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1911 Courtship Letter: Aug 6 Dear Noah

9/3/2013

 
Picture
Regatta Scene at the Town dock, Huntsville, Ontario, c1908. Courtesy of Muskoka Images - a project of the Huntsville Public Library and the Muskoka Parry Sound Genealogy Group
I found the address where Ethel is visiting her Uncle John and Aunt Sarah while in Huntsville and my, oh my, the above photo is what Ethel can see from the back yard, although about twice the distance away. Check the Genealogy Notes for more info.


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

People/places mentioned in this letter:

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

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

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

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

Legend: 
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this 
  person/place/thing. If you don't see a label, use the search box at the top of page.
** see Genealogy Notes below


To get you started, here's a photo I found in Aunt Norma's Treasure Box (see last post)  of Uncle John and Aunt Sarah. Since the photo is taken at the wedding of their son Ernest, they look about 20 years older than they would in 1911.  Read the names, too, because most of the front row have been mentioned in these courtship letters. 
Picture
Wedding of Ernest R Winter and Lillian Dodd. Possibly early 1930's, location unknown. Courtesy of the Norma Draper Family Collection.
Picture
Huntsville, Aug 6. 11

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

Picture
2
on Thursday last at the Fire Tournament. 
Burk's Falls Brigade won the banner, but
Huntsville was the quickest. but they couldn't
take the banner on account of thier running
on thier own grounds. Now I wonder if I too
would'nt like for you to be here and
give me a little advice. Never mind
when we get the chance, I wonder if we
will have forgotten how to give advice. Eh
Well we have been rather lazy to-day
hav'nt been to church to-day. it has
been so dredfully hot. I wish your
busy time was over now, and that
you were on your way down here
Remember you are to come as
soon as you finish up nicely and
can get away. I don't want you

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

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

Genealogy Notes

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

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

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

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

But the clincher came when she mentioned Mr. Bradley as their next door neighbor. She's mentioned him before, but not who he was. Armed with that knowledge, I went back to the 1911 census record and searched for Mr. Bradley near John Winter's entry. And there it was - boxed in blue - right above the red box of John, Sarah, Ernest, and baby Mabel. 
Picture
1911 Canada Census record for John Winter and family. Courtesy of Ancestry.ca
So now what? The profile of this page showed John Winter living on 11 Elne Street which I hadn't been able to find on a Huntsville map. But the page index also showed a Mr. Beadley vs Bradley. And then I noticed something I hadn't before... farther up the page - circled in red - is the word Elm. Not Elne, but Elm. And a few lines above that, the number 11. But that would mean all those families were living at 11 Elm St. Could that be right? Especially if they were visiting their neighbor on the lawn instead of a hallway like an apartment?

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


Courtship Letter Special: July 20 From Ma & Sadie

7/7/2013

 
Picture
The Massey Harris binder about to start cutting the wheat. Courtesy of wikipedia.
In this week's letter, Ethel's ma tells Ethel that Pa bought a new binder and already has some wheat cut. This was necessary since their old binder burned in their barn fire.  Although the above photo shows a binder pulled by a tractor, in 1911 Ethel's pa would use horses to pull his binder which would cut the wheat, tie a string about a bunch of stalks to bind them in a sheaf, then drop the sheaves by the side where someone would come along and stand them in stooks or shooks to dry. The shape allowed the rain to slide off.

Author of Letter: Ida Amelia Glover Nelson and Sadie Nelson
Dated:  July 20th, 1911 
Addressed to: Dear Ethel (Ethel is up in Huntsville, Ontario visiting Ida Amelia's sister, Sarah Elizabeth Glover)
Mailed  from:  Belhaven, Ont. 
Relationship:  Ethel's ma,  and Ethel's 16 yr old sister
Profession:  Farm Family 
Writing  instrument: Blue Ink
Written on: Off-white, beautifully textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 7 inches, folded in half. Two notepapers, one with a pansy motif, the other with a forget-me-not motif. 

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- *Christie - Christine Maud Nelson - Ethel and Sadie's 6 yr old sister
- Crouders - *Crowders 
- *Noah Draper - Ethel's fiance out on the Canadian prairies
- *Elva Mitchell - see Special Letter of July 15 as well as Label list
- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- Grandma - *Eliza Crouch Nelson in Aikens, Benton, Iowa, USA
- Aunt Lill - Lillian Maria Blizzard married to Pa's cousin, James A. Nelson- **Sarah - *Sarah Elizabeth Glover, sister of Ethel's ma 
- Theao Ralston
- Francis Slingerland
- Edna, Wilmot, Gertie, and Lottie 
- Sweets and Thompsons
- Gertie and Walt Brooks
- Nancy 
- Perry Morton 

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
Picture
Page 1 - Written by Ethel's ma, Ida Amelia Glover
Belhaven July 20. 1911
Dear Ethel.
got your letter tuesday
I suppose you are going
to the picnic. we are
staying at home having 
a good time watching the 
people go by Crouders just
went by in a buss it is Just
1/2 past 9 oclock. I washed tuesday
Sadie and Christie went picking
berries got 2 quarts we had 7
men tuesday. yesterday Just

Picture
Page 2 - Written by Ethel's ma, Ida Amelia Glover
2
our own men and J and
your pa went to theao
Ralstons raising and I
got the sick head ache
came home and went to 
bed. there was only about
50 men and 15 women
and some kids. they had
a nice supper but I couldnt
eat any they were very
clever with me. and there 
was Noah Draper from
the west there.  when I heard
them peeking about Noah
you bet I did some squinting
untill i saw him but it
wasnt tall Noah.

Picture
Page 3 - written by Sadie
3
Ma is getting to be a 
regular gad about
since you went away
She has been away
nearly everyday. Tuesday
was the only day she
stayed home. Christie
wants us to tell you
that she can comb her
hair. I have got two
cards and you got
a letter from Elva
and pa got one from
grandma. I am having
a fine time since you 
went away. Francis
Slingerland came here

Picture
Page 4 - written by Sadie
4
Sunday after dinner
and stayed until
after nine at night
Edna, Wilmot, Gertie
and Lottie have been
here. I was down to
Sweets and Thompsons.
The rigs are just stringing
along here to the picnic.
There has been an awful
lot go. Mine hasn't come
yet but will be here soon.
Gertie was here last
night and Walt Brooks
walked home with her.
Ma is going to see how
Aunt Lill is if she can

Picture
Page 5 switches to Ethel's ma where she writes, "Well Sadie has been spinning yarns..."
5
over the 'phone
She did and she
is better. We have
got beets and
beans on for
dinner and we
are going to have
green apples for
supper. (Don't your
mouth water?) We have
got liver too for dinner.
well Sadie has been
spinning yarns I was
to Crouders 1/2 a hour was
not in house and to

Picture
Page 6 - written by Ethel's ma
6
Nancies about 3/4 hours
took her nives home
well i must quit
this and get to work
perry Morton is working 
here to day Christie
has got to go to 
belhaven for salt
for dinner.
Sadie has got the blues every rig goes
by it makes her worse
there was a big storm 
yesterday. we have got
our new Binder set
up and one piece
of wheat cut

Picture
Page 7 - written by Ethel's ma
7
well my head aches
and i dont feel
very good wish
i could scribble
some more. but i
must quit   how 
is Sarah hope she
is better  did you get
a return tickit if
you did you will have to come
in a month for it is only good
for a month unless you got
if for longer. say you 
write soon for i get
the blues once in a while.
Sadie is looking bad she is
holding her mouth on one side
she looks so cross.

Picture
Page 8 - written by Sadie
Ma wants to know
if we can set the old
hen behind the bee boxes
If so how soon? How
many eggs do you
think she can cover.
It is the grey hen that
has a red feather for
a collar. They have
got the barn boarded
in and the floor
nearly all laid. As we
can't afford to waste
any more paper over
you we will have to quit 
Write soon
                    Ma and Sadie

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note 1: Update on Fred Coventry's Sister in Alberta

Update to Louie and Fred Coventry going to visit his sister in Alberta which Noah mentioned in his last letter in 1911 Courtship: July 19 Dear Ethel... we have a new development. While researching the Coventry family and trying to find out what happened to Louie (Noah's sister), I hit a newspaper goldmine on the usual ourontario.ca website I use for the Newmarket Era except this time, I've discovered the Halton News which encompasses the Acton Free Press and Georgetown Herald. 

The Coventry family came from the Halton area of Peel Country, Ontario and the newspapers covered many of their social events. One of the first items I discovered was a wedding announcement for Maggie Coventry aka Margaret Jane Coventry and a Mr. W. T. Campbell.
Picture
Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), 1 Aug 1901, p. 2
CAMPELL-COVENTRY - At the residence of the Bride's parents, Kenlis, Assa., on Wednesday, 10th July 1901, by Rev. A. Robson, Mr. W. T. Campell to Miss Maggie Coventry, daughter of David Coventry.

From the same newspapers I've found the obituary for Fred's father, David Coventry, as well as the brief announcement on Louie's death. They are both almost illegible due to the inking process and I need to decipher them. However, I've read enough to know that David Coventry's daughter, Mrs. W. T. Campbell (Margaret Jane) lives in Vancouver, BC and his other daughter, Mrs. C. F. Powell, lives in Alberta. So it's not Maggie in Alberta, but rather Mary Catherine whom I thought stayed in Ontario. (I've updated last week's Genealogy Note 1)


Genealogy Note 2 - The Lennox Picnic

Can't you just picture 16 yr old Sadie in this week's letter as she stands by the door watching all the rigs and outfits (autos and conveyances) filled with excited people as they make their way to the Lennox Picnic? 

I love the part where Ethel's ma writes on page 7, "Sadie is looking bad she is holding her mouth on one side she looks so cross."
For more info on the Lennox Picnic, check the Genealogy Note 3 on July 2: Dear Noah. Here is a news article about the post 1911 Lennox Picnic:

Picture
The Newmarket Era. July 28, 1911 - Page: 5, Part 1
That's 15,000 people attending the Conservative Party's annual picnic and a good portion of those people drove right past the Nelson farm where Sadie stood by the door watching them go by. No wonder she felt she was missing out. 

However, other snippets tell of pickpockets in the crowd, as well as people coming home with empty pockets due to buying the refreshments. Many people commented that their neighbors either got home late and loud, or didn't get home until the next day. By most accounts, it sounds more like a 'liberal' party than a 'conservative' one. 
Picture
The Newmarket Era. July 28, 1911 - Page: 5, Part 2

1911 Courtship: June 15 Dear Noah

4/14/2013

 
Picture
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
Picture
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

Picture
2.
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.

Picture
3.
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.

Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 6
Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 6 (Under Belhaven)
Picture
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. Australia) Monday 12 June 1911 Page 7

Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 5

Picture
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.

Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 Pg 3
Picture
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.

Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 6
     Rev. Hugh Ross and Ross Milne es-
caped serious injury Sunday by the
falling of a wind mill at Richard
Young's, caused by the wind storm.

Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 Pg 1
Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 Pg 6
Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 16, 1911 - Page: 8

1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah

2/17/2013

 
May 14th, 1911 was Canada's 2nd ever Mother's Day, and it's how Ethel starts this week's Courtship letter. 
Clipping from the Newmarket Era  
5 May 1911, p. 1. 
Picture
Northern Pacific Railway postcard for Mother's Day, ca 1916
Picture

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:  May 14, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... Dear Noah
Mailed  from:  Belhaven, Ontario
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 turned it clockwise and written straight across the whole width so technically, there are only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover
- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- Maud *Bruels
- Grover Morrison - a young man from the nearby village of Baldwin
- **Mrs. Deverell  mother of *Herbert Deverell - **updated info below!
- *Uncle Emanuel Nelson - brother of James Henry Nelson
- *Manuel  - Emanuel Nelson - Ethel's little brother 

More info on the *Fire(s) and current *market prices were posted under 1911 Courtship: May 14? Dear Ethel.


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


Picture
Bellhaven. May 14.1911.

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

Dear Noah, --
                     Well here I am again
with some more of my scribbling
I have just come home from
Church. Mr. Fletcher of Keswick
Christian Church preached.
To-day was Mothers day
Everybody was supposed to
wear a white flower.
                I was home with 
Maud Bruels to-night for tea
Grover Morrison took her home
from Church. He was driving a
colt and say I just had to
jump for my life to get out of the rig.

Picture
2.
      Oh Noah I got your letter last night
asking me to try and think that I would
be able to go home with you the first of
August if you came down. Oh Noah I do so
wish you could come, but just think, of my leaving 
Ma with so much extra work that she will
have this summer building the barn.
I believe if our barn had not of burned I
would have said yes, without any hesitation.
It is'nt the lack of love for you (on my part)
that keeps me here. Now Noah what do you
say? Considering all. Oh if you were only here
so that I could talk and tell you everything and
just how I feel about it.
         Stanley Mahoney and his May were up to
Church to-night. I heard to day Morn Yorke
was to married in June. 
     Mrs. Deverell has been visiting at Mrs. Bruels
a couple of days. I guess she feels awfully 
bad about Herb's death. 
         We heard yesterday that there had
averaged a barn burning each day this
week except Saturday. Ours Monday, Rialton's 
on Tuesday. they caught fire in just the
same place. Riddels on Wed, one near
Newmarket on Thursday, and a fire on
Friday we heard was Moleses barn.

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   We got Eleven Hundred
insurance. Everyone has been so
good. It shows you who your
true friend's are. No we have not
killed that dog yet. It was'nt
the dog's fault. Manuel was teasing
him. Uncle Emanuel is very sick 
we are afraid he'll not recover.
Miss Hunt speaks of you each time
I see her.
    Well how do you like batching it
alone. I often think of you, and
wonder what you are doing. haha
wether you are mixing bread or not.
Ethel would do your baking for
you would'nt she? I guess you can
tell by my writing about what my
pen is like, it scratches. Everyone
is well here in body. but rather
down hearted since the fire. I think
I must close for this time. with all
love I say good-Bye from your 
                                                    Sweetheart,
x x x x x x x x (Ethel Nelson)

Genealogy Notes

This week's genealogy notes are in 2 parts:
1. The Deverell's
2. Uncle Emanuel

The Deverell's

A few weeks ago, I talked about the death of Herbert Deverell under Genealogy Notes in the post, 1911 Courtship: May 1 Dear Noah, and how many circumstances matched - and didn't match - Noah's mother, Sarah Sophia Deverell. 

In that post, I stated the facts as I know them and then said,
but they can't be siblings for the following reasons:

1. they share the same birth year but were born a couple months apart
2. their parents have the same names & jobs, but not the same birth years
3. if they were siblings, William would show up on Sarah's 1861 census. 

So what relation are Charles and Herbert to Sarah Sophia? 

On the right is the obituary of Elder W. Deverell taken from The Newmarket Era May 11, 1888, Page 2.

The copy reads:
        Another aged pilgrim has fallen in the
person of Eld. W. Deverell who departed
this life April 22, 1888, at the advanced
age of 81 years.  Deceased was taken ill
while on a visit at the home of his son-in-law Mrs. D. Draper, but his illness was of short duration...

According to that, Sophia's father, a minister, died at her own home since  she was married to David Draper. 

However, if you read the final line of this obituary, it says he left a wife and six children to mourn his loss. 

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The crux of the above summation is that last line because according to the family tree,  Sophia had 5 siblings.  So taking that, the above questions, and the fact that William Deverell is a very common name into consideration, the other William Henry Deverell family didn't fit with ours. 

Update: Well, guess what? I was searching for family names in The Newmarket Era this week,  and found this little, notation in a 1900 edition... 
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BOOM! And there it is - the missing piece. Louie is Noah's sister. Their mother is Sarah Sophia Deverell. But how does William Deverell of Toronto fit in the picture if Sarah already has 5 siblings already? I went back to Elder W. Deverall's obit and read that last line again. This time I realized that it doesn't say he has 6 children... it says he's leaving 5 of them behind. What if one had already died? I checked the family tree again and wouldn't you know it... Frances Jane Deverell died in 1876, 12 yrs before. With her passing, that left a widow and 6 children to mourn his loss, including both Sophia and William, so yes, he is her brother. 

As for the dates, I've discovered that Wm Deverell of Toronto was born one year before Sophia, so he is, in fact, one year older than her. As for the parents' dates, I have to assume mine are right - at least for Elder William Deverell based on his obituary.

And that explains why Ethel felt it necessary to send Herbert's obituary with her letter. 


Uncle Emanuel

In this week's letter, Ethel mentions that her Uncle Emanuel is very sick. When she first mentions him back in Courtship Letter Apr 9 Dear Noah, I thought her Uncle Emanuel lived close to them in Belhaven because he was the one who told her father not to sell the farm. 

***Update... Uncle Emanuel is the one who lives close to Belhaven! Uncle Emanuel Nelson (of Ontario) is the brother of Henry Nelson (of Iowa) which makes him the uncle of Ethel's dad, James Nelson. I was confusing Uncle Emanuel Nelson with Emanuel Francis Nelson (son of Henry Nelson and Eliza Crouch) who is down in Iowa. Clear as mud?



1911 Courtship: May 14? Dear Ethel

2/10/2013

 
Since Noah's letter mentions the devastating fire at Ethel's farm, this week's genealogy notes will concentrate on that event. 
Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated:  May ? (Suspect  May 14 - see below)
Addressed to: Miss E.Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dear Ethel 
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer 
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks grey in places and pencil-like in others.
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. The paper is ripped on the first page so we can't read the date, but because Noah writes every week with his last letter dated May 7th, and his next one dated May 21st, the evidence is there that this is dated May 14th, 1911. 

People/places mentioned in this letter:

Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, Noah's widowed mother 
Bertha - wife of Noah's cousin, *Stewart Trueman Draper of Indian Head, Sask
*Louie - Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Draper, married to Fred Coventry
*Veda - 16 yr old daughter of  Noah's sister, Eva & Joseph Perrault who live nearby
*Joe - Veda's father, Joseph Perrault

** The Belhaven fires

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



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Grand Coulee M----------
Miss. E. Nelson,
        Belhaven, Ont.
Dear Ethel ; -
     Received your letter
last week and was glad to
hear you were still in the 
land of the living. Hope
you are well as this leaves
me at present.
      So you have had a fire
eh. Well it is a good thing
no one was killed. you dont
know how it started.
     Well I was home all day
Sunday. & have not been
to church for two weeks

Picture
    so I must be getting bad.
     Mother came home Saturaday
       ght & Bertha and the children
         me up with her. They
        e going home tonight.
      Mother & Bertha went down
to Louies today.
       Well we had a great old
rain yesteraday it must
have fell about 3" of water.
but it is fine today.
     Have not sowed my oats
yet but guess I will sow
them as soon as it drys up.
     Say Sadie has not had 
her final examinations yet
has she.

Picture
Am going into the Coulee
to night base ball pratice
We play Pense on the 24th.
     Veda is in Regina now
doctoring with her hands.
I guess they will cure them
all right.
     Joe has the frame of his
barn up but it will take
about a month yet to finish
it.
     Say didnt you get my card
you didnot say any thing
about it.
     Well Ethel you know
them five words allright
and all remains is to say them

Picture
Well Idont want you to
think I am so selfish as it
may seem Ethel. & I guess
you will have lots to do
there for a while. Eh.
     Well I guess I will have
to close once more for I
do not know what to
write outside of a lot
of foolishness &. I will leave
that unsaid this time.
     So Bye Bye .Write soon
to your Loving Friend
& future Hubby.
  X   X   X       N.C.D.


Genealogy Notes

Here's the newspaper article about the fire that burned the barn at Ethel's place in Belhaven...

Clipped from The Newmarket Era. May 12, 1911 - Page: 6
Picture
BELLHAVEN.
     The 5th paragraph down is about the barn fire at Ethel's place:    

     Mr. James Nelson's barn was burn-
ed on Monday and Mr. Roy Murrell's
on Tuesday. We sympathize with
them. Mr. Nelson's barn was com-
pletely destroyed, together with three
calves, five fat pigs, poultry, imple-ments etc. The wind was blowing
from a favorable quarter, so that his
dwelling was saved. The loss of
barn, and contents will probably
reach from $1500 to $2000. There
was a small insurance on barn and
contents.  Mr. Nelson was not at
home when the fire first commenced,
but returned before it was all over.

It's estimated that Ethel's family lost $1500 to $2000 all things considered. That doesn't seem like much by today's standards, but to put it into perspective, here's what costs were back in May 1911:
Picture
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Newmarket lies halfway between Belhaven and the city of Toronto. I know it's hard to read, but a pound of butter costs between 16 and 25 cents between the 2 markets, while potatoes are from between 80 cents and 1.05 a 100 pound bag. Put in that light, the Nelson's have lost a huge amount.
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