52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 4 (Invite to Dinner)

Who would I want to invite to dinner?

By the time I actively got interested in my family history, all of my grandparents were deceased as well as my father.  My mother has been, and continues to be, a good source for family stories.  However, for a dinner date, I think I would select my father's mother: Gertrude Georgina (nee Cooper) Allen.  Or as I knew her Grammie or Gramma.  Why?  I feel that her life changed the most and maybe would answer some of the mysteries I have not been unable to resolve in my research.

Gertie may not be able to provide all of the answer I have as she must not have had much recollection of her early life.  To apply to the Canadian government for her Old Age Pension, she had to obtain her birth certificate from the government in Wales.  When she received the document, she discovered she was three years older than she had always believed.  According to the ship manifest from when the family sailed to Canada in August 1902, aboard the Tunisian, Gertie was 7 years old - which coincides with her documented birth year of 1894.  I have memories of when I was 7, and earlier, so I'm not sure why she lived her younger life based on a 1897 birth.

She was born in Wales, emigrated to Canada as a child and lived through the Great Depression and two World Wars.  She grew up in an urban area (now part of the Greater Toronto area) but married a farmer and raised their family in rural Ontario.  In her urban life, she was an accomplished pianist, but there was no evidence of a piano in the home when I was a child.  However, she apparently was the organist at the Brentwood United Church at one point.

Gertie with oldest sons (toddler Albert and infant Jack) c1923

Over a period of 17 years, she gave birth to eleven children, but Edward Lorne died within hours of birth in June 1931.  I've been told that Edward was born with the same deformed ear as the oldest son, Albert (aka Ab).  When Ab was born, the doctor did not think that he would survive and told Gertie to continue whatever it was she was doing.  I do not know if the sickliness and ear deformity were connected or not.  I have to assume that as Ab was the oldest, the young mother was able to devote her time to doing whatever possible for her sickly child.  How did she feel as a mother caring for a sick newborn and ten years later experincing the death of a newborn?

She raised ten children through the Great Depression and the food rationings for the Second World War.  Living on a farm would provide most food, but the Allens were known for their love of black pepper on food and drinking tea, so ration coupons were needed.  How did she manage to feed that many mouths? 


Another question I would have for my grandmother would be if she knew what had motived her parents to relocate their family from Herefordshire, England to Blaeavon, Wales in the early 1890s.  According to census records, John Albert Cooper was a domestic gardener in Herefordshire in April 1891.  However, the census in March 1901 lists him as a railway drayman in Blaenavon, Wales.  A drayman is reportedly someone who drives a long strong cart with heavy loads.  John Albert's father, John, was also listed in the 1901 household and working as a railway drayman as well.  His occupations in earlier census (also in Herefordshire, England) were agricultural labourer or groom.  Why the relocation?  Why the change in occupation?  The elder John Cooper did not emigrate to Canada with his son and family.  The younger John Cooper was a green grocer once he relocated to Mimico, Ontario - so obviously agriculture was still in his blood.  So why the change in occupation?  Or was that the only employment available after moving?

The 1901 census also raises another mystery I would love to be able to discuss with my grandmother in the hopes that she could provide me with more information.  Gertie had been the youngest child of John Albert & Annie (nee Kyte) Cooper immigrating to Canada.  However, the 1901 census lists a 3 month old son, Reginald, in the household.  Was Reginald really a son of John & Annie or could he have been an illegimate son of their 15 year old daughter Florence? I did ask my Aunt Dora (the oldest daughter of Gertie) if she was ever aware of her mother having a younger brother.  She was unaware of this uncle.  Subsequent research did locate a birth registration for Reginald George Cooper who's mother's maiden name was Kyte.  He died in January 1902 at the age of 13 months and was buried January 25 1902 in Blaeavon, Wales.  Did his death have any bearing on the family's decision to move to Canada a few months later?  What, if anything, did Gertie remember of her younger brother?

I grew up visiting my grandparents every holiday weekend, but as one of over thirty grandchildren, there was rarely opportunities to have deep discussions.  In reflecting back over the years of what I remember of comments, or stories from others, I feel that my outlook on life came from her.

Over the years, my mother has made comments that her mother-in-law's philosphy on cooking was to substitute ingredients with what was on hand rather than abandoning a recipe if missing an ingredient.  In other words, make use of what you have.  Another comment my mother has made was that Gertie was accepting of the spouses of her sons and daughters.  Her philosophy was if her son or daughter chose to live with the individual, she could sit at the same dinner table with the person.


Although she was apparently a very adapting and forgiving individual, Gramma did have some negative views.  The only time I can remember her saying anything negative was a reference to having worked as a waitress at Camp Borden for formal dinners of high ranking officials and encountering attitudes of superior hierarchies.  I guess I get my socialist views from my grandmother.

I do not know if a conversation over dinner with my Gramma Allen would answer the questions I have or not.  But it would be interesting to hear about her life: a young child at the turn of the century in Wales, a 2 week sailing across the Atlantic Ocean with her parents and siblings and then adapting to life in her new country.  And then as an adult, moving from the city to the country and enduring the hardships of raising a large family during the Great Depression and war time.

GRANDPARENTS: George Schell & Martha Jane Irene BATES

GRANDPARENTS: George Schell & Martha Jane Irene BATES

My mother, Pearl Mary Eveleen "Sis" Schell, was the middle child of George Schell and Martha Jane Irene Bates of Brentwood, Simcoe Co., Ontario.

George was the oldest child of John Schell and Mary Deadman.  He was born May 4 1895 in New Lowell, Sunnidale Township, Simcoe Co., Ontario.

George died in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, Simcoe Co., Ontario on October 7, 1974.  He was buried on October 10, 1974 in the Angus Union Cemetery, Angus, Simcoe Co., Ontario.

In 1916, George's father, John, died at a young age, shortly after having purchased the Brentwood farm - leaving a widow with 10 children, some still relatively young.  George, as the oldest son, took over the responsiblity of running the farm and providing for his widowed mother and younger siblings.  The previous owner of the property was George's future father-in-law: Thomas Bates.

According to my mother, the farm house that I know (seen mid-construction in the photo), was not the original house on the property.  The house in the photo was built by George and is still standing today.

In later years, most of the farm land was sold, keeping only a parcel of land around the house.  The property is still in the family with my cousin Mary Lou (nee Schell) Bowyer and husband Chris Bowyer living in the house, having raised their three daughters and operating their business, Bowyer Taxidermy, from that location. Which means that the land has been in the Schell family for over 100 years!  And if you factor in that the land had been owned by Great-Grandfather Bates prior to that, it has been in the Bates/Schell family for even longer.  As Chris and Mary Lou are frequently visited by their grandchildren, another generation of the family are enjoying the land.

George Schell (1928)

George (aka Granddad) was a quiet, gentle man, well liked in the community, with a great sense of
humour.  During a visit one summer, my mother helped her parents clear out the attic (I now shudder at the thought of the antiques that were disposed of during that visit.)  Granddad was tending the bonfire in the yard disposing of the items being tossed out - walking around wearing a pair of old shoes that was being thrown out.

A family tradition for Easter Sunday was a breakfast of soft boiled eggs.  Granddad would try to have a contest as to who could eat the most.  In an attempt to win, he would turn an empty shell upside down as if it was a new one.

When the attic had been cleared out, some of the items retained were family wedding dresses.  A number of years later, we did a "dress-up" day:  I wore my mother's wedding dress and my cousin Mary Lou wore the maid of honour dress our Aunt Lena wore for my parents' wedding.  Granddad was delighted to pose for pictures with his only granddaughters.

George had many expressions.  To explain his tendancy to cry, he would tell people "his bladder was too close to his eyes".

George was a very superstitious man.  His father had died at the age of 49 and George was convinced that he would die at that age as well.  Family members were relieved when George was still alive for his 50th birthday.  Another superstition was that something bad would happen if there were 13 people seated at the dinner table.  The birth of my younger brother, Roger, made for the 13th person in the family.  While Roger was in a high chair, he was not technically seating at the table.   Christmas dinner in 1962, Roger was out of the high chair and Mom had him sit at the family table.  Two months later, Uncle Stan (George's youngest brother), died in a house fire.  Future family dinners had adults at the table in the dining room and the grandchilden at the kitchen table.

Stan's death was very difficult for George.  Back in the 1940's Stan had been injured in a car accident and required a cane to walk.  He lived with either my grandparents or with another brother, Will, who also lived in Brentwood.  Stan will living with Will and his wife and it was their home that had the fire.  When the fire start, Stan was in the house alone, and with his limited mobility, was unable to evacuate the house in time.  The house was within sight of my grandparents' house and they saw the fire.  George was unable to get down the road in time to save his brother.

George Schell & Irene Bates (wedding)

Martha Jane Irene Bates was the eldest child of Thomas Edward Bates & Elsie Pearl Mumberson.  She was born June 5, 1905 in Brentwood, Sunnidale Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.  She was always known as Irene.  I knew her as Nanny.

George and Irene were married in Toronto, York County, Ontario on March 10, 1927.  They lived on the Schell farm in Brentwood, along with George's mother and siblings who were still living at home.  They raised their three children: Lena Viola, Pearl Mary Eveleen (aka Sis) and Harold Geroge (aka Bud) on the farm as well.  For a number of years, they also boarded one of the two teachers who taught at the school house within sight of the farm house.

Irene was a born gossip and enjoyed the party line telephone as well as serving as a go-between, passing along messages to others avoiding long distance charges.  She also served as the Brentwood correspondant, providing community 'news' to newspapers in Barrie and Stayner.

George and Irene only had five grandchildren.  The oldest, my brother Garry, was the apple of Nanny's eye.  When she sent birthday cards to us, Garry's card always had more money than the rest of us.

George and Irene celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary with a dance at the community hall in nearby New Lowell.  I can remember attending the party as a child.  George died before the couple could celebrate their Golden Anniversary.

Irene died February 6, 1990 in the General & Marine Hospital in Collingwood, Nottawasaga
Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.  She was buried beside George in the Angus Union Cemetery in Angus, Essa Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.

 By the time I was born, my parents were living in Kingston, Ontario but my childhood was spent travelling to Brentwood every holiday weekend to visit both sets of grandparents.  We stayed at the Schells and would spend the evenings at the Allens.  I often spent a week during the summer with my grandparents - sometimes with my mother and brothers, but sometimes alone.  

Although I often resented having to go to Brentwood on the long weekends rather than staying at home to play with friends, in hindsight I now appreciate the time with extended family.  As both my parents were born and raised in Brentwood, there were many extended family members still living in the area, or visiting ones that were.  I grew up knowing not just my aunts, uncles and first cousins, but also the aunts, uncles and first cousins of both of my parents.  As I work on my genealogy, I am able to put faces to the names I enter into my database.

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 3 (Longevity)

 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 3 (Longevity)

The suggested topic for Week 3 is 'Longevity' - leaving it up to each participant to interpret it at their will.  So I decided to define it in several manners:

Age at death:
In checking the age at time of death of just my direct ancestors, only going back as far as my great-great grandparents, most lived into their 70s or 80s. Given the time period many of them lived in, I find it remarkable.  Even the women, despite numerous pregnancies, managed to survive for many decades.

As all were farmers, I guess something can be said about living off the land is a healthy lifestyle.

My father, William John "Jack" Allen died of pancreatis at the relatively young age of 67.  He lived most of his adult life living in urban areas and not on a farm.  However, my mother, Eveleen (nee Schell) is still relatively healthy at the age of 88 and has lived in the same areas.


Marriage:
Obviously records would not show how happy my ancestors marriages were, and divorce was not as acceptable in society then as it is now.  Whether those contributed to the longevity of some of the marriages, many of my ancestors were married for a number of years before one of the partners died.

William Daisley Allen and Mary Jane Woodland, my father's grandparents, celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary by having a large family reunion.

The 'Just Married' sign was recycled for other family anniversary celebrations.  The '60' was altered to '50' for the family celebrations of the golden anniversaries of:
1) Henry "Harry" Woodland Allen & Gertrude Georgina Cooper (my father's parents) in October 1970
2) Frederick Gordon McWhinnie & Dora Mae Allen (my father's sister) in March 1997
3) Albert "Ab" James Allen (my father's brother) & Helen Maloney in Octobeer 1997

I do not remember the sign being used when other siblings of my father celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversaries:

March 1996: Charles George William Scott & Alice Evelyn Allen
December 2000: Garnet Woodland Allen & Margery Lillian McBride
February 2001: Roy Nelson Penfold & Isobel Edith Allen
December 2006: Thomas W. Lowden & Mary Anne Allen

Harry & Gertie Allen had ten children that survived infancy.  Of those then, six celebrated Golden Anniversaries with their spouse.  My parents' celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary in 1989 before my father died the following year.

On my mother's side of the family, her parents' (George Schell & Martha Jane Irene Bates) celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary in 1967, but my grandfather died 3 years before they would have celebrated their 50th.  Her maternal grandparents (Thomas Edward Bates & Elsie Pearl Mumberson) also celebrated their 40th anniversary in 1945.  The Schell family was able to celebrate the Golden Anniversary in September 2007 of my mother's brother Harold George "Bud" Schell & Marjorie Gertrude Desjardine.


Presence in Canada
My ancestors emigrated to Canada more than a century ago.  The latest arrivals were my paternal grandmother (Gertrude Georgina Cooper) with her parents and siblings in August 1902. 

Robert Allen, the paternal grandfather of my grandfather (Henry "Harry" Woodland Allen) arrived in Canada with his parents (William Allen & Margaret Buchanan) and siblings in 1831; Robert's wife Mary Ann Widdis was born in Upper Canada, although her parents (James Widdis & Jane Thompson) were both born in Ireland.  Harry's other grandparents, Joshua Woodland & Catherine Craig were both born in Ireland but were married in York (now Toronto) in 1849.

My maternal grandfather, George Schell, is a descendant of Johann Christian Schell who settled the Mohawk Valley area of New York in 1749.  Johann Christian married Maria Elizabeth Petrie who was a daughter of Johan Jost Petrie II & Cordelia Demuth, one of the Palantine families.  The four sons of Johann Christian & Maria Elizabeth eventually migrated to Canada around 1800.

Alexander Ross & Mary Parker, the parents of Mary Jane Ross (George's paternal grandmother) were born in Scotland and Ireland but were married in Canada.  George's maternal grandfather, George Deadman immigrated to Canada sometime between 1841 and 1852.  George Deadman married Rebecca Gauley who was born in Canada in 1853.  Her father, Andrew Gauley had been born in Ireland and her mother, Mary Crosby, in Scotland.

The immigrant ancestors of my maternal grandmother, Martha Jane Irene Bates were:
- William Bates (about 1846) as a toddler with his parents (father, Thomas Edward Bates died enroute).
- Moses Benagh Sr. (before 1861)
- James Mumberson (about 1857)
- Thomas Shanklin Boden (before 1852)
- Abraham Van Horn (1800)
- John Frederick Hedrick (1794)

In other words, my family tree has longevity in Canada - most lines predating the creation of the Dominion of Canada.

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 2 (Favourite photo)

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks - Week 2

Suggested Prompt: "Favourite photo"

Although I have choosen to highlight my direct ancestors, one couple at a time, instead of relying on Amy's weekly prompts, I thought I would follow this week's prompt in addition to posting a blog on my grandparents on my father's side.  The photo is related to that side of the family.

The Allen family at the wedding of son Jack to Eveleen "Sis" Schell

This photograph was taken at the time of the wedding of my parents (William John "Jack" Allen & Pearl Mary Eveleen "Sis" Schell) on June 11, 1949 in Brentwood, Simcoe Co., Ontario.  The wedding took place at the Brentwood United Church, followed by the reception on the lawn of my mother's parents (George & Irene (nee Bates) Schell). 

During my lifetime, I grew up seeing many family photographs, including photographer portraits and other photographs taken at the time of my parents' wedding.  However, I had never seen this particular photo until the funeral of my Aunt Helen (wife of my father's brother Ab). 

I commented to my mother that I had neveer seen this particular photo, she assured me that there was a copy in the drawer at home along with the other photographer photos.  I pulled out the supply of those photos, still in the cardboard covers but there was not a copy of this particular photo.  There were the usual shots: bride and groom, bride with parents, bride & groom with both sets of parents, wedding party, etc but not this one.

The marriage of my parents was the merging of two local families in Brentwood: the Schells and the Allens.  Both had large presence in the area with extended family members as both of the grandfathers were from large farming families in Simcoe County.  When my mother, Sis Schell, married into the Allen family, she had known her in-laws all of her life.  The only thing she had to adjust to was how to address her mother-in-law.  She had always known the woman as "Mrs. Allen" but she herself was now a "Mrs. Allen".  The older Mrs. Allen was already a grandmother, so my mother called her mother-in-law as "Grammie", although in later years she was able to refer to her as Gertie.

The photo includes my father's 9 siblings: Ab, Les (Best Man), Dora, Alice, Garnet, Isobel, Ivan, Joe and Mary (Flower Girl) as well as his parents Harry & Gertie (nee Cooper) and Ab's wife Helen (nee Maloney), Dora's husband Fred McWhinnie and Alice's husband George Scott.

GRANDPARENTS: Henry Woodland ALLEN & Gertrude Georgina COOPER

GRANDPARENTS: Henry Woodland ALLEN & Gertrude Georgina COOPER

My father, Jack Allen, was the second child of Henry Woodland Allen & Gertrude Georgina Cooper.

Henry Woodland Allen was the youngest child of William Daisley Allen and Mary Jane Woodland.  He was born June 27, 1897 in Sunnidale Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.  Although his birth name was 'Henry', as far as I know he was always known as 'Harry'.  He died September 2, 1982 at the Creedon Valley Nursing Home in Creemore, Nottawasaga Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.  Harry was buried with his wife Gertie in the Angus Union Cemetery in Angus, Essa Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.

Harry Allen

Growing up, I knew that his birthdate was June 27th, but I do not remember ever hearing of his birthplace.  I use the location of Sunnidale Township as the Statement of Birth, signed by his mother on July 20, 1918 gives that location.  The reason why I have any doubts is that the family had frequently moved around Ontario, as shown by the Canadian censuses each decade.  As in the case of Harry, the birth documentation for many of his siblings were delayed statement made years after their birth.  The 1891 census listed the family in Sunnidale Township but by 1901, the family was located in Tosorontio Township - also in Simcoe County.  However, the Delayed Statement of Birth for sister Lena (born 29 Dec 1895) lists her birthplace as Tosorontio Township.  If the family moved from Sunnidale to Tosorontio sometime between 1891 and December 1895, had they returned to Sunnidale before June 1897, only to return to Tosorontio before the 1901 census?

The family had to vacate their farm in Tosorontio Township when the land was annexed by the Canadian government as part of the creation of Camp Borden during World War I.  At that time, they moved to the farm in Brentwood, Sunnidale Township which I knew as the Allen homestead during my childhood.

Allen farm (Brentwood Ontario)

Although Harry was the youngest son, he was the one to take over the family farm.  Eventually, his youngest son, Joe, took over the operation of the farm.

This Allen farm eventually compromised of several houses for members of the Allen family.  As Harry's family grew, his parents moved out of the farmhouse to a small house a short distance from the farmhouse.  After their death, this house was occupied by one of their granddaughters, Minnie (nee McKenzie) Boyle and her husband Tom.  After their deaths, Minnie's daughter Tressa (nee Winters) and husband Larry Derby had retired and moved into the house.  I believe the house is now occupied by one of Tressa's grandsons and his family.   When my parents married in 1949, a parcel of land was severed and given to them.  Similar was done for sons Garnet and Les.  Garnet's widow, Marg, still lives in their house.  After Joe took over the operation of the farm and started his own family, a new house was built for Harry and Gertie by son Ivan.  At that point in time, neither Ivan or Les were married and were living with their parents.  After Joe's sudden death, the farm was sold outside the family.  My grandparents'  house was also sold after their deaths. 

Harry playing with some of his grandchildren

Although I have memories of visiting the farm house and outerbuildlings on the farm, it is the smaller house that I remember as my grandparents' home.  Every holiday weekend, we would travel from Kingston to Brentwood to visit both sets of my grandparents.  We stayed at the home of my mother's parents', but the evenings were spent at the Allens as my father's siblings would also be there.  A 3 bedroom bungalow filled to capacity with grandparents, their 10 children and 30+ grandchildren.

Christmas dinners (2-3 turkeys) often necessitated a long extended table in the large farm-style kitchen for the adults and several card tables either in the kitchen or living room for the children.  After dinner, everyone dispersed to various parts of the house: grandchildren to the basement or groups (by age) in the various bedrooms and the adults playing euchure in the kitchen with some of the men venturing to a basement room for drinking and the women trying to chat in the living room - which could be difficult because of the hockey game that would be on the television.  Leftovers from dinner would be brought out around midnight - once Harry was convinced to stop playing cards (after he and his partner won the rubber game).

During the evening Grampie would check on his various grandchildren by going through the house with a cookie jar.  Instead of cookies, the jar was filled with candy: licorice allsorts or little sugar hearts with messages written on it.  In later years instead of candies, the jar was filled with cheesies.

Harry had a sweet tooth, which I did not inherit.  He could never understand my hesitation for taking the candy.  On one visit, before the rest of the extended family had arrived, I had asked Grammie for a snack of a slice of bread - with just butter.  When Grampie saw me eating a simple piece of buttered bread, he criticized his wife "Mommie" insisting that she should have provided jam as well and not deprive me.  Even when we both assured him that I only wanted butter on the bread, he could not comprehend that concept.

Harry's sweet tooth was very evident in later years when he was living in the house alone as Gertie's health necessitated that she live with one of her daughters.  It eventually came to light that his meals often consisted of a bowl of sugar with a bit of cereal added to the bowl.  The last few years of his life was spent in a nursing home and his supply of candy had to be kept at the nurses' station.  Even though the supply was monitored, he was always trying to get candy from each new nurse or orderlie that he saw, claiming that he had not yet had any candy that day.

Another trait/habit Harry was known for was chewing tobacco.  His big wooden chair was positioned beside the woodstove so that he could spit into the stove from his chair.  One could always distinguish his car in a parking lot.  He usually choose a light colour, with red highlights, and the driver's side would be covered in the tobacco stains from his spitting while driving.  He was not the best driver:  he would back out of a farm laneway at a fast pace but once on the road would drive very slow.  His driving abilities worsened with age and the only way to keep him off the road, son Joe had to remove the battery from the car.  This was after Joe experienced rides with his father telling the flagman at a road construction site to "Watch out!" as Harry drove past the stop sign and cutting through a store parking lot rather that turning properly at the corner.  One time when Harry was backing out of a driveway, he hit an oncoming car.  He was crticial of the other driver for driving a white car during the winter.

Gertie Cooper, Girl Scout

Gertrude Georgina Cooper was the youngest daughter of John Albert Cooper and Annie Kyte.  She was born December 1, 1894 in Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales.  Her family immigrated to Canada in 1902 and settled in Mimico, just west of Toronto, in Ontario.  For most of her life, she believed that she had been born in 1897 and that year is reflected on her marriage certificate.  In preparation for filing for Old Age security in Canada, she had to obtain her birth certificate from Wales and discovered her birth year was 1894!  By that time, both her parents were deceased, so I do not believe she ever knew why there was a 3 years discrepancy in her age.  When I located a copy of the ship's manifest when the Cooper family emigrated to Canada, her age is listed consistent with 1894 birthdate.  The 1901 census for Wales also shows her age consistent with 1894.  Harry had a good laugh when it was revealed that Gertie was actually 3 years older than she thought: he told everyone that he had married an older woman.



After several years of heart related health issues, Gertie died at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie,
Simcoe Co., Ontario on February 23 1980.  She was buried in the Angus Union Cemetery in Angus, Simcoe Co., Ontario and was joined by Harry two years later.

Their cemetery plot is shared with their infant son Edward (who lived for only a few hours June 15, 1931) and infant twin grandchildren (Brian Joseph and Brenda Anne, children of son Joe and wife Evelyn) who lived for only 2-3 weeks in 1959.

Harry and Gertie were married October 30, 1920 in Mimico, York Co., Ontario.  Their witnesses were Gertie's brother Bert and Harry's cousin Mildred McKenzie.  For many years, my mother thought her in-laws had been married October 31st as Gertie always spoke of having been married on Halloween.  It wasn't until the time of the 50th wedding anniversary celebration that my mother found out the real date.  For many years, if October 31st was a Sunday, municipalities in Ontario would celebrate Halloween on Saturday, October 30th.

The wedding anniversary of their parents was always a cause for a family get together - even though it was only a couple of weeks after the Thanksgiving get together.  It was at that annual get together that the cousins (under age 11) would draw names for the Christmas gift exchange.

Gertie & Harry - 35th Wedding Anniversary

To celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary, the adult children of Harry & Gertie presented their parents with a set of monogrammed silverware.  When my father and his siblings were distributing the contents of their parents' home in the early 1980's, I ended up with the chest and silverware.  My older brother Garry, is the eldest grandson but was not married.  I assured my aunts that if he ever married, I would give him the silverware.  I still have the silverware as well as the chest.  I have added pieces to the silverware but have chosen to not replace the chest.

Harry and Gertie's 50th Anniversary warranted a bigger celebration with wedding cake.  The 'Just Married' sign (seen in the background of the photo) was an antique as it had been used in the 1930s at the time of the 60th wedding anniversary for Harry's parents.  Just a simple change of '60' to '50'.

The sign was kept in the family and used in 1997 for the family celebrations for the 50th wedding anniversary of my Aunt Dora and her husband Fred in March and then in October for Uncle Ab and his wife Helen.  I'm not sure where the sign is now.



Harry and Gertie were the parents of 11
children, although as already mentioned, one child died in infancy.  The surviving children were 6 sons and 4 daughters.  At this point in time, only the youngest, Mary, is still living.

Harry & Gertie with their children (1940s)

Being a farming family, most of the males never served in the military.  An exception was my Uncle Albert (Ab), the oldest child of Harry and Gertie, who served in World War II.  At the time of his funeral, I learned from his son-in-law that Ab, had been working in Toronto rather than the family farm and had been exempted at least once by his employer.  His employer was willing to continue doing so to keep Ab as an employee.  But eventually, Ab chose to enlist so that his brother Jack (my father) could stay on the family farm.  Ab had been born with a deformed ear, but still past the medical - being told to shoot from the other side.  I only knew Uncle Ab as being bald but he had been born with the Allen wavy hair and the family story was that the army helmet wore it off.  (Another family trait is the "Allen eye" - squinting in photos.)

Harry & Gertie with their children (taken at the wedding of granddaughter Janet Penfold -

 May 1972)

In addition to the ten children who reached adulthood, Harry and Gertie were able to enjoy over 30 grandchildren during their lifetime and lived to see the first few great-grandchildren.  Despite the size, the extended family always remained close.  During Gertie's declining years, her daughters promised that they would ensure that the family get togethers would continue.  The local 2 room schoolhouse had been taken over by the township (Sunnidale) and turned into a community hall.  The extended family started a tradition of renting that hall for Easter and Christmas (often the last Saturday in November rather than the actual December 25th).  Aunt Isobel hosted a winter get together of skating and tobaggoning near her house just outside Barrie.  She also hosted a summer BBQ at her home.  As the cousins have become grandparents themselves and family members moving further away from Simcoe County, it has become more and more difficult to maintain the reunions - especially after most of the aunts passed away.  Several of the cousins took over the organizing and Aunt Alice was able to produce her father's cookie jar for me to fill with cheesies.  Over the years the reunions twindled down to just an annual party at Thanksgiving.  In 2015, the hall was not available for Thanksgiving, so it was held a couple of weeks later with a Halloween theme.  Cousin Connie and her husband went as Gertie and Harry, bringing Twisties as their food contribution.  Twisties (pieces of bread dough, twisted and deepfried and eaten lathered in butter) were made by Gertie and the tradition was continued by her daughters, daugthers-in-law as well as grandchildren.

In reflection, I guess I can hold my Allen side responsible for my love of family history.  My mother's side has strong family connections for the most part, but not to the extent of the Allens.  The frequent get togethers by the family of Harry and Gertie would have been a continuation of the annual Allen reunions held the last Saturday in August at a Provincial Park near Barrie.  This annual reunion had originated as family get togethers of Harry's siblings and their families.  Even though I only remember attending a couple of these reunions during my childhood (when it fell on the Labour Day long weekend), I grew up knowing many of my father's aunts, uncles and cousins.  Unfortunately, many of the meetings were at family funerals.