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1911 Courtship: Oct 22 Dear Noah

1/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
1897 S. S. Belhaven #4, Belhaven, Ontario, Canada. Clipping from Ethel Nelson Draper's Treasure Box. Newspaper source unknown.
I'm showing the 1897 photo of the Belhaven school because the student photo that was included with it is part of this post's Genealogy Notes below. Unfortunately, I don't have a source for this newspaper clipping and accompanying text, but it seems to have been published in 1965 - probably the Newmarket Era or Sutton Review. I'd appreciate any info on this old Belhaven School.


Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  Oct . 22nd. Oct 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N.C.Draper, My Dear Noah  
Mailed  from:  Belhaven. P.O. 
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. Since writing last week's post with the Genealogy Note about ink and pens, I'm wondering if Ethel is using a low-quality ink instead of a high quality one like the Stephens brand I mentioned. 
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, 2, 3 with page 2 being turned and written across the short side and down the length.


People/places mentioned in this letter:


- *Mary Smith - friend, neighbor, relative - 1911 Courtship: Oct 8 Dear Noah
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
-  *Christie Nelson - Ethel's 10 yr old sister
- Jennie Draper - Noah's sister - school photo under Genealogy Note #2

- **Walter *Yorke and Squire Yorke - Genealogy Note #1
- **Walker Morton's **Genealogy Note #2
-*Mahoney girls - friends and neighbors
- **Wm Arnold - Genealogy Note #3
- Herb *Winches - neighbor and friends
- Steve Leopard (*Lepard) - many Lepards in Draper family tree
- *Manford Terry - Noah's cousin - 1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah

 
 Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- *Ravenshoe - 7 km/4 ml south of Belhaven
- Aurora - 35 km/22 mls SSW of Belhaven (south of Newmarket)
- *Newmarket *Fair

- **chattel mortgage
- upset - buggy or sleigh accident (now called rollover)


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
Belhaven. P. O.
Oct 22nd. 1911
Mr N. C. Draper.
         Grand Coulee.
                    Sask.

My Dear Noah, - 
                            Rec'd your letter on
Saturday morning and the same
as usual was very glad indeed
to get it.
                  Well to-day is not as
fine a day as last Sunday was
it is windy & cooler to-day. but
not raining yet. Mary Smith & Sadie
& myself are going down to Ravenshoe
Church this afternoon. Mary says she
will be our young man to-day. So
you you may depend we are 
going to have a fine driver. "ha ha"
She can't take his place. "eh".


Picture
2.
     Say, you know about what Mr Walter Yorke
is? Some man in Aurora is selling him out
to-morrow. Every thing is to be sold. even to the
place. Mr Yorke has nearly all his stock under a
chatill mortgage. Squire Yorke is hired here for a
year. he started last Monday. we like him allright
So far. but don't know how long it will last.
Mr Yorke is talking of going West in the Spring.
Do you ever see any more of Walker Morton's? We
heard that her Uncle had left. her four thousand
Dollars. if he has it certainly will help them out
Some. Christie is hear giving me a good, solid
lecture. now I think you will know how to
sympathise with me. "ha ha"
Remember the last time you were to New market
Fair. Say if we certainly was'nt a happy three.
Little I thot thought it would be one of my last
Such days with Jennie. And little I thot. "eh"
that I'd break those few words I said I'd never
do. time tells & is so un certain. This week is
the New market Fair again. I may go down
on Thrusday if nothing happens. Sadie will be
their to go with me. Mahoney girls & going also.
As to the time you had planed on staying down this
winter I guess perhaps you will know best just how
long you can. So I will try & do as you think best
for us both. You certainly ought to be the one to
know & say what you think about it. for you are
coming from your own home. and you know just how you

Picture
3.
left things. Mr Wm Arnold was buried
on Friday. Herb Winches baby was playing
out in the back yard. & went
into a bed of ashes where Herb had a
 bonfire a couple of days before. & her clothing
caught fire. & she was burned badly. but
they think she will get  better. and on
Friday also Steve Leopard was working
at some bridge with Manford Terry 
and a heavy timber fell on him. We
heard he could'nt get better. but we hav'nt
heard of his death yet. Friday seems to be
an very unlucky day. Say I heard yesterday
you had an upset one day last winter. 
Oh, I hear lots of news now a day. 
It don't bother me much though it
passes the time as you say. and
anything to do that. It must be
nearly noon now and we want to have
an early dinner for you know our young
man for to-day wont want to wait long
"ha-ha" So must say good bye for this time
write often to you old Sweetheart at Belhaven.
                                                                                     xxxxx
                                                                                  xxxxxx
                                                                                      xxxx
                                                                                              x



Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note #1 - Walter York and Squire York

Ethel writes... Some man in Aurora is selling him out tomorrow. Everything is to be sold. even to the place. Mr Yorke has nearly all his stock under a chatill mortgage.

I've checked different sites for the best definition of a chattel mortgage, and wikipedia has the easiest to understand: 
Under a typical chattel mortgage, the purchaser borrows funds for the purchase of movable personal property (the chattel) from the lender. The lender then secures the loan with a mortgage over the chattel. Legal ownership of the chattel is transferred to the purchaser at the time of purchase, and the mortgage is removed once the loan has been repaid.
PictureThe Newmarket Era. Oct 20, 1911
That meant Walter York was in debt up to his eyeballs, so to speak. 

Here's the sale listing that shows Walter York's sale on Monday, Oct 23rd. Walter lived on Conc 5, Lot 11, North Gwillimbury, just a few farms south of Ethel's family, and close to where Noah's family lived before they sold out and moved west.  

Walter York has been the topic of our Genealogy Notes before when Ethel reported the death of Mrs. Walter York back in her Dear Noah letter of June 25th.

At 14 yrs of age, Squire York, born 1897, is the new hired man of Ethel's family farm. He's also the son of Walter York and Wife #1 Minnie (Mary) Pollock. But as Ethel says, if Walter decides to move West, Squire may choose to accompany his widowed and destitute father. 


Genealogy Note #2 - Walker Morton's

Walker Morton and his wife Tillie (Matilda) Doane, are shown living in North Gwillimbury in 1901, then in Regina (close to Noah) in 1911, then in Hamiliton in 1921.

I suspect that their daughter, Emma Fern Morton, is the same Fern Morton who went to school with Ethel and Noah because of this photo and caption which I found in Ethel's Treasure Box. Although it came with Noah and Ethel marked, the accompanying newspaper article doesn't give a newspaper name or date other than that it's dated 1965.

Picture
1897 Belhaven School Students, Belhaven, Ontario, Canada. From Ethel Nelson Draper's personal collection. Source unknown.
As you can see above, Ethel is sitting next to Fern Morton. Also in the photo is Noah in the back right corner, and Noah's sister, Jennie, checkmarked in the row in front of Noah. (Several other names may ring a bell if you've been following these courtship letters.) 

Anyway, it's Fern's mother, Tillie, who was left $4000 by her uncle - a lot of money back then when prices looked like this:
- a 3 lb tin of beans = 25 cents
- 20 lbs dark brown sugar = $ 1.00
- a roll of wallpaper =8 cents
- in 1919, a Ford Runabout cost $660.00 and a Touring car cost $690.00

But who was this mysterious uncle? I couldn't find anything relevant in the Newmarket Era, and I didn't have the Walker Morton's in our family tree. Although I had found them in the 1911 census, Tillie had too many uncles in her family to figure out which one had money, and I didn't have time for the hours of research it would take to figure out. 

So I took the next step of checking out who else had the Walker Morton's in their family tree. I happened on a private Glover Family tree on the Ancestry site which was exciting because we have Glover's in our tree. I sent off a quick email to the Glover Family Tree owner explaining why I wanted to see their tree and within a day, I had received a nice email from a man named Grant who said:  Matilda "Tillie" Doane had an uncle Charles Doan, who never married, and who died on September 11,1911 in East Gwillimbury, York North, Ontario, Canada.


Grant also sent an invitation to look at his tree although he confided that his Glover branch originated from the Channel Islands and settled in Welland, Ontario. I accepted his invitation and checked it over, but nothing connected them to us except for the common name. Sending out a big thank you to Grant for the privilege of allowing me to see your tree. 


Genealogy Note #3 - Wm Arnold

Ethel wrote... Mr. Wm Arnold was buried on Friday. William Arnold had been sick for a long time. The Newmarket Era reported the following:  
  • June 30, 1911 - On account of continued ill health, Wm Arnold has deemed it advisable to sell his farm and be rid of so much care. His son-in-law, Mr. Fred Thompson, is the purchaser. It is one of the most productive and valuable agricultural properties in North Gwillimbury and is in perfect condition and modern and commodious buildings. There were many desirous of securing such a paradise.
  • Oct 13, 1911 - Sorry to report Wm Arnold is not improving very fast.
  • Oct 27, 1911 - We regret to state that Mr. Wm Arnold passed away last week. 



William's death was not unexpected then, but who was he? I was surprised to discover that he was part of our family tree. Using Noah as the home person in the tree, Ancestry has figured out this progression:

William Arnold (1860 - ) husband of wife of 2nd cousin:
Nellie Ellen Young (1853 - ) wife of William Arnold
*James Edward Wardell (1871 - 1852) husband of Nellie Ellen Young
Thomas Wardell (1829 - 1908) father of James Edward Wardell
Susan Draper (1808 - ) mother of Thomas Wardell
Joel Draper Sr Rev (1789 - 1856) father of Susan Draper
Joel Draper (1815 - 1897) son of Joel Draper Sr Rev
David Draper (1842 - 1909) son of Joel Draper
*Noah Clement Draper You are the son of David Draper

What it means is that  James Wardell and Noah are 2nd cousins as they are both great-grandsons of Joel Draper Sr...and that William is a relative by marriage because James Wardell married Nellie who was William's widow. 


0 Comments

1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah

11/4/2013

2 Comments

 
Reciprocity from Glenbow Museum
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


Picture
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


Picture
2.
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"

Picture
3.
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

Picture
4
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. 


Picture
5.
   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"

Picture
6.
     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

Picture
7
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:

Picture
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...

Picture
The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 7 of 8
Picture
The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 2 of 8
Picture
The Newmarket Era. Sept 1, 1911 - Pg: 2
Picture
The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 5 of 8
2 Comments

1911 Courtship: May 7 Dear Noah

2/5/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Henry Nelson (1835-1900) and Eliza Croutch (1840-1919), ca 1890-1900?
The photo above is my husband Nelson's Great-Great-Grandfather - referred to as his 2nd Great Grandfather, and his 2nd Great Grandmother. We received this picture and others via email from a wonderful new relative in Iowa which is where Henry and Eliza Croutch emigrated to from Canada, although half the family stayed in Ontario.  I'll be posting a letter that Eliza Croutch sent to her son, James Henry Nelson (Ethel's Pa) in July 1911 - according to the 1911 Courtship calendar.

Meanwhile, by that same calendar, we're still in May, so here we go...

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:  May 7, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... My Dear Noah
Mailed  from:  Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter  
Writing  instrument: Fine point  pen, black ink
Written on: Light bluey/gray, slightly thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6 inches, folded in half. The paper is folded in half with the first page on the front and last on the back, but inside, she's written straight across the whole width so technically, there are only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister 
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- Uncle *Will Glover - Ida Amelia's older brother born 1872
- Uncle *Leslie Glover - Ida Amelia's younger brother born 1886 
- *Della - Della Mahoney
- Mary Smith and Della Heartley - school friends
- Little Ethel - *Ethel Marie Rogers - 3 mo old daughter of Ida Amelia's sister, Victoria Maud
- Mrs. Manfred Terry - Noah's cousin on the Draper side, *Manford Terry 
- Mr. Davidson - Robert Davidson - a Belhaven neighbour (building his barn)
- **Mr. John A.B. Cole's only daughter - Melvina Cole

- 24th of May - *Victoria Day 
- buckwheat - a grain which gives honey a dark colour, strong flavour &  heavy odour
- **ploughing down the fall wheat - image and information under genealogy notes

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

Picture
Belhaven. May 7. 1911.
Mr N C Draper,
          Grand Coulee,
                    Sask.

My Dear Noah;--
                          Rec'd your letter
last night all O.K. I am thinking
perhaps you got two, one which
should have gone to you the
week before. Sadie took it to post
and forgot to post it. so she
says. I guess we will have to
get her something to improve
her memory.
              Well Ma & I have just got
home. Sadie went with us but we
brought her around to Uncle's and
she staid there.
Picture
 Sadie and I were up to Uncle Will Glovers and Ma was to Uncles
Leslie's. We certainly have spent a great day of it. Although I enjoyed
the ride most of all. 
  Pa finished seeding about the middle of last week. except
sowing some buckwheat. Several of the farmers are ploughing
there fall wheat up.
 Della has came home from the city. I guess she likes
to get back to see an old Keswick friend. Mary Smith has
been visiting in Orillia with Della Heartley I think.
 Sadie was successful in her examinations she coming
fifth in a class of about thirty
 There is going to be quite a time in Newmarket on the
24th of May. I don't know yet whether we will be going
down or not.
 Say! when you get that bugy finished painting
just drive in some evening and we will go for a
drive. How nice it would be.
Picture
 Well I can guess at the rest of
those five words. And it wouldn't
take long for me to say them
sometimes,
 Little Ethel was here last week
and say she is just as nice as
her name sake. (ha ha.) Suppose you
pity her if she is no better, eh! I do.
I saw Mrs Manfred Terry at Mr
Davidson's raising, I understood
her to say they were going to keep
a boarding house this summer,
a cousin of mine Mr John A.B.
Cole's daughter is to be married in
June, to Ambrose Traviss of Brown-
hill. Mr. Robt Davidson thinks there
is no girl on the fifth like his. Well
I guess I must say Good Bye for
this time with all love from your
Ethel Nelson.                Sweetheart.
                                         xxxxxxxxxx

Say don't laugh at my letter  ? on the envelope.

Genealogy Notes

There are 2 topics discussed here:

Topic #1:

Mr. John A.B. Cole's daughter - Melvina Cole: 

Ethel says, 
a cousin of mine Mr John A.B.
Cole's daughter is to be married in
June, to Ambrose Traviss of Brown-
hill. 
This was new to me, since our tree doesn't have anyone named Cole yet. So, I did a start-from-scratch search looking for any event for John A Cole of Gwillimbury. One of the first records that came up on the ancestry.ca site was a marriage record for John Abram Cole and Eliza Ann Croutch. I knew we have plenty of relatives named Croutch (or some spelled it Crouch) on Ethel's father's side, so this was exciting. I checked our tree and found an Eliza Ann Croutch who was a cousin of Ethel's father, James Henry Nelson. Further checking revealed that John A Cole only had 2 children, a  boy named Alonze, and a girl, Melvina. Next, I searched for Melvina and confirmed that she does indeed marry Ambrose Traviss of Brownhill in June, 1911. 

Ethel's notation is a big help to us. Because of the spelling of Croutch/Crouch, and the large families of the time, it's very confusing to decipher who belongs to whom. On top of that, part of the Croutch family left Ontario and moved down to Iowa sometime during the last quarter of the 19th century. So we're dealing with census records from 2 countries as well. 

However, we're blessed that one of the Croutch descendants who emigrated to the U.S. has found us on ancestry and we've established a rapport to the extent that records and photos have been exchanged. Because of this person, I now have a photo of Ethel's grandparents and others of  Ethel's family. (See photo at top of post)



Topic #2

Ploughing down the fall wheat crop - in the spring. 
Picture
'Sulky plough on the C.P.R'., MB, 1889, William McFarlane Notman © McCord Museum.
What Ethel calls 'fall wheat' is commonly referred to as winter wheat today. Winter wheat is different from other types of grain because it's planted in the fall. It starts to grow, then winter comes and it freezes and lays dormant - usually beneath a layer of snow - all winter. Come spring, it starts growing again. If all goes well, the winter wheat is ready to harvest in July. It's the first crop harvested after the hay is taken off. 

I don't know what crop the farmer above is ploughing. It may even be stubble after the harvest, although it doesn't look spiky or devastated enough. But that's about the height - maybe a bit more - that a farmer will plough down his fall/winter wheat if it's not growing good. Ploughing it down is like feeding the soil since the nutrients in the green grass-like shoots are full of vitamins and minerals that the soil requires. That's why most crops that are used for this purpose are the leafy ones like clover. 

If the farmers in the Belhaven area are ploughing down their fall wheat, the spring is not a good one - not enough heat or moisture, etc.


2 Comments

1911 Courtship: May 1 Dear Ethel

1/13/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday on the grounds of the second Government House of Upper Canada (the first outside of Fort York), at the corner of King and Simcoe Streets, Toronto. ca 1854. Courtesy of wikipedia. Date 1854
This week's letter marks the first of several that mention Victoria Day which fell on May 24th in 1911. Noah's letter is dated May 1st, so when he simply asks Ethel if she is going to a 'big picnic on the 24th', all Canadians know he's talking about Victoria Day. This start-of-summer holiday isn't always on the same calendar day, so check the Genealogy Notes below for more information. 

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated:  May 1st 1911
Addressed to: Miss Ethel Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dear Ethel 
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer 
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks grey in places and pencil-like in others.
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, with a front and back page, but inside, Noah has turned the paper lengthwise and written straight down both pages. 


People/places mentioned in this letter:

*Maud 
*Della 
Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, Noah's widowed mother 
*Louie - Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Draper, married to Fred Coventry
*Elva & Will - Ethel's cousin, Elva Jane Nelson, married to William Mitchell *Steward - Noah's cousin, Stewart Trueman Draper of Indian Head, Sask
*Leslie Nelson (the missing cousin) - 20 yr old brother of Elva Nelson (above)
- Manfred - I suspect Noah is talking about his cousin on the Draper side, Manford Terry, married to Etta May Prosser, and living in the township of North Gwillimbury (same township as Belhaven). 

Other mentions:
** Picnic on the 24th 
*the Head - see my map of Indian Head, Saskatchewan

* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this 
  person/place/thing.
** see Genealogy Notes below 
Picture
Grand Coulee, Sask.
May. 1st 1911.
Miss Ethel Nelson,
       Belhaven, Ont.
Dear Ethel;-
     Well I did not get your
letter last week but hope
to get it today hope you
are well. I have a little
cold & am feeling blue but
guess I will pull through.
     Well we have had 3 days
rough weather & it stoped
the seeding but we are at
it again now. suppose you
are through down there. I
have about 135 acres of wheat
to put in yet and 30 of oats.
that means about 4 1/2 days.


Picture
Well I suppose you will be going to
a big picnic on the 24th. Have not
heard of any around hear yet but
guess there will be one all right.
     Have not started batching yet
& you bet I hate to start so come
up and help me out. I tell you
that batching is not what it is
cracked up to be when you have a
nice little Lassie only 1600 miles
away.
     Say you said I would have to
tell you what I most wanted to
hear. cant you guess. it is only five
words and starts with come and ends
with me say I wouldn't be long
in doing it you bet.
     Has Maud gone out to B.C. yet 
or has she gave up the notion?
     And is Della back from Toronto
or did she get spliced up & stay there.
     Well I guess you would think I -
was not very buisy just now if
you could see me. it is about
2 p.m. & my teams are out in the
field and I have to soon go &
draw out wheat for them.
     Mother is down at Louies for
a few days then she is going down

Picture
to the Head for a while.
     So you did not know Elva
& Will were in the West. yes
they are working for Steward 
this summer.
     Dont know wheather that
cousin is out hear or not but
will try & find out and let 
you know.
     Oh say Ethel you asked me
who told you about the man
having the money it was
Manfred.
     Well Dearest I guess I will
close for this time. & will
be glad when I do not have
to write way down there
but can jaw you all I like.
Ha. Ha. Bye Bye write often
Your wee Lover. N. C. D. xxxxxx
                                 an a lot more xxx

Genealogy Notes

The picnic on the 24th - In 1911, May 24 was Victoria Day, which is a celebration of the Queen Victoria's birthday as well as the reigning monarch. 

Although Queen Victoria was born on May 24th, 1819, we don't always celebrate on the 24th.  Officially, the holiday falls on the Monday closest to, but not past, May 25th, which is usually, but not always, the third Monday in May. Yes, it sounds confusing, but thankfully, we all have accurate calendars that show us the date from year to year. 

I checked the Newmarket Era, which is the newspaper Ethel received, and found that even back in 1911 the day was spent in athletic tournaments like Baseball games just as we have it today. In fact, as you'll find in the next few weeks of letters leading up to the 24th, both Noah and Ethel will talk about the sporting events and festivities happening in their locales. 

Unofficially, Victoria Day is the first day of summer to Canadians, just as Labour Day is our last. For more information on what Victoria Day means in Canada, check out my It's Canada Day post I did for my group blog over at Inkwell Inspirations. 

What do you do to celebrate the beginning of summer?
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