William Benjamin Boulton (1847 - 1910)

William Benjamin "Ben" Boulton (1847 - 1910)

William Benjamin "Ben" Boulton was the younger brother of Randy's Great Grandmother Ann Henrietta Boulton.  He was born in 1847 when his father Thomas was 73 and his mother, Ann Higginson Boulton, was 36.  The Boulton family lived on the west side of Lamb's Pond near New Dublin in Elizabethtown Township, Leeds County, Ontario. 
On February 9, 1875 Ben Boulton married Margaret "Maggie" Polly Chapman (1853 - 1934) at the home of the bride's stepfather, George Berry.  Ben and Maggie lived on a farm near his family in Elizabethtown.  In about 1896, they followed other family members to Manitoba where  he homesteaded SE 30-5-27 W1, 2 miles straight North of Broomhill.  He also aquired many other quarters in the area and also later farmed 21-6-27 W1 near Reston, Manitoba.  
The backs of the following pictures all say "Boultons" and we presume they are children and spouses of Ben and Maggie.  The black mountings say they were taken at Martel and Sons Studios in Brandon (1900-1904) and the white one is from Steele & Co Winnipeg and Calgary (1902-1908).

Six Children of Maggie and Ben Boulton

• Elizabeth Jane (1875 - 1951) married B.J.Smith and later William Archibald
• William Benjamin (1877 - 1916) married Bessie Nixon
• Thomas Nelson (1880 - 1957) married Annie Archibald
• Edythe May (1883- 1989)
• George Cleveland (1887 - 1977) married Nellie Archibald
• Travers Macdonald (1891 - 1971) married Lauree Allen

On the back of the original photo is written "To Leita, Aunt Maggie Boulton's house in Winnipeg.  Maggie Boulton is Grandma Sly's sister".  The house is at  575 Furby Street.

The information and four last photos in this biography came from Keith Sly from Seeleys Bay, Ontario.

Found on Newspapers.com
Ben's obituary in the Winnipeg Tribune says he came to Manitoba in 1900.  He aquired 1600 acres of land in the Reston area but moved to Winnipeg in 1906 due to poor health.  He had a business there called the Boulton Smith Land Company, presumedly with his son in law, BJ Smith.  The address given in ads for their office is 255 1/2 Portage Avenue as well as 11 Alberta Block.  At the time of his death in 1910, sons Thomas Nelson and Travers Macdonald lived in Tyvan, SK, son George Cleveland was in Reston, daughter Mrs. BJ Smith, son William and daughter Edith Boulton in Winnipeg.

Thomas Nelson "Nels" Boulton (1880 - 1957)

Thomas Nelson was born on January 15, 1880 in  New Dublin, Ontario near Brockville.  He was the third child of William Benjamin "Ben" Boulton and Margaret Chapman.  The family lived and farmed the family lot near Lamb's Pond until about 1900, when they moved west following Ben's sister Ann and her husband Benjamin to the southwest Manitoba area.  Ben bought many acres of farmland and his sons would have been involved in that business as well but at some point headed farther west and went into the retail hardware business.

In the 1901 Manitoba census he was living with his parents and siblings and in 1906, he was enumerated as a 26 year old farmer with his 21 year old wife Annie at 20-6-27 with his brother Cleve.  

Thomas Nelson or "Nels" as he seems to be more commonly known, married Annie Archibald who was born in Saskatchewan 1885.  They went on to raise 4 children;  Gladys born in 1900, Gertrude in 1907, William Archibald in June 1908 in Tyvan and Bessie in 1910. Bessie was likely the daughter of his brother William Benjamin who died suddenly in 1916 and his young wife who died in 1909. Nels, Annie and these four children are recorded on the 1911 census in Tyvan.

An online book available at our roots.ca, written in 1987 by Myles C. Kinney called As It Was in the Beginning, gives the community history of Tyvan, Saskatchewan.  The above picture shows Nels on the far right in 1912 as one of the curlers.

  

Photo postcards above of Tyvan are from the website prairie towns.ca put online by Glen Lundeen.  

On page 204 of his book, Mr. Kinney says Nels was the third man in Tyvan to own an automobile, a 1911 Ford Model T.  Nels had purchased the Hardware Store in Tyvan in 1908.  He was a member of the Village Council in 1909, 1910 and 1912.  He sold the business in 1915.  The following tale is told on page 214 of the book:

In 1907, the T. Eaton Co. started their Western Canada mail order business in Winnipeg.  The variety of their stock, and generally lower priced items appealed to a great many.  No doubt business in small Centers was affected.Nels Boulton, Tyvan's hardware merchant at the time, displayed a canny way of illustrating the advantage of shopping locally.It appears that a certain farmer (who will remain nameless) asked Boulton the price of an axe handle, then complained about the price saying that he could get the handle for less money from Eatons.  Boulton obliged by agreeing to meet Eaton' price.  The customer waited some minutes then requested his axe handle.  Boulton asked, "When would you get it from Eaton's?"  The farmer had to admit it would take a week for mail order delivery.  "Well", replied Boulton, "Come in next week and your handle will be here."When next in town the farmer went in for his axe handle only to be informed (regretfully) by Boulton that the handle had been broken in shipment and had to be returned (as might have been the case had it been ordered from Eatons).  The next week the farmer called at the store again, and this time got his handle at Eaton's price.  It looked suspiciously like the handle he could have bought for a few cents more than the Eaton's price a few weeks earlier.  No doubt , Mr. --- got the message.  Boulton thought it was a huge joke.  The story made the rounds of the community.

The pictures above were sent by Keith Sly and were identified on the back of the originals as Boultons.  I believe the one on the right look like the curler above so guess that it is Nels and Annie.  The one on the left would be one of his brothers Travers or Cleve and his wife.  Any readers of this blog with any further information, please let me know.

On the 1916 census, the same family of six is living at 1205 5th Street in the city of Moose Jaw and Nels is listed as owning a hardware store.

A digital service file under regimental #55514 and can be found online at Library and Archives Canada and it contains over 80 documents pertaining to his military service.  On April 28, 1916 at age 36, Nels signed attestation papers to enlist in WW1 in Moose Jaw, SK.  He was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall with fresh complexion, brown eyes and grey hair. Nels would have bid goodbye to his wife and family of four young children ages 9 down to 5 and then arrived in England on April 22, 1917. Unfortunately, he was seriously injured in combat on September 29, 1918.  At Cambrai in France, he was hit with a shell in the left side of his chest.  It resulted in damage to his left arm causing impaired function of his left hand and arm.  As a result, he was discharged from service on December 11, 1919.  

In November 1923, a border crossing record was made of Nels passing through International Falls, Minnesota on his way to Morrisburg, New York to visit his brother in law William Bell.

The only other fact I know is that Nels died in Vancouver on April 27, 1957.  His injury in the war no doubt made earning a living much more difficult.  Any further information to tell Nels' story can be included in the comments below or email me at ssimms@escape.ca.

George Cleveland Boulton (1887- 1977)

George Cleveland was born on May 23, 1887 at New Dublin, Ontario.  He is the son of William Benjamin "Ben" Boulton and Margaret "Maggie" Chapman.  Cleve, as he is known,  was at Brockville with his family in the 1891 census but by 1901, they were found in Manitoba.  Thirteen year old Cleve was enumerated with his parents 2 sisters and 2 brothers that year.    By the 1906 census, Cleve was living with his brother Nels and his wife Annie at 20-6-27.  They own 18 horses according to this document.

In 1907 a marriage is registered in Pipestone, MB between Cleve and Nellie Parker Archibald.  His brother Nels' wife's maiden name was Archibald and their sister Elizabeth married William Archibald later in life but I'm not sure if this was a coincidence or if any of the in-laws were related.  Nellie was born in 1879 in Nova Scotia.

The following clipping from the Manitoba Morning Free Press tells that Cleve suffered the greatest loss in the Reston area of 1300 acres of uninsured crop due to a vicious hailstorm the same year he was married.  Not a very rosy start to married life.

Found on Newspapers.com

The 1911 census has Cleve his wife and daughter Helen May were living on 28-6-27 along with his younger brother Travers and two hired labourers. 

Very early in the war, on October 24, 1914, 28 year old George Cleveland signed Attestation papers in Regina for the First World War.  He is given registration number 73756 and declares he was a member of the 12th Manitoba Dragoons for one year previously.
His digital service file online at Library and Archives Canada tells he served with the 28th Northwest Battalion in France from September 17, 1915 to January 1, 1916.  He then moved to the Third Canadian Tunnelling Company from January until June of 1916.  He served at Ypres as well as other battlefields in France and Belguim.  Cleve was wounded  with a gun shot blast to his left chest wall on June 10, 1916.  He was in hospital about 2 weeks and was eventually discharged in March of 1918.  Cleve returned home on February 7, 1918 to a farm at Reston where his wife Nellie age 40 and his 9 year old daughter Helen May were waiting for him.  At times while he was overseas according to the file, she was living at Moose Jaw and Condie, SK. 

George and Nellie were recorded on the 1921 census living near Reston, MB on 21-6-27.  Family information says there was a second daughter named Margaret Evelyn as well.  I believe he continued to farm the east half of 21-6-27 until the mid thirties.  After this, I am not sure how his story continues.  Any further details would be welcome in the comments below or via email at ssimms@escape.ca.

George Cleveland Boulton died in Vancouver on November 30,1977.  Nellie had predeceased him in 1965.  They are buried in the Hatzic Cemetery in the Fraser Valley region of B.C..

Abigail Louisa Boulton Roe (1878 - 1963)

Abigail Louise was the middle of 5 children born to Benjamin and Ann Boulton near Brockville, Ontario in 1878.  Her siblings previously featured on this blog include Herb, Thomas, Anthony and Susan.

She was a three year old on the 1881 Ontario census living with her parents, siblings and her grandmother Ann.  She is called Abigail on the 1891 census and she is 13 years old.  The next year her family left Ontario for the prairies, Reston was their new home.  Ten years later in 1901, she is no longer at the Boulton home, according to the census.

Although I can find no official record of the next 3 events, I believe that she married Fredrick Jesse Roe  (1873-1957)  and had two sons, Thomas Fredrick in 1902 and Russell Alfred in 1903.  The latter was born at Mackinak, MB, southeast of Dauphin, according to his obituary in 1975.

Strangely, in the 1906 census, she seems to have been counted twice.  The Boulton home counts her as a 26 year old single "Abagail" and she is also counted as 26 year old Louisa Roe in The Humboldt, Saskatchewan area living with her husband 29 year old Fred, their sons Thomas (4) and Russell (3) along with Fred's brother William (35) and father (65) along with a 14 year old nephew Scott Chester. Their address is listed as Cressman, although I can find no record of this community.  Their household at 20-32-24 W2 had 4 horses, 4 milk cows, 5 other cattle, no sheep and 7 hogs.

Text of the note above, found in the Boulton house:

Winnipeg, July 9th
this is to certify that I will not quarrel with my brother (graney?) (or?) to mark each quarrel down on this paper. (F.?) Roe
Signed Thomas Roe and Russell Roe

What a find over 100 years later!  Who among us has not been in need of a pact like this one?  The bottom of the sheet was blank so maybe it worked!

The 1916 census finds the Roe family of four in the RM of Ellis in township 18 range 29.  Fred is listed as a labourer on a farm.  By 1921 Fred, Louisa and Thomas Roe are in the Birtle Municipality at 14-17-27 as farm owners.  They declare themselves as Methodists.

Back of the photo says - Mother & I and the Anderson sisters & Russell - 1927

(l-r Russell Roe, Anderson sisters, Louisa Roe and Tom Roe)

They moved to Brandon in 1927 according to her obituary and ran a market garden - east of the 18th street bridge about where North American Lumber is now.  The address in old ads is 1418 Manitoba Avenue although the there is no such address now that I can find.

Russell Roe and Helen Ashby                      Russell Roe with

Pearl Campbell and Tom Roe on top               Margaret Kilkenny

Brother-in-laws Fred Roe and Anthony Boulton - photo says 

18th Street Brandon Flood - July 6, 1947

This picture was said to have been taken in at the Roe's Market Garden in Brandon in the 40's or 50's.  

Russell Alfred married Helen Irene Ashby and had three sons - Travers, Eugene and Gerald.  He died in 1975 and his older brother Tom in 1981.  They are all buried at Brandon Cemetery. 

Uncle Frank recalled his Aunt Louisa living on the flats just east of the 18th street bridge, between the tracks and the river.  During the dry years of the 30's he said they had an acre or more of rhubarb plants that they grew for their market garden.  The grasshoppers came and ate every plant, and even sucked the roots dry of any moisture so all the plants were lost.  Rick recalls going to visit with his dad Edwin, perhaps in 1959 and the yard was flooded and they walked across pallets to get to the house.

Roe's Garden ad in the classifieds from 1965 Brandon Sun

Fredrick died in January of  1957 and Louisa on June 20, 1963. Her obituary from the Brandon Sun can be found below.  I would love a photo of Louisa or any of her family to add to this post, if any of my readers might have one.

Found on Newspapers.com

The Church in the Photo

 We found this photo at the Boulton farm recently, appearing quite old and mounted on back cardboard.  I was thinking possibly it was a church in England connected to the Bushby family until I turned it over in just the right light and saw this:

Then I knew why it looked sort of familiar, I'd been to that spot!  In the summer of 2015, I took a trip to southern Ontario to visit my sister and we toured the area where Benjamin and Ann and their family originated from.  The church is known now as St. John Evangelist Anglican Church and it sits at 6543 New Dublin Road in the community of New Dublin, near Lamb's Pond.  Link here for the Google Map.  It appears that regular services are no longer held at this church.  I wonder if Benjamin and Ann were married in that church?  A few tombstones were behind and beside it but across the road were many more, as pictured below called New Dublin Cemetery #2.

 Lorne and his wife Elma were featured in a blog post here and the almost illegible and overgrown one beside it is for Margaret Johnson Boulton, wife of Thomas as written about here. 

 John and Alice were Benjamin's parents, which makes them Randy's second great grandparents.

Abe and Ethel's story is recorded here and I believe Leslie Travers was their son.  

It was a narrow but long cemetery that followed New Dublin Road for quite a ways and I'm sure there were more Boulton/Bolton stones but we were getting tired of walking that day! 

  The picture above is the only other building I photographed that day in New Dublin.  It seems to be their public library, day care center, government office and community center.  The plaque above the door indicates it as being the town hall, erected in 1890 - two years before our Boultons left on their Manitoba adventure!