GRANDPARENTS: George Schell & Martha Jane Irene BATES
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.
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.
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| George Schell (1928) |
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.
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| George Schell & Irene Bates (wedding) |
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.
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