Category: Map

WW1 Letters Home - Mar 18, 1917

4/24/2022

Author of Letter: Noah C Draper, 30 yrs old
Dated: March 18 / 1917
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. Noah wrote this letter different than any other. He lay it flat and wrote across what is usually his last page, but this time started with it. Then he wrote page 2 on what is usually his first page, and then he flipped it over but instead of writing as if 2 pages, he wrote across the short width and down the page like foolscap.

People mentioned in this letter:
Ethel* - Ethel Isabel Draper, 27 yrs old, Noah's wife of 6 yrs

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
Bay of Biscay**
whites - Royal Navy Uniform Dress 6 with Sennett Hat (image above)
sentry duty and search light
censor**

Word or Phrase Use:
altho - Noah often spells it this way. Common usage for the time?

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

March, 18 / 1917.
H.M.S. Bacchante,

Mrs. N.C. Draper,
Keswick, Ont.
Dear Wife;-
Well Ethel we are out at
sea about 1500 miles from
England & will be a few
more before we touch port
I guess. we are getting in
a warm country now &
will soon be wearing
white suits & hats with
out jerseys. they are quite
smart but hard to
keep clean,
When we (corner missing)

we went(corner chunk missing)
& took on so(missing)
we passed through some
of the finest scenery. I
have seen on this side
of the water, I would like
to have some pictures
of it, but of course one
dare not bring a camera
near a port.
Well I dont know when
this will get posted
but am writing so as to
have it ready at any
time
Say I guess I will get
over getting sea sick

in time just missed a meal so(missing)
& that was while going across(missing)
bay of Biscay. they say there(missing)
a number of tides meet there(missing)
it is very seldom calm & so(missing)
times very rough.
Well I hope you are all well a(missing)
this leaves me I am feeling fine
& not worked to hard altho the
night work does not agree with
me haHa. We have 8 watches on
board & do 4 hour tricks all
(missing)ut 2 whitch they call dogwatches
(missing)om 4 P.M untill 6 and from 6 to 8
(missing)hat is to change it so you
(missing)not get the same watches every
(missing)ght. I am on a search light but
we have had no cause to use it
yet, when we have it means
fight, but still we have to be
at our places & ready at anytime
but I guess we will not be in
any danger for some time to
come anyway. Well ByeBye for now
N.C.D

History Notes

There are 2 History notes for this letter of March 18, 1917:

History Note 1 - Censorship of Letters

This letter is one of many that are missing parts due to the censor's hand. From now on, every letter will be scrutinized for dates or locations that could tip off the enemy. Some letters are missing a corner, like this one, but others are missing paragraphs which always makes me wonder what Noah said that made the censor rip it out, specially since one word in one corner means more words missing on the backside as well.

History Note 2 - Bay of Biscay

According to Noah's letter, he has crossed the Bay of Biscay and is about 1500 miles (approx 2400 km) from England. By my calculation, that puts him off the coast of Morocco, possibly near the Canary Islands.

Map showing Bay of Biscay. Wikimedia

WW1 Letters Home - Dec 19, 1916

12/19/2016

WW1 Troop Movements of RCNVR from Canada to England, December 1916. Map outline courtesy of macmillanlearning.com

Today's letter was written on the verge of Noah Draper's journey to Chatham, England after being attached to HMCS Niobe for 3 weeks while awaiting orders to go overseas. The route I've drawn is direct from Halifax to Chatham as per Noah's letter here.

Author of Letter: Noah C Draper, 29 yrs old
Dated: Dec. 19, 1916
Mailed from: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Attached to: HMCS Niobe
Profession: Farmer, Temporary Sailor
Rank: Ordinary Seaman
Addressed to: Mrs. N.C. Draper, Keswick, Ont.
Relationship: Wife
Writing instrument: Fountain Pen with Black Ink
Writing Paper: 10" x 6.5" medium weight, semi-rough, folded into booklet form. Noah hasn't numbered the pages, but he's using the same technique he used for most of his previously posted courtship letters to Ethel, where his first page is the outside, then he's opened it and written on the right side, then moved over to the left side and written there, and finally, he's closed it and written on the back. For clarity, I'm posting the pages in the order they were meant to be read.

People mentioned in this letter:
Ethel* - Noah's wife of 5 yrs, Ethel Isabel Nelson Draper
Percy* - Noah's older brother, lives near Adams, Saskatchewan
Sadie* - Ethel's sister, Sadie Nelson Prosser, 21, Grandview Farm, Belhaven, Ont
Cecil* - Sadie's husband, Cecil Prosser, 24, farmer, Grandview Farm, Belhaven
mother - Noah's mother, Sarah Sophia Deverell* Draper, widow of David Draper
Louie* Coventry - Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Draper Coventry, 37, lives in Kelowna

The babies:
- Mildred* aka Midge, 3 yrs old
- James David* aka Jay, 6 months (later called JD)

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- Keswick - where Noah's family lives (the ones who didn't move west)
- Halifax - historic, protected harbor on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia
- Regina - in Saskatchewan, closest city to Noah's farm at Adams
- Kelowna - city in British Columbia where Noah's sister, "Louie" Coventry, lives
- England - a country in the United Kingdom
- Chatam/Chatham - Royal Naval Barracks in Chatham, England
- London - London, England
- the Thames - the Thames River runs west from coast, past London
- The Olimpic - HMT Olympic* - Dec 13, 1916 post

- quarenteen - under quarantine**
- proofs - photographs

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 Genealogy Notes below

Halifax, Dec. 19/16.

Mrs. N. C. Draper,
Keswick, Ont.

Dear Ethel;-
Well I am told off in
a draft for Chatam and we
expect to leave to night or
tomorrow morning but
do not know for shure our
leave is stoped & we have
been ordered to be ready
to leave at a moments notice
so am writing to night
for we have no time
after we are told to get

ready I wrote a card to one
fellows sister in Regina
for him after he left telling
her he had gone but he
is still in Harbour on the
Olimpic I heard she is in
quarenteen but do not
know for shure.
Well there is to much
excitement on board to
write much so you will
have to excuse me if I
write down something
they are saying and it would
shock a deaf man. HaHa.
Well Ethel I dont know

what money you mean for
Percy to send down but if
it was for that life insurance
I dont think I would pay it.
Say tell Sadie I started
to write her that letter she
spokeabout Sunday, but my
pen went dry so I did'nt
finish it but will try &
do so in old England if
Cecil does'nt object. Ha Ha.
Chatham is about 24 miles
from London on the Thames
I guess so will see part of the
old historic river any way.

Well I guess I will have
to close as we have to fall
in on deck in a minute
so you write to mother
at Kelowna and tell her I
did not have a chance after
I found out. I sent her a card
yesteraday. Say Ethel if
them proofs are better than
the ones you sent they must
be good.
Well I guess this will be
the last letter for a couple
of weeks but will write whenever
possible. so good bye Oceans of love
to you and the kiddies. N. C. Draper

Genealogy Notes

In Noah's last letter dated Dec 13th, he mentioned that the RMS Olympic had left Halifax. Apparently one of the men didn't have time to write his wife that he was heading overseas, so Noah did it for him...and then Noah discovered that she, the ship, was still in the bay under quarantine. Why?

I did some digging and although this isn't definitive, I found a possible reason in the book, RMS Olympic: Titanic's Sister, by Mark Chirnside.

The Olympic's surgeon hadn't been aware that one of the crewmates was found suffering from venereal disease. When it was discovered, the man left the ship. The director of transports then advised stricter inspections to avoid putting the onboard troops at risk.

According to the book, one young soldier said the Olympic pulled away from the dock on the day after 15 December 1916, and anchored in the bay. There, they took on more troops and provisions. Then came 2 days of laying about, sleeping in hammocks, and eating in what used to be the Olympic's sun parlor, except it was now closed off to outside light.

I suspect the medical examinations were being carried out at this time.

Noah's letter was written on Dec 19th, where he confirms the Olympic was still in the bay.

The book continues with, "Olympic left Halifax...at 4.41 pm on 20 December 1916, drawing 34ft 9in, and she arrived in Liverpool six days later..."

And speaking of the RMS Olympic, here's a diagram that explains the reasoning behind the dazzle paint camouflage shown in my Dec 13 post. I found it on the article Whatever Happened to Olympic, Titanic's Sister? written by Jason Ponic, at Owlcation.

1913: Postcard with RPO stamp

11/16/2014

Nov 1913, C.N.R. Bridge, Prince Albert, Sask, post card

The RPPC above is the front of a postcard Noah sent back to Ethel in November 1913. See the Genealogy Notes below for information on Noah's embossing imprint, as well as the special RPO marked stamp.

Author of Postcard: Noah Clement Draper (26 yrs old)
Dated: Nov 14, 1913
Addressed to: Mrs. N. C. Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask.
Mailed from: Prince Albert (Sask)
Relationship: spouse
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Black ink
Stamp: 1 cent Canada postmarked Regina & Prince Albert RPO

People/places/things mentioned in this letter:

- Mrs. N. C. Draper - Ethel Nelson Draper
- baby - Mildred Audrey (Midge) Draper born Sep 17, 1913
- Jack - unknown at this time

- Prince Albert, Sask - 405 km/252 miles north of Grand Coulee

*Cliche/Phrasing:
O.K.

* 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
** see Genealogy Notes below

Prince Albert
Nov. 14

Well we have got this
far all O.K. Met Jack
on the street this
morning he said
there is lots of game
up there so guess we
wont have to go home
with out any. there
is not much snow
here yet. Well Bye Bye.
Love to baby & you. N.C.D.

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

Genealogy Notes

Railway Post Office

We don't know how long Noah was gone on this particular hunting trip, but since it's November in Saskatchewan and he's talking about game, he would probably be after moose or White-tailed deer. The following map shows the most-travelled route a person of today would drive the 405 km/252 miles to get from Grand Coulee to Prince Albert.

This is an interactive map when clicked on the bottom to enlarge.

Noah's postcard has a 1 cent King George postage stamp and a cancellation stamp from the Regina & Prince Albert RPO, except I can't make out all the markings.

RPO stands for Railway Post Office - mobile post offices based on trains which enabled speedy delivery of mail until the 1960's. The trains didn't stop at each community on the line to pick up mail as it would have slowed them down. Instead, they left the mail bag hanging on a special post. As the train approached the hanging mail bag, the postal clerk would kick the sorted mail bag out the open door, while a long pole with a crook at the end snagged the new mail bag as the train zoomed past. This is shown in the video below...

Click to set custom HTML

Inside the mail car, the railway postal office looked like the sorting room in any urban centre. The following photograph shows three clerks in a Canadian Pacific Railway post office.

ca 1885-1900, Interior view of three railway of clerks aboard a Canadian railway post office. Courtesy of Collections Canada.

The following photo shows the restored railway post office of a Great Northern Railway mail car. The top boxes are open and the railway clerk would toss letters into them and then when they got to the location, they'd slide the door up like the ones on the left side and slide the letters into a mail bag.

An interior view of Great Northern Railway #42, a restored RPO on display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Following is an article from the July 1919 issue of Popular Science.

Popular Science, July 1919

If you have any information about the Regina & Prince Albert RPO or the markings on this cancellation stamp, please leave a comment below or contact me.

Westward the Newlyweds!

4/22/2014

Ethel is finally going west instead of only writing about other people doing it. As I mentioned last week, we don't know exactly when Noah and Ethel leave Ontario for Saskatchewan, but we're sure they attended the wedding of his cousin, Edith Draper, to Frank Kavanagh at the end of January.

According to the newspaper, other things of interest were happening in North Gwillimbury Township while Noah was there with Ethel - such as how the cold temperatures of the Winter of 1911/12 affected the local ice harvest in a good news/bad news scenario...

The Newmarket Era. February 2, 1912 - Page: 6

The Newmarket Era. February 2, 1912 - Page: 7

The Newmarket Era. February 9, 1912 - Page: 8

The Newmarket Era. February 16, 1912 - Page: 6

Although these photographs aren't from 1912, they show how the lake ice was harvested.

1900, Jackson's Point, North Gwillimbury, Ontario. "Before the ice could be cut the snow was scraped off, exposing the clear ice below." Note the boxcars waiting to be loaded with blocks of ice. Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the Georgina Pioneer Museum, Keswick, Ontario. (Click image for site.)

1930's by Mary Beley. Ice Harvesting off Beley (Ferncliffe) Point. " A black and white photograph of a horse pulling what looks to be some sort of sleigh that cuts ice, with a man on it. There are men behind the horse and sleigh that appear to be pulling the ice up out of the water." Courtesy of Courtesy of http://images.ourontario.ca/

1930's by Mary Beley. Ice Harvesting off Beley (Ferncliffe) Point. " Courtesy of Courtesy of http://images.ourontario.ca/

1930's by Mary Beley. Ice Harvesting off Beley (Ferncliffe) Point. "A black and white photograph of a group of men doing various tasks while harvesting ice. Some of the men are pulling blocks of ice out of the lake, some are loading the ice onto a sleigh, and some are cutting the ice." Courtesy of http://images.ourontario.ca/

"Ice workers and ladies pose on Lake Simcoe." 1895, Jackson's Point, North Gwillimbury. Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the Georgina Pioneer Museum, Keswick, Ontario. (Click image for site.)

1900, Jackson's Point, North Gwillimbury. "Ice workers in front of elevator and warehouse on Lake Simcoe." Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the Georgina Pioneer Museum, Keswick, Ontario. (Click image for site.)

Noah and Ethel will leave North Gwillimbury and the ice harvest behind and take the local Grand Trunk Railway Train from North Gwillimbury, down to Toronto where they'll switch to a westbound Canadian Pacific Railway train to Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan.

In the map below, the blue line shows the route both couples will travel until they reach Winnipeg. At that point, Edith Draper and Frank Kavanagh would have switched to a train heading up a branch line to get to Togo, Saskatchewan (blue line), while Noah and Ethel would have stayed on the main line until they reached Grand Coulee, a few miles west of Regina.

The red box in the map above shows the North Shore of Lake Superior, shown in detail in the map below.

The yellow pins in the map mark locations shown in the slideshow below. I found these souvenir photos in Ethel's Treasure Box and although I don't know when they were bought, I know Noah and Ethel would have experienced these scenes while on their westward journey, so enjoy the slideshow and check the map for the locations.

This next photograph shows where Noah and Ethel will get off the train at the Grand Coulee Station in Saskatchewan. From there, it's a 3.5 mile wagon or car ride up to Adams where they'll begin their married life together.

Grand Coulee Station, undated, from the album of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson, 1912-1924. Courtesy of the Norma Draper Photograph Collection.

Join me as we continue the story of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson with a letter from Ontario next week, followed by Ethel's first experience with a prairie cyclone.

Feb 1912: Noah's Cousin, Edith Draper

4/13/2014

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:

The 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.

The 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.

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:

The Newmarket Era. December 24, 1909

The Newmarket Era. June 17, 1910

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:

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:

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:

The 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.

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.

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.

The 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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WW1 Letters Home - Mar 18, 1917

History Notes

WW1 Letters Home - Dec 19, 1916

Genealogy Notes

1913: Postcard with RPO stamp

Genealogy Notes

Westward the Newlyweds!

Feb 1912: Noah's Cousin, Edith Draper

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WW1 Letters Home - Mar 18, 1917

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WW1 Letters Home - Dec 19, 1916

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1913: Postcard with RPO stamp

Genealogy Notes

Westward the Newlyweds!

Feb 1912: Noah's Cousin, Edith Draper

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