In the continuing story of Noah and Ethel, I’m posting the letters, cards, and other bits of historical papers I found in the treasure box collected by Ethel and handed down to my husband. For a list of corresponding posts, check the Genealogy Post Index.
This past week, I went through the final envelope which contained a haphazard collection of legal documents from several generations. Some of them are private, but others should be posted for their historical value, and genealogical information. That's why I'm presenting this life insurance policy - it gives genealogical information about the Draper Family and helps answer the question of when they moved to Saskatchewan.
Life Insurance Document:
Company: The Supreme Court of the Independent Order of Foresters
Benefit Member: Percy R. Draper of Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan
Beneficiary: Sarah Draper (nee Deverell)
Relationship: Mother
Amount of Policy: 1000 Dollars or 200 pounds sterling
Dated: 19 November 1906 in Toronto, Ontario
Writing instrument: Black Inked pen
This past week, I went through the final envelope which contained a haphazard collection of legal documents from several generations. Some of them are private, but others should be posted for their historical value, and genealogical information. That's why I'm presenting this life insurance policy - it gives genealogical information about the Draper Family and helps answer the question of when they moved to Saskatchewan.
Life Insurance Document:
Company: The Supreme Court of the Independent Order of Foresters
Benefit Member: Percy R. Draper of Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan
Beneficiary: Sarah Draper (nee Deverell)
Relationship: Mother
Amount of Policy: 1000 Dollars or 200 pounds sterling
Dated: 19 November 1906 in Toronto, Ontario
Writing instrument: Black Inked pen
Tri-folded 1906 Life Insurance Policy for Percy R. Draper.
The policy is tri-folded so the centre block with Percy's name, his address, the amount, and the policy number are on the outside and the two flaps fold inside.
When fully opened, the 'benefit certificate' measures 12 inches x 19 inches. I find it strange that the policy isn't in Percy's handwriting, nor is it signed by him. I base this fact on his handwritten postcard to Noah in the post, 100 Year Old Postcards.
When fully opened, the 'benefit certificate' measures 12 inches x 19 inches. I find it strange that the policy isn't in Percy's handwriting, nor is it signed by him. I base this fact on his handwritten postcard to Noah in the post, 100 Year Old Postcards.
1906 Life Insurance Policy for Percy R Draper
Please excuse the reproduction quality of these images. Since I didn't want to create new folds in this 106 year old document by photocopying it, my only choice was taking photos.
In case you can't make out the detail of the header image, I'm showing it below again and hoping it's better quality.
In case you can't make out the detail of the header image, I'm showing it below again and hoping it's better quality.
1906 The Supreme Order of Foresters Whole Life Benefit Certificate.
With the document folded in half once again, you read where Percy named his mother, Sarah Draper as his sole beneficiary. By naming his mother, the document tells us that in November 1906, Percy was still a single man, because if he had been married, he would have named his wife as his beneficiary instead of his mother.
1906 Life Insurance Policy naming Sarah Draper as beneficiary
Through this post, I hope others looking into their genealogies will realize that one document or one small newspaper clipping won't give a complete picture of your ancestors. However each is small puzzle piece in the overall picture of your past. When placed in a timeline, those small bits of information flow together to tell the story of how you came to be where you are today.
Some good news:
A welcome event happened this week due to the posting of material from Ethel's treasure box... one of the Draper descendants commented on 1909: To Noah, A Letter From Home and as well as 100 Year Old Postcards and left valuable information which has solved the first major puzzle of this story.
Thank you going out to Geoff Bowerman who commented that David Draper moved his wife, Sarah, and their children, Percy, Louie, Jennie, and Noah to the NorthWest Territories (now Saskatchewan) in 1903. He based this on Noah and Ethel's 1912 marriage certificate.
Since I have that document listed as a citation for proof of their marriage, I went to take a closer look at it and indeed, Mr. Geoff Bowerman is correct. I had missed the line where it lists Noah as having lived in Grand Coulee as of 1903. Geoff was also correct about the bad handwriting, because I can't make out if they moved in June or July 1903. The word looks like Juny.
So what does this all mean? It means that the family moved west as soon as Noah - the youngest child - received his school certificate, dated July 1903, as shown in my post, Noah & Ethel 1887-1911.
In the story of Noah and Ethel, we now know:
- their place and date of birth
- when they completed school
- what they each did in the time leading up to their courtship year
Or do we? We still don't know why Noah was in Burk's Falls, Ontario on 25 Dec 1908. As a mixed farmer, he would be required on the farm during the winter months. Would he leave Sarah, Jennie and Louie alone to do the chores? Or were they strictly grain farmers?
I'll present another piece to the puzzle of Noah and Ethel next week.
A welcome event happened this week due to the posting of material from Ethel's treasure box... one of the Draper descendants commented on 1909: To Noah, A Letter From Home and as well as 100 Year Old Postcards and left valuable information which has solved the first major puzzle of this story.
Thank you going out to Geoff Bowerman who commented that David Draper moved his wife, Sarah, and their children, Percy, Louie, Jennie, and Noah to the NorthWest Territories (now Saskatchewan) in 1903. He based this on Noah and Ethel's 1912 marriage certificate.
Since I have that document listed as a citation for proof of their marriage, I went to take a closer look at it and indeed, Mr. Geoff Bowerman is correct. I had missed the line where it lists Noah as having lived in Grand Coulee as of 1903. Geoff was also correct about the bad handwriting, because I can't make out if they moved in June or July 1903. The word looks like Juny.
So what does this all mean? It means that the family moved west as soon as Noah - the youngest child - received his school certificate, dated July 1903, as shown in my post, Noah & Ethel 1887-1911.
In the story of Noah and Ethel, we now know:
- their place and date of birth
- when they completed school
- what they each did in the time leading up to their courtship year
Or do we? We still don't know why Noah was in Burk's Falls, Ontario on 25 Dec 1908. As a mixed farmer, he would be required on the farm during the winter months. Would he leave Sarah, Jennie and Louie alone to do the chores? Or were they strictly grain farmers?
I'll present another piece to the puzzle of Noah and Ethel next week.
