Category: Ravenshoe

1911 Courtship Special: Letter from Noah's Mother

3/10/2014

Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan, Octobert 1913; Courtesty of the Norma Draper Personal Photograph Collection

Noah is on his way to Ethel!
For more info, read the Genealogy Notes below.

Author of Letter: S S Draper
Dated: The 17 (presumed to be Dec 17, 1911)
Addressed to: Mr N C Draper, My Dear boy
Mailed from: Grand Coulee
Relationship: Noah's mother (Sarah Sophia Deverell)
Profession: Widow of Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine BlueInk
Written on: Very thin Ivory-colored lined notepaper 5" x 8"

People/places mentioned in this letter:

Eva - *Eva Amelia Perrault, Noah's sister who married *Joe Perraul
Veda - *Veda Perrault, 16 yr old daughter of *Eva and *Joe
Viola - *Viola Rigler, 14 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, *Ethel and *Will Rigler
Will - *Will Rigler, husband of Noah's sister *Ethel Maud
Fred & Louie - *Fred Coventry, who married Noah's sister, *Sarah Louisa aka *Louie
Percies - *Percy Draper - Noah's brother

Mrs H Winch - Margaret & Herb *Winch
Nettie - Nellie? Winch - records show Margaret & Herb having a Nellie born in 1910
Sam - Will's *hired man
Alf - Noah's *hired man

Places/things mentioned in this letter or in the Genealogy Notes:
dora - the sow (pig) will "come in" or farrow (give birth)
wheat 91 cts - he sold his wheat for 91 cents a bushel
sistern - a big tank called a cistern to hold water
Regina, Saskatchewan
Ravenshoe, Ontario
Keswick, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
West - the Western Canadian provinces

Cliches mentioned in this letter:
"...will wonders never sease" (cease)

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

Grand Coulee The
17

Mr N C Draper

My Dear boy
received your letter and
too cards on the 14 was glad to hear you
was well hope this may find you the same
we are all well and getting on nicely was
up home on sunday the children have all
got bad colds Viola was real sick but
is better the things all loock well but
I never seen the snow piled up around
there as it is now we have had very cold
weather and the worst stormes I ever seen
but it is a lovely day to day the snow
is settling fast I stayed up all night
then Fred and Louie come up Monday
and I come down with them they are well
Fred come and got Veda and I last wens
day and toock us to his place it is far
better than I thought They are very
comfortiable but the roads are a fright to
travel on but then I se you have had

Stormes down there to but before this
I sapose it has stopped so you haie got to
belhaven Well how did you find them at Mr
Nelsons all well I hope remember me to
Them and all inquireing friends I sapose
ere this you have been to our old home
how does it loock did you goe and se
Mrs H Winch I feel so sorrow for her
I hope Nettie is better ere this you did
not say what ailed her
Alfs was Just up to our place and said
one of Percies horses was sick Will and
Percy are goind to kill the pigs this
week they are not goeing to kill dora
they think she will come in in a fiew
weeks wonders will never sease
Sam got drunk and brought to
flasks home with him so Will
shipped him so he is doeing the chores
alone but when the roads get do he
can get straw and watter he will get
a man the sistern is dry and
they have to melt snow for all the watter
they have and feed the horses snow

Alf said Myres was drawing watter
with fore horses and the tank slewed of
the road and went down so far that the tank
up set and he said they lost their watter and
had a turble time to get it up again ' '
So you doe not think as mouk of down there
as you might. but I hope you will have a
good time I had a letter from Eva she
seemes to think they are haveing a big
time your letter reads as tho you had a good
time goeing down ' ' you wanted to
know how much Will got for the
wheat he got 91 cts but could have got
more if he could have held it longer
but when it was drawed on he had to
sell it well I will close my scribble
now be a good boy and remember
your Mother never for gets you in
her prair, that god may keep you
safe from harm from your ever
loveing Mother S S Draper
let me hear from you often

Genealogy Notes

Last week I posted the last of the 1911 Courtship letters between Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson. Ethel's Treasure Box didn't contain any from Noah for November, and there aren't any more from Noah or Ethel until Noah joins the Royal Canadian Naval Voluntary Reserve and starts writing to Ethel once more. (I do have much more to post of the family though.)

For whatever reason, the December 1911 issues of The Newmarket Era are not online. It seems that every issue before and after is accounted for, but not the one that announces Noah's homecoming.

Hence, I'm so thankful for this week's letter where Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper writes to Noah or we wouldn't know when he left. It also seems that Noah travelled with his sister, Eva Amelia, although we don't know who else went along since no mention of Joe is made and Veda is still back in Grand Coulee. When Sarah writes that "...Eva she seems to think they are haveing a big time..." could be Eva and Joe, or Eva and the family she left behind when she moved West with Joe.

Although Sarah isn't clear about which date she sent the letter, certain events in the letter show it to be December 1911. Namely, the mention of:
- how she hoped everyone was well at Mr. Nelson's place (Ethel's home)
- the Herbert Winch Family and Nettie's burns (see 1911 Courtship: Oct 22)
- cold weather and the worst storms she's ever seen (weather info below)

The Morning Leader (Regina) - Dec 19, 1911

Sarah says she received a letter and 2 cards on the 14th, so Noah was gone by then. I'm guessing he left soon after December began because Ethel's letters stop at the end of Nov. (I sure would have liked to have been there for that meeting between them!)

The ad on the right is from Regina's Morning Leader newspaper from December 19 of that year and shows the most likely way Noah would have traveled east. If he chose the Canadian Northern Railway, then his fee would have been $47.15 from Regina to Toronto.

At Toronto, Noah would have taken the Toronto and York Radial Railway north to either Ravenshoe or Keswick. We don't know which relative he's staying with, but there are many since Noah's great grandfather and his siblings were some of the original settlers of York County and the township of North Gwillimbury.

1910, Keswick, Ontario Radial Station; Courtesy of Wikipedia and the Georgina Pioneer Village exhibit at Virtual Museum

About that cold weather... Grand Coulee is within sight of Regina and the coldest Nov 11th on record was in the year 1911 where temperatures dropped to -37.2C /-35F. (Wikipedia's List of Extreme Temperatures in Canada). Although it didn't stay that cold, the temperatures over that winter averaged out to being one of the coldest winters on record.

Actually, weather men are still talking about it. Check out this recent blog post from the United States National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office which talks about The Great Blue Norther of November 11, 1911:

...As dramatic as these weather changes were, we must go back further in time to look at one such cold front (also known then as The Great Blue Norther) that established a set of weather records that arguably are unique in modern weather history. On November 11, 1911 (remembered easily for now as 11/11/11), the afternoon temperature in Oklahoma City reached a record high for the date of 83, before plunging 66 degrees to a record low of 17 at midnight that evening. Both daily temperature records remain unbroken and untied since 1911...

The Wikipedia entry for The Great Blue Norther of 11/11/1911 has this to say:

The Great Blue Norther of 11/11/1911 was a cold snap that affected the central United States on Saturday, November 11, 1911. Many cities broke record highs, going into the 70s and 80s early that afternoon. By nightfall, cities were dealing with temperatures in the teens and single-digits on the Fahrenheit scale. This is the only day in many midwest cities' weather bureau jurisdictions where the record highs and lows were broken for the same day. Some cities experienced tornadoes on Saturday and a blizzard on Sunday. A blizzard even occurred within one hour after an F4 tornado hit Rock County, Wisconsin. The main cause of such a dramatic cold snap was an extremely strong storm system separating warm, humid air from frigid, arctic air. Dramatic cold snaps tend to occur mostly in the month of November, though they can also come in February or March.

So finally, Noah and Ethel are together once again and can now plan the details of their wedding. Next week I'll post everything I can dig up on that happy event. Hope to see you here for the happy event.

1911 Courtship: Oct 22 Dear Noah

1/18/2014

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

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".

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

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.

The 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.

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.

1911 Courtship: Oct 8 Dear Noah

12/17/2013

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

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

People/places mentioned in this letter:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genealogy Notes

Genealogy Note #1 - Mary Smith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genealogy Note #2 - Gertie Glover

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1911 Courtship: Sept 18 Dear Noah

11/17/2013

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

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

People/places mentioned in this letter:

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

- Old Mrs. Pine - local resident
- Belhaven Choir

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

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

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

Belhaven. Ont.
18 Sept. 1911

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

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

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

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

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

Genealogy Notes

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

Genealogy Note 1 - Pie and Box Social

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

Genealogy Note 2 - 1911 Telephones

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

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

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

Genealogy Note 3 - Willie Sweet and Laura Traviss

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1911 Canada census showing Robert Davidson family

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

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

1911 Courtship Special: Letter from Noah's Mother

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Oct 22 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Oct 8 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: Sept 18 Dear Noah

Genealogy Notes

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