2019: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 12 (12)

One of the suggestions for this week's topic of "12" is to write about the person in the #12 slot of an ancestorl chart.  In other words, one's mother's father's father.  In my case this would be John Schell, my Great Grandfather.

John Schell, the son of John Alexander Schell and Mary Jane Ross, was born January 13, 1867 in Innisfil Township, Simcoe County in Canada West.  He was their third child, but first son.   At the time of the 1871 Canadian census, the growing family of John Alexander and Mary Jane was living with his parents: Benjamin Schell and Mary McGill.  This discovery was beneficial to my genealogy research as I had grown up knowing the connection from me to John Schell.  Having previously confirmed that "my" John Schell was the son of John Alexander and Mary Jane, the census connected my Schell line through Benjamin Schell to the Johann Christian Schell who had settled in the Mohawk Valley area of New York state and married into the Petrie family, one of the Palatine families who settled in the Herkimer County area.  My Schell branch has been in Canada since around 1800 and in North America since the 1700s.

John Schell & Mary Deadman with oldest sons George & John

By the time of the 1881 census, John Alexander had relocated his family to a farm in Sunnidale Township in Simcoe County, with several of his siblings as neighbours.  As an adult, my Great-Grandfather John continued the family tradition of farm living in Simcoe County.  On April 24, 1894, he married Mary Deadman, daughter of George Deadman and Rebecca Gauley, in Stayner, Nottawasaga Township, Simcoe County, Ontario.  They lived on farms in Sunnidale and Tosorontio Townships before purchasing a farm in Brentwood, Sunnidale Township in early 1916.  John Schell bought the Brentwood farm from Thomas Bates, who is also one of my Great-Grandfathers.  Thomas's daughter Irene married John's son George in 1927.

Glencairn Union Cemetery, Glencairn, Ontario

John Schell died at the relatively young age of 49 years on May 24, 1916 of pernicious anemia - not long after having moved his family to Brentwood.  At the age of 42, his widow, Mary, was left to raise their ten children - the youngest being only six years old.  Their eldest son, George, was my grandfather and had just turned 21 and took over the responsibly of running the new family farm.  

The children of John Schell and Mary Deadman:
George (1895-1974) m. Martha Jane Irene Bates
John (1896-1933) m. Alice Evelyn Townsend
Maud (1899-1994) m. Isaac Spring Ambrose
Alfred (1900-1952) never married
Robert (1901-1994) m1. Mavis May Pearce ; 
                                 m2. Elsie Jean Terry 
William (1903-1991) m. Dorothy Foisie
Wesley (1904-1995) m. Nora Ellen Elizabeeth Jardine
Edward (1906-1970) m. Elizabeth Edna Holmes
Margaret (1908-1986) m. Albert Justing McBride
Stanley (1910-1966) never marrid
 
George eventually built a new house on the property and the original house torn down.  This newer house is the one I know from my childhood visits to my grandparents.  In the 1960s, my grandparents sold off most of the farm land, keeping a portion around the house to still do some vegetable gardening.  This portion of the John Schell farm is still in the family.  One of my first cousins and her husband have lived in the house for the past several decades, having raised their daughters there and now their grandchilden frequently visit.  More than 100 years later, the property is still in family hands.  Not bad for John Schell who had lived on several farms during his short life.  He managed to leave a legacy to his family.

Although I never met my Great-Grandfather John Schell, I grew up "knowing" him.  It was not always on display, but I do remember seeing the above photo as well as individual ones of John and Mary taken at the same photograph shooting.  My Mother would often reflect back on life in 1944, the year that her father George turned 49.  He was very superstitious and he was sure that he would die at the same as his father had.  The family was very relieved when he turned 50.  (He lived for another 30 years.)

Another story Mom often told was a comment her father would say about his father.  According to George, his father would comment that there was "music in the air, if only one was able to capture it".  The phonograph, radio and telegraph had been invented before his death, but I wonder what he would think of the world today?  Wifi, bluetooth, wireless and other modern technology pull not only music from the air but video as well.  And we are not bewildered by any of it.  We take it as a given and go through withdrawal when servers are down and we are unable to tweet, snapchat, facebook or text.