The search for three sisters

Charles Edwin Hewett and Emily Jane Williams had six daughters and one son. Four of the daughters have presented problems as far as finding out what happened to them:

• Annie Frances Hewett [X00309], third daughter, born 10 March 1872
• Clara Augusta Hewett [X00311], fifth daughter, born 5 August 1876
• Olive Jane Hewett [X00312], sixth daughter, born 20 December 1880.

I have posted about Annie Frances Hewett previously.

I have also had difficulties tracking down what happened to their fourth daughter, Norah Eleanor Hewett, but I will save that X-file for another time.

Clara became a school teacher in Orillia and Olive because a nurse.

I have found the three of them living together in Orillia in 1965 from a voters list:

So, they were all three still alive in 1965 and apparently unmarried. But nothing after that. I haven't found any cemetery listings for any of them, nor have I found any death notices in the Simcoe newspapers online. But the search continues...

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Sources:
[D04719] Canada, Canada, Voters Lists, vol. 1965: 2; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Canada Voters Lists 1935-1980,"

X00291 Update

In my search to find what happened to Hester Sophia Williams, I was looking into the possibility that she may have stayed in England rather than come to Canada with the family. I did come across a marriage record from 1853 in Cornwall, England between a Hester Ann Williams and a Henry Pascoe.

On the plus side, the year of birth is close (1831 vs 1833), and the name of the father is also Thomas Williams. Plus, the location of Cornwall is not far off from where the family originated.

On the negative side, the name is off (Hester Ann vs Hester Sophia) and the father's occupation is given as a miner (as far as I can make it out). I decided to dig a bit further, and managed to find a baptism record for the Hester Ann Williams who appears in the marriage record:

Unfortunately, this would appear to be a different person than the one I'm looking for. The mother's name is different, and of course, I've already found the baptism record for Hester Sophia Williams.

So, the search continues. I do think that it is unlikely that she would have stayed in England by herself at age ten, but I want to look for all possibilities.

X00212 Who is Esther Riley Part 2

In last week's post, I was verifying information found on a tree in Ancestry.

In the post, it mentioned that

• Henry Raleigh died 1848 in Meadowvale due to a sawmill accident
• Henry married Esther Tricker in 1843 in Churchville, Ontario
• Esther Tricker lived 1822 to 1851
• They had three children: William b. 1844, George b. 1846 and Henry b. 1848

So far, I've been able to verify a number of the facts including Esther's birthdate and the names and birth dates of the children.

While doing these verifications, I had another look at Lancelot Hardy and Jane Tricker in the 1861 census and realized that the Henry listed with them is actually Henry Reilly, son of Henry Raleigh and Esther Tricker, which not only confirms the family connection, but adds further evidence to the idea that Esther had died by that time.

But the biggest piece of confirmation that I was able to find was this transcription of an obituary from the Streetville Review:

I still need to confirm with the original record, but from the transcription it does seem to confirm that Henry Raleigh did in fact die in a sawmill accident (albeit in 1849, rather than 1848).

So, this means that I've been able to confirm all of the details from the other tree, except for the year of marriage between Henry Raleigh and Esther Tricker and Esther's date of death.

X00212 Who is Esther Riley Part 1

One of the mysteries that I've been searching is the question of who is Esther Riley. Thus far, she had only appeared in a marriage register from 1850, listing a marriage between a Lancelot Hardy and an Ester Riley:

Unfortunately, that's all the information that I have on her. No death information, nothing about her parents, or when or where she was born.

I had originally thought that Esther Riley was the second wife of the older Lancelot Hardy (born about 1794), remarrying after Ann Wood Hardy had died, and that the younger Lancelot Hardy (born about 1827) had married Jane Tricker. But I've since changed my opinion on that - more on that issue in a future post.

I've come accross some additional information and Esther Riley recently. A cousin who is researching the same family pointed me to a family tree on Ancestry. The tree mentioned a Henry Raleigh who died in Meadowvale in 1848 due to a sawmill accident, married an Esther Tricker (1822-1851) in 1843. They had three children together, William Raleigh born 1844, George Raleigh born 1846 and Henry Raleigh both 1848.

On the plus side, the timeline fits quite nicely: Esther Tricker marries Henry Raleigh in 1843. Henry dies in 1848 and the widowed Esther Raliegh (or Riley) marries the younger Lancelot Hardy in 1850. She then dies in 1851 and Lancelot Hardy goes on to marry Frances Snowden in 1853. The fact that her maiden name is Tricker also suggests that there is a connection with Jane Tricker. On the minus side, there are no sources given in the Ancestry tree for any of the information given. So, I decided to treat the Ancestry tree information as a clue and do my own verification.

The first thing that I did is find a baptism record for a Hester Tricker, baptized 7 April 1822, the daugther of James Tricker and Sarah Wade, the same parents as Jane Tricker (see X00214). So, Esther and Jane Tricker were sisters.

Next, I had a look at the children.

I found the death certificate for Henry Raleigh who died in Tacoma, Washington in 1935. In the death certificate, his birth date is given as 10 July 1848 in Meadowvale, Ontario and his parents are listed as Henry Raleigh and Esther Tricker.

I managed to find a marriage registration for a William Riley and a Mary Ann Hyatt in 1866 where William's parents are listed as Henry and Esther Riley. It also confirmed a birth year for him of 1844.

Verifying the connect with George was a little harder to do, but I found that from census records he was living with James Tricker and Sarah Wade in Indiana and is buried in the same cemetery as them.

So, I've been able to verify dates of birth for Esther and the children and everything checks out with the details on the Ancestry tree. Next week, I'll look at some of the other details from the tree.

X00118 More about Charlotte Emily Tew (1872-1873)

I posted previously about X00118 and Charlotte Emily Tew. She was born 16 June 1872 in Meath, Ireland and died 16 September 1873 in Hamilton, Ontario.

The only confirmation that I had of her death was the gravestone in Hamilton Cemetery, but I have since heard back from the Cemetery. According to their records she was originally buried 18 September 1873 in a single, unmarked grave, but then removed and re-interred in the current location 25 September 1875.

So, the original burial date of 18 September 1873 would agree with a death date of 16 September 1873. As well, the re-interrment was around the time that her sister had died in September 1875, so I figure that the family bought the plot around that time and had her re-interred there.

Profile: John James Douglas (1860-1938)

John James Douglas (1860-1938)

John James Douglas was born 7 November 1860 in Guelph [D00307, D00335, D00766, D00862, D01131, D01559, D01597, D02022, D04768], the third son of Thomas Williams and Sybel Foxwell. When he was about two or three years old, the family moved from Guelph to Owen Sound [D02412]. In Owen Sound, JJ Douglas attended school at what was known at the time as the old Hill Street School, but later renamed Strathcona School [D02412] and is now closed. He later attended the Ottawa Grammar School, where his brother-in-law Joseph McDowall was a teacher [D02412].

In the mid-1870s, the fifteen-year old JJ Douglas began his training as a watchmaker. He returned to Owen Sound from Ottawa briefly before apprenticing in Toronto. After three and a half years in Toronto, he relocated to Bracebridge, Ontario and ran a watchmaking business there for five years [D02412].

He returned to Owen Sound in the 1880s and purchased a forty-foot schooner, named Caliope with his older brother Frederick [D02412]. The two fitted up the boat to serve as a floating jewellery store and watchmaking shop and sailed back and forth between Owen Sound and the north shore of Georgian Bay, doing business with the crews building the Canadian Pacific Railway in Northern Ontario [D02412].

The floating store business lasted for only a short while and J.J.Douglas opened up a jewellery store on Division Street in Owen Sound. He married Janet Highet Kennedy 16 December 1886 in Tara, Bruce County [D05698].

Janet Highet Kennedy was the daughter of Dr. James Kennedy and Margaret Thom and was born about 1866 [D00766, D04771, D01131, D03075, D04772, D06970].

The couple had two children together, Norman Kennedy Douglas, born 29 May 1888 [D00410] and Clarence Cecil Douglas, born 30 January 1890 [D00409]

Around 1896, Janet Douglas became sick with consumption [D02412, D06977, D06981]. JJ Douglas gave up his business and moved the family out to Rat Portage, now known as Kenora, Ontario in an attempt to aid her failing health. Unfortunately the move had the opposite effect and so after a year and a half, the family moved to the warmer climate of Los Angeles, California along with Janet’s mother [D02412, D06977, D06981].

Sadly, the change of climate did not improve her health, and Janet Kennedy Douglas passed on 27 November 1898 in Los Angeles [D01131, D03075, D04772].

Shortly after the death of his wife, JJ Douglas returned to Owen Sound and began working for A.J. Frost, later buying out his business [D02412].

On 29 August 1901, JJ Douglas married his second wife, Edna Pearl Galbraith in Owen Sound [D00862, D02746]. They had twon children, John Gordon Douglas, born 18 April 1906 [D01535] and Helen Henrietta Douglas, born 23 November 1913 [D00465].

In 1910, JJ Douglas partnered with David Creighton Taylor to form the business of Douglas and Taylor Jewellers and Watchmakers [D02412, *]. Douglas and Taylor knew each other from their apprenticing days [*]. The two ran a successful business located at 941 2nd Ave. West in Owen Sound for several years [D04768, D04932, D04934, D04939]. In 1928, both Douglas and Taylor had sons who were of age to being working in the business and so the two dissolved the partnership and went their separate ways [D02412, *].

J.J. Douglas continued on in his business by himself, and became a successful jeweller and watchmaker and was very well-known for his skills throughout Ontario.

On the eventing of Friday 29th July, 1938, J.J. Douglas was returning from a Rotary Club meeting held in Paisley, Bruce County. He was in a car with three other Owen Sound Rotarians that collieded with another car near Arkwright, Bruce County. J.J. Douglas was critically injured in the accident and was taken to the General and Marine Hospital in Owen Sound [D02412, D05685]. After being in the hospital for a week he contracted pneumonia, which ultimately led to his death on 8 August 1938 [D02022, D02412, D05685].

John James Douglas’ funeral was held two days later at the Division Street Church in Owen Sound and he is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound [D01131, D03816, D05719].

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Sources:
[D00307] 1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 65, sub-district D-8, Owen Sound, p. 11, dwelling 89, family 100; RG 31; digital images.

[D00335] 1911 census of Canada, Ontario, district 73, sub-district 48, Owen Sound, p. 17, dwelling 173, family 189; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com.

[D00409] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929; Reel: 98: 700, 10866, 44; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births,".

[D00410] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, Series: MS929; Reel: 98: 700, 10865, 43; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births,".

[D00465] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929; Reel: 240: 268, 27039, 64; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births,”.

[D00766] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 68, sub-district Owen Sound Center Ward, Owen Sound, p. 59, family 282; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry .

[D00776] 1891 census of Canada, Ontario, district 68, sub-district Owen Sound Center Ward, Owen Sound, p. 59, family 282; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.

[D00862] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, MS932; Reel: 107: 140, 7796, Douglas-Galbraith; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages,".

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

[D01535] Ontario Archives of Ontario, MS 929, reels 1-245, MS929; Reel: 179: 708, 20570, 2; digital image, Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada Births,”.

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

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

[D02412] "JJ Douglas Dies Result of Injuries," Owen Sound Sun-Times , 9 August 1938, p. 1, col. 1; digital images(accessed 1 Nov 2020), Grey County Surname Collection.

[D02022] Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Deaths, MS935, Reel 607: 54, 017136; digital image, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Deaths," Ancestry.ca.

[D02412] "JJ Douglas Dies Result of Injuries," Owen Sound Sun-Times , 9 August 1938, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, Grey County Surname Collection.

[D02746] Douglas-Galbraith marriage entry (1901); issued 2011, First Methodist Church (Central United) (Owen Sound, Ontario).

[D03075] Greenwood Cemetery (Owen Sound, Grey, Ontario), G-BLM- 37-.

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

[D04768] 1921 census of Canada, district 83, sub-district 45, Owen Sound, p. 11, dwelling 5, family 5; RG 31; digital images, ancestry.com.

[D04771] 1881 census of Canada, Ontario, district 156, sub-district C-2, Holland, p. 24, dwelling 114, family 120; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.ca.

[D04772] California California Department of Public Health, 1849-1880, 74; digital image, ancestry.ca, "California, County Birth Marriage and Death Records,".

[D04932] Vernon's City of Owen Sound Street, Alphabetical Business & Miscellaneous Directory for the year 1924 (Hamilton, Ontario: Henry Vernon & Sons Publishers, 1924), 104.

[D04934] Vernon's City of Owen Sound Street, Alphabetical Business & Miscellaneous Directory for the year 1922 (Hamilton, Ontario: Henry Vernon & Sons Publishers, 1922), 106.

[D04939] Vernon's Town of Owen Sound Street Directory, 1917 (Hamilton, Ontario: Henry Vernon & Sons Publishers, 1917), 72. [D05685] "J.J. Douglas, Owen Sound, Died From Injuries Received in Car Accident," Grey County Surname Collection , 11 August 1938; digital images, Grey County Surname Collection.

[D05698] (Owen Sound) The Advertiser, Owen Sound, 23 December 1886, p. 2, col. 4.

[D06970] 1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 37, sub-district a-2, Sullivan, p. 63, dwelling 200, family 203; RG 31; digital images.

[D05709] Grey County Surname Collection , 1938; digital images(accessed 31 Oct 2020), Grey County Surname Collection.

[D06977] (Owen Sound) The Advertiser, Owen Sound, 29 Nov 1898, p. 1, col. 3.

[D06981] (Owen Sound) Owen Sound Times, 1 December 1898, p. 5, col. 3.

[*] p99 "Owen Sound The Port City by Paul White. Natural Heritage Books Toronto c2000

Other Hardy Gravestones

With the research I was doing with X00216: The Trafalgar Hardy letter, I was able to answer some questions I had about some other Hardy surname gravestones that I found in both St. Peter's Cemetery in Erindale and Springcreek Cemetery in Clarkson.

On previous trips to St. Peter's and Sprincreek Cemeteries I had photographed some stones that had the Hardy surname on them, in the event that they were connected. I've since been able to connect many of these to the George Hardy and Mary Buckton who are buried in St. Peter's

The above stone, for George H. Hardy was found in Springcreek. This George, I found, was the son of George Hardy and Mary Buckton. He married an Emma Gilby, which accounts for a number of stones I found in both locations with the names Hardy and Gilby.

George and Mary had another son, J.C. Hardy and I found his stone in Springcreek as well

So, it seems that many of the Hardy names that I've found in Clarkson and Erindale are all connected to the George Hardy and Mary Buckton line (to which I'm still investigating if they are connected to mine). It would appear that there were at least three Hardy families living in Toronto Township at the time: One in Churchville (mine), one in Streetsville and one in Clarkson/Erindale. If there is a connection between any of the three of them, it was before they arrived in Canada.