X00060 Update

Just an update on X00060: Finding Sybil Williams Death Information. The only sources that I have found to support a death date of 13 May 1874 were her tombsone [D01637] and the Greenwood Cemetery Internment listing [D01131].

Since then I've had a look at the Ontario Death Registrations again and was not able to find anything. I've checked the Owen Sound newspapaers and the Grey County Surname Collection with no luck.

It may well be that the tombstone and internment listing are the only sources that exist. The only other thing that I can think of to search are the church burial records for the time.

X00316 William R. Hoyt Burial Location

Amy Seymore Williams (1856-1929) was the fourth daughter of Isaac Amos Williams and Caroline Seymore Sanders. Her second husband was William Russell Hoyt and from his death registration, he was born 23 March 1848 in Vermont, USA and died 11 August 1924 in Eugene Oregon.

On Find a Grave, there are two potential listings that could be his.

1. William Russell Hoyt, Eugene Pioneer Cemetery, memorial no 60218108
According to the notes on Find a Grave, he died 11 August 1924, aged 76 years 4 months 20 days which matches the information on the death registration that I have. As well, the notes have him listed as the son of William Hoyt & [---] Russell, which also matches the information on the death registration.

It also lists him as a father of Mrs. E. T. Deveraux, which I have yet to verify.

2. William R. Hoyt, Multnomah Park Cemetery, memorial no 46938793
This marker lists a birth year of 1848 and a death year of 1924, which match the information on the death registration.

This William R. Hoyt is buried with a Mary L. Hoyt (1848-1911) and lists a Laurel Milo Hoyt (1872-1956) as a child. I haven't yet verified the two names to see if they are connected


The first one, if the parent names are correct, is definitely the correct one. But the second one also does match. Amy S. Williams married William R. Hoyt in 1912, so his first wife passing 1911 would certainly fit.

Questions:

• Is the information on the first site correct? And what is the source?
• Could these sites be for the same person? Is there a possibility that William Hoyt was never buried in Eugene Pioneer Cemetery, as there is no marker there?

Still to investigate:

• Research Mary L. Hoyt (1848-1911) to see if she was married to the same William R. Hoyt that was later married to Amy S. Williams
• Research Laurel Milo Hoyt (1872-1956) to see if there is a connection
• Research E.T. Devereaux to see if there is a connection

X00315: Amy S. Williams' Marriage Witnesses

I've found the marriage record for Amy S. Williams and William Gaskill, from 19 February 1901. It was a little surprising to find because the marriage took place in Globe, Gila, Arizona. To this point, i have not been able to find out why Amy Williams was in Arizona, or the US, for that matter.

One thing of interest in the marriage record is that the minister performing the ceremony was an F.S. Eastman, and the witnesses were a B. Eastman and an S.C. Eastman. Amy S. Williams had a sister-in-law, Maude Alfreda Eastman. Maude's parents were Benjamin Eastman and Sarah Alfreda. Could they have been the B. and S.C. Eastman? And they had a son named Fred S. Eastman. Could he have been the F.S. Eastman who performed the ceremony? And also, what were they doing in Arizona?

Perhaps, if the witnesses and minister are the in-laws, this might lead to an explanation as to why Amy Williams was in Arizona at the time.

Next steps: Research the timelines for the Eastman family to see if they could have been in Arizona at the time.

X00213 Update

I have posted previously about X00213: Finding the death/burial info for Mary Ann Coulson Douglas.

As mentioned previously, I did find the death registration, but I still haven't found anything burial information. But I have also now checked the Greenwood Cemetery listings (as well as other cemetery listings for Grey County and the obituaries for Owen Sound for that time. No luck.

No idea what else to search next. It may be that she was cremated, or there is no listing for her burial.

Profile: George Williams [1860-1886] and Elizabeth Ann Stephenson [1868-1946]

George Williams [1860-1886] and Elizabeth Ann Stephenson [1868-1946]

George Williams was another son of Isaac Amos Williams and Caroline Seymour Sanders. He was born about 1860 in Guelph, Canada West [D03763, D03788, D05090, D05091, D05095, D05121]. He followed his father’s footsteps and entered the accounting profession [D05095]. He was working as an accountant in Toronto when he married Elizabeth Ann Stephenson on 7 Jan 1885 [D05090].

Elizabeth Ann Stephenson was born 18 March 1868 in Cookstown, Simcoe County daughter of William Stephenson and Ann Willoughby [D05090, D05093, D05098, D05099, D05100, D05101, D05102, D05121].

George Williams only lived for about a year and half after his marriage to Elizabeth, passing away of tuberculosis on 13 June 1886 [D05095] at the age of approximately twenty-six. George and Elizabeth had one child together, George Bertrand Williams who was born on 13 November 1885 in Parkdale [D05094].

After the death of her husband, Elizabeth Ann Stephenson Williams married William Ritter on 26 September 1888 in Toronto [D05093]. She lived to the age of seventy-eight and died on 20 Jun 1946 [D05102, D05121]. She is buried along with her first husband, George Williams in St James Cemetery, Toronto [D05121].



Sources:
[D03763] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Wellington, Guelph, p. 31; RG 31; digital images,Ancestry.ca (accessed 20 May 2018).

[D03788] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 35, sub-district e, Mount Forest, p. 49, dwelling 173, family 173; RG 31; digital images (accessed 20 May 2018).

[D05090] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 52: 410, 13513, Williams-Stephenson; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"(accessed 29 Nov 2018).

[D05091] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 134, sub-district F, Toronto, p. 164, dwelling 681, family 780; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 29 Nov 2018).

[D05093] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 63: 388, 14427, Ritter-Williams; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"(accessed 29 Nov 2018).

[D05094] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929 Reel 80: 154, 42481, 81; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births," (29 Nov 2018).

[D05095] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 46: 608, 22697, 1400; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (29 Nov 2018).

[D05098] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 119, Toronto, p. 70, family 312; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry (accessed 30 Nov 2018).

[D05099] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 118, sub-district D-3, Toronto, p. 4, dwelling 32, family 36; RG 31; digital images(accessed 30 Nov 2018).

[D05100] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 128, sub-district 98, Toronto, p. 4, dwelling 29, family 34; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 30 Nov 2018). Cit. ID: D05100

[D05101] 1921 census of Canada, district 113, sub-district 45, Parkdale, p. 12, dwelling 114, family 134; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com (accessed 30 Nov 2018). Cit. ID: D05101

[D05102] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, 17073, RG 80-08-0-2482; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (30 Nov 2018).

[D05121] St James Cemetery & Crematorium (Toronto, York, Ontario).

X00116 John J. Douglas and Janet Kennedy Marriage Record

I have been trying to locate a marriage record for John James Douglas [1860-1938] and Janet Highet Kennedy [1866-1898].

I know when the marriage occurred and where, thanks to this news article from the Owen Sound Advertiser dated 23 December 1886:

Transcription: Married: In the Methodist Church, Tara, on the 16th December, by the Rev. R. W. Williams, John J. Douglas, Jeweler, to Janet H. Kennedy, daughter of Dr. Kennedy, all of Owen Sound. [D05698]

So, I know that it occurred in Tara, Bruce County on 16 December 1886. But I haven't been able to find it in the Ontario Marriage Registrations, seaching under the names of both the bride and the groom. I have even gone through all of the marriages registered on that date and still haven't found it. So, I'm going to conclude that this was one of the marriage registrations that was not registered - as marriage registrations were not required in Ontario at the time. There may be church records out there for this marriage, but as far as the search for the registration, I'm going to consider this one case closed.



Sources:

[D05698] (Owen Sound) The Advertiser, Owen Sound, 23 December 1886, p. 2, col. 4. Rec. Date: 8 Feb 2019.

X00281: What Happened to Edwin & Maude Williams after 1921?

Last week I posted the profiles of Edwin Lawerence Williams [1869-?] and Maude Alfreda Williams [1869-?] based on what I have found so far. Unfortunately, I have no information on what happened to them past the 1921 census. As of 1921 they were both living in Toronto at 58 Elmer Avenue.

I have not been able to find them in the death registrations for Ontario, or any cemetery records for them using a number of sources including Find A Grave and the Toronto Trust Cemeteries Database.

Some sources still to try:

• The 1931 census (when it becomes available)
• Local newspapers
• Directories
• Voters lists
• The 1940 National Registration

Any other suggestions or information are welcome!

Profile: Edwin Lawrence Williams [1869-?] and Maude Alfreda Eastman [1869-?]

Edwin Lawrence Williams [1869-?] and Maude Alfreda Eastman [1869-?]

Edwin Lawrence Williams was born in Mount Forest, Wellington, Ontario in June 1869 [D03788, D03789, D05223, D05224, D05225, D05226]. He was the youngest child of Isaac Williams and Caroline Seymour Sanders.

Edwin moved around with the family from Mount Forest to Port Perry and then eventually to Lindsay, Victoria County [D03789]. At the age of twelve, Edwin assisted his father’s bookkeeping work [D03789] but later learned the trade of a jeweller. He first worked in Brighton, Northumberland [D05223, D05224] but later found work in a watch factory in Toronto [D05225, D05226].

Edwin married Maude Alfreda Eastman on 7 Jan 1891 in Toronto [D05223]. Maude was the daughter of Benjamin Eastman and Sarah Alfreda. She was born in February of 1869 in Minden, Haliburton County [D05223, D05224, D06663, D06664] and grew up there [D06663, D06664].

Edwin and Maude continued to live in Toronto after they were married, residing at 58 Elmer Ave [D05226].



Sources
[D03788] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 35, sub-district e, Mount Forest, p. 49, dwelling 173, family 173; RG 31; digital images(accessed 20 May 2018).

[D03789] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 129, sub-district B-2, Lindsay, Victoria, p. 99, dwelling 458, family 469; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 20 May 2018).

[D05223] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, Reel 73: 322, 14007, Williams-Eastman; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"(accessed 22 Dec 2018).

[D05224] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 98, sub-district 1, Brighton, p. 17, family 86; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry (accessed 22 Dec 2018).

[D05225] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 125, sub-district 33, Toronto, p. 12, dwelling 119, family 135; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 22 Dec 2018).

[D05226] 1921 census of Canada, district 142, sub-district 33, Toronto, p. 13, dwelling 64, family 82; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com (accessed 22 Dec 2018).

[D06663] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 53, sub-district G, Minden Hills, p. 3, dwelling 7, family 7; RG 31; digital images(accessed 25 Jan 2020).

[D06664] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 125, sub-district P, Minden, p. 2, dwelling 7, family 7; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 25 Jan 2020).

Analysis: Emerson Claude Smith Date of Birth

Analysis: Emerson Claude Smith's Date of Birth

Emerson Claude Smith's profile can be found here. The details below describe the analysis for how I determined his date of birth from conflicting information.

---

Details/Background:
There are conflicting dates of birth given for Emerson Claude Smith’s date of birth.

Most sources concur with a date of 13th October 1881, although one source suggests 14th October 1881, one 23rd November 1881 and still another 1883.

---

Analysis:

Reference	Description	Date of Birth Given	Notes
D04797	Birth Registration	14 October 1881
D04734	1891 Census	ca 1883	Age 8 in 1891
D04735	1901 Census	13 October 1881
D04736	1911 Census	October 1881
D04798	WW1 Attestation Papers	13 October 1881
D04799	WW1 Service Record	13 October 1881
D04804	Gravestone	ca 1881	Age 36 in 1917
D04351	Family gravestone	ca 1881	Age 36 in 1917
D04805	Newspaper Article, 1917	23 November 1881

The two big outliers are the 1891 census [D04734] which puts his birthdate at about 1883 and the 1917 Flesherton Advance article [D04805] which gives his birthdate as 23 November 1881. All other sources are consistent with a birthdate of October 1881.

The newspaper article was written in 1917 and newspapers are notorious for reporting incorrect details, so I’m going to rule that out as incorrect. Census records are also notorious for errors and so I’m going to rule that one out as incorrectly reported information.

So, the remaining sources all point to 1881 as the year of birth, and most of them October as the month. All the sources that give dates suggest 13 October 1881, except for the birth registration [D04797], which suggests 14 October 1881 as the date. The service record information [D04799] is derived from the same source as the attestation papers [D04798] and therefore would not be an independent source.

This would suggest that either the birth registration has the correct date of birth, but Emerson grew up thinking that his date of birth was the 13th or that the birth registration information was recorded incorrectly.

Normally, the birth registration information would be the one that I would rely on more because it was given the closest to the actual event, but in this case it seems like there is more information to support a date of birth of 13th October 1881.

---

Conclusion:
The most likely date of birth for Emerson Claude Smith is 13th October 1881.

---

Sources:
[D04351] Flesherton Cemetery (Flesherton, Grey, Ontario). Rec. Date: 9 Oct 2018. ID: D04351. Cit. Date: 9 Oct 2018.

[D04734] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 69, sub-district 3, Artemesia, p. 43, family 209; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry (accessed 15 Oct 2018). Rec. Date: 30 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 15 Oct 2018.

[D04735] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 66, sub-district A-5, Artemesia, p. 14, dwelling 126, family 126; RG 31; digital images(accessed 15 Oct 2018). Rec. Date: 4 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 15 Oct 2018.

[D04736] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 72, sub-district 4, Eugenia, p. 7, dwelling 70, family 70; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 20 Oct 2018). Rec. Date: 18 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 20 Oct 2018.

[D04797] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929; Reel: 48: 8357, 26; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births," (25 Oct 2018). Rec. Date: 21 Apr 2017. Cit. Date: 25 Oct 2018.

[D04798] Canada, "WWI CEF Attestation Papers, 1914-1918," Attestation Papers: Emerson Claude Smith; digital images, Ancestry.ca(accessed 11 Nov 2018). Rec. Date: 11 Nov 2018. Cit. Date: 11 Nov 2018.

[D04799] Canada, "Emerson Claude Smith WW1 Military Service Record"; digital images, Library and Archives Canada(accessed 27 Dec 2018). Rec. Date: 27 Dec 2018. ID: D04799. Cit. Date: 27 Dec 2018.

[D04804] Petit-Vimy British Cemetery ( Vimy, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, Vimy, France), Plot c.9. Rec. Date: 25 Oct 2018. ID: D04804. Cit. Date: 25 Oct 2018.

[D04805] "Claude Emerson Smith," Flesherton Advance, 16 Aug 1917, p. 1, col. 2; digital images(accessed 2 Nov 2018), Grey Highlands Newspapers. Rec. Date: 2 Nov 2018. Cit. Date: 2 Nov 2018.

Who is Lee Ann Bauman - Solved!

A number of years ago I was at Greenwood cemetery and on the Douglas family gravestone I found the name Lee Ann Bauman with no clear connection to anyone else on the stone:



The dates given for her are 1959 - 1967. There is most likely a connection to the Douglas family of Owen Sound, but unfortunately the stone didn't give any further information and the birth and death years are too recent for civil registration. The FindaGrave website did not offer any additional connections either.

Fortunately, I was able to find a newspaper listing for both her birth and death in the Grey County newspapers collection:





So, these two articles not only corroborate her birth and death dates from the stone but also give then names of the parents: Carman and Marjorie Bauman and that her grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Douglas and Mr. and Mrs. George Bauman. So there is our connection to the Douglas family. Stewart A. Douglas was one of the sons of Thomas William Douglas (1859-1955), a well-known tailor in Owen Sound and also buried in the same location. I also later found a marriage notice in the paper announcing the marriage of Carman Bauman and Marjorie Douglas.

I have since sent a request to update the connection on FindaGrave.

X00308 Thomas Williams' brewery in the County of Flint

Another new discovery that I found when I was doing research on the White Bear Hotel. An article from the Liverpool Mercury [D06809] dated 28 May 1841 suggests that Thomas Williams was selling a brewery located in the county of Flint.



This is an interesting discover, because it suggests that he was involved in the brewery business even earlier than when he came to Canada!

X00307: White Bear Hotel

In the 1841 census as well as some of his children's birth and baptism records show Thomas Williams as being the publican of the White Bear Hotel on Dale Street in Liverpool.

I was doing some research on the history of the hotel and found out that Herman Melville stayed at the hotel on 8 November 1856, according to his diaries.

I was trying to determine the time period in which he would have owned the hotel. I first found this article [D06804] from the Liverpool Mercury, 22 September 1837 and mentions that Thomas Williams just took over the operations:



Then I found this article [D06806], also from the Liverpool Mercury, dated 3 May 1871 that mentions that the hotel has remained under the same ownership for 30 years.



So that gives us a range of 1837 to 1841 in which Thomas Williams ran the hotel.

Next, I'd like to find out more about the history of the Inn - when it was founded and when it went out of business. It no longer exists.

Update on X00303: Who is Martha Williams

An update on X00303:

According to this article posted on the Grey Roots website, John Frost's wife Mary Williams was of Welsh descent whereas the Thomas Williams family originated from around Bristol in England, so that doesn't appear to be the connection.

Also, when I was at Greenwood Cemetery in the summery, I wasn't able to find the stone.

Analysis: Death Date for Annie Frances Hewett

I had a green leaf show up on Ancestry for Annie Frances Hewett. She sort of disappears off the map after 1911, but an ancestry hint popped up with an Alberta death record. The death record shows an Annie F. Hewer dying in 1917 in Eastberg, Alberta.

So, I ordered the full record from the Provincial Archives of Alberta. While the information is close, there are a significant number of questionable items on the record:

• The surname does appear to be Hewer on the death record rather than Hewett
• Her middle name is listed as Florence rather than Frances. Her middle name is listed as Frances on her birth record [D04712].
• The contact name is listed as Harry K. Hewer. I have not come across anyone with a similar name to this point
• Her age is listed as 41 years, 11 months and 28 days. With a death date of 13 April 1917, this would work out to a date of birth of 16 February 1875, as opposed to the date of birth of 10 March 1872 on her birth registration [D04712]
• There's no sign that any of the rest of the family were in Alberta so the fact that she was found in a death record in Alberta is somewhat suspicious

With all of the above information, there are too many differences to conclude that this is the same Annie F. Hewett. So what happened to her beyond 1911 still remains a mystery.





Sources
[D04712] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929, Reel 24: 101, 15577, 15; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births," (8 Oct 2018). Rec. Date: 21 Apr 2017. Cit. Date: 8 Oct 2018.

X00130: New Station/Station Road Brewery

One of my research topics is on the Ockenden side of the family: George Ockenden 1820-1900 and his son Charles J. Ockenden (1862-1925) were brewers according to census records. After a bit of research I found that the names of the breweries they ran were called Station Brewery and New Road Brewery. I still need to do some more research on the history of the breweries.

Recently, I came across this ad for New Road Brewery:



There's still more to find but I'm glad to have made this discovery.

New Year

Happy 2020!

Now that 2019 has come to a close, I am proud to say that I managed to complete my version of the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge. Instead of following the given themes, however, my main objective was to try to get a new post up every week.

For the new year, I will try to do the same, but of late I haven't been all that successful in keeping up so I will see how long it goes.