Category: Birthday

Mildred Audrey (Midge) Draper

9/12/2014

Ethel Isabel Draper holding Mildred (Midge), late 1913, Adams, Saskatchewan

After being married on Jan 12, 1912, Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson welcomed little Mildred Audrey Draper into the world on Sept 17, 1913. Almost instantly she became known as Midge, although I've found reference to both names being used interchangeably by photos, family records, and documents.

Back in Belhaven, the Draper and Nelson families and neighbours celebrated Noah and Ethel's news. The Newmarket Era ran the following clipping on their usual Page 2 announcements:

The Newmarket Era (Newmarket, ON), October 3, 1913

Since Noah and Ethel lived at the C.N.R. siding of Adams, most people knew the area only from the closest larger community of Grand Coulee, which I'll recap in my next post.

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1911 Courtship: July 19 Dear Ethel

7/1/2013

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Reaping, Indian Head, Assiniboia, on Canadian Pacific Railway. c1886. Prairie Postcards PC002464. Courtesty of http://peel.library.ualberta

See the Genealogy Note at the bottom of this post for more info on the above photo and the Experimental farm, mentioned by Noah in this letter.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: July 19th/1911
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, My 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:
- *Joe & Eva - Joe Perrault and Eva Amelia - Noah's sister
- *Parthena - wife of Noah's brother, *Percy Draper
- Parthena's baby - Royden Wallace Draper b Jul 1911 but what date?
- *Stewart Draper, Noah's cousin, in Indian Head, Saskatchewan
- *Louie: Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Nelson, married to Fred Coventry
- Fred's sister in Alberta - Probably Margaret Jane *Coventry

* Regina, Saskatchewan
** Experimental Farm, Indian Head, Saskatchewan
Local - Twice daily passenger train that runs from Regina to Indian Head. Used for excursions such as field trips to see the world famous Bell Farm, etc.

* 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 19th/11

Miss. E. Nelson,
huntsville. Ont.
My Dear Ethel;-
Received your letter last
week and was glad to hear
you were going to get a few
holidays & hope you have
a good time,
Well we are good and buisy
here just now. just got
the cellar cemented and am
now digging a drain. expect
the well diggers and carpenters
tomorrow. so will have 7 men
here for a while and a girl
if I can get one but they are

like hens teeth few and far between.
Joe. Eva. & I were down to the
experimental farm at Indian Head
yesterday. I went into Regina on
the morning Local with out any
intentions of going down but I got
through with my business by
the time the excurtion train
came along so I jumped on and
went down. it rained nearly all
afternoon. but we hired a livery
rig and got out to Stewarts before
it started so we didnt mind
it. but there was a good many.
dissapointed people on the train
coming home.
Osay Ethel Parthena has a baby
boy. about a week old have not seen
it yet but i hear it looks like
the Drapers. Ha. Ha.
Louie & Fred went up to his
sisters in Alberta last Saturaday.
to pick raspberries. they said but
I guess they wont get many.
Say you must be getting old to
be able to say the heat is the worst
for a 100 years back. Eh.

I hear it has been very dry
down there this summer how
do the crops seem. they are
very good here only a little late
but we have had such a
cold summer we will likely
have a hot fall. hope so
any way.
Well it is getting nearly
time to get out to work again
am writing this at noon
and expect to post this to
night. Well i guess this is
all for this time so Bye Bye
write soon and a long letter
to your Western Lover. N.C.D.
X X X X X X X

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note 1: Margaret Jane Coventry

Fred Coventry had 2 sisters. Mary Catherine stayed in Ontario, married, and died there.

But Margaret Jane is shown on the 1901 census where she and her parents are living in Kenlis, Assiniboia - about 10 miles northeast of Indian Head. She is not with them on the 1916 census, though, where they have moved close to Fred and Louie near Grand Coulee. Did Margaret Jane marry and move to Alberta? Or did she just move there because of a job opportunity?

Update!
- Mary Catherine did NOT marry and die in Ontario - her Aunt Catharine did. In 1911, Mary Catherine and her husband lived in Strathcona, Alberta.
- Margaret Jane moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada sometime between 1916 and 1920. She didn't show up on the 1916 census because it was a special one for the prairie provinces only so that the government could keep track of immigrants on the newly opened prairie land.

Genealogy Note 2: The Experimental Farm

The Experimental Farm had it's beginnings as part of the 53,000 acre Bell Farm which started operations in 1882 by the Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company - before the railroad tracks had been laid on the bald prairie - before there was the town of IndianHead - and before Saskatchewan became a province, which is why the postcard at the top refers to it as Indian Head, Assiniboia. Once the railroad went through, the Bell Farm built a hotel, grain elevator and flour mill and Indian Head came into being.

Using the most modern farming practices and equipment of the time, the Bell Farm drew interested people from several countries to see for themselves how farming had/could progress. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) carried tourists and farmers on daily excursions from Regina out to Indian Head to explore the farm for the day.

The unique round shape of the Bell Farm Round Barn was one of the main attractions of the Bell Farm. Due to having its silo in the centre of the building, the layout provided ample space to stable 36 horses surrounding the silo - a time-saver when it came to supplying feed for the hard-working heavy horses.

Stable, Major William R. Bell's farm, Indian Head, SK, 1884, by William McFarlane Notman. VIEW-1388 © McCord Museum

In 1887, part of the Bell Farm was sold to create a Dominion Experimental Farm - one of Canada's first agricultural stations.

Experimental farm, Indian Head, SK, about 1920, MP-0000.25.431, © McCord Museum

A lasting legacy of the Indian Head area is the tree nursery located one mile south of the town which had been established in 1897 to supply trees for shelterbelt purposes to cut down on wind erosion. Called the Prairie Shelterbelt Program, the nursery of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) supplied seedlings free of charge to all legitimate homesteaders and farmers.

Although The Shelterbelt Program ended in the Spring of 2013, the PFRA tree nursery is a showcase of tree varieties which is open to the public and a favorite spot for summer picnics as well as information gathering.

Image of a man holding a cloth sack and picking something off of a tree - possibly at PFRA tree nursery. Courtesy of http://saskhistoryonline.ca/fedora/repository/indianhead%3A31270

According to the Indian Head History Page by 1902, the Town of Indian Head was incorporated and had become "...one of the world's largest initial shipping points for wheat."

1900-1909 Image of ten grain elevators at Indian head that read "Jos Glen No. 1", "Jos Glen No. 2", "Dominion Elevator Co. Ltd. No. 72", "Ogilvie's No. 67" - various structures in between elevators, Canadian Pacific railroad cars next to elevators - man and several cows in foreground on other side of fence. Photographer: Denison Indian Head. Courtesy http://saskhistoryonline.ca/fedora/repository/indianhead%3A31195

And that's the history of Indian Head, Saskatchewan, which Noah mentions in this week's letter and which has been mentioned several other times when talking about Elva Nelson and Will Mitchell, and Stewart Draper and Bertha Hamilton.

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1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Ethel

3/17/2013

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ca1910? Gideon School Picnic and Ball Game, Saskatchewan. Courtesy of the Online Learning Center in partnership with Western Development Museum.

Noah tells Ethel about the ball games the Grand Coulee team played on the 24th against Pense, and although I dug deep into the Saskatchewan Archives, the above image is the closest I could come to showing what Noah experienced that day. The scene is from a Picnic at the Gideon School in the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan area around that 1910 era.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: May 28/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dearest Ethel
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, which he runs out of, so continues the next day with fresh ink
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, and written in a 4-page booklet form, except Noah has turned the paper inside and written down the full length.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, Noah's widowed mother
- *Ethel - Ethel Maud Rigler - Noah's older sister
- G.C. *Grand Coulee

- the 24th**

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

Grand Coulee, May.28/11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
Dearest Ethel; -
Well here I am again & I can
tell you it would supprise you
if you were here and could
look out of the window. We
have just had our annual
snow storm. it snowed
all day before yesteraday &
yesteraday. but it is over
now and the snow nearly all
gone to day.
Well I suppose you have
your watch & pin by this
time and I hope you like them
Well how did you spend
the 24th. The G. C. ball team
went up to Pense to play
ball. we won the game 6 to 5

and then played Bell Plaine and
beat them 2. to 1 so we had a big day.
there was nothing only base ball
but a dance at night & only 2 of the
team stayed. about a dozen girls &
ten menwent up to the game from
the Coulee. We are forming a league
Bell Plain Pense and G.C. we will
have to gotwice to each place &
have 4 games at home 8 games in all
guess we will get the cup eh.
Well Ethel I guess you will think
I dont intend to batch much & I
dont. unless mother goes east. I am
still at Ethels. I seam to have a great
fancy for Ethels.
Well Ethel I guess I will start at
the shack week after next so am going
to send you the plan of the ground
floor & will fin the upstairs as I go
along. you know the ground floor
is the most important. so if you see
any way to change it to advantage
why just say so. The stair way goes
up out of the hall & the hall leads back
into the kitchen. but you will be able
to see all this by the plan. there is
big sliding doors between Dinning
room and parlor. & a bay window
in front. but you will be able to see

the rest by the plan.
Well I wish I could drop in
for tea to-night but I guess it is
impossible but will make up for
lost time when I do get the chance
Ha. Ha.
Mother is here but she is going
down with me if I ever move I
guess she thinks I dont intend
to. eh. but we have had
such cold weather it has not been very nice in a tent.
Well Ethel I guess this is
about all I can put on paper
this time but it is a lot easier
to talk than write. have
not got your letter yet as Iwas
not down to the Coulee since
Friday but expect to go in the
morning. Well Bye Bye. Yours as B4.
x x x x x N.D.

Genealogy Notes

On page 2, Noah says, "there was nothing only base ball but a dance at night". The reason he says that is because back in Ontario, May 24th was a huge event. Yes, it was (and still is) a community sports day, but there were fireworks, as well as a dance. Here are some clippings from The Newmarket Era of things that Noah was missing out on:

The Newmarket Era. May 12, 1911

The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911

The Orchard Beach clipping is from 1922, but it shows what the Victoria Day weekend means to Canadians. (Did back then, still does today.)

The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1922

Since Victoria Day is a celebration of the reigning monarch's birthday, Fire Works were available and very much looked forward to at the annual event.

In the column on the left, the first clipping is an ad from a local Newmarket store. The second is a report following the 24th and mentions a two-hour firework show! It goes to say that on top of the fireworks, Pickering College had a huge bonfire that almost got out of hand. There was more to the article, but due to readability degradation (and boring subject matter) I cut it off where it descended into the logistics of the event.

Immediately below this is a clipping from the report of the huge Sports Day part of the celebrations. I've cut this one as well due to horrid legibility, but May 24th, 1911 wasn't just a Sports Day - it was the Ontario Championship Races and Coronation Trials. The winners of the day's events had 2 weeks before heading off to the Olympics in London, England. These events included:
- 10 mile marathon
- 5 mile Run
- 1 mile Run
- 1/2 mile Run
- 440 yd Run
- 220 yd Run
- 100 yd Dash
- 120 yd Hurdle
- 2 mile Walk
- Running High Jump
- Running Broad Jump
- Pole Vault
- Putting (16 lb?) Shot

The article concludes by saying the day's events wound up with an exciting motor race.

(I've linked this clipping to the source in case you wish to read it in its entirety.)

Clipped from: The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911, Page 3

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1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Noah

3/10/2013

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1910 Jackson's Point, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Valentine & Sons' Publishing Co. Ltd, Courtesy http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca

Since Ethel talks about picnics, beaches, and Jackson's Point, I'm posting a 1910 postcard from the Baldwin Room Postcard Collection, Toronto Public Library, which shows that exact scene. More on this topic below under Genealogy Notes.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (born 31 May 1890)
Dated:  May 28, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... My Dear Noah, Grand Coulee, Sask.
Mailed from:  Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black 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 written straight across the width of both pages, hence this letter has only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- Pa -  *James Henry Nelson
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister (see photos last post)
- Aunt Maggie - *Margaret Glover Barker
- *Elva Jane is Ethel's cousin. Their grandparents are Henry Nelson and Eliza Crouch pictured in  1911 Courtship: May 7 Dear Noah. Elva and her husband, William Mitchell are working for Noah's cousin, *Stewart Draper in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.
- *Maud Bruels - Ethel's school friend
- *Professor Dales
- Norman Anderson - ?
- the English man (*hired man)
- Martha Brooks and her young man ?
- Mabel Wright in Queensville

The following locations are shown on a map under Genealogy Notes
- Queensville
- ** Morton Park / Brighton Beach
- Jackson's Point

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

Belhaven, May 28th, 1911.

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

My Dear Noah, -
Well my dear boy
I hardly know what to say
or write that will express
my feelings. So unworthy as I
was, yet you sent me that
beautiful watch and pin, and
Noah what have you ever got in
return, Nothing. I think your choice
is simply grand. Oh! I just
wish you were here so I could
give you a good embrace
and tell you my love and thanks.

Maud Bruels came home with me to-night from Sunday School we were up to Belhaven Church. Professor Dales preached.
Well Noah I guess you think I am rather careless in
answering you sometimes. I got your post card. Sadie you know
forgot to post my letter to you, that was the reason you had
a feast or famine.
Norman Anderson is going to start work here in the
morning. I think Pa intends keeping the English man until
Wednesday his two months is in then. I say for him "Good riddance
to bad rubbish".
I had a letter from Elva. she speaks as though she liked
it fine up there. She spoke of you being down for Easter. and
said she heard you were to be married. she thot it was
to some girl in Toronto. "ha ha". I wonder if she wont
get great a surprize some day.
Well it is Monday noon now and Pa and Ma are going
to Queensville this afternoon so I will send this letter with them.

Martha Brooks and her young
man are just going by. They came
home saturday to spend Sunday.
Sadie did'nt come home this
week she went home with Mabel
Wright at Queensville.
Well i don't know what we are
going to do for picnic's I guess they
will all be private ones. if we have
any. Morton Park is called Brighton
Beach now. and is private. Jackson's
point is all so closed to the public.
Well I again say many. many
thank you's for that lovely birth
day present. Aunt Maggie brough
me up one the other day also.
I now must close for this time
with all love and xxxx from your
Ever thankful, Sweetheart.

Genealogy Notes

Before I forget, last week's Genealogy Notes were about John Prosser and his seasonal job as the Fox Island Lighthouse Keeper. On the map below, I've flagged Fox Island at the top of image, where it's located in Lake Simcoe.

Note the mention and drawing of the Fox Island Lighthouse as a Point of Interest in the Morton Park newspaper snippet below. (Morton Park/Brighton Beach is the yellow pin above the word Ewert on the map. (Eeps - that should be Bell Ewart!)

Ontario Places mentioned in 1911 Courtship Letter May 28 Dear Noah: Queensville, Morton's Park, Brighton Beach, and Jackson's Point.

Ethel mentions Jackson's Point and Morton Park have been turned into private resorts and the name Morton Park is now called Brighton Beach. This week's delve into history is about Morton Park since it played such a huge part in recreational activities while Ethel was growing up.

The image above is what you see if you zoom in on the map below, more or less.

Red square is Lake Simcoe, and the Townships of Georgina and East Gwillimbury, York County, Ontario, Canada.

I came across some newspaper articles about Morton Park while I was searching the www.ourontario.ca online newspaper archives looking for info for our family tree. I can't stress how valuable this website is for genealogical and historic research.

The Newmarket Era. May 20, 1898

Ethel was born in 1890 and Morton Park was the closest beach to Belhaven. From everything I've read, it was a favourite place for a summer outing.

Following is an 1899 new article in The Newmarket Era telling the history and amenities of Morton Park. Altough it's found on the right side of Page 1, I wonder if it was actually paid advertising. I'm posting it in its entirety, although it's too long for one image, so I've had to split it in half. I'm sorry about the mess at the bottom right corner, but that's the way it is with 100 year old newspapers.

The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911

The name of Morton Park has been
changed to Brighton Beach and the
whole property laid out in lots, the
sale of which was to take place on
Wednesday last. A number of peo-
ple were up from the city.

Note: The reference to a city in the above snippet is the City of Toronto, Ontario, Can.

The Newmarket Era. June 2, 1911

The name Morton Park has been
changed to Brighton Beach, accord-
ing to the new trolley time table.

An interesting side note to this is the following information from Library and Archives Canada concerning Post Offices and Postmasters about Morton Park/Brighton Beach, keeping in mind this was a seasonal post office only:

Establishment Re-openings - 1896-08-11
Closings - 1974-08-31

Former Office Information:
Former Name Date of Change
Brighton Beach (SO) 1919-07-03
Morton Park (SO) 1913-02-01

Postmaster Information:
Name of Postmaster - Neil Morton
Date of Birth - 1896-08-11
Date of Vacancy - 1911
Cause of Vacancy - Death

So from the Post Office information, we find that the Post Office started when Neil Morton bought Morton Park in 1895 from the previous owner, Sir James Edgar, Speaker of the House of Commons, and that Neil died in 1911, which is when Ethel and the news snippets say it became the private Brighton Beach. (Photo of Neil Morton on the first section of large writeup.)

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Mildred Audrey (Midge) Draper

1911 Courtship: July 19 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

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