February 2007

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Probate of Will of and Codicil thereto of Reuben Peer

Canada Province of Ontario

In Her Majestys Surrogate Court of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, be it known that on the sixth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety nine the last Will and Testament and one Codicil thereto of Reuben Peer late of the Township of Elizabethtown in the County of Leeds and Province of Ontario yeoman deceased who died on or about the twenty seventh day of February in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety nine at the township of Elizabethtown in the County of Leeds and who at the time of his death had a fixed place of abode at the township of Elizabethtown in the said County of Leeds was proved and registered in the said Surrogate Court a true copy of which said Last will and Testament and of the said Codicil is hereunto annexed.

And that the administration of All and singular the property of the said deceased and any way concerning his Last Will and Codicil was granted by the aforesaid Court to David Thom of the Township of Elizabethtown in the County of Leeds yeoman and Morton Richard Giffin of the same place yeoman the Executors named in the said Will and Codicil they having been first sworn well and faithfully to administer the same by paying the just debts of the deceased and the legacies contained in his Will and Codicil so far as they are thereunto bound by law and by distributing the residue (if any) of the property according to law and to exhibit under oath a true and perfect Inventory of All and singular the said property and to render a just and true account of their Executorship whenever thereunto lawfully required.

Registrar of the Surrogate Court of the United Counties Leeds and Grenville.

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I’ve just uncovered evidence indicating Sarah Loretta Bradley was born in Howick, in Huron County, Ontario and not Leeds County as I had suspected. This could well open up the possibility of finally locating her parents, Samuel Bradley and Charlotte Tackaberry.

For many years I have searched in vain for Sarah’s parents in Leeds and surrounding area. No wonder I couldn’t find them.

Sarah Loretta Connell (nee Bradley)

The document that cracks open this new door is the record of Sarah’s first marriage to James Henry Craig.

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Killed Instantly

Richard Richards Death Certificate links family to Wexford, Ireland.

Farmer Robert Powell reported the tragedy of Richard Richards being struck down by a team of runaway horses on January 29th 1874. The 40 year old Richards, who had lost both his wife Eliza (nee Hinton) and daughter Etta in 1872, was killed instantly.

Richard & Eliza Richards

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William Henry and Lucy Adeline Richards

Photo courtesy Tom O’Farrell (great grandson)

As William Henry passed away in the summer of 1923, this photo has to be taken prior to that date. It is a rare photo of the couple.

Seated in the autombile is a third person. I wonder, given that Tom has this particular picture in his posession, if this isn’t Tom’s grandfather, Harold Edison Richards? Harold was the youngest of the couple’s three sons being born on March 11, 1897.

Proving you can’t always believe a transcript no matter how good the source, here is a photo of the original 1899 death Register showing Reuben Peer, age 79, born in Ontario. You’ll have to click through the photo to my Flickr account to read it properly.

Reuben Peer Death Record

It reads: Reuben Peer, male, 26th February 1899, age 79, Residence 10th Concession Elizabethtown Township, Farmer, widower, born Ontario, Cause of death Lagrippe & Pneumonia, name of physician Dr. Dixon, Denomination Methodist, Name of person making return Dr. Dixon, Date of Renumeration – 26 Feb, 1899, folio #14857

A good solid piece of information and one that I am glad to have.

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The following from Othniel Merritt of Vancouver to my husband’s grandfather, David R. Merritt on August 28. 1956 and all hand written: Gerry Black

This is a History of that Merritt Branch, descended from Robert Merritt, a Loyalist of Westchester County, New York State, who, early in 1783 went to Nova Scotia to establish for himself and his family a new home, under the British Crown. Like several thousand other Loyalists, he went first to Port Roseway (now Shelborne) in present day Nova Scotia. He filed on two land claims – on the Mainland, the other on McNutt Island out in the Shelborne Harbor.

(ed. note – a more general history of New Brunswick follows)

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Lost But Is Found

The following memoir was written by Clara Lovina Hinton (nee Peer) in her 88th year. Transcribed from the original document by her grand-daughter Julie Hinton, the memoir reminisces her father, Reuben Peer Senior (1820-1899).

Lost But is Found

How time flies. Here I am 88, 2nd day of last Sept… Born in 1873.

I look but do not feel old and in the night my memory is very active, especially about the earlier years. My special time tonight is the story of my father as he so often entertained his evening visitors with tales of his early days.

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