Originally Posted on Facebook: Aug 16, 2020

A Carpenter's Brace - Isaac Sargent

The below photo shows what is generally referred to as a brace. Held with the palm while the other hand sweeps the handle in a circular motion to bore holes with drill bits. This one belonged to Isaac Sargent.

My father has had this is the basement for many years, he pulled it out when I posted about Isaac's obituary

There is no makers mark, or a date but is very much like what is referred to as a Sheffield Brace as they were manufactured in abundance in Sheffield, England in the 19th century. Since we know Isaac came to Canada in 1869 and that this is an English style brace, he likely brought it with him which dates the tool to that time frame.

Isaac apprenticed in England as a carpenter and you can imagine that he might have purchased this or been given it in order to undertake his apprenticeship. Have a look at the 1861 English census page I have below. It shows Isaac at the age of 20 living in his master's household with 'carpenter ap' as his occupation (Isaac is at the very top of the page).

This is a link to a Lee Valley Tools newsletter describing the tool's history.

https://www.leevalley.com/.../woodworking/5/3/collection.htmm

 Originally Posted on Facebook: Aug 2, 2020

Isaac Sargent Obituary - The London Evening Free Press, April 1913

Recently while researching in The London Evening Free Press newspaper archive, I came across an obituary for Isaac Sargent.  Isaac was my generation's 2nd Great Grandfather and I have previously posted about his Planing Mill at King and Adelaide in London.

Isaac passed away in London on April 18, 1913 at the age of 72. Isaac's wife and our 2nd Great Grandmother, Ann Lane predeceased him in 1902. After her death Isaac remarried to a woman named Mary Campbell. I have no real information about this lady however, her name is mentioned in the obituary.

Isaac was a well known business owner in London at the time and his passing is noted on the front page (below the fold) with a portrait. This is the only photo I have ever seen of Isaac.

Interestingly, on the previous day there is a small entry on page 2 with some other obituaries entitled "Isaac Sargent Sinking Slowly". It provides some background on his condition. "He is slowly sinking and it is not expected that he will survive the day out". It goes on to explain that he had been struck with paralysis last Sunday and coupled with "an affection of the heart" he has been unconscious ever since.

Other notable information is that Isaac was a brother of the St. George Lodge one of the many Freemason lodges in London at the time. I did some quick looking and it looks like this one is currently located at 453 Dufferin Ave.

Originally Posted on Facebook:  April 27 2020

Okay, I couldn't resist posting this...Christmas circa 1953?

Is it Aunt Ruth taking this picture?

I just figured out how to use the invert function on negatives in my photo editing software and I was able to scan this negative to create a positive.

This one has been colourized, around the table we have Grandmother Sargent, Dorothy, Roy, Shirley, Ann, Laurie, Norm, Jerry, Grandpa Anderson, Grandma Anderson, Bob and Bill.

 Originally Posted on Facebook: April 22, 2020

Killed in Action

George Henry Snowden

August 20, 1916 Ypres, Belgium

Canadian Expeditionary Force, 58th Battalion

I mentioned in a couple of posts that one of the Snowden boys was killed in WWI, George was the son of Alice and Henry James Snowden, grandson of our 2nd Great Grandfather William Snowden.

George was killed 2 weeks after his 22nd birthday and only after being in the theater of war for about 2 months. According to his personnel record, he enlisted in London on September 16, 1915, and arrived ready for battle in France on June 19, 1916.

There is no specific record that I can find that explains how George was killed or even in what battle - he is buried in Belgium in the Ypres area in West Flanders. Chronology puts the Canadian Infantry in the Battle of the Somme (France) during this period but George is buried in Belgium. There are some records that exist called the Circumstances of Death Registers for the First World War but unfortunately, they have been destroyed or lost for the surnames corresponding to Snowden. Of course, war was a very chaotic time and many battalions were stationed across the western front.

George’s father received $60.00 for the 4 months that he was in active battle - there are earlier records of pay of about $1.00 a day for the rank of Private during his training period.

As I did for his cousin John Sargent, I have included the link for George’s personnel records from the Library and Archives website. You need to click on the 'download in PDF' button and you can see the details of his service record. 

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/.../personne.../Pages/item.aspx...

Here is the link to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website which holds 1.7 million burial records for the first and second world wars.

https://www.cwgc.org/

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) is a registry to honour and remember the sacrifices of the more than 118,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who, since Confederation, have given their lives serving in uniform. The names of fallen soldiers found in the CVWM are also inscribed in the seven Books of Remembrance. I found the below picture of George there.

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/490700?George%20Henry%20Snowden

They shall not grow old, as we that are left to grow old

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Headstone from the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Zillebeke, Belgium

Wallaceburg News, Ontario Newspaper Memorial, 1918

Originally Posted on Facebook: April 21, 2020

Interesting Connections and a sad story

Henry James Snowden b. 1872 was Rachel Snowden's (Sargent) brother. In 1893 he married Alice Cockrill in a church at 383 Adelaide Street in London. The church was known as a Disciple church at that time, it is a Baptist Church today. It's still there at the corner of Adelaide and King - just across from where Isaac's planing mill and the Sargent family home would have been.

Alice's first child is George Henry Snowden b. 1894, who ultimately dies in WWI at one of the battles of Ypres in 1916 (pictured here in a memorial after his death).

Sadly for little George, his mother passes away in 1896 due to a post-partum infection three days after giving birth to her second child, Chester Roy.  Chester also dies two weeks later, due to what we would call failure to thrive. I have attached the death record for Alice and Chester, Alice is on the left page and Chester is on the right page.

Happily, for George, his father Henry remarries in 1899 to Eliza Pengelly. Interestingly, Eliza is his sister (Rachel's) mother-in-law's sister's daughter (I know that's a stretch!). The connection while not blood related for Henry is through Ann Lane, Isaac Sargent's wife.  Eliza was born in the same Cornwall town in England as Ann Lane our 2nd Great Grandmother as she is Ann's niece. The couple go on to have three more children; Walter, Elsie and Ruby. 

Henry James Snowden outlives both of his wives and one child and passes away in 1942 at the age of 70 with septicemia after the amputation of his hand due to a diabetes complication. I have attached his death record as well. This family is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Originally Posted on Facebook:  April 16, 2020

Another irregular birth...

John Sargent Lane - Born October 1864, before his parent's marriage.

I wasn't able to find John Sargent's birth record when I first started researching his records. I eventually found out that the reason I couldn't find him was that he was registered under his mother's maiden name, Lane. The attached indexed record shows his entry on the right side of the page about halfway down as all the Lane children born in that quarter are listed by first name alphabetically for Devon.

John was actually born before Isaac and Ann married. If you recall we looked at their marriage record a couple of posts ago, they were married on November 2, 1864, and John's birth was registered in October of 1864. Ann had to register him with her surname but she chose to use Sargent as his middle name. Illegitimate and births out of wed-lock were very common despite the social and moral stigma around them.

Originally Posted on Facebook:  April 19, 2020

American Cousins - Part 3

The last set of American cousins are from the Sargent line, Albert Sargent, b. 1882 little brother to John Sargent moved to Detroit by about 1918. He married Brenda May Young in London, Ontario and they had 3 children prior to moving to the US.

The US Federal Census shows the family living there in 1920, Albert is a Mill Foreman at a Lumber Co. Albert like his father, Isaac, and brother John was a carpenter which appears in 2 subsequent censuses.

Originally Posted on Facebook: April 18, 2020

American Cousins - Part 2

John Anderson b. 1874 in Durham England was our Great Grandfather William Anderson's younger brother. John came to Canada around the same time as William and brought his wife Eveline.

According to the 1920 US Federal Census, John is living in Detroit working as a bricklayer for the Ford Motor Co. He and Eveline have 5 children who remain in the US, which establishes another set of American cousins for us.

This picture is not great quality but I can definitely see the resemblance between John and William.

We have a funeral card for John when he passes away in 1937, I can assume that while this Anderson branch lived in the US there were regular visits from both sides of the border.

I have also attached the US Census form for 1920 - Anderson's are the last entry on the page.

 

 Originally Posted on Facebook: April 17, 2020

Our American Cousins…

Did you know that we have a few members of the family that moved down to the Detroit area after first living in Canada for a while?

The portrait is of Robert John Snowden b. 1865 in London, England who immigrated with his family to Canada when he was just 3 years old. His sister Rachel Snowden (my Great G) was born a year later in Hamilton in 1870. Robert married Katherine Cliff in 1893 in London, Ontario and moved to Detroit, Michigan by at least 1910 as they are on the US Federal Census living in Grosse Pointe, just outside of Detroit. Robert likely became interested in the US because his oldest sister, Caroline had also moved there shortly after her marriage to Richard Taylor about 10 years earlier.

I recently came across the portrait of Robert on someone else’s family tree in Ancestry and I could see the resemblance to Rachel immediately. Our American 2nd cousin - twice removed!

Originally Posted on Facebook:  April 15, 2020

1796 - Anderson Brick Wall

I thought I would share something I am working on, this is an excerpt from the Bishops Transcripts or the local Parish records for the county of Northumberland, England.

John Anderson, our 3rd Great Grandfather's baptism is noted here along with the names of his parents: John Anderson and Elizabeth Gray - note that he is marked as Illegitimate. I know this is our John because he indicates in his census records that he was born in Longwitton, Northumberland within this year. There are no other John Andersons of this age.

I have not been able to move a generation back as I have not found any record of his mother or father's births, their marriage or evidence of any siblings. This is likely because he was illegitimate and there may have never been a marriage. John may have moved away from his birth community as a result of being born illegitimately as he is found in Durham by the birth of his first son in 1825.

This record represents the oldest Anderson document I have, so I will continue to research looking for clues to the mystery to break through my brick wall!

Originally Posted on Facebook:  April 14, 2020

Last Will & Testament of William Turnbull Marley b. 1846- d. 1902, Durham, England.

This William was the father of Annie Marley (Anderson) our generation's Great-Grandmother. William was a butcher who left his family with an estate that was valued at £121 which converted with today's inflation would be worth in excess of £14,000. It is quite an extensive and generous will and a very interesting read.

He wrote his will in July of 1902 and passed away in October of the same year. His executors were Mark Walker (relationship unknown) and George Hardy (brother in law). He first bequeaths his gold and silver watches and his gold Albert (a watch chain fashioned after Prince Albert) to his son Thomas. The will goes on to provide a regular sum of ten shillings a week for his dear wife Elizabeth and a sum divided for each of his living children which are all named.

Annie and William Anderson immigrated to Canada in 1904 and while it wasn't directly after the passing of her father it is this inheritance which may have set them upon this path only about 18 months later.

 Originally Posted on Facebook: April 13, 2020

Devon and Cornwall Heritage - Sargent's and Lane's

The great cream tea debate - Do you put the jam or the cream first?

I referred to Isaac and Ann Lane in some previous posts and mentioned that Isaac originated from Devonshire. In fact, Isaac and Ann were both born in Cornwall but their families lived in an area of England that spanned the two counties. Ann was born in Whitstone, Cornwall, and Isaac in North Tamerton, Cornwall. However, for Isaac, some of the records show his address as Devon. Many of these small communities actually lie less than 5km apart. Based on the biography done in Canada which notes Isaac as being from Devonshire it is likely the Sargent's identified most with that county. The Lanes appear to be most linked with Cornwall.

Today, Devon and Cornwall are often identified together in the UK as being most similar for a lot of reasons but there are some cultural differences in language accents and food. Most notably, the order in which the cream and jam are put on the scone at tea time!

I have attached Isaac and Ann's marriage record dated Nov 2, 1864 below. Note that Isaac is living in Plymouth at the time of marriage which is many miles south from where they are married as I believe it is likely that Isaac was undertaking his apprenticeship as a carpenter and spent at least part of that time in Plymouth, a large shipbuilding center at the time. Frances and Eliza Lane, brother and sister of the bride are witnesses. Note finally, that Ann does not sign, but that she places her mark with an X which was very common for this class of women at the time.

Originally Posted on Facebook: April 12, 2020

Easter First Communion 1947, Dalhousie, New Brunswick

Margaret Anne Mary Josephine Thompson (Anderson)

Here is an Easter-themed post for today. This is my Mom, on her first communion which traditionally is held around Easter time in the Catholic church and she would have been in grade 2 or about 7 years old. She is on the left of the picture, her cousins are the other little girls. This is a colourized black and white original. 

Originally Posted on Facebook: April 11, 2020

150th Birthday - April 11, 1870

Sarah Rachel Snowden (Sargent)

Today is the 150th birthday of Rachel Sargent my generation's Great Grandmother. I have attached her birth record, which is difficult to read as the original has been water damaged. It is the center record.

Date: April 11, 1870

Name: Sarah Rachel

Sex: F

Father: William Snowden

Mother: Sarah Middlestaff

Father's Occupation: Carpenter

Registrant & Location: Sarah M Snowden, Hamilton

Rachel was born in Hamilton, Ontario to William and Celia Snowden, the 5th child and 3rd daughter but first child to be born in Canada.

I wonder what she would have thought of Facebook?

Originally Posted on Facebook: April 10, 2020

A Narrow Escape! - The London Advertiser,  Nov 2, 1880

This is a funny little newspaper clipping I found many years ago in the microfilm records of a former London newspaper. Mrs. Sargent is Ann Sargent, Issacs's
wife and mother to John Sargent. I will transcribe:

A Narrow Escape - Mrs. Sargent, who lives at 590 King street, yesterday afternoon had a narrow escape from drowning. She was walking across a cistern in her kitchen when the cover gave way and precipitated her into the water. Had she not been promptly rescued it is probable she would have drowned.

I wonder who rescued her, and furthermore, why did we have cisterns in the kitchen that were so large someone could drown??

Originally Posted on Facebook: April 9, 2020

World War I Personnel Records - John Sargent

In honour of the 103rd Anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, April 9-12, 1917 I am sharing the Personnel Records of the First World War for John William Sargent, son of John and Rachel Sargent. If you click on the link it will take you to the Library and Archives Canada website (I hope directly to the link for John) which gives you the option to download the digitized service file record from WW1. There are over 50 pages of records showing various aspects of his time in the war. He served mostly in France and was notably promoted twice ultimately to the rank of Corporal. He was wounded in the left ankle in October of 1918 just a month before the end of the war. He returned safely to Canada in February of 1919.

BAC-LAC.GC.CA

Personnel Record FWW Item - Library and Archives Canada

The below picture was taken in Paris while John was on leave for two weeks, which is documented in his personnel file below, inscribed on the reverse is "Paris, France, Jan/18.

Extract pages from John's personnel file, you can see "Granted 14 Days Leave" in January 1918 in Paris as well as notation of his gun shot wound later that year on September 28, 1918.

 

Summary of wounds by the medical officer upon discharge in 1919.

The 142nd Battalion was referred to as London's Own, first raised in 1915 and sailed from Canada with 26 officers and 574 other ranks. Upon their arrival at Shorncliffe on November 12, 1916 the 142nd Battalion it was ultimately absorbed into the 23rd Reserve Battalion which for almost 2 years would train and provide reinforcements for battalions in France.