Profile: Georgena Viola Smith (1883-1978)

Georgena Viola Smith (1883-1978)

Georgena Viola Smith was born 22 December, 1863, the second child and eldest daughter of Adam Smith and Kate Williams [D04856, D04833]. In her younger years, she worked as a seamstress in Toronto [D04880] and lived in Buffalo, New York for a time between 1904 and 1905 [D04881]. She later worked as a practicing nurse back in Eugenia Falls where she grew up [D04881]. She also played organ at the Methodist (later United) church, including at her sister's wedding [D04874].

In 1941 she moved to San Leandro, California to live with her aunt Edith Bostaph. A border crossing card from 1941 describes her as being five feet, eight and a half inches in height, with brown eyes, medium complexion and grey-brown hair [D04881]. The card also mentioned a slight scar on her nose [D04881]. Although she never married, she remained close with her family and made frequent visits to see her parents, aunts and uncles [D04873, D04923, D04881]. She died 18 March, 1978 at the age of 95 [D04833, D04811] and is buried in Flesherton Cemetery along with her younger sister, Daisy May [D04811]

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Sources
[D04811] Flesherton Cemetery (Flesherton, Grey, Ontario).

[D04833] Grey County Surname Collection , 1978; digital images (accessed 2 Nov 2018), Grey County Surname Collection.

[D04856] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, 1845867: 622, 9996, 70; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births," (28 Oct 2018).

[D04873] "Eugenia Paragraphs," Flesherton Advance, June 6,1912, p. 1, col. 3; digital images(accessed 18 Nov 2018), Grey Highlands Newspaper Collection.

[D04874] "Morgan-Smith," Flesherton Advance, June 13, 1912, p. 4, col. 1; digital images(accessed 18 Nov 2018), Grey Highlands Newspaper Collection.

[D04880] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 128, sub-district 87, Toronto, p. 1, dwelling 4, family 4; RG 31; digital images,Ancestry.com (accessed 3 Nov 2018).

[D04881] "Detroit Border Crossings and Passenger and Crew Lists 1905-1963," online images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 16 Jan 2019), 3 Feb 1941.

[D04923] "Eugenia," Flesherton Advance, October 22, 1930, p. 1, col. 1; digital images(accessed 17 Nov 2018), Grey Highlands Newspaper Collection.

Update on X00298 - John Williams Brewing History Part 2

Last week I give an update on X00298 and the research on John Williams. This week I'm going to give an update on two of the other research questions.

2. There was a John Williams who supposedly opened a brewery in 1864 in Flesherton (From Whiskey and Wickedness) [D05727]. Is that the same John Williams?

3. His death record lists him as a brewer living in Owen Sound in 1889 [D03737]. Which brewery could he have been working for?

First, as far as the possibility of him opening a brewery in Flesherton, I managed to find a listing in both “The Art and Mystery of Brewing in Ontario” by Ian Bowering [D06545] and “The Directory of Canadian Breweries Past and Present” by Richard L. Sweet [D06546]. Both were under Artemesia:

The first source (Bowering) lists:

Williams, J., brewer, 1864 [D06545]

and the second one (Sweet) lists:

Williams, John; brewer and maltster, 1864 [D06546]

So, it would seem that there is evidence that a John Williams did open a brewery in the area around 1864 and that it was very short-lived. The question still remains though if this is the same John Williams who was the son of Thomas Williams. There was a John Williams living in the area in 1861 and 1871 who was Dutch but had no evident connection to brewing. It could have been the Dutch John Williams or perhaps it was a different John Williams who moved to the area temporarily. There is still more research to be done.

As for the third question, multiple sources suggest that there were two breweries in operation in Owen Sound in 1889: Eaton Brothers Brewery and the Schwan Brewery [D06545, D06546, D06547].



Eaton Brothers started in 1883 and it was believed that they took over from the Riddell & Secord Brewery. The Schwan Brewery was founded in 1885 and believed that they took over from Malone's brewery. It's not clear as to which one John Williams could have worked for. Many of the names of the workers at Schwan's have been documented [D06547] and his name is not among them. But that does not necessarily mean that worked at Eaton Brother's.

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Sources:
[D03737] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 54: 395, 5588, 1; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (6 May 2018). Rec. Date: 3 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 6 May 2018.

[D03739] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Peel, sub-district Brampton, Brampton, p. 15; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 May 2018). Rec. Date: 5 Feb 2018. Cit. Date: 13 May 2018.

[D05727] Cotton, Larry D., Whiskey and Wickedness Volume V - Wellington and Grey Counties, Ontario. Self-published, 2017.

[D06545] Bowering, Ian, The Art and Mystery of Brewing in Ontario. Burnstown, Ontario, 1988.

[D06546] Sweet, Richard L., Directory of Canadian Breweries (Past and Present); Second Edition. Saskatoon, 1996.

[D06547] Schwan, Terry, The Historic Schwan Breweries with abridged family genealogy. Guelph, 2013.

Update on X00298: John Williams Brewing History

I posted recently about X00298 and researching John William's history as a brewer. While I haven't looked into the Brampton or Owen Sound breweries I have looked more into the possibility of him operating a brewery briefly in Flesherton. Unfortunately, the findings don't give any positive results either way. Here's what I've found:

• There is a John Williams living in Flesherton in the 1861 and 1871 census, but his occupation is not listed as a brewer in either census and his background is Dutch.
• The John Williams of Flesherton is mentioned and profiled in the book Split Rail Country but brewing is not mentioned.
• The 1865-66 directory for Grey County did not mention any brewery for Flesherton.
• No John Williams a brewer was found in any reference books or reference files for Breweries/Wineries/Distilleries in Grey County
• No trace of a brewery was found on old maps of Flesherton or Markdale.

So, the next step it seems is to check the newspapers around at the time to see if anything is said about the brewery. The only newspapers that I am aware of in Grey County at the time are in Durham and Owen Sound. I've checked the Durham newspapers but couldn't find anything. Will need to check the Owen Sound newspapers next.

X00298 Research John Williams history as a brewer

Much like the others in the Williams family, John Williams (born 1829) worked as a brewer. He first learned the craft while working as part of his father's brewery in Guelph. But he appears to have branched out on his own later on.

In the 1861 census, his occupation was listed as a brewer [D03739] living in Brampton, Peel.



In his death registration, his occupation was listed as a brewer in Owen Sound [D03737].



But more recently, I've discovered that a John Williams opened a brewery in Flesherton, Grey County in 1864 [D05727], although it's not certain whether or not this is the same John Williams. The 1865-66 directory of Grey County does not mention a brewery in Flesherton or a John Williams living there, so if there was a brewery established in 1864, it was short-lived.



So, there's definitely some more research that needs to be done here to fill in the details.

Next Steps:
* Check with the Brampton Public Library for research on Brampton breweries
* Check Brampton directories from the 1860s
* Check Owen Sound resources from the mid-to-late 1880s
* Check for Grey County/Flesherton directories for the early 1860s


Sources
[D03737] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 54: 395, 5588, 1; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (6 May 2018). Rec. Date: 3 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 6 May 2018.

[D03739] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Peel, sub-district Brampton, Brampton, p. 15; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 May 2018). Rec. Date: 5 Feb 2018. Cit. Date: 13 May 2018.

[D05727] Cotton, Larry D., Whiskey and Wickedness Volume V - Wellington and Grey Counties, Ontario. Self-published, 2017.

Update on marriage date for Adam Smith & Kate Williams Smith

Some time ago, I posted about the marriage date for Adam Smith and Kate Julianna Williams where I concluded that the date of their actual wedding was 23 October 1880.

Since that time I have found some additional information which suggests that I might have the incorrect date.

The first was an article from the Flesherton Advance dated 16 Nov 1930:



The article came out after their golden wedding anniversary celebration and said "As November 23rd was the proper day for the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Smith..." suggesting that November 23rd was the actual day of the wedding, and that they just had the Golden Wedding celebration on October 23rd. [D04870]

The next was an obituary for Kate Julianne Williams that appeared in the Markdale Standard 28 Nov 1940. In it, the article states that "On Nov. 23rd, 1880 she was united in marriage to Mr. Adam Smith who predeceased her in April 1939". [D05337]



So, based on this new evidence it would appear that 23 Nov 1880 is the more likely date for their marriage.


Sources:
[D04870] "Eugenia," Flesherton Advance, 16 Nov 1930, p. 1, col. 1; digital images(accessed 3 Nov 2018), Grey Highland Newspapers. Rec. Date: 2 Nov 2018. Cit. Date: 3 Nov 2018.

[D05337] "The Late Mrs. Adam Smith," Markdale Standard, 28 Nov 1940, p. 3, col. 3; digital images(accessed 6 Feb 2019), Grey Highlands Historical Newspaper Collection. Rec. Date: 9 Nov 2018. Cit. Date: 6 Feb 2019.

Marriage Date Found: Adam Smith & Kate Williams

I just realized that it has been a few months since I've posted here. So, here's a quick update. I'm currently working on researching some branches of the Williams family, in particular the Smith family of Eugenia Falls, Ontario.

I was trying to determine the date of marriage for Adam Smith and Kate J. Williams. All evidence pointed to about 1880; their first child was born in 1881, and an article I found suggested that they got married about a year and a half after her older sister Jane Emily Williams married William Henry Madden. The date of that marriage was July 2 1879. So, towards the end of 1880 would seem the most likely date.

The problem is that I couldn't find them in the civil registration marriages for Ontario. So I had a look in the newspapers next. Fortunately, the Grey Highlands Public Library has a collection of Grey Highlands newspapers. I found this article in the Markdale Standard, Dec 3 1880:



The article suggests that the marriage had occurred recently, but didn't give an exact date. I checked earlier newspapers, but found no mention of the actual date. So, knowing that both husband and wife lived past 1930, I decided to look for a 50th anniversary article and found one in the 29 October 1930 issue of Flesherton Advance that mentioned they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on 23 October 1930. So there you have it, I was able to find their marriage date of 23 October 1880 via a roundabout way