Flashback to My Ancestors in 1926

Census taker visits a Romani family living in a caravan, Netherlands 1925 from Wikipedia

Almost 93 years ago on June 1,1926,  a high of 12 degrees Celsius was recorded at Brandon but four days later a temperature of 25 degrees would have had my Manitoba ancestors working and playing in their shirt sleeves! Farmers all, they may have been annoyed at having to stop their daily activities to answer the questions of the visiting enumerator for the census but I am glad they complied!  Liberal William Lyon Mackenzie King was holding onto a minority federal government for just another month and Manitoba was led by premier John Bracken of the Progressive party. Hopes were high for another  large wheat harvest across the prairies and seeding would have been in full swing.

Back to present time - 2019 - my Twitter feed let me know that the database of the 1926 census of the 3 prairie provinces had just been released. Although the census was available earlier, there was no way to search for a particular name but you had to look page by page. Since 1871, a Canada-wide census has been held every 10 years. However, the population of the Prairie provinces was rapidly expanding, so there was a need for more frequent population counts in those provinces. It was decided to conduct a census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in June 1906 (in between the Canada-wide censuses), and every 10 years thereafter. The Statistics Act states that census returns will be transferred from Statistics Canada to Library and Archives Canada 92 years after a census has been taken so here we are.  The 1926 census database was created in partnership with FamilySearch where volunteer genealogists indexed the records to make them searchable.

Grandma Frances Milne is listed as 20 years old with her parents Alexander and Jean on 14-11-27 in the RM of Wallace with 3 of her brothers Alexander, Jim and Charlie and her sister Nan. The last 3 were noted as students.  The Milne’s are identified as Scottish with Alex immigrating in 1905 and Jean the next year.

Grandpa Frank Kinnaird would be married to Frances the next year but and in 1926  he is found as a 30 year old single man on the page before the Milnes. He lived at 1-11-27 in the RM of Wallace with his employee 48 year old Dave McMannus. A piece of information that I found interesting was that this census says both of Frank’s parents were born in Ireland when I believed they were born in Ontario. The census taker has indicated his racial origin is Irish. Hmmmm

Frank and Frances Kinnaird about 1927

Grandma and Grandpa Simms- Alexander and Mary Tait - are married and living on 15-14-22 with three of their children listed this way: Robt Alex (9), Doris Ellen (5) and Gwenny Elizth (2). Only a very few others on the page have middle names recorded by this enumerator (P.W. Thompson) so it makes me think it was Alex or Mary that gave the names that way. The surname is written "Sims" so evidently he was just writing what he heard.  The family was living in a small house built after the fire that destroyed their home on New Years Eve 1923. No doubt as they told Mr. Thompson the names of their children, they were thinking of Glenn James who had died at the age of two years old less than a year before.

Construction began on the Simms home a few months after the 1926 census was taken. 

 As seemed to be quite common in the area. Simms's have a labourer living with them of Polish origin named Joseph Bialas -19 years old and born in Manitoba. Neighbours on section 28, the Morcoms had a domestic living in their home, 17 year old Mary Bialas, perhaps the two were siblings or even a young married couple.

Above and left - Sinclair house and barn in the 1920's.

Mary Tait Simms's parents live on the next section #16, James and Elizabeth Sinclair with daughters Ellen (30) and Elizabeth(28) and son William(25). The year of immigration for James confirms he was an early prairie homesteader coming in 1883 from the Orkneys. His wife Elizabeth Henry was in Ontario much earlier, 1859 from Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland.

Irving Shadford who identifies as Irish and William Vanderbosh of Dutch origin are labourers in their twenties living at the Sinclair farm in June of 1926.  

I hope I have interested you enough to go back and peek in the windows of your ancestors' lives.  They are just a mouse click away!

The Bankburn Star - December 21, 1907

Further to the last post about Bankburn School  , this tabloid school newspaper has survived the past 112 years fairly well and gives us a glimpse of the school and community though the eyes of the school pupils.  I wonder if there was ever a second edition or if this was the first and last. It is a wonder that it was printed on plain white paper, not newsprint, and the pictures were taken and reprinted so clearly.  Hope you enjoy reading it! 

Bankburn School

It is always exciting to see a new comment on my blog and this week I received one on my Grandma Simms's post about a classmate of hers from Bankburn School. The school was located straight north of Oak River on the  Southwest quarter of 21-14-22 where a large bolder with an inscribed plaque marks the spot today. The Manitoba Historical Website has some information but I also have the following account written by former pupils, my great aunts.  

Memories of Bankburn School 1901—1917 

Written By Mrs. Lizzie Morcom and 

Miss Nellie Sinclair (daughters of James Sinclair and Elizabeth Henry) 

for the cairn dedication in 1984

In the year 1901 Bankburn School District No. 1098 was officially formed and the school opened with an enrolment of seven pupils. Bankburn School was built on a site overlooking the ravine which flowed through the farm owned by James Sinclair and his family. This farm was called Bankburn farm, so the school was appropriately named Bankburn. Mr. George Kelly of Pettapiece, Manitoba built the school which opened in August 1901. Classes had been held in James Sinclair’s granary in the summer months previous to the school being opened for a few years. We have James Sinclair, G. Sparling, and H. McPhaden to thank for being instrumental in having the “Bankburn District School” formed. Miss Ethel Sparling (Mrs. Walter Delamater) was the first teacher in the granary and also in the new school where she taught for two years before leaving to continue her studies.

The teachers through the years were as follows:
Miss Ethel Sparling (Oak River), Miss Annie Frazer (Hamiota), Miss Lizzie Shier (Hamiota), Miss Semima Cameron (Oak River), Miss Vivian Jackson (Rapid City), Miss Evelyn Spearin (Rapid City), Miss Mable Cooper (Souris), Miss Amanda Shields (Rivers), Mrs Islay Jackson (nee McIntyre) (Oak River).

The teachers boarded at Sinclairs, Sparlings, and McPhadens in turns. The highest salary received was $500.00 a year. Mother received $10.00 a month for room and board, washing, and ironing. A far cry from today’s prices.

The children that attended through the years have recalled the amusement they enjoyed when they knocked over the benches (accidentally on purpose) which were always the standard furnishings in the pioneer schools.

The second year Miss Cameron taught there were 42 pupils enrolled from Grade 1 through 8, 9, 10 and one studying for a third class certificate all had to go to Oak River and pay a sum to write and live there until the exams were all written (usually five days). What a thrill the teacher and pupils enjoyed when the report from the Department of Education came back—all had passed the exams clear with no supplements.

Many good times were held through the years at the yearly picnics, baseball games and football games, Box Socials through the winter months and of course dancing. The ravine was a big attraction in the fall and spring for skating and sledding. The Empire Day celebrations on may 24th honouring Queen Victoria’s birthday was an annual event. Maplewood School always came to Bankburn School for a baseball game. Miss Cameron had taught there before coming to Bankburn and she always arranged that game. After the ball game and programme, lunch was served by the parents. Rev McCullough, The Presbyterian Minister from Oak River, was chairman and Mr. Chris Cochrane, Reeve of Blanshard Municipality, gave a very interesting address on “The Flag” after which he raised the Union Jack which floated over Bankburn School for the first time. 

Sunday School was always held in the school every Sunday when a large crowd attended.

In the year 1917, a drastic change took place. Bankburn, along with Maplewood and Upland School Districts, were merged into the Oak River Consolidated School District ending the era of the three little “Red School Houses”. Some pupils were transferred to Oak River School by horse drawn vans—winter and summer. The taxes at the time were $42.00 a quarter.

Bankburn School was later sold to John (Jack) Andrews and moved to his farm which later became the property of W. D. Reid and son Bill. Eventually the former Bankburn School became the property of Murray Kirkpatrick. A cairn has been erected on the site where the Bankburn school stood. On Sunday, July 15, 1984, a dedication will be unveiled in the memory of the pioneers who were instrumental in having the school built, teachers, pupils, trustees and Secretary Treasurers.

The students who attended from 1901—1917 were as follows:

Mary Sinclair Ralph Espey                                Jennie Lee

Jean Sinclair                                 Ada Espey                                     Annie Lee

Nellie Sinclair Janet McKenzie Pearl Lee

Lizzie Sinclair  Katie McKenzie Frank Hyndman

Alex Sinclair Eddie McKenzie Annie Hyndman

Bill Sinclair                                  Bessie McKenzie Ralph Hyndman

Clara McPhaden Rosie Day                                     Rae Armstrong

Barclay McPhaden Herbie Day                                    John Warren

John McPhaden Fred Smith                               Marjory Thompson

Frank McPhaden Hilda MacLay                          Joshua Thompson

Myra McPhaden Russell Bayman Alex Thompson

Percy McPhaden Laura Ireton Norah Thompson

Cedric McPhaden Delbert Glazier Harry Thompson

Marjory McPhaden Earl Glazier                                     Laura Smith

Morton Furtney Tory Furtney                                   Frank Smith

Bella Furtney                                  Bill Reid                                         Harry Smith

Hubert Sparling Jack Reid                                     Mildred Reid

Muriel Sparling Sadie Reid                                       Eddie Reid

Ena Sparling Margaret Reid                                Gladys Reid

Elmer Sparling Myrtle McQuaig Pat Reid

Herbie Davis                                   Wilf McQuaig                                George Reid

Lorne Davis                                     Roy McQuaig                        Harvey Robinson

Arthur Davis                                    Elsie McQuaig Seaman Robinson

Harry Davis                                      Pearl McQuaig Lawrence Robinson

Jim Davis                                          Elsie Davis                                     Eva Davis

Although all those who taught and attended Bankburn School have passed on, it lives on in the ways each and everyone of these people touched the lives of others.

Keep reading my next post here for more on Bankburn School. 

A Mystery Aunt - Jeannie Sinclair Oliver

A recent look through Aunt Lizzie (Sinclair) Morcom's photos and papers turned up a mystery Aunt that I must have passed over before.  How appropriate that on American Thanksgiving weekend, I was able to discover a whole new Yankee branch of the family tree! Luckily, the Christmas card below was saved and started the investigation. 

Address 85 Summit

Hastings on Hudson N Y
12-21-1933
My Dear Niece Elizabeth,
I am sending a few Xmas cards and want to send you one as it has been some time since I heard from you all but hope you are all very well.  I have been very poorly since I wrote to you last but I'll try to write you a long letter very soon.  Hoping this finds you all very well.  I hope your Father - Mother is all right and all your Folks.
With love from your Aunt Jeannie Oliver

The address helped me search her name and I came across the Find a Grave entry which also included an obituary from her death in 1944.  It tells that Jeannie was born in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, October 15, 1857. On my tree, I had a Jane Kennedy Sinclair as a sister to my great grandfather James but Orkney documents give her birth year as 1853.  They were 2 of the 4 children of  William Sinclair and Jane Garrioch of  Eastside on South Ronaldsay in the Orknys. She married William Oliver perhaps in Scotland and later arrived in the U.S.  For many years they lived in Ansonia, Connecticut and also resided just south of there in Derby for a time.  The 1880 Census has them at 65 Elizabeth Street in Derby and William is listed as a millwright.
The obituary lists her children as the daughter with whom she made her home Jean Lyon, Mrs. Laura Evans of Syracuse, N. Y. and two sons, William E. Oliver and Robert S. Oliver, both of Rome, N. Y.; three grandchildren and one great grandchild.  She was buried in Ansonia beside a daughter Edith who died as a toddler in 1887 and her husband William who had died in 1929.  Jeannie made her home with her daughter and son-in-law at Riverview Manor in Hastings on Hudson after the death of her husband according to census documents on Ancestry. It was during these years she wrote the Christmas letter to Lizzie. Ancestry user koliver53 had posted these pictures of Jeannie and William.

The group photo from around 1916 was described as : Three generations. Children at bottom from left, William Jr, and his cousin Jeanne Evans. Seated middle are Jeanne Sinclair Oliver and William Oliver.  Also seated are Laura Oliver Evans and her husband Ernest. Standing from left are Marguerite Bence Oliver and her husband William E. Oliver, Sr., Robert Oliver, Jeanne Oliver Lyons, and her husband George Lyons.

After going through more old papers and pictures I found the postcard collections below.  The ones from Maine are postmarked 1945 from J.O.L. (Jeanne Oliver Lyon) and The New York collection predates Lizzie's marriage in 1930 and is also signed from Jeanne.

The photo on the left has "Your cousin Laura and her daughter Jean E. Evans 1952" on the back.  The profile picture has no name but seems to bear a resemblance and was stamped with a photography company's stamp in White Plains, NY.

I am guessing the picture below with the writing copied from the back is of Jeanne Lyon in 1963.  

Happy Thanksgiving to my Oliver cousins and I hope to hear from you soon!  ssimms@escape.ca

Easter Greeting Postcards

The three Easter postcards on today's blog post come from the collection of my dad's Aunt Elizabeth (Lizzie) Sinclair Morcom. It seems these greetings began at the turn of the century but after WW1 they were in their heyday.

Only one has writing on it and that identifies that it predates her marriage in 1930.  Her nephews, the little Fortune boys were born in the early twenties and  are the little boys in the picture below on the Sinclair house steps. Their little sister Irene, born in 1925 is being held by Nannie, their mother Jean is in the black tie.  Lizzie (with the glasses) and Jessie are on the right side.

The picture above shows Lizzie is sitting on the same steps with her brother Bill.  My sister Janice and I have said his wild hair gene may have been passed down to her son!  The postcard that appears to be in a car has Lizzie at the back (in the glasses), Nellie holding Irene but I'm not sure of the other two sitting in the front seat.  Hopefully my blog readers can help me identify them!

Happy Easter!

Arcade Cards

These arcade cards from the 20's and 30's were found among the belongings of Harry Clyne and before they were sent off to a niece in Scotland with his other prized belongings, I scanned them and finally got around to doing a little research. Arcade cards like these were postcard sized and were sold in amusement parks in the US and Canada and thus their name.

Bud Baer was a boxer in the 1930's who also acted on television and in films.  His nephew, Max Baer Jr. , became famous for his role as Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies in the 60's. A copy of the same photolithograph can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art  in New York City.  He died in 1986 and is buried in California.

Harry Carey was the lead actor in the silent film Burning Bridges that was released by Pathe Exchange Inc in 1918.  During this time, Carey grew into one of the most popular Western stars of the early motion picture, occasionally writing and directing films as well. Carey would appear in at least 233 films, including short features, between 1909 and 1949.

Rex Lease and Tim McCoy acted in The Masked Stranger, another silent movie. From the 1928 film "Beyond the Sierras".

 The machine that these cards were dispensed from were like the one below from the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago  for a penny or two.

Harry kept these arcade cards with his family photos and I wonder what memories they held for him of the place he got them or the person who gave them to him. I'm just glad he kept them.

Henry "Harry" Clyne - 1950's

The Sinclair House

The recent photo above, taken by Richard Turenne and posted on the Abandoned Manitoba site on Facebook, brought back many fond memories for the Sinclair nieces and nephews including me!  What a mansion I thought it was and by any standards, it was a magnificent home for the James and Elizabeth Sinclair family.  It was built in 1912 and the picture below may have been from the 20's.

One tall brick chimney let smoke rise from the cookstove and the other from the fireplace in the parlour. A verandah wrapped around the south and east side of the two and a half story home for the family of 8 children.

The east side of the verndah was made into an enclosed porch by Harry Clyne after the above photo was taken and I remember John Paul (Scotty) and Harry sitting in here smoking their pipes when I would come for a visit.  Inside the kitchen to the right was a washstand with a hand pump for cistern water and straight ahead was the "back stairs" to the second floor.  A huge kitchen table, cupboards, counter, an electric and a wood stove, fridge and the cellar door filled the kitchen.  There was no running water in the house but drinking water was brought from a well near the barn and the outhouse to the north served them for all those years.

A doorway led into the dining room and that followed into the parlor, with the fireplace.  Beyond that was one bedroom on the main floor and the wide main stairs led up to six more bedrooms. A small balcony was outside the door at the south end of the second floor but it's now gone.

Another narrower staircase with an oak banister went up to the half story attic on the top floor with two dormer windows for light.  The attic level was likely used for sleeping quarters at one time, perhaps for hired men at harvest time. My dad recalls a hatch from the attic to get to the widow's walk on the top the house and Uncle Bill would go up there to put up Christmas lights.  The view of the Oak River to the south must have been spectacular!

   

The picture of little great great niece Kim standing in front of the huge vegetable garden was taken about 1977 and the one of Aunt Nellie and Aunt  Jessie in front of their flowers and the woodpile was in 1981.  Notice the 106 foot long barn (built in 1900) propped up on the north side as Dad recalls it was for many years.  It seems the wall may have weakened from the chaff pile being blown against it from the threshing over the years. 

Left above:  Elizabeth Sinclair on the verandah with twin grandchildren Dorothy & Donald (my dad) Simms 1933, 

Photo on the right:  Jean Fortune, Bill Sinclair, Mary Simms, Nellie Sinclair and Lizzie and Jack Morcom - about 1955 in the doorway between the dining room and the parlour.  Note the wide woodwork.

Left:  Lizzie and Jack Morcom in front of the fireplace in the parlour early 50's,
Right:  Aunt Nannie on the verandah - 1940's

Jean Fortune (with black tie) and her children - Kenneth, Arnold and Irene. Nellie holding Irene and Lizzie (with glasses) and Jessie in matching dresses on the south verandah steps - about 1927

Left:  Jessie and Nellie Sinclair in the kitchen in front of the cookstove and cellar door - 1967
Right:  Bill and Jessie Sinclair on the south steps - 1940's

The Sinclair house and grounds were lovingly maintained by the ladies well into their 80's. New Year's Day was a special event in the Sinclair house for many years with the family all gathering to visit and eat!  I remember playing on all the coats (especially the furs!) on Aunt Nannie's bed. Another fun memory shared by a cousin was of running up one staircase and down the other in a never ending circle!  The last the house was lived in was 1988 but the memories remain.  Richard Turenne's picture on the post on Facebook received 250 "likes" and 54 "shares" and has made me proud to be connected to this piece of history.

John "Scotty" Paul (1899-1988)

This blog is called 52 Ancestors because I started in January 2014 with the goal of writing about one ancestor each week for a year.  It has turned into so much more than I ever thought and have made wonderful contacts with people all over the world who have found my blog.  Today my subject is John Paul, not my ancestor but he is someone's who may stumble onto this post with his story someday.

John Paul was always known as Scotty and I remember being surprised when I found out he had two real names and neither was Scott!  He lived at least 50 years with Nellie, Jessie and Bill Sinclair at 16-14-22 W1- four miles north of Oak River.

John Paul was born on February 28, 1899 in Rathen, Aberdeenshire in Scotland.  I was able to find the record of his baptism in the Espisopal Church at Lonmay on June 25th of 1899.    The church was built in 1788 and is still in use today.   His parents were James and Maria Paul and they lived at Mosside of Rathen Cottages in the 1901 census.  James would have been a farm worker.

Baptismal records show he had an older brother James (1897) and at least six younger siblings:  Mary Bell (1901), Maria (1905), Alexander (1907), William (1910) and twins Forbes and George born in 1915.

Scotty's name can be found on the ship manifest of "The Melita" as a 22 year old who was heading to Winnipeg with intentions of being a farm laborer for his uncle.  He landed in St. John, New Brunswick on April 19, 1921 - 96 years ago this week!

The 1970 Blanshard history book tells that Scotty worked for his Uncles Forbes and William Ironsides south of  Sidney, MB in the community of Arizona. These two men were his mother's younger brothers and their family was found at Boat of Bridge, Boharm, Banffshire on the 1891 Scotland census where their father James Ironsides was a gardener and their mother's name was Jane.

The online history of the community of Arizona (Manitoba) says Forbes arrived in Canada in 1904 and his brother Billy a few years later.  Both worked for prominent farmer A.C. Sharpley before farming on their own until the early 30's.  Billy went on the run a garage in Sidney as well as the general store. He died in 1958 but I don't know the end of Forbes' story following being on the 1945 Voter's list as a bartender in Rivers.  They were Scotty's only family in Canada that I know of and they died without marrying or having children either.

Scotty found work at Kemnay and Rounthwaite and then came to work at the Sinclair farm in 1936, shortly after the deaths of James and Elizabeth.  I assume it was Aunt Nannie that wrote the in the Blanshard 1970 History book that when they rented the farm to nephews in 1968, they kept the herd of Hereford cattle and were fortunate in having the help of a good stockman in John Paul.

That same history book says he spent the winter of 1953 in Scotland with his family and that in 1967, his parents celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary.  Yes, you read that right - 72 years of marriage and at least 8 children.  Scotty is pictured on the far right in the picture below of a wood sawing bee at the Sinclair farm in the early 70's.  The other men are Don Simms (my Dad), Stan Henry, Harry Clyne, and Gerry Sparling.

With the Sinclair ladies - Jessie (on the left) and Nellie