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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.

1911 Courtship: Mar 26, Dear Noah

10/21/2012

We've been posting the letters of Noah Draper of Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan, and Ethel Nelson of Belhaven, Ontario, who began exchanging courtship letters in February 1911. The last letter published was Mar 20, Dear Ethel however, the links to all the letters are listed here.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:   March 26th, 1911
Addressed to: Mr N. C. Draper, Grand Coulee
Mailed from:  Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink
Written on: Slightly thick, textured linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Once again, Ethel has written page 2 and 3 lengthwise so you have to turn the letter after the first page and then turn it back for the final page.

People mentioned in this letter:

- Maud Bruels - friend of Ethel, I'll add a post card from her soon
- Frank Tomilson and Bessie Chapman*
- Stanley Mahoney and May Anderson*
- Elgin Barker and Ada Boadway*
- Veda - (Veda Perrault, daughter of Noah's sister, Eva & Joseph Perault)
- Jim Barker*

- Update on the Draper move west posted below under Genealogical Notes*

Belhaven Mar 26th 1911

Mr. N.C. Draper,
        Grand Coulee,
My Dear Noah. --
                    I have just come
home from Church, and I am
very thankful . I am here . for it
is raining quilt hard. There were
not many out, I guess it was
to dark.
                     Maud Bruels came
home with us from Sunday
School and stayed for tea. Say. she
is quilt a girl. She is talking of
going out to British Columbia in about
     two weeks.

            Do you remember Frank Tomilson!
He is engaged to Bessie Chapman.
They say she is only sixteen. I think
She is to young. (just like myself.) dont you?
They are to be married in June.
Stanley Mahoney and May Anderson.
are also engaged, and Elgin Barker and
Ada Boadway Suppose there are lots
more.
        Will you soon be starting seeding?
I don't think it will be long before they
get started here. Pa has hired a foreigner
for a while, He is quilt a musician.
         Well Noah I wish you did not
live so far away. I think if you were
nearer here time would pass or seem to
pass much quicker. for me anyway.
           Hope you are having a good
time all these days.
           Suppose Veda is studying hard
ready to try for her Entrance.

   Was reading a story in one of
your magazines last night
"River Robers." I think it was fine.
Am reading Uncle Tom's Cabin now.
It is quite nice.
       Jim Barker starts for the West
next Monday. I dont know just what
post he is going to. I think I have
did some poor writing to night,
as you say all blots & blurs & blunders
are kisses. I think there are a good
many of them.
             I can't think of any thing
much more that I can write. But
if you were only here. Guess I could
talk awhile. If I was'nt to overjoyed,
Will be looking for your letter.
and waiting for the time when it will
be you I am looking to see come. Good-Bye
    xxx              x x x          from Yours. Ethel

Genealogy Notes

*Frank Tomilson and Bessie Chapman: Finding these two was more difficult because I assumed Bessie would be listed under an official name like Elizabeth. Nope. My initial search for Frank Tomilson and Elizabeth Chapman didn't offer any appropriate choices. But when I searched for Bessie Chapman alone, I found a 1901 census with an 8 yr old Bessie Chapman living in Ethel's area. In the sidebar of that page was a suggested list of relevant records which
included a 1911 census. The census was taken in June of that year and lists Bessie as being 17 yrs old with a birthday in Dec.

Yet another suggested relevant record was Bessie's marriage certificate to Frank Tomilson. I pulled it up and guess what? It shows that Frank married Bessie on Aug 16, 1911 except it lists Bessie's age as 19 yrs old...

Isn't that funny how a person can age a couple years in a few months. 'Nuff said.

*Stanley Mahoney and May Anderson: The Mahoney's have been mentioned twice in these letters so far:
- Mar 12, Dear Noah - a brief mention about Mr. Mahoney's buggy
- Mar 20, Dear Ethel - an explanation of the Mahoney Family
According to the 1911 census, 22 yr old Stanley Mahoney is one of Della's younger brothers. When I clicked on Stanley, suggested relevant records showed up in the sidebar of his census record and one of them was a marriage record which showed that Stanley Mahoney and Edith Mae Anderson would marry in Belhaven on June 17th, 1912. According to Voters Lists, the Stanley Mahoney family would stay in the area for many years.

*Elgin Barker and Ada Boadway: I searched for Elgin Barker with a spouse named Ada and their location as Gwillimbury Township, York County, Ontario, Canada - the same location as Ethel - and the first thing that popped up was their marriage certificate. Here's their story... In Oct of 1912, 28 yr old Elgin and 22 yr old Ada would marry in nearby Sutton. There is no mention of Elgin and Ada in the 1916 Census for the Canadian NorthWest Territories (now Saskatchewan), so we don't know if they ever made it to the West. However, in Nov of 1919, Elgin Barker, his wife, Ada, and their 4 children crossed the international border at Niagara Falls with a destination of New York. While searching the newspaper for info on Elgin Barker, this showed up:

However, while checking the newspaper to see if Jim Barker ever went west, I came upon this notice:

BELHAVEN.

    Prof. Dales...
    Mr. Elgin Barker, Mr. Harold
Winch, Mr. Orman Willoughby and
Mr. Orville King left for the West
this week. They will appreciate home
when they land in Ontario in the
fall.
    If reports are true, bells are ring-
ing already, though there are no
signs of sleighing yet.

I didn't find Jim Barker going West yet, but it seems that Elgin Barker went west before he married Ada Boadway and emigrated to the U.S.

According to other reports in this Newmarket newspaper, the sound of bells is used when there's a rumour of impending marriage but it hasn't officially been announced. I assume this is the rumour of engagement between Elgin and Ada.

*Update on when Noah's family moved West - Further to the last update which I'm still thanking Geoff Bowerman for, I found a bit more information about Noah's father, David Draper. We know David Draper moved his family west in 1903 after Noah finished school, but apparently he didn't sell his land at that time. Perhaps he wanted to hang on to it in case the upheaval didn't work out. He may have rented it for a while, too, but whatever the case, it was the end of 1904 when he got around to selling his farm in Ontario:

David Draper Auction Sale, Newmarket Era, pg 3, Nov 25, 1904

When I searched the old newspapers for an obituary for Noah's father, I found this:

David Draper Obituary, Newmarket Era, pg 6, dated July 2, 1909.

1906 Percy's Policy

7/2/2012

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

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.

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.

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.

1913: Spring Letter from Sadie Nelson

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Mar 26, Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1906 Percy's Policy

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