Monday, January 20, 2014

Life Summary: Lizzie Margaret Whipple (1875 - 1963)

Lizzie M. Whipple, about 1893
Lizzie Margaret Whipple was born on June 24, 1875, in Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan, to Lyndon Leander Whipple and Alida Electa Hand Whipple. She was the fourth of five children born to the couple, only two of whom lived to adulthood. Claud and Maud died before Lizzie was born. Lizzie's older brother Harry was born in 1873. A younger sister, Mattie, born in 1876, lived less than a year.

On June 24, 1896, Lizzie married David Winter Brown in Fairgrove. According to the marriage record, she was a music teacher at the time.

As mentioned in the post on Lizzie's husband David, Lizzie and David moved several times early in their marriage. Their first child, Harmon, was born in Sebewaing in 1897. Fred apparently was born in Fairgrove in 1899. At some point in 1900 the family moved to a rented home in Winsor Township, where they lived alongside other employees of the Wallace Stone Company. David and Lizzie's son Lynn was born in Colfax Township, Huron County, in May of 1900. A daughter, Myrtle, was born in 1902. Neil, according to his marriage record, was born in Manistee, Michigan, in August of 1905. This was just two months after Lizzie's brother Harry was married in Manistee. Was the family visiting Harry and his wife when Neil was born? Pictures from 1908 show the family living in the "Quarry Home" near Bayport.

Lizzie in the Quarry Home with Fred, Lynn, Myrtle and Neil, Christmas 1908

Lizzie and another woman with Fred, Lynn, Myrtle and Neil

Carpenter Street house in Midland
David and Lizzie welcomed Kenneth into the world in 1910 and Walter in 1912. In 1912 David was corresponding with Harmon Fairchild, his brother-in-law, regarding the purchase of a house, apparently in Midland, and also five acres of land. He asked Harmon Fairchild to take pictures of the house. He said Lizzie was concerned about the height of the ceilings. In 1913 and perhaps before that, their oldest son Harmon was living in Midland with Harmon and Harriet Fairchild, attending high school. 

In 1916, when Lizzie was 41, the family moved to Midland. David and Lizzie’s youngest son Herb was born there in 1917. According to the 1920 census, the family lived at 608 Carpenter Street, West. Later they moved to another house at 1316 West Carpenter Street.

Lizzie Brown, December 1950
Lizzie was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. After David died in 1953, she lived another ten years. I remember going with my dad to visit her in her house in Carpenter Street. She died on August 25, 1963 in Midland, Michigan. She is buried in the Midland City Cemetery.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Siblings of David W. Brown: Joseph I. Brown (1868-1925), Daniel D. Brown (1871-1902) and John Wesley Brown (1877-1958)

This post completes my account of the siblings of my great-grandfather, David W. Brown.

Joseph I. Brown was born on May 2, 1868 in Oakwood, Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario. He moved with the family to Listowel and to Baltimore, Dakota Territory. On October 18, 1890, at the age of 22 (the marriage record says 23) Joseph was married to Lulu M. Brebner in the Methodist Episcopal parsonage. Both Joseph and Lulu were residents of Port Austin, Michigan, at that time. Joe’s occupation was “railroad station agent.” (It seems that at one time or another all of the brothers Brown worked for the railroad.)


According to the census of 1900, Joe and Lulu were then living in Sault Ste. Marie, in Chippewa County, in the northern peninsula of Michigan. They had three children, Harriet J., 6, Sarah A., 2 and Donald, six months. Joe’s brother John was also living with them. Joe’s occupation was "railroad train master" (an employee in charge of a railroad yard); John’s was "railroad fireman."


Joe and Lulu's son Donald died in 1902. They had another son named Peter B, who was born in 1903 in Saginaw. The 1920 census has the family living in Saginaw. Peter was then 16. Their daughter Harriet and her husband Earl H. Kelsey were also living with Joe and Lulu. A second daughter, Sarah A., had married a chemist named Carl W. Blenkhorn in 1917.



I have two letters that Joe wrote to his brother David, one written in 1919, the other in 1923. The letterhead shows that Joe was the sales manager for The Wallace Stone Co., Bay Port Stone, Saginaw. This is the same company David W. had worked for. In the letter of 1919, Joe thanks David “for your kind and nicely placed congratulations.” No doubt David had congratulated Joe on the birth of his grandson, Carl W. Blenkhorn, Jr., who was born in 1919.

Joe’s wife Lulu died on March 21, 1922, at the age of 52. Joe himself died on August 13, 1925, at the age of 57. They are both buried in the Midland City Cemetery.


Daniel D. Brown was born on August 15, 1871 in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario. With the rest of the family he moved to Listowel and then to Baltimore, Dakota Territory. The 1900 census says he was born in September 1871 rather than August, but that appears to be a mistake.

 When the family moved to Michigan, Daniel began to study law. I have a “Certificate of Admission as an Attorney” for Daniel dated August 31, 1894. For a time he and Harmon Fairchild practiced law together, with Daniel serving as a justice of the peace. Daniel was also involved in the fraternal organization known as the Knights of the Maccabees. According Wikipedia, "The group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members." The census of 1900 shows that at that time Daniel was working as a lawyer in the town of Onoway, in Presque Isle County, Michigan. 


Daniel died on July 2, 1902 at the early age of 30. Apparently he was visiting his brother Peter in Sumas, Washington, when he died. The funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church in Midland. A newspaper article gives the following account: "The ceremonies were in charge of the Maccabees, who with the Midland Band, more than a hundred in all, marched from the home [of Donald Brown, Daniel's father,] to the church and from the church to the cemetery." The article speaks of "the solemn strains of appropriate music floating upon the air." Daniel was buried in the Midland City Cemetery.



John Wesley Brown
John Wesley Brown was born on August 27, 1877 in the city of Listowel, Perth County, Ontario. He moved with the rest of the family to Baltimore, Dakota Territory in 1880. Two certificates of promotion show that he attended the Port Austin Graded School. As mentioned above, John was a railroad fireman in 1900. In 1902, at the time of Daniel's death, he was living in Akron, Michigan, which was on the Pere Marquette Railroad. By 1918, when his father Donald died, he was living in Midland, Michigan. At some point he started a furniture business in Midland, John Brown Furniture. He never married. According to the census of 1930, John's mother Sarah Brignall Brown was living with him in Midland at that time. In 1940 he was living in the same house, 606 E. Grove Street. His occupation: furniture dealer. 

John died on July 13, 1958 in Midland at the age of 80. He is buried in the Midland City Cemetery.


An ad from a 1942 telephone directory



Monday, November 11, 2013

Siblings of David W. Brown: Peter W. Brown (1864-1942)

I should soon add a post about Lizzie M. Whipple, my great-grandmother and the wife of my great-grandfather, David W. Brown. But before I do, I will finish my account of David’s siblings. My last post was about Harriet Brown, the oldest child of Donald and Sarah Brown. Donald and Sarah had three boys who died in childhood: Donald, John Melville and Alfred Hubert Elwood. Five boys lived to adulthood: Peter W., Joseph I., Daniel D., David Winter and John Wesley. This post summarizes what I know about Peter. The next one will focus on Joseph, Daniel and John.

Peter W. Brown
Peter W. Brown was born on October 21, 1864, in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario. With the rest of the family, he moved to Listowel, Ontario, in 1873-1874, and then to Baltimore, in the Dakota Territory in 1880. According to a story passed down in the Neil Brown family, the second year the family was in Baltimore, “an unseasonable cold spell froze most of the crops and the family was forced to subsist on potatoes. Tempers ran high: on one occasion Donald unjustly accused his son, Peter, of eating too many potatoes (the hired man had actually raided the stockpile), and Peter left home. He was then sixteen. He travelled west, not communicating until years later when he returned to tell of conversations with Sitting Bull and prospecting for gold in Alaska Territory” (taken from an account written by Neil Brown’s granddaughter).

According to the Canadian census of 1901, Peter was then living in Sumas Municipality between the villages of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, in the New Westminster district of British Columbia, Canada. He was 36 and married. His wife is listed as M. Myrtle. She was born in the United States on August 12, 1875, Her religion is listed as Methodist, while Peter’s is Presbyterian. The census says Peter was educated through grade 8, but did not attend high school. His occupation is listed as “railway agent.”

The next piece of information I have about Peter is a newspaper article describing the funeral of his brother Daniel. According to that article, Peter was then living in “Somas [Sumas], Washington.” Daniel died in Sumas, on July 2, 1902, apparently while visiting Peter. There was a delay in bringing Daniel’s body to Midland, Michigan. Peter traveled by train with the body and arrived in Midland on July 11, 1902.

In 1918, when his father Donald died, Peter was living in Bend, Oregon. I have a letter Peter wrote to his brother David in April of 1929. He was then living in Vancouver, Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. He says he has heard from “Mother” (Sarah Brignall Brown) that David has been having a lot of expenses because of sickness. So he has sent “a little present although no [sic] much.” He adds that he has been wanting to come home “to see all the folks and mother particularly and Hattie,” but is unable to do so. It appears that he is divorced and complains about his ex-wife “that Mother wished on me” and “those dog eating lawers [lawyers].” “I think so much about Hattie and you and Mother,” he writes. “It seems awful for Hattie to be so sick after setting [sic] in that window all her life earning money and now cannot enjoy it for sickness.”

I have not been able to find Peter in the census records for 1910, 1920 or 1930. In the 1940 census he is listed as living in the State Hotel in Portland. At that time he was 75 years-old. An online index of Michigan death certificates has a record for Peter W. Brown and says he died on May 27, 1942 in Traverse City, Michigan. Strangely, his parents are listed as Joseph Brown and Sarah Brignall and his birth year is given as 1866. In fact Peter died at the age of 77. He is buried in the Midland City Cemetery.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Siblings of David W. Brown: Harriet Brown (1862-1936)

Hattie Brown
Harriet (Hattie) Brown, the oldest child of Donald Brown and Sarah Ann Brignall, was born on August 6, 1862, in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario. She moved with the rest of the family to Listowel, Ontario, sometime in 1873-1874, and then to Baltimore, in the Dakota Territory in 1880 or 1881. The U.S. census of 1900 says she immigrated to the United States in 1871, but also says she had been in the United States nineteen years. The census of 1930 gives the date of immigration as 1881. 

According to the Brown family Bible, on September 4, 1884, Harriet was married to Harmon Leroy Fairchild of Midland, Michigan, in the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Illinois. (Although the 1900 census says that she and Harmon had been married for fourteen years, which would put the year of their marriage at 1885 or 1886, an online transcription of the vital records of Cook County, Illinois, from the Chicago Tribune shows that a marriage license for Harmon and Harriet was issued on September 4, 1884.) The record of their marriage in the Brown family Bible and the one in the Chicago Tribune list Harriet’s residence at that time as Baltimore, Dakota Territory. 

Harmon Leroy Fairchild
Harmon Fairchild was born in Oswego, New York, on September 4, 1857. His father Duane, who originally came from Connecticut, was a farmer. In the New York State census of 1875, Harmon is listed as being 17; his occupation is “farmer.” Harmon’s sister Julia, who was fifteen years older than Harmon, had married a cooper named William H. Foster. The 1870 U.S. census shows William and Julia living in Midland, Michigan, at that time. An older brother of Harmon’s, James, is living with the Fosters. At some point after 1875 Harmon must have moved from Oswego to Midland, where he taught school before being admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1881, at the age of 24. How Harmon met Harriet Brown is a mystery I have not been able to solve.

As a lawyer, Harmon seems to have prospered. In the Legislative Manual of the State of Michigan for the years 1887-1888 he is listed as the circuit court commissioner for Midland County. At another time, he served as Justice of the Peace.

Fairchild home

Fairchild home (with Harmon?)


Fairchild parlor
As mentioned in David W. Brown’s life summary, it seems likely that David lived with Harmon and Harriet before he graduated from eighth grade in Midland in 1891. Twenty years later, David’s son Harmon would live with Harmon and Harriet while attending high school. My father recalls sitting in Harmon Fairchild’s law office and that Harmon bought him a pair of high-topped shoes. 

According to the 1940 census, Harmon and Harriet lived at 502 Rodd Road in Midland, in a house that apparently no longer exists. The 1920 census lists them as having four lodgers living with them.

Harriet painted china and sold it to the wealthy families of Midland. She and Harmon had a kiln in their backyard. Our family has several examples of her work. Harriet was wealthy enough to lend money to other members of the family.

Sometime in the future I hope to visit Midland and look up the obituaries of Harriet and Harmon. Then perhaps I will be able to add more details about their lives to this account. 

Harriet died on October 30, 1936, at the age of 74. Harmon lived until May 22, 1941, when he died at the age of 83. Harmon and Harriet are buried in the Midland City Cemetery.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Life Summary: David Winter Brown (1874-1953)

Davd W. Brown - 1895
David Winter Brown was born on October 26, 1874, in Listowel, Perth County, Ontario, Canada. He was the sixth of nine children born to Donald Brown and Sarah Ann Brignall. His sister Harriet, the oldest of the children, was twelve years older than David. The other eight children were all boys, three of whom died when quite young. Five brothers--Peter W., Joseph I., Daniel D., David Winter and John Wesley-- lived to adulthood. 

Why was David named “David Winter”? According to the 1871 Canadian census, a Methodist minister named David Winter, who was 23 years old and of Scottish ancestry, was living in Ops Township of Victoria County, Ontario. Since Donald and Sarah were Methodists, it seems likely that they named David after the local Methodist minister. The Brown family Bible was presented to Donald Brown by “the friends of the Wesleyan Methodist Sabbath School, Oakwood, October 30th, 1873,” a year before David’s birth in Listowel.

At some point after February of 1880, when a son named Alfred was born in Listowel,  the Donald Brown family moved from there to the town of Baltimore in the Dakota Territory. David became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1882. Apparently the family lived in the Dakota Territory until at least 1884. After that, they moved to Cass City, Michigan. A certificate of promotion from Midland Public Schools shows that David completed the eighth grade in Midland in 1891. Probably he lived in Midland with his Uncle Harmon and Aunt Harriet Fairchild while at school. 

In 1892 or 1893, David began working for the Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron Railroad. Originally a narrow gauge railroad, the ST&H ran from Saginaw to Sebewaing and Bay Port on Lake Huron and from Bay Port Junction to Bad Axe. During the period 1892-1900 David was employed as a station agent and telegraph operator, and as a clerk in the audit department. He was the station agent in Fairgrove, in Tuscola County, in 1894-1896. 


On June 24, 1896 David married Lizzie Margaret Whipple in Fairgrove. A newspaper account of the wedding says that the ceremony took place at the home of the bride’s parents. “The rooms were beautifully decorated for the occasion. After the ceremony, sumptious [sic] refreshments were served, to which the assembled guests did ample justice. During the evening the newly wedded pair were serenaded by the Fairgrove band.” The account continues: “Mr. Brown has been the S., T. & H R’y agent at this place for the past two years, and during that time his close attention to business and pleasant manners have gained him many friends.”

On February 10, 1897 David and Lizzie’s first child was born. They named him Harmon Leroy after his uncle, Harmon Leroy Fairchild. David and Lizzie had seven more children: Fred H., born January 8, 1899, Lynn (Lyndon) Joseph, born May 22, 1900, Myrtle Electa, born October 22, 1902, Neil David, born August 27, 1905, Kenneth M., born December 18, 1910, Walter B., born November 27, 1912 and Herbert Henry, born May 19, 1917. Herbert was born when Lizzie was almost 42 years old.

Perhaps because of David’s employment with the ST&H, he and Lizzie moved fairly frequently. The newspaper account of Lizzie’s death says that they lived in Sebewaing and Saginaw before moving to Huron County in 1900. Harmon was born in Sebewaing in 1897. Fred apparently was born in Fairgrove in 1899.


The Wallace Stone Company
Stone train, about 1908
The move to Huron County had to do with changes in the railroad. The ST&H served the Bayport Quarries, which were located near the town of Bay Port, about three miles inland from the shore of Lake Huron’s Wild Fowl Bay. Trains transported crushed rock (limestone) from the quarry to Saginaw. The ST&H was leased to the larger Pere Marquette Railroad on February 1, 1900. David saved a letter dated January 31, 1900, from W. H. Wallace, Superintendent of the ST&H, commending him for giving “thorough and efficient service in all the duties he has been called upon to perform” and recommending him as “competent and reliable.” In May 1900 Lynn was born in Colfax Township, near Bad Axe. In 1900 the Bayport Quarries were incorporated at the Wallace Stone Company with W. H. Wallace as president. Apparently David was hired by Wallace soon thereafter. The 1900 census, recorded on June 24, shows David and his family living in a rented home in Winsor Township, alongside other quarry workers. David’s occupation is listed as “bookkeeper at the quarry.” When Myrtle was born in 1902 the family was still in Winsor Township. The 1925 record of Neil’s marriage says he was born in Manistee, Michigan. So apparently, the family was living there in August of 1905. The Pere Marquette did have a station in Manistee. Pictures from 1907 show the family living in the “Quarry Home” near Bay Port. Both Kenneth and Walter were born in Bay Port. 

Correspondence from 1912 between David and Harmon Fairchild indicates that at that time David and LIzzie were trying purchase a home, apparently in Midland, where Harmon lived. In 1916, when David was 42, the family moved to Midland, Michigan, where David worked as an accountant for Dow Chemical Company until his retirement. (According to the 1930 census, he was on the unemployment schedule at that time.) The 1920  census shows the family living at 608 Carpenter Street West. In 1930 and 1940 the address was 1316 West Carpenter Street. 


David W. Brown, 1950
Old photos show that there were family vacations at Indian Lake in 1931 and at Lake Huron, in 1938. By 1939 several members of the Brown family, including David and Lizzie, had purchased cottages on Lake Huron.

David died on October 6, 1953, in Midland, Michigan. He is buried in the Midland City Cemetery.

Monday, September 16, 2013

New Information from an Old Bible

I have recently been in contact with members of the family of my great-uncle, Neil D. Brown. They are in possession of the Brown family Bible and several documents that were stored in it. They have been kind enough to make photocopies of this material available to me, as well as some other family history.

Probably the most important of the materials I have received are photocopies of several pages of lined paper with penciled notes on them. Since these notes refer to “Hattie’s father” and “Hattie’s mother," they were probably written by the husband of “Hattie” (Harriet) Brown, Harmon Leroy Fairchild. It appears that the notes were written in 1888, since that date appears in them and Sarah (Brignall) Brown’s weight at age 43 is noted. Sarah would have been 43 in 1888.
Harmon Fairchild's notes

Some of the information in the material I have received corroborates what I have learned from other sources. Some of it adds to or corrects what I have written earlier. Some of it appears to be mistaken. I will be editing previous posts to include some of the things I have learned. So far, I have edited the post “The Brignall Family in England and Canada” to include new information about Joseph and Harriet Brignall, the parents of Sarah Ann Brignall.

Baltimore, Pembina Co. Dakota Territory
A significant new piece of information about the family of Donald Brown (1840 - 1918) has to do with their movements from one place to another. I had thought that the family moved directly from Listowel, Ontario, to Cass City, Michigan. But in fact, after living in Listowel, the family first moved to the Dakota Territory. There they lived in or near the town of Baltimore. At first I was unable to locate Baltimore or find any reference to it. However I found an 1886 map of Dakota Territory online. On that map, in the extreme northeast corner of what is now North Dakota, I found Baltimore. The tiny town is now called Glasston, North Dakota, and is located in Pembina County. The dates that the family was there are a bit uncertain. Alfred Hubert Elwood Brown, the youngest of the children of Donald and Sarah Brown, was born in Listowel, Perth County, Ontario on February 26, 1880. (Alfred died on September 6, 1886.) The record of the marriage of Harriet Brown to Harmon Fairchild says that she is a resident of Baltimore, Dakota Territory. Harmon and Harriet were married in Chicago, Illinois, on September 4, 1884. Harmon was from Midland, Michigan, and that is where the couple settled. Apparently the Donald Brown family moved to Michigan soon thereafter. Thus they probably were in the Dakota Territory between 1880 and 1884.

The new information I have received will enrich past posts about the Browns (when I am able to modify them) and future posts as well. My sincere thanks to my relatives in the Neil Brown family!

Monday, September 2, 2013

The Brignall Family in England and Canada

Bringhenale - Domesday Book
What can we learn about the ancestors and family of Sarah Ann Brignall, who married Donald Brown (1840-1918)?

According to the Internet Surname Database, the surname Brignall has its origin in the village of Brignall, located in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. “The place name is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 in the spelling of 'Bringenhale',” a name which may mean “bright place.” According to the same website, Thomas de Briggenhale appeared in the Poll Tax rolls for the county of Yorkshire in 1379.

According to the parish records of Settrington, Yorkshire, England, John Bignal (Brignall) and Isabel Dale were married there on November 29, 1759. Among their children was John, who was born on October 18, 1774 in Settrington. The parish records of Terrington, Yorkshire, show that John married Sarah Pickering on April 16, 1798 in Terrington. They resided in the ancient village of Scagglethorpe in the parish of Settrington and had five children, including Thomas, born on July 7, 1803, and Joseph, born on June 3, 1811. Harmon Fairchild's notes say that Joseph was born in Wintringham, but this appears to be a mistake. The Brignall family moved to Wintringham, but the Settrington parish records show that both Thomas and Joseph were born in Settrington parish.


All Saints Parish Church, Settrington
Thomas Brignall was married to Mary Mook in 1824. They emigrated to Canada in about 1836 and were living there in Pickering Township of Ontario County, Ontario in 1851. Interestingly, the oldest child of Thomas and Mary was Sarah Ann Brignall, born in 1825. The Sarah Ann Brignall (1845-1933) who married Donald Brown (1840-1918) may have been named after her older cousin or after her mother's sister, whose name was also Sarah Ann.

Haigh Clapham and Ann Goodare were married in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in August of 1800. Haigh is said to have been a merchant. Haigh and Ann had several children including Harriet, who was born in 1818 in Wakefield. On December 28, 1836 in the village of Sherriff Hutton, Joseph Brignall married Harriet Clapham. They may have been servants who worked for the Ingram family there. Harmon Fairchild's notes say that Joseph and Harriet had three sons before having a daughter, Sarah Ann. One of the sons, named Haigh after his grandfather, was christened in Sherriff Hutton on July 22, 1838. Another son, John, was christened on August 1, 1841. All three boys died before 1851. According to the British census of 1851, Joseph Brignell, 39, his wife Harriet, 33, and their daughter Sarah, 6, were living at that time in the village of Earswick in the parish of Huntington, Yorkshire, close to the city of York. (Sarah was born in Earswick.)

As mentioned in an earlier post, Joseph Brignall and his family sailed from Liverpool to New York in the John Bright in May of 1855. According to the ship’s manifest, Joseph and Harriet were both 40 years of age and Sarah A., was 9. The 1861 census for Mariposa Township in Victoria County, Ontario, has Harriet Brignal, 45, who is married and living with Sarah A., who is 16. Also living them is a girl named Ellen Much, who is four years old. (Was Ellen an orphan Harriet took in?) All are listed as belonging to the Church of England. On a separate page of the census there is a Joseph Brignal, 45, a farmer who is married but apparently living by himself. His religion is listed as B. Christian, which stands for “Bible Christian.” The Bible Christian denomination began in England and spread to Canada. It was later absorbed into the Methodist Church of Canada. 

In the 1871 census Joseph, 60, and Harriet, 55, Brignal are listed as living in Fenelon Township, Victoria County. Ellen is now 13. Joseph is a farmer and their religion is “B. Christian.” In the 1881 census Joseph, 67, and Harriet, 65, Brignell are living in the city of Listowel, in Perth County, Ontario. (The Donald Brown family moved to Listowel sometime between 1871 and 1874.) Joseph and Harriet’s religion is “E. Meth.”-- apparently Episcopal Methodist. Joseph’s occupation is “Dealer in s___” (indeciperable). That brings us to the census of 1891. Joseph, 81, and Harriet, 75, now have a 17 year-old adopted daughter named Elizabeth. They are living in Listowel. Their religion is “United Brethren” and Elizabeth’s is “S. Army” (Salvation Army).

The following description of Joseph and Harriet is in Harmon Fairchild's notes of 1888 and probably comes from Sarah (Brignall) Brown: Joseph is "a small man" with a "light complexion" and "blue eyes." His wife is "large weight, 230 pounds."

Harriet Brignall died in Listowel on Monday morning, March 28, 1892. The funeral notice says she was 76, but if the record of her christening and the 1851 census are correct, she was actually three years younger than that. According to the funeral notice, the funeral was to "take place from her late residence, corner of Alma and Reserve Streets." She was to be buried in the New Cemetery. I have not yet learned the details of Joseph's death and burial.