Small stone for a big man

 John and I spent a rainy Sunday morning exploring the very large and old Hamilton Cemetery.  There are so many fascinating and large stones there.  This little one for a man with such a powerful sounding name caught my eye. 

Septimus Stuart DuMoulin.  Such an interesting name, with a bit of Latin, Gaelic and French all in one.

Septimus was the aptly named seventh child born on 5 Nov 1879 in Montreal, Quebec to parents Phillip and Francis. In 1877, his father worked as a Bishop's chaplain and was rector of St Martin's church on 120 Upper St Urbain(1). 

Based on the 1891 census (2), it appears that the DuMoulin family moved back and forth between Ontario and Quebec.  In 1891, they lived in Toronto (St James Ward).  John Phillip a minister was born in Dublin Ireland(3) but his parents were born in France.  Frances Mary Brough was born on Manitoulin Island, Ontario (3) to parents who were also born in Ontario.  Septimus' eldest sister Kate was born in Quebec around 1865, while his eldest brother Phillip was born about 2 years later in Ontario. Brother Frank was born back in Quebec around 1871. Sister Mary (1874) and brother Walter (1875) were born in Ontario.  His younger sister Francis was in Quebec around 1881.   Septimus was a strapping 5ft 11.5" man with brown hair and blue eyes (17), and was enrolled in Trinity College School on Jan 12 1889, where he excelled at hockey, football and cricket. (4) .  It was the beginning of a lifetime of sports for Septimus, affectionately known as Seppi.  He played for the Hamilton Tigers from 1899-1906, where he helped them win 6 grey cups, was a member of the All Canadian Rugger team, and later coached several sports team across Canada.(4)  Septimus travelled quite a bit both within Canada and aboard.  The first record I find of his travels in February 1903 when he went to England(24).

I thought that perhaps it was in his sports travels that he met Ms Marjorie Rockwell King but their wedding announcement seems to have revealed it was through the marriage of one of his brothers.  On January 7, 1912, Marjorie's mother announced the marriage of her daughter in the Chicago Tribune, where it was noted that Marjorie's sister Ethel married Septimus' older brother Rev Frank, when Frank lived in Chicago about 10 years earlier.  By 1912, Septimus' dad (Bishop of Niagara (13)) had passed away  and Frank was a dean of the Episcopal church in Cleveland, Ohio (5) Septimus and Marjorie's marriage took place on May 18, 1912 at Marjorie's mom's residence at 152 East Superior Street, Chicago.  Frank presided over the ceremony.  Ethel was Matron of Honour and Marjorie's brother John Andrews served as best man.  Niece Frances and nephew Rockwell King Du Moulin served as flower girl and page respectively.  Unfortunately,  due to the recent death of one of Marjorie's brothers, they had a small intimate ceremony. (6)   I did a quick search on newspapers.com of Rockwell King to see if I could get a little more information about the brother who passed away.  I quickly discovered that the King family was wealthy,  Rockwell was a prominent Chicago business man and a Harvard graduate.  He died of blood poisoning in July 1905. (7) and his will was filed in 1905. He was reportedly worth $800, 000.  Each of his children named in the Chicago Tribune article received $100,000 (about $3 million in today's dollars), which made Marjorie a wealthy woman in her own right. (8)   The brother who died before her wedding appears to have been McGregor Adams King, who died 13 February 1912 (9) at the age of 26.   I've yet to uncover the details of his death and could only discover that he died at his mom's home, had graduated from Harvard in 1910, was coxwain for the champion rowing team in 1910, was a member of several theatrical clubs,  and worked at the company his dad previously ran, Western Cold Storage(10). 

  Coming back to Seppi, in his married years he seems to have gone by Stuart. In 1914, he and Marjorie are living in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan and travelled on the SS Alice from Victoria, BC to Alaska. (25)

Despite his busy life in sports he was also a family man with a day job.  Stuart, a bank manager and Marjorie appear in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan  in 1916 with two daughters, Lucy (3 years) and Marjorie (1 year). (11)

I don't find much more about Septimus until he appears back in Hamilton as a city counselor for Ward 2 in 1931 and then on the Board  of Control from 1932-1935 (12)

In 1931, Septimus (a Treasurer) and Marjorie travelled to Kingston, Jamaica.  They crossed into the US through Buffalo on 27 February 1931 (18) and returned to North America via NYC on 23 March 1931 aboard the SS Sixaola.  At the time they lived at 47 Huntley St in Hamilton and their daughter Frances was listed as their next of kin. (13)(14)

In July 1932, Septimus, Marjorie and the girls set sail and arrived in Belfast Ireland, en route to Ridgeway Ltd in  London, England (20) and returned in August (22).

On 13 September 1936, daughter Lucy Andrews married James Alexander Stephen Corrigall in Toronto.  At the time of her marriage, Lucy resided at a lovely house at 7 St James Place in Hamilton, presumably with her parents.(15)

 

Septimus' older brother Phillip, passed away on Nov 10, 1956 and news of his death was reported in the Okanagan Historical Society Gazette.  Like Septimus, Phillip was active in the sporting community and served as president  of the Kelowna golf club, football club, and Lacrosse club. He also worked as a bank manager at the first bank in Kelowna and attended Trinity College like his brother. He left behind his wife Amy and 4 children.(16)  Earlier that same year,  77 year old Septimus travelled from NYC to Hamilton, Bermuda aboard the Ocean Monarch(19) and then flew back to New York in April .(21)

It looks like Septimus was actively working well into his 80s, I found record of him travelling yet again to Hamilton, Bermuda in 1961(23). His place of residence is 86 Herkimer St in Hamilton, where he would die 2 years later.

In 1963, Septimus was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, he was instrumental in the development of football leagues in Western Canada and well recognized.(26)

(1)Lovell's Montréal Directory, 1881

(2)1891 Census of Canada.  Year: 1891; Census Place: St James Ward, Toronto City, Ontario, Canada; Roll: T-6370; Family No: 6

(3) Frank DuMoulin death Certificate - Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1948 (MS 935, reels 1-694), Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

(4) https://archive.org/stream/trinitycollegesc66trin/trinitycollegesc66trin_djvu.txt

(5) Chicago Tribune 7 January, 1912.

(6) Chicago Tribune 19 May 1912 page 3.

(7) Chicago Tribune 31 Jul 1905, page 5.

(8) Chicago Tribune 04 Aug 1905 page 12.

(9) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94061118/mcgregor-adams-king

(10) Chicago Tribune 14, Feb 1912 page 2.

(11) Census of Canada, Year: 1916; Census Place: Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw, 17I; Roll: T-21931; Page: 31; Family No: 351

(12) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton,_Ontario_City_Council

(13) Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Series: RG 76-C; Roll: T-14936

(14) Year: 1931; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 5; Page Number: 205

(15) Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registration of Marriages 1936; Reel: 19-333

(16) https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ohs/items/1.0132198

(17)The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, New York, 1902-1954; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: M1480; Roll Number: 034

(18)The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, New York, 1902-1954; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: M1480; Roll Number: 034

(19) The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels and Airplanes Departing from New York, New York, 07/01/1948-12/31/1956; NAI Number: 3335533; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A4169; NARA Roll Number: 365

(20) The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 979

(21)Year: 1956; Arrival: Idlewild Airport, New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 3; Page Number: 192

(22) Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Original data:Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Outwards Passenger Lists. BT27. Records of the Commercial, Companies, Labour, Railways and Statistics Departments. Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies. The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, England.

(23) Ancestry.com. Bermuda, Passenger and Crew Manifests, 1957-1969 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
Original data:Passenger and Crew Manifests of Airplanes Arriving in Bermuda. Series A3925. NAI: 2681636. Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787–2004, Record Group 85. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.

(24) Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Series: RG 76-C; Roll: T-496

Photo obtained from Public Member Photos and Shared Documents - Ancestry.com

(25)The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger & Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Ketchikan, Alaska.; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85

(26) https://cfhof.ca/members/seppi-dumoulin/

Photo credit Canadian Football Hall of Fame.