Life Sketch: Samuel George Ames (1871-1953)

This life sketch is the fifth in a series of brief biographies previously published on the 

Amesdale Cemetery Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/amesdalecemetery

Samuel George Ames was born October 26, 1871 to William Herbert Ames and Nancy Maria Bartja. As of yet, little is known of his father’s origin.  His mother’s family emigrated from Luchow, Hannover, Germany in the spring of 1852.  Oral history states that the Bartja family was Dutch, which is consistent with indications that their surname has similar origins.

Sam was the oldest of four siblings; himself, Maria Almina, William Edward, and Albert Edward Lyndall.  Between the births of Maria Almina (1874) and William Edward (1877), the family moved from Lambton County to Elma Township, Perth County.  Throughout his life Sam identified Monkton as his boyhood home.

At the birth of their fourth child, tragedy struck on an unusually cold spring day in 1879.  The well-stoked stove set the house ablaze and Nancy was carried outside. She caught pneumonia and died just ten days later, on May 24, 1879.  The baby was adopted by the Lyndall family.  Only a year later, Sam was orphaned when his father fell from a threshing machine’s separator breaking his neck.  The three oldest children were taken in by neighbours.

Sam was taken in by Jane Reid McDonald, the recently widowed wife of Hugh McDonald of Newton, Mornington Township, Perth County, and raised as a McDonald.  Across the road from the McDonalds was a farm owned or previously owned by Joseph Abel Priest and his wife Annie Eliza McDonald Priest.  It was there as a child that Sam first met their daughter Annie Eliza Priest.

At the age of nineteen Sam decided to go West to seek his fortune as so many were doing at the time. It was then that he decided to take his proper name, being thereafter known as Samuel George Ames. Desiring to marry, he corresponded with his childhood playmate Annie Eliza Priest, who was still living on a farm near Atwood in Elma Township.  After corresponding for some time, Samuel wrote Annie a letter asking her if she would come West and marry him.  Coincidentally, that was about that time that the Priest family was in the process of finalising arrangements themselves, for a move West. In reply, Annie said that if when she saw him again in person, she liked him as much as she did in his letters, she would marry him.

When the Priest family arrived in Manitoba, they were met at the station by Sam. Having always known Samuel to be a very quiet young man, Annie was surprised when Sam walked up and immediately greeted her with a kiss.  Shortly after their reunion the couple was married in South Cypress Hills, Manitoba on May 30, 1894. They then drove to Killarney, Manitoba where Sam was working on a farm.

The story of the Sam and Annie Ames family is a happy one.  They were to have a large and very close family.  Ten children, five girls and five boys were born into the family, of which the first two were born while the family lived in Killarney, Manitoba. Edwin (Ed) Alfred was born in 1895 and William (Bert) Herbert in 1897.

When Bert was two years old, the family decided to move to Gilbert Plains, Manitoba on the other side of the Riding Mountains.  With one horse, an ox, and a covered wagon which carried all their possessions, they set out on the long journey across the prairie and over the mountains to Gilbert Plains.  Upon arrival in “The Plains” they settled a homestead close to that of the Priests.   Sam farmed, but later bought a steam engine, a plow and a thrasher, and soon became known throughout the area for the large tracts of virgin prairie soil he broke and the grain he thrashed.

The last eight children, Myrtle Isabella, Olive Alexandra, Hazel May, Joseph Gordon, Katherine (Kate) Evangeline, Samuel James, Margaret Elinor, and Donald Grant, were born in Gilbert Plains.

During the early 1920s Sam became interested in an area of north-western Ontario, and in the summer of 1924 he made a scouting trip to the area.  Before returning to Manitoba he acquired 240 acres of land at a place called Freda.  Freda, later named Amesdale, was located on the mainline of the Canadian National Railway, and consisted of a station house for the section men, a siding where boxcars were loaded with cord-wood from the local bush camps, and two families. I.S. Thompson, a trapper, and J. Soumi, a homesteader and woodcutter were living there.

Sam returned to Gilbert Plains greatly enthused about the prospects of cutting and selling pulpwood and firewood, and farming.  In the fall of 1924 Sam began preparations for moving the family to Freda, and by November 1925 the family was established there.  Their first property was 240 acres of land with a log cabin of sorts located a mile and a half east of the station.

   

Sam would best be described as an entrepreneur.  In Freda he immediately opened a store, and his son Gordon applied for a post office to be opened which resulted in renaming of the community to Amesdale as there was already a Freda Post Office in another Ontario community. He also established his wood contracting venture, and in 1927 he and others organised the Amesdale Lath and Supply Company.  Later he became a buyer and seller of locally harvested blueberries and wild rice.  

Sam also honoured his civic responsibilities, serving on the first Rowell School Board and the Rowell Roads Commission, and making special donations for the construction of the Rowell School.

Sam and Annie spent their later years in a nice frame house just above the spring on their homestead across the tracks from the station.  It was there that Annie suffered a stroke on January 2, 1944. Thereafter, and until Annie’s passing in 1949 they lived with family.  Sam was terribly lonely without Annie and later married May Tizzard, in a relationship that soon failed.  On October 20, 1953 Sam died of a heart condition.

The passing of Sam and Annie left a great void in the lives of their family.  They are deeply loved and dearly missed.  To their family and community they left their examples of industriousness, creativity, and loving concern for family, friends, and acquaintances.  

December 2105

This history was compiled by Brian Ames with the assistance of Beatrice Ames, Margaret Fradsham, and Katherine Carlson.

Life Sketch: Mary Evangeline (Eva) Priest McKay (1880-1953)

This life sketch is the fourth in a series of brief biographies previously published on the Amesdale Cemetery Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amesdalecemetery

Eva McKay, was born Mary Evangeline Priest on July 31, 1880 in Atwood, Ontario, the eight child and sixth daughter of Joseph Able and Annie Eliza Priest.   At 13 years of age, she moved with her family from south-western Ontario to “the promised land” of southern Manitoba near Glenboro, leaving behind an established life on a good farm, a large home with an orchard, and her education.   Two years later, in 1895 by horse and wagon her pioneering family made the difficult passage over the then rugged Riding Mountains to take our homesteads south of Gilbert Plains.   It was there that she met a likeable and gifted salesman named George McKay, whom she married in May 9, 1900.

The couple were blessed with six children; Frances Alma, Anne Muriel, Joseph Wilson, William Malcom, Bertha Evangeline and Marjorie (Pard) Winnifred, all born in out west.    With Pard just two years old, in 1924 Eva and George and their four youngest children moved to Amesdale, where they filed on one of the first homesteads in Rowell Township, located one half mile north of the CNR station.

  

The McKay family eventually settled in Richan where they operated a small store and post office.  After George’s  tragic death in 1928, Eva continued to run the Richan store and post office, and as a young widow raised her youngest daughters in the family cottage on the shores of Good Lake.  Surrounded by family and friends Eva continued in the area as postmistress of the Richan post office until October 1948.  She was a lifelong member of Women’s Institute at Richan and belonged to the United Church ladies auxiliary in Terrace Bay where she eventually moved to lend assistance to her son William and family.

“Mrs. McKay is to be remembered for her kindness and cheerfulness.  This cheerfulness was not a reflection of her husband.  Each possessed this quality which, no doubt, helped them through those difficulties that we all meet, and must have been a source of joy and comfort to her family.  But it also contributed to the lives of all who knew her, and helped them through the dull days and trying times.  Her kindness followed naturally from her innate goodness, her faith in God, and her confidence in the worthwhileness of humanity.  But she was no student of, nor theorist in, social welfare.  She gave help and comfort where she could, always with a cheerful smile, or an infectious laugh that brightened the dullest day.”

Source: Mack, Austin; “Character Sketch of George McKay”, contained in “The Priests: Our Family History” by Marjorie Charles Steele.

At age 72, in Terrace Bay, on February 26, 1953 Mary Eva McKay passed way after a short illness.  Funeral service was held on March 2, 1953 at the Dryden United Church, Rev. D. W. Fraser officiating.

Compiled by Brian Gordon Ames 

Life Sketch: Annie Eliza Priest Ames (1873 - 1944)

This life sketch is the third in a series of brief biographies previously published on the Amesdale Cemetery Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amesdalecemetery

Annie was born October 13, 1873 in Atwood, Perth County, Ontario.  She was the daughter of Joseph Able Priest whose parents had emigrated to Canada West from the United States, and Annie MacDonald whose family had emigrated from Scotland.  Notably, she was a descendent of Degory Priest, the twenty-ninth signer of the Mayflower Compact.

In 1893 Annie moved to Manitoba with her parents and eleven siblings.   Upon arrival in Manitoba, the family was met at the railway station by her childhood playmate, Samuel George Ames who greeted her with a kiss and proposed marriage. The couple was married on May 30, 1894. 

The story of the Sam and Annie Ames is a happy one.  They were to have a large and very close family; consisting of ten children, five girls and five boys, all born while they lived in Killarney and later in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba.  Their children always had great love and respect for their parents, whom they always referred to as “Mama and Papa”.  Annie was especially loved and respected by all who became acquainted with her.  Her loving and understanding nature gave great strength to her husband and family, as well as the communities in which she lived.

Annie’s first love and concern was for her family but, when she felt they were taken care of, she was willing to dedicate herself totally to the service of others.  Her desire to serve was splendidly demonstrated by her years of service as a midwife.  Annie showed great dedication in a calling which required patience, understanding, competence, and especially love.  She was called to leave her family and assist others on a moment’s notice and at all hours, but she did it without a thought for herself and with a pure love of the people she served.

When someone was sick Annie Ames was always there to help.   During the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919 which ravaged homes throughout Europe and the Americas, Annie was caring for her neighbours.  When called upon to aid her neighbours during the epidemic she went without a though for her own well-being, having faith that the Lord would protect her and her family if she was helping others.  Often have been heard the words, “Not enough good can be ever said about Mrs. Ames.”  Much credit must also be given to her husband who understood Annie enough to let her serve as she wished without protest on his part.  While Sam provided for the physical needs of the family, Annie spread love through her family and the community by her unfailing service to others.

In October of 1925 the Ames family moved to Freda, Ontario and took up residence in a small log house that was quite a change from their spacious home in Manitoba.  At the time, Freda, later to be named Amesdale, was an isolated community with no roads, schools, churches, or stores.  Annie, being a Christian woman, quickly decided that religious services of some sort must be started in the settlement.  An industrious woman, she quickly ordered the government correspondence courses to provide for her children’s education. She also supported her husband in his numerous business endeavors, including a store and post office, pulp wood and railroad tie contracting ventures, the Amesdale Lath and Supply Company, farming, and blueberry and rice businesses.

Annie was noted for her wonderful recitations and charades at the annual Amesdale Christmas Concert.  She was an active member of the Women’s Institute of Amesdale.

Annie had a stroke on January 2, 1944, and was paralyzed on her right side.  The story of how the children cared for their parents when they could not care for themselves is a wonderful example of the closeness of this family. Annie passed away on February 9, 1949.

This history was compiled by Brian Ames with the help of Beatrice Radford Ames, Margaret Ames Fradsham, and most particularly Katherine Ames Carlson.

Life Sketch: Edward Radford (1893-1946)

This life sketch is the second in a series of brief biographies previously published on the Amesdale Cemetery Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amesdalecemetery

Edward Radford, son of John Radford and Mary Blows, was born on May 15, 1870 in Bourn, Cambridgeshire, England.  On December 2, 1893 he married Harriet Boston in the town of Dunton, Bedfordshire, England. Edward and Harriet settled in Bourn, where Edward worked as a farm labourer, and more specifically a hay bailer.

While living in the village of Bourn six children were born to the Radfords,  Edward (Teddy), who lived only three weeks, then George Edward, William Ernest, Florence Emily, and Reginald Moses.

Mechanization of farming and the introduction of trucks onto the farm reduced the need for farm labour in England.  Edward suffered from health problems aggravated by the damp English climate, and even wore gold rings in his pierced ears were to control these ailments.  At age 39, these and other factors prompted him to emigrate.  On the last day of March 1909 he departed Liverpool harbour for Canada aboard the SS Lake Manitoba.  His family remained in Bourn until Edward established himself in Canada.

Upon arrival in Canada he travelled to Snowflake, Manitoba where he worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway in their shops.  Edward may have had some knowledge of mechanics, since as a young man had owned a motorcycle and also worked on with a manual hay bailing machine back home.

Eight months after his arrival in Snowflake, his sixth child Violet Lily Snowflake was born in England, and named by the children for the place or their father’s residence.  It wasn’t until 1914 that the family was able to join Edward in LaRiviere, Manitoba.  Jim and Fred the last two boys in the family were born in LaRiviere.  Five years later, Edward decided to take up farming, and headed north to farm a property he had purchased in the municipality of Ste. Rose, Manitoba.  Edward and Harriet’s ninth and final child, Alice Beatrice, was born there. She was delivered by Harriet without the aid of another person.

Times were tough on the farm near Shergrove, Manitoba, due to soil being of poor quality and very rocky. George and Bill had previously moved to Amesdale, Ontario with Samuel George Ames, so in April 1931, the parents and their three youngest children joined them there.  With George and Bill’s assistance life was better in Amesdale.  Potatoes were grown as a cash crop, and cows, pigs, chickens and some rabbits were raised for meat.  There was always a big garden full of vegetables, and George the hunter of the family always got his moose and deer.

At home on their homestead Edward passed away of a heart condition on March 8, 1946 For a time Harriet remained on the homestead, but eventually she moved to Sioux Lookout, Ontario where Jim and Fred were working for the CNR.  George, Bill, and Beatrice lived in Amesdale with their families.  Reg raised his family in Flin Flon, while Flo and Vi raised theirs in Dauphin.

Fred Radford's Hunting Stories

My brother George and I used to do quite a bit of hunting, moose or deer.   I remember in the 40’s when we got a moose way up towards Thaddeus Lake.  Mother always wanted to go with us, to be with us when we packed it out.   We were about three and a half to four miles north of where my brother George lived, so she went with us.   Along what was just a trail through the bush and we’d dress the moose, cut it up, and put it in the packsacks to carry it home.  After that it became a tradition that mother did every fall when George and I used to hunt.

             Fred Radford             Harriet Radford     George Radford

Speaking of hunting I never forget the time I went hunting north of the Airport Lake.  I was up on a hill and I looked down below and there were three moose.   I took a shot at the bull but I think I missed it.  There was also a cow and a calf there too, and the cow came belting up the hill.  I could hear it coming, but it went out of sight in the bush, then all of a sudden there it was a 100 feet from me.   I had to shoot it as I thought she was coming after me, but I think she was just running and didn’t know where she was going.  But anyway we got that moose.

Years later, after I moved to Sioux, I was hunting with Ostrum.  We used would go in that same area and we did quite a bit of hunting in that area.  The last moose I shot was standing in the middle of the road.  We shot him and he just wandered to a hill.  We just turned the truck around, backed up and put him in.  It was then that I said to Ostrum, that is the end of my hunting, I’m going to hang up my gun. I felt it was getting too easy.  That 1954, and it was the last bit of hunting I did.  I let them enjoy their lives the same as I have mine.

(An interview recorded and transcribed by Fred's son John Radford)

Agnes Guenther Ames

In my earlier blog, I mentioned that Fred Radford celebrated his 100 birthday on March 23, 2017. However, in error I also mentioned that to my knowledge he was the only former Amesdale resident to have achievied that milestone.   I am very grateful to have been kindly reminded that Fred is not the only Amesdale centenarian.   I somehow overlooked that my Aunt Agnes Guenther Ames had indeed exceeded the 100 year longevity milestone by almost two years.

In recognition of that special lady, I want to add a beautiful tribute to her recorded about the time of her passing on by fellow parishioners, Joe Kasarda and Barry Smith Jr., members of the Thunder Bay, ON congregation.

                    In memory of Agnes Ames                   

Mrs. Ames was born Aganetha Guenther on October 17, 1896, in Schoenwiese, Manitoba, a small Mennonite village close to the U.S. border. She went to the nearest school in North Dakota during the summer months because it was too cold in the winter.

As a young woman, Agnes worked as a domestic in Manitoba, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan. In the summer of 1930. she met her future husband while responding to a newspaper ad for a camp cook. Bert Ames was a bush worker and timber contractor in a small farming and lumbering community located 16 miles north of Dryden, called Amesdale after the family name.

She cooked for Mr. Ames and his hired men, and on August 17, 1932, Bert and Agnes married. During the Depression, they continued to live on their farm in Amesdale clearing additional land. During those years, two daughters were born: Gloria and Amie. Because the community was small and had no school, Mrs. Ames tutored her girls at her kitchen table with materials supplied by the provincial government. The girls completed many of their early grades in a school train that came once a month to assign and correct lessons.

In 1945, the Ames moved to Dryden so their daughters could go to high school. There Mr. Ames built houses while Mrs. Ames worked as a cook in a hotel and in nearby tourist lodges. Following her husband's death in 1958, Mrs. Ames moved to Port Arthur (Thunder Bay) where she continued to live in her own home until 1995.

To all of us she was always "Mrs. Ames," a pioneer member of the Thunder Bay congregation. After having heard Mr. Herbert Armstrong's broadcast on the radio during the 1950s, she traveled to Pasadena to check out the information for herself and was baptized in 1961.

Throughout her years in the local church she showed a steadfast determination to serve God that was an example to everyone. Brethren were always welcome in her home. She loved the simple pleasures of God's creation, especially working in her garden and growing flowers.

Mrs. Ames had an adventurous streak. At our annual snow parties, she insisted on sliding down the hill on an inner tube. Several years ago she had her first ride on a dogsled and then on a snowmobile. Her only complaint: The driver wasn't going fast enough!

Her fiercely independent spirit combined with an infectious laugh won the affection and respect of everyone. During her latter years, Mrs. Ames remained absolutely determined to be present at church services each week even when she sometimes blacked out. This caused church members and various visiting ministers some tense moments. But she always recovered and afterward wondered what all the fuss was about. (A pacemaker eventually solved that problem!)

Mrs. Ames loved to travel. In addition to travelling to festival locations around the world, at the age of 93, she went on the Mediterranean Festival Cruise. Visitors to her home were often treated to her collection of home movies and photographs from her many trips.

Agnes had a long and full life and saw many changes in her lifetime. She will always have a special place in our memories. Many brethren attended her funeral held on December 30. She is survived by her two daughters, Gloria and Amie, and many other family members.

Source: http://www.wcg.ca/news/nl/1998/march98/member_profile.htm July 12, 2002

Today Fred Radford Turns 100 Years

To my knowledge he is the only Amesdale resident to have achieved this longevity milestone.   

Today, March 23, 2017, family and friends will be gathering in Sioux Lookout, at Sioux Towers, between 2:00 and 3:30pm to celebrate Fred’s 100th birthday.

Biography of Fred Radford

written by his son John Radford in July 2002

Fred was born in LaRivere, Manitoba on March 23rd, 1917 at the family home. At the age of 3 the family moved to Shergrove, Manitoba which is near St. Rose de Lac.  The family moved to a homestead where a new house was built and lived off of the land.  The family used to walk 4 miles to a one room school house, where the school year started in April and ended with a Christmas concert around the 18th or 20th of December.  The weather was too cold so the kids stayed home for the winter. 

His brothers, George and Bill, who had moved to Amesdale, Ontario came back to Shergrove in the spring of 1930 and decided it was best for the family to move to Amesdale.  The price of grain was so low you were lucky to get $0.35 for a bushel and the grasshoppers ate what you tried to grow.  George and Bill found that you could buy a 160 acre homestead in Ontario where you could cut wood to sell and trapping was worthwhile.  They found that in the summer time there was an abundance of blueberries to pick and lots of moose, deer and fish to live on. So in April of 1930 the family packed up the belongings, machinery, cattle and a team of horses loaded it all in a CNR boxcar.  Bill, Jim and Fred accompanied the goods in the boxcar and the rest of the family traveled on a passenger train.  After about two days of traveling in a boxcar they arrived in Amesdale where the rest of the family was waiting.  The boxcar was unloaded then Bill and George showed the family where their new homestead was located about 2 miles north of the tracks. There was no school set up in Amesdale at the time so they had to take government lessons by mail. A school was opened in 1932 with about 30 children attending classes in a one-room school.  In 1932 Dad bought a homestead about 2 ½ miles east of Amesdale.  This was Jim, Beatrice and Fred’s new home for two years. In 1934 the family moved to an 80-acre lot just north of the tracks in Amesdale and this was called a preemption where Dad paid $0.50 an acre for the extra land.  This was home until 1952 when Fred transferred to Sioux Lookout with the railway.  Between 1934 and 1952 Fred cut and sold wood with his brothers, raised about 60 sheep for wool and meat, used to guide Americans for about 6 weeks in the fall and 1944 started work with the CNR on the section till 1952.  Fred asked for a transfer to the car department in Sioux Lookout and on September 2nd, 1952 moved to the new job.

Upon arriving is Sioux, Fred purchased a lot in the north end of town and built a temporary 12’ x 20’ building.  At the time Sioux was so busy you couldn’t rent anything to live in, so Fred lived at the YMCA until the temporary house was built.  When the house was completed at the end of October, Fred drove back to Amesdale and brought Mother to Sioux to live with him.  Fred met Vimy Anning for the first time in January 1953 at a Masonic banquet.  Vimy had moved to Sioux from Trail B.C. to work at CNR hospital on Front St..  There was an opening at the car department and Fred phoned Jim in Niddrie to let him know about the job. Jim then applied for the job in Sioux and got it in the spring of 1953.  Jim decided to build a house on Prince St. and by the summer of 1954 it was completed. In the summer of 1954 Fred and Jim Nelson completed building the new house at 16 Fuller St. and Fred and Mother moved in.  Fred dated Vimy and during that time they found out they were born 5 miles apart by the same doctor. They were married on September 28,1954 in Winnipeg, Manitoba where most of Vimy’s family was.  After Fred and Vimy were married Mother moved in with Jim and Mary.  On November 2nd, 1955 Fred and Vimy’s son John was born at the General Hospital in Sioux by Dr. Allan.  

Fred decided in 1963 that he would quit the CNR and go to work for Sioux Lookout Board of Education at the Wellington School.  Fred found working for the school to be much better than working for the CNR and finally got off of working the night shift.  In 1980 after Jim had died and Mary retired from the school board working at the Queen Elizabeth District High School, Fred transferred to the high school.  Fred hit the age of 65 in 1982 and he also retired from the high school after 19 years of service to the board.  Retirement was very good as Vimy was now retired and the two decided travelling was in the cards. They traveled to England, Hawaii and also throughout Canada and the United States.

Fred and Vimy were happy and proud to see their son John marry Barbara Lacalamita from Toronto on July 30th, 1988. The happiest day came when their granddaughter Jennifer Norah Radford was born on August 24th, 1993 in Sioux Lookout.

At the age of 85, life is still good, the garden still grows, volunteering keeps us busy and life goes on.