My mother, Eveleen (nee Schell) Allen has always spoken of nature providing a major snow storm around March 20th. During her teenage years, there had been a blizzard on March 20th and her mother and sister had not been able to get home from a trip into Barrie Ontario (normally about a 15 minute drive - maybe 30 minutes in those days). They were snow bound, along with several other travellers, at someone's home for several days.
During my life time, even if the Canadian winter weather turned mild and it appeared as if spring had arrived, Mom would always maintain to not get too excited until after the 20th of March. And she has usually been right! The snow storm may not be a blizzard, but there would be a significant fall of snow.
My brothers usually drive from Kingston Ontario to Florida in early March to visit the baseball spring training camps. One year, they were snowed in for a couple of days in Pennsylvania enroute to Florida. That storm was in early March, so it does not necessarily fall into Mom's prediction.
Another storm that had impact on my family was the January 1998 ice storm in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. The storm started during the night at my husband Terry and I were awakened to popping sounds - transformers on nearby hydrolines. I had a phone call from my supervisor informing me that our place of work, Queen's University, was closed. The university rarely closes as most of the student population lives on, or near, campus. My brother worked in the downtown area which still had power as the hydro lines in that section of Kingston were underground, so he had gone to work. But as the storm worsened and no let up in sight, he booked a room in a downtown hotel owned by his employers. His intention had only been for himself and our brother and mother who both live with him. Mom took it upon herself to invite me and Terry to join them.
Driving from our home to the downtown hotel should have only required a drive down one street, about 10 minutes. But we had to keep making detours due to fallen trees blocking roads, as well as hydro lines which had falled to the ground due to the weight of the ice.
My step-children were at their mother's but when they were going to have to evacuate to a shelter the following day, Terry and I picked them up and brought them to the hotel as well. On the Friday night, there were 7 of us staying in one hotel room. Talk about family togetherness!
Power was gradually being restored around the city. The power at my mother's house was back on by Saturday, so we relocated there. Her neighbours across the street were still without power, so they ran extension cords from her outside electrical outlet to their homes. The power to our house was restored the next day.
During the storm, a friend was planning on getting married. The power had only been restored to the church earlier in the day of the wedding, but the reception was in the suburbs were hydrolines were underground and therefore not affected. It was her third marriage and she took the ribbing well that only she would get married during an ice storm. Unfortunately, that marriage did not last either.
Some areas of the city were without power for many more days than I or my family experienced. And of course, we all had to deal with the after affects of freezers and refrigerators being without power for several days. Since it was an ice storm, the weather temperature was only around the freezing mark, which was not cold enough to maintain frozen food.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 15 (Taxes)
I had difficulty thinking of what to write for this week's topic of 'Taxes'. I have yet to spend time researching tax records of my ancestors, so I have not been able to draw upon such resources. Most of my ancestors have been farmers - of small family farms, not large ranches. Many did move around, but I'm not aware of any of the moves being initiated by "loosing the farm" due to unpaid taxes.
The only tax related thought that kept coming to mind was my father, Jack Allen, filing his income tax each year during my lifetime. When I would question him why he seemed to be thrilled having to send a cheque along with his income tax submission, despite his employer withholding funds for income each pay cheque. But when I had a better understanding of his earlier life, I had a better understanding why he felt it was an honour to have to pay additional taxes above and beyond what his employer had already collected on his behalf.
He grew up on his family farm in Simcoe County, Ontario, the second oldest of ten children. His older brother, Ab, had left the farm before World War II to work in Toronto but there were four other sons as well. When my parents married in 1949, Jack wanted a better life for his family and around that time had been hired as a plumber by a mechanical contracting company doing work at nearby Camp Borden. He learned the trade on the job, as well as welding, steam fitting and other related trades. He obviously impressed his employer as he continued to work on their other projects around Ontario and eventually was assigned to set up an office in Kingston Ontario.
From a childhood on a small family farm in rural Ontario, he became a well respected Manager of a construction company - with the appropriate salary. The reason why he would have to submit more money each year for his income taxes, above and beyond what had been deducted from his weekly paycheque? Investments. Over the years, in addition to be able to provide (quite well) for his family, he had been able to invest money. When he dead unexpectedly in 1990 at the age of 67, he had still been working and was able to leave a good nest egg for my mother so that she had no financial worries.
The only tax related thought that kept coming to mind was my father, Jack Allen, filing his income tax each year during my lifetime. When I would question him why he seemed to be thrilled having to send a cheque along with his income tax submission, despite his employer withholding funds for income each pay cheque. But when I had a better understanding of his earlier life, I had a better understanding why he felt it was an honour to have to pay additional taxes above and beyond what his employer had already collected on his behalf.
He grew up on his family farm in Simcoe County, Ontario, the second oldest of ten children. His older brother, Ab, had left the farm before World War II to work in Toronto but there were four other sons as well. When my parents married in 1949, Jack wanted a better life for his family and around that time had been hired as a plumber by a mechanical contracting company doing work at nearby Camp Borden. He learned the trade on the job, as well as welding, steam fitting and other related trades. He obviously impressed his employer as he continued to work on their other projects around Ontario and eventually was assigned to set up an office in Kingston Ontario.
From a childhood on a small family farm in rural Ontario, he became a well respected Manager of a construction company - with the appropriate salary. The reason why he would have to submit more money each year for his income taxes, above and beyond what had been deducted from his weekly paycheque? Investments. Over the years, in addition to be able to provide (quite well) for his family, he had been able to invest money. When he dead unexpectedly in 1990 at the age of 67, he had still been working and was able to leave a good nest egg for my mother so that she had no financial worries.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 14 (Maiden Aunt)
Although a cousin rather than an aunt, my focus this week is Ethel May Adelaide Allen. She is a first cousin of my father, but as my father's father had been the youngst of 12 children, many of my father's cousins were more like aunts and uncles.
Ethel was born December 30 1909, the third child of Robert Herbert Allen and Ida Mary Halm, in Sunnidale Township, Simcoe County, Ontario. Ethel was only 16 years old when her mother died in 1925. Neither she or her only brother, William "Bill" George, ever married. The two lived together in their family farm house until their deaths. They never had electricity installed in the house.
During my childhood, Bill and Et, were kept apprised of the happenings of my father's immediate family by my aunts and uncles who still lived in the Brentwood area. As there was no electricity, there was no telephone, so my aunts and uncle had to make personal visits to inform their cousins of deaths in the family. These aunts and uncle have spun many a humourous story of the experiences visiting the rustic home. One time, my uncle Garnet went to sit down and the couch moved: it was Bill laying on the couch. But as the house was in darkness, Garnet had not been aware of anyone already on the couch.
I cannot remember Bill's appearances, but Ethel always managed to get to the family funerals.
On one occasion, our family was enroute from Kingston to the funeral home in Creemore. As we passed through Brentwood, we recognized Ethel standing on the side of the road near the laneway to her house. Our car was full and my father felt bad not being able to stop to pick her up. We were most surprised when we arrived at the funeral home, after having stopped for gas, and Ethel was already there! Apparently my Uncle Ab had also spotted Ethel on the road and was able to stop to give her a ride and would have passed us when we stopped for gas. Ethel's explanation: she knew that there would be a number of family members going past her house enroute to the funeral home, so she positioned herself out at the road knowing that someone would stop to pick her up!
In later years, a nephew would escort her to family funerals.
Ethel died on February 13 1995 and is buried with other family members in the Angus Union Cemetery in Angus, Simcoe County, Ontario.
Ethel was born December 30 1909, the third child of Robert Herbert Allen and Ida Mary Halm, in Sunnidale Township, Simcoe County, Ontario. Ethel was only 16 years old when her mother died in 1925. Neither she or her only brother, William "Bill" George, ever married. The two lived together in their family farm house until their deaths. They never had electricity installed in the house.
During my childhood, Bill and Et, were kept apprised of the happenings of my father's immediate family by my aunts and uncles who still lived in the Brentwood area. As there was no electricity, there was no telephone, so my aunts and uncle had to make personal visits to inform their cousins of deaths in the family. These aunts and uncle have spun many a humourous story of the experiences visiting the rustic home. One time, my uncle Garnet went to sit down and the couch moved: it was Bill laying on the couch. But as the house was in darkness, Garnet had not been aware of anyone already on the couch.
I cannot remember Bill's appearances, but Ethel always managed to get to the family funerals.
On one occasion, our family was enroute from Kingston to the funeral home in Creemore. As we passed through Brentwood, we recognized Ethel standing on the side of the road near the laneway to her house. Our car was full and my father felt bad not being able to stop to pick her up. We were most surprised when we arrived at the funeral home, after having stopped for gas, and Ethel was already there! Apparently my Uncle Ab had also spotted Ethel on the road and was able to stop to give her a ride and would have passed us when we stopped for gas. Ethel's explanation: she knew that there would be a number of family members going past her house enroute to the funeral home, so she positioned herself out at the road knowing that someone would stop to pick her up!
In later years, a nephew would escort her to family funerals.
Ethel died on February 13 1995 and is buried with other family members in the Angus Union Cemetery in Angus, Simcoe County, Ontario.
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 13 (Old Homestead)
I consider myself fortunate that I grew up having access to the family farms on both sides of my family: Allen and Schell. Both farms are in the rural community of Brentwood, Sunnidale (now Clearview) Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.
Allen
My father (William John "Jack" Allen) grew up on a farm that his grandfather, William Daisley Allen, purchased in 1916 after having to be relocate when the Canadian government appropriated his Tosorontio Township farm in to create Camp Borden.
Although my grandfather, Henry "Harry" Woodland Allen, was the youngest son of William Daisely Allen and Mary Jane Woodland, he took over the family farm. He and his wife, Gertrude Georgina Cooper raised their family of 10 children in that house. As that family had expanded, William and Mary Jane moved out of the farm house into a smaller house on the property, not far from the farm house.
Over the years, several houses were also built on the property. When Harry and Gertie's youngest son, Joe took over the operation of the family farm and started his own family, Harry and Gertie moved into a new house built for them by another son Ivan. Ivan and another unmarried son, Les, moved into that house with their parents. When Les eventually married in the 1960s, he and his wife and her two youngest children moved into the house next door (also built by Ivan) before eventually moving to another house also built on the Allen farm. When my parents had married in 1949, Harry and Gertie had deeded them a section of the land to build their home. My parents sold that property in the early 1960s when it was evident that my father's temporary assignment in Kingston would be permanent. Another son, Garnet, was also deeded a section of land when he married in the 1950s. His widow, Margery, still resides in that home.
The small house that William and Mary Jane had moved into has housed various Allen descendants over the years. During my childhood, Mary Ann "Minnie~ McKenzie, a granddaughter of William and Mary Jane, lived in the house with her second husband Tom Boyle. When Tom and Minnie passed away, Minnie's daughter Tressa Winters and her husband Larry Derby moved there as their retirement home. They are now both deceased, but a grandson and his family now live in the house. Although that house is not the homestead, it is on the original property and has housed 6 generations of Allens.
The Allen farm and farm house were sold outside of the family after Joe's sudden death in 1978. At that point, there had been 4 generations that had lived on that homestead.
Schell
The Schell homestead in Brentwood was purchased by my great-grandfather John Schell shortly before in death in May 1916. At that time, my grandfather George, the oldest child, was barely 21 years old, but took over the operation of the family farm to provide food and housing for his widowed mother and 9 younger siblings.
According to my mother, the house that I know as her childhood home is not the original house on the property, but she is not sure just when the 'new' house was built. The picture is of the newer house.
When George married Irene Bates on March 10 1927, he moved his bride into the farm house where his mother and several siblings still resided. George and Irene raised their three children in that house. They sold the farm land at some point in the 1960s or 1970s, but retained the farm house and some land around the house. After George's death in 1974, Irene continued living there until her declining health necessitated her relocation to a single storey house and later a nursing home. The house had remained empty as their son Harold George "Bud" had always wanted to retire to the family homestead. But instead, his daughter Mary Lou and her husband moved into the house and established their taxidermy business at that location. They raised their 3 daughters in that house and are now the visiting location for their grandchildren. In the century that the property has been in the Schell family, there have been 6 generations enjoying the homestead.
The Schell homestead has actually been in my family for more than the century referenced above. Back in 1916, John Schell had purchased the property from Thomas Edward Bates who lived in farm house across the road. It was Thomas's daughter Irene who eventually married John's son George. This means that one of my great-Grandfathers purchased the farm from another of my great-Grandfathers.
I do not think of the farm across the road from the Schell farm as one of my family homesteads. During my childhood, that property was owned by the Derby family. Larry Derby referenced above in the Allen homestead section is a son from that family. There are still other connections between members of that Derby family and my Schell and Allen extended families. As with any small community, branches of family trees become intertwined over the generations.
Allen
Although my grandfather, Henry "Harry" Woodland Allen, was the youngest son of William Daisely Allen and Mary Jane Woodland, he took over the family farm. He and his wife, Gertrude Georgina Cooper raised their family of 10 children in that house. As that family had expanded, William and Mary Jane moved out of the farm house into a smaller house on the property, not far from the farm house.
Over the years, several houses were also built on the property. When Harry and Gertie's youngest son, Joe took over the operation of the family farm and started his own family, Harry and Gertie moved into a new house built for them by another son Ivan. Ivan and another unmarried son, Les, moved into that house with their parents. When Les eventually married in the 1960s, he and his wife and her two youngest children moved into the house next door (also built by Ivan) before eventually moving to another house also built on the Allen farm. When my parents had married in 1949, Harry and Gertie had deeded them a section of the land to build their home. My parents sold that property in the early 1960s when it was evident that my father's temporary assignment in Kingston would be permanent. Another son, Garnet, was also deeded a section of land when he married in the 1950s. His widow, Margery, still resides in that home.
The small house that William and Mary Jane had moved into has housed various Allen descendants over the years. During my childhood, Mary Ann "Minnie~ McKenzie, a granddaughter of William and Mary Jane, lived in the house with her second husband Tom Boyle. When Tom and Minnie passed away, Minnie's daughter Tressa Winters and her husband Larry Derby moved there as their retirement home. They are now both deceased, but a grandson and his family now live in the house. Although that house is not the homestead, it is on the original property and has housed 6 generations of Allens.
The Allen farm and farm house were sold outside of the family after Joe's sudden death in 1978. At that point, there had been 4 generations that had lived on that homestead.
Schell
According to my mother, the house that I know as her childhood home is not the original house on the property, but she is not sure just when the 'new' house was built. The picture is of the newer house.
When George married Irene Bates on March 10 1927, he moved his bride into the farm house where his mother and several siblings still resided. George and Irene raised their three children in that house. They sold the farm land at some point in the 1960s or 1970s, but retained the farm house and some land around the house. After George's death in 1974, Irene continued living there until her declining health necessitated her relocation to a single storey house and later a nursing home. The house had remained empty as their son Harold George "Bud" had always wanted to retire to the family homestead. But instead, his daughter Mary Lou and her husband moved into the house and established their taxidermy business at that location. They raised their 3 daughters in that house and are now the visiting location for their grandchildren. In the century that the property has been in the Schell family, there have been 6 generations enjoying the homestead.
The Schell homestead has actually been in my family for more than the century referenced above. Back in 1916, John Schell had purchased the property from Thomas Edward Bates who lived in farm house across the road. It was Thomas's daughter Irene who eventually married John's son George. This means that one of my great-Grandfathers purchased the farm from another of my great-Grandfathers.
I do not think of the farm across the road from the Schell farm as one of my family homesteads. During my childhood, that property was owned by the Derby family. Larry Derby referenced above in the Allen homestead section is a son from that family. There are still other connections between members of that Derby family and my Schell and Allen extended families. As with any small community, branches of family trees become intertwined over the generations.
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 12 (Misfortune)
On the whole, I believe that my ancestors have avoided misfortune for the most part. At least beyond what most endured during their life time: Revolutionary War, The Great Depression, World War I and World War II. Individuals suffered hardships, but probably no worse that their neighbours. Of course, my research has not revealed specifics as to what caused my ancestors to leave their homelands in Europe and settle in North America.
The individual who is the focus of this writing is my Mother's Uncle Stan.
Stanley Schell was born April 4, 1910 in Glencairn, Tosorontio County, Ontario to John Schell and Mary Deadman. He was the youngest of their ten children. He had barely turned 6 years old, when his father died May 24, 1916. The eldest child, George (my Grandfather) was barely 21 and took over the operation of the family farm in Brentwood, Simcoe County, Ontario. John had purchased the farm not long before his death. As the other sons reached adulthood, they left the farm for work in automobile factories in Michigan and Ohio. Some did return to Ontario after a few years but only Will returned to farming. Stan did not follow his brothers to the United States, but he did leave the family farm for work in Toronto.
As Toronto was only a short distance from the family farm in Brentwood, Stan made frequent visit back home on weekends to see family and friends. On one of those visits in July 1944, he had met up with some friends as soon as he got off the train and spent the evening socializing. Late in the evening, the car he was travelling in was in an accident. The driver was dead at the scene and Stan suffered injuries which left him an invalid for the rest of his life. As a young girl, I remember him needing a cane to walk.
After he recovered from the automobile accident, he returned to work in Toronto and lived with his married sister Maude and her family. By the early 1960s, he was no longer working and was living back in Brentwood - either with my Grandfather George or another brother, Will. By this time, both George and Will were retired from farming. George still lived in the family farmhouse but Will had sold his farm and was living in a house he had built down the road from George.
On February 22, 1966 Stan was staying at Will's. Will and his wife Dorothy had gone into town for the day, leaving Stan home alone. When Stan was preparing his lunch, something caught fire on the stove and the fire spread through the house. Needing a cane to get around, Stan was not able to move quick enough to evacuate the house in time. Sitting in his own home up the road, George saw the flames of Will's house but was not able to run down the road in time. The stairs from the main floor to the back door had collapsed and Stan's body was found near the top of the former stairs.
Would Stan's life been any different if his father had not died so early in Stan's life?
Would Stan's life been any different if he had not gone out socializing with friends in the mid-1940s?
The individual who is the focus of this writing is my Mother's Uncle Stan.
Stanley Schell was born April 4, 1910 in Glencairn, Tosorontio County, Ontario to John Schell and Mary Deadman. He was the youngest of their ten children. He had barely turned 6 years old, when his father died May 24, 1916. The eldest child, George (my Grandfather) was barely 21 and took over the operation of the family farm in Brentwood, Simcoe County, Ontario. John had purchased the farm not long before his death. As the other sons reached adulthood, they left the farm for work in automobile factories in Michigan and Ohio. Some did return to Ontario after a few years but only Will returned to farming. Stan did not follow his brothers to the United States, but he did leave the family farm for work in Toronto.As Toronto was only a short distance from the family farm in Brentwood, Stan made frequent visit back home on weekends to see family and friends. On one of those visits in July 1944, he had met up with some friends as soon as he got off the train and spent the evening socializing. Late in the evening, the car he was travelling in was in an accident. The driver was dead at the scene and Stan suffered injuries which left him an invalid for the rest of his life. As a young girl, I remember him needing a cane to walk.
After he recovered from the automobile accident, he returned to work in Toronto and lived with his married sister Maude and her family. By the early 1960s, he was no longer working and was living back in Brentwood - either with my Grandfather George or another brother, Will. By this time, both George and Will were retired from farming. George still lived in the family farmhouse but Will had sold his farm and was living in a house he had built down the road from George.
On February 22, 1966 Stan was staying at Will's. Will and his wife Dorothy had gone into town for the day, leaving Stan home alone. When Stan was preparing his lunch, something caught fire on the stove and the fire spread through the house. Needing a cane to get around, Stan was not able to move quick enough to evacuate the house in time. Sitting in his own home up the road, George saw the flames of Will's house but was not able to run down the road in time. The stairs from the main floor to the back door had collapsed and Stan's body was found near the top of the former stairs.
Would Stan's life been any different if his father had not died so early in Stan's life?
Would Stan's life been any different if he had not gone out socializing with friends in the mid-1940s?
Monday, April 2, 2018
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 11 (Lucky)
Had to think what to write on this subject: no one in the family ever, to my knowledge, had the nickname Lucky. Nor has anyone been lucky enough to win a major lottery prize. My mother, brothers and myself have made frequent trips to Las Vegas over the years but the largest jackpot any of us have ever won would have been a few hundred dollars. Nice at the time but would not have covered the cost of the trip.
Lucky in love? My family tree, on both sides, is comprised of many long term marriages. Were the individuals lucky to have found their true love? Or just a sign of their time that once married, one stayed married regardless of the state of the relationship. I guess another way to look at the longevity of those marriages: were the individuals lucky in those days to live into their 70s and 80s when life expenancy was much shorter. Especially given the number of births the women (farmer's wives) survived. Lucky in the high percentage of said babies reaching adulthood during a time when the mortality rate was high for infants.
Lucky that most of the males were exempted from wars in order to stay working the family farm? Lucky that the few that did experience war on the front lines, most of them did return home to carry on a normal life?
From a personal view, I think the 'Lucky' would be my father, Jack Allen, deciding that farm life was not for him and his family. Although the country and the family farm remained in his blood for the rest of his life, he chose to not take over the family farm from his father. The Allen farm was near Camp Borden and even though it was post World War II, the military base continued to expand as it was still used for training (and still is to this day). Although he had no plumbing experience, he was hired by a mechanical contractor company, E.S. Fox, for some plumbing jobs they had on the base. His work ethic soon had him learning various trade skills and as the company expanded with jobs in other locales, he was sent to various locations to oversee jobs.
By the mid-1950's he was sent to Kingston Ontario to oversee a variety of jobs around the military base there. The company continued to get contracts in that area and within a couple of years, they established an office in Kingston and had my father relocate his wife and son to Kingston. Myself and my younger brother were born in Kingston.
Under my father's leadership, the Kingston office flourished and expanded. It eventually expanded to the point that an administrator was assigned to head up the Kingston office while my father concentrated on doing the estimating for submissions of job contracts. He was not forced to retire when he turned 65 and he planned to continue working until the age of 70. But fate did intervene and he died at the age of 67. Though his hard work and strong work ethic over the years, he had invested money and my mother has never had any financial worries.
At the time of his sudden death of pancreatitis in August 1990, his wake and funeral was well attended - not just by members of our large extended family and friends, but by the tradespeople that had worked for or with my father over the years - including the owner and other officials of E.S. Fox. Although Jack was not the official head of the Kingston in his later years, the person in the Manager's position rarely made decisions without consulting him.
If my Father hadn't been lucky to have been hired by E.S. Fox all those years ago, the lives of my immediate family would have been drastically different. It was by chance that he was initially hired and even if his future success was due to his strong work ethic, he was lucky to have been in the right place at the right time all those years ago.
Lucky in love? My family tree, on both sides, is comprised of many long term marriages. Were the individuals lucky to have found their true love? Or just a sign of their time that once married, one stayed married regardless of the state of the relationship. I guess another way to look at the longevity of those marriages: were the individuals lucky in those days to live into their 70s and 80s when life expenancy was much shorter. Especially given the number of births the women (farmer's wives) survived. Lucky in the high percentage of said babies reaching adulthood during a time when the mortality rate was high for infants.
Lucky that most of the males were exempted from wars in order to stay working the family farm? Lucky that the few that did experience war on the front lines, most of them did return home to carry on a normal life?
From a personal view, I think the 'Lucky' would be my father, Jack Allen, deciding that farm life was not for him and his family. Although the country and the family farm remained in his blood for the rest of his life, he chose to not take over the family farm from his father. The Allen farm was near Camp Borden and even though it was post World War II, the military base continued to expand as it was still used for training (and still is to this day). Although he had no plumbing experience, he was hired by a mechanical contractor company, E.S. Fox, for some plumbing jobs they had on the base. His work ethic soon had him learning various trade skills and as the company expanded with jobs in other locales, he was sent to various locations to oversee jobs. By the mid-1950's he was sent to Kingston Ontario to oversee a variety of jobs around the military base there. The company continued to get contracts in that area and within a couple of years, they established an office in Kingston and had my father relocate his wife and son to Kingston. Myself and my younger brother were born in Kingston.
Under my father's leadership, the Kingston office flourished and expanded. It eventually expanded to the point that an administrator was assigned to head up the Kingston office while my father concentrated on doing the estimating for submissions of job contracts. He was not forced to retire when he turned 65 and he planned to continue working until the age of 70. But fate did intervene and he died at the age of 67. Though his hard work and strong work ethic over the years, he had invested money and my mother has never had any financial worries. At the time of his sudden death of pancreatitis in August 1990, his wake and funeral was well attended - not just by members of our large extended family and friends, but by the tradespeople that had worked for or with my father over the years - including the owner and other officials of E.S. Fox. Although Jack was not the official head of the Kingston in his later years, the person in the Manager's position rarely made decisions without consulting him.
If my Father hadn't been lucky to have been hired by E.S. Fox all those years ago, the lives of my immediate family would have been drastically different. It was by chance that he was initially hired and even if his future success was due to his strong work ethic, he was lucky to have been in the right place at the right time all those years ago.
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 10 (Strong Woman)
Although I have yet to unearth all details of my female ancestors, I honestly feel that I am the product of a long line of strong women. Many of them gave birth to numerous children, the majority of whom survived to adulthood - this during times when many children died at a young age. They not only raised their families, they would have also managed the home and whatever entailed being a farmer's wife.
My 5 Great-Grandmother, Maria Elizabeth (nee Petrie) Schell, was referred as "Angel at Fortress Gate" due to stories of her assisting her husband Johann Christian Schell and their sons in fighting off attacking Indians and British at Schell's Bush near Herkimer New York. The story is detailed in the book Schell or Researches after the Descendants of John Christian Schell and John Schell written in 1896 by Christian Denissen.
My Great-Grandmother, Mary (nee Deadman) Schell, was left a widow in 1916 at the age of 42 to
raise her 10 children - only the 2 eldest had reached adulthood and the youngest was only 6. The operation of the farm was taken over by eldest son George (my grandfather), but Mary would have maintained the house as it was another 11 years before George brought a wife (my grandmother Martha Jane Irene Bates) into the household.
However, I would say that the strongest woman in my family tree is my mother: Pearl Mary Eveleen (nee Schell) Allen. From early in life she knew what she wanted and proceeded to get it. As a young girl, she took a liking to a local boy, Jack Allen and by her late teens was dating him, engaged at 18 and married at 19.
They started their married life, in 1949, in the same community where they were both born and raised and surrounded by extended family. By the time she was a first time mother in 1952, Jack was often working out of town and only home on the weekends. She never learned to drive but would have a diaper bag ready to go if her mother or other family members stopped by to go into town.
By 1955, Jack's work took him to Kingston, Ontario and when it became evident that the plumbing constrution company he worked for would continue getting jobs in that area, Mom and my brother joined him in 1956. For the first time in her life she was in unfamiliar territory with only her husband and young son for support. Her first day in Kingston was spent learning the bus transit system in the city so that she could be independent. She grew up with the family nickname "Sis" and everyone in the family still call her that. However, when she moved to Kingston she wanted to be more mature and started using one of her middle names "Eveleen".
By the early 1960s it was evident that Jack's work would continue in Kingston and the family purchased the house where Mom still resides. Within a year my younger brother was born and the family was complete. Growing up, Mom did everything around the house as my father worked long hours - in addition to the traditional housewife duties, Mom would also do minor house repairs as well as grass cutting and snow shovelling depending on the season. It was always her goal to have the driveway cleared of snow before my father arrived home and the weight of his vehicle pack snow down on the driveway. If my brothers or I acted up, she was the one to provide the discipline, not wait "until your father was home". It was always her responsibility to have the car packed when we would travel to my grandparents' on the holiday weekends. For the Christmas trip, she somehow managed to conceal the unwrapped Santa gifts as well as packing the wrapped gifts decorated with ribbons, bows and garland without them getting crushed.
I grew up in a traditional family of father, mother and siblings but without the stereotype that only the woman did the cooking and child rearing while the man worked outside the home to provide the income and his duties at home was child displining and yard work. Although Mom was a stay-at- home mother while Dad provided the income, they did not hold the stereotypes firm. There was a period of time over a couple of years when my Mother was hospitalized several times for a variety of reasons (broken ankle, gall bladder, etc.). Dad was still working his 12 hour days, often travelling out of town to check in on various job sites. He would cook dinner for us when he got home and if we were not in school, would take my younger brother out of town with him.
Mom's recovery from her broken ankle is another example of her strong will. While in a cast and on crutches, she still did her housework: she would vacuum sitting in a rocking chair, moving through the house; to get to the laundry machines in the basement, she would go down the stairs on her butt, one step at a time. When her parents made a visit while she was on crutches, her father took ill and was hospitalized. Even though it was wintertime, she had knitted a toe cap for her foot and would travel to the hospital to visit her father. Nothing stopped her from doing what she wanted to do.
Mom's strong will was tested during the summer of 1990 when my father took sick. At first we thought it was a reoccurence of his bowel cancer but it was eventually diagnosed as pancreatitis. Although the doctors kept changing the medication, my father's condition continued to decline and he died several weeks later. During the entire summer, my mother spent her waking hours at the hospital, only leaving my father's bedside to eat. When Jack died, Eveleen felt that she had no reason to continue to live as the love of her life was now gone. But she managed to pull herself together and a few weeks later resumed her life of bowling and playing cards with friends. It has now been over 27 years and she still misses him every day but has managed to get on with her life.
I was able to provide some distraction for her when I met the love of my life in 1993. Terry Legere had two children from his first marriage, so Mom finally had grandchildren to focus on. Terry and I have tested Mom's strong will several times during our marriage, but somewhat mirroring her own life. Just as my father's work took them away from their extended family, Terry's life has required us to move several times distant away from Kingston.
Once she accepted that my departure was similiar to hers 4 decades earlier, she was determined to travel to visit her only daughter. At the age of almost 80, she flew with my brothers from Toronto to Regina to suprise me for my 50th birthday and then on her own about 18 months later rather than stay alone while my brothers vacationed in Florida. While Terry's work took us back to Ontario for 5 years, we were only a couple of hours drive away from Kingston, so she was able to visit fairly frequently. Now that we are located in New Brunswick, she is back to having to fly to visit, even though she is 88 years young.
Her advanced years has slowed her down and for a number of years she claims "she no longer cooks". But she does still cook the occassional meal as well as doing housework and laundry; however, yardwork and snow shovelling has been contracted out for several years now. My bachelor brothers live with her so she has continued providing a home for them.
She has had a few stumbles and falls during the past few years. No broken bones, but difficult to get back up and would have to wait until she was able to get someone's attention for assistance. So we do not want her staying alone when my brothers go on vacation. This has meant that she has had to fly across the country a few times to where I was living at the time as I was not able to take the time off work to go to her. Fortunately there have been direct flights so that she has not had to change planes. The airline provides a wheelchair and staff to see her on and off the planes. While visiting, she continues to do as much as possible for herself, not expecting to be waited on. Each morning she would get up and make her own breakfast and carry it on a tray to her chair.
My mother continues to be a pillar of strength (usually from afar) for me as I have followed my husband around the country for the past decade. Due to her loss of hearing, phone calls can often be a challenge (even with hearing aids and hearing impaired telephones), but we do our best to keep in touch when something important happens.
Although I have had an easier life as I have not had to live through the Great Depression or a World War as my Mother has done, I hope that as her daughter I will be able to carry on being as strong a woman as she has been all of her life.
My 5 Great-Grandmother, Maria Elizabeth (nee Petrie) Schell, was referred as "Angel at Fortress Gate" due to stories of her assisting her husband Johann Christian Schell and their sons in fighting off attacking Indians and British at Schell's Bush near Herkimer New York. The story is detailed in the book Schell or Researches after the Descendants of John Christian Schell and John Schell written in 1896 by Christian Denissen.
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| Mary (nee Deadman) Schell with her 10 children |
raise her 10 children - only the 2 eldest had reached adulthood and the youngest was only 6. The operation of the farm was taken over by eldest son George (my grandfather), but Mary would have maintained the house as it was another 11 years before George brought a wife (my grandmother Martha Jane Irene Bates) into the household.
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| Eveleen "Sis" Schell & Wm John "Jack" Allen on their wedding day |
They started their married life, in 1949, in the same community where they were both born and raised and surrounded by extended family. By the time she was a first time mother in 1952, Jack was often working out of town and only home on the weekends. She never learned to drive but would have a diaper bag ready to go if her mother or other family members stopped by to go into town.
By 1955, Jack's work took him to Kingston, Ontario and when it became evident that the plumbing constrution company he worked for would continue getting jobs in that area, Mom and my brother joined him in 1956. For the first time in her life she was in unfamiliar territory with only her husband and young son for support. Her first day in Kingston was spent learning the bus transit system in the city so that she could be independent. She grew up with the family nickname "Sis" and everyone in the family still call her that. However, when she moved to Kingston she wanted to be more mature and started using one of her middle names "Eveleen".
By the early 1960s it was evident that Jack's work would continue in Kingston and the family purchased the house where Mom still resides. Within a year my younger brother was born and the family was complete. Growing up, Mom did everything around the house as my father worked long hours - in addition to the traditional housewife duties, Mom would also do minor house repairs as well as grass cutting and snow shovelling depending on the season. It was always her goal to have the driveway cleared of snow before my father arrived home and the weight of his vehicle pack snow down on the driveway. If my brothers or I acted up, she was the one to provide the discipline, not wait "until your father was home". It was always her responsibility to have the car packed when we would travel to my grandparents' on the holiday weekends. For the Christmas trip, she somehow managed to conceal the unwrapped Santa gifts as well as packing the wrapped gifts decorated with ribbons, bows and garland without them getting crushed.
I grew up in a traditional family of father, mother and siblings but without the stereotype that only the woman did the cooking and child rearing while the man worked outside the home to provide the income and his duties at home was child displining and yard work. Although Mom was a stay-at- home mother while Dad provided the income, they did not hold the stereotypes firm. There was a period of time over a couple of years when my Mother was hospitalized several times for a variety of reasons (broken ankle, gall bladder, etc.). Dad was still working his 12 hour days, often travelling out of town to check in on various job sites. He would cook dinner for us when he got home and if we were not in school, would take my younger brother out of town with him.
Mom's recovery from her broken ankle is another example of her strong will. While in a cast and on crutches, she still did her housework: she would vacuum sitting in a rocking chair, moving through the house; to get to the laundry machines in the basement, she would go down the stairs on her butt, one step at a time. When her parents made a visit while she was on crutches, her father took ill and was hospitalized. Even though it was wintertime, she had knitted a toe cap for her foot and would travel to the hospital to visit her father. Nothing stopped her from doing what she wanted to do.
Mom's strong will was tested during the summer of 1990 when my father took sick. At first we thought it was a reoccurence of his bowel cancer but it was eventually diagnosed as pancreatitis. Although the doctors kept changing the medication, my father's condition continued to decline and he died several weeks later. During the entire summer, my mother spent her waking hours at the hospital, only leaving my father's bedside to eat. When Jack died, Eveleen felt that she had no reason to continue to live as the love of her life was now gone. But she managed to pull herself together and a few weeks later resumed her life of bowling and playing cards with friends. It has now been over 27 years and she still misses him every day but has managed to get on with her life.
Once she accepted that my departure was similiar to hers 4 decades earlier, she was determined to travel to visit her only daughter. At the age of almost 80, she flew with my brothers from Toronto to Regina to suprise me for my 50th birthday and then on her own about 18 months later rather than stay alone while my brothers vacationed in Florida. While Terry's work took us back to Ontario for 5 years, we were only a couple of hours drive away from Kingston, so she was able to visit fairly frequently. Now that we are located in New Brunswick, she is back to having to fly to visit, even though she is 88 years young.
Her advanced years has slowed her down and for a number of years she claims "she no longer cooks". But she does still cook the occassional meal as well as doing housework and laundry; however, yardwork and snow shovelling has been contracted out for several years now. My bachelor brothers live with her so she has continued providing a home for them.She has had a few stumbles and falls during the past few years. No broken bones, but difficult to get back up and would have to wait until she was able to get someone's attention for assistance. So we do not want her staying alone when my brothers go on vacation. This has meant that she has had to fly across the country a few times to where I was living at the time as I was not able to take the time off work to go to her. Fortunately there have been direct flights so that she has not had to change planes. The airline provides a wheelchair and staff to see her on and off the planes. While visiting, she continues to do as much as possible for herself, not expecting to be waited on. Each morning she would get up and make her own breakfast and carry it on a tray to her chair.
My mother continues to be a pillar of strength (usually from afar) for me as I have followed my husband around the country for the past decade. Due to her loss of hearing, phone calls can often be a challenge (even with hearing aids and hearing impaired telephones), but we do our best to keep in touch when something important happens.
Although I have had an easier life as I have not had to live through the Great Depression or a World War as my Mother has done, I hope that as her daughter I will be able to carry on being as strong a woman as she has been all of her life.
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