X00256 Thomas Williams date of death Solved!

I've posted previously about X00256 and Thomas Williams' date of death. In my last post, I mentioned that I was looking into a Thomas Williams who died 3 August 1885 and is buried in the St. James and St. Andrew Cemetery in Orillia.

Other than the cemetery stone itself, I haven't been able to find any information to confirm that it is, in fact, the correct Thomas Williams. I haven't been able to find aa civil registration death notice thus far.

I've check with newspapers for Barrie and Orillia to see if there was an obituary or news article, but didn't find anything there either.

So, I contacted the Anglican Church Archives to check the burial registers for St James Church. They weren't able to find a burial record. I also checked with the Presbyterian Church Archives in the oft chance that St. Andrews Church had a burial register. They didn't either.

So, the next step was to check with the cemetery itself. What they were able to confirm is that the date of death was 3 September 1885 and that the plot was registered to Hewett and Tipping, which pretty much indicates that this is the right Thomas Williams, because those would have likely been his nephews/neices, which also explains the words "uncle" on the stone!

Profile: Helen Douglas (1852-1936)

Profile: Helen Douglas (1852-1936)

Helen Douglas was born 17 November 1852 in Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario [D00535, D00763, D00744, D01559, D02547, D02555, D03207]. She was the second daughter and second child of John Douglas and Louisa Williams. She moved along with the rest of her family from Guelph to Owen Sound in the mid-1850s and spent the rest of her life in Owen Sound [D00237].

She married Thomas James Decatur on 20 December 1880 in Toronto [D03207]. Thomas was an American-born lawyer living in Orillia, Simcoe County at the time [D02936, D03207, D04726, D05106]. Thomas and Helen lived together in Orillia for a few years [D04726] before Thomas died at the young age of 38 in 1887 [D02963].

After the death of her first husband, Helen moved back in with her mother for a few years [D00763] and then married George Milford, a Toronto merchant on 31 January 1894 [D00744]. They later moved back to Owen Sound where they lived at 970 4th Avenue East, just down the street from the Douglas family homestead [D02509, D02547]. Back in Owen Sound, Helen became heavily involved with the Division Street United Church [D04777].

George died 8 Jan 1925 of acute heart failure at the age of seventy-nine [D01131, D02554, D03816]. After George’s Death, Helen moved into the Douglas family homestead at 962 4th Avenue East [D00237, D02555, D04727, D04776, D04777]. Helen herself died in her eighty-fourth year on 18 June 1936 [D00237, D01131, D02555]. Both Helen and George are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound [D01131, D03816].

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Sources:
[D00237] "Mrs George Milford Died on Thursday," Grey County Surname Collection , 18 june 1936; digital images(accessed 31 Aug 2019).

[D00535] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 65, sub-district D-8, Owen Sound, Grey North, Ontario, p. 10, family 95; RG 31; digital images(accessed 9 Jul 2017).

[D00744] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, MS932; Reel: 81: 16, 4115, Milford-Decatur; 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. 222.

[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).

[D02509] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 73, sub-district 48, Owen Sound, p. 8, dwelling 72, family 77; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 7 Oct 2018).

[D02547] 1921 census of Canada, district 83, sub- district 45, Owen Sound, p. 2, dwelling 16, family 17; RG 31; digital images,ancestry.com (accessed 7 Oct 2018).

[D02554] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935; Reel:324: 745, 14604, 8; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (29 Sep 2018).

[D02555] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935; Reel:550: 339, 17186; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (29 Sep 2018).

[D02963] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935; Reel: 49: 225, 15838; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (17 Sep 2018).

[D03207] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages190, 13286, Decatur-Douglas; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"(accessed 29 Sep 2018).

[D03816] Greenwood Cemetery (Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario), G-W34- 4-.

[D04726] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 139, Orillia, p. 117, dwelling 525, family 538; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 17 Oct 2018).

[D04727] Canada, Canada, Voters Lists, vol. 1935: 2690; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Canada Voters Lists 1935-1980," (accessed 31 Aug 2019).

[D04776] "Died," Grey County Surname Collection , 18 June 1936; digital images(accessed 31 Aug 2019).

[D04777] ”Mrs. George Milford Buried on Saturday," Grey County Surname Collection , 22 Jun 1936; digital images(accessed 31 Aug 2019).

[D05106] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 40, sub-district 04c, Cardwell, p. 42, dwelling 142, family 142; RG 31; digital images(accessed 31 Aug 2019).

William W. Jackson and the Orillia Steam Brewery

In my research on Thomas Williams and the Orillia Brewery I came across this interesting story about William W. Jackson and his time running the brewery:

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William W. Jackson and the Orillia Steam Brewery
At some time in the 1860s, Thomas Williams partnered with a man named George Jacques and the two leased out the brewery on 4 October 1865 to a man named William W. Jackson [D05652].



A few months after starting his lease on the Orillia Brewery, W.W. Jackson announced an agent in nearby Barrie to take orders [D05676]. He advertised beer for 20 cents per gallon, a pale bitter ale at 25 cents, a champagne ale at 30 cents and two varieties of London porter at 25 cents and 30 cents [D05676].



A few years after W.W. Jackson took over operations of the brewery, however, he ran into some problems with the local newspaper, the Orillia Expositor.

It started in May of 1869 when the Expositor reported that Jackson's brewery had been seized by the government in June of 1868 for not having paid duty on his malt [D05673]. The article reported that this incident had been covered up and that Jackson had been allowed to continue his operations despite not having paid the outstanding duty [D05673].

David Morrow, the inspector of revenue at the time, wrote a letter to the Expositor to explain that while he had initially found that duty had not been paid on the malt, further investigation found that the duty had, in fact, been paid. Furthermore, according to Morrow, the brewery's business had never been suspended during the investigation [D05673].

Although the letter from the former inspector seemed to have cleared his name, that didn't stop Jackson from firing back at the Expositor, writing a letter of his own. In it, he refers to the newspaper as "that scurrilous little sickly Scotch sheet, known as the Expositor" [D05865] and stated that:

"it is not the practice of gentlemen to enter into a newspaper controversy with puppets, and especially one who will at any time suffer himself to be moulded into the shape of an 'ass' for the purpose of pleasing that clique of rowdy and hypocritical editors to which he undoubtedly belongs" [D05865]

Then, in another letter to the Barrie Examiner Jackson implied that the editors of the Expositor would be in high appreciation of the government's attempts to shut his brewery down. [D05673]

These letters clearly riled up the editors of the Expositor who responded with a scathing article of their own. In it, they refer to Jackson as "the local Beau Brummel" and point out that in his letters he never actually refutes a single statement made by the Expositor [D05865]. According to the editors of the Expositor, Jackson was allowed to continue his operations due to the government's leniency rather than him actually having paid duty on the malt [D05865].

In response to Jackson's "it is not the practice of gentleman…" comment, the editors had their own advice for Mr. Jackson, informing him that:

"it is not the practice of gentlemen to attempt to defraud the Government by making false returns, and incorrect statements; it is not the practice of gentlemen to in any way be guilty of a breach of honour; it is not the practice of gentlemen to go about dressed like a tailor and hair-dresser's walking advertisement, while the tailor and hairdresser are unpaid; it is not the practice of gentlemen to contract debts they do not intend to pay, unless compelled to in a court of law; it is not the practice of gentlemen to assume supercilious airs of superiority in their intercourse with others" [D05865]

As to what actually happened - whether Jackson had paid the duty and was falsely accused by the Orillia Expositor or he was let off easily by the government - the truth may never be known. But we do know that Jackson kept operating the Orillia Steam Brewery at least into the 1870s.


Sources:
[D05652] Barrie Examiner, 5 Oct 1865, online archives (accessed 24 Feb 2019), p. 3, col. 2.

[D05673] Barrie Examiner, 10 Jun 1869, online archives (accessed 5 Mar 2019), p. 2, col. 5-6.

[D05676] Northern Advance, 4 Apr 1866, online archives (accessed 24 Feb 2019), p. 1, col. 3.

[D05865] Orillia Expositor, 9 Jul 1869, p. 1; digital images(accessed 9 Mar 2019).

Cotton, Larry. Whiskey and Wickedness - Simcoe County, Ontario, 2014. Self-published.

Thanks as well to Amy Lambertsen and the Orillia Public Library for the research assistance.

Update on X00256 - Thomas Williams born 1827

A few weeks ago I posted about X00256 and the mystery of what happened to Thomas Williams (born 1827, son of Thomas Williams). Since then I have a few updates on this X-File.

First, in search for a death record, I have ruled out two death records that I've found. One of them was for a Thomas Williams who died in 1874 in Osprey Township, Grey County [D03741]. The year of birth was correct (about 1827) but the location didn't make much sense, and the individual's occupation was a marble cutter. Also add on the fact that I've found this Thomas Williams in documents later than 1874 [D01432, D03878, D03880, D05680], I've ruled it out.



I've also ruled out another death record from 1908 [D05655]. While this one was from Simcoe County, the location was still off from Orillia, the parents names don't match John Williams and H Gunnerson vs Thomas Williams and Sybel Foxwell [D00026]), the occupation is farmer, and the date of birth is off (2 Oct 1828 as opposed to the known date of 15 Mar 1827 [D00026]).



I've also ruled out a land ownership record from the County Atlas Project showing a Thomas Williams living in Tecumseh Township in 1880. A number of things do not match, but most importantly, I've found that some Thomas Williams in other records at the same time as our Thomas Williams is in Orillia.

Fortunately, however, there has been some good news. The Orillia Public Library managed to find him in the 1876 voter records, but not the 1887 voter records, which provides more of an argument that he died in 1885.

Plus, they managed to get the transcription for the stone in St. James' Cemetery. It says:

Uncle Tom / Thos Williams / Died / Aug 3 1885 / Aged / 54 years

Now, while the date at death is off (Thomas Would have been about 58 at the time of death) everything else matches. The fact that it was inscribed as "Uncle Tom" implies that he did not have any children of his own and that his nieces and nephews put up the stone, which all fits.

Not a whole lot of definite proof, but it is definitely leaning towards the argument that he died in 1885.

Next steps:
* Likely to check the Orillia Newspapers on microfilm to see if there was anything published around that time * Check possible church records.


Sources:
[D00026] (Minchinhampton, Gloucester, England), "Baptism Record - Thomas Williams 1827," Batch No C049002, Source No 0857041; FHL microfilm. Rec. Date: 8 May 2016.

[D01432] County of Simcoe and Hamilton and North Western Directory and Gazeteer, 1879: 202; digital images, ancestry.ca accessed 7 Feb 2019.

[D03741] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 8: 324, 2247,18; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (9 Mar 2019)

[D03878] County of Simcoe and Hamilton and North Western Directory and Gazeteer, 1884-1886: 111; digital images, ancestry.ca accessed 7 Feb 2019.

[D03880] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 139, sub-district O, Orillia, p. 88, dwelling 386, family 395; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 Jun 2018).

[D05655] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 139: 961, 26669; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (9 Mar 2019)

[D05680] "County Notes," Northern Advance, 27 Oct 1881, online archives (accessed 24 Feb 2019), p. 1, col. 6.

Profile: John Williams and Family

This is the profile so far of John Williams and his family. I'm still researching X00298 and his work in various breweries. That will be added in later. But here is the story so far.

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Profile: John Williams & Family

John Williams was born in 1829 in Gloucestershire, England and was baptized on 29 March 1829 [D03738]. He was the fourth and youngest son of Thomas Williams and Sybil Foxwell.

He grew up in Gloucestershire, but moved along with the rest of the family to Liverpool before coming to Canada in 1842 [D05543]. The William family first settled in Invermara, Simcoe County and started a farm there. But shortly they found that farming was not for them and so Thomas Williams relocated the family to Guelph, Wellington County and established the Williams Brewery in Guelph [D05543].

In the 1850s, John worked in Guelph as part of the Williams Brewery [D04689, D04691]. He married his first wife, Charlotte Ann Perry, 15 March 1858 in Orillia, Simcoe County. [D01325].

Charlotte Ann Perry was born around 1839 in what was then known as Upper Canada [D03739, D05338]. She was the daughter of Daniel and Charlotte Perry [D01325]. Prior to her marriage in 1858 she was living in Orillia, Simcoe County [D01325].

John and Charlotte had their first child, a daughter which they named Annie L. Williams, in March of 1860 [D03739, D05338]. She was followed under a year later by their second child, Eliza Sybil Williams born 31 January 1861 [D04645, D05281].

By 1861, the family was living in Brampton, Peel County and John had left the Williams brewery to strike out on his own as a brewer [D03739]. Later that year, the family would face their first tragedy when their first child, Annie L. died at the age of nineteen months [D05338].

John and Charlotte’s third daughter, whom they named Charlotte Ann Williams was born about 1862 [D01131, D03740].

The family would their second tragedy when Charlotte Ann Perry Williams died on 7 July 1862 at the age of 22 years [D05338]. She and their first daughter, Annie L. were buried at St. George’s Cemetery in Guelph, but later relocated to Woodlawn Cemetery [D05338].

By 1871 the family had moved to Owen Sound, Grey County where John was working with a carpenter [D01565]. His widowed mother and younger sister Minnie were living with the family [D01565].

John married Caroline Hatton on 15 August 1877 in Little Current, Algoma County, Ontario [D01544]. Caroline was born in Quebec on 7 July 1835, the daughter of Daniel and Catherine Hatton [D01544, D03756]. Caroline’s parents died young and in her younger years lived in an orphan asylum [D03759].

John’s youngest child Charlotte Ann died on 14 March 1882 at the age of nineteen years [D03740]. She died of dropsy which she had developed three years prior [D03740]. Prior to her death she had been living with her aunt and uncle, Charles and Emily Hewett in Mara, Simcoe County [D04037]. She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound [D01131].

John himself, died 6 Jan 1889 of heart disease [D03737, D05344]. At the time of his death he was a brewer in Owen Sound. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery [D01131].

John’s second wife Caroline Hatton Williams died 20 June 1902 due to congestion of the lungs [D03754, D03757]. She was buried 23 June 1902 in Mount Herman Cemetery in Quebec [D03757].

The last member of the family, Eliza Sybil Williams was living with her aunt, Louisa Williams in Owen Sound in 1891 [D00783] but moved in with her aunt and uncle, William Charles Perry and Mary Wright Perry on Normanby Street in Mount Forest, Wellington County [D05281, D05283]. She lived in Mount Forest from 1898 until she died on 5 April 1928 in Mount Forest [D04936, D05296].


Sources
[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). Rec. Date: 30 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 5 Oct 2017.

[D01131] "Owen Sound Greenwood Cemetery Interments" (typescript, 2005), p. 332. Rec. Date: 6 May 2018. ID: D01131. Cit. Date: 13 May 2018.

[D01325] Ontario, Ontario County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 37, Williams-Perry, 1858; digital images, FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch (accessed 5 May 2018). Rec. Date: 24 Feb 2018. Cit. Date: 5 May 2018.

[D01544] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, MS932 Reel 23: 30, 1049, Williams-Hatton; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,"(accessed 12 May 2018). Rec. Date: 9 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 12 May 2018.

[D01565] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 37, sub-district 01-g, Owen Sound, p. 28, dwelling 105, family 109; RG 31; digital images (accessed 5 May 2018). Rec. Date: 4 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 5 May 2018.

[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.

[D03738] (Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England), Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms 1813-1913, "Baptism Record - John Williams," P300 IN 1/3; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.ca (accessed 13 May 2018). Rec. Date: 13 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.

[D03740] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935 Reel 33: 412, 21417, 286; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (13 May 2018). Rec. Date: 3 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 13 May 2018.

[D03754] ancestry.ca, "Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection)," database and images, ancestry.ca (accessed 31 Jan 2019); Burial: Anglican St. Matthew's Church. Rec. Date: 31 Jan 2019. Cit. Date: 31 Jan 2019.

[D03756] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 44, sub-district L3-1, Howland, p. 9, dwelling 74, family 75; RG 31; digital images (accessed 26 May 2018). Rec. Date: 4 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 26 May 2018.

[D03757] Gouvernement du Québec database, Détails Mount Hermon Cemetery ( accessed 31 Jan 2019), 8525. Rec. Date: 31 Jan 2019. Cit. Date: 31 Jan 2019.

[D03759] 1851 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec City, p. 123. Rec. Date: 9 Apr 2018. Cit. Date: 26 May 2018.

[D04036] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935; Reel: 365: 171, 36719; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca (23 Jun 2018). Rec. Date: 3 Sep 2017. Cit. Date: 23 Jun 2018.

[D04037] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 133, sub-district 2, Mara, p. 17, dwelling 72, family 72; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca (accessed 23 Jun 2018). Rec. Date: 17 Feb 2018. Cit. Date: 23 Jun 2018.

[D04645] Mount Forest Cemetery (Mount Forest, Grey, Ontario), Amber Section Row 10 Lot 82. Rec. Date: 29 Dec 2018. ID: D04645. Cit. Date: 29 Dec 2018.

[D04689] Wellington, Ontario, Canada, 1853 Tax Book, 1853. Rec. Date: 31 Jan 2019. Cit. Date: 31 Jan 2019.

[D04691] Wellington, Ontario, Canada, 1855 Tax Book, entry for 246, 1855. Rec. Date: 31 Jan 2019. Cit. Date: 31 Jan 2019.

[D05281] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 133, sub-district 40, Mount Forest, p. 3, dwelling 31, family 31; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 6 Jan 2019). Rec. Date: 18 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 6 Jan 2019.

[D05283] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 125, sub-district J-2, Mount Forest, p. 3, dwelling 29, family 29; RG 31; digital images (accessed 6 Jan 2019). Rec. Date: 4 Mar 2017. Cit. Date: 6 Jan 2019.

[D05296] "Register," Mount Forest Confederate, 12 April 1928, p. 8, col. 2; digital images(accessed 6 Jan 2019). Rec. Date: 6 Jan 2019. Cit. Date: 6 Jan 2019.

[D05338] "Woodland Memorial Park Cemetery Transcriptions" (typescript. Rec. Date: 7 Feb 2019. Cit. Date: 7 Feb 2019.

[D05344] "Deaths," (Owen Sound) Owen Sound Times, 10 Jan 1889, p. 4, col. 4. Rec. Date: 14 Jun 2017. Cit. Date: 8 Feb 2019.

X00256: What happened to Thomas Williams after 1884?

Thomas Williams (b. 1827) was the son of Thomas Williams (cir. 1792-1868) and Sybil Foxwell (1798-1874). He was born 15 March 1827 in Minchinhampton, Gloucester, England. He came over with the family to Canada in 1842. The Williams family first settled in Orillia, Simcoe County but eventually moved to Guelph, Wellington County.

Thomas the younger appears to have remained in Orillia and established himself as a brewer there, following in his father's footsteps.

I've managed to find a few records mentioning him as a brewer prior to 1884 (census records for 1861, 1871 & 1881 and Simcoe County directories for 1878 and 1884-1886). But after that, the trail goes cold.

The Simcoe County volume of the "Whiskey and Wickedness" book series mentions Thomas WIlliams and his brewing operations, but all before 1881.

The last record I've found him in was an 1884-1886 directory of Simcoe County where he was listed as working as a brewer. I have not found him in a later census or a death record. None of the records I've found show him as having married. So if he did get married, he did so after 1881.

There is one possibility - According to Find-a-Grave, there is a gravestone for a Thomas Williams in Orillia who died in 1885, but no other details. It could be that he died in 1885 but the death was never registered (I could not find a death registration for a Thomas Williams who died in Simcoe County in 1885).

Next steps: Contact the Orillia Public Library and see if they can help