52 Ancestors: #28 Catherine Elizabeth Winters

My great-great-grandmother Catherine Elizabeth Winters was born on 12 November 1861 in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York. She was the daughter of John Bennet Winters and Anna "Ann" Walker. By 1866, Elizabeth had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her family. Her younger siblings Hugh, Alice, and David all died between 1866 and 1868. Her family was probably affected by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On 19 September 1872, Elizabeth's mother Ann died.

Elizabeth married James Graham. The family story is that he had been a Catholic priest. I have not yet found their marriage record, but they probably married before 31 October 1879, when my great-grandmother Kathleen (probably born Catherine, because earlier records show her with that name) was born. Elizabeth's father John died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 25 December 1879. The Graham family was definitely in Canada by 1881, when they appear on the 1881 Census of Canada, living in Hochelaga, Quebec, Canada (near Montreal, and now part of Montreal). Their son Garfield was born on 26 May 1881 or 1882. After 1883, James Graham disappears from the records. The family story is that he went back to the priesthood. On 20 November 1885 in Montreal, Elizabeth married James Mapplebeck, a glassblower who was originally from Ontario, Canada. Their marriage record states that she was a widow. However, considering the family story, I am not sure if she was really a widow. Although I am skeptical of the story that James Graham returned to the priesthood, he may have abandoned the family.

The Mapplebeck family (Elizabeth's children used their stepfather's surname until the early to mid-1900s and appear to have been at least informally adopted by him) moved from Montreal to Alton, Madison County, Illinois sometime after the 1891 census, between 1891 and 1892. By 1898, James Mapplebeck had left the family and gone to California.

Elizabeth moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1905. Her daughter Kathleen was already living there. By 1908, her son Garfield had moved there as well. In the 1910 United States Census, Kathleen and her family were enumerated in Elizabeth's household, possibly visiting from North Dakota. Elizabeth ran a boarding house in St. Louis.

On 2 March 1942, there was a fire at the Brantwood Nursing Home in Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri. The 3 March 1942 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that Elizabeth Mapplebeck was one of the patients who was at City Hospital after the fire. Elizabeth died on 4 March 1942. According to her death certificate, the cause of death was coronary sclerosis due to chronic nephritis. There was no mention of the fire, but surely it played a role in her death. Elizabeth was cremated on 5 March 1942, and her ashes were scattered on 27 April 1942.

 

Birth record, Catherine Elizabeth Winters. Winters family Bible.

St. Mary's Church, Hochelaga, Quebec, Canada. Marriage of James Mapplebeck and Elizabeth Winters, 20 November 1885. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

Alton, Illinois city directory, 1901-1902.

Alton Evening Telegraph, 20 October 1905, p. 4

 

St. Louis, Missouri city directory, 1923

Elizabeth Maplebeck death certificate. Missouri State Board of Health.

Joplin Globe, 5 March 1942

Mappy Monday: The Erie Canal through Tonawanda, New York

The Erie Canal through Tonawanda, N.Y. From the topographic map Niagara Falls and vicinity (U.S. Geological Survey, 1894.) Available from http://www.eriecanal.org/maps.html.

My 3rd-great-grandfather John Bennet Winters most likely worked on the first enlargement of the Erie Canal. In 1860 he lived in Tonawanda, and according to that year's United States census, he was a drudger. This map of the Erie Canal through Tonawanda shows the area where he lived and worked.

52 Ancestors: #3 Anna "Ann" Walker

According to the Winters family Bible, my 3rd-great-grandmother Anna "Ann" Walker was born on 28 February 1842. The family Bible does not give her place of birth, but according to census records (the 1855 New York State Census, the 1860 United States Census, and the 1870 United States Census), she was born in Ireland. When the 1855 New York State Census became available online, I finally learned more about Ann's family. Because she was only 17 when she married John Bennet Winters in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York on 10 October 1859, I thought it was likely that she had come to the United States with family. I found an Ann Walker of the right age and birthplace and in the right geographical area, and when I located her family in the 1860 United States Census, she was not with them, which fit well with her being Ann Winters, enumerated in the household of her husband John Winters, and married within the year.

I got really lucky when I found two enumerations for the Walker family in the 1855 New York State Census; they moved at the time that the census was taken, and were enumerated before and after they moved. The first enumeration was in Seneca, Ontario County, New York. Ann was enumerated with her widowed mother Ann, her older brother James, her younger brother William, and her younger sister Dora. William and Dora were the same age, apparently twins. The twins were born in Ontario County, New York, and the family had lived in Seneca for 9 years.The family was living with Miranda Waters, born in Otsego County, and her daughter Matilda, born in Ontario County. Miranda and Matilda had lived in Seneca for 7 years.

The second enumeration was in Buffalo, Erie County, New York. The family had lived in Buffalo for 1/12 of a year. According to this census record, William and Dora were born in Canada. Although it is possible that the enumerator confused Ontario County with Ontario, Canada, I suspect that they were actually born in Canada. According to the 1860 United States Census, they were born in Canada. I could not find the Walker family in the 1850 United States Census. The family may have come to North America 9 years earlier and settled in Canada (probably Ontario) first, and then gone to New York.

By 1866, Ann had moved to Chicago, Illinois with her husband and children. After losing three of her four children and probably being displaced by the Great Chicago Fire, Ann died at the young age of 30. According to the Winters family Bible, she died on 19 September 1872 at Lake Side between Highland Park and Glencoe, State of Illinois and was buried at Lakeside Cemetery, close by the head of Lake Michigan. I have not found a Lakeside Cemetery in that area. I am not sure if the cemetery name is correct, and the cemetery may not exist any more. It may have been in the area that is now Lincoln Park. I am still trying to determine precisely where the Winters family lived in 1872, and I am looking for more information on her burial site.

52 Ancestors: #2 John Bennet Winters

My 3rd-great-grandfather John Bennet Winters was born on 19 December 1831 in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland. He was the first child of Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet, who were both born in Ireland. On 8 January 1832, he was baptized at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh. Leith did not have a Catholic church at that time. He was baptized by John McPherson, and the sponsors were Owen Winters (probably Hugh Winters' brother) and Bridget McMahon. The Winters family lived in the parish of South Leith until 1849, when they immigrated to the United States. John, his father, and most of his siblings sailed from Glasgow to New York City on the Pursuit; they arrived on 12 June 1849. John's mother and his sister Margaret (the youngest child born in Scotland) did not sail with them, but were with the family in 1850, so apparently they traveled separately. The Winters family settled in Brooklyn, New York. At the time of the 1850 United States Census, John was not employed. By 1859 he had left home and was living in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York, where he married Anna "Ann" Walker on 10 October 1859. The couple was enumerated in Tonawanda in the 1860 United States Census. The record indicates that they had married within the year, which is consistent with the marriage date given in the Winters family Bible. John's occupation was "drudger." He was probably working on the first enlargement of the Erie Canal. John and Ann's first child, daughter Catherine Elizabeth (their only child to survive to adulthood) was born in Tonawanda on 12 November 1861. The family had moved to Chicago, Illinois, by 1866. John ran a grocery store at 247 S. Jefferson, in the Conley's Patch neighborhood. Within two years, three of his children passed away. In 1866, his daughter Alice died at the age of two weeks, and his son Hugh died at age 3 years, 8 months. His son David died in 1867 at the age of three weeks. All three children were buried in a single grave at Graceland Cemetery. In 1871, John petitioned for a free peddler's license. His grocery business had failed, and his only chance of making a living was by peddling tea and coffee. His petition was granted by the mayor and Common Council of Chicago in June 1871. A few months later, after the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871, the Winters family probably had to move. They had lived at the edge of the burnt district, and John was not listed in the 1871 Edwards' Chicago Directory, Fire Edition, which was compiled after the fire. On 19 September 1872, John's wife Ann died. By 1878, John had moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he married Elizabeth Buise on 18 May 1878 at St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church. In the 1878 and 1879 Montreal city directories, John was listed as a watchman. He lived at 24 Bronsdon Lane. John died of pneumonia at Montreal General Hospital on 25 December 1879. He was buried in a common grave in Mount Royal Cemetery on 27 December 1879. Robert Campbell of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church was the minister officiating at his burial. W. S. Wright and R. A. Morrison were witnesses. His burial record stated that his occupation was fireman, which had also been his father's occupation when the family lived in Leith.

John B. Winters death notice, Montreal Daily Witness, 27 December 1879