Zion Evangelical Church Members List 1915 – Part 2

Yesterday, I posted the first four pages of the 1915 members list for Zion Evangelical Church in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario.

The mainly typed members list was compiled in July 1915 and contains more than 800 church members names, many also with home addresses listed.

Here are the remaining four pages of the eight-page list.

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p5

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 5

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p6

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 6

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p7

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 7

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p8

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 8

Zion Evangelical Church Members List 1915, Part 1

Zion Evangelical Church was established in Berlin, Upper Canada, now known as Kitchener, Ontario, during the 1830’s. The first pastor to serve the church was assigned in 1839, the church previously being served by ‘itinerant’ preachers primarily from New York state.

Unfortunately in 2015, the church closed it’s doors, no longer viable due to high operating costs and a dwindling membership. During one of my trips through the area, I had a chance to visit and tour the church while it was was being decommissioned. Graciously, I was provided with a copy of the 1915 church membership list, which stands as an excellent source of genealogical information for those with ancestors who lived in that area.

The membership list was completed in July 1915 and contains more than 800 names of church members, many with their home addresses included. The list is comprised of eight pages, most of which is typed but also including some hand-written notations and additions to the list.

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p1

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 1

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p4

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 2

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p2

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 3

BERLIN Ont ZION EVANG Church members list 1915 p4

Zion Evangelical Church, Berlin, Ontario, members list, 1915, page 4

The final four pages of the church members list will be published here tomorrow.

Sentimental Saturday – The Bender Family Attend Ted’s Christening

Sometime around late October or early November 1943, Ellen’s oldest brother Edward ‘Ted’ Wagner was christened. The baptism was conducted by Ted’s great grandfather, the Rev. Louis Henry Wagner.

Among the family photos of the occasion is the photo below showing young Ted being held by Margarette Otilla ‘Alma’ (Bean) Bender. Alma was Rev. Louis Henry Wagner’s sister, well, technically half-sister. They shared the same mother but had different fathers.

Louis’ father was Rev. Jacob Wagner, the partner of Louis Breithaupt in the establishment of the Eagle Tannery in Berlin, Canada West (now Ontario). Jacob died when Louis was just one year old. Louis’ mother, Margaret (Hailer) Wagner re-married, her second husband being Dan Bean (Biehn).

Alma was the youngest of the six children that Daniel and Margaret had together. Alma was also 19 years younger than Louis Wagner, her oldest sibling.

In the photo below, Alma is with her husband Alfred C. Bender and their son Paul Adolph ‘Dolph’ Bender. We’re fortunate that Ellen’s mother Tess wrote the identities of everyone on the back of the photo or we might still be trying to identify everyone.

BENDER Alfred C - Alma - Ted Wagner (15 weeks) - Peter Adolph 1943

Alfred, Alma and ‘Dolph’ Bender with young Ted Wagner, about 1943

Sentimental Saturday – The Wine And White Formal

The year was 1975.

In February of that year, at least that’s my recollection, I was privileged to be the date of a very pretty 18-year old young woman named Karen when we went to her Notre Dame High School’s annual ‘Wine and White’ formal dance in Toronto, Ontario.

Four months later, I had the honour of escorting Karen to her graduation prom.

In April of 1976, on Easter Sunday, she said ‘yes’ when I asked her to marry me and in June 1977, we became husband and wife.

Today, January 23rd is Karen’s birthday. She would have turned 59-years old but for the cruelty of life that took her from us when she was only 45 years of age. Yes, cancer sucks and it affects the whole family in devastating ways.

Happy Birthday, Karen! I know that you know you are loved and remembered.

BENEDETTO Karen Ann - high school wine and white formal 1975

Karen Ann Benedetto, 1975

 

Given Names (or A Mini-Case Study Of Where I Got My ‘Ian Gerald’)

Given names, or if you prefer, first names. We all have them.

You know, the names that our parents ‘gave’ to us either at birth or some time shortly afterwards. These ‘given’ names appear on our birth records and are attached to us for life.

If you are like me, we want to know just how our parents chose our names. Were our names chosen by means of a heritage-based naming convention or as the result of a family tradition? Were we named after a celebrity or, as it might be today, were we named after compass directions?

My ‘given’ names are Ian Gerald.

My mother provided me many years ago with the explanation of how she and my father chose my names.

Ian was an easy choice. My father, a first generation Canadian, is incredibly proud of his Scottish ancestry so a Scottish name was preferred. Second, my father wanted a name that could not, in his estimation, be shortened or altered in the way for example James becomes Jim or Donald becomes Don. The name ‘Ian’ met his criteria. That is, until he noticed that my friends had shortened my name and began to call me “E.” Eventually, my father conceded to the shortened first name and joined my friends and other family members in calling me ‘E.’

My ‘middle’ or second name of Gerald was easily explained, but as you will see difficult to verify.

The easy part is that I was given the name Gerald in honour of my mother’s favourite uncle Gerald Foley, a brother of my mother’s mother Gertrude Ellen Foley. My mother thought the world of her Uncle Gerald and so naming her first child after him was an obvious decision. Just as easy as asking a favourite cousin, one of Uncle Gerald’s daughters, Mary Foley to be my godmother.

In the early days of researching my genealogy, locating the birth registrations of my maternal grandmother and her siblings, including Uncle Gerald, was one of my first goals.

Gertrude Ellen Foley was born on 16 April 1898 in Toronto, York County, Ontario, Canada according to her birth and baptismal records. Less than a year after her birth, on 9 April, 1899, her mother Mary Jane Fitzgerald died in Toronto leaving my great grandfather John Foley with an infant daughter and two young sons, known to me through often repeated family stories as Uncle Gerald and Uncle Clarence.

A search for the birth registrations of Gerald and Clarence provided a nil result. There was no Gerald Foley and no Clarence Foley born in Ontario in the 1890’s, nor the 1880’s for that matter.

I decided to search for all children born to Mary Jane Fitzgerald in Ontario in the 1890’s. As it turns out, there were in fact two sons born to Mary Jane Fitzgerald and her husband John Foley. Their birth registrations record that Lewis Fitzgerald Foley was born 17 February 1895; and, William Dorsey Foley was born 28 September 1896. A very puzzled expression on my face was the best I could muster.

FOLEY Gerald birth 1895

Birth registration for Lewis Fitzgerald ‘Gerald’ Foley, 1895

FOLEY William Dorsey  birth registration 1896

Birth registration for William Dorsey ‘Clarence’ Foley, 1896

The family story that I had heard was that my great grandfather John Foley was a brilliant, successful businessman. And the multitude of records about his life that I have found verify this to be true. However, John Foley was also illiterate, at least according to family story. He was a man who had been taught how to sign his name for business reasons but who was unable to read the documents he signed. Perhaps the baptismal records for these two boys would clear up the name dilemma. After all, their baptisms were events at which John’s wife, and the boy’s mother, Mary Jane Fitzgerald was present at and, there is no indication that Mary was unable to read and write.

Both of the boys were baptized at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Toronto. The records show that Lewis (spelled as Louis in the church register) Fitzgerald Foley was baptized on 3 March 1895. William Clarence Foley was baptized on 4 Oct 1896.

FOLEY Louis Fitzgerald baptismal record 1895

Lewis Fitzgerald ‘Gerald’ Foley, baptismal registration, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Toronto, 1895

It was becoming clear that the family commonly referred to the boys by their ‘middle’ names. Lewis was called or referred to as Gerald and William was referred to as Clarence.

In the 1901 Census of Canada, Gerald was recorded as “Jerald,” the 5-year old son of a widowed John Foley. Clarence was recorded as “William C.” The 1911 Census of Canada records them as Gerald and Clarence. The 1921 Census of Canada makes things a bit interesting again by recording, in an apparent error, Gerald as Clarence in the John Foley household. Clarence by the time of the 1921 census was married and was living with his wife Elizabeth (Blunt) Foley and 3-year old daughter Margaret in another house on the same street.

When Uncle Gerald enlisted for service in World War I, he did so as Gerald Foley, giving his date of birth as 16 February 1895. He was described as a five foot, five-inch tall teamster with dark brown hair and blue eyes.

On 12 November 1917, Gerald Foley of 96 Pickering Street in Toronto served as best man to his brother Clarence when the latter married Elizabeth Blunt.

When he passed away on 6 February 1968, his obituary in the Toronto Star newspaper listed his name as Gerald Lewis Foley. Similarly, the burial record card from Mount Hope Cemetery in Toronto, the final resting place for most members of the Foley family, recorded his name as Gerald Lewis.

So, in the end, I am named after a man who was known as Gerald but whom, ironically, had the same first name as my father, Lewis. Uncle Gerald as it turns out was named after his maternal grandfather Lewis Fitzgerald.

I could have been named Ian Lewis Hadden or perhaps Ian Fitzgerald Hadden. But no, I proudly can say I was named after Uncle Gerald, and the records provide me with a slightly twisted tale to tell about the name.

Sentimental Saturday – Tess’ Family At Her Wedding

I have often heard people say how it feels like the only time they see some of their family members is at weddings and funerals. The message implied is usually along the lines of ‘we really ought to get together more often.’

But weddings do offer at great opportunity for family to gather and share in a usually, most happy event. Such was the case on Thursday, October 15, 1942 when the Latimer family members got together to share in the wedding celebration of Olive Theresa Evelyn ‘Tess’ Latimer.

On that Thursday, 24-year old Tess married 24-year old Carl Francis Wagner. Tess was a nurse in Orillia, Ontario and Carl was a Canadian army sergeant from Saskatchewan assigned to Camp Borden, not too far south of Orillia, when they met.

The photo below is one of a few ‘snapshots’ taken by an unidentified family member on Carl and Tess’ wedding day.

This photo shows Carl (far right) with Tess’ immediate Latimer family. On the far left is Tess’ father Edward Arthur Latimer, standing between Edward and Tess is Tess’ sister and maid of honour Hazel (Latimer) Filkin. Standing behind Tess are her eldest sister Albertine ‘Abbie’ (Latimer) Ensom and her brother Edward ‘Knox’ Latimer. The two girls standing in front of Tess are her nieces Pat and Jule Filkin, the only two that seemed to be able to muster smiles for the photo.

Edward Latimer Abby Knox Hazel Tess Carl with Pat and Jule Filkin 1942

Pat and Jule Filkin with (middle row l. to r.) Edward Arthur Latimer, Hazel (Latimer) Filkin, Tess (Latimer) Wagner, Carl Francis Wagner, and (back row l. to r.) Albertine ‘Abbie’ (Latimer) Ensom and Edward ‘Knox’ Latimer on October 15, 1942

 

Introducing: Edna Staebler

She first appeared as somewhat of a footnote.

At the bottom of page 274 of Ruth Merner Connell’s genealogy of the Merner family published in 1976, there is a listing of the two wives of Frederick Keith Staebler.

Frederick Keith Staebler, who went by his middle name of Keith, was listed in the genealogy as he was a great grandson of Jacob Staebler and his wife Anna Merner, who are in turn 2X great grandparents to my wife Ellen.

The entry on page 274 of the Merner genealogy states “Married #1: Edna ??”

It was one of those ‘I’ll get back to figuring out who you are someday’ moments in genealogy. Keith Staebler was my wife’s second cousin, once removed and, with other research underway, I was not quick in getting back to finding the identity of Keith’s first wife ‘Edna Unknown’.

That was until a few days ago when Ellen asked if I had read her Uncle Gordon Wagner’s book From My Window (published in 1987 by The Flying -W- Publishing Co.).

I had read the book but quite a number of years ago. Gordon had completed many years of genealogy research on Ellen’s Wagner family, building a ‘database’ of about 1,500 related individuals. Much of Gordon’s work had helped in my researching Ellen’s genealogy through the Wagner, Hailer, Breithaupt, Merner, Staebler, and associated families prominent in Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada.

I decided to have another look at Gordon’s book, which is a compilation of short stories and poems. As I first skimmed the pages, it jumped out at me.

There she was on page 30, ‘Edna Unknown’ was really Edna Staebler. Of course she was, I told myself, she had married Keith Staebler. More importantly though, the five or six page short story written by Uncle Gordon about thirty years ago contained numerous clues that helped in hunting down Edna’s story.

Gordon Wagner had wanted to learn more about the family’s Staebler ancestors so he visited the Kitchener, Ontario area that his ancestors had come to as pioneers. There, without the aid of the still decades away Internet, Gordon looked through the local telephone directory, eventually calling “E. Staebler.” Edna answered and invited Gordon to meet with her.

“She’s famous, and I’m not used to famous people,” Gordon tells of their meeting.

Edna as it turns out, was a famous author, probably best known for her cookbook Food That Really Schmecks, featuring recipes that she learned living in the Mennonite community around the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo in Ontario. As a writer, Edna’s articles were featured in Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Saturday Night, and Reader’s Digest amongst others. She was the author of more than twenty books. Edna counted great Canadian writers like Pierre Berton and Margaret Laurence amongst her friends. Most importantly, I learned from Gordon’s short story of his visit with Edna, she was simply a friendly and down-to-earth person who happened to be a great writer.

STAEBLER Edna at Sun Fish Lake

Edna Staebler at her Sunfish Lake (Waterloo County, Ontario) home, as photographed by Gordon Wagner, for his book ‘From My Window’

Edna was born January 15, 1906. In the town of Berlin, Ontario. On February 13, 1906, about four weeks later, her father John G. Cress attended the local registrar’s office and registered her birth under the name Cora Margaret Cress. At the bottom of the birth registration is a notation, obviously added much later that reads “Edna Louisa new name see letter 1910.”

The 1910 letter referred to is not included with the birth registration and I have often wondered at the humour it might contain. Can you imagine what John Cress’ wife Louisa might have written had she been the letter’s author? Perhaps something like ‘Dear Registrar, I have learned that my husband John G. Cress really screwed up when he registered the birth of our daughter. I have no idea as to where he came up with the name Cora Margaret. Please excuse my husband’s error and correct my baby girl’s registered name to be Edna Louisa.’

Ah, the possibilities of that letter.

For her contributions to Canadian literature, Edna Staebler was awarded the Order of Canada in 1995.

Edna Louisa Cress married Frederick Keith Staebler in 1933 but sadly, they divorced in 1962. Edna passed away on September 12, 2006 at the age of 100 leaving a legacy of great Canadian writing and an endowment awarded annually in her name through Wilfred Laurier University.

It is great to know who ‘Edna Unknown’ is and we are honoured to count her among our family.

 

Sentimental Saturday – Winter Fun

This year has been rather unusual because in my part of the world, we have little or no snow on the ground. In previous years, snow has been plentiful as a standard ingredient in the Canadian winter scene.

In the winter of 1991-92, my eldest daughter Lisa loved showing her little sister Jenna how to have fun tobogganing down the small hill in the park across the street from our house. Snow, a hill (no matter what the size) and a toboggan equaled hours of fun and laughter. And the fun was perfected by a cup of hot chocolate to warm up with after play time, made even better if it had tiny marshmallows on top.

 

Sentimental Saturday – Milk Delivery 1938 Style

This is one of my favourite photos.

It shows my paternal grandfather, John Gaull Hadden wearing his work uniform and standing in front of his horse-drawn Silverwood’s Dairy milk delivery wagon.

The photo is dated as being taken in 1938 and appears to have been taken on a street somewhere in the east part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada where my grandfather had his milk route.

Although motorized cars and trucks were available at the time, the dairy continued to have their delivery salesmen use the horse-drawn wagons and even maintained their own livery stables for the care of the horses.

HADDEN John Gaull Silverwoods Dairy delivery 1938

John Gaull Hadden, Silverwood’s Dairy Milk Deliveryman, 1938

Sentimental Saturday – When Santa Delivered A New Tricycle

It was Christmas 1991.

Three-year old Jenna Hadden loved that Santa Claus delivered a brand new pink and white with rainbow motif tricycle. Just for her.

No rusted parts. No hand-me-down from an older sibling.

Even riding in the family recreation room, with it’s still not replaced 1970s shag carpeting, could not wipe the smile from her face as she felt the wind in her hair (well, that part might be a bit of an exaggeration).

HADDEN Jenna at Christmas on trike 1991

Jenna Hadden, Christmas 1991