While in Brantford visiting the Military Museum, I decided to see the Mohawk Chapel, not realizing that it is by appointment only. I wanted to check out the grave of Joseph Brant and I was able to but unable to walk up close. I'm still very interested in Canadian History around the war of 1812 and this stone caught my eye.
I love visiting the Nelles Manor in Grimsby and I was sure this gentleman was related to the family. Willliam Macklem Huron Nelles was born to Abraham Nelles (son of Robert Nelles and Elizabeth Moore) and Sarah Augusta Macklem (1) on 7 October, 1872.(2) Abraham was the rector of the Mohawk Church in Brantford and Sarah was a cousin of Abraham's first wife Hannah. Abraham was 67 at the time that William was born and Sarah was 35. When they married, Sarah was 29 and he was 61.(3) Hopefully he was a young looking 61. Huron appears in the 1881 census of Canada not with his parents but with William and Harriet Bygreave and family. I wonder why? (4) In 1891, he is with his mom and sister, still in Brantford(5), his dad having passed away in 1888.(6) The 1896 Brantford directory lists him as living at 24 Palace St and working at Harley, Sweet, and Harley as a clerk. His mom lived not too far at 34 Palace, which is at the corner of Palace and Albion St.(7) Huron appeared to be someone who enjoyed being in the great outdoors and was one of a group of canoeists who paddled down the Grand River from Galt at the end of April, 1900.(8) In 1901, 28 year old Huron resided with his mom and his occupation is a lawyer.(9)
Huron tied the knot the following year when he married Amelia Maud Brooke on 19 Nov 1902. at Grace Church in Brantford. There is a writeup about their wedding in the Brantford Weekly Expositor and includes a list of invitees, which was relatively small. The couple had a quiet wedding out of respect for a recent death in the groom's family (likely his mom). After their honeymoon, they were going to live at the corner of Albion and Palace Rds in Brantford, which appears to be the family home at 34 Palace.(10)
Huron passed away in 1905. His exact date is not really known. On 22 May 1905 in the Brantford newspaper there was a front page article about Huron who was missing and presumed drowned in "New Ontario". It included the following picture.
The article explains that Huron had left Brantford in March and set out to join a surveying party along the Ontario and Temiskaming Rail Line. He left Twin Lakes on April 4 and about 30 miles from the main party of people, he was met by men (packers) who advised him to travel no further because the ice was showing signs that it was breaking up. April up north is not the same as April in Brantford and unfortunately Huron carried on. Sadly he never reached the camp. His family only heard the news in May and when they sent a telegraph to where he was last seen they were told that he was feared drowned and the water was too high to search for him. Poor Maud was pregnant with their second child at the time.(11) A few days later on the 26th it was reported that the Ontario government would send out a search party to find Huron.(12) Almost three weeks go by before we get another update. On June 19 it's been reported that a body has been found in the Black River and presumed to be Huron. The body was being taken on a 3 week journey to New Liskeard where family could identify him.(13) News of his positive identification by Brantford mayor, A. E. Watt who made the journey up north was reported on July 10. Huron was temporarily interred on the banks of the Black River and would be transported back to Brantford in the winter, when travel was possible. His reported date of death was April 3.(14)
Maud Nelles did not remarry. Her sister Mary Ann Brooke passed away at her house on 89 William Street at the age of 89 in June 1946(15) and Maud herself passed away at home on Christmas morning in 1949 at the age of 79. Her son Lionel went on to become a minister and her daughter Lisbeth Macklem appears to have not married.(16)
(1)(3)(6) http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/nelles_abram_11E.html
(2) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Series: Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, 1869-1913; Reel: 8; Record Group: Rg 80-2
(4)Year: 1881; Census Place: Brantford East, Brant North, Ontario; Roll: C_13264; Page: 77; Family No: 345
(5) Year: 1891; Census Place: Brantford City, Brant South, Ontario, Canada; Roll: T-6326; Family No: 188
(7)Ancestry.com. Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
(8)The Brantford Expositor 02 May 1900, Wednesday Page 5
(9)Year: 1901; Census Place: Brantford (City/Cité), Brant (South/Sud), Ontario; Page: 10; Family No: 104
(10)The Brantford Weekly Examiner, Brantford Ontario, Thursday November 20, 1902
(11) The Brantford Daily Expositor 22 May 1905, Monday Page 1
(12) The Brantford Daily Expositor 26 May 1905, Friday Page 1
(13)The Brantford Daily Expositor 19 June 1905, Friday Page 1
(14) The Brantford Daily Expositor 10 July 1905, Monday Page 5
(15)The Expositor 2 May 1905 - Page 5
(16) The Expositor 27 December 27, 1949 Tuesday- page 6
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