Ontario

James Graham, Innkeeper

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I have been enjoying the benefit, yes, benefit, of discovering new leads while proceeding through my genealogy database and citing sources for the wide array of facts that my family history contains that I failed to include when I first entered the fact information. The new ‘leads’ have resulted from chasing down documents that a fact referred to which I should have had a copy of but didn’t or, I had a copy of and had now a chance to review for a second time.


Reviewing and analyzing a family history document for a second time is almost always valuable and eye-opening due to the facts and information that you can see which might have been overlooked for some reason on the first read.

While entering information about Patrick Graham and his wife Catherine (nee McRae), my second great grandparents in my maternal family line, there was information, particularly from census records that provided new leads to deepen my knowledge of the lives of their children.

Patrick, a tailor by trade, had immigrated to Upper Canada (now Ontario, Canada) sometime likely in the 1830’s. Catherine was born in Glengarry County of what is now Ontario in 1822. I don’t know when nor how they met but they married around 1838, according to Roman Catholic marriage registers. Their first child was James, born in 1842. Three daughters were to follow, including my great grandmother Margaret, born in 1854.

The census record for the family in January 1852, (the 1851 census in Canada was delayed) shows the family living in a frame house in the village of East Gwillimbury, north of Toronto, and oldest child and only son James going to school. About ten years later, the 1861 census records show that the family had moved about three miles west to the village of Holland Landing and that James had left school, moved north to the town of Barrie and was an apprentice shoemaker.

Sometime before 1870, James married Mary Ann Duffy and around 1870, they welcomed their first child, William, into their family. James had also taken up a new profession – that of innkeeper. In 1871, James and Mary Ann were living in the village (perhaps hamlet?) of Essa, Ontario, due west of Barrie. No mention is included in the record of the name of the inn that he kept and despite searches through various histories of the area at that time, I can find no mention of James or the inn.

Tragedy struck however on May 17, 1874 when Mary Ann gave birth to their second child, also a boy, and both mother and child died. According to the death registrations, the unnamed baby boy died within “a few minutes” of birth followed soon after by his 25 year-old mother.

Sometime before 1878, James re-married, this time to Mary Guilfoyle. James and Mary had three daughters, Catherine Louise, Mary Isabella, and Anna May. Over the next 25 years, James continued to live in the Simcoe County, Ontario area, occasionally moving between some of the area’s small towns and villages. His profession during this time was always listed as Hotel Keeper. James passed away of heart failure at the age of 61, on June 19, 1903.

Looking at a record for a second time, in this case, a census record, lead to a cascade of new information, and records, connected to this family. My intention is to continue hunting for records about James’ hotel as my gut instinct is that there have got to be some fascinating stories about life in the hotels of that era. The Barrie, Ontario library has an on-line obituary index showing that there are two local newspapers that contained obituaries for James. Unfortunately, other than giving the name of the newspaper and date of the obituary, no other details were available but it may be the best place of start. I can feel a field trip coming on!
Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Young Louis Henry Wagner

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Louis Henry Wagner began a diary, really a set of what turned out to be four leather-bound diaries, when he was 15 years old. The diaries document some of the milestones, good and bad, that occurred in his life. The diaries are important records of the events in the Wagner and Breithaupt families during the latter half of the 19th century as well as providing an interesting perspective on the life of a young man living in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, Canada during that pre-cable television, pre-video game era.



Louis began his diaries on December 15, 1872. His accounts of life at that time are filled with church services that were clearly at the centre of the family’s life, completing a range of chores and errands like “fetching” hides for the Breithaupt’s Eagle Tannery or loads of hen dung for use as fertilizer, and fishing with his cousins. Christmas 1872 is described as a time of for church services in the morning and the evening. In between, the family “had a splendid turkey for dinner.” Louis received a ‘cravat’ from his mother Margaret (Hailer) Bean (previously Wagner) and her sister “Aunt [Catherine (nee Hailer)] Breithaupt (pictured above right in 1907).” In addition, he received 25 cents from “Grandmother Breithaupt” [Barbara Catharina Goetze].


Louis was born in Grove, New York, USA in 1857. When he was only one year old, his father Jacob died, just a couple of months after moving the family to Berlin, Ontario. Louis’ mother, Margaret re-married in 1862, shortly after Louis’ fifth birthday. Interestingly, among all of his recording of the family member visits to his home and trips being taken by family members to neighbouring towns and villages to visit relatives, Louis always refers to his mother’s second husband, Daniel Bean, as “Mr. Bean” and never references him as his step-father. While I can’t assume that there were any problems between Louis and Daniel Bean, the references don’t suggest to me a close relationship.


By the time Louis had begun his diaries he was living with the Breithaupt family, his Uncle Louis Breithaupt and Aunt Catherine along with their children, Louis’ cousins. It is clear from many of Louis’ early diary entries that he felt a particular affection for his Aunt Breithaupt. In early December 1872, Aunt Breithaupt gave birth to her ninth child, Catherina Louise ‘Katie’ Breithaupt. Aunt Breithaupt, as Louis consistently referred to her as, experienced a tough time recovering from the childbirth. As Louis described in his January 2, 1873 entry, “I had to go along to Preston with the teams to fetch hides today. Aunt Breithaupt was very weak this evening. Johnny [cousin John Christian Breithaupt] and I had to go and fetch Doctor Bowlby. We brought Aunt Brehler [referring to Harriet Brehler (nee Hailer)] along out. When we came home Aunt Breithaupt had given them all a farewell in this world, she thought she had to die, but she got better again.”


In addition to describing the gradual recovery to good health of Aunt Breithaupt, Louis left behind a record of weather reports for his southern Ontario town and a unique glimpse into teenage life during a time long past.
Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

The Town of Berlin Becomes Kitchener

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Today, August 23rd, marks the ninety-fourth anniversary of the Ontario cabinet’s ‘order-in-council’ that officially changed the name of the town of Berlin to Kitchener. The name change became effective as of September 1, 1917. In recognition of this historic and then controversial decision, I am re-sharing a post from the past about the views and involvement of some of my wife Ellen’s family’s involvement in the controversy.

When the Wagners and their cousins, the Breithaupts, settled in what was originally Canada West, now the province of Ontario, Canada, they chose to live, naturally enough, in the predominantly German settlement of Waterloo County, specifically in the town of Berlin. Jacob Wagner and Louis Breithaupt married Mary and Catherine Hailer, respectively, who were the daughters of the first German settler in the region, Jacob John Hailer. The area also featured a large Mennonite community that had immigrated from Pennsylvania.
With the outbreak of World War 1, however, things changed quickly as the German heritage became the focus a growing enmity lead by non-German residents. A bust of Kaiser Wilhelm II went missing twice from Victoria Park in the centre of the town and then disappeared for good. Recruitment for the local battalion was seen as being too slow, perceived as a symptom of an unpatriotic community heritage.
In 1916, a movement began to rename the town and although it did not have popular support, names were put forward to be decided upon through a referendum. Those in favour of the name change argued that maintaining the name of Berlin was unpatriotic and bad for business. Those in favour of keeping the name pointed to the bustling manufacturing sector unharmed by the town name and argued that the time was not right to be spending time on a name change debate when raising recruits and funds for the war effort should be the focus of attention.
The opinion of the Breithaupt family, as prominent citizens of the town, was considered to be of importance. The Breithaupts opposed the name change and suffered attempts at intimidation as a result. On May 12, 1916, about a week before the scheduled referendum, W. H. Breithaupt (pictured above right), then president of the Berlin and Northern Railway, had his home vandalised by “men in uniform” who cut his telephone line and rang his front door bell repeatedly before slipping a threatening note under in front door “stating what would happen if he did not support the change of name bylaw.”
On May 19th, 1916 only 892 citizens out of about 15,000 cast their votes. W. H. Breithaupt the following day lamented in a letter, “We had a citizens vote yesterday on the question of changing the name of our city, a name it has had for nearly a hundred years, and I regret to say that those who want to change won by a small majority. No new name is as yet selected.” The name was subsequently changed to Kitchener in honour of Lord Kitchener, Britain’s Minister of War who died when his ship hit a mine and sank off the Orkney Islands.
The Breithaupts remained a family of prominence in the newly named city and today a city park and neighbourhood bears their name.
Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

The Diaries of Louis Henry Wagner

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While on vacation during the past week, I had the opportunity to intersperse visits with family members in various Ontario, Canada cities with genealogy pursuits. I finally donated the Henry Erskine manuscript to the University of Guelph’s Centre for Scottish Studies and the professors at the university seemed genuinely thrilled to receive it.

I was also able to visit the Special Collections section of the Dana Porter Library at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. The library holds about 125 linear feet of original family documents connected with my wife Ellen’s paternal ancestral family. In my two visits thus far, I think I have managed to go through only about one foot!

My goal on this visit, that I successfully completed, was to scan (the Special Collections section offers a great free scanning service) the four personal diaries kept by Ellen’s great grandfather, Louis Henry Wagner (pictured to the right). These old, leather bound diaries contain Louis’ descriptions of his activities and the activities of the family covering the period December 15, 1872 until November 30, 1891. They offer not only a great insight into the Wagner family but also into life in southern Ontario during that timeframe. I can only wish that my ancestors had left such great documentation for me!

Of the many entries that I will share over time, the following caught my attention as it is Louis’ thoughts and recollections on the christening day activities for his son, and eldest child, Ellen’s grandfather, Louis Jacob Gordon Wagner. The entry is dated:

“Saturday, January 1st, 1887

This morning finds us up in good time preparing for the christening of our dear little boy Louis Jacob Gordon.

We had quite a time getting a name for him. The first one selected was Jacob after his two grandfathers and three great grandfathers. The former – Jacob Wagner and Jacob Staebler and the three latter, Jacob J. Hailer, Jacob Staebler and Jacob Muerner. The second was Gordon after the English General Charles George Gordon, commonly called ‘Chinese Gordon,’ also ‘The Hero of Khartoum,’ a pious Christian soldier. The third we selected was Louis, after my Uncle and foster parent from my 13th year, Louis Breithaupt who died July 3rd, 1880.

Having the full name of my cousin Louis Jacob Breithaupt, he with his wife Emma kindly consented to be his Godparents. Rev. Father Wm. Schmidt who performed the sacred rite was the first to arrive – about 10:40 a.m. and very soon the old homestead erected by Grandfather Hailer over 50 years ago and now occupied by my mother, was filled with the pleasant faces of old and new relatives.

There were present beside ourselves and Mother’s family consisting in herself, Alma, Wesley, Samuel and Eusebius, Aunt Breithaupt, Albert, Melvina, Caroline, John, William, Louis and family of 3 children, Louisa Hailer and child Erna, A. B. Augustine (Carrie’s betrothed), Julius Knauf, Father and Mother Staebler, Ike K. Devitt with Annie and 2 children.

At 12:00 all was ready and we handed our boy to Louis and Emma and Father Schmidt preformed that beautiful and solemn ceremony baptizing in the name of “The Father, Son and Holy Ghost” in the German language. (Father S. also married my mother and two aunts). This was the first baptism in this old home, which was built by Grandpa Hailer about 1830.

Our charge is now publicly consecrated to God. May he grow up in the fear of the Lord, an honor to his Maker, a blessing to the world and a joy to his parents. May we train him up in the nature and admonition of the Lord! Amen – Amen.

The table set in the parlor was now surrounded and very soon all were busily engaged in supplying the physical wants of the body. We got two turkeys, one 18 pounds and the other about 8 pounds so there was enough and to spare. Immediately after dinner John took Will to Galt where he took the train for Kansas City and Albert B. Augustine also left about 3:00 p.m.

Mother was quite pleased that we had the christening at her house and everyone secured happy. In the evening we went out to Aunty’s and next morning I left for my appointment to Strasburg and Hespeler leaving Mary and the baby to remain a few days longer in Berlin.”

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Connecting With Family Through Ancestry

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I am often asked if it’s true that simply searching for a name of Ancestry (.com; .ca,; .co.uk;.au,etc.) can produce a shaking leaf providing you with a full family tree or an instant connection with a distant, previously unknown relative who sends family photos that you have never seen before as is suggested in some television advertising. My answer is usually along the lines that if it were that simple, I’d be really disappointed in myself for spending so much time over the past thirty years when only a few keystrokes and a mouse click were needed.

Ancestry is certainly a great Internet site to search for historical records and documents. I have maintained a world deluxe subscription for many years (and by way of disclaimer, I pay for this entirely myself, with my own funds). It has been a tremendous source of documentation and collaboration. I have previously posted that there is benefit to exploring the ‘public’ member family trees in spite of any criticism that the family trees may frequently contain erroneous information.

A recent additional benefit for me has been making new connections with cousins I didn’t know about who either sent a message to me asking for some additional information based on details found in my posted tree or who I sent a message to with a similar request.

I have three (!) examples to offer from the past three months.

Donius contacted me offering a correction to a date associated to her mother who appeared in my posted family tree. It turns out that Donius is my wife Ellen’s 4th cousin. They share Andrew Kimmerly, a United Empire Loyalist, and his wife Susannah Sagar as common ancestors.

Another Andrew Kimmerly and Susannah Sagar common ancestor connection was made when Pat contacted me with some questions about my family tree file. Pat, as it turns out is married to my wife Ellen’s 5th cousin.

I have been able to share information, tips, sources, and photos with both Pat and Donius. A truly great connection experience.


My favourite recent connection was one that I instigated. Recognizing that new trees get added and older trees updated frequently on Ancestry, I found one of my second cousins of whom I had no previous knowledge, had posted a family tree. More important to me is that this cousin and I share a great grandfather, John Foley, in common. My maternal grandmother, Gertrude Ellen Foley, was John’s only daughter. My cousin Margaret’s grandfather was John Joseph Foley, my grandmother’s half-brother (pictured above), and John’s third son but only child from his second marriage (to Annie McElroy).

John Foley without a doubt has been my greatest genealogical challenge. I have posted previously a number of stories about John who was, in modern terms, a self-made millionaire, despite his inability to read or write. I am a namesake of John’s oldest son who was my mother’s favourite uncle and whose funeral I can vividly remember attending when I was ten or twelve years of age. Various records provide various dates and locations of John’s birth. John appears and then ten years later disappears in census records. The only thing certain seems to be that John married my great grandmother, Mary Jane Fitzgerald in 1894 in Toronto, Ontario, that they had three children before Mary Jane’s sudden death at age 33 in 1899, and that John married Annie McElroy in 1903 in Toronto, Ontario. John died suddenly in 1927 while on a business related trip to Los Angeles, California in 1927.

I have never seen a photograph of my great grandfather John Foley although I feel certain that one must exist somewhere. Fortunately, through the Ancestry connection I may be getting a step closer to breaking through this stubborn brickwall.

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Prosperity Did Not Always Bring Happiness

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I have written a number of posts about my wife Ellen’s cousins in the Breithaupt family. Phillip Ludwig ‘Louis’ Breithaupt had immigrated to Buffalo, New York as a teenager with his father Liborius in 1844 where the elder Breithaupt established a tannery business. Phillip Ludwig learned the tanning business from his father and would often make trips through Upper Canada (now Ontario, Canada) and the U.S. mid-west to purchase hides for leather manufacturing.

One of Phillip Ludwig’s close friends in Buffalo was an Evangelical Association minister named Jacob Wagner, Ellen’s second great grandfather, who was married to Margaret Hailer. In 1851, when Liborius died, it was Rev. Wagner who officiated at his funeral. Eventually, Jacob would introduce Louis Breithaupt (he had dropped the Phillip and anglicized the Ludwig apparently to carry on the family business of L. Breithaupt) to the Hailer family in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario. In 1853, Louis married Catherine Hailer, thus making he and his friend Jacob brothers-in-law. In late 1861, Louis left his Buffalo, New York business and established Breithaupt Leather Goods in Berlin.

Although Louis was successful in building his Berlin tannery into a thriving business, twice the tannery burned to the ground, once in 1867 and again in 1870. The adversity slowed Louis down but he carried on and re-built.


Louis and Catherine had ten children, the first three born in the U.S. and the remaining seven born in Berlin, Ontario. Their seventh child and fifth son was Daniel Edward Breithaupt (pictured above), born in 1868. By all accounts, Daniel was a normal, healthy three year-old. On July 9th, 1871 Daniel attended a Sunday School outing in a small area near the Breithaupt tannery that was in the process of being re-built. When it began to rain, the group of children took shelter on the main floor of the tannery building. Unfortunately, the floor collapsed beneath them, plunging the group into the vats below. Although there were very few injuries, little Daniel drowned. Following his son’s death, Louis wrote in the family bible, “Gott schenke mir und uns allen die Gnade ihm Himmel einst wieder zu sehen,” loosely translated as ‘God grant me the grace and all of us to see him again in heaven.’


Their sixth child, and fourth son, Esra Carl Breithaupt was born in 1866 and although never physically considered to be robust, Carl, as he preferred to be called, was a capable student who graduated with a science degree from North-Western College in Naperville, Illinois in 1887. In 1892, Carl graduated as an Electrical Engineer from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Returning home, Carl (pictured above) transformed the horse powered Berlin and Waterloo railway to an electric railway. He also purchased a substantial stake in the railway company, becoming president and manager of the company. Carl was also a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, where he joined the likes of Thomas A. Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in an association formed in 1884 “to promote the Arts and Sciences connected with the production and utilization of electricity and the welfare of those employed in these Industries: by means of social intercourse, the reading and discussion of professional papers and the circulation by means of publication among members and associates of information thus obtained.” Carl also held the position of Vice-President of the Canadian Electrical Association, formed in 1891.

During the evening of January 26, 1897, Carl was at the electric works when an explosion occurred. Early in the morning of the following day, Carl succumbed to his injuries.

A prosperous family was left to grieve.

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Murder Near the Family Tree, Part 4

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This is the 4th and last post in a series recounting the events associated with the murder of Catherine Aureila Vermilyea on the night of Thursday, October 4th, 1934. Mrs. Vermilyea was the mother-in-law of my wife Ellen’s second cousin, twice removed, Dr. James Albert Faulkner. The murder case and the ensuing murder trial of Mrs. Vermilyea’s son, Harold Vermilyea (pictured on the left) caused a sensation in 1934 southern Ontario that was followed across North America.

Bringing a Murderer to Trial

When Harold Vermilyea, the son of the murder victim returned to his home in Ontario, California on Saturday, October 6th, he was greeted by the police who arrested him on a charge of murder. Harold professed his innocence stating that he had been away in northern California seeking employment at the time of the murder. On October 17th, Harold left Los Angeles where he had been held in custody and boarded a train, accompanied by two police officers from Ontario, Canada.

While on the train, Harold told a Toronto, Ontario newspaper reporter that he was glad he was going back to Belleville. “I want to get it over with.” The crime was reported on across both Canada and the United States. Police boarded the train car in which Harold sat every time the train slowed or made a scheduled stop to provide additional security. By October 20th, Harold’s trip ‘back’ had brought him to Toronto and an overnight stay in the infamous Toronto ‘Don’ Jail. The police made good use of Harold’s short time in Toronto to construct several police ‘line-ups’ to allow potential witnesses, taxi drivers and hotel employees, to try and identify Harold. Not having enough men for the purpose, Toronto police reportedly went to the streets around police headquarters and ‘recruited’ passersby until they had sufficient numbers for the line-up.

On Sunday, October 21st, Harold was admitted to the Hastings County Jail in Belleville, Ontario, a place that was to be his ‘home’ for the next several months.

The Evidence

There was such interest in this case that crowds waited for hours, sometimes in the rain, in order to get a seat in the courtroom. Harold was identified by Miss Mountney, the maid, as the man who came to the Farley home on the night of October 1st, refused to give his name and left abruptly before Mrs. Vermilyea could greet him. Next, four hotel workers testified that Harold had stayed at the Walker House hotel in downtown Toronto, under the name of Mr. Carter, from Septmber 30th until October 5th. A taxi driver, named John Bannas, testified that he had driven Harold from Toronto to Belleville and back on both October 1st and October 4th. The round trip fare that they had agreed upon was $15.00.

A medical expert testified that blood stains were found both on the pants that Harold was wearing and that blood stains were also found in the taxi that Harold had been in for the return to Toronto. As this was before DNA testing could provide more definitive evidence, all the expert could provide the court was that the blood was human.

The evidence showed that Harold upon returning to his hotel in Toronto learned that the Belleville murder was already in the early editions of the newspaper. He immediately checked out of the hotel in the early morning hours and took a taxi to Hamilton, Ontario where he boarded a train, using the name of B. F. Collins, bound for Chicago, Illinois. Arthur Iszard was the porter on that train and he was able to identify Harold as the passenger named Mr. Collins who, upon entering the United States at the Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan border, wired ahead to Chicago for an “aeroplane reservation.” The pilot on that Chicago to Los Angeles flight along with a passenger, the publicity director for the Metro-Goldwyn Moving Pictures Company, also identified Harold as being on the flight to L.A., occupying seat number 11.

And finally, the evidence showed that Harold had stored his car in a garage from September 25th until October 6th and then tried to have the operators of the garage erase the record of the car’s stay.

The Defense

Two well respected lawyers were appointed to defend Harold at his trial. Both Charles A. Payne and Col. Richard H. Greer had received the honourary title of King’s Counsel or K.C. in recognition of their legal work. They depended on the evidence of Dr. J. J. Robertson, a Belleville physician, to show that Harold was insane. Dr. Robertson testified that, based on his examination and interviews, Harold had thought up “the plan for weeks and weeks.” Harold, the doctor continued, thought his mother should divide up part of her estate (which was valued at $40,000 at the time of her death). Harold’s proposal was that he and each of his three siblings could be given $5,000 by their mother. As Dr. Robertson stated, “His mother was well off, a sister was well off and they didn’t need any money, but his his children did need help.” When his ‘begging’ letter was responded to by his sister, Harold saw this as a sign that they were conspiring together to ruin him, at least that’s what the defense wanted to the jury to believe.

The Decision

Mr. Justice Jeffrey, the presiding trial judge, in his charge to the jury stated, “Some might say that it was only circumstantial evidence, but sometimes circumstances linked to form a chain of evidence beyond any reasonable doubt.” The jury took four and one half hours to reach a verdict. During this time, the courtroom spectators refused to give up their seats but rather waited in the courtroom, in some cases sending their children home to bring food and drink. When the jury returned, they pronounced their verdict of guilty as charged.

The following day, Mr. Justice Jeffrey pronounced sentence on Harold – “The sentence of the court upon you, Harold W. Vermilyea, is that you be taken from this place to the place from whence you came and there be kept in close confinement until the second day of May, and upon that date you be taken to the place of execution and be there hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul.”

After the trial and sentencing, Harold’s brothers, Arthur and Clarence told a reporter, “He got justice. He got a fair trial. What has happened is best for him and everyone else.” His lawyers appealed his case unsuccessfully and on May 2, 1935, the sentence of the court was carried out in the yard of the Hastings County Jail ending the sensational trial saga of the mid-1930’s, believed at the time to have been one of the longest murder trials in Ontario history to that time.

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Murder Near the Family Tree, Part 3

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This is Part 3 in a series of posts about the murder of Catherine Aurelia Vermilyea (nee Farley), mother-in-law of my wife Ellen’s second cousin, twice removed. The murder case and the ensuing murder trial of Mrs. Vermilyea’s son, Harold Vermilyea caused a sensation in 1934 southern Ontario that was followed across North America.

Catching a Killer

On the night of Thursday, October 4th, 1934 the normally quiet town of Belleville, Ontario was shaken to learn that a long-time, prominent member of the community, Mrs. Catherine Aurelia Vermilyea had been found murdered. The crime had in fact taken place on the lawn of her daughter’s Bridge Street home.

The Belleville police force immediately began their investigation. First they fond the murder weapon, a lather’s hatchet, near the murder scene and next they believed they had the discovered the identity of the killer, the victim’s son, Harold Vermilyea. Police later testified that they had narrowed their search for the killer to Harold within three hours of the crime. However, the mystery to solve was that Harold lived about 3,000 miles away from Belleville in Ontario, California. Undaunted, Belleville police contacted the police in California and requested their assistance in apprehending the suspect.

Harold Vermilyea was the oldest of four children born to Nathaniel and Catherine Aurelia (nee Farley) Vermilyea. Nathaniel was a prosperous farmer who provided for his family in the village of Thurlow, just east of Belleville, Ontario. According to the 1901 Census of Canada, the Vermilyea household included the parents, children, a lodger and a domestic servant. According to the 1930 U. S. Census, Harold indicated that he left home and made his way to California in 1909 where he was employed in the citrus fruit industry as the manager of a fruit packing operation.

All was well for Harold, his wife Clarise and their two children, a daughter Catherine Aurelia (after his mother) and a son Douglas Than until the Great Depression era took hold. Harold lost his job and for the first time was unable to pay the bills.

In June 1934, Harold wrote to his mother what he later described to be the “begging” letter. In his letter, which was printed in it’s entirety in the October 6, 1934 edition of the Toronto Star newspaper, Harold explained his financial predicament to his mother, how he consulted with several prominent people about even broaching the subject with her, and asked for her help by giving him some money. He wrote, “If you could spare $1,000 now, it would be a life saver for this family. But whatever you do for us, should be done for others of the family. In other words, nothing is settled unless it is settled right.”

His mother did not send any money and in fact, it was his sister, Mrs. Helen Faulkner, who replied to his letter offering some advice.

The Belleville, Ontario police sent a telegram asking about the whereabouts of Harold Vermilyea to the Ontario, California police on October 5th, 1934. California police went to Harold’s residence and were told that he was away on an auto trip in northern California. So they did what was to be expected, they staked out his house and on October 6th, Harold returned, was met by the police and arrested.

Harold, a U. S. citizen since 1922, was held in custody at the Los Angeles County jail awaiting an extradition hearing. The process was shortened considerably however when on October 13th, Harold voluntarily agreed to waive extradition and return to Canada. Harold maintained his innocence stating that he was in northern California seeking employment at the time of the murder.

His trip back to Belleville, Ontario began on October 17th when he boarded a train, as Transcontinental Western Airlines reportedly “refused to carry a manacled man,” handcuffed to Detective Frank Izard of the Belleville police force and accompanied by Inspector Gardner of the Ontario Provincial Police force.

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Murder Near the Family Tree, Part 2

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This is Part 2 in a series of posts about the murder of Catherine Aurelia Vermilyea (nee Farley), mother-in-law of my wife Ellen’s second cousin, twice removed. The murder case and the ensuing murder trial of Mrs. Vermilyea’s son, Harold Vermilyea caused a sensation in 1934 southern Ontario that was followed across North America.

The Crime

Catherine Aurelia Vermilyea lived at the home of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth Farley on Bridge Street in Belleville, Ontario. The town of Belleville in Hastings County has a rich history as an early settlement area for groups of United Empire Loyalists who were granted land in respect of the loyalty to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War and to compensate them for losses they may have incurred ‘south of the border’ during that war. Bridge Street, in particular, is a splendid avenue, lined with large Victorian homes whose occupants tended to be people of influence and means in the town.

Both Catherine and Elizabeth were widows who enjoyed the benefit of having two maids to look after the household chores and needs. On the night of Monday, October 1, 1934, one of the maids, Miss Eunice Mountney, answered the door of the home to a man who asked for Mrs. Vermilyea. The man however refused to give his name as he wished to “surprise her.” The man left suddenly when he learned from the maid that Mrs. Farley was having guests that evening.

Three nights later, on Thursday, October 4th, the two maids had the evening off duty and so Mrs. Farley and Mrs. Vermilyea were occupying their time in the library of the home with another of Mrs. Vermilyea’s sisters-in law, Miss Mary Kelso who had come for a visit, when the doorbell rang. As she customarily did in the absence of the maids, Mrs. Vermilyea answered the door. She returned to the library moments later explaining that it was someone asking for food. On two subsequent occasions that evening Mrs. Vermilyea answered the door. On the last occasion, at about 9:30 p.m., Mrs. Vermilyea answered the door but found no one there. On checking about the home, Mrs. Vermilyea found the office door ajar and when she entered the room she was heard to say “Is it you back again.” No one was able to identify the caller nor state whether the person was a man or a woman.

Miss Kelso later testified that Mrs. Vermilyea and the ‘visitor’ went to the upstairs of the house and about ten minutes later they came back downstairs. At this time, Mrs. Vermilyea stated that she was going out for a few minutes. The time according to Miss Kelso was 9:40 p.m.

About this time, George Gorman was returning home from an evening at the theatre and he passed a man and woman “walking hurriedly” in a west direction along the south side of Bridge Street. Shortly after the two people had passed him, George reported that he heard a single groan so he stopped and walked back to find on the lawn of a home “a bundle.” Mr. Gorman stopped a passing car and when someone lit a match to provide some light, Mr. Gorman saw that the ‘bundle’ was in fact a severely injured woman.

The lawn on which the victim was found was at the home of Mrs. Helen Faulkner, the wife of Dr. James A. Faulkner, then the area’s new Member of Provincial Parliament and Minister of Health for Ontario. Hearing voices outside her home, Mrs. Faulkner called out and asked what was wrong. She allowed Mr. Gorman and Mr. C. B. Smith, the driver of the car stopped for assistance by Gorman, to carry the victim into her home and place the injured woman on an emergency operating table that her husband kept in the house. In the light of the home, Mrs. Faulkner recognised the victim and exclaimed “Oh, it’s my own mother.”


Catherine Aurelia Vermilyea died in her daughter’s home, the victim of a brutal attack. The police immediately arrived and began their investigation. Police Officer Isard found the murder weapon near the home, a lather’s hatchet (see image above of a lather’s hatchet courtesy of the Florida Center for Institutional Technology) . Police also learned from the next door neighbour of Mrs. Faulkner, a Mr. Hunt, that “angry words” had been heard outside at the time of the attack, followed by the sound of several blows and a man saying, “Take that.” No one saw the attacker fleeing the scene.

The hunt for a murderer was on!

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com

Murder Near the Familly Tree, Part 1

ianhadden1955 3 Comments

Last week, I shared that I had found ‘new-to-me’ information about one of my wife’s cousins, Dr. James Albert Faulkner. James is Ellen’s second cousin, twice removed and was, in addition to being a noted physician in the Belleville, Ontario region, the Ontario Minister of Health in the provincial government Cabinet from 1934 – 1937.

I got an additional surprise when checking information available on the Find-A-Grave site about the James Faulkner family when I found that James’ mother-in-law, Catharine Aurelia Vermilyea (nee Farley) had been murdered. Mrs. Vermilyea suffered a violent and untimely death on the evening of October 4th, 1934, on Bridge Street in Belleville, Ontario. Although I would not usually pursue research into a family that is not directly related to either Ellen or myself, I will often at least record any vital record type information about a relation’s in-laws to complete ‘the picture’ and for future reference. It was through this that I discovered the note on Mrs. Vermilyea’s Find-A-Grave ‘memorial’ page that referenced the manner in which she died.


Thirty-six hours after the murder, her son, Harold W. Vermilyea, was arrested in Ontario, San Bernardino, California (Harold is pictured above with the arresting officer William Hammond of the Ontario, California police department). And so began a story that competed on the front pages of newspapers in Canada and the United States with the Linbergh baby kidnapping and the trial of Bruno Hauptmann for the crime as well as the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany. The Vermilyea murder story was gripping as there were no witnesses to the crime, the son of an affluent Belleville family was accused of matricide, and everyone wanted to know how someone, in 1934, who lived in Ontario, California could murder someone in Belleville, Ontario and be back home in California thirty-six hours later.

In the next couple of posts, I will re-tell what many pages of newspaper articles from the Toronto Star’s Pages of the Past told captive southern Ontario communities about Harold, the Vermilyea family, the crime and the punishment.

Contact me with your stories, questions and comments at ian.hadden@rogers.com