The 1st document above shows the birth of John Richardson, illegitimate, December 31, 1869. Then the 2nd document shows John Richardson Jr.’s death, March 22, 1870 of whooping cough. Its interesting the death beside John Richardson Jr.’s is Mary Ecfort (Eckfort). This is Leah’s sister who died 4 days prior of TB which she’d had for a year.
Above is Leah’s 2nd illegitimate son born April 11, 1873 without a name. Leah’s Aunt Annie is the “accouchure” (midwife) and her mother is the “informant”.
I searched through all the 1881 Horton Township census, looking for an 8-year-old. Below is the one only that fits the unnamed birth above. Robert Eady and Annie Burwell already have a son Robert B. b. 1847. They are too old to have an 8-year-old, so this Robert (age 8) is odd to be with them and I cannot find this young Robert Eady in any of the following census. He seems to disappear. Leah’s illegitimate son born 1873 is likely this 8-year-old Robert.
I’ve tossed around the idea that perhaps this Robert is really Adoniram. But its difficult to believe that at the age of 8 or 9, Leah would change her son’s name from Robert to Adoniram. Its also hard to believe Leah & Philander would report Adoniram as 10 in the 1891 Census if he was really 18. (see below).
It seems more likely that the illegitimate male born in 1873, who may be the 8-year-old Robert in the 1881 Census, is another son Leah had, and not the same person as Adoniram. So that being said, this would reveal that Adoniram had another half-brother.
I received this letter from Florence Eagle, March 5, 1992. Florence was the daughter of Thomas Henry Smith, son of Philander and Ann Smith, thought to be a half-brother of Adoniram.
Of particular interest, and shock at the time, was this:
Your grandfather is not a blood brother of my Father, Henry Smith. … Grandads 3rd wife … No 3 came to work for Grandad bring[ing] a little boy with her who was later your Grandad. … When your Grandad was very young he also took on the name Smith.
When I asked my aunt about this (can’t remember if it was Aunt Edna or Aunty Jo), she said that she had always known this but considered herself a Smith – end of story.
H. Thomas Smith is Henry (Florence Eagle’s father). He is the “Head” of the household as Philander died in 1900.
Admiram is Adoniram. Possible error in his birthdate of Feb 19, as we always celebrated Feb 18.
Orin and Julia are twins. Orin never married. Julia married William Scobie.
E. George is actually Georgina. The only birth AFTER the marriage of Leah and Philander. Georgina married her cousin, Walter Eady. They later divorced.
Philander’s marriage to Leah was delayed for legal reasons. He promised to marry Mary Jamieson, the daughter of Mary Eady, Leah’s first cousin. It seems by refusing to give up her engagement ring, Mary could prevent Philander from marrying someone else. Only when Mary finally married Arthur Humphries, did that free Philander to marry Leah. Another source informed me that Philander was actually sued by Mary Jamieson for Breach of Promise.
Leah and Philander were finally married July 16, 1887. Leah was 38 and Philander was 53.
In my search to find answers to my grandfather’s heritage, I became somewhat of a “penpal” with Hazel Eady. She became my spy into the Eady clan of Horton Township. So Hazel set about attempting to find out information about Leah and my grandfather.
The mystery continues to this day – where did the nickname “Nide” come from?
There are a couple of different accounts of Grampa’s passing. Hazel Eady passed along, in a 1992 letter, that the gossip was out there, that Grampa confessed on his death bed that he did not have his “proper name”.
So while the “death bed” confession as been de-bunked, a confession did take place on the eve of Aunt Edna’s and Uncle Cliff’s wedding.
Then there’s my brother’s memory of what he heard:
Grandpa died with his pants halfway pulled up. He was getting dressed in the morning and didn’t finish. (Guess it could have been when he went to bed or in the middle of the night too) So he was sitting on the edge of his bed and fell backwards on the bed. Didn’t even bump his head. Edna went up to see why he had not come down at his usual time. She found him dead laying on his back halfway in the bed with his pants half way on. I think Edna already knew something wasn’t right anyway.
On February 10, 1921, my grandfather A. W. Smith bought 22 shares at $5.00 each in the Rutherglen Rural Telephone Company, Limited (Ontario). This rural telephone company would have been bought by Bell Telephone.
What happened to these shares? Are they still valid?
Thank you for looking into this for me.
Wendy Smith
February 20, 2012 Email from investor.relations@bell.ca
Good afternoon!
Thank you for your email. No, those old certificates are no longer valid. Bell bought hundreds of rural companies 40-50 years ago. In most cases, shareholders received their payout without having to return their old certificates. That could be the case. If not, then, after so many years, rights belongings to past arrangements become obsolete.
“The old reliable on a Sunday morning” is written on the back of this photo.
To date this picture, I zoomed in on the license plate and Googled “Ontario License Plates” which resulted in the image behind the photo. With this, I was able to date the picture to 1922.
Also note, when I zoomed in on the license, over the back wheel, there are two little faces I hadn’t seen before. This is the 1922 version of photo-bombing!! I can only make an educated guess that these two little faces belong to Lloyd (my Dad) and Emmett.
The people standing to the right of the car are likely (L-R) Vera, Uncle Chester & Gramma. Standing on the step of the car looks like Georgina (“Jo”). (Always thought this was Grampa, but when you zoom in you can see that the face looks more like Uncle Chester).
This was taken between the house and the “Milk Shed” (the logged building on the left) at our farm in Rutherglen.
There are very few pictures of Grampa in the “early” days, without white hair and a mustache. So you might not recognize Grampa in this photograph believed to be taken at the funeral of his mother, Great-grandma, Leah Eady, who died May 28, 1924. When I found out that Grampa’s biological father was not actually a Smith, it changed the way I looked at these pictures, now knowing that the half-siblings were really step-siblings.
L-R: Henry (step), Emerson (Willard’s son), Willard (step), Orin (half) and Grampa. Henry, Willard and Orin are all sons of Philander Smith. Henry’s and Willard’s mother was Ann Dean, the 2nd wife of Philander. Orin’s and Grampa’s mother was Leah Eady, 3rd wife of Philander. The centre woman in front is Annie Scobie (Eliza Ann Smith), full sister to Henry and Willard. Her husband died one year before this photo. She would later marry John Mullen. Next to Annie is Georgina, full sister to Orin. Missing is Julia, Orin’s twin sister. The woman to the left of Annie looks nothing like other pictures I have of Julia.
The identification in the top picture “Third Row #2”, being that she “looks like Grandma Smith”. Of course, its not her as this is her funeral. And can’t be any of Leah’s sisters as Leah was the last surviving female of the siblings.
“Rutherglen – in front of the farm house before it was sheeted in. Taken in 1915.”
Dad, born in 1917, isn’t in the picture of course. Aunt Edna said that was a big deal as every time he saw the picture, he’d get angry because he thought he was in the house and no one called him out for the picture.
This house would be our farm house. The thin sapling behind Aunt Edna’s shoulder became a huge lovely tree that shaded and cooled the back yard on hot summer days.
L-R: Chester, Georgina, Grampa, Elmo, Vera, Gramma, Emmett and Edna
“Billy Hill got some money from Grandpa. He was famous at the dances in Rutherglen because he would [become intoxicated] and step dance like crazy up on the stage. Last time I saw him was at the Orange Lodge and he fell off the stage. He sure could step dance. He lived between Jackson’s gas station and Westley Rose’s grandma’s in a tiny house.”
