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Bruce County

Genealogical Society

Box 1083, Port Elgin, ON

N0H 2C0

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

~onbcgs

Volume 22, Issue 4

November 2015

ISSN 1184-7387

Bruce Bulletin

Upcoming Meetings and Other Events

Date: Monday, November 23, 2015 @ 1pmPlace: Bruce County Museum and Cultural

CentreTopic: Ann-Marie Collins will lead a guided

tour of the all new Bruce RemembersMilitary Gallery and Website. Viewmilitary artifacts and archival materialand discover more about BruceCounty’s Military heritage.

Date: Monday, January 11, 2016 @ 1 pmPlace: Bruce County Museum and Cultural

CentreTopic: Program planning and bring and brag

Date: Monday, February 8, 2016 @ 1 pmPlace: Bruce County Museum and Cultural

CentreTopic: Snow date for the January meeting.

Program planning and bring and brag

Date: Monday, March 7, 2016 @ 7 pmPlace: Bruce County Museum and Cultural

CentreTopic: Irish Famine and Resulting

Immigrants to Canada by PatrickKelly

ContentsPage

Upcoming Meetings and Events/Highlights of Previous Meetings. . . . 1

Queries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

John Gentiles of Kincardine.. . . . . . . 2

Response to McCalder Article. . . . . . 3

Puzzle Solved.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/4

Tom Follis Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/5

World War I Quilt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Bruce County Strays. . . . . . . . . . . 6/7

News from the Bruce CountyArchives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/8

BCGS Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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QUERIES

1. KAY, William, 1824-March 28, 1900,Kincardine Lighthouse Keeper. William was my Great GreatGrandfather. I would like to knowwho his wife, my Great GreatGrandmother was? Also if he had anyother children besides my GreatGrandfather Robert Kay 1858-1933buried at Maitland Cemetery marriedto Margaret Graham Kay? MyGrandmother was KatherineMae(Kay) Symons and what my GreatGrandfather Robert Kay did for aliving? Contact: Gary Symons, 1Saint Elizabeth, Laguna Niguel, CA9 2 6 7 7 - 5 6 0 0 E m a i l :xxtrasafe@yahoo.com

2. BRADY-I’m working on a family treeand I have 2X Great Grandparents,Nelson BRADY and ElizabethCATROLL from the Eastnor area inthe late 1800’s and early 1900’s.Where can I find the information toget their birth dates and deaths? Iknow that they immigrated to Canadaa round 1850-186 0 i sh . Anyinformation would be greatlya p p r e c i a t e d . E m a i l :tracy_brady@hotmail.com

3. MYLES/MILES, JAMES (1808County Fermanagh, Ireland 1889Lions Head area, Ontario) & wife,ELIZABETH NEIL/NEAL (1809County Fermanagh, Ireland - bef. 1881Lions Head area or Meaford, Ontario)settled in the Meaford area & farmed(Springbrook Farm). Son, GeorgeMyles & wife, Mary Ann White, &grandson, Wm. Villars Myles, areburied in Eastnor Cemetery. Lookingfor burial site for James & ElizabethMyles. Location & dates? Contact:Barbara Macgillivray Email:barbtomm@yahoo.com

Concerning the release of Sylvia Hasbury’ newest book:

JOHN GENTLES IN KINCARDINE: The History of a Town

through the Eyes of a Gentleman

The child of Huron County pioneers who ran theHuron House Hotel in 1840’s Goderich, JohnGentles is credited with building one of the firsthouses on Durham Market North, Kincardine in1868. He was also, the nephew of HuronCounty Sherriff Robert Gibbons who served asWarden of Huron County for many years as wellas Mayor and Reeve of Goderich.

As a Kincardinite, John Gentles played a largepart in establishing harness racing in town atLandsdown Park and later at Connaught Park.The Kincardine Golf Club originated onproperty owned by Gentles and he was one ofthe first directors of the Kincardine Hospital.He was known throughout North America as aprize winning harness racer and “a competentand honorable dealer in horseflesh.”The size of his estate made headlines in both ofKincardine’s newspapers at the time of his deathin 1910.

Copies of the new book are available now at:

1. Fincher’s Leisure World 814 QueenStreet, Kincardine and their Goderichstore on the Square.

2. The Bruce County Museum andCultural Center Gift Shop, VictoriaStreet, Southampton

3. Condor Fine Books, Queen Street,K i n c a r d i n e , e - m a i lTwellstead@tnt21.com

4. Or by contacting Sylvia Hasbury byphone 519-396-5508, Emai l :sylviahas@bmts.com or Facebook.

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Response to article written by MaryMacKay in the August 2105 Newsletter.By Allan McCalder

As a member of the Ontario GenealogicalSociety, Bruce County Chapter I want to thankyou for printing Mary MacKay’s article aboutmy Great-grandfather Donald McCalder.

This past August I had the pleasure ofspending a few days with Mary touringElderslie Township in the quest to learn moreabout my family ancestors and their early daysin Canada. Not much has been known aboutmy McCalder family prior to the settlement inWinnipeg of Neil and Nellie (Fisher)McCalder after World War I. There theyraised nine children, four girls and five lads –all their sons served Canada during WWII,one being my father Douglas. And withMary’s enthusiastic support, we found thegraves of Donald McCalder (Neil’s father)along with his brother Forbes and sisterCatherine at the St. Andrews Cemetery.Another highlight was visiting the home ofChris Tomsett and Lia Cannfield that had

been the cottage of my Great-grandfather andGreat-grandmother, Donald and CatherineMcCalder in the late 1880s and early 1900s.

The visit to Paisley, Elderslie Township andSouthampton (Bruce County Archives) willforever be a highlight of my travels. What Ilearned helps link the McCalder brothers’ paston the Colonsay with their new lives in Canada.I never cease to be amazed at the courage anddetermination they and others displayed in orderto make better lives for themselves and theirfuture families. I will forever be grateful for thekindness of Mary MacKay and others whohelped me piece together the pieces of thispuzzle. With more answers come morequestions. And so I remember Mary’s mantra:another puzzle to solve.

Next year a return visit to Scotland andColonsay is planned to continue my quest tobetter understand and appreciate family history.Oh yes, the Celtic Music Festival in September,the local brewery and the walking trails onColonsay are also very fine attractions. Cheersfor now,

Allan McCalderSherwood Park, Alberta

Puzzle Solvedby Mary MacKay

Do you remember reading my story in the lastGenealogy Newsletter about how I foundDonald McCalder? It ended with another puzzleto solve because I could not find when Donald’swife died or where she was buried.

Donald McCalder died March 26, 1911 age 76and is buried in St Andrew’s Cemetery,Elderslie Township. There is a fine gravestonemarker for him but where is his wife, Catherine?My Genealogical instincts told me she wasburied there, too. No matter where she died theywould have brought the body back. Even if sheremarried she would have been buried with herfirst husband. That’s just the way things were

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done back in those days! But how could Iprove it?

I needed help to find her death registration andAnne Goeden came to my rescue. On the Mormon site in the Michigan Deathregistrations was a death of a CatherineMccalder on March 11, 1927 in Detroit. Shewas a widow, born in Scotland age 90. Wellthat’s close! If you can believe the earlyElderslie census records she should besomewhere between 81 and 85. But what wasshe doing in Detroit?

So next day I hurried to the Archives andchecked the Paisley Advocates in the weeksfollowing March 11, 1927 and there it was inthe Salem News :

The remains of the late Mrs. DonaldMcCalder, who died at the home of adaughter in Detroit, were brought home forburial in St. Andrew’s Cemetery. Thefuneral was held on Monday afternoonfrom the home of her daughter, Mrs.George Hall.

That was her! My instincts were right! Ialready knew her daughter had marriedGeorge Hall and lived across the road fromSalem Church on the 10 of Elderslie. Now Ith

know she had another daughter in Detroit.Now if you want another puzzle about thislady, Ann also found that Catherine McCalderof the same address in Detroit registered herson Malcolm’s birth information on Dec 28,1926. That’s only three months before shedied!

Stay tuned next Newsletter. I’ll tell you howthat came about.

Tom Follis’s Storyby Mary MacKay

“Stories, stories, we want to put stories in ourfamily research not just names and dates Howdo we get the stories?”

This is a very common query from genealogists.We show beginners how to find their ancestorson census records, cemetery records, and landrecords to see where they lived. But the storiesare hard to find unless you luck out like I didwhen I tried to find out who Thomas Follis was and why he sold his blacksmith business atSalisbury when he was only 35 years old?Where did he go? I knew that Thomas Follis was a blacksmith atSalem because The History of ElderslieTownship says:

On December 1, 1888, the Ravelston PostOffice was opened on Concession 11 withThomas Follis as Postmaster. It was locatedopposite the Salem Church. In 1891 , the namewas changed to Salisbury…..The post officeclosed in 1910 and the name Salisbury diedwith its closing. Today the area is known asSalem. That’s another good place to find stories-Township history books.

The Chesley Enterprise of June 6th 1895carried a very complete obituary for ThomasFollis. It was written by the editor, WilliamMcDonald, who knew him personally fromboyhood. With the census dates I had alreadyfound and this obit I was able to put together thefollowing story.

Thomas Follis was born in Derby Township,Grey County but grew up on his father’s farmin Sullivan. He chose the blacksmith trade andapprenticed with Caleb Steinhoff at UnionCorners. On the 1881 Elderslie census he was25 years old, living on lot 33 Con 6 Eldersliewith his parents John and Martha Follis. He hadtwo brothers and two sisters.

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In about 1883 Thomas married the girl nextdoor, Elizabeth Colwell , daughter of Johnand Eliza Colwell and they moved toConcession 10 Elderslie. In 1884 they wereliving in one of the three shanties at the frontof Lot 14 Con 11. Snake Creek wound its waythrough this farm and Adam Elliot operated asawmill on it. Thomas may have worked inthe sawmill for a year or two.Their firstdaughter, Margaret, was born in this littleshanty.

Then in 1886 the farm and sawmill were soldto my husband’s ancestors, Hugh and GeorgeMcKay. The sawmill was moved to Chesleyso Thomas bought 2 acres SW corner of thenext farm to the east. (lot 15 Con 11) Thisfarm belonged to James Hall whose familyhad settled further east.

The History of Elderslie Township saysThomas Follis …..purchased a blacksmith shopat Revelston on 10 Elderslie and worked up ath

good business.

I can find no evidence there was a blacksmithshop there before the Follis one, becauseelsewhere Thomas Follis is credited withbeing the first blacksmith as well as the firstPostmaster at Revelston. He worked very hardto get a post office established . Finally onDecember 1, 1888 a post office wasestablished at Revelston and Thomas Folliswas Postmaster from Dec. 1, 1888 to Dec.25, 1891 Mail service came three days a week.In 1891 the name of the Post Office waschanged to Salisbury.

On December 31,1891 Thomas Follis gave upbeing postmaster due to ill health. He wascomplimented by the P O Inspector on theefficiency with which he had attended theduties of his office. On account of failinghealth he was forced to quit the blacksmithingtrade too, much to the regret of his numerouspatrons and friends. He sold his blacksmithbusiness to Donald McCalder and moved toChesley where he worked at carpentry with RT Robinson for one summer until he met with

a very unfortunate accident. He was struck onthe lip with a board which resulted in sarcoma.. A sarcoma is a malignant tumour, or cancer. Itspreads through the blood, often to the lung,liver, and brain.

Thomas consulted with the local doctors andspecialists in Toronto Hospital and ahomoeopathist but all to no avail. For over twoyears he suffered as slowly his strength ebbed.He died May 31, 1895, age 38 years, 8 months,16 days.

The following is a quote from his obit as itappeared in the Chesley Enterprise:

He was prepared for the inevitable havinglearned to trust in Him who hears the needy whenthey ask His divine assistance. He selected the textand hymns for his funeral sermon and chose sixspecial friends, three firemen and threeOrangemen as his pall bearers. ….The Fire Brigade of which he was a memberplaced on his coffin a beautiful Maltese Cross ofnatural flowers and turned out in full uniform atthe funeral. There were representatives fromnearly a dozen Orange lodges, about 150 membersin all, were in the funeral possession. He was amember of the Orange Order for 16 years andnever missed celebrating a 12 until last year whenth

he was unable to . There was a very, very largeturn out from Union Corners Orange Lodge ofwhich Mr Follis was a member and drummer at12 of July Celebrations for eight years. Histh

remains were interred in Chesley Cemetery, thefuneral being the largest ever seen in this village,Everybody seemed to be Tom’s friend. .

It’s a sad story but a true one. One you couldnever imagine from what the History ofElderslie Township tells. I encourage you to diga little deeper for the stories.

Thomas Follis had two daughters not named inhis obituary but Margaret was 11 and Mary was8. If they have any descendants living today, Ihope they are proud of their ancestor.

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World War I Quilt

Dear Members of Bruce County GenealogicalSociety,

I am a quilter and quilt researcher inLondon, UK. I am a founder member of theCanadian Red Cross Quilt Research Group,and have recently been given a quilt whichmay be of interest to your members.

It is a signature fundraiser quilt, andaccording to the message stitched on it, it wasmade by 'The Junior Workers of the QueenMary's Needlework Guild, Concession 10 and12, Bruce Co. Culross, Ontario, Canada 1918'.It has over 300 names on it, including the thenPrime Minister of Canada and his wife, Sir R.Borden and Lady Borden.

I am attaching a list of the names andan image of the quilt. The numbers after eachname indicate the number of times that familyname appears on the quilt. I wonder if any ofthem are ancestors of any of your members. Iam happy to send more images if yourmembers are interested.

If any of your members would like toco-operate with me in researching this quilt, Iwill be delighted to hear from them. I haveobtained a copy of the local history book AllOur Yesterdays, a History of CulrossTownship 1854 - 1984, from which I haveidentified some of the people named on thequilt, and I would be interested to find outabout more of them. With kind regards,M a x i n e M a r c h . E m a i l :MaxineMarch@Waitrose.com

Bruce County Strays as found in

Victoria Daily Colonist, Victoria, BC

Compiled by: Leona Taylor

Died January 28, 1936 at Vancouver, BC,George Watson, born near Paisley, BruceCounty, Ontario, he came to Victoria in 1890,and for a number of years was employed byVictoria Transfer Co. His wife predeceasedhim, he leaves 2 sons, 5 sisters, brother.Vancouver burial.*

Died February 7, 1936 at Sidney, BC, JamesWilson Bryce, 80, pioneer of North Saanich.Born in Paisley, Bruce County, Ontario, residenthere 59 years. For 20 years he was manager ofVictoria Truck & Dray Company. He took anactive part in the Yukon gold rush of 1898. In1901 he acquired Sidney Island, with hisbrothers, Robert and William. He was alsoowner of 300 acres of land which he later soldto CNR, George Sangster and late J S HMatson. Leaves widow, Jennie, son, daughter,brothers, Robert, Saanich, and David, in Paisley.ROBP*

Died February 10, 1936 at Victoria, BC, DavidFair, 73, born in Paisley, Bruce County, Ontario,resident here 34 years. He was a well-knownstock-breeder there, shipping cattle forexhibition as far away as England. He wasactive in the gold rush of 1898 and in 1901came to Victoria. Leaves widow, son, daughter,2 brothers. A son, John, was killed in the GreatWar. Colwood.*

Died March 13, 1936 at Victoria, BC, JohnMartin Fraser, 78, born at Freelton, BruceCounty, Ontario. He was a pioneer of PilotMound, Manitoba, where he was a well-knownbanker. Leaves widow, daughter, 2 sons,siblings. Pilot Mound.*

Died suddenly March 15, 1936 at Saanich, BC,William John Fanning, 77, born at Kincardine,Bruce County, Ontario, resident here 2 years,

World War I Quilt

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coming from McLean, Saskatchewan, wherehe farmed 50 years. ROBP*

April 18, 1936, 1; 4 - died April 17 atVictoria, BC, John Watts Sluggett, 78, born inOwen Sound, Ontario, educated in Chesley,Bruce County, Ontario, and when about aged18 he came to a farm in Saanich.

His father, late John Sluggett, purchased 700acres of land there and brought the family toreside there. At one time the family owned1,100 acres, believed to be the largest farmever operated in Saanich.

Predeceased by his wife, Eva, in August 1934,he leaves 3 sons, 2 daughters, 3 brothers, 2sisters. Shady Creek.*

News from the Bruce County ArchivesAnn-Marie Collins, Archivist Sue Schlorff, Archival AssistantDeb Sturdevant, Archival Assistant

Bruceremembers.orgThe new Bruceremembers.org website featuressoldiers and military personnel with aconnection to Bruce County. Search for yourancestors on the “Find People” page, anddiscover information gathered from attestationpapers and other resources, as well as links tocemetery information, and more! Over thecoming months, additional digital images fromthe Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centrecollection will be added to the soldiers’ pages. The site currently focusses on people whoserved during the First World War, althoughsome names related to the Second World War,early conflicts (Trent Affair, Fenian Raids, RedRiver Rebellion, North-West Rebellion andSouth African (Boer) War), Korean War andmore recent active service, have also beenadded. If your ancestor is missing from the website, andwas residing in Bruce County at some pointduring his/her life, please contact us to provideinformation to add to the s i t e :archives@brucecounty.on.ca or 519-797-2080,ext. 129. We also welcome donations of letters,diaries, photographs and other military-relateditems. When donated, such items will be storedin a temperature and humidity controlledenvironment, and scanned for inclusion on thewebsite.EventsArchives at the Library: Bruce RemembersEdition: Join Museum staff for a guided tour ofthe all new Bruce Remembers Military Website! View military artifacts and archival material,and discover more about our military heritage.• Ripley Branch Library, November 10, 3 p.m.– 5 p.m.

John Robert Blackburn, of Chesley,courtesy of The Royal CanadianLegion, Chesley Branch 144

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Bruce County Genealogical Society-2014E-mail: brucecgs@yahoo.ca

http://www.rootsweb.com/~onbcgs

Executive

President: Doug Lennox

Vice President:

Secretary: Marilyn Perkins

Assistant: Sylvia Hasbury

Treasurer: Anne Goeden

Membership Secretary: Anne Goeden

Past President: Anne Goeden

Committees

Mail Secretary: Helen W uerth

Cemetery Co-ordinator: Lolly Fullerton

Library Co-ordinator: Cecile Lockrey

Research Co-ordinator: Sylvia Hasbury

Newsletter Editor: Shirley Moulton

Newsletter Assistants: AudreyUnderwoodMary MacKay

Webmaster: Louise Stewart

E-mail Correspondent: Anne Goeden

Publication sales: Helen W uerth

Publication Co-ordinator: Bill Stewart

Publicity: Marilyn Perkins

Clipping Collection: Volunteers

Cards: Judy MacKinnon

Newsletter

The newsletter is published quarterly: February,

May, August, November. Articles of interest

may be submitted for inclusion and should give

credit to the original source.

Newsletter Editor: Shirley Moulton

763 Brentwood Dr.

Port Elgin, ON

N0H 2C4

(519) 832-3206

E-mail: smoulton@bmts.com

• Paisley Branch Library, November 12, 1p.m. – 3 p.m.• Teeswater Branch Library, November 13, 1p.m. – 3 p.m.• Tobermory Branch Library, November 14,10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.Bruce Remembers from a GenealogicalPerspective: Archivist Ann-Marie Collinswill be the speaker at the Annual GeneralMeeting of the Bruce County GenealogicalSociety, Monday, November 23, 2015, 1:00p.m. She will speak on the topic of “BruceRemembers from a Genealogical Perspective,”including a tour of the both the new BruceRemembers website and the BruceRemembers military gallery at the BruceCounty Museum & Cultural Centre.Archives HoursThe Research Room is open Tuesday toSaturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until the endof March 2014. Please check our website forholiday hours and call ahead if you areplanning to view items stored in the archivalstorage area. The Bruce County Archives ispart of the Bruce County Museum & CulturalCentre, 33 Victoria Street, Southampton,Ontario, 519-797-2080, ext. 129.

Here is an example of a picture from theMilitary Website:

2016 Fees are Now Due

$20 for an individual membership

$25 for a family membership

We are a registered charity and

donations are gratefully accepted.

Herbert and Iden Leeder 1916

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