X0293 How Did Percy Douglas lose his leg

Some time ago I posted aboux X00293 raising the question of how did Percy Douglas lose his leg. In the post I mentioned that the next steps would be to look for obituaries to see if any of them mentioned anything

I did manage to find obituaries for Percy Douglas in both the Owen Sound newspapers:

And the Kalamazoo newspapers:

Unfortunately, neither of them had anything to say about losing a leg. I have not been able to find any news articles or documents that say anything about a lost leg, other than the draft registration card. This one remains a mystery.

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.

William Robinson Bulleyment and other discoveries

When I was researching the background of Frances Bulleyment, who married Frederick Gabriel Douglas, I found this information written in the 1861 census under the "Deaths in 1860" column for the family [D05007]:



From what I can read of the inscription, it would appear that someone in the family died at age 25 due to the falling of a tree. And since the matriarch of the family (Caroline Bulleyment) is the head, it seems that it would have been the father who died.

According to Frances' death record her parents were Robinson Bulleyment & Caroline Sexton [D05006]. So the father would be Robinson Bulleyment.



I checked with the Greenwood Cemetery listings and found a record for a Robinson Bulleyment who died 15 March 1860, aged 37. I went to the site at Greenwood and found the stone [D06476]:



But next to the stone was a stone with surnames of Sexton and McKay on it [D06489]:

• Caroline McKay (d.1901)
• Robert McKay (d. 1893)
• Jesse McKay (d.1889)
• Arthur Allen McKay (d. 1873)
• William Sexton (d.1892)
• Elizabeth Sexton (d. 1888)

From the gravestone, Jesse and Arthur are the children of Caroline and Robert McKay. I did some more investigation and found a marriage record between a Caroline Bulleyment (nee Sexton) and a Robert McKay in 1862 [D06487].

Next thing to investigate: Who are William & Elizabeth Sexton? Caroline Sexton's parents are William & Francis Sexton according to the marriage record [D06487]. Could Elizabeth and Francis be the same person? Or a remarriage?

Sources:
[D05006] Michigan Department of State - Division of Vital Statistics, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, 582, 17762, 8252; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Michigan Death Records," Ancestry.ca (19 Jan 2019). Rec. Date: 30 Sep 2018. Cit. Date: 19 Jan 2019.

[D05007] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Grey, district 3, Sydenham, 18; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 27 Jan 2019). Rec. Date: 5 Feb 2018. Cit. Date: 27 Jan 2019.

[D06476] Greenwood Cemetery (Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario), G-BLK- 11-2. Rec. Date: 6 Jul 2019. ID: D06476. Cit. Date: 6 Jul 2019.

[D06487] Ontario, Ontario County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869, 13: 55, McKay-Bulleyment, 1862; digital images, FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch (accessed 6 Jul 2019).

[D06489] Greenwood Cemetery (Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario), G-BLK- 11-1. Rec. Date: 6 Jul 2019. ID: D06489. Cit. Date: 6 Jul 2019.

Profile: Frederick Gabriel Douglas, Mary Ann Coulson and Frances Bulleyment

Profile: Frederick Gabriel Douglas [1855-1916], Mary Ann Coulson [1857-1888] and Frances Bulleyment [1856-1922]

Frederick Gabriel Douglas was born 28 March 1855 in Guelph, Wellington County, Canada West [D00743, D00763, D01354, D01559, D01597, D02738]. He was very likely named after his uncle, Gabriel Williams who had died the year before. He was the third child and first son of John Douglas and Louisa Williams [D00743, D01464]. Although born in Guelph, he was baptized at St. George’s Anglican church in Sydenham (now Owen Sound, Grey County, Ontario) on 6 May 1855 [D02738].

Frederick spent his early years with the family in Guelph and moved to Owen Sound in the 1860s [D01597, D01559]. He began working as a cabinet maker in Owen Sound in the 1870s [D00491, D00743, D01354].

Frederick married Mary Ann Coulson on 13 December 1876 in Owen Sound [D00743]. Mazzie, as Mary Ann was known, was the daughter of hotel-owner John P. Coulson and Susan Venetia Lister [D00743, D05343]. Their first child, Percy John Douglas was born 10 May 1877 [D00491]. Two more sons would follow, Frederick G. Douglas born 29 December 1884 [D05505, D05878], and John Coulson Douglas born 4 September 1887 [D05505, D05666].

Tragically, Mary Ann died on 16 December 1888 of pulmonary phthisis at the age of thirty [D04646, D05343].

Frederick moved to Detroit, Michigan in the 1890s where he continued his career as a cabinet maker [D01464]. He married Frances Bulleyment on 23 June 1893 in Detroit [D01464]. Frances was daughter of William Bulleyment and Caroline Sexton [D05006]. She had previously been married to John Vandrick and they had a child together, Arthur J.B. Vandrick, born in 1883 [D04975].

On 21 May 1916, Fred was working on his boat and scraped his leg on a rough piece of board. The accident let to blood poisoning in the wound [D05345]. At first, the injury was not considered serious, but erysipelas developed soon after. The erysipelas prevented an amputation and it was determined that nothing further could be done. His two brothers, John J. Douglas and Clarence Douglas went to Detroit to see him before he died on 2 June 1916 [D01462, D05345, D05347]. His funeral was held at the home of his brother-in-law, Charles Milford on 5 June 1916 [D05347]. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in the family plot [D01131, D05347].

Frances Bulleyment Douglas died 25 August 1922 of mitral insufficiency [D05006]. She was buried 28 August 1922 in Greenwood Cemetery [D01131, D04994].

As for the three sons of Frederick Gabriel Douglas and Mazie Coulson Douglas, Percy Douglas moved to the United States and worked as an engraver [D05308, D05309, D05311]. He married Frances Eleanor Johnson on 23, October 1911 [D05310] and they had three children, Donald Coulson Douglas (1912-2004), Dorothy Mazie Douglas (1914 -1979) and Fern Mary Douglas (1915-?) [D05311]. Percy died on 17 July 1927 at the age of fifty [D04809, D05300].

Frederick G Douglas moved to Smugglers' Mines, Telluride, Colorado [D05505]. John Coulson Douglas was only a year old when his mother died. He was raised by his aunt and uncle in Sarawak, Grey County [D05350]. He worked as a gardener and fought in World War 1 [D05505, D05666]. He married Ivy Irene Palter in 1954 and lived until 30 August 1971 [D05666].

---

Sources:
[D00491] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929; Reel: 27: 431, 6425, 42; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births," (11 Jun 2017).

[D00743] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, MS932; Reel: 26: 369, 12829, Douglas-Coulson; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"(accessed 10 Sep 2017).

[D00763] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 68, sub-district Owen Sound Center Ward, Owen Sound, p. 35, family 175; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca,Ancestry (accessed 5 Oct 2017).

[D01131] “Owen Sound Greenwood Cemetery Interments" (typescript, 2005), p. 81.

[D01354] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 134, sub-district G, Toronto, p. 136, dwelling 657, family 713; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 30 Sep 2018).

[D01462] Michigan Department of State - Division of Vital Statistics, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, 5329; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950," Ancestry.ca (30 Sep 2018).

[D01464] Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952, 2805, Douglas-Bulleyment; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867- 1952," Ancestry.ca (accessed 30 Sep 2018).

[D01559] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 37, sub-district 1-G, Owen Sound, p. 67, dwelling 258, family 262; RG 31; digital images(accessed 6 Sep 2018).

[D01597] 1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Guelph, Guelph, p. 14; RG 31; digital images,Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 May 2018).

[D02738] St George's Anglican (Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada), "Baptism Record - Frederick Gabriel Douglas," p 8.

[D04809] Michigan Department of State - Division of Vital Statistics, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, 5707, 537; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Michigan Death Records," Ancestry.ca (20 Jan 2019).

[D04646] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 50: 517, 6080, 89; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (23 Sep 2018).

[D04975] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 65, sub-district D-7, Owen Sound, p. 4, dwelling 47, family 47; RG 31; digital images(accessed 19 Jan 2019).

[D04978] 1910 U.S. census, population schedule, Detroit, enumeration district (ED) 0108, sheet 5B, dwelling 93, family 92; digital images,ancestry.com (accessed 20 Jan 2019); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll T624_683.

[D04994] Greenwood Cemetery (Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario).

[D05006] Michigan Department of State - Division of Vital Statistics, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, 582, 17762, 8252; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Michigan Death Records," Ancestry.ca (19 Jan 2019).

[D05300] Riverside Cemetery (Kalamazoo, Michigan).

[D05308] Muskegon, Michigan, City Directory 1924 , 1924:, 585; digital images, ancestry.ca (ancestry.ca : accessed 6 Feb 2019).

[D05309] Muskegon, Michigan City Directory 1926 , 1926 vols., 1926:, 598; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 6 Feb 2019).

[D05310] Cook, Illinois, Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920, 579191, Douglas-Misbach, 23 Oct 1911; digital images, Family Search,Family Search (accessed 6 Feb 2019).

[D05311] Cook, Illinois, 3974; digital image, FamilySearch, "Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates 1871-1922,"FamilySearch (Familysearch.og: 6 Feb 2019).

[D05343] "Deaths," (Owen Sound) The Advertiser, Owen Sound, 20 Dec 1888, p. 1, col. 4. Cit. ID: D05343.

[D05345] ”Deaths,"(Owen Sound) Owen Sound Sun, 2 Jun 1916, p. 5, col. 4.

[D05347] “Deaths," (Owen Sound) Owen Sound Times, 6 Jun 1916, p. 5, col. 5.

[D05350] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 65, sub-district E-3, Sarawak, p. 2, dwelling 17, family 17; RG 31; digital images(accessed 19 May 2019). Rec. Date: 4 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 19 May 2019.

[D05505] ”Deaths," (Owen Sound) Owen Sound Times, 9 Jun 1916, p. 1, col. 2.

[D05666] "John C. Douglas dies in hospital," Grey County Surname Collection , 30 Aug 1971; digital images(accessed 9 Mar 2019).

[D05878] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929 Series 70: 249, 11651, 3; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births," (10 Mar 2019).

X00213 Find Death/Burial information for Mary Ann Coulson Douglas

One of the challenges I've had is find the death and burial information for Mary Ann Coulson, the first wife of Frederick Gabriel Douglas.

He remarried in 1893, so her death would have been before then. Fortunately, with some creative keyword searching I eventually found the death notice (it had been indexed incorrectly):



She died 16 December 1888, according to the record.

So, that's half of the problem solved but now the next issue is finding a cemetery record. I can't find her in the Greenwood Cemetery listings, which is odd considering that Frederick is buried there and most of the rest of her family. As far as I can tell she lived her whole life in Owen Sound so it would only make sense that she was buried at Greenwood.

I can't find any obituaries or death notices that might give a clue.

So the next steps would be to continue looking for a death notice, and check the burial records for Greenwood and other cemeteries in the area to see if her name was indexed incorrectly

X00293: How did Percy J Douglas lose his leg?

I came upon an interesting piece of information while researching Percy J. Douglas, the son of Frederick Gabriel Douglas. According to his WW1 draft registration card, he was excluded from service because he had lost one leg [D05313]:



So, this now has my wondering how that happened. I also thought it was a bit of coincidence in that his father, Frederick died of an injury to his leg two years before. According to Frederick's death record, he died of an injury to the leg by accidentally falling through boards [D01462].



Frederick was working as a boat builder at the time so it is likely that the accident happened at work. The death record lists his date of death as 2 June 1916, but notes that the physician attended to him from 27 May 1916 to 2 June 1916, so it would seem that the accident happened on the 27th of May or earlier.

Initially I thought that two injuries could have been caused at the same time. The WW1 registration was dated 12 September 1918, and Frederick died in 1916, so it might all fit. That being said Fred was in Detroit when the accident happened and Percy was living in Chicago at the time.

But I did some digging in the Owen Sound newspapers and found an obituary for Frederick. The accident happened on May 21, 1916 when he scraped his leg on a piece of board from a boat that he was working on. Eventually, blood poisoning from the wound caused his death. There was no mention of Percy being involved at all [D05345]. So, it is likely just a coincidence.

Next steps:

• Check newspapers to see if I can find an obituary for Percy Douglas to see if it mentions the reason why he was missing a leg

Sources:
[D01462] Michigan Department of State - Division of Vital Statistics, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950, 5329; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950," Ancestry.ca (30 Sep 2018).

[D05313] "U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database and images, ancestry.ca (accessed 31 Jan 2019), Percy John Douglas.

[D05345] "Deaths," Owen Sound Sun, June 2 1916, p. 5, col. 4; digital images(accessed 3 Feb 2019).