More About the OTWELL Farm in St. Mary's

Interesting research compiled by Arlene ROLA and shared by cousin, MaryBeth S. gives us more information on the OTWELL Farm in St. Mary’s, Ontario.

One letter dated 1 November 1980 was from Mr. John Mervyn MILNE (1903-1983).. MILNE was a St. Mary’s historian working on a book about local farms. His cousin owned the Otwell farm after John F. OTWELL left and MILNE worked there as a teen. Another letter from 27 August 1982 from another St. Mary’s historian, Margaret FACEY, indicated that she was compiling information for a Tweedsmiur Book.

Most of the information shared we already knew, but the following items are of interest:

1.) South of the farm is a street called Wellburn. The name was coined by local residents from the “well” in OTWELL and “burn” from the area’s first storekeeper/postmaster James BURNS.


Wellburn Street Sign, 1984 by Arlene ROLA

2.) In the letter, MILNE states that John F. and Mary purchased the 100 acre farm on 12 January 1861. The property was mortgaged 20 August 1865 as security for a loan for $250.00. A double house was then built on the property – half lived in by John F. and Mary and the other half by their son Maurice and his growing family. Also on the property is a carriage house and a barn, both thought to be of the same age as the house.

3.) According to MILNE’s father, the pickle business survived after the fire of 1882, but “it could not keep up with the expensive tastes of the women in the family. They bought expensive clothes and entertained lavishly. When the family left the premises, the upper rooms were left undisturbed for years. When my brother went through them early in 1918, he reported closets full of fancy dresses. They were taken out and burned by my cousins. When I went through these rooms several months later I noticed the floors literally covered with long fancy hat pins… that would be collector’s items today.”

• I’m sharing this paragraph as I found it humorous, but likely not factual. It appears that the family broke apart when Maurice was committed in 1889. Most of the family left the area and probably couldn’t take all their belongings. There were six females living in the household and one would expect a lot of dresses and hat pins for that many people. I would suppose too that 1880 style dresses to a 1918 eye would look fancy.

 4.) “The local newspaper announced the birth of a daughter on Nov. 6 1888; which I accept as Jane would be only 41 years of age at the time, but I have in my notes the birth of another daughter to Maurice Nov 5, 1910.”

• We have no information on children born in 1888 or 1910. Maurice was committed in 1889, so 1888 is a possibility.

5.) A newspaper article of 29 December 1904 stated that John F. went to live with his daughter-in-law Mrs. Maurice OTWELL, No. 63 Adams Ave. East Detroit, Michigan.

• This confirms the verbal family history passed down to cousin Herb OTWELL.

6.) “The name of the factory in 1888 was Western Pickle and Sauce Works. They made a shipment of 250 gallons to one firm alone in Toronto in that year.”

• This is the third business name we have found after the name “J.F. Otwell & Son” was sold.

Mrs. FACEY shared a photo of the back of the house that was taken by a later owner, circa 1930s.

Back of house circa 1930, from collection of Arlene ROLA

Arlene drove to St. Mary’s and took photos of the farm in 1984. The owner at the time was Jean STERRITT, but she was away during the visit.

Otwell Farm Street View, 1984 by Arlene ROLA

Back of House, 1984 by Arlene ROLA

Barn and Carriage House, 1984 by Arlene ROLA

 Thank you cousin Marybeth!

Lillian Craig's Baby Book

This family treasure was shared by cousin Marybeth S.  Her mother, Arlene ROLA (1924-2012), received this book from Aunt Lillian CRAIG (1892-1977).  Lillian had recorded all of the family's important dates; a little more information than what is typical for a baby book.  Arlene was the first person in our family to research the OTWELL family tree.  Could this book be what started her on her journey?

The book was originally created for Bobby CRAIG (born 1916), but also included a photo of James CRAIG (born 1919).  There are a couple of photos of the CRAIG grandparents, too.

 

Most of the book is full of tips for new mothers and is quite interesting to read.  Remember mothers, "don't give your baby tea, coffee, beer or wine" and "don't take him out when the snow is melting"!  My favorite page is the list of presents that baby received on his birth day.

 

 

Thank you Marybeth for sharing!

Importance of DNA

For Christmas 2018, my sister, Cheryl, gave me an Ancestry DNA kit.  She said I would be the right person instead of her since I love genealogy.  I always wanted to do it but, truthfully, was afraid what I might find.  On February 12, 2019 I received my results.  Actually, they were what I expected except 9% Sweden.  My mother is 100% German and Sweden comes very close to Germany or it could be those darn Vikings invading Great Britain.

The DNA then lists your matches by the closest first.  There are 50 people on a page and I have 443 pages or 22,150 people listed with matching DNA.  This shows how long the Otwell side has been in the US.

I was intrigued with my #1 match.  Who is this person?  So I sent them an email. I received a response from Lynn who said my match was to her mother, Irene.  Irene is 96-years old and never knew her father's name or anything about him.  Well, that certainly got my attention.   Irene showed up as a 1st or 2nd cousin, probably 2nd cousin.  This would have to be one of my grandparents or their siblings as her father.  Lynn told me another match she received sent her papers showing they were from Alsace, Lorraine, which was sometimes German, sometimes French.

My mother's family on her mother's side came from Alsace, France.  My grandmother only had one brother, Raymond Miller.  I began to believe Raymond was Irene's father.  Lynn told me her mother lived in the Genesee/Bailey area of Buffalo.  So did the Miller family.  In fact, they lived about a block apart.

Lynn sent me the papers on her Alsace connection.  Unfortunately, I had to reply that none of my relatives were listed.  Again I began to look at my grandfathers and my grandmothers' brothers.  I then decided to look at our shared DNA matches.  I contacted the closest DNA person to us both but they did not respond.  I then tried Jacqueline G. and within minutes she sent me her phone number in Tampa, Florida. Jacque showed up as related to Irene and me as around 4th cousin.  The Miller family arrived in Buffalo on July 19, 1874.  I began to read their children's names and Jacqueline said, "My grandmother's name was Magdalena."  Jacque followed that line and sure enough her grandmother was named after her grandmother, Magdalena Miller, the sister of my relative Jacob Miller.  We now have a 100% match.  Jacque said it made her day to help Irene find her father.

I contacted Lynn with the news that Raymond Miller was 100% her grandfather and her mother's father.  This was all accomplished in less than one week.  Lynn said her 96-year old mother asked, "Is he still alive?"  Irene, Lynn and their family have the answers to many of their questions.  They have another branch on their family tree along with pictures and stories of Ray Miller and his family.  Irene Greene is my mother's, Delores Gerlach Sim, first cousin.

The use of DNA is amazing.  This is such a wonderful story that my blog partner, Mary, suggested that I add it to our blog to show the importance of DNA. We all shed a tear for Irene Greene and her family.

Welcome to my family Irene, Lynn and your family members.