Family of William Simms and Agnes McAllister

In August of 2015, I made a  trip to the Ottawa area to visit my sister Janice and continue to gather information for the blog and the family tree. Both my grandfathers came west to Manitoba from the same small area of Ontario and this gave me the chance to visit the towns I've been writing about and appreciate just how close together these men, Alex Simms and Frank Kinnaird, lived at the turn of the century.  

We decided to retrace our steps from 23 years ago to the South Gower Cemetery.  Jan and I took a lot of steps before we found the stone of our Simms great grandparents this time, after walking right to it in 1992!

We were also warmly welcomed into the home of our second cousin David and his wife Carol.  Another second cousin Carol was there as well to share what she knew about the family.  We were fortunate to see the farm and home of William and Agnes Simms nearby. 

 I have now completed a blog post for all of my Grandpa Simms' siblings.  Links to their posts are below but more information and pictures on these ancestors are always welcome!

     

Family of William Simms and Agnes McAllister:

• William Henry (1880 - 1945) married Mae Millar and had 5 children. He moved just across the U.S. border to Oswegatchie, New York and farmed there.
• Mary Agnes (1884-1948) married Ezra Bryan and had 6 children.  They lived and farmed in the Mountain, ON area and many of their descendants remain there.
• Alexander (1885-1941) , my grandfather, married Mary Sinclair after moving to Oak River, Manitoba  to farm and they had 6 children.
• Jennie "Jean" (1887-1968) married a Swedish immigrant, Gustaf Rensta, and was a nurse in WW1.  They lived in Montreal in the 40's but died and are buried in Kelowna, BC.
• Edith (1890-1930) married Erroll Murdock and had 5 children.  They lived in the Mountain area as well.
• Ethel Martha (1893-1934) married James Edgar Scott and had one son.  They also lived near Mountain.
• Eleda May (1895-1973)  did not marry but lived in the Ottawa area suburb Carp in 1945.  She came to Manitoba in the late 1950's to help when her sister-in-law Mary Simms was ill.
• Cecil (1902-1975) lived at home and did not marry.