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WW1 Letters Home - Mar 28, 1917

5/11/2022

 
Picture
Charles Joel Draper and Gertrude Loretta Canniff

Author of Letter: Noah C Draper, 30 yrs old 
Dated:  March 28 / 17
Mailed from:  H.M.S. Bacchante 
Attached to: HMS Bacchante 
Profession:  Farmer, Temporary Sailor 
Rank: Ordinary Seaman, Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve 
Addressed to:  Mrs. N.C. Draper
Relationship: Wife 
Writing instrument:  Fountain Pen with Black Ink 
Writing Paper: 1 sheet 9" x 6" medium weight, smooth, linen-look, folded into a 4-page booklet form with the inside page written across the short width and then down the length like foolscap. The pages are not numbered. 
​

People mentioned in this letter:
Ethel* - Ethel Isabel Draper, 27 yrs old, Noah's wife of 6 yrs
​Alice* Prosser - daughter of Ethel's sister Sadie and Cecil Prosser 
George & Eliza - Noah's cousin George Draper & wife Eliza Hamilton  

Charlie**: Noah's cousin Charles* Joel Draper & Gertrude Canniff 
Mildred* aka Midge* - Noah and Ethel's eldest - born Sep 1913

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
Coast of Africa 
Texas

Word or Phrase Use:  
- 's - While posting these Courtship and WW1 letters, I have discovered that it was customary at the time to add an apostrophe and s ('s) at the end of a name to include the family. So when Noah asks about Charlie's, he's really asking how Charlie and his family are getting along.
​
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 History Notes below
​ 
​
Picture
H.M.S. Bacchante 
​March 28/17. 
Mrs. N.C. Draper,
     Keswick, Ont.
Dear Ethel;-
     Well we are in port 
again after 11 days trip 
along the coast of Africa I 
can not tell you where 
but will not be here I 
guess when you getthis, 
it is some change from 
Canada & I have been 
bare footed for 3 or 4 days 
& am getting so I like it.
     Have not been ashore 
yet. but hope to go before 
​
Picture
we leave as I would like to see a 
little of each country we touch 
port at.
     I hope you are all well as this leaves 
me at present, how is Alice getting 
along I hope she is better before 
this. I suppose Cecil & Sadie 
have moved by this. & also 
George & Eliza have gone West? 
     How is Charlie's getting along 
& how do they like the Canadian 
winter? I have not written to
him yet but will send him 
a card.
     Well I see they have the German 
troops on the move if they can 
only keep them going it will 
be worth while, eh. Hope the 
U.S. soon makes up their mind 
to come in & do a little bit for 
the sake of humanity. you often 
hear them spoken of among 
the sailors as cowards whitch 
​we know is not so although it ​

Picture

​does look as if they are 
to proud to fight on 
anything but paper. 
     Well I will be glad 
when a mail boat 
comes here as it will 
shurely have some 
mail for me, have not 
had a letter for over 
3 weeks, but we will 
get used to that I guess.
     Well I guess I will 
close for this time 
Tell Mildred I would 
like to see her calf but 
guess I will have to wait 
a while. Bye Bye. Love & XX N.C.
                                        Draper
​

History Notes​


​There is one History note for this letter of March 28, 1917
History Note 1 - Charlie Draper

Noah has once again mentioned Charlie in this letter: "How is Charlie's getting along & how do they like the Canadian winter? I have not written to him yet but will send him a card."

So when did Charlie return to Canada?

Charlie is Charles Joel Draper, eldest son of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart whom we explored in the last letter. 

Charlie was born about 1873 and moved down to Texas sometime after the 1891 Canada census. Although I can't find him on the 1900 U.S. census, nor the 1901 Canada census, the local newspaper that serves the Keswick area shared this tidbit in 1901 about Charlie gifting Stephen with a cowboy hat.

On Christmas Day, Dec 25, 1902, Charlie married Gertie Loretta Canniff, a New Yorker living in the Houston area. The License clipping on the right is the only announcement I've found of their marriage.

Charlie shows up in the 1903, 1905, and 1907 Houston city directories as a painting contractor.

The 1910 U.S. census shows Charles Draper, Painting Contractor, married to Gertrude, and residing in Harris County, Texas. Their household shows 2 children: Clyde S 6 yrs, and Charles J Jr one month. And although the census record shows Charlie as being born in the US, it's not an error to be concerned about since a neighbour might have volunteered the info when the census taker came along.
​
And then I found a Border Crossing Manifest for a CJ and Gertrude Draper crossing from the US to Canada on April 15, 1916. The couple were coming from Texas with a destination of Keswick, Ontario. But there weren't any children travelling with them, and although their birth dates were close enough, the manifest stated that CJ Draper was an American born in the US.

That's interesting because a birth record for him hasn't shown up on any searches or family trees. Yet.

However, it was enough to confirm that Charlie and Gertie moved back to Keswick the spring of 1916. 
 
When Stephen Draper died in February 1919 his obituary stated that Charles J is on the old homestead. (see clipping on right) That confirmed that Charlie and Gertie are living with his mom at Cedar View Farm.

In the March 15, 1918 issue of the Newmarket Era, an article caught my eye because of the title, Houston Woman as Steamboat Pilot.
I was interested in the facts since I was researching female steamboat pilots at the time, but the final paragraph totally surprised me as it came out of the blue..."Mrs. Griffin is a sister of Mrs. C. J. Draper of "Cedar View Farm" at Keswick, Ont."

More research not only confirmed that Gertie's sister Maud E Conniff married George C Griffin, owner of a Houston sand and gravel business, but that Maud and George were married on that same Christmas Day of Dec. 25, 1902 as Gertie and Charlie.

Interestingly, another tangible piece of evidence we have that Charlie and Gertie Draper were now living in Canada is from the Newmarket Era who printed a series of letters received from families of local boys serving overseas. A letter from Fred Hepple was published on Feb 22, 1918 and is too long to display here, but it goes like this:
The following letter was received by Mrs. C. J. Draper of Keswick:
Jan. 1st, 1918 
Somewhere in France 
My dear mother, and Mrs Chas. Draper, and all at home... 
...I must not forget to thank Charlie and wife for contents of parcel, although I have never seen them and hold them as dear as you, and am waiting for that glorious day when I can have a good chat with Charlie."

It is signed, "Your boy, Fred Hepple."


I can only assume that the Hepples and Drapers are close friends in Keswick and that Fred was very young when Charlie, the oldest of Stephen and Martha's children, moved to the US. This would also explain why Fred mentions George and Eliza, Charlie, Stuart/Stewart, and Edith in his letters. (see WW1 Letters Home Mar 22, 1918 for more info on the family)

On the right, I'm posting a clipping of the second letter from Fred Hepple which was published in the Newmarket Era on Aug 23, 1918. In this letter, Fred is in Germany and in the final paragraph we find that he's sending his letters to the Draper family to be read to his own mom.

On April 3, 1919, following Stephen Draper's death, Ontario Land Records show that Cedar View Farm on Lot 3 of the 4th Concession at Keswick was left to Martha and the children they'd had together, with Charlie being considered the head of the family. The record also shows that in February 1924, Charlie paid off his siblings. The legal work was finalized on May 1, 1924 with the notation that George, Stewart, Almeda, and Edith had quit their claim...and Charlie was home to stay.

So how were the Charlie's getting along with our Canadian winter? I'll let you know when I find out. 
Picture
Charles Joel Draper and Gertrude Loretta Canniff
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Newmarket Era. August 23, 1918

WW1 Letters Home - Mar 22, 1917

5/1/2022

 
Picture
Stephen Draper and Martha Elitia Rothwell Barnhart. Courtesy of Heidi Draper.

Author of Letter: Noah C Draper, 30 yrs old 
Dated:  March 22 / 17 
Mailed from: Unknown port
Attached to: HMS Bacchante 
Profession:  Farmer, Temporary Sailor 
Rank: Ordinary Seaman, Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve 
Addressed to:  Dear Ethel 
Relationship: Wife 
Writing instrument:  Fountain Pen with Black Ink 
Writing Paper: 1 sheet 9" x 6" medium weight, smooth, linen-look, folded into a 4-page booklet form. Noah wrote on the first page, opened it flat and wrote page 2 on the right side, then turned the paper sideways and wrote page across the width, and then finally closed the letter on the final page (beside page 1). 

People mentioned in this letter:
Ethel* - Ethel Isabel Nelson, 27 yrs old, Noah's wife of 6 yrs 
​Alice* Prosser - daughter of Ethel's sister Sadie and Cecil Prosser 
Ethel Maud* - Noah's sister who married William Albert Rigler*
​
Percy* - Noah's brother who married Parthena Fisher 
Mr Butts - Noah & Ethel's hired* man back in Saskatchewan 
George* & Eliza** - cousin George Draper & Eliza Hamilton (Sask farmers) 
JD* and Mildred aka Midge* - Noah and Ethel's children/calls babies 

​
Places/things mentioned in this letter:
Bacchante - HMS Bacchante* 
​Regina - Saskatchewan city 10 miles east of Noah & Ethel's farm 
Indian Head - Saskatchewan town east of Regina on main highway 
Winnipeg - Manitoba city east of Regina, Gateway to the West 
​
​

Word or Phrase Use: 
​

​
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 History Notes below 
​
Picture
 March 22/17. 
Dear Ethel;- 
     Well we are still at sea 
but the mail closes at 
6 P.M. so the censurer 
on board will be able 
to get through them 
all before they are 
sent back. it is very 
very hot here & I am 
thousands of miles 
from England. I am 
feeling fine & hope you 
are all the same I 
suppose Alice is all 
​
Picture
right by this time.
     Say where are all the 
boys from around there 
are they in England or 
France, have not saw 
anyone from there 
yet. but there is one 
man on board here 
from Regina & one 
​from Indian Head. 
& quite a number from 
the West of Winnipeg. 
​       There may be some 
mail waiting for us 
when we reach port 
I hope so any way. 
​
Picture
Have you heard from the West 
lately & are you going out 
in the Spring. I have not 
heard from Ethel or Mr. Butts 
​but the letter I had from Percy 
he said he was getting 
along all right. I suppose 
George & Eliza have gone 
home before this. how did 
she like it in Ontario for 
​a change.
​
Picture
Well the war ​seems
​to be progressing 
very favorably for the 
allies & I hope it will 
soon be over but 
you can not tell how 
long it is going to 
last. eh. 
     Well I guess J.D. &
Mildred will be a lot 
bigger when I get back 
even if the war was 
to end at once. Well 
good bye for this time 
kiss the babies for me. 
Love to all. N.C. Draper
​
​

History Notes​

There is one History note for this letter of March 22, 1917
​​
History Note 1 - George Draper and his siblings

You'll often see the names of Noah's cousins mentioned in these WW1 letters, and the previously posted Noah and Ethel's Courtship letters, as well as other siblings in the family of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart. Stephen is the brother of Noah's father, David Draper. David moved his family out west in 1903, as soon as Noah completed his schooling. Although Stephen lived on and continued the family farm/homestead in Ontario, his children bought farms in the west, and then spent many of their winters near family back in Ontario. 

You can find posts on the history of these cousins through these links:

- History of Stewart Draper and Bertha Hamilton 
- History of Edith Draper and Frank Kavanagh
- History of, and Letter from, George Draper and Eliza Hamilton 
- History of George and Stewart's wives (Hamilton family)

These are the other children of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart:
- Charles Joel - History note of next week's WW1 Letter
- Almeda Roscilla - Post coming soon
- Lena Marie 1890-1900
- Ernest Emery 1892-1893


The links above discuss many relatives and friends in the lives of Noah and Ethel. For more information on a certain person, use the search box at the top of the page, or the category list on the right. 

On a final note, I'd like to send a huge thank you to Heidi Draper for corroborating our family history and sharing a plethora of photographs, including many of the Barnhart family. 


WW1 Letters Home - Feb 26, 1917

3/13/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Cammell Laird Shipbuilders Advertisement in Brassey's Naval Annual 1915

​Author of Letter: Noah C Draper, 30 yrs old
Dated:  Feb 26 (1917)
Mailed from:  HMS Bacchante
Attached to: HMS Bacchante 
Profession:  Farmer, Temporary Sailor
Rank: Ordinary Seaman, Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve
Addressed to:  Mrs. N.C. Draper, Keswick, Ont. 
Relationship: Wife
Writing instrument:  Pencil
Writing Paper: 1 sheet 9" x 6" medium weight, smooth, linen-look, folded into 3 page booklet form, with the inside page written across and then down the length like foolscap. The pages are not numbered. 

People mentioned in this letter:
Ethel* - Ethel Isabel Nelson Draper, 27 yrs old, Noah's wife of 6 yrs 
Percy - Percy Roy Draper*, 33 yrs old, Noah's brother, lives in Sask
Ethel - Ethel Maud Draper Rigler*, 36  yrs old, Noah's sister, lives in Sask
George - George Draper*, 37, yrs old, cousin, lives near Battleford, Sask



Places/things mentioned in this letter:
​dry dock** See History Note 2
Chatham - city of Noah's previous posting while attached to HMS Pembroke
Liverpool - maritime city in northwest England across from HMS Bacchante
Regina - capital of Saskatchewan, 10 miles west of Noah's farm


Word or Phrase Use: 
​snapshot - photograph

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 History Notes below
​
Picture
16 Mess   Feb. 26 
H.M.S. Bacchante 
​G.P.O. London, Eng.
Mrs. N.C Draper 
     Keswick, Ont. 
Dear Ethel:- 
      Well we are in dry dock 
and may be here some 
time but will be glad 
to get to sea altho I 
will likely be sea 
sick again. HaHa.
     Well Ethel I hope you 
are all as well as this 
leaves me at present 
never felt better in 
my life. have not 
had any mail 
​
Picture
​since I left Chatham but am 
expecting it every day and 
looking for the box. HaHa. 
     Say I think we have a 
very fine Captain he said 
Sunday morning at prayers 
that he did not want any 
man to work under him 
on Sunday only what was 
absolutely necessary. 
     I was over to Liverpool last 
night and had my Photo 
taken am to get them tomorrow 
night am sending one in 
this letter I had taken in 
Chatham. it looks like 
H--l eh what? have not 
received them snapshots 
yet. have you sent them 
and when. 
     Well I guess I will get out 
tomorrow night to post this.
have not heard anymore 
​​
Picture
about our leave so dont 
know wheather we will 
get it or not. 
     I have not heard from 
​Percy or Ethel yet so will 
have mail from them 
soon I expect suppose 
George will soon be 
going home that would 
be a good chance for 
you to go if you are 
thinking of going. & 
if I get to Canada I will 
try to get leave & get 
out to Regina & see them 
​all. Well I guess I will 
close so Bye Bye Love to All 
                  XXX  N.C Draper 


History Notes
​

There are 2 History notes for this letter of February 26, 1917:

History Note 1 -  Percy, Ethel, and George 

​Noah asks Ethel if she's heard from Percy, Ethel, or George yet. 

Percy and Ethel are 2 of Noah's living siblings. Percy married Parthena Fisher and live on the section east to Noah and Ethel (NE 
29-17-21-W2) at Adams, Saskatchewan.

Ethel Maud married William Rigler and live on the NW part of section 31, beside Noah and Ethel, who live on the NE part of the same section (31-17-21 W2), a half mile west of Percy's land. The Adams CNR siding is also on Noah's land. (See my post on C.N.R. at Adams, Saskatchewan)

A third sibling, Eva Amelia, married Andrew Perrault and live on land that adjoins the town of Grand Coulee, 3.5 miles southeast of Adams as the crow flies.

George Draper is Noah's 1st cousin, brother of Stewart Draper who is often mentioned in Noah's letters. George married Eliza Alberta Hamilton and farmed land in the District of Battleford, Saskatchewan during the time of these letters.

When Noah says that George will be going home soon, he is referring to the fact that George and Eliza are spending the winter months in Ontario with family, just like Ethel is doing while Noah is away. Noah and Ethel did the same for years and Noah is using this as a prod to get her to go back to their own farm in Saskatchewan now that winter is almost over.
​
Picture
Draper sisters (L to R) Sarah Louisa, Eva Amelia, Ethel Maud, and Jennie (sitting), about 1910
 
History Note 2 - Dry Dock 

In this letter, Noah says he is dry dock and might be there for some time, but doesn't say why. Dry docks, also called graving docks, are used when a ship needs to clean or repair the hull. Over time, sea-going vessels suffer a buildup of marine life such as barnacles that can damage the hull if not cleaned off on a regular basis. This can be done in or out of water, but a dry dock makes the job easier. Same for repairs. A dry dock allows the ship to sail into a box-like structure where a door, such as a canal lock, can close behind it creating a seal between the dry dock and the sea water. The dry dock is then drained of water leaving the ship on a support system which stops the vessel from toppling over. The poster at the top of this post shows a drained dry dock system, while the photograph below shows a dry dock on the Birkenhead side of the River Mersey which may even have been the one that repaired the Bacchante in 1917. (More of that in a future letter.)

Picture
Graving dock NO 4, Cammell Laird Shipbuilding Yard, 2019. Courtesy of Phil Nash, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 & GFDL
0 Comments

Sep 1912: Letter from George Draper

5/25/2014

 
Picture
The Adams, SK house that Noah Draper built for Ethel Nelson in 1911 prior to their 1912 marriage. Photos courtesy of the Norma Draper Family Photograph Collection.
Picture
The Draper's house at Adam's, SK after enclosing the veranda in screens. Noah and Ethel's album says the front windows were blown out in the 1912 Regina cyclone.
In this week's letter, Noah's cousin George Draper comments that Noah probably witnessed the Storm from his place at Adams, SK.  Although Ethel didn't mention it in her post card in last week's post about the June 1912: Regina's F4 Cyclone, they may have spotted something because the distance along the track from the C.N.R. station in Regina to the siding in Adams is an official distance of 13 miles (20 km).


Author of Letter:  George Draper
Dated:  Sept 15th, 1912
Addressed to: Mr Noah Draper, Grand Coulee
Mailed  from:  Keswick (North Gwillimbury Twp, York County, Ontario)
Relationship: Paternal 1st cousin of Noah Draper
Profession:  Farmer
Writing  instrument: Blue-Black ink 
Written on: Textured ivory-colored notepaper 5" x 8", 2 pages written on the front only.


People/places mentioned in this letter:

- *Noah Draper, age 23 (Newlywed, moved west in 1905)
- *Ethel Nelson, age 21 (Newlywed, moved west Feb 1912 upon her marriage)
- *Stewart Draper - George's brother near Indian Head, SK
- *Joe Perrault - married to Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia, and
living near Grand Coulee
- *Will Rigler - married to Noah's sister, *Ethel Maud and living near Grand Coulee
- Aunty - Noah's mom, *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper
- *Edith & *Frank - George's sister, Edith who married Frank *Kavanagh


Places/things mentioned in this letter or in the Genealogy Notes:
- the storm - the 1912 Regina F4 cyclone I blogged about last week
- a man engaged - the hired man



Cliches/Phrases
- cuz - George signs the letter "your Cuz, Geo Draper"


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
Keswick  Sept 15th 1912

Mr. Noah Draper
                        Grand Coulee
Dear Noah.
                     Pretty near time I answered
your Card July 12th. was glad to
hear from you  My was'nt that
Cyclone desperate  Suppose you could
see the Storm from your place.  It
would certainly look fierce  Stewart said
He went & saw the ruins and is
going to send me some pictures of it
I got a letter from him on the 9th Sept
has all his wheat cut & oats
without Frost or Hail  pretty Lucky  I hope
you escaped the same  was your
crops pretty Good this year. It dont
seem long ago. since Iwas up 
there with you. driveing around
through the wheat.  How is Aunty

Picture
2
I hope She is well.  is She liveing
with you or Ethel Rigler
we are not through Harvest yet Barley
to Draw yet & some Peas to cut. & Draw
Pretty slow In Ont, Eh. But In order to have
a crack shot He has to come from
North Gwillimbury and show Noah how to
tumble the Ducks.  no doubt you have 
said to your self many times | if I
could only shoot like | George Draper |
I would give a good deal | But you
may learn after a long time.  of
course I showed you quite a Bit.
I am going up at the Head of the Baye
Tomorrow to shoot a few Doz Ducks
Come along Noah and I will give you
another Lesson  It is raining to
Beat the Devil to Day we have had a
Desperate lot of Rain this Summer.
Come East this Winter and we will do
nothing but Fish I have a Man Engaged
for the Winter & I am going to Fish
everyDay  Come along  I know Ethel
would like to come Home  guess Edith
& Frank are comeing for the Winter
write me Noah soon  With kind Regards
   to all In your Home   your Cuz GeoDraper


Genealogy Notes

George Milburn Draper has been mentioned several times in Noah & Ethel's 1911 Courtship letters - most recently Feb 1912: Letter from Noah's Cousin, Edith Draper. 

On Sep 23rd, 1908 George, 28 yrs old, bachelor farmer, married Eliza Alberta Hamilton, 23 yrs old, Spinster, daughter of David Hamilton & Priscilla Stevenson. George and Eliza both reside in North Gwillimbury, and both attend the Christian church. 

The 1911 census finds George and Eliza living on the Draper Homestead near Keswick in the house where he'd been born, where his father Stephen Draper had been born, and where his grandfather Joel Draper Jr had worked the crown-deeded virgin uncleared land when York County was first being settled. 

(Joel Draper Sr is my husband Nelson Clement Draper's 3rd great grandfather born 1789 in Boston, Mass)

Picture
1911 Canada census showing George and Eliza living on the Draper homestead along with his parents, Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart, and his unmarried sister, Edith.
I'm not sure where George's oldest brother, Charles J, is in 1911, but he'll eventually take over the family farm while the rest of the siblings headed west, returning to Ontario to spend the winters with family and friends. 

In this letter, George mentions driving through the wheat fields with Noah and although he doesn't give a date, we can surmise he's talking about the trip he took west during the summer of 1911, partly because of this clipping:

Picture
The Newmarket Era. August 18, 1911 - pg. 6
George also mentions the 1912 Regina cyclone in his letter, and how he's waiting for pictures from his brother Stewart, who's renting a farm at Indian Head, east of Regina. I don't have Stewart's photos, but if you haven't looked yet, check out last week's post for images of the ruins.

1913 finds George heading west on a business trip. Perhaps the trip was to buy land?
Picture
The Newmarket Era. October 3, 1913 - pg. 6
I only make that assumption because a mere 4 months later, George and Eliza are preparing to move to Wolfe, Saskatchewan.

Picture
The Newmarket Era. February 13, 1914
By the time the special 1916 Western Canada census rolled around, George's sister, Almeda and her husband, James Edward Baker  and their 2 children, Milburn and Ruby, had joined George and Eliza on their quarter section of land at Wolfe, RM of Reford, Saskatchewan.

It isn't until 1919 where we find the first mention of a child born to George and Eliza and that's thanks again to the newspaper back in York County:

Picture
The Newmarket Era. December 12, 1919 - pg. 2
George and Eliza named their son, Ernest David and there is no record of any siblings for him. I spent hours searching for Ernest.  Thanks to the Sask Genealogical Society, I found obits for an Ernest and Lillian Draper who retired from farming in the same area and moved to North Battleford. Every matched ... until I realized it couldn't be George's son because this Ernest was born in the late 1800's in Wisconsin and not 1919 in Saskatchewan. What a letdown.

George, Eliza, and Ernest show up on the 1921 Canada census and I have newspapaper clippings of them for a few years after that, but then they fall off the radar. A very brief - too brief and sketchy - description is given in the Landis Record history Book, where it shows them renting the land and moving back to Ontario until 1950, and then spending the summers at Wolfe, and the winters in York County. 

There's hope though because I still have Noah's WW1 letters to post and although we know where George and Eliza are during the war, I still have several years of Ethel's diaries from the 1940-50's left to go as well as a batch of letters which I glanced at but not made notes for. Hopefully somewhere in there is a clue to their whereabouts. 

Of course, if you have any information about this family - pictures would be lovely - please help us fill in the blanks:
  • George Milburn Draper
  • Eliza (Elizabeth) Alberta Hamilton
  • Ernest David Draper

Feb 1912: Noah's Cousin, Edith Draper

4/13/2014

 
Picture
1911 Togo, Saskatchewan, Canada. Courtesty of UofA Prairie Postcards Collection
Noah and Ethel are about to head West, but there was one event they would have attended before they left, and that was the wedding of Noah's cousin, Edith Draper, to Frank Kavanagh.

While blogging about Noah and Ethel's Courtship letters I couldn't help but notice how concerned Noah was about Edith and her siblings, his 1st cousins, the children of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart. If you recall, Stephen was the brother of Noah's father, David, and their 2 farms pretty much backed up to each other when Noah's family lived in North Gwillimbury.

In other posts I've detailed the lives of Stewart and George. Edith meanwhile was mentioned in these 1911 Courtship Letters:
  • Mar 5, Dear Noah - explains the spelling of Edith/Edythe
  • May 7 Dear Ethel - 1906 image of combined Draper family incl'g Frank
  • Aug 28 Dear Ethel - George Draper and his history
  • Sep 10 Dear Noah - Edith asks if she can go west with Ethel
  • Oct 15 Dear Noah - mentions that Edith will be married

As for the events leading up to Edith Draper marrying Frank Kavanagh, I found this humorous newspaper snippet: 
PictureThe Newmarket Era. December 13, 1907
   Miss Edyth Draper returned from 
the West a few weeks ago. She says 
it is too cold there for her. 

I laughed when I saw that, knowing she would eventually marry and move to the West. I figured she must love Frank very much and heartened at the thought of her deep love. But then I read the next snippet and realized Frank didn't head west until 1908. 

PictureThe Newmarket Era. May 15, 1908
The image at the top of this post shows what Togo, Sask looked liked in 1911. 

So if Frank wasn't out West in 1907, who did 22 yr old Edith go to visit? Noah has mentioned Edith's brother, Stewart Draper, many times in the Courtship letters, and Stewart and Bertha's daughter, Norma, submitted a very detailed write-up on her family in the local history book, From Basket to Bridge - White Bear, Kyle, Matador in which she wrote that her father, Stewart Truman Draper, rented land from Eli Williamson, east of Indian Head, in 1907 prior to homesteading in the White Bear area. 

Since Noah's family was already in Grand Coulee by that time, I'm guessing Edith visited her brother, Stewart, and Noah's family - her Uncle David and Aunt Sarah. 

So we know that Edith was a spinster, a farmer's daughter, and that she doesn't like the West because it's too cold. And although we don't know for sure that Frank and Edith are courting, there must have been a good reason for him to be included in this 1906 family photo. 
Picture
While Edith stayed in her Keswick, North Gwillimbury Township home, we can read a series of news snippets showing Frank's trips back to his family in Queensville, East Gwillimbury Township. It seems he still calls Queensville home and from the looks of these snippets, he made more trips than I could find in the Newmarket Era:
Picture
The Newmarket Era. December 24, 1909
Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 17, 1910
Picture
The Newmarket Era. September 30, 1910
Mr. W. H. Kavanagh mentioned in the middle snippet is Frank's father, William Harvey Kavanagh, b 1857, living in Queensville with an occupation as a butcher and auctioneer. 

That got me wondering what Frank's occupation was way out there in Togo, Sask, so I started researching the records. 

  • 1887 Birth Record for James Franklin Kavanagh, East Gwillimbury Twp
  • 1912 Marriage Record doesn't state an occupation
  • 1921 Canada census states Frank is a butcher

But where was he in the 1911 census? Not only that, but Noah and Ethel refer to Frank as living in Winnipeg. Even his marriage record states he's from Winnipeg. But Winnipeg was a big city even back then and I didn't have time to browse dozens? hundreds? of pages of census records. And where did Togo fit in all this? 

I spent hours searching for anything I could find about Togo and located it on a map north of the Transcontinental Railway line, just kissing the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border:

Picture
Google Map showing approximate route from Keswick, Ontario, to Winnipeg, Manitoba on the Transcontinental Railroad. From there, a person would have to take a secondary train to get to Togo, Saskatchewan.
As you can see from the map, Togo is a very long way from Keswick. I stopped researching and started cropping the snippets. But as I cropped the snippet for Frank's first trip west in 1908, I had an idea. It says Frank and Walter Kaiser went to Togo together. Could I find Walter Kaiser in the 1911 census, and if I did, would Frank still be with him? After all, 3 years had passed.  I pulled up the search box and typed in Frank Kaiser. The only other info I had for him was the locations of Ontario and Togo. 

Bingo! The first name that came up was a Walter Kaiser living in Togo, Sask. I pulled up the census and guess what... he was single, a lodger, and a butcher. And yep, right above him was the messy scribbled name of Frank Kavanagh. Why hadn't Frank come up in all the searches? Look for yourself:
Picture
Part of the 1911 Canada census for Togo, Saskatchewan (click to enlarge)
The top blue arrow is pointing to the messy scribbled name of Frank Kavanagh, Male, lodger, single, born Apr 1887, 26 yrs old, born in Ontario.  The blue arrow in the bottom Index points to Frenk Kewenigh which is what the transcriber saw when he/she looked at Frank's name, scribbled by the census taker.

We know the wedding is coming soon because of this following snippet:
PictureThe Newmarket Era. January 5, 1912
Lila is Frank's 17-yr-old sister and my belief is that the week she spent with Edith was a planning session for Edith's wedding. Although the post-wedding news article doesn't come right out and say that Lila is Edith's bridesmaid, it does state:

"...Miss Lila Kavanaugh sister of the groom, looked charming in shell pink satin with lace and gold fringe, and carried pink roses. The groom was assisted by Mr. J. C Purdy of Keswick..."

Here's the article about the Edith Draper & Frank Kavanagh wedding. Note that the article starts by misspelling Kavanagh with an 'u' and ends without it, as it should be spelled.  

Kavanagh-DraperWedding
Picture
The Newmarket Era. February 2, 1912
Since the wedding took place at Edith's home in Keswick, the reception took place about 8.5 miles away at the home of Frank's family in Queensville, East Gwillimbury Township.
Picture
Listed under KESWICK in The Newmarket Era. February 2, 1912
So Edith has married Frank Kavanagh who was living in Togo until the census was taken a few months prior to their marriage. The snippet says they're heading back to Frank's home in Winnipeg, yet I couldn't find them in Henderson's Winnipeg City Directory for 1911, 1912, or 1915.
PictureThe Newmarket Era. November 27, 1914
However, I found this snippet which places them in Manitoba in 1914. Winnipeg is in Manitoba, but not Togo which is just a spit away inside the Saskatchewan border. 
But where in Manitoba?

Again, we end a post with more questions. Feel free to jump in if you know the answers.

And now that Edith is married to Frank, there isn't anything to report on that would hold Noah and Ethel in Ontario. The next post then will be Noah guiding Ethel on her first trip to the West, and to her new home on the prairies at Adams, Saskatchewan.


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