Category: Crowder

1913: Spring Letter from Sadie Nelson

8/4/2014

Veda Josie Perrault, ca 1910-1915. Courtesy of Doreen Proctor Burnett.

Finally, a photograph of Veda Josie Perrault, the niece Noah is always teasing. We've posted a couple letters from her so far but I only had the one photo of her as an older woman from the 1960's. So when I was drafting this week's letter where Sadie talks about Veda's upcoming wedding, I was especially blessed when cousin Doreen stepped forward with pictures of Veda and some other Perraults. If you want to read more about Doreen's fantastic timing, check the Genealogy Notes at the bottom of this post.

This week's letter is missing page 1 & 2 which means I've had to do some research to decipher the date, but I think I'm pretty close due to Sadie discussing several people and their events including Veda's wedding in June 1913.

Author of Letter: Sadie Nelson
Dated: Spring of 1913
Addressed to: Dear Ethel and Noah (presumably)
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship: Sister
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Pen with Black Ink
Writing Paper: Thin weight, textured, linen-like paper, each written page 5" x 6". Paper is folded in half and written in booklet form but with the inside page written across the short width so it looks like foolscap. Only the first page is numbered with a 3, but we are missing pages 1 and 2.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

**Veda - Noah's niece, daughter of his sister Eva Amelia & Joe Perrault
*Leslie Peter Thomson - Veda's intended
*Uncle Will - could be Ethel's mom's brother, or their uncle - both *Glover's
Pa - Ethel's dad, *James Nelson
Uncle *Emmanuel Nelson - uncle of *James H Nelson
Grandma Nelson - Eliza *Croutch - mother of *James H Nelson
*Leslie Nelson - Ethel's maternal cousin who is somewhere out West
Harry *Barker - husband of the sister of Ethel's mother, *Ida Glover

Edna *Crowder, *Ella, and Mary - friends and neighbors
Gordon *Crowder & Rosie Andrews - Gordon is a neighbor and friend
Carl *Morton & Clara Pringle - friends and neighbors
Dr. Pringle - Sutton physician
*Miss Hunt - check post on her and her Bible. This is 1st mention of her intended. Perhaps died from sickness?

Places/things mentioned in this letter:

- **quincy or quinsy (Sadie spells it quinzy)
- *Sutton - a nearby town

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing, or use the search box in the header at the top of this page
** see Genealogy Notes below

and as to Sadie Nelson, well,
I guess, she is out of it
altogether. Edna still has
a long list of suitors and
Gordon is to be married to
Rosie Andrews so I have
heard several times. He makes
frequent calls down there
anyway. He and I are, as
usual, a little on the outs, also
Edna and I. Ella and Mary
have been my chief standbys.
Carl Morton is soon to be
married to Clara Pringle,
Dr. Pringle's daughter at
Sutton. Next time you
write to Leslie tell him I

want him to write to me right
away soon. I sent him a couple
of cards soon after he went away
and he never answered them.
Well Ethel I was weighed yesterday
and the scales went 151 easy. You
can't beat that. Uncle Harry
Barker has been sick with
quinzy but he is getting better
now. Miss Hunt is over to see
her intended this afternoon. He has
a severe cold. Uncle is getting a
little better, he slept fairly well
last night. Pa has sold dan to
some man out near Mt. Albert.
The man bot him & took him
yesterday. I was just real angry
when they told me but he was
getting awful ugly. He Pa has bought
one colt that he is going to break
in soon and he is going to buy
another horse. We are having
quite nice weather now but it
is very cold. Suppose Veda will
be having a swell wedding.

you had better be getting
your gown ready, and
after you get that one
finished you can start
another for my wedding
I am to be married the 31st
of June to a flourishing
old bachelor so be ready.
Well I will, speaking in
telephony phraseology, ring
off.
Au Revoir.
Love sis Sadelia
Answer immediately and
excuse writing. I have just
used 3 diff. pens & none are any good.

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note 1: Perrault Photographs

I was pleasantly surprised (interpret that as thrilled to pieces) when Doreen Joan Proctor Burnett left a comment on the post, 1909: To Noah, A Letter From Home. Here's her initial comment:

Sarah Sophia Deverall Draper was my great grandmother
Eva Amelia Draper Perrauault my grandmother
Dora Evelyn Perrault Proctor my mother..I was amazed when I found your web..So very interesting..I just loved Aunt Veda .the letter she wrote to Noah sounded so much like her..Thanks so much

What caught my eye first on her comment was the name of Sarah Sophia Deverell - Noah's mother - because the maiden name of Sarah's mother is still a mystery so I grasp any mention of the Deverell name. And then my gaze latched onto the Aunt Veda part and my day brightened considerably.

A quick check on Ancestry confirmed that Doreen is Nelson's 2nd cousin and although I knew her name on the family tree, I didn't know anything about her branch, other than the fact that her mother was one of Eva Amelia's kids. To put this into perspective, Joe and Eva had 8 children. Born in 1895, Veda was the oldest, and the youngest wouldn't be born until 1914. Doreen's mom, Dora, was born in 1907. So she would have been 4 yrs old during Noah and Ethel's Courtship year, but most of the time, Noah only spoke of Veda - probably because she was teenager and so easy to tease.

Last night Doreen shared 4 photos with us, including the striking pose of Veda at the top of this post. My, oh, my. Being born in 1895, Veda was 18 in 1913 when this week's letter was written - the year she married 25 yr old Leslie Peter Thomson, a Canadian Pacific Railway station agent.

Veda mentioned Les once before and that's the post of 1912: Jan 12 Letter fm Veda Perrault when she wrote, "Leslie did not get down. I was sorry although I expect him down here some time before long. He is working up at Tugaske, Sask, on the Outlook branch from Moose Jaw."

So I'm sending out a bouquet to Doreen Joan Proctor Burnett for leaving a comment on my post and then sharing her photo treasures with us.

This reminds me of something I read on the Ancestry blog recently where a member said he hesitated switching his family tree from private to public for years in case he and his mom had wrong facts. But finally, they reached a dead end and thus, took the plunge to see if they could rouse out some family members with their cousin bait. The post went on to show a photo of the man and a relative who saw their public ancestry tree and contacted them.

Cousin bait. That's the affectionate term in the genealogy world.

And although we didn't intend on using this blog as cousin bait, or making our Ancestry tree public for the same reason, we've been blessed with cousins finding us. In all, 5 more cousins contacted us in the past 2 weeks by either leaving comments on this blog, emailing us through my contact page, or connecting through our Ancestry inbox.

Cousin bait. It sounds crass, but the results are ... wonderful.

Genealogy Note 2: Quinsy and Quincy

This is an old disease which is still around. A fellow in our area had it a couple years ago, and thousands of cases are seen every year around the globe. Check the links below for more information.

Old Diseases & Their Modern Definitions:
QUINSY or QUINCY: Severe attack of Tonsillitis resulting in abscess near the tonsils.

NHS Choices:
Quinsy, also known as a peritonsillar abscess, is a complication of tonsillitis that is left untreated.

Remedy's Health Communities in conjunction with Johns Hopkins and Cornell University:
Quinsy is usually a complication of tonsillitis, a bacterial infection of the tonsils.

0 Comments

1911 Courtship: Oct 30, Dear Noah

2/4/2014

0 Comments

c1932 - Miss Hunt at 82 yrs and Cousin Alice

This week we learn the identity of Miss Hunt, a retired teacher according to Ethel's granddaughters, who lived her remaining years with Ethel's parents. The girls showed me Miss Hunt's 1849 Bible which they'd received from their mother, Norma, a daughter of Ethel.

Although Noah & Ethel included Miss Hunt several times in their letters, they never referred to her by a Christian name, so this week's research was discovering the identity and life of Miss Hunt.

A puzzle for another time however, is the woman in this photo with Miss Hunt. The woman is also in the Nelson Family photo below and is simply identified as Cousin Alice in Ethel's handwriting, although after that someone has added Great, Great Cousin. The latter writing looks like Nelson's and probably is because he sat down with his father, Wayne Draper, and looked over the contents of Ethel's Treasure Box when he first inherited it upon his sister Norma's death.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  Oct 30th. 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, Great Coulee, Sask. (should be GRAND Coulee)
Mailed from: Belhaven, P.O.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, blue ink - Ethel starts this letter with a light colored ink, but then changes to blue. This is better quality ink than she's been using as it is dry and doesn't smear.
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 - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- *Christie - Ethel's 11 yr old sister
- the kids - includes Ethel's other siblings: JA (Jay) 3, Emanuel (Manuel) 6
- **Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva and her husband, Joe Perrault
- Pa and Ma - *James H Nelson and *Ida Amelia Glover
- Margaret *Barker - Ethel's maternal aunt
- Uncle Emanuel (newspaper shows Manuel) - Ethel's paternal grand uncle

- **Miss Hunt
- Herb *Winch - neighbor whose little girl received burns from hot ashes/coals
- Orville *King - friend and neighbor who went West for harvest
- Edna *Crowder - friend and neighbor
- Jorden *Crowder (Gordon?) & Miss Little John
- Helen Munro - friend
- Desten *Sheppard - 19 yr old neighbor
- Mr. Stiles

  Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- Sutton - a few miles northeast of Belhaven
- *Toronto - within an hours drive of Belhaven
- *Brandon- where Veda is attending school

Cliche/Phrase
- 'kids' in reference to Ethel's siblings

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.
Oct 30th. 1911

Mr N.C. Draper.
Great Coulee,
Sask.
My Dear Noah, -
Received your letter
Friday evening and as I always
am. was much pleased to get it.
We are not going up to Sunday School
to-day. it is so awfully windy and I guess
perhaps a little on the lazy side 'eh'
I think maybe we will be able to
get ready in time for church.
Sadie & myself were in to
Mr Herb Winches for a few minutes
last night before going to choir practice
There little girl is getting along
nicely. Well Orville has reached
home at last. but hav'nt had a
talk with him yet. to know how
he likes it out West.

We had the threshermen yesterday
threshing buckwheat and cutting corn.
Sadie & Edna Crowder were to Sutton
yesterday. said they heard that I was
married and living in the West.
Helen Munro was telling them, so of
course when I heard the news. I
congratuled my self imensely.
You ask who I had tea with at the
Social. Desten Sheppard and say what
a time. Suppose you know what a
sport he is.
Good ness me! I thought fruit season
was over long ago. you people out
there must be behind times. fruit
is all gone here unless it is some
grapes and say I had some grapes the
other day that came from a friend
of Miss Hunts in California.

Pa and Ma got ready and went
to Church this morning and it
happened their was'nt any.
Edna Crowder was telling Sadie
yesterday that she thot Jorden was
engaged to a Miss Little John in toronto
She told Sadie she was'nt to tell so you
see she only told me. and so on I am
only telling you. "ha ha" I don't care
how many get married, I've got the
best of them all. Well Noah I
started this letter when the kids where
going to Sunday School and Christie
has just come in now. I have simply
just been sitting here dreaming
writing part of it down and the
rest I am dreaming over it yet I am
a great day dreamer as well as a
night dreamer. I often see you in my
dreams.

I only wish some of them were real,
Herb Winch is here, trying to bother
the kids.
Is Veda's special subject at school
Music. I like you do think that music
is some thing worth while. I often wish
that I had taken more time and so
understood music better, I guess.
I can talk enough Mr Stiles says I
use to be able to talk a wheel of a
wagon. I've never tried it yet. ha ha
Well time seems to be passing
but very slow it seems sometimes
In two more months at the least
I hope to see you, do you think I
will? Well this certainly is a funny
letter. but you can guess my mind
to-day. I am lonesome, just simple
love sick as you may call it.
Must close for this time with lots
of love and xxxx Ethel

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note #1 - Veda Josie Perrault Thomson

Veda Thomson

On the right is the only photograph I have of Noah's young niece, Veda Josie Perrault born 1895, who has been mentioned so many times in these Courtship Letters. First, Noah and Ethel were talking about Veda's hands and how she was being treated by x-ray for them, and now about Veda going to school in Brandon, Manitoba. Veda married Leslie Peter Thomson in 1913. This cropped photo is from the Norma Draper Personal Photo Collection and was taken in the late 1960's.

Genealogy Note #1 - Miss HuntMiss Hunt has been mentioned several times in these Courtship Letters:

1911 Courtship: May 21 Dear Ethel - Info and photo
1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah - Uncle Emanuel is very sick. We are afraid he'll not recover. Miss Hunt speaks of you each time I see her.
1911 Courtship: Oct 15 Dear Noah - Uncle Emanuel & Miss Hunt were here last tuesday.
Courtship Letter Special: July 15 From Elva Mitchell - is Uncle better now. is Miss Hunt married yet.

Prior to this week's research, this was all I knew of Miss Hunt:
- the 1911 Canada Census shows Miss Hunt working as a domestic for Emanuel Nelson. Uncle Emanuel is the brother of Henry Nelson, Ethel's paternal grandfather who died in 1900 down in Iowa.
- that Miss Hunt was included in a family photo because she lived with Ethel's parents.

Back in August when I visited Norma's girls, they'd lent me Ethel and Norma's photo albums to scan. Upon my return to Grand Coulee after digitizing all the images and information, Norma's girls bestowed Miss Hunt's Bible in my care to be kept with Ethel's Treasure Box.

Miss Hunt's 1849 Bible included a marriage record and birth information for the Joseph Joshua Hunt and Emily Lundy and Family. And that's where my search for Miss Hunt began.

Hunt Family as recorded in their 1849 Bible

Joseph J. Hunt and Emily Lundy were married by
Rev'd Edmund Sheperd, August 27th 1839

Joseph Joshua Hunt Born Carlton Nottinghamshire, England
April 19th 1815
Emily Hunt Born the township of Windham, London District,
Canada West, December 31st 1818

George Lundy Hunt
Maria Jane Hunt
Margaret Ann Hunt
Ann Eliza Hunt

Whitchurch, CW. April 26th. 1841 Whitchurch, Dec'r 12th. 1842
East Gwillimbury, Jan'y 5th. 1847
East Gwillimbury, Feb'y 4th. 1849

Starting at the bottom, I added Ann Eliza Hunt's information to the ancestry.com search box and received hints for dozens of females named Ann Hunt, Annie Hunt, Eliza Hunt, Elizabeth Hunt, etc as both maiden and married names. For the location, most said York County but when I checked them, they were for the city of York - the old name for Toronto - instead of the rural areas of York County.
I tried searching for Lundy but there were dozens of hits and none were names I recognized.

My next step was to see if there were any newspaper items such as birth, wedding, and death announcements, so I pulled up the Newmarket Era and typed Lundy with the same results as above. Finally, I put Hunt into the search box although I didn't have much hope. Sure enough, hundreds of hits popped up for Hunt, Huntley, Hunter, and all other names with those letters. Included in the hits was everything I wanted to know about hunting like who was hunting, what was hunted, and when were they doing it. And back then, many if not most people hunted for their food.

Finally, I pulled up the free www.familysearch.org site. I've used this a few times before when I was stymied, but not often because it only gives a name or two and not all the records that you find on www.ancestry.com (which is where your membership fees go). However, in this case, all I needed was a name confirmation and hopefully a death date.

On the Family Search site, it's easy to get overwhelmed with lists of names, so I only typed in Ann Eliza Hunt with North Gwillimbury for the location since that's where the Nelsons lived. And then I clicked Death as my search filter.

I couldn't believe it when Eliza Anna Hunt showed up on the first page with the parents as Joshua Hunt and Emily Lundy thereby confirming I had the right person! I clicked the link to pull up the record and there it was - Ann Eliza died in North Gwillimbury on 23 Feb 1934. That date is consistent with the Nelson Family photo which was taken in 1932.

I now had a name, location, and enough vital statistics to kick the ancestry system into gear and start giving me some hints to relevant records.

I started searching the parents' census records and discovered that Miss Hunt was known as E. Annie and or just Annie and that she lived with her parents in Aurora until 1881 at which time she was 32 yrs old without an occupation listed. Here's what follows:

1881 - No further information found on mother, Emily Lundy after this census
1884 - Death of father, Joseph Joshua Hunt
1891 - No census record found for Miss Hunt
1901 - No occupation listed; Living with Uncle Horace & Aunt Kate Lundy, Aurora
1911 - Working as a Domestic for widower, Emanuel Nelson, North Gwillimbury
1913 - Emanuel dies in April and in June, Miss Hunt goes to stay with Maggie Barker

The Newmarket Era. April 4, 1913

The Newmarket Era. April 18, 1913

The Newmarket Era. June 13, 1913

1921 - Miss Hunt, 72, is living with her widowed sister, Margaret, 74, in Toronto
1932 - Miss Hunt is living with Ethel's parents, James and Ida Nelson

The Nelson Family c1932, (L to R back) Leona Thompson, Christie Nelson, James A Nelson, Emanuel Nelson and wife Vera May Horner, Cousin Alice ?, Miss Hunt, Ida Amelia Glover and James Henry Nelson; (L to R front row) Frank Thompson, Leeland Nelson, Glenna Nelson, Clifford Thompson, Benny Thompson

The above photo of the Nelson family looks like it was taken at the house Ethel grew up in just south of Belhaven on Concession 5, but around that time her father was building a new house on the Baseline, Sutton West. Since I have over a dozen photos taken on that day, I'm wondering if this was a celebration for the 'big move'. Only James and Ida moved to the new house along with Miss Hunt, and also Ethel when she visited during the winters. The house was left to JA (James A) who married Leona in Feb 1933 and raised their family there.

Feb 23, 1934 - Miss Hunt dies and the newspapers report:

Newmarket Era, 2 Mar 1934, Page 4

Newmarket Era, 2 Mar 1934, page 8

And there you have the story of Miss Hunt which will be typed up and placed in her Bible near the Family Record page for when her Bible is passed on to the next generation.

0 Comments

1911 Courtship: Oct 15 Dear Noah

12/28/2013

0 Comments

1915 - 4 Generations (L to R) Ethel Nelson Draper, Sarah Elizabeth Greenwood Glover holding Ethel's daughter, Mildred "Midge" Draper, and Ida Amelia Glover Nelson, daughter of Sarah and mother of Ethel

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  15th Oct 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, P.O.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink - Once again, the ink still smudges upon touch as if it still hasn't dried.
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:

- *Edyth Draper - Noah's cousin, sister of George and Stewart Draper
- *Veda - Noah's niece in Grand Coulee, Sask
- *Miss Hunt - 2nd time mentioned with Uncle *Emanuel Nelson
- Grandma - Ethel's maternal grandmother *Sarah E Greenwood
- Grandpaw - Sarah E Greenwood's 2nd husband, *Albert Rogers
- John *Prosser - Neighbor and Retired Fox Island Lighthouse Keeper
- *Mahoney's - friends and neighbor
- **Norman *Yorke & Minnie Traviss - (related to Cecil Prosser)
- Willie *Sweet & Laura *Traviss see Genealogy Note 3 - Sept 18 Dear Noah
- Carl Morton & Leslie Morton - may be cousins, but Carl marries Clara Pringle

Boys home from the West:
- Orville *King - friend and neighbor
- *George Milburn Draper - lives near Belhaven, Noah's cousin on paternal side.

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- Keswick

Cliche/Phrase
- bad pennies are sure to return

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.
15th Oct. 1911.

Mr N. C. Draper
Grand Coulee.
Sask.

Dear Noah
I missed your letter last
night, but Ill be looking for one to-
morrow night. Well this is another
fine Sunday. our rain storms seem
to be staying away now for this
last two day have been
lovely. It rained all day Wednesday
and Morm Yorke was married to
Minnie Traviss. Also Willie Sweet
was married to Laura Traviss. So
it was'nt much of a day for the
wedding. , 'eh' Morm came home last
night. and they certainly made things

lively. Willie came home Wednesday.
brought his bride up here to Elis's
where I suppose she had to get her
own supper. for there is no one
their but Elis. Then they tried to
fool the people by slipping out the
back door and through the fields
but the ony followed them. "ha ha".
Say. I hope you are having some
fine weather by this time, for
really it must be very discouraging
to think your grain is out in so
much rain.
Quite a few of the boys have come
home from the West. Orville isnt
here yet, but I hear he does'nt think
much of it. George Draper is home so
I hear, and I hear again that Edyth
Draper is to be married. Say! there is
no end to the number of people that

are engaged around here. Carl
Morton & Leslie Morton are engaged
for I hear. they are Second
Cousins too.
I got your card. But I believe either you
or I failed to be at the Kings for we
didn't happen to meet one another "ha ha"
I hope it is not long before will be
able to meet some place anyway.
How does Veda like going to College?
Uncle Emanuel & Miss Hunt were here
last tuesday. Grandma & Grandpaw
were here on Friday. & we had quite
a visit with old people last week. Old
John Prosser was here yesterday. Say
you remember him dont you. every
thing is the fool. or the brute. "ha ha"
Hello. here I am again. I been
away for a little while. but
bad pennies are sure to return.
We have been to Sunday School
& home with Mahoney's for tea

had a lively old time. We walked
up to church, & home again. and
here is where I land first of all.
Our church was nearly full to-night
So many young people were there from
Keswick. We were late so did nt all
go up in the choir.
Oh! say I wish you were only starting
down here to-morrow. I'll be glad
when you get all that work of yours
done. I think you had better leave some
and let me help you. for that is just
what I want to do. "We two'. work together
all alone by ourselves. I think you
must be doing to-much, wait for me
my good old boy.
Oh I wish your home was right near
here some where. so I could see you
oftener. I wonder whats the use of
my wishing so much. I think I had
better stop for this time. Iclose with
Love & xxxxs Your Sweetheart Ethel
forever.

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note #1: Norman Yorke

I knew Ethel had mentioned Norman Yorke and Minnie Traviss before, but when I went searching, I kept coming up with Morin York because that's the way Ethel had written it. Even in this week's letter she writes, "Morin Yorke was married to Minnie Traviss." Here are other letters mentioning Norman:

1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah - Morn Yorke
1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah - Morin Yorke
1911 Courtship: Oct 8 Dear Noah - Norm Yorke

I wonder if it's just a habit for Ethel to write Morm instead of Norm? Regardless, I found this snippet in the era about the happy occasion:

The Newmarket Era. October 20, 1911

Mr. Norman Yorke of Belhaven and
Miss Minnie Traviss were married at
Newmarket on Wednesday last. We
wish them every happiness.

Genealogy Note #2: Shivaree or Charivari

A shivaree is an old-fashioned way to welcome a the newly married. Friends and relatives surround the newlyweds' house when they think the couple has gone to bed and then make as much ruckus as possible with all kinds of noisemakers. Sometimes this keeps up for hours before the newlyweds invite them in for some refreshments. Most newlyweds try to sneak away.

In this week's letter, Ethel writes... Then they tried to fool the people by slipping out the back door and through the fields but the ony followed them. - Ethel's words are verbatim - as if she was trying to write the words so fast her fingers couldn't keep up to her thoughts.

The second pararagraph of this hard-to-read snippet talks about the shivaree for Norman Yorke & Minnie Traviss, and also Willie Sweet & Laura Traviss:

A couple of young men left us on
Wednesday, and returned after a short
absence with their wives. Congratu-
lations. The young people of this vi-
cinity with various instruments, such
as dinner bells, cow bells, plow coul-
ters and tin pans, gave them lively
music on the nights of their arrival.

The Newmarket Era. October 20, 1911

This charivari is from Nov 26, 1926 and the newly married couple is Edith Draper who is often mentioned in Ethel's letters. Edith had health problems as a youth and married William Crowder later in life, but that didn't stop the 'boys' from welcoming them home. And if you notice, after they were done with Edith and William, they went to 'pay their respects' to the next newlyweds.

The Newmarket Era Nov 26, 1926

Writing this post about the charivari reminds me of my tour at the Canadian Armed Forces Base in Cold Lake, Alberta back in the early 80's because we encountered something similar.

I remember that my parents were visiting and it was the first time they ever came for Christmas so I was trying very hard to show my best front. But around 11 pm a day or two after Christmas, several people showed up outside our door and living room window - singing and yelling for us to let them in. We did because it seemed quieter that way. So in they came and we offered refreshments. They sang carols, etc, and then when we encouraged them to go, they said we had to go with them because that's how it went.

As their admonitions grew, we realized the only way to get them out was to go with them and since my parents were there in case our daughter awoke, both Nelson and I went with the crowd. I can't say I enjoyed the experience because some people - all co-workers - just didn't want to get up and let us in, but the partyers insisted until the lights came on and we were invited inside. We corralled our hosts as we went along so the crowd grew with every house call until we finally escaped and headed home around 4 am.

The next day, I tried to explain to my parents this Christmas charivari-like tradition, but I can't say they were impressed. If I remember correctly, only one of us went the following year while one stayed back, and I don't remember ever being bothered by anything like it since. My parents never came back for Christmas, either.

If you google shivaree or charivari, you'll find all kinds of stories including several that turned into murders, etc. At times, it's a fine line between a charivari and a riot depending on who's doing the 'music' and who's doing the running.

0 Comments

1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah

11/3/2013

2 Comments

G. E. Goddard on "Reciprocity", sired by "Juryman", Bow River Horse Ranch, Cochrane area, Alberta. ca1890's. Courtesy Glenbow Museum.

When I searched my historical photo archives for something to show the 1911 political debate of Reciprosity (Genealogical Note #3), this cowboy and his horse, named "Reciprocity" came up. And honestly, I'd rather show this image than a political one any day.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated: Sep- 1911 (Possibly Sep 10th due to facts in letter)
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
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form. Ethel is very talkative this week and has written 7 pages using 2 pieces of writing paper.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- Mother - *Ida Amelia Glover Nelson
- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- *Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- *Veda -16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia and *Joe Perrault
- Mr. Perrault's - *Joe Perrault's trip to *Banff for his arthritis
*Manuel - Ethel's 6 yr old brother, *Emanuel Nelson
- Uncle *Emanuel Nelson - Ethel's Pa's paternal uncle
- Ursula *Cole - Ethel's 16 yr old 2nd cousin on the maternal *Greenwood side
- **Mr. & Mrs. Frank Terry and daughter Edna May - Noah's cousin
- **Cousin George of Udora (Drury and Alf Westgarth) (*Ida Amelia's cousins)
- *Edith Draper - Noah's 25 yr old cousin whose finace lives in the West
- Noah's mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper
- Uncle - *Emmanuel Nelson - Uncle of Ethel's Pa - *James Henry Nelson

- Mrs Harry Glancey of Newmarket and son Roy, school teacher - local friends
- 'the boys' - the local men who went west to find work during harvest
- Orville and the rest of the boys - Neighbor Orville *King
- Mr. Merritt - Sadie's school teacher
- Ethel and Noah's friends and neighbors who went to Toronto for the Exhibition:
- Stanley and May (use search box)
- Della, Dora, and Hattie M.
- Gordon *Crowder
- Morin Yorke
- *Mary Smith of Belhaven - friend who visited Ethel in *Huntsville
- Lulu Sheppard - neighbor
- Mr. Prosser's - could be any of the *Prosser families
- Irene and Maud *Bruels - Ethel's old girlfriend
- John Morris - ? (still researching)
- Professor *Dales - frequent visiting minister

Local Polititians: Mr. Armstrong, *Lennox, and Robinette
Mr. Heise - Previous residents, Mr. Heise and family, were in the newspaper travelling through. Not sure if it's the same one Ethel's talking about.

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- *Toronto, Ontario
- Sutton, Ontario
- Udora, Ontario
- Mount Albert, Ontario
- *Newmarket, Ontario
- Brandon, Manitoba
- *Banff, Alberta

- **reciprocity - trade agreement between Canada and the U.S.

Cliches/Phrases/Word Use
- kid
- phone

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.
Sept - 1911

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

My Dear Noah,
Now for a good long letter
I guess you would miss my letter this
last week. but you will have to forgive
me of that. Im sending a good long one
this week to make up for it. Blue Sunday
"eh" I tell you I was feeling a little blue
last week. I did'nt get you letter until Wed,
I guess I do like, to get letters from a
queer person as you said in your last
letter & (to-day) I saw Mr & Mrs Frank
Terry to-day. I think their daughter is
home from the West. came rathe
unexpectedly. but I guess Welcome "eh"
Mrs Harry Glancey of Newmarket was here
this afternoon. Roy is teaching school at

Mt Albert. He intends studying for a doctor
after next summer holidays. I don't know
where the boys could of have landed that
you hav'nt saw any of them yet. I met a
girl in Newmarket & I said good-day
& her first salute was. I hear you are
going to be hooked up this winter. I says
come on with me if your coming &
on I went, I didnt wish for any particular
chat just then.
Sadie failed hr exams by 2 marks but
Mr Merritt said he thot she could go
on in the fourth form. She is starting
on Monday. Am glad to hear of Veda
going to College. is she going down to
Brandon? also how is Mr Perrault now
hope his trip to Banff was a help to him.
Quite a few from around here were
down to the Ex - Stanley & May. Della
Dora & Hattie M.) Gordon Crowder.
Morin Yorke & some others. don't include
me though. "ha ha"

Say Manuel was up to the office one
day. & he came home & said Noah was
there. & of course he knew it was you. ha
Wish it had of been. We are certainly
having a lively time over reciprocity
Suppose you are up there. I have
been to Hear Mr Armstrong & Lennox
also Robinette. Mr. Heise says "whats
the use of the women coming they
can't vote. Mother was dreaming
of you. thot she had you crying
I told her I would like to see you
cry. ha. ha.
Ursula Cole has been here for a few
days and she and Sadie certainly
made things lively.
Say George Westgarth from Udora came
in here just before tea. & to-night I
have certainly heard of nothing but the
West. I suppose all day to-morrow will

be just the same. Wish you were here
to help me out a little. Edith Draper
called me up over the phone, said she
heard I was going West. & wanted to
know if she could go to. Its just
awful. I hear of it a dozen times
a day. I guess those that don't know
it now are behind the times. eh.
Never mind I will be glad when the
time comes when I can be with
you. then I want be looking so
lonesome. I hope as they are all the
time telling me now. It doesn't
seem so long now. but long enough
"eh" I am glad your Mother is
coming down with you. It will
be her first trip down since she
went West. Wont it. My how nice
it would be if you were just on the
old farm now. A Good time 'eh' we'd have
now.

Uncle is still gaining strength, if he only
keeps on. But he is an old man &
we can't expect him to last long.
Mary Smith is down to Toronto now.
I started this letter on Saturday but
this is Sunday now. It is a very
nice day. we have had some
quite cool weather. Some one
was saying you had a frost
up there. If so did it do
much damage. I hope. not
any way. Pa was to Sutton
yesterday & he heard that
Orivelle & the rest of the boys
had'nt got any work yet
was paying for their board.
I guess they wont think much
of that. "eh"

Lulu Sheppard is going to
H. School. do you remember
the time she came up for
a electric shock. She is a
lively kid, "eh"
People are going home from church
I think I must be a bad a you
for I am not going to S. School
either. Ma & Pa are going up to
Mr Prossers this after noon.
Irene Bruels is home now.
Maud was home for over Sunday
She is working at the lake for
John Morris, Well I was up
to Church to-night. Prof Dales
preached.
George has gone home. he is

a cousin of ours, from
Udora. A scaffold he was
on broke & he fell. & broke his
nose & cut his face all up.
Also wrenched his arm badly
So he is off work. & making
short visits since he began getting
better.
Say I am making quite a lengthy
letter. "eh" There is nothing I would
like better than to see you.
I guess I must close for this
time. with love & x x x
Your Sweetheart Ethel.
I think this must be a queer
letter from queer person, too. "eh".

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note 1: Cousin George from Udora

Ethel mentions Cousin George in 2 places in this letter and at first I wasn't sure if she was talking about the same one...
- pg 3 - George ??? from Udora came in here just before tea
- pg 6 - George has gone home. He is a cousin of ours from Udora. A scaffold he was on broke & he fell...

Since I didn't recall any of Ethel's relatives living in Udora, I tried to do an Ancestry.ca search. The problem is that it only lets me search for people, not places. Very inconvenient as I've run into this before.

However, this week's Newmarket Era mentions a scaffolding accident - one of many back then - and although the names weren't familiar, I clipped it out:

The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 2 of 8

At Aurora on Monday of last week,
two Udora boys, Alf and Drury West-garthe, while putting cornice on a
house they were building, fell with
the scaffold to the ground and took
the consequences of a very quick stop.
Alf jumped up without a scratch but
Drury's face looked like the aftermath
of a scrap with Jim Jeffries, but
we are pleased to say nothing more
serious than scratches and bruises
were experienced. -- Journal.

Of course, the problem with the above snippet is that it mentions Alf and Drury Westgarthe and not cousin George ???, whose last name I couldn't make out from Ethel's writing. But with the light bulb flashing above my head, I looked at Ethel's writing again and sure enough, she had written George Westgarth from Udora, although another check on the family tree still didn't match the name.

So, I did a wide search for a George Westgarth from Udora and a George D Westgarth came up with Ellen Greenwood as his mother. Since Ethel's maternal grandmother is a Greenwood, I checked for Ellen on the family tree and there she was... sister of Sarah Elizabeth Greenwood, Ethel's grandma. Which meant Ethel's mom, Ida Amelia, and George D were cousins. Good to know, but it still didn't match Alf and Drury Westgarthe in the newspaper scaffolding accident. However, a search for George D's birth record confirmed his name was George Drury Westgarth.

Ethel doesn't mention George's brother Alf, but she does say that George's face looked like he'd had lost a round with the reigning boxing champ. It also adds more cousins to the family tree.

Genealogy Note 2: The Franklin Terry's

Ethel writes that she saw Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Terry and that she thinks, "their daughter is home from the West. came rather unexpectedly. but I guess Welcome "eh".

Obviously Ethel and Noah share something that they're not telling us, but I'll tell you all I found out... We first encountered the Franklin Terry's when Noah made a brief mention of their son, Manford Terry, who is Noah's cousin on the Draper side. Manford was married to Etta May Prosser and they lived near Belhaven, North Gwillimbury Township.

In 1911, Manford is 30 yrs old and he has 2 sisters, Edna May is 28 yrs old, and Olive Gertrude is 12 yrs old. Their sibling, William Burr, died at the age of 12 from erysipelas
which is a skin infection caused by acute streptococcus bacteria.

Edna May is the daughter mentioned in this week's letter. In January, 1908, she married George Robert Fogg, a saddle merchant from Togo, Saskatchewan, who was visiting relatives in the North Gwillimbury area. George took Edna May back West where he lived in the same community as his parents and a couple siblings. Since his father was a harness maker, and George was a saddle merchant buyer, I suspect he worked for his father although that's not written on the Census records.

I found a birth record for George and Edna's 1st child - a son born December 1908. But then I can't find anything else until the 1916 Saskatchewan census which shows them living in Saskatoon, SK, with a 2nd child, a daughter born in 1913. George is a wholesale saddle buyer and the rest of his family seem to be out in Alberta.

I have searched dozens of census records and cannot find George and Edna on the 1911 Canada census anywhere. So either they didn't register, their records are missing, or their records are so badly misspelled that the ancestry computers aren't picking them up. I even did a 30 page line-by-line search for them in the Togo, Sk area without results. So I suppose we'll have to wait and see if Noah knows where they are.

Genealogy Note 3: Reciprocity

Ethel tells Noah that "...we are having a lively time over reciprocity. Suppose you are up there."

It's federal election time and the newspapers are filled with the debate over the trade agreement called Reciprocity. Here are a couple samples...

The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 7 of 8

The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 2 of 8

The Newmarket Era. Sept 1, 1911 - Pg: 2

The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 5 of 8

2 Comments

1911 Courtship Special: Aug 8 Dear Ethel From Ma

9/16/2013

2 Comments

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?

2 Comments

<<Previous

1913: Spring Letter from Sadie Nelson

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Oct 30, Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Oct 15 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship Special: Aug 8 Dear Ethel From Ma

Genealogy Notes

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories