Hello Everyone. Happy Spring -- or Autumn for our southern-hemisphere cousins. We are almost settled into our new house, so there is time once again for the lives of those who got us where we are today. I still haven't found anything new or amazing about our Jim & Annie, but there are lots of new cousins, so let us away to the garden. We can have a gossip while we plant a few seeds in hope of a fat summer.

We have known since the beginning of the "Coubrough Project" that Grandma Liz Brown had a sister and two younger brothers. We long ago tracked down sister Maggie and brother John (though we still know little more than their names), but I have long despaired of ever finding out what happened to the family of their baby brother, Simon. One of the cousins knew that there were two cousins named Stella and Hazel, but he thought they were daughters of another of our space aliens, Grampa Matt's sister Barbara. I eventually found, by pure chance, that Hazel & Estella were really Simon's daughters, not Barbara's ⁽¹⁾. And I learned that Simon had "gone to the Klondike," and was never heard from again. After that, there just didn't seem to be any way to find anything more. That all changed early in 2007, when I had an e-mail from Wendy. She had found my web site when searching for her great-great-grandfather, James Charteris Brown!

Hazel Beattie Brown Dabel was the second daughter of Simon Brown and Mary Beattie. Hazel's older sister, Mary Estella, or Estella, as she was known, wanted to make sure her children would never suffer the same rootlessness she had felt. She became a family historian. Researching the families of both her parents as far back as she could, she wrote down not only names and dates, but her own life story as well--both monumental tasks in her pre-Internet days. It is to Estella that we are indebted for the names of her father's second wife, their daughter, and his final resting place. Here is Estella's story:

by Mary Estella Brown Harmon

I was born the 25th of June 1895 in a small town called Rutherford, in Dawn Township, Ontario, Canada. My father was Simon Thompson Brown born at Dawn Township, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, 20 June 1875.

My mother was Mary Elizabeth Beattie, born at Port Huron, St Clair County, Michigan, 29 April 1876. I was given the name Mary for my mother and Estella after my Aunt, mother's only sister, Martha Estella Beattie.

My father's parents were James Charteris Brown, born 8 November 1835 ⁽²⁾, at Newlands, Peebles-shire, Scotland. He immigrated to Ontario, Canada, with his parents at age 18. He was married to Anne Thompson in 1863 ⁽³⁾, She was born in 1841 and died in 1893 in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. Grandfather died 11 November 1914, near Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Grandfather was visiting a daughter ⁽⁴⁾ and her family at the time of his death and was killed in a car accident. Grandfather was an early pioneer of the Rutherford area.

We know very little of my father. For reasons we know nothing of, he left my mother and I about one month before my sister Hazel was born, 9 April 1897 at Rutherford, Ontario Canada. It was many years later before we ever heard of him. Mother, Hazel and I lived with Grandfather Brown until Hazel was near a month old and I was near two years of age. At this time Mother's only sister Aunt Estella Wollenzien came from her home in Vernon, Wisconsin to take us to live with her. Later we lived in a small home across the road from her. Grandfather Brown seemed to have been very attached to me and wanted Mother to leave me with him. But Mother and Aunt Estella felt this couldn't be done, so I too was brought to Wisconsin. For so many reasons I'm happy they did. This would be in the spring of 1897.

While living at Vernon, Mother met and later married August Dabel, a young man from Vernon. He and Uncle John Wollenzien were both well trained in Creamery work and for many years were managers of creameries.

The 26 Dec 1898 mother gave birth to a baby daughter who died at birth. Mother was very ill, having contracted pneumonia and nearly lost her life. Her fever ran so high it caused her to lose all her hair. When it grew in again it was very curly. I also had pneumonia at this time but not as serious as Mother did.

In January of 1900 Uncle John Wollenzien was asked to come to Slaterville, Utah, to install new machinery in a creamery there, then to stay and manage and operate it. He accepted this opportunity and they moved from Vernon to Slaterville. Near this same time my stepfather, August Dabel, accepted a position as manager of a creamery in Calhoun, Wisconsin. Vernon and Calhoun are both very near Waukesha, Wisconsin. On 25 July 1900 a son Wilford Louis was born to Mother and our stepfather. He was called Bill most of his life.

While we were living at Vernon, my Uncle John Wollenzien had a sister Minnie Carroll who lived ½ mile from us. My Aunt Estella told me I never missed a chance to run away to go to Aunt Minnie's to see their ducks. I loved the little ducklings, swimming in a pond. To punish me Mother tied me to the clothesline. She said I would scream to the top of my voice, but still ran away every chance I had.

After Uncle John and Aunt Estella had been in Slaterville a while and late in 1900, W. W. Burton and Sons were building a creamery in Afton, Wyoming. They contacted Uncle John and asked him to come and install the machinery for them. He accepted the job and when he was done installing machinery they offered him the position of manager. He accepted and moved to Afton. They now had three children: Olive born 9 Aug 1896 and Nina born 20 Oct 1898, both in Vernon. Ressa born 19 April 1902 at the creamery.

We continued to live at Calhoun, Wisconsin. Hazel and I both started school here. We walked to school ½ mile or little over. On the way we had to go up a small hill. At this time we owned a large St. Bernard dog named Flora. She used to carry our dinner pail to the top of this hill then we would take it; she would return home. She met us at the top of the hill each afternoon and would carry the lunch pail home.

In early 1903 a Co-op Creamery was built in Star Valley, Wyoming. They needed a trained man to run and manage the creamery. Uncle John suggested August Dabel be contacted so the letter came to us in Wisconsin. The offer was accepted. My Mother and her only sister would be near each other again.

Before we left Wisconsin, Mother's friend Mrs. Rylimer gave us children each a small gift. Hazel and Bill were given small green china cups full of candy, Mine was a brown jug with a very fragile handle and was full of perfume. As I write this history that little jug is 79 years old; it came to Wyoming with me in 1903. In the fall of 1904 I took it to Little Falls, Minnesota. At 8 years of age in 1905 it went with me to Kindy, Michigan and in Feb 1906 Hazel and I came back to Wyoming. I still have my little jug. It is one of my treasures sitting in a china closet.

In July of 1903 my step-father, mother, Hazel, Bill and I left Waukasha on a train bound for Montpelier, Idaho. Uncle John met us with his team, Molly and Bess, in a two seated white top buggy to bring us to Wyoming.

This trip to Wyoming was our family's first experience in mountains. Mother was terrified of the dugways and walked over the high ones. She never did get used to the mountains nor learn to like or enjoy them. She felt they were closing in on her. I loved them as a child and still do as woman.

When we arrived in Afton, evening of July 23, 1903, people in Star Valley were all ready for a big day of celebration on the 24th. We didn't know what it was all about. The most outstanding memory I have of that day is Hazel and I and our cousins were each given a nickel to spend for anything we wanted. We each bought quite a long square package of pink popcorn and tied to each package was a tiny paper parasol we could raise up and down. We stayed with Uncle John and Aunt Estella for awhile until living quarters were ready in the new creamery.

The summer of 1904 we spent playing together, often some of our friends with us, and helping mother what we could. Hazel had reached her 7th birthday in April 9th, I became 9 on 25 June and Bill 4 on 25 July. Mother was not at all well that summer. The owners of the creamery were building a new two room house near the creamery for us to move into. Mother was so anxious for them to get it done for us to move into it. She was never to have this pleasure. On the 3 November a tiny baby girl was born. She was named Alice but only lived a very short time and later on the same day our Mother was taken too. After 77 years it is hard to write about the sadness of that time. We children missed her so and many times we needed her so much. We were so lonely. I remember Hazel and I sitting out on some logs, not knowing hardly what to do. Mrs. Seth Nield came over and took us over to her home to be with her children Ethel and Horace. She fed us and cared for us while Dad and Aunt Estella were busy making funeral arrangements, and getting our clothes ready.

I don't remember much about the funeral except it was held in the old Afton Ward Church, that Hazel and I had new white hats with black velvet streamers hanging down the back and white dresses. Also they sang "Shall We Meet Beyond the River." Somehow to me at that time it made my mother seem very far away and I had such a lost feeling. Perhaps in a childish way I realized the one who loved and protected me was gone.

Mother was an excellent house- keeper, very clean and neat in her appearance. She was not as tall as Aunt Estella, had natural curly brown hair, blue eyes that twinkled when she was happy, but sometimes she was more sad. Her health was not good and I wonder if she felt she may not live to raise her two little girls by a former marriage. She was only 29 years old at the time of her death. Since her death, and when I was much older, Mary Ann Nield and Maggie J. Harmon, a sister-in-law, have told me how neatly dressed she kept her children. She made all our clothes.

After Mother's death it had to be decided who would care for Hazel and I. Our stepfather had no relatives near to help him, Aunt Estella only had two small rooms and her health was not at all good. The following 3rd May their twins John Carl and Jean Carrol were born.

Mother had two brothers living at Little Falls, Minnesota, William Oliver Beattie and Eber John Beattie. It was decided I would go live with Uncle Eber and Aunt Emma who had no children and Hazel would live with Uncle Will and Aunt Nellie who had one little girl, a little younger than Hazel. Even at that age was quite an accomplished pianist, going to Minneapolis while we were there and presenting a concert.

I don't remember dates etc., but before Christmas 1904 Uncle Eber had come to Wyoming and taken us to Little Falls to live. We were separated and were two very lonely little girls. I don't remember anything much about our trip to Little Falls. We had been a family and had a mother. Then suddenly our mother was gone, Hazel and I had no home, we were a thousand miles from anyone we knew, and separated.

After we had been in Little Falls about seven months, arrangements were made to send Hazel and I both on to Kindy, Michigan, to live with our Mother's Uncle Robert Beattie and his wife Aunt Mary. Kindy is near Port Huron, Michigan, where our Mother was born. This is near Lake Michigan and is very cold in winter.

The Sunday before we were to leave Little Falls, Uncle Eber went to Uncle Will's to get Hazel and took both of us for a walk along the river and then to a little store where he bought us some treats. He then took us into a place where someone took our pictures. I never did see one of these. I've always thought Uncle Eber would have liked to keep us both but he had no one to help us be cared for. I loved and trusted him and shall always treasure the memory of his kindness to his sister's two little girls.

Uncle Bob, as we called him, and Aunt Mary were a grey haired couple. I've often wondered how they felt about taking two strange little girls to raise at their age. They had never had children of their own but had adopted a girl several years before. She was married during our stay at Uncle Bob's. They also had a teenage boy with some relationship to them living with them at the time.

While living at Uncle Bob's we attended Sunday at a Methodist or Presbyterian church. We attended one at Uncle Eber's; I can't remember which one at which place. I don't remember anything about letters about our being sent back to Wyoming, but after I was older Aunt Estella Wollenzien told me she never had any peace of mind while we were away. She had a feeling our Mother was near and wanted something. We were her only sister's children and she felt like we should be closer to her.

At this time the Wollenziens were investigating the religion that nearly all the people of Star Valley were members of: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons. If they joined this church she wanted her sister's little girls with them. So on a cold wintry day in February 1906 Hazel and I were put on a train at Kindy, in care of the conductor, and started back to Wyoming. I've always appreciated Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary's kindness and care of Hazel and me. At their age I imagine the care of two little girls to raise must have seemed quite an added burden. We were with them over six months.

The trip back to Wyoming was quite eventful. In those days of no streamliners or fast trains, we were traveling 7 or 8 days before arriving at Montpelier. Somewhere along the line we met a cowboy who left the train at a small station before Montpellier. He rented Hazel and I each a pillow each night as we were traveling on a chair car. We didn't realize at that time he would have to pay for them. Many of the people on the train were interested in us and were kind to us. At one station where the train stopped quite a while, a man and woman took us in to a restaurant and gave us dinner. At Chicago we not only changed trains we changed railroads and had to take a cab from one station to another. It was the cowboy who helped us there. Coming through Nebraska we ran into a terrible blizzard and we were delayed 16 hours there.

Our stepfather had driven Uncle John's team out to meet us, but we were so delayed he had to come back to his job at the creamery. He arranged with Mr. Tayson to meet the trains coming in from the East until we finally arrived. As it was Saturday night and the stage with the mail didn't come to Star Valley and Afton on Sunday, the Taysons kept us until Monday morning.

Lee Hale was driving the stage and on the way in told us about our new Mother. We were rather doubtful. We did not know our stepfather had married Sarah Synder of Bedford while we were gone. She was working for us when Mother died. When we arrived in Afton we found Dad Dabel and his wife and our little brother Bill had moved from the creamery on Nield String to a house in Afton.

Hazel and I stayed with them a few days together. Then came our final separation. My stepfather said he would take Hazel but he couldn't take both of us. Hazel was 8 and I was 10. We never lived together again. Aunt Estella said they would take me. She must have wondered where she would put me. They lived in two rooms built as a lean-to on the west side of the creamery.

The winter of 1912-13 I spent with Mrs. Luella Wilkes. She was left a widow at quite a young age with three small children. Her home was one block west of Main Street. The Grandma Wilkes I first worked for was her mother-in-law. Mrs. Wilkes owned a large white house. She rented out two bedrooms to school teachers: Miss Jennie Murphy (my favorite school teacher), Miss Afton Jones, in a front bedroom downstairs; Miss Emmaline Humphreys, a teacher and one of my friends attending High School, and Genevine Cranney in an upstairs room. Mrs. Wilkes & her little children were in a large front room. I did the house work, washing, ironing and cooking, was now earning $3.50 per week and thought I was doing very well.

Mrs. Wilkes was wonderful to work for and live with. She had suffered much in grief and loneliness and was to endure much as she lost her only small daughter and her youngest son Lloyd within the next few years.

During my stay with Luella Wilkes, Jennie Murphy and I had many talks in confidence. When she was my teacher in school she had known some of my life history and had encouraged me at that time to try writing to see if I could find out anything about my Father's people. When we became close friends again at Mrs. Wilkes home she mentioned this again. I had hesitated to write much as at that time I was known as Estella Dabel. I was only 8 years old and Hazel 6 when we moved to Wyoming from Wisconsin. Our stepfather's name was Dabel so people naturally assumed we were his children. We were too young to think anything about it. If I started getting mail as Estella Brown it would mean explanations. We decided I would write the letter, seal it and enclose it inside an envelope with Jennie Murphy's name on it. Auntie Estella gave us the name of the small town where she came to Canada to get Mother and us little girls. The letter was sent registered to my Grandfather Brown even though we did not know if he were still living or not. Weeks passed by and no answer from anyone. I had never heard a word from anyone in Canada all those years and I was now 17 years old. Did they want to hear from us? Did anyone remember us? What if no one was interested in us? All these questions crowded my mind. I had wanted a father or grandparents so many years. Often I day dreamed that maybe some of my father's people would come hunting us. Holidays were past and no answer. Our letter was sent the latter part of November 1912. Then one day along in January, Miss Murphy came home from school. She had a registered letter from Canada. A letter addressed to me was inside. I wanted so much to open it but was afraid to do so. What an understanding friend Miss Murphy was. With her arms around me, she talked to me and encouraged me to open it.

It was from my very own grandfather, James Charteris Brown. We had sent the letter to Dawn Rutherford, Ontario, Canada. It should have been Rutherford, Dawn Township, Ontario, Canada. Grandfather was spending that winter at Ogema, Saskatchewan, at the home of his Grandson ⁽⁵⁾ who had lived with him as a boy and was living with Grandfather at the time Auntie came to get Mother and her two little girls so many years before.

This grandson left to go west, where his folks lived, when he was 20 years old. Grandfather had made his home with him summers for four years, spending winters in Ontario with his son John at Edys Mills.

The Post Master at Rutherford knew who Grandfather was and sent our letter to Edys Mills, where Grandfather's son John Brown, was a merchant and also Post Master. Uncle Johnny sent our letter to Ogema. The letter to me was dated 14 January 1913 so it took over six weeks to get an answer. I still have his first letter and all others he ever wrote to me. It is 10 August 1981 as I'm writing this.

What a happy girl I was at last. I had found trace of some of my Father's people and in a year or two was to have the pleasure of seeing this dear man, who meant so much to me. I answered Grandfather's letter very soon and received letters from him. He told me they still did not know where my Father was. Grandfather lived with his son John at Edy's Mills when in Ontario. Soon Uncle Johnny's wife Ethel started writing to me. I loved their letters.

Towards late winter of 1913, while I was still working for Mrs. Wilkes, my foot affected by polio continued to get worse. I could not get my heel to the floor. It was decided I should go to the L.D.S Hospital in Salt Lake for surgery. I was now 17 years old. There was no one who could go to Salt Lake with me. Mrs. Wilkes had a brother who was taking his son to Ogden to have an appendectomy and I could go that far with them. Mrs. Wilkes' niece, Jean Child Roberts, would meet me in Salt Lake, take me to the hospital, and help me following my surgery. I was scheduled for surgery early Monday a.m. Monday a.m. the nurse prepared me for surgery. Each time I heard a stretcher come along the hall I thought it was coming for me. Hours passed and sometime in the afternoon a nurse came to tell me there had been some emergency cases come in and as my case could wait, that is what happened. I was allowed to dress and given a light lunch, My surgery took place Tuesday a.m. and by then I was a rather nervous frightened young woman. I didn't have anyone at the hospital and really felt all alone. My nurse told me later she felt so sorry for me. I cried such heart broken sobs all the time I was coming out of anesthesia, I guess from pent up nerves. As soon as I was able to travel, Auntie sent the money for me to come home. Was I ever a happy girl. I was getting very home sick. I had been away so long, amongst so many strangers, had a cast on my foot and using crutches.

A few days after the cast was removed there was to be a special dance. A boy friend called to see if I would go with him to the dance. I loved dancing so much and asked Auntie if I could go. She didn't think it I should dance so soon after surgery. Of course I coaxed to go so she said she would call Dr. West. Dr. said, "Let her go. She will exercise muscles dancing that she would not use other wise". So I had the date and could dance so much easier than I had for a very long time. How happy I was to be with my friends who welcomed me back to our group. This was my first of many dates with this young man. We continued to go together awhile. Then I decided to go with others awhile. This didn't last long and soon we were going steady again. This was the summer of 1913 and in the fall we became engaged to be married at some future date.

After my foot surgery, Auntie felt house work was to heavy for my polio leg and foot. Auntie talked to Bishop Osborne Law, the manager of our local telephone office, about giving me a chance to work there when he had an opening. It wasn't very long until Elva Cazier quit as day operator to marry Hyrum Blacker, so my chance came to quit house work to learn working the switchboard at the telephone office.

I started working at the telephone office in early summer of 1913. ... One day in June of 1914 I was working at the telephone office and I had a call at work from my old friend Grandma Wilkes. She said, "Estella, when you get off work will you come here on your way home. There is some one here who wishes to see you." For a few moments I wondered who could it be? Then suddenly I remembered and I said, "Grandma Wilkes is my Grandpa Brown there?" She said, "I can't tell you. Come and see."

During 1913 Grandfather had mentioned in his letters he may try to come and see me but his health didn't allow him to come at that time. I could think of no one else it could be.

I was too excited to wait until my shift at the office was over. I called the relief operator, Deeane Rich, to come take my place. When she came I lost no time getting to Grandma Wilkes "Cottage Hotel".

My thought was right it was my Grandfather James C. Brown, 80 years old, and had traveled alone from Edy's Mills, Ontario, Canada to see me. I was now 19 years old and had not seen him since I was two and Auntie had come to Canada to get Mother, Hazel & me and brought us to Vernon, Wisconsin.

What a happy wonderful meeting it was. I loved him right away and to think after all those years of wondering who my people were my very own Grandfather had come to find and see me. Auntie asked me to bring him home with me and she, Uncle and the family made him welcome in their home.

He stayed with us for three weeks. Hazel was allowed to come from Freedom, Wyoming to see him. We had many hours together, often going for long walks or just sitting talking by the house of what had happened in our lives. He didn't know of my father's where-abouts but told me of him as a young man, He also told us all about my father's brother, Uncle Johnny and Aunt Ethel, my two Aunts, Elizabeth who lived out in Saskatchewan and had a very large family and Aunt Margaret who lived near his old home and had only one child, a boy now married.

Grandfather would say "Aye but yer a bonnie lassie" in his soft Scottish brogue. He had loved me very much as tiny little girl and he loved me again as a young woman. My heart was full and I was so thankful so many prayers had been answered that I could find my father's people. Now those prayers were answered. Time was to have them answered much more fully.

After three weeks, Grandfather left on the stage for Montpellier, where he took a train up thru Montana into Canada about 40 miles to Ogema and Weyburn, where Aunt Elizabeth's large family lived. Auntie had given him a "Book of Mormon". Later he wrote in a letter if our people would live the teachings of that book there would be no more wars and it would a happy world. I had some letters from Grandfather telling of his safe arrival and news of the families there. My next word came in November from Aunt Ethel at Edys Mills, telling me of Grandfather's death in a car accident near Weyburn. His body had been shipped east to his old home town of Rutherford. He was buried in Dresden Cemetery [beside] his wife who had died while still quite young. She was Anne Thompson. Many of the Browns are buried in the Dresden Cemetery. Grandfather had spent his last few winters with Uncle Johnny and Aunt Ethel Stephenson Brown and their two daughters, Mona and Marion, and a son Jack. Later I knew Mona and her husband very well.

On the 15 of Dec 1914 I received a letter from my cousin James (Jimmy) Coubrough from Weyburn. He was with grandfather in the car accident. The radius rod had broken and he lost control of the car, letting it roll. Grandfather only had one small bruise near his temple, but it was instant death. I shall always be grateful for those three weeks we had together.

Another very important happening, Larry's wife, Louise Cox Harmon, had a brother go to a College in Seattle, Washington, in early 1964 or 5, to do some research work. She asked him to go to Tacoma, to see if he could find anything of Simon Thompson Brown. Our only clue to my father was that he worked in shipyards in Tacoma, during World War I. Louise's brother found my father had died 13 September 1938. It took another year to find my father had married again. We were one year too late to be in touch with her but finally found Vera Brown Caldwell, a half sister to Hazel and I, who came to visit us several times and of all places we found her in New York.

4 January 1967: VerNell, Hazel, Don, Esse and I ⁽⁶⁾ all drove out to Salt Lake Airport to meet our half-sister, Vera Brown Caldwell, whom we had found in 1966. We all spent the night at Cyril & Ver Nell's, where many of our families came in the evening to see us and meet their Aunt Vera. This was all very exciting and unusual to find Vera. Our Father had married Vera's mother Josephine Johnson at Tacoma, after he and our mother Mary Elizabeth Beattie had separated years ago in Ontario.

We had so much to talk about, getting to know Vera and learn more of our own father who neither Hazel or I remembered anything about. Lee Call, Editor of our local paper, Star Valley Independent, came for an interview of the three sisters at our home and took pictures that came out in the paper.

Vera had spent Christmas with her oldest daughter and family in California. She had arranged for a stop over in Salt Lake on her way back to come to Star Valley and visit us. It was all a very exciting experience.

Vera's visit was much shorter this time [January 1968] and more quiet. Those families living near saw her at our home. Although we had never known each other until Holiday time of 1966, we never seemed to have any trouble, visiting easily with each other. There was so much we could tell each other about the Brown relatives. She had known some of them more then I did and of course was born and raised in our father's home and I never tired of hearing anything she could tell me about him. We enjoyed this visit together, it was quiet and we were closer afterwards for this time together."

The last entries in "Mother's Memories" record:

"So ends year of 1982 and my story, except as I keep up my journal. I have accomplished two big goals. I set the first one in 1930. I made up my mind our children would have more knowledge and records of their ancestors than I did. It has taken many years and research from many sources to find what I have. I've written earlier of how I found my people in Canada. The dreams I had of our father coming on a beautiful black horse to find Hazel and I (a child's fairy story).

Having read my life history, readers will know of all the changes and moves in my life, and that Hazel and I were separated when eight and six years of age. I became a searcher of records, first on Esse's lines and, as I learned more of how to look, on my own Brown family names. I wanted to find so much who my people were, where they came from, what they did and especially some pictures, When Keith, our son, had returned from his mission in Canada, he had met my Uncle John Brown's widow. Keith married a girl from Alberta, Canada. They moved to Provo and later to Salt Lake. Both have a great interest in research. I'm so thankful for this. With his research and what I have been able to get from an Aunt and her daughter on the Brown lines, we have several family group sheets.

So my first living goal is reached. I am so happy to know of some of my ancestors and where they came from. I love their pictures, showing their type of clothing. How they looked makes me feel close to them. Now we and our children have our records and something of our early ancestors.

My second goal was to complete "Our life History". Which I started in May of 1955…..and so today 30 May 1983 another goal has been reached."

November 11, 1915, also in Salt Lake City, Hazel married Ferdinand Weber. Known as Fred, he was born 11 November 1894, in Freedom, Idaho, the 8^th of nine children of Swiss immigrants Samuel and Fenna Weber. Hazel and Fred had four sons, all born in Afton, Wyoming, and possibly a daughter, whose name I was not able to find.

The 1930 census says Simon was 26 years old at his first marriage, which was most likely his age when he married Josephine Johnston. Born in 30 June 1875, he turned 20 five days after his first daughter was born, 25 June 1895.

As Estella says, they eventually found their half-sister Vera, nearly 70 years after their father had abandoned his first wife and their two daughters. We can never know why he left them--though he wouldn't have been the first to leave his family for a gold rush--nor why no one ever heard from him again. When they finally found him, it was too late to ask: It had been almost 30 years since Simon had gone to meet his maker, unaware and unconcerned that his children had been desperately seeking him all their lives.

Jim & Annie's in-laws (Part II)

Last time in this space, we talked of Jim and Annie's relations bearing the names MacDonald, McLean, Thomson, Johnston, Brown, and Henderson, nearly all ancestors of Annie MacDonald, James C. Brown or Annie Thompson. This time, we'll take a look at the families of some of the people their children married.

On 27 May 1907, in her hometown of Rutherford, Ontario, Matt and Liz Coubrough's oldest daughter, Annie, married a man named Robert Nelson Eden. I have long been under the impression that "Uncle Nels's" parents were Billy Eden & Maggie Lapp; the Lambton County marriage register tells a different story. (Marriage register information presumably being given by the parties involved, we can probably assume reasonable accuracy.)

The register ⁽⁷⁾ says Robert Nelson Eden was the son of Robert Eden and Ann Robbins. A previous register ⁽⁸⁾ listing the 1882 marriage of Ann Robbins and Robert Eden gives Robert's parents as William & Hannah Eden; Ann Robbins' parents were George & Mary Ann. The only person named Lapp that I could find in the registers at about the right time was a girl named Martha, who married William George McGuire in 1883. Billy McGuire & Martha Lapp were the parents of one Elizabeth (aka Liz) McGuire, who married Liz Brown's son Jim Coubrough. Martha Lapp did have a sister named Maggie, and her parents lived near Robert Eden's parents, but Maggie was not married to Robert.

That said, however, Robert Nelson Eden's parents had both been born in England, Robert Sr., in about 1847, and his wife in about 1849. In the spring of 1901 ⁽⁹⁾, Robert was the youngest of four children at home: John G., born 1884; Mary Ann, 1885; William H., 1887, and Robert, 1889.

Annie Coubrough Eden told her children that they were related to all the MacDonalds in that area. This was sometimes taken to mean they were through her own mother, Annie Macdonald, making all of Annie MacD's children related to all local MacDonalds. However, this is overshooting the mark.

Annie MacD. Coubrough's children were related to some of the Rutherford area MacDonalds, but only those descended from Niel MacD & Flora McLean. Annie Coubrough Eden's children were, of course, connected to those folks, but her husband's sister Mary Ann was married to John W. MacDonald, son of Alexander MacDonald and Mary Johnson. Annie Coubrough Eden's children were, obviously, cousins to these folks as well. As far as we can work out, Alexander was not connected to Niel & Flora. The Eden children were indeed related as their mother said, but they are the only ones.

Brown

Over the years, we have talked more than once about the family of Margaret Henderson and John Brown. They came to Canada about 1852 or 3, with the eight youngest of their nine children, including their oldest son, our very own Grampa Jim Brown. We also talked about Grampa Jim's brother and his sisters, and their children. We knew Margaret Henderson's daughter Agnes had married John Richard Thompson, son of Richard and Harriet Thompson, and brother of the William Thompson who married Agnes's sister Violet. We also knew John and Agnes had four daughters and a boy they called John. Recently, however, I have learned that this young John, who was born about December 1873, was a medical doctor. He seems to have practised in Winnipeg, where he was living at the time of his 14 October 1903 marriage to Janet Glendinning Paterson, born 1872, daughter of Thomas Paterson and Margaret Glendinning. John and Janet had both been born in Ontario, and their marriage took place in their hometown of Scarborough.

Dr. John and Janet Thompson had two daughters: Agnes Helen, born 1910, in Winnipeg, who was also a doctor, and Margaret Glendinning Thompson. Margaret is not listed with her family in either the 1906 census of Western Canada, or the 1911 federal census, where they were said to live at "311 Beland," in the city of Winnipeg. The census, of course, can't tell us if this is because she had died, or because she wasn't born yet.

John and Janet must have moved back to Ontario at some point, possibly when they retired, as both seem to have died in Scarborough, Janet in November 1953, and John in October 1955.

The Thompsons, Littles, and Glendinnings were all heavily intermarried. It is possible to sort out all the relationships, but it would take more space than we have here. Suffice it to say that Dr. John R. Thompson's family was heavily interwoven with that of his wife. They were both also distant cousins of our Grandma Annie Thompson, wife of Dr. John Thompson's uncle, Jim Brown.

The McGuires were an Irish family, who had been in Lambton County since about 1850. They may have stopped off in Brant County for some time along the way, but a whole large family seems to have come to Lambton at around the same time. The Dawn Township McGuires all seem to be connected to each other.

Frances, or Fannie, as she was known, was the oldest of six children of Francis McGuire and Rosa O'Brien. In 1871, she married William Henderson Brown, younger brother of our Grampa Jim Brown. William and Fannie had nine children of their own, all of whom were first cousins to our Grandma Liz Coubrough.

Forty years after Frances married William Brown, a girl called Liz McGuire married Jim Coubrough in 1911. Liz was the daughter of William George McGuire and Martha Lapp; Jim, of course, was the oldest son of Matt Coubrough & Liz Brown.

Not only were the husbands in these two families related to each other; the wives were, too. Liz McGuire's paternal grandfather, George McGuire was the older brother of Francis McGuire, whose daughter married William Brown; i.e., Fannie and Liz were first cousins once removed.

In addition to George and Francis, their brothers James, and Andrew, and their sisters Sarah and Frances moved to Lambton County, as well. Sarah and her husband, Anton Hanks, had a son called Francis Joseph. Young Francis married a girl called Mary Flora MacDonald, from Dawn Township, elder daughter of Coll MacDonald and Mary Ann Graham. Mary Flora was the niece of our own Grandma Annie MacD. Andrew McGuire never married; the others all were married and had families, but I don't know yet what happened to them all.

To be continued....

Other branches

1. Anthony Cathcart Coubrough was an Electrical Engineer, not a Chemical Engineer, as I told you last time. I also mentioned that he was the 1923-24 President of the Indian Institute of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, which note I found on the Institute's web site. Just recently, however, I also learned that he was in fact the Institute's founder.

Over the years, I have found all kinds of information about this man's family, but it has all been little snippets, mostly "official stuff," and most of them unconnected to any of the other bits. At the end of this past April, I received an e-mail with some more personal details from members of the family: 

"Anthony Cathcart Coubrough... was Godfather to my father, John Richard Cathcart Weatherly and later married my Grandmother Psyche Weatherly (nee Kennedy). They lived in Wickham Bishops in Essex [England] until his death in 1962.

A. Cathcart Coubrough was known by all as Cath. I am named Cathcart in honour of him and my son Loughlan also carries Cathcart as one of his names as a 'family' name although we are not blood relatives.

Cath Coubrough was an electrical engineer who reputedly 'brought electricity to the Isle of Arran'.

He married Psyche when he was 54 and she was 32 - already a widow with a young son (my father). They did not have any children."

The London Times told us that 12 December 1932, saw Cath Coubrough married to a widow named Ariel Pschye Weatherly, daughter of "Dr. W.W & Mrs. Kennedy, of Calcutta." We couldn't tell how old she was, but we could see that Cath was getting a bit long in the tooth. But it was Mr. Weatherly's mother, Lilia, who told me the sad, if romantic, tale of patient love.

"I knew AC Coubrough for some years from 1947 until his death. He [Cath] loved my mother-in-law from her childhood. He was a friend of her father. The age gap was too great when they were young and she married EFCF Weatherly in Calcutta Cathedral, I believe. He was godfather to their only son, my husband.

Cath became an engineer and served an apprenticeship at Mather & Platt in Trafford Park in Manchester. He used to talk to me about Manchester fifty years before!

He was managing director of Mather & Platt in India and when he retired he married Psyche who was widowed by then.

He was Founder of the Indian Institute of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. I saw a photograph in a magazine.

He was awarded the CBE ⁽¹⁰⁾ for his work in WWII and I think after that he did not bother to put all his other awards on his note paper.

He was a very austere but good man.

Mary Butler Johnson was Cath's sister, the widow of a parson. They had a son, Theodore who was also an engineer. Edward Charles Davenport was probably the father of Psyche's cousin.

Edward Charles Davenport was married to Psyche's sister Joan. He was a stockbroker and a most amusing man known as Uncle Teddy.

You can see the Coubroughs were enmeshed in the textile industry.

I remember that Cath at Mather and Platt organised some automatic fire extinguishers in an Indian cotton factory. They worked by switching on the water when the heat melted the very thin glass. Unfortunately the fluorine in the fumes at the factory etched the glass and caused a down pour."

In a book called "Who's Who In India, 1927," an entry on page 57 reads:
"COUBROUGH, Anthony Cathcart, CBE, General Manager for India, Mather & Platt, Ltd., Engineers, Manchester and London; Managing Director The Pyrene Company."

Last time I also mentioned that in 1921, Cath Coubrough had written a pamphlet called "Notes on Indian Piece Goods Trade," which was published in Calcutta, by the Government Printing Services. Apparently it didn't sit well with all its readers, including Mahatma Ghandi, the great Indian reformer. In an article in The Young Indian, he began by noting that the bulletin had been "prepared by Mr. A. C. Coubrough C.B.E. by order of the Government of India," and that it "contains the following prefatory note:

The Government of India desire it to be understood that the statement made and the views expressed in this bulletin are those of the author himself."

Ghandi then questions why, if they had no opinion in the matter, had the Government of India burdened the taxpayer with the expense of such bulletins?"

He continues "The bulletin under review is intended to be an answer to the swadeshi movement. It is an elaborate note containing a number of charts showing the condition of imports and home manufacture of piece-goods including hand-woven. But it does not assist the reader in studying the movement. The painstaking author has bestowed no pains upon a study of the present movement or its scope."

The article goes on for several pages, with Ghandi stating his own position, then carefully noting "Mr. Coubrough's Propositions, and thoughtfully demolishing each one. ⁽¹¹⁾ The article leaves the reader in no doubt as to Ghandi's opinion of "Mr. Coubrough's" proposal of retaining the status quo in the Indian textile industry.

2. Anthony Park Coubrough, of Blanefield, had a Glasgow shop address at 77 Queen Street in 1866. Interestingly, he was listed under both Coubrough & Cowbrough, as was John Cowbrough of "Anthony & T. Coubrough" at 77 Queen Street.

Still with AP, Mechanics Magazine carried this article ⁽¹²⁾:

"Coubrough, Anthony Park, of Blanefield, Stirling, North Britain, Calico-printer.

Improvements in bleaching apparatus. [Patent] Application dated November 14, 1853. (No. 2637)

This invention consists in so arranging a vertical pipe placed in the top of the boiling pot, and other apparatus, that the waste frequently occasioned by the boiling over of the bleaching liquor may be prevented."

This was one of at least two patents our AP applied for. The other was a machine called the "Coubrough Printing Machine" for printing the colours onto cotton fabric.

3. The same 1866 Glasgow Post Office directory also listed a James Coubrough, wine & spirit merchant, whose shop was at 74 Havannah. His house was at 49 Duke Street. James, son of William Coubrough & Christian Dunn, was the younger brother of the John Coubrough who married Margaret Herald.

According to Google maps, these two shops are nearly four miles apart. Queen Street is downtown, near the Royal Exchange, while Havannah Court is half-way across the city to the northwest, not far from the University of Strathclyde. James's home, on the other hand, well over 5 miles from his shop, was less than 2 miles from Anthony's shop. In their pre-subway days, they must either have been very fit, or else they had carriages or cabs to "go to the office."

4. Archibald Coubrough, of Carwood, Biggar, Lanarkshire, was a breeder of Clydesdales and is mentioned several times in the Clydesdale stud books of the 1880s. As far as I know, there was only one adult Archibald Coubrough in Biggar at that time. Born in 1867, he was the son of Archibald C & Margaret Pairman. Margaret's husband, the 7^th of Malcolm Coubrough & Jean Buchanan's 11 children had died in 1870, so it's not likely he was breeding horses in the 1880s.

5. Malcolm Coubrough, Strathblane, was a subscriber to the Drymen cattle market in 1789 and in 1790. He was most likely Jean Buchanan, since he seems to have been the only adult Malcolm in Strathblane at that time, and his wife was from Wester Cameron, in Drymen parish.

6. A Malcolm Coubrough was the tenant of Auchineden in 1811. This was probably the same guy, since he was the tenant there when he married Jean in 1796, and was still the tenant there when he buried his wife in the Strathblane church yard in 1835.

7. Donald Coubrough, second son of David Coubrough and Jane McDougall, married Bridget McCue, daughter of Edward McCue and Mary Ann Brown, in 1931. No word yet on whether Bridget was related to William McCue, husband of our Thornliebank correspondent, Barbara Brougham McCue.

8. Early on a Friday morning in late June 1802, 17-year-old Agnes Coubrough, eldest daughter of James Coubrough and Agnes Reid (of the Ellrig line) was married to George Waddell in the Slamannan, Stirling, parish church. Thirty two years later, on the fourth day of the new year, their older son, another George, a joiner by trade, married Marion Morrison.

We have known for quite some time when and where George, Jr., and Marion were married but that was the end. The news is that we have now found at least the names of their five children, all born in Slamannan: Mary, 1836; George, 1837; James, 1839; Agnes, 1841, and Andrew, about 1847. George, b 1837, seems to have married a woman named Helen Beattie, in about 1863, and had four children: George, about 1864; Thomas, about 1866; Hill Reid (girl), about 1868, and James, about 1870.

9. Last time, in Question corner, I wondered about the identity of a list of Australian immigrants. I have managed to trace one family; the rest are still a mystery.

COUBROUGH John born 4 March 1926; Agnes Letitia (nee Webster) born 6 December 1930; Laraine born 13 July 1951; Derek born 10 December 1957; travelled per AURELIA departing UK on 15 March 1965 under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme

John is the oldest child of William/John Coubrough & Isabella Kearney; Wm/John was the son of John Coubrough and Euphemia Coubrough. His descendants believed his name to be William, but his birth and marriage registrations call him John. His mother, Euphemia was the daughter of John Coubrough and Mary Ewing; the identity and lineage of the John Coubrough said to be his father are not yet known.

10. John Coubrough, son of Christian Dunn married Margaret Herald, in 1857, in Melbourne, Australia, a fact we have been aware of for several years. What we only recently realized is that Margaret was John's second wife. As we will see, he was the father of a much-blended family.

John's first wife was Mary Boyle, whom he had married in October 1850, when he was about 31. The 31 March 1851 census gives Mary's age as 27. She and her husband live with her mother, Margaret Boyle, whom they are supporting, in the Barony parish of Lanarkshire. Their son William would be born a little more than three weeks later, so theirs may have been a marriage of necessity. There was also in the household a seven-year-old girl named Janet, Margaret Boyle's granddaughter, whose father was called John, and who was likely John's step-daughter. ⁽¹³⁾ Mary may have died at or soon after William's birth; she might just as easily have gone to Australia with her husband and died there. The whole family might even have gone, with John bringing the children back after their mother died.

Though we don't know the exact date, John seems to have gone to Australia sometime after the 1851 birth of his son William. The 1861 census has the boy living with his Uncle James and Aunt Catherine (McKay) Coubrough. Nor do we have any notion of why John went to Australia, but there are any number of possible reasons. If his wife had just died he might have wanted to get away from Scotland. He may have caught gold fever and gone to Ballarat, where there was a huge gold rush from August 1851. As Australian distances go, Ballarat is not terribly far from Melbourne. Perhaps he went there on business: In Scotland, he was a "spirit dealer's shopman"; in Australia, he was a spirit merchant, as was his brother James. According to the Ballarat.com web site, by 1853, there were more than 20,000 miners, of all nationalities, in the area. Surely a few of them would have been thirsty enough to warrant the opening of a tavern? Maybe he even just left his wife and son behind, then found himself another wife when he got there. Who would know, after all?

Possibly John was sending money home for the care of his children. In 1861, when little William was living with his father's brother James, 16-year-old Janet appears to have been living with John's sister, Janet Muirhead Blair, in the Central District of Glasgow, where she was going to school. This would argue both for young Janet being John's daughter, and for her having been orphaned. If Mary was living, Janet would likely have been with her; if John wasn't sending money, Janet would probably have been earning her own living, rather than still going to school. I haven't been able to find her after this, so I don't know how her life turned out.

William, on the other hand, became a mercantile clerk, and married Isabella Phillips, daughter of Robert Phillips and Isabella Dunsmore, in 1878, in Glasgow. They were well enough off to have a female domestic servant, but they don't seem to have had any children. William died sometime between the end of March 1901 and the day in 1920 that his wife married James Forsythe. Isabella died in Glasgow, in 1943. Regardless of when or why he went to Australia, John was father to twelve children: Mary Boyle's daughter Janet; William, his only child with Mary; and Margaret Herald's 10 children. John died in Glasgow, in 1877, when his youngest son was four years old.

11. We have known for a long while that Jane Coubrough, eldest daughter of Malcom C & Catherine McFarlane, married John Shanks in 1836, and that they had four sons: James, William, Robert and Walter. We also knew that William Shanks, a blacksmith, had married, in 1865, a girl named Mary Brown, by whom he had four children: John, Mary Muir, Jeanie Coubrough Kay, and William. I still don't know what became of James and Walter, the oldest and youngest of the family, but thanks to Irene Mitchell, we have news of the family's third son, Robert.

On July 16, 1869, in the parish church of Bridgeton, Glasgow, Robert Shanks, son of John Shanks, Blacksmith, (deceased) and Jane Coubrough, married Janet Findlay, daughter of James Findlay, Joiner, and Elizabeth Mitchell, both deceased. ⁽¹⁴⁾ The groom's brother Walter and a woman named Janet Ewing were the witnesses to the happy event.

Robert, 23, was a journeyman baker. His 20-year-old bride had been a Yarn Winder by way of occupation, a job perhaps not conducive to good health. Poor Janet had been married only two months when she succumbed to the "white death," consumption, on September 29, 1869, in her old home at 29 Queen Mary Street, Glasgow.

12. From the sports section of the, Wairarapa Times (New Zealand), Friday, 11 April 2008 (http://www.times-age.co.nz):

Race record shattered

28.01.2008

By Gary Caffell

Defending champion James Coubrough of Wellington smashed not only his own race record but also became the first runner in the 14-year history of the event to reach Jumbo Hut inside one hour when he won the open men's section of the Jumbo-Holdsworth Trail race on Saturday. Coubrough completed the arduous 24km in 2hrs 16mins 8secs, a remarkable improvement on the record 2hrs 20mins 39secs he had set 12 months earlier and made even more remarkable by the fact he only entered on the day of the race because of doubts about a preparation interrupted by injury.

Coubrough didn't take long to erase those doubts, scampering to Jumbo Hut in 59mins 6secs to become the first runner to pick up the Rob Walker Spray Paints prize of $800 for making there inside one hour, ensuring himself of the King of the Mountain title by reaching the summit in 1hrs 10mins and showing few signs of tiredness on the way home."

13. On Wednesday, October 23, 1940, James Coubrough, son of James Coubrough & Agnes Cruickshank, married Amelia G.M. Smith, daughter of James Hall Smith and Amelia Biner, in the Outremont Baptist Temple, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ⁽¹⁵⁾ The marriage register gives the couple's names, says they are both "of full age," meaning they were at least 21, and gives the names of the parents, but that's all. Agnes Cruickshank's husband was the elder son of James Meiklem Coubrough & Maggie Brock.

Agnes had one other known son, Archibald Clacher, born 1918, who was killed in action, in southern Tunisa, in the Mediterranean, on April 6, 1943. I don't know what unit he was with, but this date is almost certainly the Battle of Gabes, 5-10 April, which involved the British Eighth Army.

14. William Coubrough, son of Alexander Coubrough and Annie Knox Young, was 3 days shy of his 21st birthday when he joined the British Army at Barrhead on 3 December 1915. After training, he was posted to the 13th Reserve Battalion of the Royal Scots, joining them on June 6, 1916. He was in France by 10 August 1916, in time for the fall campaign season. That seems to have been the end of his easy life in the army. On October 25th of that year, he was wounded, and gassed. Suffering from shell shock, and bronchitis, likely from the poison gas, he spent the next six weeks being shuffled about from aid station to hospital to hospital. December 17, 1916, at last found him on the Hospital Ship Cambra, en route to the UK; and on December 26th, he was in hospital in Edinburgh, no doubt trying to put the previous two months behind him. He seems to have been home on sick leave ("hospital furlough") for 10 days, February 9-19, 1917, which was probably the last time his family saw him, though since he was only in Edinburgh, they may have managed a trip or two to Glasgow and he was home in Scotland until 18 May, 1917. October 25, 1916, would have put him at the Battle of Ancre, where his regiment is known to have been. Ancre was one of the battles of the Third Ypres Salient, commonly known as Passchendaele.

Back in France from May 19th, location unstated, August 1, 1918, found him among the missing. By 5 August, he was still missing, and "died, presumed for official purposes." This date would have put him at the Second Battle of the Marne (15 July - 6 August 1918), Germany's unsuccessful final attempt to break through the Allies' Western Front. It would be followed by the Allied offensive known as Amiens a few days later.

William seems to have taken fairly well to army life. His "yellow sheet" (record of discipline) shows him twice overstaying his leave by a few hours, and once being docked a week's pay for being "absent from a fatigue party" while on active duty.

A year and a half later, in June 1920, his widowed mother received a request from William's unit, The Royal Scots, asking her to fill in a form listing the deceased soldier's family ⁽¹⁶: "In order that I may be enabled to dispose of the plaque and scroll in commemoration of the deceased soldier named overleaf in accordance with the wishes of His Majesty the King, I have to request that the requisite information regarding the soldier's relatives now living may be furnished on the form overleaf in strict accordance with the instructions printed thereon.

"The declaration thereon should be signed in your own handwriting and the form should be returned to me when certified by a Minister or Magistrate."

William's service record seems to show him as a conscript, whose event-filled service must have seemed much longer than it really was. The army calculated his service, including training and seven months in the hospital, at a total of 1 year, 242 days. From my comfortable Canadian living room, 20 months doesn't sound like a long time. If you were standing in a water-filled hole in a foreign country, or gasping for breath because your lungs were full of chemical burns, it must have seemed like forever.

Question corner

Here are some of the questions where we know just enough to make them intriguing.

1. Last time, I mentioned that I found a John Cowlbough, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in the 1790 US census. I reported that his family comprised three white males and three white females, with no slaves. I may have been mistaken in this: The family may, in fact, have had five slaves. I have not been able to find this family in any of the later census records. While further research is underway, evidence to date leads me to believe that I may have been mistaken in the name as well. The 1790 census clearly says "Cowlbough," but later records for the area appear to record the name as "Colbaugh" or "Colbough," most of whom seem to have been Irish. For now, he will have to stay on the alien list.

2. Who was Coubrough, MC, (wrought), in Rensselaer County, at 364 River Rd, Troy, in the New York [State] Mercantile Union business directory for 1850-51? He was possibly a son of the William Coubrough and Rebecca Hamilton who were married in Louisiana in 1821, above, or he might have been directly from Scotland. There was a whole herd of Malcolms that would fit the dates, along with a couple of Mathews and even a few Margarets and Marys, that would fit the dates, but I couldn't find anybody with this name in the 1840, 1850, or 1860 US census records for Rensselaer County, or anywhere else, for that matter. With this name spelling, he must be one of ours, but I have found no other evidence of any Coubroughs in New York at this early date; "MC" will have to be added to the alien list.

3. Who was Lance Cpl Robert Coubrough, who, on 8 June 1915, made two voluntary attempts to bring a wounded comrade back to their own lines? In 1915, Lance Cpl Coubrough's unit, the Royal Marine Light Infantry, was in the Dardanelles ⁽¹⁷⁾, as part of the 3^rd Brigade, Royal Naval Division. There were several Robert Coubroughs of the right age, and at least two known to have been in the army then, but I have found no clues as to which is the right one.

Here is the letter the company's commanding officer, Lieutenant J.F. Sutcliffe RM, wrote to Rowland's father:

"Sir, I have the honour to bring to your notice the very gallant conduct of RFR 'A' Class PO/1239 Lance Corporal Robert Coubrough RMLI, which occurred under the following circumstances. On the afternoon of 8th June, Ordinary Seaman Edward Rowland RNVR ⁽¹⁸⁾, having been wounded & left for some days, about 30 yards in front of our trenches was seen to be moving in the direction of the enemy's line, & being mistaken for an enemy sniper, was fired upon & brought down. It was then discovered that he was one of our men. Lance Corporal Coubrough volunteered to bring him in & crawled out of our trench, under fire from snipers. He managed to reach him, when Ordinary Seaman Rowland was again hit & rendered helpless. Lance Corporal Coubrough then advised him to lie still & returned to the fire trench, telling him he would be brought in after dark. In the evening Lance Corporal Coubrough again volunteered to go out with a stretcher party & managed to successfully bring the wounded man in."

Sadly, the rescue was for naught. Able Seaman Edward Rowland died 8 June 1915, shortly after he reached his own lines.

Editor's corner

On other family history fronts, the Dawn Township history book is still in the works, but no publication date has yet been announced. A Coubrough history book is also in the planning stages. To date there has been only limited interest, so it may be a while before it gets off the drawing board. The final format hasn't yet been decided, but I will do my best to include all family anecdotes and updates to all family trees that I receive. Project updates will eventually be posted to the web site, but this space will also have "news" as it becomes available. There will also be news of the 2009 Reunion, currently scheduled for Ogema, as it comes in. Don't forget to write, if you want to be in the book!

Reunion 2009

The Reunion appears to be still a go for next summer. The location, however, will probably change to Regina, with a day-trip to Ogema. The logistics problems for Ogema appear to be insurmountable: a serious lack of accommodations and restaurants, and the long commute from the Regina airport, with no public transport, seem to be the main stumbling blocks. So far, no dates or specific location have been set. Watch this space or check the web site for details.

1. Much later, we learned that Barbara had indeed had a family, but that she had 3 kids, not 2, & only 1 was a girl.

2. Jim was actually born in 1834, but 1835 seems to have been the date used in the family.

3. York County marriage register says 12 June 1862.

4. Liz Coubrough.

5. Liz's son, Jim Coubrough, b 1884.

6. Esse Harmon was Estella's husband. Don was their son, and Ver Nell was the wife of another son, Cyril.

7. County of Lambton, Division of Dawn, entry # 5, 1907

8. County of Middlesex, Division of Westminster, 1882, entry # 26

9. 1901 census, Dawn Twp, Lambton Co., Ontario

10. King George V created the Order of the British Empire medal to reward non-combatant services to WWI. The order could be given for services to the Empire at home, in India, in the Dominions and colonies. It included women, who were excluded from most other awards. The order can also be awarded for gallantry. The order has 5 levels, of which Commander of the British Empire, CBE, is the third.

11. Collected Works of Mahatma Ghandi, Vol. 25: 27 October 1921-22 January 1922, p 213. Originally in Young India,,8 Dec 1921.

12. January 7^th - June 24^th, 1854;Vol. IX, p 524, R. A. Brooman, Editor

13. She could, of course, have been John's natural daughter, since we don't know how long John and Mary were together before they decided to get churched.

14. 1869 Marriages in the District of Bridgetown, in the Burgh of Glasgow. Page 126. Entry #252.

15. Marriage Register, Montreal (Outremont) Baptist Temple, 1940

16. This form lists two previously unknown sisters Lizzie and Mary.

17. The long, narrow strait between Europe and Turkey. The Gallipoli cliffs, where so many Australian, New Zealand, and British troops died in 1915, overlook this strait.

18. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve