Obituary Frances Murrill Hamilton 1900

 

At Guelph Frances Murrell daughter of Mr and. Rs A L Hamilton age 2

Search for more information in genealogy records on Ancestry.com,  Ancestry.ca or FamilySearch

The Things Family Don’t Know Astound Me!

Before the Pandemic hit I joined my brother and nephew and families for a dinner out. During the evening I showed them a booklet I was creating for our McGinnis family ancestry.

My nephew expressed surprise that my mother and father (his grandparents) had been married in a double wedding ceremony with my mother's sister. This was news to him!

This may seem like a small thing but I was startled. That double wedding was something I heard about as a young child. I have the actual wedding invitation. I have newspaper articles about the two sisters in Guelph who were to be married in a double ceremony. 

I have articles about their showers, their trousseau teas, their wedding and their honeymoon plans. I have a photo of my mom and dad standing on the steps of the church on their Wedding Day. I have a group photo of the Wedding party. 

For me, this is old news and something I know as if it happened to me. I assumed everyone in the family knew. It never occured to me that my nieces or nephews might never have heard of it.

Didn't my brother ever mention it? Did he know? I suddenly feel quite a bit of pressure to spread the word! To share the stories and the facts I've known for so many years. 

Maybe I'm the only one who knows and boy that worries me. I made an error by assuming everyone in the family knew of this special day. What else don't they know (that I do). 

I grew up hearing stories. My mother, grandmother and aunt all told me stories of their childhood and their lives. I asked for the stories over and over again. They showed me clippings from newspapers. My mom had a scrapbook (which may actually have been my grandmother's, my memory is fuzzy on that) which she eventually gave me and that is where all the newspaper clippings, the wedding invitation, etc were. 

Maybe that's why I am a genealogist. I love hearing the stories, learning about the people living their daily lives. It's not about the names or dates or going back the furthest in time. For me it's all about the people - who were they, what events did they experience, what emotions did they feel, how did they live their lives... these are important to me and finding the answers to those questions make my ancestors alive for me. 

What’s important to you as the keeper of the family genealogy?

C is for Circus Performer

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag.

Today's letter is C and the tag is Circus Performer.

Albert George Marriott and his twin brother were my 3rd cousins, twice removed. Both were born in Guelph Ontario in June 1882. The winning of a baton contest in the old Guelph skating rink gave the Marriott twins their start for 60 years in show business. They started off in Downie Brothers Circus as jugglers on bicycles but in later years developed an arial act, and gained international fame.

 ANDREW DOWNIE'S CIRCUS made several successful visits around the turn of the century. For a one-ring show hauled overland by wagons, Downie achieved maximum results from 50 performers and a profusion of animals

In 1896 the twins joined the Harry Lindley Dramatic Company, playing in Canada up to Dawson City in the Yukon. Engagements with other companies included the Andrew Downie Company of Vancouver.

 It was with the Downie circus that the Marriotts orignated their bicycle juggling act which they repeated at the opening of Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York.

"We played with the Orrin Circus in Mexico for three years then going to the Million Dollar Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina for six months." [letter from Al Marriott] ..."My research found Albert and his wife Maud as passengers on board the SS Verdi from Buenos Aires to New York. They are listed as "theatrical artists"

"Next came several months at theatres in Havana Cuba. On five occasions we played return engagements in front of the grandstand at Toronto Exhibition and making appearances before the Prince of Wales" [letter from Al Marriott] Using Ancestry, I found Albert and his twin brother (whose name is uncertain, in various records it appears as Menard, Murray and Manet) sailing back to New York from Havana Cuba in 1907.

The Marriott Twins were booked for a world tour and played the large cities of Europe and other continents. Following this was a booking to represent the USA at th ePan-Pacific Peace Exposition at Nagoya Japan for six months.  Albert and Maud's names appear on the passenger list of the Kongo Maru sailing from Nagoya to New York

Among the engagements was one with President Truman at a county fair in Missouri and the following week at Washington DC. There followed references in Al Marriott's letter to numerous other engagements including seven years at the Hippodrome in New York.

In later years with the coming of the aeroplane their act took the form of a large plane mounted on a high tower. The players performed on a trapeze hanging from the plane, as well as being fastened to the propeller. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Al Marriott is now Georgia [Guelph Mercury Sept 21, 1939: The Marriott Twins Scored World Fame]

NEW: Ontario Canada Marriage Records 1936

It was fun to search the new Ontario Marriage Records brought online by Ancestry.com this week. My mom and dad married in Guelph in 1936 in a double wedding with mom's sister! It was interesting to see my mother and father's marriage.

It was new to me that my dad was a hat-maker! I knew he worked for Biltmore Hats but didn't know exactly what he did there.I thought perhaps a low-level job on an assembly line.

According to the website:

This database is a collection of approximately 3.3 million marriages recorded in Ontario, Canada between 1826 and 1928, and 1933 and 1936. The indexes contained in this collection were created by two different organizations – Ancestry and the Genealogical Research Library in Brampton, Ontario. The following list is a breakdown of the records included in this database and who created the index to them.

Indexed by Ancestry (includes images of the records):

    Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928, 1933-1935 (MS 932, Archives of Ontario)
    Division Registrar Vital Statistics Records, 1858-1918 (MS 940, Archives of Ontario) [However, there are very few marriages in this record set.]
    Marriage License Books, 1907-1910 (MS 945, Archives of Ontario)
    Delayed Registrations of Marriages, 1892-1919 (MS 948, Archives of Ontario)
    District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858 (MS 248, Archives of Ontario)
    Roman Catholic Marriage Registers, 1828-1870 (MS 248, Archives of Ontario)

Indexed by Genealogical Research Library (no images available):

    Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1919 (MS 932, Archives of Ontario)
    County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 (microfilm, Family History Library) (the FHL microfilm is of Archives of Ontario microfilm series MS 248, reels 5-18)

My Famous Canadian Ancestor in the Circus

Albert George Marriott and his twin brother were my 3rd cousins, twice removed. Both were born in Guelph Ontario in June 1882. The winning of a baton contest in the old Guelph skating rink gave the Marriott twins their start for 60 years in show business. They started off in Downie Brothers Circus as jugglers on bicycles but in later years developed an arial act, and gained international fame.

 ANDREW DOWNIE'S CIRCUS made several successful visits around the turn of the century. For a one-ring show hauled overland by wagons, Downie achieved maximum results from 50 performers and a profusion of animals

In 1896 the twins joined the Harry Lindley Dramatic Company, playing in Canada up to Dawson City in the Yukon. Engagements with other companies included the Andrew Downie Company of Vancouver.

 It was with the Downie circus that the Marriotts orignated their bicycle juggling act which they repeated at the opening of Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York.

"We played with the Orrin Circus in Mexico for three years then going to the Million Dollar Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina for six months." [letter from Al Marriott] ..."My research found Albert and his wife Maud as passengers on board the SS Verdi from Buenos Aires to New York. They are listed as "theatrical artists"

"Next came several months at theatres in Havana Cuba. On five occasions we played return engagements in front of the grandstand at Toronto Exhibition and making appearances before the Prince of Wales" [letter from Al Marriott] Using Ancestry.com, I found Albert and his twin brother (whose name is uncertain, in various records it appears as Menard, Murray and Manet) sailing back to New York from Havana Cuba in 1907.

The Marriott Twins were booked for a world tour and played the large cities of Europe and other continents. Following this was a booking to represent the USA at th ePan-Pacific Peace Exposition at Nagoya Japan for six months.  Albert and Maud's names appear on the passenger list of the Kongo Maru sailing from Nagoya to New York

Among the engagements was one with President Truman at a county fair in Missouri and the following week at Washington DC. There followed references in Al Marriott's letter to numreous other engagements including seven years at the Hippodrome in New York.

In later years with the coming of the aeroplane their act took the form of a large plane mounted on a high tower. The players performed on a trapeze hanging from the plane, as well as being fastened to the propeller. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Al Marriott is now Georgia [Guelph Mercury Sept 21, 1939: The Marriott Twins Scored World Fame]

This ad was found in the Billboard on November 15, 1913 on page 23.

1886 - Downie & Austin's Parlor Circus
1890 - Rich & Downie Circus
1891 - 1892 - Downie & Gallagher Circus
1905 - Downie's Dog & Pony Show
1905 - McPhee's Big Company
1909 - 1910 - Andrew Downie's Circus
1911 -1913 - Downie & Wheeler's Circus
1914 - 1917 - LaTena's Circus
1918 - 1923 - Walter L. Main Circus
1924 - Andrew Downie's Circus
1926 - 1929 - Downie Bros. Circus ( sold it to Charles Sparks

Searching for Albert, his wife and his twin brother in the various genealogy records has proven rather challenging. To date I have found Albert and his twin's birth records in the Ontario Vital Statistics. They are found in 1891 and 1901 census for Guelph Ontario. Interestingly in 1901 Albert, age 18 is listed as a Hardware Clerk while his brother is listed as a photographer.

In the 1930 census for Michigan, Albert and his wife are listed as vaudeville performers. The various ships passenger lists I have found them in lists them as jugglers, arial artists and theatrical artists. I am still hunting for a photograph or poster of the twin brothers' act.

UNB is Honouring my Uncle Nev, a Fallen WW2 Soldier

Last month I received an email from Laura Jackson. She explained that she had been selected to travel to Holland with the University of New Brunswick to look in depth at the liberation of Holland. She is to be part of Lucinda and John Flemer Netherland’s Study Tour.

Laura's email said  

"As a history teacher in an area of many post World War II immigrants from the Netherlands I am hoping this experience will help me pass on the legacy of those battles. Part of the program is to research and speak at the grave of a fallen soldier from the liberation offensive. The soldier assigned to me is your uncle James Nevin Bonar."

Laura then went on to ask for any information I could give her on Nev so that she would have a better understanding of him as a husband and father. I should explain that Nev was married to my mother's sister Lillian in a double wedding ceremony in Guelph in 1936.  He and my aunt Lily had one son then Nev went off to war. 

He was killed 23 October 1944. Nev was only 29 years old. Laura added some detail I had not known previously - that his unit was part of some very intense fighting in Holland, and was in very close contact with the enemy. His body was robbed before it was buried presumably by Germans. 

Nev Bonar in back row. 1936

It was touching to see the poignant letter his parents wrote after receiving a Memorial Cross in his name.

A small local paper wrote about the trip that Laura is currently on. She promises to send me photos of the grave on her return and I'm quite pleased about this. I never knew Nev but I heard about him from my aunt and mother. They spoke highly of him and I think my aunt loved him very much for she never remarried. 

I wish I'd known him but I'm very grateful he is being honoured this way. He has two living grand-daughters who I think will be very pleased. 

Sometimes the Best Find Comes When You Least Expect it!

About 25 years ago a woman I corresponded with about my PEER family in Guelph Ontario Canada told me an intriguing story. According to her she found a newspaper article about my great-grandfather Stephen Peer being attacked and killed by an axe-wielding neighbour. She didn't provide a date or any other details. No amount of pleading or coaxing on my part could get a source from her, not even the name of the newspaper. Stephen was not her ancestor and my Peer ancestry was of no interest to her so even my offers to share everything I had on the family held no interest.

So for 25 years I've tried to find this reference. Some time ago I found Stephen's death registration for 1897 but the cause of death was listed as Typhoid Fever not murder. Nonetheless I checked  Guelph newspapers for several months prior to his death just in case. But nothing turned up. These newspapers are not indexed so searching meant a long laborious read of every issue. Eventually I put this on the back burner as a curiousity, as a story that might have a little truth to it.

Searching Online Newspapers

A few days ago while searching through some online Ontario newspapers as I do periodically, I came across this extract of a larger story.

It was published in The Lethbridge News (Alberta) on June 5, 1895 and was noted as a condensed story. I was pretty excited to find this but of course now I want the full story. Why was this pump so important? Who was Walter Hyde and his father? And why would an Alberta newspaper publish this?

Looking for Walter and the Full Story

A search of Ancestry.com census records turned up some information on Walter Hyde. He was born ca 1874 to Alfred & Sarah (Farrow) Hyde. It struck me that Walter was quite a bit younger than my great-grandfather who was born ca 1853.  I don't know if Walter went to jail or any other details of this incident but am determined to find out.

Since getting to Guelph to hunt through the filmed newspapers is difficult for me I decided to hire the Guelph Public Library Research Services to look for any references to this event. Fingers crossed that I find out exactly what happened.  Of course if any of my readers live in Guelph Ontario and would be willing to have a look in the Guelph Mercury in first week of June 1895 for this story, please let me know!

The Moral of This Story

The moral of my story is NEVER GIVE UP! Okay I have two morals - never give up and never ever dismiss a "story" as untrue until you've found evidence to either prove or disprove it.

UPDATE: Full news article found! Read about what happened at 52 Ancestors: Found Details re Great-Grandpa Peer Attacked By Axe-Wielding Neighbour in 1895

Sharing Memories & Women's History Month: Who Was Your Favourite Relative?

Ruth Simpson 1907

Sharing Memories is a series of weekly prompts to help all genealogists (including me!) with writing up memories of our ancestors and our childhood. 

We all love to find a diary or letters written by great grandma or grandpa where they talk about their lives and share their memories. Think how excited one of your descendants will be to read about your memories and your stories! These stories will be lost after a few generations unless we preserve them. And what better way than in a weekly themed post. 

At the end of the year you will have 52 stories written about your childhood, your parents, grandparents and who knows what else.

If you write your own blog please use the hashtag #52SharingMemories if you are posting on Twitter or Google+  You can also  post your stories as comments on this blog post or in a private journal. It's your choice! The important thing is to write those memories down now! 

I'm also posting this as part of my challenge for Women's History Month. See Women's History Month: A Challenge to Geneabloggers! for 10 suggestions for honouring women in March. I'm writing about Prompt #4: Write a biography of your favourite female Ancestor. Be sure to tell us why she's your favourite
Hands down it was my Grandma Bates. I think of her as Grandma Ruth but we never used her first name. Grandma was fun and lively and loved the colour red. She often wore a red pantsuit with a white blouse or a red skirt and white blouse and she always wore her ruby ring. That ring is now mine and I wrote about it coming back to me on Grandma's Ruby Ring

Born in Ramsgate Kent England in 1894 to parents David George Simpson and Sarah Jane Stead, Grandma was a sickly child and spent a lot of her days in bed only able to peek out her bedroom window.  Her family called her Dolly because she was so tiny and cute. 

Miss Mulligan's Dance Classes. Ruth is back row center

She didn't attend school when she was supposed to, being to ill to begin. But eventually she did go to the Ellington School in Ramsgate. I have pictures of her in her dance classes at the school.  

Simpson Family ca 1900
Grandma is 2nd from left

She suffered from rickets and in later life had a little twitch which I thought was quite endearing! She would have a genteel sniff and tiny twitch of her head as she was talking. 

She and my mom did not get along, and they fought constantly. Grandma was rather delicate and could become quite frightened or upset very easily. The wind bothered her and she would become very agitated on windy days. She was terrified of water and when I would visit her when I was in school she would only allow me a few inches of water in the bathtub in case I drowned. 

Her husbands adored her! She was their little princess and had them wrapped around her little finger. She married three times, and outlived all of her husbands. They waited on her hand and foot and never seemed to mind her idiosyncracies. 

I loved listening to her stories of her life in Ramsgate and about her siblings and parents. In fact she was the reason I became so fascinated with family history and stories at a young age. 

Ruth and daughters Lillian (left) & Joan (right)
Guelph ca 1918

Grandma's dad was a coal dealer, an epileptic who was often under the weather recovering from a seizure. Her mother, who Grandma said was a wonderful cook, ran a boarding house to make extra money for the family. 

In 1913 at the age of 19 Grandma sailed for Canada with her fiance Charles Fuller. They were joining her older brother Ern in Toronto Ontario and would make Canada their new home. Grandma never recovered from the terror of that sea voyage. Years later when she was in a home and near death she would tell me how much she longed to see her mother again and in a shaky voice ask me repeatedly "Do we have to go by boat?" At that point she could not remember that her mother was long gone. 

Grandma and her husband Charles settled in Guelph Ontario where they raised a family of 3 girls, including my mother. After Charles died, Grandma married a man who was hired as a guard at the DIL Munitions Factory in Ajax Ontario during WW2 so Grandma also took a job there. 

My mother followed suit and also moved to Ajax with her sister and their 4 children while their husbands were overseas in WW2. Mother also worked at the Munitions Factory during the war. Grandma didn't build bombs, instead she worked in the Cafeteria at the plant. Grandma was a bit unusual for her time as she almost always had a job of some sort. Her first husband bought her a Tobacco Store beside the Movie Theater in Guelph so that she would have something to keep her occupied. After working in the Munitions Factory during WW2, she moved back to Guelph and took a job at a large department store. She worked behind the counter of the women's dress and glove department and she loved it.

Fuller family in Guelph 1923
Baby Eileen, Ruth, Charles,
my mother Joan seated & Lily standing

Grandma was the person I went to when my mom and I would fight. As a teenager I'd take the bus to Guelph (where she lived with her third husband) and spend a few days with her sharing my frustrations and anger. It was very sad to see her later in her life as the aging process took its toll. 

My family have always told me I am just like Grandma Ruth. My mother told me that's why she and I didn't get along because I was, in her words, "...just like my mother!" 

Here's the odd bit - Grandma married 3 times. So did I. Grandma was 47 when she was widowed. So was I. 

Grandma ended up living with my widowed mother and another widowed daughter but that was quite stressful for all concerned as she and my mother could not go more than an hour without arguing. 

Eventually she had to be moved to a home in Owen Sound where she became increasingly confused and frightened. It was very difficult to visit her and see how far she had slipped from reality. She died in 1985 at the age of 90 and I remind myself she had a good long life and was loved by many. But I miss her.

Another Happy Ending! Grandson of WW1 Soldier found so Found Dog Tags Can Go Home

Update to Case #17 Harold Western CEF WW1 Dog Tags Found in France. Thanks to the generous efforts of my readers and in particular Bruce G., this case has been solved and a great deal of information found about Harold. Bruce was able to find a nephew of Harold Western's who in turn gave us the name and contact information of Harold's grandson who lives right here in Ontario.

Coincidentally I had found reference to Harold (and one of my Peer relatives!) in the Guelph Mercury, along with a photo which you can see on the left. Harold was one of the enthusiasts in the 1910 Thanksgiving Day Road Races. He was an early member of the Thanksgiving Day Road Racers Assocation.

Luck was with me as I also found the obituary of Harold's son Bill.

Obit: WESTERN, William Harold Of Port Dover on Friday, August 12, 2005 at Norfolk General Hospital in his 74th year. Beloved husband of [names of wife and child removed for privacy reasons]. Lovingly remembered by Bill's cousins, [wife's] family and friends. Predeceased by his daughter Wendy and his parents Harold and Dorothea. Bill was a Founding Member of Ontario Rodeo Association, Founding Member of the Western Horse Association of Ontario, Charter Member of the Ontario Quarter Horse Association, Alumni of OAC Class of '53, University of Guelph, and a Member of both Grace United Church and the church choir. Visitation for Mr. Western will be at THOMPSON WATERS FUNERAL HOME, [rest of obit edited]. Published in the Ottawa Citizen on 8/15/2005

Following are some of the genealogical details Bruce uncovered in his research on the family: 

Harold married Dorothea Coreen Caroth (?) between 1926 and 1935.
Between 1935 and 1949 they lived at 158 Neeve Street in Guelph
Harold worked as a Weaver until he retired between 1962 and 1963
Harold and Dorthea lived at 164 King Street West in Guelph between 1953
and 1974.

They had two children; William, who died about 2007 and Jacqueline Elizabeth who
died 29 Mar 1935 at Guelph.

Harold was gassed during the war but recovered.  He worked as a Chemist in
a Carpet Mill in Guelph but usually reported his occupation as weaver,
likely as he came from a long line of weavers. He was very involved in
youth Soccer and was the chief of the Ontario Soccer Association and still
refereed into his senior years.

Bruce also sent the earlier research he did on Harold's ancestors so we can fill in many details. I've passed all the information on to Michel who is the man who found Harold Western's Dog ID tags in France.

Another happy ending!

Finding Photos and Yearbooks for Ancestors Schools

Tytler Public School ca 1912

Recently my 89 year old auntie was able to give me more details about my mother (her sister) and father and their parents.

It may sound strange but I was thrilled to learn that my dad went to Tytler Public School in Guelph Ontario. This school was built in 1879 and originally called St. Patrick's Ward School.

Apparently my auntie's husband also went to Tytler and so did her other sister's husband. It looks like they all lived close to each other at some point.

Victory Public School present day

My mom on the other hand attended Victory P.S. in Guelph. I haven't yet found an older photo of this school but I'm on the hunt! I also have my eye out on E-Bay for any old postcards with the images of these two schools.

After learning that my mom went to Victory Public School I emailed the current principal who invited me to come and have a look at some old photos of staff and students from the 1920s - which is the time period my mom would have been there.

G.C.V.I 1927

Both my parents went to a secondary school called  Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) in the 1930s. Luckily I found two old GCVI yearbooks on E-Bay and also consulted some older yearbooks at the Guelph Civic Museum where my parents were mentioned.

It's pretty exciting to see your mom or dad's name in a yearbook! I'd love it if there had been a photo or two but that's typical of a genealogist isn't it? Always wanting more!

And a small link to fame perhaps? John McCrae, the author of In Flanders Fields, also attended G.C.V. I. 

1911 Baseball Team Photo Guelph Ontario Canada

Guelph Ontario Canada Baseball Team 1911

I bought this photo on E-Bay a few weeks ago. It's not an original, rather it's cut out of a 1911 Baseball Magazine, but I didn't want it to get lost in someone's baseball collection, so I purchased it.

The surnames are Wright, Dunn, Porter, Brady, Schaeffer, Daniels, Gurney, Behan, Koger, Mahoney, Needham, Sheridan, and Silcox.

Even though I have Guelph ancestors, none of these are mine. Perhaps a reader will recognize a name or an ancestor.

Museums - A Hidden Genealogical Treasure Trove

Lorine & Kathleen, Guelph Civic Museum

Last week I spent the afternoon at the Guelph Civic Museum. Kathleen Wall, the Assistant Curator,  had previously found many of my ancestors' names listed in the Museum's indexes - my parents, grandparents and other assorted cousins, uncles, aunts, grand uncles and so on.  So I made a trip to Guelph with my husband to take a look at what Kathleen found.

Kathleen was waiting at a long table when we arrived. There was a large box opened at her side and she was looking through a book. Two extra pairs of white gloves lay on the table for hubby and I to wear and Kathleen turned another book over to me.

The two books Kathleen had ready were the Acta Nostra Yearbooks for Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute which both my parents attended. Several aunts and uncles as well as my grandmother's and grandfather's brothers also went there. So the odds were that I'd find something in them that related to an ancestor - and perhaps even a photograph!

Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner

I was armed with my trusty Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner which readers of this blog know I love. It's invaluable - light weight and easy to use, the perfect tool for scanning images of documents or yearbook pages or just about anything I might find in the Museum.

Happy Genealogist

I sat down and slowly went through the 1933 yearbook while Kathleen looked through 1929. My first find was mention of my mother winning an award for typing in the 1933 GCVI yearbook! Kathleen found several photos and mentions of my grandmother's brother Len Peer in 1929 and other years.

A lot of the museum holdings are indexed which makes searching a bit easier. So in the case of some of the yearbooks, Kathleen knew that my mother's name was somewhere in that 1933 book. We just didn't know what page so it did require careful scrutiny to find.

I found out quite a bit that afternoon. I learned from a 1929 GCVI Yearbook that my father had graduated from High School and was working at Holman Luggage. I never knew that. A 1927 Yearbook gave a little light-hearted description of my dad which I really enjoyed reading. My father died when I was 14 so my memories of him are limited and the yearbooks enabled me to get a better sense of him as a teenager.

1909 Guelph Fire Department

Joseph McGinnis 1909

One of the most exciting items that we found was a photograph of my grandfather McGinnis! Kathleen found a "J. McGinnis" listed on her computerized index so we took a look. And there he was - my grandfather Joseph McGinnis in an official photograph of the Guelph Fire Department in 1909. I was stunned. No one had ever mentioned that my grandfather was a firefighter.

And as he died long before I was born, I never knew him. In fact  only one photo of him taken circa 1916 existed in the family, so seeing him 7 years earlier was a thrill. Kathleen was a font of knowledge about Guelph - its buildings, its history, and she informed us that 1909 was the first year that the Fire Department became an official paid organization. Prior to that time it was a volunteer department. Imagine! My grandfather was one of the first paid Firefighters in Guelph! I'm thrilled to know this.

We looked at many items during the next 3 hours. The Museum is moving to a new location so I could not see all the physical objects they hold which have some relation to my family, but I was able to view many on their computer. Kathleen kindly printed out several interesting documents and photos for me and I'll go back in September when they are settled in their new location.

Here is my advice if you decide to hunt for ancestors at a local museum:

1. Email or phone the museum to ask about their services and fees.

2. Provide a brief list of the names (with dates) of ancestors who you are searching.

3. If the museum has information or documents, ask if you can reserve a time to visit and view the holdings that relate to your ancestors. Perhaps you will be as lucky as me and find a Kathleen who is willing to assist you.

4. Show up on time if you have a pre-arranged appointment.

5. Take your genealogy notes (preferably on a laptop, iPhone or iPad), paper, pencil, pen and your Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner if the Museum allows it. Ask first!  I was able to scan many items of interest at the Museum.

6. Thank the museum staff and leave a generous donation even if they have a set fee for research services.  Most museums need money to continue acquisitions and hire staff. Usually their research fees are minimal so please leave a  donation above and beyond any charges.  Kathleen gave us quite a bit of her time, and was enormously helpful. I felt it was well worth $100.00 so that is the amount I gave. As well my husband dropped some bills into the donation jar at the front door. It was money well spent

Kathleen has continued to send me photos and information via email and I am one overjoyed genealogist!

Local Museums - an Overlooked Genealogy Treasure Trove!

Readers of Olive Tree Genealogy blog know that a few weeks ago I purchased an antique cook stove made in Guelph Ontario Canada. Both my parents were born in Guelph and my father's ancestry there goes back to the 1830s.  Not finding much information online about the Guelph Stove Company, I wrote to the Guelph Civic Musuem.  The Assistant Curator, Kathleen Wall, responded very quickly to my query and provided details on the history of the company.

I'm always looking for information on places my ancestors worked, so I decided to ask Kathleen if the Museum had any information or photographs for a few of the places I knew family members worked. My great-grandfather Peer is listed in several Guelph City Directories pre 1900 as working at Robert Stewart which I was pretty sure became Stewart Planing Mills. My grandfather McGinnis worked at Page-Hersey in 1917 and perhaps other years. My maternal grandfather worked at the Guelph Lumber Co. before 1941.  And my father worked at Biltmore Hats in Guelph before WW2.

Kathleen had a great deal of information on these companies and she was very helpful in providing me with lots of new details. But what really caught my eye was one paragraph about the Guelph Lumber Co. Here is what Kathleen sent:

"The Guelph Lumber Company was established in 1913 on Duke Street, Guelph, near the Allan Bridge. The manager was Jason Harrison at that time. At the time of this photograph, the manager was Charles H. Fuller. The mill specialized in lumber and planing mill goods, doors, inside finish and hardwood flooring, as well as outside blinds and "Canada Ideal" cedar dye sticks."

I almost fell off my computer chair! Charles Henry Fuller was my grandfather! I never expected to find his name mentioned. And my genealogist brain immediately saw those all-important words "...at the time of this photograph..." A photograph?  Wow.

I wrote to Kathleen asking if I dared hope there was a photograph in the possession of the Museum. Her response included a scan of a wonderful photograph of a summer picnic for the Guelph Lumber Co. It is obvious that employees and family members were invited as there are many women and children.  The Museum had no knowledge of who any of the individuals were in the photo, nor of the exact year although they estimated it was circa 1930.

Courtesy of Guelph Civic Museum.

ID# 1988_30_24

Saving the photo to my computer and enlarging it in Picasa allowed me to have a good look at the faces. And there they were - my grandfather Fuller, his wife my grandmother and their two eldest daughters - one being my mother. I could see that mother was about age 5 or 6 which would date the photo to circa 1921 or 1922. And since their youngest sister who was born in July 1923 was not in the photo that confirmed that the picture was taken before that year.  As an aside, anyone wishing a copy of this specific photograph can write to the Museum and request it by using the Museum ID# I have included in the caption.

Kathleen also sent a photo of Biltmore Hat employees in 1927 but my father was not in it. All in all I received a great deal of information on various places my ancestors worked. She also checked for some of the names I mentioned in my emails and found tidbits on many. A typical item sent to me for a specific name was this one which I suspect refers to my grandmother:

"Edith Fuller – listed on a 1916 Roll of draft for the 11^th Brigade and 29 and 36 Batteries"

But that wasn't all. Kathleen informed me that the Museum has two High School yearbooks, for 1932 and 1933 and my mother is in them. I happen to own the 1931 and 1932 yearbooks for Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) and my mom' s class photo is in one. So the 1933 Museum copy is of great interest to me! I'm meeting Kathleen in June at the Museum at which time she is going to show me the yearbook and other items.

The Museum charges a small fee for research but I didn't think it was enough for all the work Kathleen did so I wrote a cheque for a more substantial donation. Supporting local museums is a good cause and I took up a lot of the Assistant Curator's time.

My advice to genealogists is to contact the local museum where your ancestors lived. Write a friendly short note and ask if they have specific information on one or two of your ancestors or on a local company where your ancestor worked. Don't overwhelm them with a long list of questions!

Keep it brief, keep it simple and be polite and friendly. Ask what their research fees are and offer a donation to the Museum.  When your first request is met, that is the time to ask for more help if you require it. But remember you are taking up their time and asking for their help so don't expect it to be free. Even if they don't charge for research services you should make a donation. That's only fair.

If the Museum sends you photographs or information that you want to use on your blog or distribute to other family members, please do ask their permission. There may be copyright issues that you aren't aware of,  and besides it's just common courtesy to ask.

Oh, and remember to thank the staff member at the Museum who assisted you. And be patient. The Museum may or may not have staff that are available to give you the kind of help I got from Guelph Civic Museum. 

Guelph Stove Company and Genealogy

Not only am I a passionate and obsessed genealogist, I'm also an avid collector of antiques. Recently I purchased a ca 1920s antique wood-burning cook stove made by the Guelph Stove Company in Guelph Ontario.

Because I always like to know more about the antiques I collect, I had a hunt online for information on the Guelph Stove Company. There isn't much to be found! Artefacts Canada had some information but not as much detail as I wanted.

Finally I found the Guelph Civic Museum and sent an email to the assistant curator. She responded very quickly and provided me with more detail.   I learned from her email that I can also make an appointment with her to see the photos and other records they have on the Company.  I'm hoping to get to Guelph in June and will visit the Museum at that time.

The Guelph Stove Company began in 1897 as the Guelph Foundry Company and was incorporated as the Guelph Stove Company in 1904. According to Artefacts Canada, the initial owners were Dr. Reid, Mr. Frank Nunan, Mr. Christian Kloepfer, Mr. Joseph Brown and Professor Doherty.

The early products were the Idea steel stoves and ranges, and the Kelly hot air and combination furnaces. In 1908, the T. Eaton's Company began to purchase stoves from the Guelph company.

In 1919, Eatons purchased the company. Ontario Archives holds many of the original ledgers and documents from the Guelph Stove Company, all of which can be viewed on site in Toronto Ontario. They are part of the T. Eaton Co. fonds.

The company was located on Paisley from 1897 until about 1929.  The original building was located just west of Norfolk and on the south side of the street and is probably where the parking lot for the plaza (with Simply Wonderful and Market Fresh) is now. In 1929 the company built a brand new plant at the corner of York Road and Victoria Road.

The company was sold in 1964 to the Studebaker Company. Studebaker sold the company to White Consolidated Co. in 1968 and they no longer manufactured stoves.

What is my interest in this Guelph Stove Company cook stove, other than as a collectible antique? Both my parents were born in Guelph. My mother's ancestry in Guelph is fairly recent, going back to 1914. But my father's ancestry in Guelph dates back on his paternal and maternal lineage to around 1860.  Many of my ancestors and their siblings of every generation worked in Guelph factories. They lived in Guelph and of course, used woodstoves for both heat and for cooking.

There is every chance that one of my ancestors (or a sibling) used a Guelph Stove Company stove. Thinking romantically there is a good chance one of them used the actual stove I now own. One of them may have worked at the Company or lived nearby or socialized with men who worked there.  This kind of history fascinates me. I call it social history - what were my ancestors doing in certain time periods or specific years, where were they living and working? What appliances did they have in their homes?

I wish I knew more details than I do but I can at least find out what their lives might have been like, what they might have incorporated into their daily lives, and so on.  I like to imagine my grandmother McGinnis standing at a stove very much like this one, in her home on Water Street in Guelph after WW1, cooking the family dinner. With six sons she had a lot of hungry mouths to feed!

High School Yearbooks - an overlooked treasure?

A few weeks ago I found, and bought, two old yearbooks. They were from Guelph Collegiate Institute in Guelph Ontario for 1931 and 1932. Both my parents were born and raised in Guelph and I figured there was a good chance my mother at least would be mentioned in those yearbooks!

Sure enough there she was in a class photo for 1932. What a treasure! She was 16 years old and almost finished her Commercial Classes.

Other surprises in the Yearbooks were photos of Len Peer, my father's cousin. He is with the rest of the Senior Rugby Team in one photo which I have scanned and inserted here. He's the teenage boy at the top.

In the text I also spotted mention of Albert and John McGinnis, more cousins to my father. I am really enjoying going through the yearbooks, not only to look for names of relatives and ancestors, but also just to get a glimpse of what was "in" duing my mom and dad's teenage years.

I was surprised to also find death notices for students who had passed away. I decided to have a hunt for one teenage girl whose photo was with her death notice in 1931 and found her death registration on Ancestry.com Her death notice and details from her death certificate are on AncestorsAtRest blog.

The ads are amusing from my present-day perspective, as are the musical references but what is being shown and touted as the best, WAS the current rage in 1931 and 1932. It's a piece of history and I'm thrilled to have found these items.

Find School Yearbooks on E-Bay or you can hunt through old bookstores and flea markets to find your own treasure from the past.

Fuller Family Guelph 1919

This photo was taken in Guelph Ontario 13 September 1919. I love the beautiful dress and shoes my grandmother Ruth (Simpson) Fuller is wearing.

Her two daughters are also dressed beautifully, with my mother on the right, age 5 and her older sister on the left, age 6. Imagine dressing our children in this type of clothing today! How difficult it must have been to keep them clean.

My grandmother could do beautiful crochet work, knitting, and embroidery. I think what is on her daughters' dresses (or petticoats) is called tatting which she also did but I could be wrong. Perhaps someone who knows more about these amazing domestic skills than I do, could enlighten me?

Putting Flesh on the Genealogy Bones

It's always interesting to find out more details about an ancestor. I don't want just a name and birth and death dates for my great grandmother or any other ancestor. I want to know about that ancestor, find out how my great-grandmother felt about a war, learn what great grandpa did for a living. Even better is finding a court case or a long obituary or write ups in newspapers about an ancestor. Photographs or letters are a wonderful treasure!

My great grandmother Mary Elizabeth Peer (nee Vollick) has long been a mystery to me. My grandmother McGinnis (Mary's daughter) never spoke of her parents. I knew they both died in Guelph Ontario but that was all. I knew Grandma's father (my great grandfather) died when she was a young girl and the oldest of several children.

I did not know anything else until my Uncle wrote a series of letters in the 1960s which came into my possession in 1980. He knew Mary's full name and who she married.

He thought Mary was born in Elmvale Ontario, which turned out not to be correct but gave me a starting point for my search. It turns out that Mary's parents moved to Elmvale in the 1880s and in fact most of Mary's siblings died near or in the Elmvale area of Simcoe County, as did her parents.

My uncle had heard whispers as a young boy that Mary's parents disowned her when she eloped with my great grandfather Stephen Peer. And so my search began. Using standard genealogy research methods, I looked for Stephen and Mary in the census records.

I was saddened to find her in the 1901 Guelph census as a 40 year old widow with 9 children ages 4 to 20. My grandmother was the oldest and I had never known she had so many brothers and sisters!

Continuing through the census years I was able to find Mary Elizabeth with her husband Stephen Peer. Next I found her marriage record in 1879 showing both Stephen's and her parents.

This allowed me to carry on researching backwards but I still was not satisfied. I wanted to know details of her life! Then I found Stephen's death registration and his obituary. According to the death record he had died in 1897 at age 45 of typhoid fever. His obituary was quite sad for two reasons - he was listed under the wrong name! His obit is found in the Milton Champion but he is listed as Levi Peer which was his father's name.

The circumstances of his death and the condition of his surviving family (including my grandmother) was tragic. The family was left with no money and could not even afford a burial for Stephen. An excerpt from the paper:

..... leaves a wife and nine children in destitute circumstances. Capt. Clark, City relief officer has made every arrangement for the proper burial of the remains at the expense of the city, and also attended to the immediate wants of the family. Mayor Hower collected a considerable amount from the citizens and handed it to Capt. Clalke to be used in the interests of the family. The authorities at Trinity Baptist church are also assisting in their relief.

This may explain why I have never found a burial location or tombstone for Stephen. So at the age of 34 my great-grandmother was left a poor widow with 9 children ages 1 to 11 years old. I have often wondered if she had to take the children to the poorhouse which is now the Wellington County Museum.

But Mary Elizabeth's tragic story does not end there. She died in 1914 of starvation with her youngest son Philip Edgar Peer at her side. He was 17 years old and he was the informant for her death registration (which is incorrect, he presumably being so confused and grief stricken that when asked for his mother's parents' names, he gave his own parents names)

Edgar, as he was called, was now an orphan. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force one year later and rose to the rank of Sargeant before being wounded at Passchendale. After recuperating he was sent back to the front and was killed in 1918, just a few weeks short of his 22nd birthday.

I always found this a tragic story. My grandmother never spoke of it. Perhaps the memories were too painful. I would still like to know more about her mother Mary Elizabeth. I now know when she was born. I know who her parents were. I know when and who she married and when she died. I know the names of all her children. But I have no photos of her nor of my great grandfather.



I have photos of three of my grandmother's brothers, shared by other descendants with whom I made contact. (from left Philip Edgar, Leonard, George)

I have beautiful photos of all of Mary Elizabeth's siblings, also shared with me by a descendant of one of her sisters. Their family lore was that my great grandmother was the black sheep of the family who horrified everyone when she ran off with my great grandfather. Their family remembers her as being called "Lizzie" by her sisters and that the family lost all contact with her after her marriage in 1879.

Great grandmother Mary Elizabeth Peer nee Vollick had 9 children. Surely someone descended from them has photos or knows more about Mary ELizabeth as a person! But to this day I've not been successful finding them. So if anyone is descended from the PEER family of Guelph Ontario I hope they find me or I find them one day.