
that he replied with some vigor.
"By gosh, it will be cold enough
for you in a little while."

The hot weather this week is liter-
ally cooking the raspberries which
promised a very large yield. The
gooseberry crop is also burnt so as
to be unsaleable. Young strawberry
beds are in a bad way for rain. Cur-
rants are not more than half a crop.
Plums are a complete failure, and ap-
ples are but a very small crop. Hay
was a short crop, and unless rain will
come soon barley will not be worth
cutting.

No service in the Presbyterian
Church Sunday evening on account
of the extreme heat.

Mrs. Jane Crew, who died in this
city last week was in her one hundred
and third year. Her death was caus-
ed by the intense heat wave. She has
been a widow for fifty-seven years,
never wore eyeglasses in her life, and
whenever feeling unwell, always took
pure cold water as a cureall. She
was the mother of eight children,
three of whom are still living. There
are Twenty-nine grandchildren, and
twenty-two great grandchildren.
It seems incredible that a city with
100,000 population, should use 60,000
gallons of water in one day, but the
official record indicates that Toron-
to's citizen took that amount from
the reservoir, on Tuesday of last
week.
Eighty-nine deaths were registered
during the first four days of July --
very many having succumbed from the
fearful heat which prevailed.

Heat prostration the past 2 weeks
beat all previous records in this city,
and the death toll among children
from heat has never been equalled.

2 Comments

1911 Courtship: June 26 Dear Ethel

5/12/2013

0 Comments

A McKellar's Barn built by W Addie, Arcola, Sask. Courtesy of saskhistoryonline.ca

In this week's letter Noah mentions that Joe Perrault's barn cost $3000 to build while Noah built one for $150. I'm assuming McKellar's Barn in the above photo is along the lines of the $3000 variety. I sure wish I had a photo of Noah's barn.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: June 26th, 1911
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, My Dearest Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like 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 short length and down both pages.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:
- *Joe Perrault: married to Noah's sister, Eva Amelia
- Reuben and Irwin: 11 & 9 yr old sons of Eva Amelia and Joe Perrault
- *Will Rigler: married to Noah's sister, Ethel Maude
- George Metcalf: local carpenter

Phrase: Better late than never**

Noah signing as Little Willie**

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

Grand Coulee June.26.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
My Dearest Ethel;-
Received your welcome
letter Saturaday and
was glad to hear you
were still O.K. hope
this will find you the
same a gain.
Well Ethel it is now nearly
six months since you made
me the happiest of men and
it will be nearly six more
before I can clame your
promise. wish it were
tomorrow. but it is better
late than

never, but better never late. eh.
Well I am drawing gravle for the
house expect to get enough home
by. Friday night as I want togo
to Bell Plaine on the first to a
picnic & also to play ball.
Say it wont be safe for me to go to
the Coulee now. for Pence was to
play us to night. and I never thot.
about it untill it was to late to
go. so if you hear about my funeral
dont be suprised. Ha. Ha.
Reuben and Irwin came home
with me Sunday morning
and intend to stay for a few days.
Oh say I didnot tell you that
the game was postponed on Sat
on account of a storm and I dont
know when it will be played.
Well the carpenter was just here
and so I am going to finish this up
now & send it down with Will in
the morning. Oh say. Pense was
down last night but G.C. beat
so I guess I will be safe Ha Ha.
score was 10 to 2. There is a game
tomorrow night between the
married and single men and

I guess I will be at that if
nothing happens I bet the
single me will beat. Ha. Ha.
Oh say Irwin got homesick
and went home with the carpenter
(George Metcalf). he is building
Joes barn. it will cost him
over $3000. by the time it is
finished & will be all done
by the last of the week.
Say my barn cost me just
about $150. Ha. Ha. quite a
difference.
Suppose your barn is
well on the way by this time
& Ill bet you will be glad
when it is done. Well Ethel
I guess I will ring off for this
time so good Bye. With lots
of love from your little Willie.
xxxxxxx N.C.D.

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Notes #1 - Phrase Better Late Than Never

Noah says: Better late than never, but better never late. I don't know where he got the last part of the phrase from, but the www.phrases.org.uk site attributes it to Geoffery Chaucer who wrote the Canterbury Tales back in 1386.

However, I found an earlier reference to the Roman author & historian Titus Livius who quoted Better Late Than Never when he lived back in 59 BC - 17 AD.

Genealogy Notes #2 - Little Willie

Several times now Noah has ended the letter by saying your Little Willie so I figured it was time I found out who/what he meant.

It seems there are 2 references to draw on depending what you're looking at:

1. 1899 - Little Willie in Mischief Again - a short comedy film
This is one of at several where Little Willie gets into mischief. In one, he draws a face on his sleeping father's bald head, in another he ends up with a face covered in soot, and in a third, he sets up a bucket of water so someone else gets drenched.

2. 1910 era newspapers contained Little Willie jokes as fillers. These were the same jokes we've heard referred to as Little Johnny jokes in recent years, and apparently there were Little Audrey jokes in the 30's. I've seen these jokes in The Newmarket Era and from touring the net, as well as references for many other newspapers of the time.

The last Little Willie joke I read in the Era went like this... Little Willie's aunt (or grandma) is about to slice up the pie and Little Willie asks if her spectacles magnify things. She answers, yes, they do. She's pleased that he's so smart. Little Willie responds that perhaps she'd like to take off her spectacles then before she cuts him a slice of pie.

I wonder if Noah calls himself Little Willie because he gets into trouble whether he likes it or not, or is it because he's a smarty plants like Little Willie the schoolboy? Can you tell from his letters?

0 Comments

1911 Courtship: June 21 Dear Ethel

4/29/2013

4 Comments

His Majesty King George V, Real Photograph on a Tuck Postcard #1459, first used 1906, sold in Great Britain and Canada.

Her Majesty Queen Mary, Real Photograph on a Tuck Postcard #1460, first used 1906, sold in Great Britain and Canada.

Although Noah and Ethel haven't mentioned it, the newspapers are full of images and snippets of the June 22nd Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary. The above images are the same ones published on the first page of the June 23, 1911 edition of The Newmarket Era except those images are so dark, you can barely make anything out. From what I did see however, I was able to find the matching images on a huge database website called TuckDB Postcards which states: TuckDB is a free on-line database listing antique postcards published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Thank you to creators and maintainers of this wonderful look at history portrayed in postcards.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: June 21st, 1911
Addressed to: Dear Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like 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 short length and down both pages.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:
- *Louie: Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Nelson, married to Fred Coventry
- Mother: *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper
- *Sadie Nelson: Ethel's 16 yr old sister

- a Scotch man: *hired man to work on the farm
- your Englishman: *hired man to work on the farm

League Games: Base ball played between the following 3 close towns:
- Grand Coulee (Noah's town)
- Bell Plain (Belle Plain)
- Pense

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

**More info under Genealogical Notes

Grand Coulee, Sask.
June. 21st/11.

Dear Ethel;-
Received your letter Sat.
& was glad to hear from you
Hope you are well as this
leaves meat present.
Well Ethel I am buisy as
a hen drawing rails drawing
lumber & cement & ect for the
house have the lumber
nearly all home & the carpenter
is coming up in the morning
to put up the form for
the cement cellar.
I wish I could walk in
and see you to-night but
I guess I wont. eh.

Say I would certainly like to see
you for a while.
Louie came up with mother today &
is going back tomorrow she just
told me to send you her best love.
Well Ethel we have had another
game of base ball with Bell Plain
and beat them 9 to 7. so we have
won the first 3 league games wheather
we win any more or not. We have
to go up to play B.P. onthe first so
I will have a holiday. was to play
Pense tomorrow but it was postponed
& I dont know when we will play
them.
Suppos Sadie will soon be trying
her examinations & wish her all
kinds of success.
Say wont you be glad to getout
of a place where they have such
thunder storms as you have there
We have not had any thunder
to speak of for two years but cant
tell when it will start.
Say I have a Scotch man
working for me now and he is a
dandy. and can be depended on
to take care of things. hope you
have got rid of your Englishmen. Haha

Well it is just 10 minutes
after twelve by your time
& 22.10 by ours or 10 after 10.
Oh say did I tell you I am
in the tent & it is fine &
cool at night. Ha.Ha.
How are the men getting
along at the barn?
Well Ethel I guess I will
have to close for this time
& dont you be as slow about
writing as I am but I am
to lazy to write much at
this time so good Bye
with lots of Love & a great big
hug and half a million
kisses. N. C. D. x x x x x x x

Genealogy Notes

Since this week in 1911 is the Royal Coronation, I'm posting an image and snippets to give you a sense of the grandeur of this period.

The Coronation Ceremony of His Most Gracious Majesty King George V in Westminster Abbey. 22nd June 1911, by John Henry Frederick Bacon, Courtesy of Wikipedia

The Newmarket Era. June 9, 1911 - Pg 4

The Newmarket Era. June 23, 1911 - Pg 2

A brilliant function held last
Friday night, was the Coronation
ball of the Royal Club at the Bota-
nic Gardens, in London, England.
The grounds were illuminated - the
trees being studded with 50,000 elec-
tric lights in various colours--form-
ing a veritable picture of fairyland.
The ball-room was large enough to
hold a thousand couples in comfort.
It was temporary erected for the
occasion.

4 Comments

1911 Courtship: June 15 Dear Noah

4/14/2013

0 Comments

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.