Porter 1900 – 2000

Children of John Porter and Margaret Callaghan

JOHN PORTER

John Porter was born November 1, 1857, the first of nine children to John Porter and Margaret Callahan. He was probably born in Fergus¹, Ontario but was not baptised there until he was almost eight years old when he and his three younger brothers were all baptised together at St. John’s Anglican, Elora, Ontario (adjacent to Fergus) on October 8, 1865². Somewhere along the way he acquired the nickname of “Black Jack”. John appeared in the 1881 census in Fergus as a bricklayer, the same trade as his father, although John Senior also worked occasionally as a plasterer. However, sometime during the next seven years John Jr. left Fergus and settled in Toronto where he worked initially as a plasterer. In 1888 he lived at either 13 or 21 Wallace Street in Toronto, where he was joined in 1890 by his brother William. John remained at the latter address until at least 1894, and moved to 92 Stafford in 1896. On March 15, 1897 at the home of his wife’s mother³, he married Emma Louisa Emslie⁴in Orangeville, Dufferin County, 18 miles N.E. of Fergus. His best man was his youngest brother David Porter and the bridesmaid was Emma’s sister Mina (Jemina). At the time he was living in the Toronto area and he and Emma established a family residence in 1897 in West Toronto Junction at 2 Euclid and then a year later at 359 King Street. In 1899 John became a shipper/baggageman at Union Station. John and Emma raised their family from homes at 359 King Street W. until 1901, 53 Widmer St.⁵ from 1901 to 1904, 23 Widmer in 1904, 58 Peter Street (one block west of 23 Widmer) until about 1916 and lastly at their last family home at 40 Victor Avenue, between Broadview and Carlaw. He died there on August 10, 1925, aged 68, and was buried on the 13^th in the St. Johns Norway Anglican Cemetery in Toronto⁶. Emma continued to live in the family home on Victor Avenue until her death on September 26, 1939. She was also buried in St. John’s Cemetery.

Family

John and Emma had three children:

1. John Emslie born 28⁷ or 29⁸ November 1899 at his maternal grandmother’s home in Orangeville, Dufferin County, and married 11 June 1925 at the Reformed Episcopalian Church on Havelock Street in Toronto to Margaret Isobel Bromley ⁹. He was apparently on active service during the latter years of WWI¹⁰ and was listed as such in the Toronto Directory for 1919. At that time he was living at 488 Kingston Road and in 1925 he lived at 124 Neville Park Blvd. In September and October of 1929, John & Margaret visited Detroit, Michigan by train for the purpose of “relocating to the US”¹¹ and they lived in Detroit until sometime in the mid 1930s: in the 1930 US census they are enumerated on Quincy Street in Detroit’s 12^th Ward – Precinct 35. John was at that time a credit manager for a financial corporation. Around 1935 John, Margaret and their daughter Barbara moved to Indiana where they first lived in Indianapolis, Marion County and then, by the time of the 1940 US census, at 2208 W. 5^th. Ave.¹² [Ward 6] in Gary, Calumet Township, Lake County where Emslie was the office manager at the National Bond and Investment Co. Emslie and Barbara’s Social Security Cards were first issued while they lived in Indiana. Sometime between 1951 and 1967 the family moved to Clearwater¹³, on Florida’s west central coast, where they lived at 2300 Chaucer Street and, ultimately, 42 – 2454 Australia Way E. He had become an American citizen in ______. John Emslie Porter died in Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida on 24 July 1985¹⁴ and was cremated. Margaret died 9 March 1998 in Dunedin, Pinellas, Florida¹⁵.

Emslie and Margaret had one child:

1. Barbara June, born in Detroit, Michigan 28 October 1932, apparently did not marry, and died in Dunedin, Pinellas (at 34698 Dunedin) 2 February 2009.

2. Gordon David b. 24¹⁶ January 1904 in Toronto. He married Audrey May Gilmour¹⁷ 31 August 1935 in Toronto by a Baptist minister. At the time of his marriage Gordon was a Travelling Salesman, living with his parents at 40 Victor Avenue. In November of 1953¹⁸ Gordon crossed into the USA at Buffalo, NY for a 1 month stay. No other information is shown on the manifest except for his residential address as 170 Iroquois [Ave.?] in London, Ontario. Gordon died _ 1973 [?].

Gordon and Audrey had two children:

1. 1. “Gil”, likely Gilmour the surname of his mother and possibly his middle name, born about 1938, and was a writer living in Los Angeles¹⁹; and
   2. Judith Lillian born about 1943 (adopted), died 26 September 1970 in a plane crash in Silent Valley near Owen Sound, Ontario while flying from Toronto to Griffith Island²⁰.

3. Frederick William b. 23²¹ January 1906 in Toronto and was probably named after his mother’s only brother, Robert Frederick William Emslie. He married Elsie May Wythe (b. 23 May 1907 Toronto) 18 June 1930 in Toronto and from 1931 to at least 1935 they lived at 53 Silver Birch Avenue in Toronto East. In 1938 the family was living at 2186A Queens, in 1945 at 145 1/2 Courcelette Road in Scarborough and in 1943 at 430 Victoria Park Avenue (on the boarder with Scarborough). Frederick W. Porter was employed at Standard Trading Co. in Toronto as a clerk from at least 1934 to 1943. Frederick died on November 24, 1981 in Amherstview (Kingston, Ontario) and Elsie died on May 14, 1998. Both are buried in Kingston, Frontenac County, Ontario.

Frederick and Elsie had four children:

(a) Frederick William b. 22 November 1931 but d. 23 November 1931 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and was buried on the 25^th in St. John’s Norway Cemetery in Toronto;

(b) Katherine (Kay) Elizabeth²² married Frederick Arthur Rogers and died 24 August 2018 in Kingston, Ontario. They had two children: Susan Elizabeth and Deborah Ann;

(c) Ronald Gordon married Barbara Andre and had two children: Shelly, and Jason;

(d) James Malcolm married Paula Frances Fisher and had two children: Steacy Ann and Jennifer Elizabeth.

Photographs:

1. John Porter, Emma Porter and her sister Robina Clarke, visiting Calgary in about 1923. Robina apparently lived in Calgary at this time.

WILLIAM (V.) PORTER

William was born February 7, 1859 in Fergus, Ontario but was not baptised until the “family baptism” of October 8, 1865 at St. Johns Anglican in Elora, Ontario. Although he was the second son, he did not follow his father as a mason or plasterer but instead seems to have apprenticed as a butcher in Fergus²³, for that is his trade on the 1881 census. A year later (May 10, 1882), in the company of four other young men from the village²⁴, William left Fergus for “Dakota”, an event of sufficient importance for the Fergus News Record to note. He entered the USA at Detroit according to his American Citizenship Declaration of 1890.

Whether William ever arrived in “Dakota” is unknown but in 1884 he turns up as a meat packer in Duluth, Minnesota. During that year and the next he resided with Patrick Carroll and family, who were also Canadians. William was then working as a butcher with J.W.Chapman in Rice’s Point, the west end of Duluth. In 1885 he, his brother James Porter and John T.Phelan²⁵, also from Fergus, bought Chapman out and operated from the premises for a year as Porter Brothers and Co. In 1886 they relocated to 1609 Michigan Street, still in Rice’s Point, but at the Garfield Avenue intersection. In 1891 they again moved their business to 1608 Superior across from the Clarendon Hotel where James Porter lived that same year. The Adams Public School was across the street and the Knights of Pythias Hall in the next block.

In 1886, at about the time of the move to Michigan Street, William travelled south to Minneapolis where, on August 3rd, he married Sara Harriet McCurry, also Canadian but born in November of 1861 in Ireland²⁶, at Gethsemane Protestant Episcopal (Anglican) church²⁷. William and Harriet lived first at 1829 W. 4th. Street where their first child, Albert Henry²⁸, was born in February of 1888²⁹.

In 1891 it appeared that William had returned to Toronto as the Directory of that year shows him as a plasterer living at 21 Wallace Street with his brother John, and in the 1892 Directory he is shown residing at 41 Lakeview with his sisters Alice and Margaret although this may have been for the purposes of the funeral of their parents. His wife is not listed with him, although housewives were usually not. As William and Harriet’s daughter Gladys was born in Duluth in May of 1892 (at 124 – 10^th Ave. W), William & Harriet could have returned to the USA for the birth to ensure American citizenship for their daughter. From 1892 to at least 1895 the family was back in the West End of Duluth (Rice’s Point)³⁰ and living on the second floor at 122 19 Ave. W. apparently next door to the Swedish Baptist Church. This location was about 2 and 1/2 blocks from the butcher shop that William and James managed on West Superior. The Duluth Evening Herald of 6 August 1894 reported that William and James Porter bought Lot 6, Block 86, West Duluth (6^th Division) from E. McArthur and that William Porter bought Lot 7, Block 128, Duluth Proper (2^nd Division) from S.J. Leonard. At the time of the 1900 census William³¹, Harriet, Albert and Gladys lived on 5th Street East.

By 1901 the business seems to have been prospering because William, now operating without his brother James who had moved to Nelson, British Columbia, opened up a second location in newly constructed premises at the S.W. corner of Superior and W. 19th – 1902 W.Superior.³² By 1905³³ only the latter establishment, known since 1899 as Palace Meat Market, appears to be run by William. Meanwhile, the family had moved across town to 17 N.15 Ave. E, where they were at the time of the 1905 and 1910 censuses. William was listed as a meat cutter. The Duluth Herald of 22 October 1910 reported that Harriet Porter had bought W1/2 Lot 7, Block 86, West Duluth (6^th District) from H.O. Hanson and wife who took a mortgage back from William Porter and wife.

Until at least 1912 (according to the affidavit filed with Jacob’s probate) William and Harriet continued to live in Duluth and in the 1917 Duluth Directory William was listed as a salesman for the Cudahay Packing Co. However, he had already moved to St. Paul by this time because the St. Paul Directory for the same year, 1917, listed a William V. Porter as a travelling agent and residing at 1032 Portland and that year’s Duluth Directory listed him as a “roomer” at 105 W.1st.³⁴ Each year from 1919 on the Porters had a different address in St. Paul, eg. 1032 Portland Ave., 1825 Fairmont Ave., 1917 Ashland and 1749 Princeton. At the time of his death on 29 November 1922³⁵ he was the head of the Meat Department for the Ramsey City and County Hospital. William’s wife Sarah Harriet had earlier died in St. Paul on October 9, 1921³⁶ and their daughter Gladys had died in 1920.

Family

William and Sarah Harriet had two children:

1. Albert Henry (a.k.a. Russell Merton) b. 22 February 1889 in Duluth and listed in the 1906, 1907 and1910 Duluth Directories as a student living with his father William V. Porter at 17 N. 15^th Street and in 1911 at 115 8^th Ave E. He attended Normal School at McAllister College³⁷, and later was a pianist and a music salesman. In 1912 Albert H Porter and his mother Mrs. William V. Porter had re-located to St. Paul Minnesota where they resided at 277 Selby Avenue and where Albert was still living at the time of the 1913 Directory. In the 1915 St. Paul Directory Albert H Porter was a salesman residing at 699 Laurel Avenue³⁸ and in the 1916 Directory he is shown living with his parents at 1032 Portland Ave in St. Paul. Albert Henry Porter married Ruth Mary Tormey³⁹ in _____ 1917 in ____. At the time of his 1917 Military Draft Registration he was described as a salesman for L.S. Donaldson & Co., a major department store in Minneapolis (where by 1920 he was a department manager), and living at 91 N. Prior in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the 1918 and 1919 Polk & Co. Directories Albert H Porter, a salesman, was living at 193 Amherst Street in St. Paul and from 1922 to 1924 at 1749 Princeton Ave St. Paul, the home of his wife’s parents. In the 1926 and 1927 Minneapolis Directories Albert H. Porter, a salesman for the Cable Piano Co, was living at 4033 Upton Ave. S. in Minneapolis. By 1930 Albert and Ruth and their three children lived in Morningside Village, Hennepin Co., where Albert was a salesman for an electrical company, and in 1943 they were at 3107 Alabama Avenue in St. Louis Park. Ruth died 21 April 1938 at St. Louis Park and Russell⁴⁰ (Albert) died 7 October 1960⁴¹. Both were buried in the Lakewood Cemetery⁴².

They had five children:

(a) Henry Albert b. 27 October 1917⁴³ in Ramsey County d. 3 March 1957⁴⁴ in the Anoka State Hospital, Anoka Co, just north of Minneapolis, single;

(b) Gladys Ruth b. 3 September 1920 in Ramsey County, m. 13 March 1943 in Minneapolis to Gerald J. Fenelon(b. 1920 d. 2 March 1985 Ramsey Co.), died 5 December 1985, Minneapolis. They had two daughters:

1. Jerry Carol married Charles L. Coe, and died 28 March 2002 in Robinsdale, Ramsey Co. – no children; and
2. Ruth M. married to Larry M. Conley ⁴⁵

(c) Bristol Tormey b. ___1923, d. 30 June 1929⁴⁶ in Morningside, Hennepin Co. of Brights Disease;

(d) David William b. 2 July 1925 St. Paul, and m. 11 February 1947 in Minneapolis to Eleanor Johanna Marie Hass⁴⁷. David worked for the American District Telegraph and lived at 4648 Harriet until 1959 and then at 4409 2^nd Ave. S. until 1982, both addresses in Minneapolis. He died 13 December 1998 in Burnsville (Minneapolis) and was buried in the Fort Snelling National Cemetery⁴⁸ there. Eleanor died 20 May 2003 also in Burnsville and was buried with David at Fort Snelling. They had 5 children:

1. William David married Michelle Margaret May and have 2 children: Christine Ann and Erik Glen.
2. Barbara Ruth married to Gregory Scott Hestness and have 2 children: Abigail Porter and Emily Elisa

iii. Marcia Lynn married to Boyd Richard Freeman;

1. Pauline Patricia married to Dale Lawrence Pepper and have 2 children: Noah Porter and Cory Rose; and
2. Daniel Donald married to Patricia Sue Grapevine and have 2 children: Thomas Daniel and Michelle Ross; and

(e) Vera Mae b. 9 July 1931 Minneapolis, m. 23 June 1986 in Hennepin Co. to Earl Robert Wood (b. c. 1929, d. 1990 Ramsey Co.) She died 4 August 2004 in Minneapolis⁴⁹. She had one son:

50. Joseph Michael Porter married to Debrah Elizabeth Allen and have 2 children: Brittany Michelle and John Lockard ⁵⁰.

2. Gladys H[arriet?] b. __ May 1892⁵¹ and may have been the Gladys E. Porter listed as a stenographer for the Western Publishing Co, and the White Enamel Refrigerator Co and residing at 1184 Marshall Ave in St. Paul in the 1913, 1914 and 1916 Directories. She died, apparently unmarried, 2 November 1920⁵² in Ramsey Co. Minnesota.

Photographs:

1. Ruth Porter with 4 of her children – Henry, Gladys, Bristol & David – dated 17 June 1927.

JAMES L. (LAWRENCE) PORTER

James L. Porter was born 27 October 1860⁵³, probably in Fergus, but baptised on October 8, 1865 in the “family” baptism. Like his older brothers, he probably assisted his father in the building trade – when he witnessed his father’s mortgage on the family home in 1879 he described himself as a plasterer and in the 1881 census his occupation was recorded as “bricklayer”. In October of 1882, about 5 months after his older brother William had left Fergus, James entered the United States at Port Huron⁵⁴. He was 22 years old. His whereabouts for the next several years are unknown but by 1884 he appears in Duluth, where his brother William was living, and worked there as a plasterer. He is not however found in the 1885 Minnesota state census, although the directories for this period show him residing at the West End Hotel (or the Grand Hotel, same year) in1885, 107-3rd. (Rices Point) in 1886, with his brother at 1827/29 W.4th. from 1887 to 1890 and at the Clarendon Hotel in 1891⁵⁵. The Duluth papers reported that in May of 1888 James Porter was struck in the neck with a rock by an unknown assailant and was cared for at the Clarendon Hotel by members of the Knights of Pythias and while he “carries a badly damaged frontpiece” he was likely to fully recover⁵⁶. In 1890 he appears to have moved into the Knights of Pythias Hall on Superior Street. From 1893 to 1895 he lived at 1722 W. Superior, one of the few buildings in the block between the K. of P. Hall and the meat market owned and managed by his brother, and from 1895 to 1898 he lived on the second floor of 1608 W. Superior Street, where the Porter Brothers market was established.

A year after his arrival in Duluth James appears to have joined his older brother William in the butcher trade and, together with John T. Phelan also from Fergus, the “Porter Brothers” operated several commercial (wholesale?) meat markets at Rices Point and elsewhere on the west side of Duluth⁵⁷. One of these establishments they called the Palace Meat Market, a name James would later use for his butcher shop in Nelson. James also worked, at least for a time in 1891, as a salesman for J.B.Sutphin & Co⁵⁸.

James became active in the Duluth chapter of the Knights of Pythias, an American benevolent society founded in 1864. In 1888 he was “CC” and in 1891 he was the “D.D.G.C.” of Diamond Lodge #45, Knights of Pythias and in 1897 was their Deputy Grand Chancellor. He was particularly active in the Uniform Rank of the Knights of Pythias, and in February of 1888 he was a Captain in the Amythest Division of No. 11, K of P, was again elected to that position in 1890 and in September 1891 was awarded the Armstrong Award as the best drill captain among the Minnesota divisions⁵⁹. In 1894 he was listed as “Sir Kt Capt of the Amethyst Division, No.11 U.R. K of P”, in 1896 was the grand master-at-arms for the Duluth chapter and in September 1896 at Minneapolis was elected Lieut-Col. of the 2^nd. Minnesota Regiment, Uniformed K of P.

While in Duluth James also became interested in politics and became the “wage workers” candidate for Alderman to represent Ward 5 in February of 1890. In 1894 he was elected a delegate from Ward 6 for the Maj. Boldwin candidacy for the Democrats, and again in 1896 in the same ward.⁶⁰ Also in 1896 James Porter was one of the 3 election judges in the 6^th Ward of the 4^th Precinct for the Municipal Election⁶¹. He also acquired interests in at least four parcels of land in Duluth including 1916 W. 2nd. which he bought on March 26, 1894.

After fourteen years in Duluth and sometime after March of 1898⁶² James L. Porter left Minnesota and travelled west, and the St. Paul Appeal of 19 November 1898 reported that James Porter of Duluth was in Fargo, North Dakota as the guest of Mr. John Gordon. He also travelled to Spokane, Washington because when he bought land in Nelson, British Columbia in November of 1898 the Nelson Daily Miner reported him as “late of Spokane”.⁶³ Perhaps he and David arrived together in 1898 to join their brother Jacob and settle in the Nelson area.⁶⁴ James may have returned to Duluth after the purchase because the K.of P. magazine reported that he had departed Duluth in the spring of 1899 and the 1898/99 Duluth Directory lists him at the Tremont Hotel. If he ever left Nelson he was certainly back there by May of 1899 because at the dedication of the Fraternity Hall in Nelson on May 3 he was listed among those present. His rank was then Colonel of the newly formed⁶⁵ Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias.

James purchased property in Nelson and cultivated both his fraternal connections and political ambitions. In November of 1898 he bought eight lots (referred to as the “brickyard”) near the Hume Addition⁶⁶ in Nelson for $900 and on February 15 of 1900 opened his first butcher shop – called the Palace Meat Market after his Duluth location – in the new Turner/Beeton Building⁶⁷ on Josephine Street. In November of 1901 he bought a residential property on Hall Street at Mill which contained the two-year old house and where he, his wife Elizabeth and his brother David already resided.⁶⁸ In October of the preceding year, 1900, he had been elected sub-chair of the Court Star of Kootenay A.O.F⁶⁹. and he was also a member of the F.O.E.(Eagles). He continued his involvement with the Knights of Pythias and was elected their Prelate in 1902, Vice-Chancellor in 1903 and subsequently Chancellor. In 1903 James was proposed as a candidate for the Conservative-Liberal convention but was unsuccessful. In 1905 James is recorded as a supporter of John Houston and his Progressive Party and as the Registrar for the candidacy of J.J.Malone for mayor⁷⁰. A year later he was nominated to run on the Malone ticket for Nelson City Council. However, opponents complained that he was an American who had failed to renounce his allegiance to the United States. His supporters argued that “once a Canadian, always a Canadian” and that the complaint had no basis in law, but by the time the issue was determined by a judge, in James’ favour, it was too late for him to be successfully elected. He didn’t give up completely on politics however and in 1907 was elected as one of the nine delegates from the Nelson Conservative organization to attend the November provincial convention in Vancouver.

James also had a reputation as a “raconteur” and the Nelson papers describe him entertaining at smokers and testimonials.⁷¹He was also actively involved in arranging activities for the Dominion Day celebrations especially, as in 1907 and 1908, for the pony and horse races down Baker Street.

Before James opened his butcher shop he probably was also involved in the mining interests around Nelson because the Tribune of 26 July 1899 reports that J.L.Porter from the Homestake was staying at the Tremont (Malone’s hotel), and the “Homestake” was the claim filed by his two brothers on 49 Creek. James later was also active as a mining investor and bought into the Juno Mine with his good friend J.J.Malone⁷² and three other well-known Nelson businessmen. James recorded claims at “North Star” and Fractuals 2 and 3 on the south side of 49 Creek in 1905.

On 12 November 1900 in Spokane Washington, J. Porter of Duluth Minnesota was married by licence⁷³ to Elizabeth Murray of Fargo North Dakota⁷⁴. James, a merchant, would have been about 50 years old and Elizabeth, a dressmaker, about 46. Elizabeth Janette (Lizzie) Murray was born 2 October 1854⁷⁵, likely in Chatham, Kent County or Huron County, Ontario, the fourth child and first daughter of William D. Murray⁷⁶ and Ann McLaughlin⁷⁷. Her siblings were Walter⁷⁸, Adam⁷⁹, Charles William⁸⁰, William, Thomas, Annie, Robert and Alexander. Elizabeth was enumerated with her family in 1861 in Algoma and in 1871 in Ashfield, South Huron, Ontario. In the 1880 US Census Lizzie Murray was enumerated with her son James in Township 139, Cass County, Dakota Territory where she was housekeeping for six plowmen, but she moved to Duluth Minnesota sometime around 1883⁸¹ where her brothers Walter and Charles W were then living. According to a Directory, Lizzie J Murray had worked as a cook at the West End Hotel in Duluth where James boarded in 1885 and it is possible that he met her then. Later directories show Lizzie as a dressmaker residing at 819 E.3rd (1889/90) and, as Lizzie J. Murray, at 205 Long Block (1891/92) and, as Elizabeth J Murray, a fitter with Huntington & Tallant [1021 Piedmont] residing with James Murray at 9 11th Ave. W. (1900). However, Elizabeth clearly maintained her connection with Fargo and Cass County, North Dakota and it is possible that James met her on his visit to Fargo in 1898 or, more likely, he had already known her from Duluth and had travelled to Fargo for the purpose of visiting her. Certainly, at her marriage to James in November of 1900 Elizabeth said she was from Fargo, North Dakota.

Elizabeth J. Murray appears to have had one child, James W. Murray born about 1876 or 1877⁸² in Ontario when Elizabeth was about 22 years old. According to his Naturalization Application and the 1910 Census, James Murray emigrated to the US in March of 1879 and settled in Duluth, St. Louis Co, Minnesota where he was naturalized in 1902. In about 1902 (according to the 1910 Census) he married Lillian _____⁸³. By August of 1905⁸⁴ James W. Murray and his family came to stay with James and Elizabeth Porter in Nelson and his 3 month old son George S. Murray was buried from James Porter’s residence (and in a plot owned by James) 11 April 1906.⁸⁵ James and Lillian had at least 4 children, all apparently born in Canada: the first with no known name b. probably in1903 and died before 1910 (also according to the 1910 Census); George (b. & d. 1906); James W.G. (Jr.) b. 1908; and Elizabeth P [Porter?] b. August 1909⁸⁶. However by April of 1910 the family was back in Duluth (Precinct 1) and lived at 806 Lake Avenue where James was a photography salesman. Within the next 4 years Lillian died (probably 28 October 1911 in Duluth – Cert. #849) and James moved back to Nelson British Columbia where, as a widower, he married on 11 May 1914 to Georgiana Walker, the divorced wife of Arthur Walker (m.1897 – 1 son Stanley Joseph b. 2 Jan 1898 Menominee Illinois – lived Marinette Wisc. and Battle Creek, Calhoun Co., Mich.). Georgiana had been born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in April of 1877 to Thomas & Mary Ingersoll. The marriage of James and Georgiana took place at the Porter’s residence on Hall St. and Elizabeth Porter was one of the two witnesses. On the marriage certificate James gave his full name as James William Graves Murray and listed his parents as Charles & Anne Murray. By 1920 the Murrays were living in Portland, Oregon (260 Williams Ave. Precinct 258, east of Haight St.) where James was a sales agent for a candy company. Sometime between 1920 and 1930 James and Georgiana divorced (in 1930, as Georgianna Walker, she was in Cornwallis, Benton, Oregon, although she died in Portland, Oregon 25 April 1947 – Certificate #1560 – as Georgiana Murray) and James married for his third time to Hedvig M. Elland (born in Oregon but resident in Spokane, Washington in 1920). By 1930 the Murrays were in Seattle, Washington but by 1933 they had moved back to Portland where they lived in Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland, and in the 1940 US Census, James and Hedvig were in Clackamas (Precinct 2), Oregon. James W. Murray died 16 August 1943 in Portland, Oregon (no Certificate number).

On 9 July 1908 Elizabeth Porter was inducted as “E.J.” of the Pythian Sisters – Nelson Daily News.

James Porter died on July 8, 1912, barely one month after the death of his brother Jacob in Calgary. He was 51 years old but had since 1909 been in “continued ill health” and since 1911 “has been a severe sufferer”.⁸⁷ He was buried from St.Saviour’s Anglican Church ⁸⁸ and was interred in the plot he owned in the Nelson Cemetery⁸⁹. His will, dated 6 January 1910 and proved 13 January 1913 in Nelson, left the entirety of his estate to his wife Elizabeth Janet Porter. Additionally, James’s will was proved in Minnesota in the week of 10 May 1913⁹⁰. Elizabeth, his widow remained for some time in Nelson and the Duluth Herald of 23 July 1914 reported that Mrs. James Porter of Nelson B.C. was an out-of-town guest at the marriage of William A. McCordy of Ely, Minnesota to Ada Patterson of Duluth. In 1923 she sold the family home on Mill Street and in 1930 was recorded living in Seattle⁹¹ with her son and his wife Hedvig. Elizabeth Porter died in Portland, Oregon⁹² January 5, 1937⁹³ and was buried on the 7^th94 in ________.

Family

James and Elizabeth had no children of their own⁹⁵.

Land: 40 acres in St. Louis County, Minnesota (N.E. of Coeur D’Alene Minnesota) being NESE 6 62 N 14W of 4th Meridian purchased 20 April 1891 and transferred to his widow on 22 June 1918.

Photos:

1. n.d. Studio group – James with David, Margaret and Alice – possibly around 1892, the year of their parents’ deaths.
2. n.d. prob. 1899 – James – Uniform Rank Knights of Pythias in Nelson Parade.

JACOB CALLAHAN PORTER

The fourth brother, Jacob C. Porter (a.k.a. Jake, Jacob Callahan Porter, Jacob Charles Porter⁹⁶, “Jay Charles Porter” and, more commonly “JC Porter”), was born 27 June 1862⁹⁷ but baptised with his three brothers on October 8, 1865 at St. Johns Anglican, Elora. He seems to have done well at school and attained the highest mark amongst his classmates in passing from 2nd. Div. Srs. to 4th Book in 1880.⁹⁸ He was still in Fergus for the 1881 census at age 19 but the next clear record of his whereabouts is the 1888 directory for Toronto where he appears at 587 King Street, a home owned by Abraham Scott, as a plasterer. For several successive years there is no listing for him in the Toronto directories, but in the 1891 census he turns up again as J.C. Porter, 27, a plasterer boarding at 33 Denison Avenue, the home of Robert M. Huston⁹⁹, contractor. It seems likely that Jacob worked for Huston in his contracting business.

The 1892 Toronto Directory shows him boarding still with the Hustons at 71 Woolsley street although at the time of his mother’s death in September of 1892, Jacob was in Chicago Heights, Cook Co., Illinois¹⁰⁰. The next year, 1893, finds Jacob in Duluth with his brothers James and William. He is listed as a contractor boarding at 1728 W. 1st. which was only about 1/2 block from where his brother James lived. By 1895 he seems to have left Duluth – at least he does not show up in any records there for the following period – and appears in 1897 in Nelson, British Columbia.

Jacob must have arrived in the West Kootenays by at least March of 1897 when he took out a Free Miner’s Certificate in Nelson. He was enumerated on the 1898 voters list for Nelson as a “contractor” and in the Directory of the same year he is shown as a “plasterer” living on Victoria Street. He may also have been the unnamed Porter who was the “teamster” in 1897¹⁰¹. In the 1901 census Jacob he listed in SD 6 (house #41) which is the same polling district as his two brothers who lived together in house #143 presumably on Mill Street. He is shown in successive Nelson Directories until 1902, that year residing at the Clark House. Throughout this period he carried on the trade of a plasterer, the occupation of his father and oldest brother John. He appears to have never bought land in Nelson for all listings show him as a “householder” and not as an “owner”. For a time Jacob was also a member of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Nelson and is shown on successive City payrolls in that capacity from 1898 to 1900, and the Tribune of 8 December 1900 reported that he had been late for a fire.

Like so many men at this time, Jacob was also active in mining explorations and is recorded on March 3, 1899 transferring his Homestake and Bonner claims on 49 Creek to his brother David G. Porter. In 1900 he filed [further?] claims on locations up from 49 Creek¹⁰² both by himself or with either of his two brothers. In October of 1901 the local newspaper notes the major work on the Homestake claims (above the May and Jennie mines) by Jacob and his brothers “with the intent to work throughout the winter”. This is the last mention of Jacob and he may have gone up to the Klondyke (Yukon) at this time.

By 1903 Jacob, aged 41, had moved to Alberta¹⁰³, probably Calgary although he married in Banff¹⁰⁴ on Friday, June 5th of that year to Emily Radford Balfour, ^{105 106}who had been living in the Klondyke in the Yukon Territory. Jacob apparently never brought Emily home to the house he had built in Calgary¹⁰⁷ and at least some time during or prior to 1906 she had returned to the Klondyke¹⁰⁸. Jacob was listed in the 1905 Calgary Directory at 1220 Centre Street E. and in that directory, and one in 1907, he was shown as a plasterer¹⁰⁹. The directory for the intervening year, 1906, and regularly until 1911, lists him as the Vice President of the Alberta Steam Laundry (at 3^rd St. and 7^th Ave. and later 402 – 3^rd Ave.W.) and, in 1910, also as a real estate developer. From 1906 to 1911 Jacob resided in Calgary at numerous locations on 8^th Avenue East, such as 1906 – McKenzie Block (218a 8^th Ave.E), 1907 – 228 8^th Ave. E, 1910 – Costello Block (504a 8^th Ave.E), and 1911- Samis Block¹¹⁰ (330 – 8^th Ave.E). Just prior to his death he and his dog “Carlos” lived with his brother David Porter and his wife Jessie at 818 – 4^th Ave.W., although he owned other properties in the Haultain district of east Calgary¹¹¹ and had an interest in substantial holdings in Coquitlam, Richmond, Surrey and Delta in British Columbia.¹¹²

On May 8, 1912 Jacob died in Calgary of Brights Disease¹¹³ at the age of 49. His body was taken back to Fergus by train by David G. Porter and he was interred in the Belsyde Cemetery there on May 15, 1912.

Whether Emily and Jacob lived together after their marriage, and for how long, is not known¹¹⁴ but in January of 1910 Emily, who had been in the care of Dr. Egbert of Calgary¹¹⁵, was admitted to a mental hospital in Brandon, Manitoba¹¹⁶, where she was enumerated as a patient in the census of 1911 and which she left in July 1911¹¹⁷. She was briefly transferred to the Mental Hospital in Ponoka, Alberta, and then in 1913 or 1914 into the care of Mrs. Mayes in New Westminster, B.C. where she was under the supervision of a Dr. J.G. McKay¹¹⁸. In the 1914 Henderson’s Greater Vancouver Directory Emily is the Mrs. Porter residing with Mrs. Mary J. Mayes, widow of Thomas Mayes, at 221 3^rd Street in New Westminster. Finally, in May of 1918 she was admitted to the Insane Asylum, properly the Public Hospital for the Insane (Woodlands or #9) in New Westminster and, in October of 1930, to the Provincial Asylum in Essondale, Coquitlam¹¹⁹. She suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, according to the medical reports in her file at Essondale and her death certificate. She died June 6, 1933¹²⁰ in Essondale and was buried 13 days later by her brother-in-law David G. Porter in the Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster.

Family

Jacob and Emily appear to have had no children.

Photographs:

1. Portrait of Jacob – aged about 23 therefore c. 1885 – location unknown

ELLEN/HELEN PORTER

Ellen, or “Nell” or “Nellie”, was the fifth child and eldest daughter of her parents. She was born 3 May 1864 and baptised privately, because she was “sickly”, on 26 September 1865 at St. Johns Anglican, Elora. She seems to have lived with her parents in the family home in Fergus¹²¹ and is shown there as a dressmaker on the 1891 census. Even after her parents died in 1892 she probably continued to live at home until her marriage in neighbouring Elora on August 20, 1897 to James Philip¹²², also of Fergus.

James Philip¹²³ had farmed on Lot 11 of Concession 16 in Nichol Township where he was in 188 4 at the time of his father’s death, but had located in Fergus by 1887 and in the 1891 census is shown there, aged 37, with his widowed mother Elizabeth, aged 67. His occupation was a grocer¹²⁴.

Sometime after the sale of the family home in Fergus in 1898 and the death of James’ mother the same year, James and Ellen and their two children moved to Hamilton, Ontario¹²⁵ and were there at 20 Bruce Street (Ward 3) at the time of the 1901 Census. At that time James was a clerk at a grocery store. By 1904 the family had moved to 190 Pine Street in St.Lambert, (just S. of Montreal) Quebec where James worked as an inspector for the Grand Trunk (later Canadian National) Railway and later, around 1917, for the Dominion Transport Co. At the time of the 1911 Census they were living at 3 Victoria Street.

Helen Philip, nee Porter, died on January 11, 1916 in St. Lambert, aged 51 and was buried 15 January from St. Cuthbert Presbyterian in St. Lambert¹²⁶. James Philip died at the Western Hospital 29 December 1941 and was buried 31 December from St. Andrew Presbyterian, also in St. Lambert. Both were interred together in Montreal’s Mount Royal Cemetery.

Religion: Presbyterian

Family

James and Ellen had two children, both born in Fergus:

1. Margaret b. 22 January 1898 (per 1901 & 1911 census), likely in Fergus. Single. Registered Nurse. She died, unmarried, ______ (after 1962) in Montreal.

2. Adam b. 28 May¹²⁷ 1899 (per 1911 census) in Fergus and married 24 June [?] 1944 to Emily Dodds. Adam attended McGill University in Montreal and was a bank clerk in Montreal before enlisting in 1917 with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He served in the Royal Canadian Artillery during W.W.II and on his return was an investment analyst in Montreal, ultimately with the Financial Times and in later years was a salesman. From at least 1953 Adam, Emily and David lived at 384 Rue Notre Dame in Longueuil. Adam died 26 March 1956 in St. Lambert and Emily died 8 October 1970 in Montreal.

Adam and Emily had one child: David James who married Julie ____, likely in Montreal, Quebec. By 1990 David and Julie were no longer living in Montreal and their present whereabouts is unknown.

Photos: – James Philip and Margaret Porter in St. Lambert c. 1937

MARGARET (JANE) PORTER

Margaret, or Maggie or Peg, was the seventh child and second of the three Porter girls, and was born 17 July 1868. Like her older sister, she was also a seamstress or dressmaker. Sometime during 1891¹²⁸ she left Fergus for Toronto where she first lived at 41 Lakeview and worked for the Wm.East Company. The next year she moved to 323 Queen Street W. and began working for Vermilyea Corsettes [sic]. Sometime just prior to her parents’ deaths in September of 1892 Margaret moved back to Fergus to live at home with her brother David and sister Ellen. She was confirmed as an adult at St. James the Apostle Anglican in 1895 and finally left Fergus in April of 1898 after the sale of the family home. She probably moved firstly to Duluth and then Nelson to live with one or other of her brothers and appears, with her brother David, as a witness in an April 1904 marriage in Nelson of two fellow Fergus folks: Thomas A. McIntyre and Mary E. Craig¹²⁹. She does not appear in Nelson at the time of the 1906 census.

No further record has been found of Margaret until 1909 when she was listed in a Vancouver directory as a dressmaker working at 851 Davie St. (shown on the street listing as occupied by a Mrs. Jeannie Clarkson) and residing just around the corner at 1233 Howe (shown on the same listing as occupied by Leonard Scott, grocer). There is no listing for her in the 1910 Directory but in 1911 she is listed as a tailoress rooming at 1036 Pendrell¹³⁰ with the family of Henry McLeod. In the 1911 Census of August of that year she is shown as a “Domestic” at the home of James and Sarah McLeod at 1036 Pendrell. Miraculously, her birth year was given as 1889 and her age as 21! In 1912 she still resided at 1036 Pendrell but was working for at least the next 3 years at “The Peoples Renovatory”¹³¹, an establishment on Georgia St. next to Christ Church Cathedral.

On December 8, 1915 at St. Paul’s Anglican in Vancouver’s West End just a few blocks away from where she lived, Margaret married Angus McLeod¹³², the son of her landlord. True to the Porter tradition of down-stating their age, Margaret stated her age as 37 in the church register, whereas she was actually 47. Angus’ brother Donald and sister Sarah Isabel were the witnesses¹³³. Angus and Margaret lived at 1046 Pendrell¹³⁴¹³⁵, next door to Angus’ mother Janet¹³⁶, until 1931 when they moved to West Vancouver¹³⁷. There they resided at 1689 Duchess until 1938 and at 1750 Haywood until 1944 before moving to Vancouver and residing at 1334 Gravely until 1946 and at 2457 E. Broadway where they lived until Margaret’s death. Margaret died April 3, 1949 and is buried next to her sister Alice in West Vancouver’s Capilano View Cemetery.

Angus, also known as Angus A. and Angus Rory McLeod, to distinguish himself from the several other Angus McLeods in Vancouver at this time, had variously worked as a blacksmith, miner, cleaner at the Post Office, carpenter, a warehouseman, a commercial traveller and finally a groundskeeper. He served in the 2^nd Regiment C.M.R. during the Boer War¹³⁸, having enlisted 27 December 1901 in Winnipeg with his brother Henry. Angus returned from Durban, South Africa in July of 1902. After Margaret’s death in 1949 Angus lived with his brother James Alexander McLeod for a while and then at the Bonnie Rest Home at 1966 W. 14th Ave. He died 5 March 1952 and was then residing at the Clifton Hotel at 1125 Granville St.

Family

Peg and Angus had no children.

Photographs:

1. A group portrait with Ellen/Alice?, David and James/William? C. 1888?
2. Numerous snapshots on Pendrell Street in Vancouver, B.C.

ALICE PORTER

Alice¹³⁹, the youngest Porter girl, was born 4 July, 1870 in Fergus. Like her older brother Jacob, she excelled at school and received the highest mark in her class in promotion from 5th Div. Srs. to Part II.¹⁴⁰ She probably left Fergus for Toronto with her sister Margaret sometime in or about 1891. Alice and Margaret lived together in Toronto and both worked with as seamstresses at the Wm. East Company. In 1892 they were living at 41 Lakeview with their brother William, although he was probably only temporarily up there from Duluth, Minnesota. Later that year Alice moved to 121 Anne Street while continuing to work with the Wm. East Company. Shortly thereafter however Alice changed her line of work and commenced employment as a stenographer with Whaley, Royce and Company where she remained until at least 1893. At this time she lived with the Hustons, who had previously been the landlords of her brother Jacob, at 70 Nassau Street. A year later however Alice was back with the Wm. East Company, this time as an umbrella maker, and living at 159 St.Patrick. She seems to have however retained close ties with Fergus and was also confirmed as an adult at St.James Anglican there in September of 1896. In 1897 at the time of her brother John’s wedding she is also noted as being from Fergus, but she probably also left in 1898 after the family home was sold¹⁴¹.

For the next several years Alice appears to have lived in Hamilton, Ontario with the family of her sister Helen Philip but after the 1901 Census there is no further mention of Alice in other records, although she probably lived with her brothers in Duluth, Nelson or Calgary or, her sister Margaret in Vancouver. On July 5, 1910 in Calgary she was married to William Rufus “Spike” Harrison¹⁴². From October 1906 to March 1914 Harrison had operated the general store and Post Office in Bresaylor, Saskatchewan (Battleford District) where his parents and younger brother lived at the time of the 1911 census, and William and Alice made it their home for some time. Their son Robert Porter Harrison was born there in May of 1911. In 1912 William moved his store to his homestead in Battlebank (SE1/4 S.34, Tp.45, R20W3). He was active in Bresaylor as a reeve and school trustee in 1912 and 1913 and again as reeve from 1919 to 1921. During WWI he served in Europe and was gassed there. The Harrisons moved briefly to Battleford¹⁴³ but by 1923 they had settled in Vancouver, B.C. where William worked for the CPR and Alice was employed as a seamstress for the Gordon Campbell Company. They then lived at 514 Homer Street. Two years later William entered a partnership with Alex Mathieson and operated as “Harrison and Mathieson, Tailors” with premises at 321 Cambie Street. Later, and until about 1939, they contracted out their services to Gordon Campbell Co. Ltd., Clothiers. William then worked for Moffat Tailoring until his retirement in 1943. The Harrisons had in the meantime moved to West Vancouver where they lived first on Bellevue near 19th. and later at 2992 Marine Drive. Alice died April 23, 1936 from “Haematemesis” and after her death William and Robert moved back to Vancouver and for several years lived at 3046 W.16th. Avenue and then successively at 1035 W.14th., 355 W.13th. and 947 E.King Edward. William died May 17, 1947 and both he and Alice are buried in Capilano View Cemetery in West Vancouver.

Family

Alice and William Harrison had only one son Robert Porter Harrison who was born May 12, 1911 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. During WW II Robert was a wireless operator in the Merchant Marines. He married Frances Elizabeth Sweeney in Pouce Coupe, British Columbia (the Dunsmore’s home at this time) on September 19, 1944. Bill was a radio operator for the Canadian Government and then the B.C. Provincial Police and, after amalgamation, the R.C.M.P. By at least 1947 the Harrisons had moved to Courtenay, B.C. (on Vancouver Island) but by 1949 were living in Campbell River (on Vancouver Island) where from 1951 Robert operated a commercial radio service. He was also Chair of the Quinsam Heights Water District and active in the Eagles and the Lions Clubs. He died on April 27, 1962 in Campbell River. His widow remarried in 1974 to Cameron McPherson.

Robert and Frances Harrison hadthe following children:

Shirley Elizabeth, Robert William, Stuart Alan, Barbara Alice Jean, Carol Eileen and Evelyn Anne.

Photographs:

1. Studio Portrait with 2 brother and 1 sister – Fergus or Nelson – personal possession
2. Portrait
3. Various snapshots taken in Calgary during the late 1920s.

DAVID GEORGE PORTER

David George Porter was born February 3, 1873¹⁴⁴ in Fergus, Wellington County, Ontario the last child of John and Margaret Porter¹⁴⁵. Like his older siblings, David attended the Anglican church in Fergus although he and his brothers and sisters apparently went with their mother to Christmas Mass at the Catholic Church there or in Elora. As a young boy he had a pet crow that accompanied him wherever he went¹⁴⁶. Upon completing his schooling in Fergus he appears to have secured employment as a clerk in a hardware store initially in Fergus¹⁴⁷ and then later in Toronto and he appears in the 1892 Toronto Directory (Directories are usually relevant for the preceding year) as a Clerk at P. Whytock¹⁴⁸, and residing with the James Sproul family at 15 Palmerston (formerly Muter) Avenue¹⁴⁹.

After the death of his parents in September 1892 David, following the lead of his older brothers, left Fergus and, likely lured by tales of gold and opportunities in the western Canada, appears to have arrived in British Columbia sometime before or during 1893. Nelson County Court records show that as a free miner in Kaslo in July 1893 David Porter and two others commenced a legal action to enforce performance of a contract they had entered into with another person. The directories of that year do not however record his presence there. At that time Kaslo, situated on the north-west side of Kootenay Lake, had a population of 3000 and was thus considerably larger than the City of Nelson to the south which had a mere 600 inhabitants.¹⁵⁰ He probably did not stay in Kaslo for more than a year or two because in April of 1895 he received an adult baptism at the Anglican church back in Fergus. He seems to have spent the next few years in Fergus or, at least, Ontario and in March of 1897 he attended his brother John’s wedding in Orangeville (at which point he was apparently living in Toronto) and in March of 1898 he was in Fergus for the sale of the family home.

Sometime in or after 1898 David appears to have returned to British Columbia, this time to Nelson, just 43 miles south of Kaslo on the west arm of Kootenay Lake. His brother Jacob had located there a year earlier and his brother James probably arrived in Nelson around the same time as David.

The first firm evidence of David’s presence in Nelson was a reference in the January 24, 1899 edition of the Nelson Tribune where he was listed as a member of a last minute make-up team from Lawrence Hardware¹⁵¹, where he was a clerk, in a Curling Bonspiel in Rossland, south of Nelson. David may have learned to curl in Fergus which was, and still is, well regarded for the high calibre of its curlers. During his residence in Nelson he continued to be actively involved in the sport – in January 1899 he played in a Lawrence “Store v. Management” game; the February 9, 1899 edition of the Nelson Daily News listed him as a member of the Tamblyn curling team and in the October 25 edition of the same paper there was a record of his enrolment in the Nelson Curling Club whose vice-president was James Lawrence of Lawrence Hardware. Although David’s team was unsuccessful in the 1899 Rossland Bonspiel, with a new team including Thomas Lillie, A. Carrie and J. Rae, he won two major awards, the Hudson’s Bay Cup and the New York Life Grand Challenge Cup at the February 1900 Kootenay Curling Association¹⁵² Bonspiel in Rossland.

The 20 December 1899 edition of the Tribune reported that David Porter and George Steele, David’s curling partner and co-worker at Lawrence Hardware, were sponsoring a Christmas Day Turkey Shoot. He was also active in George Steele’s Gun Club. Although he initially lived on Vernon Street in Nelson, by 1901 according to the census of that year and the 1902 Directory he resided on Mill Street with his brother James.

Like his brothers James and Jacob, David dabbled in the staking of mining claims. The March 3, 1899 edition of the Nelson Daily News reported that J.C. Porter had transferred the whole of the Bonner and Homestake claims to D.G.Porter on 15 February of that year and a Homestake fraction was filed in his name on 49 Creek on 11 July 1899. In the fall of 1901 the Homestake Group (by this time jointly owned by David and Jacob) reported serious work and impressive prospects for the claim, located 3/4 of a mile above the “May and Jennie Mine”¹⁵³. In 1904 and 1905 he and Jake filed, or re-filed, consecutively on Homestake¹⁵⁴, Utopia Fractional and Bonner, and in 1905 on the North Star and the South Star on Evening Mountain 2 miles south of Nelson.

David was also, like his brother James, an active member of Lodge No.25, Knights of Pythias, being elected Master at Arms of that group in June of 1905. He had also joined the local militia – Company B (or 2) of the Rocky Mountain Rangers¹⁵⁵ – sometime between May of 1898 and September of 1900 when he is listed on their nominal rolls as a Colour Sergeant. The Daily Miner of August 17, 1900 reported that Lance Corporal Porter had been promoted to full Corporal. In June of 1901 the Nelson Tribune reported that Sergeant D. G. Porter had been selected to command No.2 Section of Company 2 (Nelson) Rocky Mountain Rangers. It was as a member of that company that he was selected in May of 1902 as the R.M.R. representative in the Coronation Contingent. He left Nelson on May 23, 1902 for London and after the Coronation returned aboard the S.S.Tunisian on July 8, 1902.

The Nelson directories show that David Porter continued clerking at Ashdown’s Hardware, which had bought out James Lawrence in 1902, until 1906. In January of 1906 he was the manager of the store’s hockey team but in the first week of April 1906, according to successive issues of the Nelson Daily News, he left Nelson for Calgary where he was to “start a new business with John Templeton¹⁵⁶“. Parting gifts included gold cuff links from Ashdown’s Hardware and a watch charm from the Knights of Pythias. His residence in Calgary is confirmed by his entry in the 5 June 1906 Northwest Provinces Census and by his entry in 1906 issue of the Calgary Directory which contained a listing for both David and Jacob Porter, and their “new business” the Alberta Steam Laundry¹⁵⁷.

Almost immediately upon his arrival in Calgary, Dave had become associated with his brother Jacob (who likely had arrived in Calgary about 3 years earlier) and John Wellington (Jack) Templeton in the operation of the Alberta Steam Laundry. The enterprise was located at 402- 3rd. Ave. W. (later the site of the Eatons Department Store). Dave was the secretary and Jacob was the Vice President. By 1909 however Dave had left his association with that laundry, although Jacob retained his connections until his death in 1912.

During his first four years in Calgary, David lived with his brother Jacob at 218 8^th Avenue E. (the McKenzie Block) and later at 228 8^th Ave. E. Next door at 220a-8th. Ave. E. was the Palmetto Cafe and Bakery where the Porters frequently came for their meals. Robert and Elizabeth Dunsmore¹⁵⁸ briefly managed the premises which is how Jacob and David first met the Dunsmore’s eldest daughter Jessie Wilson Dunsmore. By at least 1910 it was obvious that a marriage was being planned, although Jessie was only 19 years old, as in late fall of that year¹⁵⁹ Dave travelled to England to call off an engagement he had made with Florence Skelton on his trip there for the Coronation in 1902.

David George Porter and Jessie Wilson Dunsmore were married at St.Barnabas Anglican Church, in the Hillhurst district of Calgary, on April 24th, 1911 and the reception was at the home of

David “Dad” Johnson. The witnesses at the wedding were Ada and Helen Johnson, daughters of “Dad” Johnson.¹⁶⁰

After living briefly in Sunnyside, Dave and Jessie Porter moved to 818 – 4^th Ave. W. which was one of the three homes (duplexes) that Dave and Jacob had built on their three lots there. They lived here while Dave and Jacob were constructing another home, which they later moved to, on the next lot¹⁶¹. Later, certainly by 1929, they lived in their new home which they had built at 1431 6^th Street NW in the newly opened Rosedale west of Crescent Heights.¹⁶²Later, they moved back to 4^th Ave. W and didn’t return to live in the home on 6^th Street until some time in 1942.

Just prior to his marriage Dave, in association with two others, had formed a new company – the Ideal Laundry Co. Ltd., incorporated April 12, 1911 presumably to compete with the Alberta Steam Laundry. It was located at 730 – 2nd Ave. W. Dave was it’s first president. Also involved in the business as Vice-President was James Arthur Templeton, the older brother of John Wellington Templeton. Charles M. and William A, two sons of James Arthur Templeton, were involved in various capacities as drivers or managers. During the war years, one of the company’s major clients was the Sarcee Military Camp. This company ceased operations 5 years later in 1916 when it was, according to the Templeton family records, absorbed by the Alberta Steam Laundry.¹⁶³

It is also likely that at some time Dave worked for Ashdown Hardware on 8th Ave. which was the company he had been associated with in Nelson. James Lawrence, the owner of the Nelson store, originally Lawrence Hardware, had become the manager of Ashdown Hardware in Calgary.

Sometime before 1920 Dave became involved as manager in a new company called the Standard Steam Dye Works, which operated from 721 to 725 (or 735) -1st. Ave.W., but seems never to have been incorporated.

Around the same time, from 1912 on and during the famous “oil boom” of southern Alberta, Dave formed “D.G.Porter & Co., Investment Dealers” located in the old Examiner Block on 7th. Ave. S (later the site of the Professional Club). He continued to dabble in this business even after he had retired in the 1950s. In about 1925 Dave commenced his long association with the Provincial Government’s Liquor Control Board and worked there as a clerk until his mandatory retirement in 1945 (based on his assumed later date of birth). He continued to work at what was then the only Liquor Store in Calgary at 330 9th Ave. W. on a call-in basis until the early 50s. He was an avid lawn bowler.

David Porter died June 13, 1955 in Calgary from a heart attack, his third, at the age of 82. He was buried three days later from St. Michael and All Angels Anglican, where he was a devout member, and was interred in Queens Park Cemetery, Calgary. Jessie died July 8, 1977 in Calgary, aged 86, and was buried in Queens Park Cemetery beside David.

Family

David and Jessie had three children:

1. Margaret Elizabeth¹⁶⁴ – born in Calgary on August 16, 1912, married there 29 November 1939 to Thomas Joseph O’Grady, and died in Calgary July 8, 1997.
2. Robert George¹⁶⁵ – born in Calgary on August 20, 1914, married there 10 November 1937 to Rosalind Emily Ball and died in Edmonton on February 24, 1988.
3. John Jacob¹⁶⁶ – born in Calgary on July 3, 1916, married in Edmonton, Alberta 13 February 1943 to Bernice Marvelle Ofstedal and died in Calgary September 19, 1985.

Margaret and Thomas had two children:

1. Timothy Porter currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
2. Thomas Joseph, deceased.

Robert and Rosalind had two children:

1. David Robert John, deceased, who married 1. Elizabeth Lou Crawford and 2. Margaret Rowan and had three children with his first wife – Allison Mardie, Robert David Crawford and Bradley Todd.
2. Gerald Bruce who married Terry Ball and had two daughters – Krista Diane and Jill Renee. They currently reside in Edmonton, Alberta.

John and Bernice had two children:

1. Brian John. He is currently residing in Vancouver, British Columbia and is the author of this treatise; and
2. Judith Marvelle , married Charles John Tottenham, 9th Marquis of Ely, in 1968 in Calgary and had two children – Andrew and Jennifer. They are currently residing in Calgary, Alberta.

_{C:\MyFiles\PORTER2F(Canada)-orig.wpd} 15 December 2020

ENDNOTES

1The information for his Death Certificate, supplied by his son John Emslie Porter, gives a birth date as 4 November 1863 and shows Fergus as his place of birth.

2St. James the Apostle, built as a chapel in Fergus in 1858, was administered by the minister of St. Johns Elora until at least this point because in October of 1867 John Porter was one of the successful petitioners to have it hived off. (Pamphlet – St. James and Byerly’s Fergus)

3He was 39 years old – thus maintaining the Porter tradition of delayed marriage! See Orangeville Sun March 18, 1897 p. 2 & 3.

4Born 11 March 1866 Guelph (baptised 3 June Knox Presbyterian) to Robert Emslie, stonecutter of Guelph and his wife Mary Anne Cook. See Pat Mestern’s Looking Back : The Story of Fergus 1833-1933 at p. 377 where the Cook family is described. (The Marriage certificate gives her mother as “Jane” but this could be Robert’s second wife as Mary Anne apparently died quite young.)

5Mary Robina Emslie, Emma’s sister, boarded next door. In West Toronto, it was in Ward 4, SD 38 Toronto South at the time of the 1911 census. She apparently later married T.H. O’Donnell.

6Ont. Civil Death – #4852 & Funeral Notice in Toronto Telegram 11 August – cause: myocarditis & cirrhosis

7Mother’s Affidavit for late registration – Ont. #1918-902312, his SSN Death Index (303-01-9888), his Florida Death Certificate #71985 and the 1901 and 1911 Censuses.

8Orangeville Sun 30 November 1899

9Born 25 July 1900 as Margaret Cole Bromley to John Bromley and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Alberta McBrien in York County. In 1911 her family was at 205 Brunswick Avenue and were still there in 1928 when her brother Haworth (Harold Haworth Bromley) travelled to Rye, New York to visit his cousin Marion Armstrong. The 1930 Census states that both John and Margaret had been married, for the first time in each case, for 5 years.

10Although no document referring to him has yet been found at PAC and, in any event, he would have been only 18 by the time the war ended.

11On the crossing manifest [#1439] John was described as 5’8″ tall with fair or medium complexion, brown hair & brown eyes. His occupation was given as a collector.

12Or 629 W. 45^th Avenue.

13The only letter I have from him is dated February 1967 from Clearwater.

14Death Certificate #71985. However, his SS Death Certificate (303-01-9888) recorded his last residence as the Sun City Center in Ruskin, Hillsborough, Florida (the co. immediately east of Penellas) and the state of Indiana as the place where he was first assigned his SSN.

15Cert. #37286

16The initial date of “4” January on the birth registration (1904-001728) was corrected on 29 August 1958 to “24” January, and at the same time the second name of “David” was added. The 1901 Census has 24 January although the 1911 Census says 7 January.

17Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1910 the daughter of Ernest H. Gilmour and Lillian M Hughes. She was a stenographer living at 91 Pleasant Boulevard in Toronto at the time of their marriage.

18Or more likely 1943.

19Per Kay (Katherine) Rogers c. 1982

20According to Joe Weppler in an article in the Owen Sound Sun Times of 19 July 2015 (on-line) the Cessna 205 “was caught in weather so severe that it began to come apart in mid air. All four passengers of the plane died in the crash.”. Griffith Island in Georgian Bay, their destination, is now a private hunting preserve and the area where the plane crashed is now a Nature Reserve near Bognor and within the ambit of Owen Sound.

21The 1911 Census has 5 January.

22Kay and I last corresponded in about 2000 when she was working as a realtor in London Ontario.

23George S Foote, son of James and Catherine Foote, who were good friends of the Porters, was a butcher in 1871.

24John Wilkie (25, son of George & Margaret), Willie Gerrie, John Gerrie Jr., and Peter Nolan. Byerly’s Fergus at pp.344 reports that in 1881 a group of about 27 Fergus citizens went to Valley City in Dakota, Barnes Co., North Dakota.

25Born c. 1859, the son of James & E. Jane Phelan. His brother James P. Phelan (b. 1856) entered the US via Detroit in April of 1881 but made his Declaration of Citizenship on 28 January 1890, the same day as William Porter.

26Daughter of Henry McCurry and Agnes Gill.

27The Minister was Deacon Ezra Porter [sic] Chittenden [b. Westbrook, Conn. and just made a Deacon that year]

28Name later changed to Russell Merton Porter

29Although the next page reads “89”.

305th. Precinct, 6th. Ward

31Enumerated as William B Porter – and with a birth date of January 1861.

32The 1900 map for Duluth shows an empty lot here – viz. Lot 306, Blk36, NE1/4 of SW1/4 2nd. Division.

33The June 26, 1905 Duluth Evening Herald reported that William V. Porter was one of a multitude of butchers who, as members of the Duluth Retail Grocers Association, were suing two other large grocery concerns for price setting.

34The 1917 Directory contains the following entries in addition to William at 105 W. 15 St.:

Greysolon Apartments:

Grace Porter, clerk

Harriet Porter, stenographer

Rose B. Porter, widow of Harry H. Porter

1029 E. 3rd.

William Porter

William A. Porter

35Buried at Lakewood Cemetery 1 December 1922 – Site 121-22-2 (i.e. Section 22, Lot 121, Grave 2).

36MN 1921 #022952 – Buried at Lakewood Cemetery 11 October 1921 – Site 121-22-3

37Although this may be in error for Macalester College in St. Paul where Ruth Tormey was a Senior in 1912.

38Albert J Tormey, the father of Albert Porter’s wife Ruth Tormey and secretary-treasurer of the Northwestern Land Co., was residing at 1749 Princeton Ave in St. Paul in the same directory.

39Born 1892 in Wisconsin to Albert J. and Maud (or Lizzie) M. Tormey. She had two siblings – Vera M. and Bristol A. Tormey, the latter named after their grandfather William Bristol. See 1905 and 1910 Minnesota Censuses – St. Paul.

40Named changed to Russell Merton sometime between 1943 and 1955.

41As Russel M Porter – MN 1960 #026359 Buried 10 October 1960 Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis – Site 121-22-8

42Site 121-22-7

43His WWII Draft Card gives his birth date as 27 November 1918.

44MN 1957 #000143 Buried 7 March 1957, Lakewood Cemetery – Site 121-22-6

45Although she likely had previously married Richard J. Harling 16 March 1968 in Hennepin (probably Minneapolis). A Richard James Harling died 27 Oct. 1974 in Itasca Minn. although he was said to have been born in 1909.

46MN 1929 #005582 Buried 3 July 1929 Lakewood Cemetery – Site 121-22-4

47Born 15 Nov. 1922 daughter of Walter L. and Johanna Hass.

48Site 6-B, 0, 320

49Buried Lakewood Cemetery – Site 121-22-5

50In 2002 they were living at #1 – 2095 Silver Bell Road, St. Paul, Minn.

51Per Duluth News Tribune, 2 June 1892.

52MN 1920 #025799 – Buried [or re-buried?] 13 May 1921 Lakewood Cemetery – Site 121-22-1

53Although he said 15 October 1862 on the 1901 census and, again, 1862 on the 1911 census.

54per US Citizenship Declaration – Vol J p. 97 District Court of St. Louis, Minnesota. Also, according to a report in the Duluth Sunday News Tribune of 5 November 1893 the Porter brothers had been in Duluth for 11 years.

55The 1890-1891 Directories (at Ancestry.com) list him 3 times – at 1801 W. Superior, at 1609 W. Michigan, and at the Clarendon Hotel.

56Duluth Evening Herald – 7 May 1888 and 8 May 1888

57At 1609 W. Michigan & 1608 W. Superior in 1890 & 1892. A “branch market” was established in May of 1886 per Duluth Tribune 14 May 1886

58John B. Sutphin & Gustavus Swift – Meat Merchants – their warehouse was at 301-315 Lake Avenue, while John Sutphin lived at 110 E. 1^st in (Rice’s Point).

59St. Paul Daily Globe 11 September 1891 p.1

60Duluth News Tribune – 29 August 1894 & 4 August 1896

61Duluth Evening Herald – 25 January 1896

62When the Fergus paper reported that Jas. Porter of Fergus left on the train for Duluth.

6318 November 1898, P.3, Col.3. Note also that the Nelson Daily Miner of 11 January 1902 reports that a J.Murray from Spokane is at the Queens. See notes 16 & 17. Spokane was on a direct GN route from St. Paul and Duluth and was the departure point for BC. According to Pioneer Families of Kaslo you took the stage from there to Bonners Ferry and then up river to Kootenay Lake and Nelson.

64However, and strangely, they were not the only “Porter Brothers” in the Nelson area who came from Duluth via Spokane. Andrew R., John D. and Joseph Porter had entered the US in 1884 and were in Duluth by 1885. By 1891 (see Duluth Directory of that year) they were at 503 W. Michigan were, with Philip Westaway, they operated as Sand & Gravel Merchants. They appeared on the 1885, 1900 and 1905 Census as being born in Canada and living with the Westaways, likely the in-laws if Andrew. Also present was their relative Richard B. (and perhaps a C.D.Porter, also from Duluth, born Maine) and they seem to have constituted the Porter Brothers-Contractors from Spokane, Washington, who were frequently involved in public works projects in the Kootenays during this period. Andrew R Porter was referred to in the Nelson Tribune of 6 March 1897 as “a well known contractor who arrived from Duluth.”. In fact, Andrew R. 14, John D.13, Richard 9, Joseph 7, James W and Charles 4 were all the sons of James and Jane Porter of Caribou, Pictou, Nova Scotia and were all enumerated there in 1871. The Duluth Evening Herald of 2 Dec. 1908 reported that Mrs. James Porter, mother of the Porter Brothers contractors, had died in Spokane Washington where she had been living since last fall since leaving Duluth where she had been for 15 years.

65Nelson Daily Miner, 15 March 1899. The uniforms were dark blue with white helmets and red plumes, and “with swords drawn”.

66These were lots 7 to 14 of Blk. 79. Oddly, the Nelson Land Title Office records the conveyance as 20 Nov. 1899.The vendors, William Hancock and James Bullock, received the crown grant of these parcels only 8 months earlier on 13 March 1898. James sold lot 7 in August of 1901 to Joseph Labelle, but the rest went to the City of Nelson by way of a tax sale in 1920 and now form the basis of the Kiwanis Park on Front Street between Willow and Chatham.

67The Nelson Daily News of September 6, 1899 reported that Turner Beeton and Co. were erecting a two-story block 30 x 40 on Josephine between Baker and Victoria.

68Nelson Daily Miner, 3 November 1901, p.4,col.1. Records of the Nelson Public Works Department show a water connection permit being issued on May 18, 1899 to W.Gardner. The Nelson Miner of May 16, 1899 notes that Lots 22, 23 and 24 on the NE corner of Hall and Mill which belonged to W.P.Tierny and have a $500 house on them were sold for $1,700 to J. Laing Stocks. Land Title records show that James bought the right-to-purchase N1/2 of Lots 23 and 24, Blk. 40 from Jesse Graham on 22 Oct. 1901 and exercised the right to buy from William Gardner on 1 Feb. 1902. The Nelson Daily Miner of 3 November 1901 reported that “Jesse Graham disposed of his residence on Mill Street to J. Porter, and has left with his family for Grand Forks.” James bought the S1/2 of these lots from Thomas Franklin on 11 April 1905. In 1923 Elizabeth, James’ widow, sold lots 23 and 24 to Dr. Isabel Arthur. This Block 40 was obviously being developed at this time because the Nelson Daily News of 26 October 1899 notes that lots 13 and 14 at corner of Hall and Mill were sold by Miss Delmage to Messrs. Marten and Dexon and the same paper of 27 October notes that the 2 story cottage built by Mr. Annaple, the realtor who sold for Miss Delmage, was nearing completion. In 1911 it was described as 911 Hall St.

69Ancient Order of Foresters, it was formed in 1834 in England, although in 1874 the Canadian and American chapters apparently seceded to form the Independent Order of Foresters. Also appointed to the A.O.F. was Percy Swiffen who in 1911 in Calgary would open the Ideal Laundry in partnership with David Porter, the Templetons who were also from Nelson, and several others.

70Daily Miner, 27 December

71″J.L.Porter…contributed to the mirth of the gathering with stories well told..” – John A.Kirkpatrick’s testimonial, 1908 dinner

72The builder and owner of the “Tremont”, John Joseph Malone was born, according to one biographer, in Arthur, Wellington Co, Ontario, just 8 miles from Fergus and was about the same age as James. He was also involved with James in Aerie No. 22 of the F.O.E. (Eagles) and was a Captain in the same Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias in which James was the Colonel.

73No. 43626 Spokane County, Washington

74The marriage was performed by P. (Peter) A. Cool and witnessed by his wife and teen-age daughter. Peter was, according to the 1880 Canton, Illinois census, a minister of the ME (Methodist Episcopal) Church.

75Per her death certificate and confirmed by the 1861 and 1871 Canadian censuses. However the 1901 Census suggested 1865, the 1911 Census October 1866 and the 1930 US Census 1860.

76Also Murry. In 1871 another William Murry, born about 1805 in Scotland, also lived in Ashfield and it is likely that William the father of Elizabeth adopted the second initial D. to distinguish him from the other. William and Anne were both born in Scotland, 1820 and 1828 respectively, (although it is more likely that Anne was born in St. Johns Nova Scotia as shown on the 1851 census) and likely married in or prior to 1850, either in New York state or Ontario. William was a mechanic in Chatham, Kent Co. in 1851, a millwright in Algoma in 1861 and a sawyer in Ashfield in 1871 and the family seems to have stayed in the same area north of Goderich on the east side of Lake Huron for at least 20 years. Their first child Walter was born about 1850 in New York State, although their other children – Adam born about 1852, Elizabeth 1854, Charles William 1856, William 1858, Thomas 1860, Anne 1861, Robert 1862 and Alexander 1863 – were all born in Ontario – probably in or around Chatham, Sarnia or Goderich or Ashfield in Huron County. Oddly, neither William nor Thomas appear with the family on the 1861 Census. William remarried sometime between 1861 and 1871 to Sidney Sibella ____ who appears with the family in the 1871 census.

77McLaughton on Elizabeth’s marriage license in 1900.

78A sawyer, like his father, he married 29 January 1879 in East Wawanosh (now North Huron Township) Huron County to Sydney Elizabeth Buchanan and by 1885 were living on Lake Avenue South in Duluth Minnesota where they had at least 5 children and where he died 12 Feb. 1917. He was a Boat Builder and, by 1905 a Policeman.

79A farmer, he married 5 Feb. 1879 in Ashfield, Huron County, Ontario to Annie Johnston and emigrated to the US in about 1877 and in 1880 they were living in Wheatland, Cass County, North Dakota, USA, where Annie’s brothers William and Thomas Johnston also resided. They were listed in Wheatland for all subsequent National and State censuses until 1925 when both disappear from the lists. They appear to have had no surviving children.

80A millwright, like his father, he married 13 December 1881 in Toronto to Helen Craig, the groom from Duluth. In 1885 and 1900 he was living in Duluth, on Woodland in 1900, with their three children Jane born June 1883, William born July 1885 and Grace C. born August 1890, all in Minnesota.

81On the 1930 Census Elizabeth stated that she had entered the US in 1883. The Murrays resided in Ward 4 of Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota.

82Or 18 July 1874 according to his WW1 Draft documentation. 1876 or 1877 comes from his 1914 marriage and 1910, 1920 & 1930 censuses. According to his British Columbia marriage license in 1914 James William Graves Murray was born in 1876/7 in Ontario the son of Charles & Anne Murray. Charles was the younger brother of Elizabeth. This birth has not been found, and in any event it would have been impossible for James to be the legitimate son of Charles and Anne because they did not marry until 5 February 1879. James, was in fact, almost certainly the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Murray and, possibly, ___ Graves. Indeed, he was recorded as the son of Elizabeth on the 1880 Census for Township 139 Dakota Territory (just below Tower City and now includes Gill, Hill, Howes, Mapleton and Durbin Townships) where Lizzie Murray, 25 born Ontario in 1855, was enumerated with her son James, born Ontario in 1876, and the six plowmen that she kept house for. An Adam and Anne Murray lived in Wheatfield (formerly Township 140), Cass County, North Dakota from 1880 (they had emigrated in 1878) to at least 1920 and this is just north of Township 139 where Elizabeth and James were also enumerated in 1880. Almost certainly, Adam was the older brother of Elizabeth and born in 1852. [The James Murray born 1 November 1877 in Ontario to George and Ann Murray is likely a different person because in 1901, in York Co. Ontario the family is shown as Roman Catholic and James is resident with them.]

83Probably the James W. Murray b. 1877 Ingersoll Ontario who married Lillian Irene Davis b. 1884 Scranton Pennsylvania 21 April 1903 in Granite County, Montana (a sparsely populated county s.w. of Missoula). While James reported his parents as James and Isabelle, he likely provided fabrications of both parents, although Isabelle is a variant of Elizabeth.

84The Nelson Daily News of 18 Aug. 1905 reported that Mr. J.W.Murray of Duluth, a guest of J.L. Porter of Hall Street, was on his way to the Lewis and Clarke Exposition (held that year in Portland, Oregon). Interestingly, a J. Porter is listed as a resident of a hotel in Duluth, Minnesota in the 1905 State Census but while this could be James L. Porter, who still owned property in Duluth and may have been there on a visit, it could also be the John Porter of the other Porter Brothers [see note above].

85Died April 10, 1906

86Aged 9/12 on the 1910 U.S. Census taken 15 April 1910.

87Obituary, Nelson Daily News, 9 July 1912, p.1

88Although no death record has been found in the church’s registers and there is no entry in the British Columbia Vital Statistics (Deaths).

89Adjacent to George Murray

90Duluth Herald 22 April 1913, 10 May 1913

911052 E. Thomas. An apartment building is still on the site a few blocks east of Broadway on Capitol Hill.

92Likely in Ardenwald, Clackamas County (just north of historic Milwaukie and south of Portland center) where James and Hedvig were living at the time of the 1940 census.

93Certificate #75 – Oregon Deaths 1903-1998

94Source = ?

95Lucy Dunsmore (nee Fraser), who with her husband C. Robert Dunsmore, had lived in Nelson for about 20 years, had said that she believed that James and Elizabeth had a child that is buried with them. That child, however, is probably the George Murray noted above who was the grandson of Elizabeth. However, a child described as “Baby Porter” was born in St. Louis County, Minnesota (which contains Duluth) on 17 November 1901, a year after James Porter and Elizabeth Murray were married. Only the mother’s name “Lizzie” was provided.

96Signature on deed of sale of Fergus property in 1898

97Although the 1901 Census records the date as 10 March 1868!

98Fergus News Record 8 June 1880

991881 Canadian Census – St. Andrews Ward, Toronto – Robert Huston, 33, carpenter with his wife Elizabeth, daughters Annie and Maggie and son Alexander.

100Per Telegram – personal possession

101See chapter on David George Porter

102eg. Homestake Fractional – 7 July 1900. The Nelson Tribune of 28 May 1901 reported the London, a relocation of Copper Glance, located a mile from the head of 49 Creek.

103Many former Nelson residents had locate4d in the Calgary-Banff area including W.J. Astley who built and managed the first two chalets at Lake Louise – per E. Luxton, Banff at p. 74.

104Not, apparently, at St. George’s Anglican church. The only Justice of the Peace reported in Banff in the 1905 Henderson’s Directory was Howard Douglas, the Superintendent of Rocky Mountain (later Banff) Park.

105According to census returns and her civil marriage registration, she was born about 1873 in England to James Balfour and Pauleen Redford. However her baptism and any record of her parents has not yet found, and neither the 1880 US, 1881 England or 1881 Canada Censuses Indexes have any entries for an Emily, Pauline or James Balfour that fit. She is not the Emily Belford in the 1880 New York Census who is found there in 1910. [Q – Aust, NZ or S.Afr? Note that “Polly” is sometimes used as a short form of Mary]. The records kept at the Mental Institution at Essondale, British Columbia say that she spent her childhood near New York. Although her sister-in-law, Jessie Porter, had said that Emily was a dance-hall girl from the Klondyke and although she appears as a lodger in the Klondyke Hotel in the 1901 Yukon Census [ED 10] it is as a miner, and not as a dancer, although several “actresses” did reside in the hotel. Note that the only other Emily Balfour found in Canada was the one who was born in 1876 and married in 1901 in Sherbrooke, Twp., Ontario to Albert Wilson, 26, a farmer in Lanark. Her parents were Robert Balfour & Agnes Lockhart.

106Confirmed by the Clary Craig record of people leaving the Klondike: “Emily Balfour – October 14, 1901 – Stewart River, YT” Filson’s Pan for Gold Database. 3 placer mining claims were filed in 1901 in the Klondike by Emily – the first on March 5 at a site where Lewis Creek flows into Kluane Lake (124 miles south of Dawson?), and the other two, on April 13 and 14, near Stewart River (69 miles south of Dawson) on Thistle and Blueberry Creeks. Emily’s Free Mining Certificate was No. 75297

107Jessie Porter – personal interviews

108The Clary Craig record of people leaving the Klondyke shows “Mrs. J.C. Porter – October 1906 – Calgary, Alberta”, and the June 1906 NW Territorial (Canada) Census shows only Jacob and David living together in the McKenzie Block in Calgary.

109According to his sister-in-law Jessie Wilson Porter, he was a plasterer on the new Cathedral Church of the Redeemer (Pro Cathedral) which was begun in 1904 and completed July 1905. This was a sandstone building, one of many that helped Calgary deserve its sobriquet of Sandstone City.

110Built in 1909, the Samis Block was still standing in at least 1969.

1113 houses on 19th. Street, E., north of 9th. Avenue

112See Alberta Surrogate Court – file 896

113inflammation of the kidneys = nephrosis

114Her sister-in-law Jessie Porter claimed that they never lived together.

115Although this may have been after the fire at Brandon. William Egbert has begun practicing medicine in Calgary in 1904 and was also very active in local politics and the provincial Liberal party. He was the 3^rd. Lt. Gov. of Alberta.

116The Brandon Hospital, which had opened in 1891 on North Hill 1&1/2 miles from the centre of Brandon, burned to the ground on 4 November 1910. At the time of the fire it held 643 patients who were marched down to temporary lodgings in the Winter Fair Building, on 10^th street, and the replacement hospital was not opened until December of 1912. Apparently, all records were lost in the fire.

117Personal correspondence 29 May 1979 from the Director of Clinical Records, Manitoba Department of Health and Social Development.

118In the 1920 Henderson’s Greater Vancouver Directory J.G.McKay, physician, had an office at 37 6^th Street in New Westminster and may have been the Dr. John McKay who in 1916 resided at 195 Bute Street in Vancouver. Co-incidentally, M.C. McKay was the assistant Medical Superintendent at the New Westminster Insane Asylum in 1914.

119Personal correspondence from Dr. Pauline Hughes, Manager, for the Executive Director of Woodlands Hospital, 2 May 1979.

120Civil Deaths BC – 1933-09-478753

121She appears to have been the witness, although only 16 at the time, of a marriage between Robert Scott and Mary Chanters, both of Garafaxa, in Alma on 5 May 1880. She is listed as living in Fergus.

122James was born in Fetteresso (adjacent to Stonehaven), Kincardine, Scotland on 28 August 1852 [IGI] [or 26 August 1851 according to the 1901 census, or August 1857 according to the 1911 census!] to Adam Philip and Elizabeth Nicoll, who had married in Fetteresso 11 July 1847 [IGI]. They had at least one other child, a daughter Margaret born 5 May 1850 [IGI] in Fetteresso before coming to Ontario in ___, originally settling in Cumnock. In 1871 Adam aged 40 and “Annie” Philip resided in Nichol Township with James aged 19, but no other children. Presumably they were living with the Mackies on lots 8 & 9, Conc. 13. In 1881 Adam and Elizabeth Philip are shown living in Garafaxa West Township in Wellington Co. with a servant named Adrian Stronach, aged 22. Adam Philip died August 4, 1884 and, despite the family mantra that was “Philip – one l, one p, no s”, the name is spelled Phillipp on his death certificate. Elizabeth Philip died 17 February 1898. Adam is buried in the Belsyde Cemetery in Fergus – S. 3A-2-1 and, curiously, next door in S.3A-2-2 are Mary Jane Philip 1852-1952 and Margaret Catherine Philip 1868-1921, the two spinster daughters of the other James Philip – the land agent, and his wife Mary Brown (see note below). Currently, a note on the Find-a-Grave website also remarks on this anomaly but properly identifies Adam’s son James as the husband of Helen Porter

123There were two other men named James Philip (father and son), spelled identically, the elder shown in the Fergus Directories from 1867 to 1882 as a general or land agent. Born 1812 in Aberdeenshire, he was married to Mary Brown and died in 1889. According to the 1881 Census his son James was born about 1857 and was an Insurance Agent, and was likely the “James Philip” who was appointed Clerk of the Divisional Court in March of 1898.

124In the 1883/84 Wellington Co. Gazetteer he was noted as in his 11th year in the grocery business.

125Although their son Adam was allegedly born in Fergus in May of 1899.

126At this point the family were living at 571 Notre Dame Avenue in St. Lambert but by the time of the 1935 Montreal Election Rolls James, Adam and Margaret were at 190 Pine Street in St. Lambert.

127Or April according to his WW1 Attestation Papers – #2152450 – 10 May 1917 – where he is described as 5’8″ tall with blue eyes, brown hair and fair complexion.

128Perhaps when her parents left for a short stay in Duluth with William and James.

129#04-09-145180

130W ½ Lot 5

131Established in 1906 by Miss G.Hunt, this business specialised in costume making and at the time of publication was at 817 Granville Street – Greater Vancouver Illustrated p.185.

132Born 4 July 1867 in Orillia, Simcoe Co,, Ontario or nearby Seabright. In 1901 the McLeods, without Angus, were in the Woodlands sub-district of Selkirk District, Manitoba (Argyll P.O.).

133Angus’ father Henry had died just about a month earlier.

134E ½ Lot 6 – bought in 1906 by Angus McLeod on behalf of himself and his father. About a month after his mother’s death, Angus conveyed this property, which his mother had conveyed to him in 1916, to Margaret. She sold it in 1945.

135N.B. A block away at 1115 Pendrell lived an Angus J McLeod and his wife Christine from about 1929 to 1937. Margaret may have also owned her own property because the Directory shows a Margaret McLeod as a homeowner at 1140 Bute, also a block away, from 1919 to 1921.

136She died March 1926.

137Angus’ sister Isabella Bunn lived in West Vancouver until her death in 1946.

138Regimental No. 711, his brother Henry being No. 712. His rank was S.Smith in the 2^nd. Canadian Mounted Rifles Regiment and he served in the Cape Colony and Transvaal in 1902. His service medal was awarded 22 November 1906.

139Also known as Alice Marion Porter

140Fergus News Record 8 January 1880

141See Fergus News Record 24 March 1898, although possession was at least a month later.

142b. 31 January 1871 (or 1870) Chatham, Ontario to Robert A. Harrison and Eliza F. Browne (they m. 17 November 1859 in Toronto)

143Most of the Harrison history to this point is from Bresaylor – Between the Battle and the North Saskatchewan, 1882-1982, p. 181

144Ontario Birth Certificate 933892 and reported in the Fergus News Record 6 Feb. 1873, although for most of his adult life he would report his birthday either as February 2, 1877 (1901 Census) or, in all other instances, February 7, 1880.

145His father was then 51 and his mother 40.

146According to the story relayed by his children, the crow’s name was Tom and had been brought home to him by his older brothers who had gone out crow hunting while David was required to stay home to pick potato bugs out of the garden. Apparently, the crow had a crossed or crooked beak and David massaged the beak until it straightened out saying “poor Tom” during the procedure. At some point the crow said “poor Tom” back and began it’s life of mimicry. It also had a habit of “laughing” uproariously in the most inappropriate circumstances and so was hidden whenever a funeral went by (the family lived near the cemetery). At one point the crow was taken to a photography studio to be photographed but the project was abandoned when the crow went berserk and trashed the studio. Apparently, the crow was later stolen by a passing circus for its talking ability and/or was shot. (Robert Porter and Mardie O’Grady, interview, 1979 and 1993).

1471891 Ontario Census

148The 1882 Might’s Directory shows P. Whytock as a butcher at 145 Lumley street.

149In the same directory his sisters Alice and Margaret and brother William are living at 41 Lakeview Ave. (now Evelyn in Toronto Junction) in Toronto

150Barlee, N.L. West Kootenay: Ghost Town Country 1984 Canada West Publications. p.20 In 1894 Kaslo suffered first a devastating fire and then 4 months later an equally destructive flood. A major population shift subsequently occurred from Kaslo to Nelson.

151See Joy’s Papers – PABC; Nelson Miner, 30 May 1896 and July 1, 1899. It opened on 1 August 1896. Lawrence Hardware was established by James Lawrence of Lethbridge, N.W.T .When W.H. Ashdown bought out Lawrence in 1902 he went to Calgary to manage their store there. Ashdown’s Secretary Treasurer was a John Emslie of Winnipeg and since Emslie was the surname of the wife of John Porter, David’s oldest brother, this may explain why David worked for Ashdowns in Fergus. In 1899 Lawrence Hardware employed 20 men and was, after the Hall Mines and the C.P.R., Nelson’s third largest employer.

152Heather Harris in an article entitled “Sports of All Sorts” in the Vancouver Sun 24 Oct. 1983 p.C4 credits the Kootenay Curling Association as having organized the first curling competition in B.C. in 1898.

153Nelson Daily Miner, 3 November 1901, p.3,col.1.

154The Tribune of 26 July 1899 reported that J.L. Porter had arrived “from the Homestake” and was staying at The Tremont, the hotel owned by J.J.Malone.

155Originally organized as the South Kootenay Rifle Co., it was one of the five companies authorized on 1 July 1898 and which merged, on 1 January 1900, to form the Rocky Mountain Rangers.

156John Wellington Templeton had operated the Kootenay Steam Laundry in Nelson in 1904/05.

157The company was incorporated on December 12, 1905 with John W.Templeton, David G.Porter and Jacob C.Porter as its first directors. David was Secretary. It was described by a visitor from Nelson in 1908 as “the largest steam laundry between Winnipeg and the coast” – J.E.Annable, quoted in the Nelson Daily Canadian 18 March 1908.

158Mrs. Robert Dunsmore lived at 710-3rd. Ave.W. in 1910 and Jessie probably lived with her.

159He returned to Canada on the newly-commissioned Royal George (Canadian Northern Steamships) which left Bristol (Avonmouth) on 6 December 1910 and arrived in Halifax 13 December 1910.

160David Johnson was the manager of the Palmetto Bakery and Café where his two daughters Ada and Helen also worked as clerks. Johnson, who apparently bred canaries as a hobby, may have known David Porter from Nelson.

161Family homes:

-1912 to 1920 – 818 – 4^th Ave. W.

-1921 to 1929 – 814 – 4^th Ave. W.

-1929 to ? – 1431 – 6th. St. N.W. (Rosedale/Crescent Heights) and, from at least 1934 to 1939, 818 – 4^th Ave. W.

-by 1940 – 812 – 4th Ave. W. (1431 was leased out to others)

-around 1942 to 1955 – 1431- 6^th St. N.W.

-1947 to January 1950 -1320 – 16^th Avenue N.W. (house trade with son John)

-1950 to 1955 – 1431 – 6^th St. N.W.

162According to his daughter Margaret O’Grady, David “Poppy” had failed to do a complete title search on the property and there was a builders lien registered against it which created problems later on.

163M7219 at the Glenbow Archives, Calgary. Note – relationships with the Templeton family were subsequently strained.

164Named after David’s mother Margaret and Jessie’s mother Elizabeth

165Named after Jessie’s father Robert and David’s middle name

166Named after David’s father John and David’s brother Jacob