Category: Huntsville

1911 Courtship: The 1912 Wedding

3/16/2014

The image on the top page of Noah Draper's and Ethel Nelson's 1912 four-page Marriage Certificate

It's finally here...

Noah's and Ethel's 1912 Wedding Day!

If you read last week's post, you know that Noah Draper is now with Ethel Nelson in the Belhaven area of York County, Ontario, and their wedding day is finally here. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate a photo of the happy event, although I was able to scan their Marriage Certificate when we visited Nelson's cousins, granddaughters of Noah and Ethel, last summer. Norma's girls are the holders of the albums and photos which I refer to as the Norma Draper Personal Photograph Collection.

Scanning the marriage certificate was very tricky though as I didn't want to disturb its 100 yr old appearance by undoing the polished twisted cotton string because I knew I'd never get it back in the same position and it would then end up looking messy. Instead, I scanned each page as best I could which means you don't get to see the ribbon running through the holes at the top, and have to trust me that it's there. The dark areas are from the scanning process due to the knotted string.

The handwriting in Noah's and Ethel's Marriage Certificate is written in black ink and it's approx 5 inches x 6.5 inches. Made of 4 vellum sheets tied together, there is a copyright notification on the bottom left cover as such: COPYRIGHT 1898, J. S. KENNARD.

1912 Marriage Certificate for Noah Draper & Ethel Nelson - front cover/Page 1

1912 Marriage Certificate for Noah Draper & Ethel Nelson - Page 2

1912 Marriage Certificate for Noah Draper & Ethel Nelson - Page 3

1912 Marriage Certificate for Noah Draper & Ethel Nelson - Page 4

1912 Marriage Certificate for Noah Draper & Ethel Nelson - back of Page 4

As usual, I wanted more, and since newspaper snippets of the wedding weren't included in either Ethel's Treasure Box, nor Norma's Collection, I pulled up The Newmarket Era looking for any information about Noah and Ethel surrounding this date. As stated last week, there is no record of December 1911 issues on file, but I had hopes for January.

Nope. There were no mention of them - or anything Belhaven - in the first 2 wks of Jan 1912. And then when I pulled up the January 19, 1912 edition, I almost cried. Instead of telling you about it, I made this collage to show you what found...

Collage of remaining pages of The Newmarket Era, January 19, 1912 edition.

And when I checked the following week's January 26 edition, there was no mention of Noah or Ethel either. But that couldn't be, could it? After all those letters and news snippets? I needed closure!

For the lack of anything else to do, I pulled pulled up the Our Ontario News website which shows not only the Era but many more Ontario historical newspapers, and I searched for both Draper and Nelson. Two hits came up - both for the Jan 19 edition above. Ugh!

But a blink later, I realized Ethel's shower news made it through ... in the bottom right corner of Page 7:

Belhaven.
On Sat. Jan. 6, the young ladies
of this vicinity met at the home of
Miss Ethel Nelson and gave her a
shower. We are sorry to lose Ethel
from our midst.

The Newmarket Era. Jan 19, 1912, Pg 7

Well, that was something at least. With trepidation, I checked on the next hit and this time almost cried with relief because miracle upon miracles... it was the snippet I was looking for. Now, you have to ignore the dark parts, and I've adjusted the exposure a bit, but it's quite legible considering that we have it at all.

Wedding News:

The Newmarket Era. January 19, 1912 - Page: 8

BELHAVEN
Too Late for last week.
Belhaven has now been invaded by
the prevailing North Gwilimbury
fever and has taken away one of our
bright young women. Miss Ethel
Nelson who on Wednesday, Jan. 10th,
at the home of her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. James Nelson, was married to
Mr. Noah C. Draper. The wedding
was a very quiet one, the ceremony
being performed by Rev. W. P. Flet-
cher, Keswick. The bride was mar-
ried in her travelling dress, and the
young couple left after the wedding
dinner for Huntsville and other plac-
es. They expect to return to Bel-
haven to say good-bye to their friends
before leaving for their new Western
home at Grand Coulee, Sask. The
bride will be very much missed by
her many friends and the workers in
the Belhaven Sunday School.

Although we don't have a record of Noah and Ethel's gifts, I found some gift tags in Ethel's Treasure Box amongst a couple Congratulatory letters which I'll be posting in the coming weeks.

This 1st one is from Alice Winch, a Belhaven friend of the family.
Alice has written in black ink on a beige manilla card, blank on the back.

To Ethel
With Best Wishes for
a very Happy Life.
Alice Winch

Jan. 6th 1912.

This card is from close neighbor Cecil Daniel Prosser who has been spoken of often this past year and will marry Sadie in 1915. Cecil has used black ink on a card that is similar in thickness to the letters Noah has sent Ethel. From the 2 holes above the word, YOU, I suspect this card may have been pinned to a package or bouquet.

With All Good Wishes
for You a
Happy Future
Sincerely C.D.P.
Cecil Prosser.

Florence Sweet is the 15 yr old daughter of neighbors Willson Sweet and Susannah Thompson, the oldest of their 8 children. Florence has written in black ink on a cream colored piece of lined foolscap, newsprint weight. It is 5 inches wide and has a watermark with 'Vic' before it runs off the right edge.

To Ethel with Best Wishes
From Florence Sweet.

This last one is a bit over 3 in x 5 in unfolded and consists of some type of slippery paper reminiscent of parchment. It's blank on the back and without a name so we don't know who gave the gift, but it must have meant something for Ethel to have kept it. My guess is that it came from a box of candy or chocolates - from Noah perhaps?

As for the house Noah spent the summer building for them... here's one of the best views because it shows the depth of the house. It's also the only photo of the house before the porch was damaged and subsequently changed after the Summer of 1912 Cyclone hit the Regina area. More of the cyclone in a couple weeks.

The house Noah Draper built for Ethel Nelson in 1911 at Adams, SK. Courtesty of the Norma Draper Personal Photograph Collection.

The photo looks neglected because of the ripped corner and edges, but most of the ones I've found in this condition were once glued in those old photograph albums with the black pages. When the owner wanted to remove the photo to either put it in a frame or give it to someone, etc, it was physically pried from the page with dire results.

With this photo of Noah's house, I didn't want to cut the damaged portion off because a good part of the house - and porch detail - would have been lost in the process.

Doesn't this remind you of the problem we're having with those magnetic photo albums of the 70's and 80's? The glue at the back is ruining the photos, but ripping them out is sometimes doing more damage than leaving them in. I'm so glad I saved all my negatives, especially since Nelson bought a negative reader to turn all our photos into digital images.

Well, that's it for this special wedding post. Noah and Ethel are on their way to Huntsville for a honeymoon. January in cottage country? Well, they'll certainly have privacy and solitude. I daresay they'll have to cozy up to each other for warmth, too. Ha!

Next week we'll keep the celebration going with a letter from Veda Perrault asking Uncle Noah how it all came off.

1911 Courtship: Oct 8 Dear Noah

12/17/2013

"Beechnuts" from A Year in the Fields, by John Burroughs, a Project Gutenberg EBook. 1st Printing 1875 by The Riverside Press, Cambridge.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  8th Aug 1911 (Markham Fair dates and beechnut picking confirm date should be 8 Oct vice 8 Aug)
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink - Once again, the ink still smudges upon touch as if it still hasn't dried.
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form and written as 1, 3, 2, 4 although I've set them in order here for legibility.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- Harold *Winch - one of the Belhaven men who went west in Aug 1911
- Adele - neighbor and unmarried sister of Harold Winch
- Frank Terry - Noah's uncle who lives in Newmarket, Ontario
- **Mary Smith - This week's Genealogy Note #1
- Della *Mahoney - close neighbor and friend
- Stanley and Mae - Stanley *Mahoney and Mae Anderson - friends/neighbors
- Norman *Yorke - neighbor (not a relative until Sadie marries Cecil Prosser)
- **Gertie Glover - This week's Genealogy Note #2
- Wm King - William *King - friend and neighbor

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- *Newmarket - largest town between Belhaven and *Toronto
- Markham *Fair - Markham, Ontario - near *Toronto
- Beechnuts
- Song - I Love You Only
- Hymn - Nearer, Still Nearer - Lyrics and Midi available here.

Cliche/Phrase
- hustle - seems to be a favorite word of Ethel's

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

Belhaven. P. O.
8th Aug. 1911.

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

My Dear Noah, -
Well another Sunday is
here, and say it is a much different
day that last Sunday. it is just a
beautiful day. the sun is so nice and
warm. Friday was a dredful day
rained, hailed & snowed of course
the snow didnt stay on at all. but
lately it just seems to rain every
other day. We were all back in the
bush this forenoon, looking for some
beech nuts. but we didnt get a one.
We had a good walk anyway.

Harold Winch is home. came on
Friday morning. The West certainly
seemed to agree with him. It was
quite a surprize to his people when he
walked in. Adele was telling me last
night up at choir practice about Harold
being at your place. said he had a fine
time.
I was down to New market yesterday. I
saw your Uncle Frank Terry there too.
I am thinking of going down in a
couple of weeks to stay over Sunday.
Well Noah you said you thot I must
have found some one else that had changed
my mind. But I don't think there is any
one else living for me. Perhaps there is for
you though. I guess you have often heard
the song. (I love you only". and for me the
"you" is to be emphasised for I am sure
your the only one in my eyes. So now
the rest lies with you. Oh Noah, if you
were only here.

We are going up to S.S. and Mary Smith is
coming home with us to practice. she &
Sadie are going Duet to-night. - "Nearer
Still Nearer: They'll do-it won't they.
Della Mahoney is away on a couple of
weeks visit. and Stanley & Mae drove
down to Markham Fair Friday & hav'nt
returned yet. I guess they must be
getting married "eh: Norm Yorke is to
Married a week from Wednesday. so I hear
Mr Stacey, a student, is to be at Belhaven
to-night.
Say! what is it you, get your lectrises over
you might tell me and then maby I
could sympathise with you. unless it
is some thing awfully bad. and I know
its not so bad as that. I tell you I caught
it on Saturday. i met Gertie Glover and
she flew into my wool. She didnt know
any thing about you and me until that day. she
said she was told after she got to New market.

Well "Evergreen Farm" was certainly
alive yesterday. Mr Wm King had Ladies
Aid. Did your place have your place
named when you were here.
I am awfully glad your grain is turning
out as well as you think it is.
Noah hustle up your work and send
me a letter saying you are coming
East (Such & Such a time) and there'll
be one happy girl, if ever there was one.
You speak of getting lone some, but really
I simple don't hardly know what I am
doing some times. I got your letter last
night, it seems like a long time from
the time I get one until the next one
comes. There's never one comes before I
am ready for it. The girls are hustling
me up to get ready for Sunday School.
I am neare a close for this time anyway.
So bye-bye with all love & xxxxx
from Your Loving Sweetheart
Ethel

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note #1 - Mary Smith

Ethel has mentioned Mary Smith several times during the course of these letters, including the time that Mary was visiting Huntsville during Ethel's holiday there. So who was Mary Smith other than a school friend and neighbor?

Once again I used the Search pattern that I used last week (and other weeks) as well as below when I searched for Gertie Glover, and that began by searching for Mary Smith of Belhaven, York County with a date of 1911 because that was the current year, as well as a census year. By the time I finished my search, I had discovered:

Step 1: Results: Mary Elizabeth Smith, b 4 Jul 1885 in Belhaven, York County, Ontario. That put Mary at 26 yrs old during 1911.

Step 2: Mary's marriage record for 27 Dec 1916 to Malcolm McDonald.
Results: Mary's Parents: William Henry Smith and Sarah Diana Wass. This rang a memory bell because we have a Rebecca Wass in the Family Tree.

Step 3: Marriage record for William H Smith and Sarah D Wass
Results: Sarah's parents: Noah Wass and Mary Ann Marshal
Realized that Noah and Mary Ann were also the parents of Rebecca Wass, which meant Sarah and Rebecca were sisters, but I hadn't filled out the tree that far.

Rebecca Wass was married to Thomas Barker who was the father of Harry Barker - a familiar name to me because Harry was married to Ethel's Aunt Maggie Glover who I recently posted a photo of with her house.

Final Result: Since Mary Smith was the daughter of Sarah Wass and William Smith, that made her official relationship "1st cousin of husband of aunt". That's such a mouthful, forgive me if, in future, I simply refer to Mary as Ethel's cousin.

Genealogy Note #2 - Gertie Glover

Since I didn't have a Gertie Glover in the family tree yet, I used the search engine of the Ancestry.ca site to search for a Gertrude Glover and found these facts:

Step 1: Search for Birth Record for Gertrude Glover
Results: Elizabeth Gertrude Glover born 25 Jan 1887, East Gwillimbury, York, Ontario. Parents William Daniel Glover and Maryette Willson
Note: Gertie is 24 yrs old in this letter

Step 2: Search for Marriage Record for William D Glover and Maryette Willson
Results: Marriage Record of Oct 2, 1883 in Pickering, Ontario for:
Groom: William Daniel Glover, 28, Bachelor, Farmer, residing in Ravenshoe, York County
Groom's Parents: William Glover and Mary Ann Bunce
Bride: Maryetta Wilson, 26, Spinster, residing in Pickering Twp, Ontario County
Bride's Parents: Seth C. Willson and Mary Ann Ernest
Witnesses: *Thomas J. Glover of Ravenshoe, and Susan Willson of Pickering

*Although Thomas J. Glover is not in our family tree, we do have 2 x Thomas Glover's.

Step 3: Search for for William Glover and Mary Bunce
Results: Marriage Record of 20 Feb 1837, Home District (York Co)
Groom: William Glover of East Gwillimbury
Bride: Mary Bunce of East Gwillimbury
No parents names given on this marriage record
Witnesses: William Miller and John Bunce
Married by Publication of Banns, Home District Record Vol #10 1831-1840

Step 4: Search Census Records for actual location and names of offspring for William Glover and Mary Bunce
Results: 1871 Canada Census for East Gwillimbury:
Father: William Glover born 1813, England, Primitive Methodist, Married Farmer
Mother: Mary A. Glover born 1819, England, Prmitive Methodist, Married
Child #1 - Charlotte b 1850 - age 21
Child #2 - William D b 1855 - age 16
Child #3 - Thomas Joseph b 1859 - age 12
Child #4 - Albert James b 1864 - age 7

Results confirm that Thomas Joseph is William Daniel's brother so I have the right William and Mary A Glover, and the right location since all our Glovers live in East Gwillimbury area.

Step 5: Search for William Glover, b 1813 in England and Thomas Glover, b 1811 in Yorkshire, England to discover if they are brothers.
Results: I didn't find anything conclusive on the ancestry.ca or .com or .uk sites, but I was successful on familysearch.org (a free site) which found records for:
- Thomas Glover, Christened 1 Jan 1811 at Loftus, York, England, Father: Thomas,
Index Project (Batch) Nbr: C10551-1
- William Glover, Christened 5 Apr 1813 at Loftus, York, England, Father: Thomas and Mother: Mary, Index Project (Batch) Nbr: C10551-2

Since Thomas Glover is Ethel Nelson's great grandfather, if William is his brother, then Gertie Glover would be Ethel's ***third cousin. Phew.

***Update on Gertie Glover (eff Dec 28, 2013):

After receiving confirmation from another Glover descendent (through my contact page here) that William and Thomas were indeed Glover siblings, I've filled in the Draper Family Tree on ancestry.ca and they have deduced that:
Gertie Glover is Ethel's second cousin 1x removed.

1911 Courtship: Sept 18 Dear Noah

11/17/2013

Aunt Maggie Barker (Margaret Ellen Glover) in front of her home on Concession 5, Sutton West, York North, Ontario, Canada.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated: 18 Sep 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form as 1, 3, 2, 4 although I've showed them here in order. The letter is very hard to read - as if the ink was still wet when the letter was closed and folded.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- Uncle Harry Barkers - family of Harry *Barker and Margaret Ellen *Glover (Aunt Maggie) sister of Ethel's ma
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover Nelson
- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- Ellie Sweet - Elizabeth Lepard - 1st of 3 wives of Alexander Sweet (1864-1929)
- **Willie Sweet & Laura Traviss (both have Draper Tree connections)
- Uncle Stephen Draper - brother of Noah's deceased father, *David Draper (Stephen Draper is the father of *Stewart Truman Draper in Indian Head)- *George Draper -  Stewart's brother (both cousins of Noah)
- Percy's - *Percy Draper (Noah's brother) and wife *Parthena Fisher

- Old Mrs. Pine - local resident
- Belhaven Choir

**The men who headed West:
- Orville *King
- Elgin Barker (unsure if relative of Harry Barker) is at Phillips - ?

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- Ravenshoe - a few miles south of Belhaven
- *Huntsville
- Holt
- Chicken Pie Social
- **Box Social

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

Belhaven. Ont.
18 Sept. 1911

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

Dear Noah, -
Rec'd your letter
last week and was very glad
to hear once again. It certainly
was quite a letter I rather
enjoyed what you wrote from
your own mind. rather than
the dictators. You see I like queer
peoples letters better the ones from
the --------- Say I had my fortune
told yesterday. Even if it was

Sunday. We were down to Uncle
Harry Barkers for dinner. and
Old Mrs. Pine was there. Say you
certainly would nearly die laughing
to hear her talk & tell our fortunes.
They had Harvest Home services
at Ravenshoe yesterday & there
is a chicken Pie social there
to-night. I don't expect to go
to-night.
Our Belhaven Choir is getting
up a box social it is to be held
Friday evening in the Sunday
School Hall. You had better come
along & get a box & enjoy your
tea.
I was weighed yesterday & i have
gained nearly 10 pounds since I went

to huntsville. so I guess that is
proof enough that I am not very
bad. "eh" getting lazier every day
I guess.
I was awfully sorry to know that
your grain was all frozen. It
seems funny one goes to work and works
all that time & then lose nearly
all. The crops down here were
not up to much. Pa says the oats
are light in weight. (not color) ha ha.
The men are cutting corn to-day.
The phone is ringing in great
style to-night. Wish you were
on this line: and I wonder how
many wishes I made this last year
& they never seem to come true
The young people are going to decorate
the hall on Wednesday evening for
this great social of ours.

Say there is a big wedding to-morrow
(Wed) Willie Sweet. Ellie Sweet's son
is to be married to Laura Traviss of
Holt.
Well have you run across any of the
boys yet. Orville is with his cousin &
Elgin Barker is at Phillips so we heard.
Pa was talking with your Uncle Stephen
last night and he said George was
having very good luck hunting.
You never told me what Percy's
call their little boy.
Well I guess I must close for this
time hoping to see you some
time soon. but I hope you
dont have to walk by rail.
you might happen to play out
before you got here and that would
be worse than ever. ha ha.
Bye-Bye
from Ethel Nelson.

Genealogy Notes

There are 3 Genealogy Notes this week:
1. Pie and Box Social
2. 1911 Telephones
3. Willie Sweet and Laura Traviss

Genealogy Note 1 - Pie and Box Social

These events were used in the past and are still used today as fundraisers. For the box social, single ladies would decorate a box and fill it with a meal - a boxed lunch. At the Box Social, an auctioneer would hold up the decorated box and the single men would bid on it without knowing who had contributed it, nor what it contained. Sometimes, a lady would give her beau a hint so he'd buy the right one. Once all the boxes were auctioned, the men would claim their box and dinner partner and they'd enjoy a meal together.

Genealogy Note 2 - 1911 Telephones

In 1911, this is the type of telephone Ethel would use when she writes in this week's letter ... The phone is ringing in great style to-night. Wish you were on the line.

To phone out, the person would grasp the funnel shaped receiver in their left hand and place the wide part to their ear. They would then lean in with their mouth close to the speaker - broken on this old phone - and they would use their right hand to crank the handle on the right side which would making a ringing sound as it turned. It would also make a ringing sound in the headset of an operator at the local switchboard who would ask who you wished to speak to and then she would connect you by physically plugging in your line.

When your conversation was done, you would turn the crank and ring off which would signal the operator that you were finished so she could unplug your line. In reality, however, the operator had a grand old time listening in on everyone's phone call and rarely needed to hear the ringing to confirm the fact.

Genealogy Note 3 - Willie Sweet and Laura Traviss

In this week's letter, Ethel says, "Say there is a big wedding to-morrow (Wed) Willie Sweet. Ellie Sweet's son is to be married to Laura Traviss of Holt."

As I mentioned in the previous post, the Draper Family Tree has descendants named both Sweet and Traviss, but because they were distant cousins, I hadn't filled in all their historic details. I've taken several days to do that and finally have this Sweet - Traviss connection figured out...

William Sweet (1775-?) of Pitney, Somserset, England married Keziah Rogers (1781-1828) of England
William and Keziah had 7 children between 1796 and 1818 including a William, but it's the Andrew Sweet line we're interested in. Half of the children were born in New York State, and the rest in Upper Canada (now Ontario).

Andrew Sweet (1810-1893) b in New York, moved as a child to Ontario, married:
- 1834 - Laurilla ? (1813-1840) offspring: Eunice b1834, Orrin b1836, William b1838
- 1840 - Matilda Lydia Ryner (1820-1854) offspring: 7 children
- 1854 - Elizabeth Willoughby (1801-1881) 2 x widow, offspring: 1 daughter

In 1851, Andrew Sweet lived next door to Joel Draper Jr, grandfather of Noah Clement Draper, the groom of these Courtship letters.

1851 Canada census for North Gwillimbury Twp, York County, Ontario showing the Joel Draper Jr and the Andrew Sweet families

William Sweet (1838-1907) lived in North Gwillimbury, Ontario, married:
- 1859 - Jane Coomer (1841-1864) offspring: Andrew 1860, Hannah 1862, Alex 1864
- 1868 - Mary Matilda Sedore (1850-1915) offspring: 8 children incl'g 1 set twins

Alexander Sweet (1864-1929) lived in North Gwillimbury, Ontario, married:
- 1888 - Elizabeth Lepard (1859-1894) offspring: Ellen 1888, William 1891, John 1893
- 1895 - Edith Ellen Sedore (1870-1911) of illegitimate birth, offspring: none
- 1911 - Mary Ann Sedore (1867-1951), offspring: 6 from previous marriage only

William Sweet 1891 is the one Ethel mentions in her letter of Sep 15. While researching William's family, I found the 1911 census which had been taken June 1st - just three months earlier ...

1911 Canada census showing Robert Davidson family

In the above census, the red block is the Robert Davidson family whom Ethel and Noah have spoken of often since they were relatives as well as neighbors. But look below the blue line and you find 2 employees in the Davidson household:
- William Sweet, 20 yrs old, Laborer
- Laura Traviss, 19 yrs old, Domestic

So while William worked in the fields for Robert Davidson, Laura worked in the house as a Domestic for Lily Kellington Davidson and helped care for the children. Since both William and Laura are recorded on the census, they lived there as well. I wonder if they applied for work there because they wanted to spend time together, or if they met and fell in love while working there? In any case, William and Laura are about to be married.

Undated Courtship Letters & Huntsville Postcards

11/13/2013

1944 postcard souvenir folder of Bigwin Island, Lake of Bays, Huntsville, Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada

I have run into a problem with the 1911 Courtship letters. Last week's letter didn't have a date, but I guessed it was written on Sep 10, based on certain events. The letter which was to follow didn't have a date, either, so I was going to use Sep 15 because Ethel had a Sep 18 and it seemed to follow. Except Ethel always wrote one a week, not within a few days of each other.

But when I read the 2 letters again, I realized the 18 talked about an upcoming Box Social and the remaining undated one talked about the result of the box social. It also talks about the Federal election results which didn't happen until Sep 21st. With that in hand, I concentrated on Sep 15 - and ran into another problem - a BIG one.

This week's letter - the Sep 15 one - mentions Willie Sweet and Laura Traviss being engaged. Since both surnames are in the family tree I didn't think anything was wrong until I looked at the tree and discovered that we did indeed have several Sweets - but their branches of the tree weren't filled out and thus, I didn't have a Willie who would eventually marry a Laura Traviss. After 3 days of sorting through the records, deleting duplicate people, and searching out facts, I've realized that the Sweet men remarried often, as did the women, but not quite as much. I worked the tree back to a common ancestor and started forward again and finally found my man. But it will take another day to write the post now that I have all the facts.

However, in the same letter, Ethel mentions Huntsville and so while I'm working on the Sweet family, I thought I'd show you the souvenir postcard collection I mentioned briefly weeks ago when Ethel was in Huntsville and talking about the steamboat, the Wa Wa. This collection was sent to Ethel from her oldest child, Midge, in 1944 when she vacationed in the Huntsville area of Muskoka District, just like her mother did 33 yrs earlier.

Forgive the overlap in the photos below, but I wanted you to see how the postcards are all joined together.

And now for the flip side...

1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah

11/4/2013

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

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

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated: Sep- 1911 (Possibly Sep 10th due to facts in letter)
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ont.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form. Ethel is very talkative this week and has written 7 pages using 2 pieces of writing paper.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

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

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

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

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

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

Cliches/Phrases/Word Use
- kid
- phone

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

Belhaven. P.O.
Sept - 1911

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note 1: Cousin George from Udora

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genealogy Note 2: The Franklin Terry's

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genealogy Note 3: Reciprocity

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

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