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1911 Courtship: Nov 5 Dear Noah

2/10/2014

undated used Postcard to Ethel Nelson from Maude Breuls

The front of the above Real Photo Postcard (RPPC) isn't much to look at, but the back was sent from Maud Breuls to Ethel Nelson, and Maud is the subject of this week's Genealogy Notes.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  Nov 1911 (should read the 5th)
Addressed to: Mr. N C Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask.
Mailed from: Belhaven, P.O.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, blue ink - Ethel starts this letter with a light colored ink, but then changes to blue. This is better quality ink than she's been using as it is dry and doesn't smear.
Written on: Off-white, textured, plain, linen-like paper, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form with unnumbered pages. For page 2, Ethel has turned the paper sideways and written straight across the short side and down the length before turning it back to finish on the back page.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

Pa - *James H Nelson
Mother - *Ida Amelia Glover
Uncle *Emanuel (newspaper shows Manuel) - Ethel's paternal grand uncle
the *kids - Ethel's siblings: Sadie 16, Christie 11, Emanuel (Manuel) 6, J.A. (Jay) 3,

Walt *Yorke - see 2 prior Genealogy posts, stepson of Noah's 1st cousin 2x removed
Raymond *Yorke - only child from Walter Yorke's 1st wife, Minnie Pollock
Hugh *Sedore - related to Noah by the marriage of his sister, *Eva to *Joe Perrault
**Maud Bruels - Ethel's good friend and neighbor
**Grover Morrison - Maud's friend
Stanley *Bruels - Maud's brother
Carl Gordon & Edna Mix ?

Places/things mentioned in this letter:

*driver - a horse that pulls a buggy or other wheeled conveyance
chattel *mortgage
*Sutton - a few miles northeast of Belhaven
*Keswick - a few miles west of Belhaven
*Winnipeg - mail from the western provinces go through Winnipeg

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.
Nov 1911.

Mr N C Draper
Grand Coulee,
Sask.

My Dear Noah,-
Well I wonder
what you are doing to-day!
Every Sunday seems to pass
about the same with me. I hope
they soon pass differently with
me. I am glad there are not so
many more lonesome ones before
things will seem all new. I thot
things where looking brighter
Friday night when I came home
from Uncles. The kids came running

out and said there was a letter for me
from Winnipeg. They was sure you
had started down here. But when I read
your letter I found you where still at your
old home You can't imagine how I felt when
they told me your were coming. and then
my dissapointment to follow so soon. Just
never mind when you do come. I guess you
will know it. You'll be apt to say let me go
home. 'eh'
Say Walt York was telling Pa that Raymond
wanted to sell his driver to get some money. he
wants to get married. I am thinking Raymond
will have to sell his wife when his big sum
of money he gets for this driver of his runs out.
Hugh Sedore got a chatel mortgage on his horse and
buggy when he got married. "ha ha" If you don't
come soon every body will be married. (except
me) and I guess there would be no chance for me
"ha ha" (There is only the one. he's mine)
Well here I am again, have been to Sunday
School and home with Maud Bruels for tea
Grover Morrison (Mauds friend) Carl Gordon &
Edna Mix were there. So we all spent the
evening there. Stanley drove me over home and
it is now just 10 after eleven. It was 1/2 last
eleven when we got home last night, I think I
must start & keep better hours . eh. You will have
to learn me better when you come 'eh' ha ha

Maud & Grover are coming here
for tea Some Sunday Soon.
Oh Noah! You just don't know how
much I miss you and you say
you want my love, and you
certainly have it. even though I
don't seem to write it. but words
& my pen. Seem to fail to convey
my real love. But you must
know you have it even if I am
such a poor letter writer. You
remember I told you I was. and
you can believe it. 'eh' ha ha.
Say Mother will think I am a long
time getting ready for bed, but when
I can spend my evening like I
have to-night, I just think I can
write to you any way. if even I can't
see you. Space says close for this time
Bye-Bye Love from Ethel .

Genealogy Notes

As one of her best school friends, Ethel has mentioned Maud Bruels several times, but only once in connection with Grover Morrison - 1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah so I figured it was time to learn about his relationship with our Maud. I started my search with Maud. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any records for Maud Bruels and her family other than the 1901 Canada census. Right away that was a red flag that something was wrong.

So I turned my search to Grover Morrison and 3 records came up:
- his death record stating he died in Florida in 1952
- his marriage record to Maud Breuls dated 1916
- a Can/US border crossing card for Maude Florence Morrison dated 1947

The Newmarket Era. April 24, 1952

Wanting more information, I pulled up the Newmarket Era and typed Bruels in the search box. I only netted one clipping as shown on the right. It doesn't explain why Harold was in Florida, but it shows that his remains were sent back to Sutton, Ontario for burial.

There were 2 more articles from 1951
about Grover Morrison being elected as Reeve of Sutton for the second time. It also mentioned him as being a garage operator in Sutton. Although I didn't find anything about Grover and a garage, I did see several of these ads about Maud's brother, Stanley.

Newmarket Era, 18 Jun 1915, p. 6

It was strange that I couldn't find anything else about Maud or her family, until in one of those moments of clarity, I noticed the above ad spelled Stanley's name as BREULS instead of the BRUELS that Ethel had always used.

I pulled out the postcard shown at the top of this post which Maud had sent to Ethel and read the back again...

... and I see how what I thought was UE is actually EU although the way Maud writes it, the letters kind of look the same. But which way was official?

I pulled up Maud and Grover's Marriage Certificate again and confirmed it read Breuls.

And that explained the red flag I'd felt earlier... a nil response in a search usually means an error somewhere along the line.

So I tried the ancestry.ca search again with Maud's name spelled Breuls this time and several records came up - including her birth record showing her official name as Flora Maud Breuls. There were several other census records, but not for 1911. In fact, out of the whole family, I only found a 1911 census record for Maud's brothers, Harold and Carman, who were both boarding in Newmarket while attending High School.

Maud's parents are James Breuls and Louisa Mann who moved their family from East Gwillimbury to Wellington County and back to East Gwillimbury - wherever James was called to teach since as a public school teacher.

The Newmarket Era. January 1, 1897

Meanwhile, Maud's maternal grandparents were living on their Belhaven farm. Darius Mann died in 1892, but it wasn't until January 1897 when Louisa Mann left the farm.

The Newmarket Era. April 2, 1897

She rented it out and moved a few miles west to Keswick. For whatever reason, she moved back to Belhaven a few months later.

The following May, the last clipping shows that Maud and her family have moved onto the family farm in Belhaven.

Newmarket Era, 27 May 1898

Born in 1900, Herman, the youngest of the six Breuls chilren is the only one born in the Belhaven area. And that's where they were when the 1901 census came out.

I don't know why the family isn't on the 1911 census. A date on Maud's postcard could give an indication of where she was, but the stamp and postal info is gone. Since she addresses it to Ethel Nelson, it's before Jan 1912 when Ethel and Noah marry, and since Ethel is mentioning Maud in these letters, it's a good guess that the postcard is dated pre-1911. But that's just my guess.

The Newmarket Era. April 24, 1952

Now here's the final clipping I wanted to show you from the 1954 Newmarket Era Front Page...

It shows how Grover Morrison, ex-Reeve of Sutton, and Harold Breuls, a Toronto lawyer, were both killed in a motor vehicle accident down in Florida.

It also states that Mrs. Morrison - Maud - was injured in the accident and is in the hospital.

Grover's political career are mentioned, as well as his gas station business.

And then farther down, we see that along with Maud, Grover has left a son in Vancouver, BC, and a daughter in Thornhill, Ontario.

It also states that Col Breuls - or rather, Harold as we've seen from the page 10 clipping above - leaves 2 sisters, Irene and Maud, the only remaining offspring of James and Laura Breuls' 6 children.

One pleasant note about researching the Breuls family was when I saw that Maud's mother was a Mann, and her grandmother was a Prosser, I followed the connection and sure enough, once Sadie marries Cecil in 1916, Maud and Ethel will be related by marriage (2nd cousin of husband of sister).

1911 Courtship: Oct 1, Dear Noah

12/10/2013

1900 Belhaven, Ontario looking South. Courtesy of http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/

2013 Belhaven, Ontario looking South. Courtesy of Google Earth.

Can you spot the differences between the 2 photos above? If you click them they enlarge for clear views of Belhaven taken from the same spot but 102 yrs apart. Sure, the false front is gone from the bottom photo and the front verandah is enclosed, but look at the shape and positions of the windows, as well as the placement of the power poles.

If you compare these photos with the one in last week's 1911 Courtship Letter you see that the James Nelson family farm is situated down the road and among those trees on the left.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  1st Oct 1911 (events confirm date as 25th)
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 - In Ethel's last letter she blamed the pen for the messy letter with smudges, but this letter is almost as bad, if not worse. I believe it may be the ink and not the pen because even after 102 yrs, the ink smudges on my hands - as if it still hasn't dried. Good thing I've made a point of placing each opened letter in a large ziploc bag while handling it or it will be illegible before the next 100 yrs rolls around.
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
- *Christie Nelson - Ethel's 11 yr old sister
- *Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, *Eva Amelia and *Joe Perrault of *Grand Coulee, SK
- *Fanny - 16 yr old cousin of Veda's on the Perrault side (Noah teases her)
- **Mabel Wright of Queensville - this week's Genealogy Notes
- Mrs. Walker *Prosser - neighbor and mother of *Cecil Prosser
- *Cecil Prosser - future husband of Sadie
- Frank *Morton - neighbor and friend
- Stanley *Bruels - neighbor and brother of Ethel's friend, Maud
- Edith Draper of Belhaven - check labels for *Edith/Edythe Draper
- *Mahoney girls & Dora - close neighbors and friends
- Stanley *Mahoney - brother of the Mahoney girls
- West boys - the men who went to work the huge *western *harvest in August

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
- *Sutton Fair - Sutton is a few miles northeast of Belhaven
- *Queensville - several miles south of Belhaven

Cliche/Phrase
- hustle - I've always thought this was a modern word

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.
1st Oct. 1911.

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

My Dear Noah, -
Well another Sunday
is here. and it is much like last
Sunday. raining of course. we are
having such of a lot of rain. It
rains about ever other day. We had
planed on going to church this
morning. but guess we will stay at
home now. Say you must be getting
in a hustle for winter having it
snow up there all ready. we heard that
it snowed nearly 8" and that you
could'nt see the shocks of grain for
snow. You have your threshing done.
hav'nt you? hope so anyway.

Mabel Wright of Queensville came
home with Sadie Friday night to stay
over Sunday. We three girls are going
up to Sunday School and home with
Mrs Walker Prosser for tea. that was
our plans but of course if it keeps
on rainging why it just means
Stay at home. Say Cecil Prosser
has left home. and is working for
Frank Morton. We heard Stanley Bruels
left home also. I hav'nt saw any of
our West boys home yet. Suppose there
would be some of them disapointed
that is as far as work goes. Say Noah,
May I ask how long do you intend to
Stay down here this winter? until
Spring "eh" as long as you get home
in time to do your spring work. and
come as soon as you can, for. I am
rather lonesome. for its a long time to be

apart from one whom I really
love, Time is passing though.
Edith Draper of Belhaven has been
very low. with her heart, they think
She is better though now.
Saw Mahoney girls & Stanley up at
at choir practise last night, Say
Dora is the same old girl. She
certainly can talk. There is no danger
of going to sleep at our practises.
The girls are down in the front
room playing the organ, so am
having lot of music while I am
writing. I wonder how many more
Sundays I will be found here at
this certain place writing. I hope
not many, that is as I am writing
to-day. Oh say! it is just pouring
now. Wish it only quit for a while.

I hav'nt saw a soul go to church yet.
Suppose Veda has got started at College
now. think I shall have to write her a
card. I guess she will have a lively time
something like Sadie has at H. School.
I don't blame them for it, do you?
I'll never forget the last year I went
to school. if we did'nt have a good
time it was'nt our fault. we did our
best. Christie is here waiting for me
to study our S. School lesson to-gether.
Such good little girls as we are "eh",
Well Sutton Fair is over. and such a
day as they had, rained all day long,
Newmarket isnt until nearly a month
yet. Say would'nt I delight in walking
into your place now. I wonder what
I'd find you doing. or would I find you
down at Fanny's. "ha ha" you kid.
I must close for this time. Love & xxxxxEthel
and a good embrace. xxxxxx

Genealogy Notes

Mabel Wright - Mabel Wright of Queensville came home with Sadie Friday night to stay over Sunday.

Ethel had written the line about Mabel as if Noah knew who she was talking about. Was Mabel one of the many relatives of the Draper and Nelson families who resided in and around Queensville, East Gwillimbury Twp?

A quick search of the family tree showed only one person of the Wright family - Clarinda Wright b 1794 who married Lewis Card b 1793. But with Wright being Clarinda's maiden name, any offspring would bear the surname of Card. Of course, Mabel could descended from one of Clarinda's brothers, but with 100+ years between Clarinda's and Mabel's birth dates, I'd need more information before trying to search for that connection.

Instead, I decided to go backwards using the ancestry.ca search engine...

Step 1 - Search for Mabel Wright, Queensville, 1911
Result: 1911 Canada census showing Mabel Wright, 16 yrs old of East Gwillimbury
Parents - John and Mary Wright and lots of siblings
Ancestry Hints - Mabel Wright Birth Record

Step 2 - Pull up Mabel Wright's Birth Record for Mother's Maiden Name
Result: Parents - John A Wright and Mary Ann Cunningham

Step 3 - Search for marriage record of John Wright and Mary Ann Cunningham
Results: Marriage Record of Oct 16, 1878 in East Gwillimbury
Parents of John A Wright: John and Mercy Wright

Step 4 - Search for marriage record of John and Mercy Wright as no hint given
Results: Early Marriage Record showing Jan 11, 1848
No parents listed, but shows bride as Mercy Pearson and John's birth of abt 1809

Step 5 - Search for John Wright b 1809 and Mercy Pearson
Results: Another member's tree showing John William Wright b 1809 Hull, England

Step 6 - Search for John William Wright, b 1809, Hull, Yorkshire, England
Results: - Several member tree's with slightly different dates and spouses
- many 1841 England census records for John Wright

Step 7 - Search Passenger and Immigration lists for travel between 1808 and 1848
Reason - John married Mercy in 1848 Ontario which is where she was born
Results - pages of listings for several England & Wales Criminal Registers, 1791-1892, and the discovery that the name of John Wright is as common in the UK as John Smith is in the US
Summary - I stopped searching the ancestry records as it became too intensive and I wasn't getting anywhere.

New Search using Local history book on East Gwillimbur :
East Gwillimbury in the Nineteenth Century by Gladys M. Rolling, Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1967

This book contains several mentions of the Wright family in East Gwillimbury and Queensville including some of those mentioned above. It also has many references to other families who are related to the Drapers, Glovers, and Nelsons. Again, it's too inconclusive to make a direct connection at this point, so I'll let the search end here for now.

Although I didn't get the answer I was seeking, I hope that by following the steps of my search, you will have gained an idea of how easy it is to find people, and in particular maiden names, etc to help in your own search.

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...

The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 7 of 8

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

The Newmarket Era. Sept 1, 1911 - Pg: 2

The Newmarket Era. September 1, 1911 - Page: 5 of 8

1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Noah

3/10/2013

1910 Jackson's Point, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Valentine & Sons' Publishing Co. Ltd, Courtesy http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca

Since Ethel talks about picnics, beaches, and Jackson's Point, I'm posting a 1910 postcard from the Baldwin Room Postcard Collection, Toronto Public Library, which shows that exact scene. More on this topic below under Genealogy Notes.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (born 31 May 1890)
Dated:  May 28, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... My Dear Noah, Grand Coulee, Sask.
Mailed from:  Belhaven, Ont.
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 width of both pages, hence this letter has only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

- Pa -  *James Henry Nelson
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yr old sister (see photos last post)
- Aunt Maggie - *Margaret Glover Barker
- *Elva Jane is Ethel's cousin. Their grandparents are Henry Nelson and Eliza Crouch pictured in  1911 Courtship: May 7 Dear Noah. Elva and her husband, William Mitchell are working for Noah's cousin, *Stewart Draper in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.
- *Maud Bruels - Ethel's school friend
- *Professor Dales
- Norman Anderson - ?
- the English man (*hired man)
- Martha Brooks and her young man ?
- Mabel Wright in Queensville

The following locations are shown on a map under Genealogy Notes
- Queensville
- ** Morton Park / Brighton Beach
- Jackson's Point

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

Belhaven, May 28th, 1911.

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

My Dear Noah, -
Well my dear boy
I hardly know what to say
or write that will express
my feelings. So unworthy as I
was, yet you sent me that
beautiful watch and pin, and
Noah what have you ever got in
return, Nothing. I think your choice
is simply grand. Oh! I just
wish you were here so I could
give you a good embrace
and tell you my love and thanks.

Maud Bruels came home with me to-night from Sunday School we were up to Belhaven Church. Professor Dales preached.
Well Noah I guess you think I am rather careless in
answering you sometimes. I got your post card. Sadie you know
forgot to post my letter to you, that was the reason you had
a feast or famine.
Norman Anderson is going to start work here in the
morning. I think Pa intends keeping the English man until
Wednesday his two months is in then. I say for him "Good riddance
to bad rubbish".
I had a letter from Elva. she speaks as though she liked
it fine up there. She spoke of you being down for Easter. and
said she heard you were to be married. she thot it was
to some girl in Toronto. "ha ha". I wonder if she wont
get great a surprize some day.
Well it is Monday noon now and Pa and Ma are going
to Queensville this afternoon so I will send this letter with them.

Martha Brooks and her young
man are just going by. They came
home saturday to spend Sunday.
Sadie did'nt come home this
week she went home with Mabel
Wright at Queensville.
Well i don't know what we are
going to do for picnic's I guess they
will all be private ones. if we have
any. Morton Park is called Brighton
Beach now. and is private. Jackson's
point is all so closed to the public.
Well I again say many. many
thank you's for that lovely birth
day present. Aunt Maggie brough
me up one the other day also.
I now must close for this time
with all love and xxxx from your
Ever thankful, Sweetheart.

Genealogy Notes

Before I forget, last week's Genealogy Notes were about John Prosser and his seasonal job as the Fox Island Lighthouse Keeper. On the map below, I've flagged Fox Island at the top of image, where it's located in Lake Simcoe.

Note the mention and drawing of the Fox Island Lighthouse as a Point of Interest in the Morton Park newspaper snippet below. (Morton Park/Brighton Beach is the yellow pin above the word Ewert on the map. (Eeps - that should be Bell Ewart!)

Ontario Places mentioned in 1911 Courtship Letter May 28 Dear Noah: Queensville, Morton's Park, Brighton Beach, and Jackson's Point.

Ethel mentions Jackson's Point and Morton Park have been turned into private resorts and the name Morton Park is now called Brighton Beach. This week's delve into history is about Morton Park since it played such a huge part in recreational activities while Ethel was growing up.

The image above is what you see if you zoom in on the map below, more or less.

Red square is Lake Simcoe, and the Townships of Georgina and East Gwillimbury, York County, Ontario, Canada.

I came across some newspaper articles about Morton Park while I was searching the www.ourontario.ca online newspaper archives looking for info for our family tree. I can't stress how valuable this website is for genealogical and historic research.

The Newmarket Era. May 20, 1898

Ethel was born in 1890 and Morton Park was the closest beach to Belhaven. From everything I've read, it was a favourite place for a summer outing.

Following is an 1899 new article in The Newmarket Era telling the history and amenities of Morton Park. Altough it's found on the right side of Page 1, I wonder if it was actually paid advertising. I'm posting it in its entirety, although it's too long for one image, so I've had to split it in half. I'm sorry about the mess at the bottom right corner, but that's the way it is with 100 year old newspapers.

The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911

The name of Morton Park has been
changed to Brighton Beach and the
whole property laid out in lots, the
sale of which was to take place on
Wednesday last. A number of peo-
ple were up from the city.

Note: The reference to a city in the above snippet is the City of Toronto, Ontario, Can.

The Newmarket Era. June 2, 1911

The name Morton Park has been
changed to Brighton Beach, accord-
ing to the new trolley time table.

An interesting side note to this is the following information from Library and Archives Canada concerning Post Offices and Postmasters about Morton Park/Brighton Beach, keeping in mind this was a seasonal post office only:

Establishment Re-openings - 1896-08-11
Closings - 1974-08-31

Former Office Information:
Former Name Date of Change
Brighton Beach (SO) 1919-07-03
Morton Park (SO) 1913-02-01

Postmaster Information:
Name of Postmaster - Neil Morton
Date of Birth - 1896-08-11
Date of Vacancy - 1911
Cause of Vacancy - Death

So from the Post Office information, we find that the Post Office started when Neil Morton bought Morton Park in 1895 from the previous owner, Sir James Edgar, Speaker of the House of Commons, and that Neil died in 1911, which is when Ethel and the news snippets say it became the private Brighton Beach. (Photo of Neil Morton on the first section of large writeup.)

1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah

2/17/2013

May 14th, 1911 was Canada's 2nd ever Mother's Day, and it's how Ethel starts this week's Courtship letter.

Clipping from the Newmarket Era
5 May 1911, p. 1.

Northern Pacific Railway postcard for Mother's Day, ca 1916

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:  May 14, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... 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 turned it clockwise and written straight across the whole width so technically, there are only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover
- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- Maud *Bruels
- Grover Morrison - a young man from the nearby village of Baldwin
- **Mrs. Deverell mother of *Herbert Deverell - **updated info below!
- *Uncle Emanuel Nelson - brother of James Henry Nelson
- *Manuel - Emanuel Nelson - Ethel's little brother

More info on the *Fire(s) and current *market prices were posted under 1911 Courtship: May 14? Dear Ethel.

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

Bellhaven. May 14.1911.

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

Dear Noah, --
Well here I am again
with some more of my scribbling
I have just come home from
Church. Mr. Fletcher of Keswick
Christian Church preached.
To-day was Mothers day
Everybody was supposed to
wear a white flower.
I was home with
Maud Bruels to-night for tea
Grover Morrison took her home
from Church. He was driving a
colt and say I just had to
jump for my life to get out of the rig.

Oh Noah I got your letter last night
asking me to try and think that I would
be able to go home with you the first of
August if you came down. Oh Noah I do so
wish you could come, but just think, of my leaving
Ma with so much extra work that she will
have this summer building the barn.
I believe if our barn had not of burned I
would have said yes, without any hesitation.
It is'nt the lack of love for you (on my part)
that keeps me here. Now Noah what do you
say? Considering all. Oh if you were only here
so that I could talk and tell you everything and
just how I feel about it.
Stanley Mahoney and his May were up to
Church to-night. I heard to day Morn Yorke
was to married in June.
Mrs. Deverell has been visiting at Mrs. Bruels
a couple of days. I guess she feels awfully
bad about Herb's death.
We heard yesterday that there had
averaged a barn burning each day this
week except Saturday. Ours Monday, Rialton's
on Tuesday. they caught fire in just the
same place. Riddels on Wed, one near
Newmarket on Thursday, and a fire on
Friday we heard was Moleses barn.

We got Eleven Hundred
insurance. Everyone has been so
good. It shows you who your
true friend's are. No we have not
killed that dog yet. It was'nt
the dog's fault. Manuel was teasing
him. Uncle Emanuel is very sick
we are afraid he'll not recover.
Miss Hunt speaks of you each time
I see her.
Well how do you like batching it
alone. I often think of you, and
wonder what you are doing. haha
wether you are mixing bread or not.
Ethel would do your baking for
you would'nt she? I guess you can
tell by my writing about what my
pen is like, it scratches. Everyone
is well here in body. but rather
down hearted since the fire. I think
I must close for this time. with all
love I say good-Bye from your
Sweetheart,
x x x x x x x x (Ethel Nelson)

Genealogy Notes

This week's genealogy notes are in 2 parts:
1. The Deverell's
2. Uncle Emanuel

The Deverell's

A few weeks ago, I talked about the death of Herbert Deverell under Genealogy Notes in the post, 1911 Courtship: May 1 Dear Noah, and how many circumstances matched - and didn't match - Noah's mother, Sarah Sophia Deverell.

In that post, I stated the facts as I know them and then said,

but they can't be siblings for the following reasons:

1. they share the same birth year but were born a couple months apart
2. their parents have the same names & jobs, but not the same birth years
3. if they were siblings, William would show up on Sarah's 1861 census.

So what relation are Charles and Herbert to Sarah Sophia?

On the right is the obituary of Elder W. Deverell taken from The Newmarket Era May 11, 1888, Page 2.

The copy reads:
Another aged pilgrim has fallen in the
person of Eld. W. Deverell who departed
this life April 22, 1888, at the advanced
age of 81 years. Deceased was taken ill
while on a visit at the home of his son-in-law Mrs. D. Draper, but his illness was of short duration...

According to that, Sophia's father, a minister, died at her own home since she was married to David Draper.

However, if you read the final line of this obituary, it says he left a wife and six children to mourn his loss.

The crux of the above summation is that last line because according to the family tree, Sophia had 5 siblings. So taking that, the above questions, and the fact that William Deverell is a very common name into consideration, the other William Henry Deverell family didn't fit with ours.

Update: Well, guess what? I was searching for family names in The Newmarket Era this week, and found this little, notation in a 1900 edition...

BOOM! And there it is - the missing piece. Louie is Noah's sister. Their mother is Sarah Sophia Deverell. But how does William Deverell of Toronto fit in the picture if Sarah already has 5 siblings already? I went back to Elder W. Deverall's obit and read that last line again. This time I realized that it doesn't say he has 6 children... it says he's leaving 5 of them behind. What if one had already died? I checked the family tree again and wouldn't you know it... Frances Jane Deverell died in 1876, 12 yrs before. With her passing, that left a widow and 6 children to mourn his loss, including both Sophia and William, so yes, he is her brother.

As for the dates, I've discovered that Wm Deverell of Toronto was born one year before Sophia, so he is, in fact, one year older than her. As for the parents' dates, I have to assume mine are right - at least for Elder William Deverell based on his obituary.

And that explains why Ethel felt it necessary to send Herbert's obituary with her letter.

Uncle Emanuel

In this week's letter, Ethel mentions that her Uncle Emanuel is very sick. When she first mentions him back in Courtship Letter Apr 9 Dear Noah, I thought her Uncle Emanuel lived close to them in Belhaven because he was the one who told her father not to sell the farm.

***Update... Uncle Emanuel is the one who lives close to Belhaven! Uncle Emanuel Nelson (of Ontario) is the brother of Henry Nelson (of Iowa) which makes him the uncle of Ethel's dad, James Nelson. I was confusing Uncle Emanuel Nelson with Emanuel Francis Nelson (son of Henry Nelson and Eliza Crouch) who is down in Iowa. Clear as mud?

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1911 Courtship: Nov 5 Dear Noah

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1911 Courtship: Oct 1, Dear Noah

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1911 Courtship: Sep 10 Dear Noah

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1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Noah

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1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah

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