[Welland Tribune March 23, 1940]
Wellandport, March 23.- George Robins, a well known and highly respected citizen of Wellandport passed away at his home on Wednesday after a lengthy illness. Deceased, who would have been 90 years old in April was the last member of a family of seven children, being a son of William Robins who was a large land owner in this district over a hundred years ago. Left to mourn are four sons, Lafayette, Charles, Erford and Earl, and two daughters, Jennie and Alice besides a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren.
His wife and three daughters predeceased him. The funeral was held on Friday afternoon from Lampmans Funeral Home. Interment will be in Riverside cemetery at Wellandport
[Welland Tribune March 26, 1940]
John M. Sherk, 64. prominent resident of this vicinity, died suddenly in his Point Abino road home Monday He had been in poor health for some time but had improved greatly, and had made preparations for resuming extensive farming this year. Previously for 20 years he conducted the Point Abino creamery until he disposed of it to Silverwoods, Ltd., a few years ago. He lived all his life on the farm where he was born.
Hr was a member of Memorial United church and a staunch Liberal in politics, though he never sought any office.
He is survived by his wife, Grace; one son by a former marriage, Roy M. Sherk, now residing in Toronto; a brother, Marin B. Sherk of Sherkston; and a sister, Mrs. Watson Morgan of Port Colborne.
Funeral services will be conducted in the late home by Rev. Dr, E.M. Morrow, Preston former pastor of Memorial United church, at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Interment will be in Ridgeway cemetery.
[Welland Tribune March 19, 1940]
Good Works recalled at services on Monday
Fenwick, March 19- A large number of friends and neighbors gathered at the family home on Monday afternoon to pay their final tribute of respect to Mrs. Annie Catherine Meyers, who passed away early Friday morning in her 77th year.
The services were conducted by Rev. J. Hampson, pastor of the United church of which the deceased was a faithful adherent. Mr. Hampson paid fitting tribute to a life which had been so untiringly spent in the service of her home and loved ones, her church duties and as a neighbor and friend who could always be depended on to lift a helping hand on any occasion.
A quartet composed of Mrs. L.E. Haist, Mrs. H. Ilman, W.E. Boyes and Orley Hannigan, sang two lovely hymns, “Jesus Lover of My Soul” and “Abide With Me.”
Interment was in Hillside cemetery. Pall bearers were W.B. Brown, Orley Hannigan, Verne Koppler, W. E. Boyes, Elmer Coon and Robert Phiillips.
Among the many beautiful floral pieces were the following: Women’s Association of the United church, spray; United Church choir, basket; Big Fur Club, basket; Women’s Institute, spray.
[Welland Tribune March 26, 1940]
Mrs Helen Smith Post, 65, wife of Robert Post who has resided in Rose Hill vicinity for over 30 years died in her home on Dominion road, Bertie township, east of Ridgeway on Saturday night. She was taken suddenly ill on Thursday last. Deceased was well known in this community as a kind neighbor. She was born in Tonawanda, N.Y.
Surviving are the husband: four daughters, Mrs. Fred Woehl, Fort Erie, Miss Mildred Post at home, Mrs. Geo Havill, Fort Erie, and Mrs. Raymond Johnston, Ridgeway, and a sister in Tonawanda.
Funeral services will be held in the family residence at 1.30 p.m. Tuesday. Interment will be in Tonawanda, N.Y.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Kightley Mark “11th” Anniversary
[Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 29 February 1940]
Mr. and Mrs. James Kightley of 129 Regent street were married 48 years ago today but celebrated their “11th” wedding anniversary. This was because they were married on Leap year of 1892. There was no Leap year in 1900, so there was no wedding celebration that year.
At 9 a.m. Monday, February 29 1892, Mr. Kightley and Miss Annie madden were wed at memorial church Penetanguishene, by Father Labreau with Captain William Madden, the bride’s brother, as groomsman, and a friend, Miss Theresa Putfhoff, as bridesmaid. Miss Puthoff has passed on, but Captain Madden has attended a number of the happy couple’s Leap Year wedding celebrations, most of them in Penetanguishene. Mr. and Mrs. Kightley came to Welland in 1925.
Mr. Kightley was born in Honeypot Hills, Vaughan township, 79 years ago, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kightley, his parents, came to Canada from Buckinghamshire 83 years ago, in a sailing ship. Mrs. Kightley was born at Bruce Mines near Sault St. Marie, 72 years ago. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Madden, who came over to Canada from England (to Toronto) by sailing vessel 85 years ago. Mr.and Mrs. Kighley have five children, Fred, in London, Ont.; Charles, at Tillsonburg; Gladys, Mrs. Edgar Fidelar in Niagara Falls, and Lillian, Mrs. Walter Whatmough, Stratford, and Alben G. Kightley, =-
Boyle, Feb. 2-Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Comfort of Hamilton were weekend guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Comfort.
Mr and Mrs Joseph Schwoob and Mrs. Sidney Heaslip accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Schwoob and son Gordon of Fenwick to visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schwoob of Niagara Falls, N.Y., on Saturday.
Walter Holden of Hamilton visited at the home of Mr. Aand Mrs. Wm. Cutler over the weekend.
Mr and Mrs. Paul Comfort and their guests Mr and Mrs. Alonzo Comfort of Hamilton were Sunday visitors at the home of Rev. and Mrs. George Comfort of Dunnvlle.
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Heaslip, John Hill, Harry Selseotes, Mabel Hill and Leonard Cocks were Sunday visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Anderson.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gracey of Stamford were recent guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Freure. Mrs. and Mrs. Nellis Heaslip, Mr. and Mrs. Judson Jamieson and daughter Helen. Mr, and Mrs Wm. Heaslip and daughter Jean and son Billy were Sunday visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Cutler.
Mrs. Wm. Anderson and Mabel Hill called on Mrs. Frank Anderson of Grimsby on Monday.
The Ladies Aid of Bethel United church held a very successful potluck supper in the church on Tuesday evening.
Boyle, March 1—Mrs Oren Tice of Bismark has returned home after spending several days with her mother, Mrs. Tillie Robins who is not in very good health.
Mrs. Wm. Heaslip called on Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Book of St Catharines recently.
Miss Audrey Lane of Silverdale spent a few days last week with Mrs. Roy Overholt.
Mr. and Mrs, Amos Beamer and son Wray spent Saturday evening at the home of Mr. And Mrs Clifford Gee.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Anderson, Mrs. Nettie Anderson, Mrs. Charlie Gee and Elmer Coyne spent Sunday with John Hill.
Mr. and Mrs Sidney Heaslip visited Mr. and Mrs. Ed Book of St Catharines on Friday.
Mr, and Mrs. Fred Schwoob and daughter Phyllis and son James of Niagara Falls, N.Y., Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Schwoob and son Gordon of Fenwick were recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schwoob.
Selkirk Robins, Mr and Mrs. Harris Robins and daughters Shirley and Janet of Tonawanda were Sunday guests of Mr and Mrs Wm. Heaslip and family.
Friends and relatives were sorry to hear of the passing of Mrs. Nancy Jamieson in her 91st year on Friday, February 23rd. The funeral was held on Monday afternoon from the home of her son-in-law, Wm. T. Sutherand of Wellandport and was largely attended showing the high esteem in which deceased was held.
The monthly meeting of Bethel United church Ladies Aid was held in the church on Wednesday afternoon Feb 28 with the president, Mrs. Wm. Anderson in charge, Mrs. Henry Ulman read the scripture lesson. The secretary’s and treasurer’s reports were read and adopted. It was decided to hold an Easter social in the church on Monday evening, March 25. A hot supper will be served on tables. The next meeting will be held in the church unless someone offers their home. The meeting closed by singing “God be With You.” Lunch and a social half hour was enjoyed.
Personals
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Schwoob of Fenwick visited Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Heaslip on Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Comfort spent Thursday with Mr and Mrs Charles Berry of North Pelham.
Mrs. Nettie Anderson is visiting her sister Mrs. Nelson Chadwick in Wellandport.
Mr and Mrs Ed. Wainwright of Kemore, N.Y. and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Gracey of Grimsby called on Mr, and Mrs Nellis Heaslip and Mr. and Mrs. Judson Jamieson on Monday. They also attended the funeral of their aunt the late Mrs. Nancy Jamieson of Wellandport.
Wm. Schwoob of Fenwick called on his parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schwoob on Sunday. Mr. Schwoob is still confined to his bed.
[Welland Tribune March 11, 1940]
The following reminiscences were written by Miss Wetherald and sent to John W. Garvin who included them in his foreword of Miss Wetherald’s bound volume of the 1931 edition of lyrics and sonnets.
As a child I was never robust enough to enjoy outdoor exercise although I took pleasure in all-day excursions after wild raspberries among the hills of Rockwood, usually accompanied by several of our household. Large pails were brought back brimming with the perfumed fruit, which was “put down pound for pound”( a pound of sugar to each pound of berries) to ensure freedom from mould. Long walks through the woods, which never had enough mosquitoes to frighten me away, were always a delight… I am very fond of country life; less enthusiastic over farm activities. I was seven years old when we left Rockwood. Hills and rocks, woods and the smell of cedars, all come back in the name (At the age of eight, accompanied by my sister and three brothers, I watched the slow-moving train draped in black passing by the railroad station near Haverford College bearing the dead body of Presidenr Lincoln. The aura of intense grief, nation-wide, and the sorrowful face of my father, made a deep impression.)
Disliked Mathematics
At school I had no love of mathematics and have always thought that for me to go beyond the multiplication table was a waste of time.. I have studied French and have taken private lessons from a native Frenchman, who shook his head over my hopelessly British accent. I attended Pickering College and shall never forget the endless patience of my favorite teacher, who would take me into her room in the evening and go over and over the mathematical puzzle that perplexed me in a usually vain attempt to make it clear. Really in the realm of figures I am a hopeless moron.
The very first cheque I received for verse was when I was seventeen and sent a string of stanzas to the St. Nicholas of New York, in which I described some of the antics of my two brothers, Lewis and Herbert, aged four and two respectively. I have forgotten the words. It was a mere rhyme so I don’t regret its oblivion; but I have some poems that I should have kept copies of. One was called”The Fire Builders.” which appeared in Youth’s Companion in 1890- I think in July of that year. Another July contribution to Youth’s Companion- I’ve forgotten the year- dealt with the misunderstanding between two children, a Canadian and an American, one praising the “glorious fourth” the other protesting it was the “glorious first,” and correcting each other very frequently. There was an editor’s note at the end explaining that July 1st was Confederation Day in Canada..Most of the poems in The House of the Trees appeared first in that periodical.
Just before moving to London, Ontario in 1890, I sent “The Wind of Death” to the Travellers Record and when I showed the ten dollar cheque received for it to me fellow-boarders, they were openly astonished. To get real money for a string of verses seemed absurd….
The impulse to write verse became irresistible between 1893, when I returned home, and 1896, when The House of the Trees appeared.
A humorous poem sent to Munsey’s Magazine has been lost. The editor returned it with a note saying it was a dreadful mistake to make ‘swan’ rhyme with ‘dawn’, but if I would remove that defect he would gladly accept it.
Horseback Riding
Nearly all the verse I have had printed appeared between 1890 and 1900… While I was in London, Ontario, I took lessons in horseback riding-the old fashioned side-saddle kind, and my friends and I often went for a twenty-mile rode in the moonlight. No mere motor-car could give such pleasure as that…Part of the summer of 1888 I spent with cousins on a large prairie farm in Iowa. There were two boys and three girls in the family, hospitable parents numerous horses. My favorite cousin, Clara, and I had many a horseback ride over the prairies. The farm and the congenial society of my relatives gave me a sense of peace and freedom.
Most of my journeys were in company with my brother Sam who was six years my senior. When he suffered from a nervous breakdown, I was his nurse, private secretary, companion and closest friend. When he recovered we went together to Florida., to Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Washington on a ‘pay trip’ to Devil’s Lake while he was paymaster on the Great Northern and to California.
Unless there is a direct inspiration I prefer discursive essay writing to writing stories. “The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, I have read again and again. Also his ‘Professor and Poet’ at the same unwearying table… I had sketches accepted by the Youth’s Companion and New York Outlook formerly (Christian Union). On appearance of the sketches one of the editors of the David Cook Company in Chicago wrote to me asking for stories for their Sunday school papers. I wrote a few for them, and several stories for young people in the Sunday Edition of a Philadelphia Daily. I also wrote a host of brief stories and articles for agricultural papers all of which brought modest sums. But I cared little for the work and much more enjoyed sending aphorcisms and pointed paragraphs to the Detroit Free Press, to Smart Set. And to Puck, Judge and Life of New York. The Star Weekly of Toronto accepted a weekly column entitled Reflections of an Old Maid.
The house in the tree was built in March 1910, and was blown down in a high gale in the fall of 1920.The old willow, being very much alive and steadily growing, seemed to work itself loose from the house fastened to its branches, The last nights I slept in it were memorable. Every joint and ligament shrieked and groaned in the wind; so finally when the dear thing was pulled away by the gale and fell to the ground, roof downward, I saw that finis had been written. It was taken apart, but the old willow still survives. It is a lovely memory. Sam called it Camp Shelbi, a name made up of the first letters of the ten kinds of wood used; chestnut, ash, maple, pine, spruce, hemlock, elm, linden, birch, and ironwood.These and these only were the woods represented in my dear little tree house.
How Name Originated
“The Tall Evergreens” the name of the Wetherald homestead came very naturally by its name. So many times friends of the family, coming for the first time to this neighborhood and inquiring for us would be told at the station (Fenwick), “Take the next road south and go east a mile till you come to some tall evergreens; that’s the place” My father and Sam planted these spruces and pines in 1867.
I frequently met James J. Hill when I lived in St. Paul with my brothers, Sam and Charlie. They were employed in the Great Northern Railway office. Mrs Hill’s splendid team of blacks made a sensation in our quiet street on the occasions when she called on me. We spent pleasant evenings in their home.I recall the great gallery of famous paintings and the admonitory gesture with which Mrs. Hill checked her husband’s rather too audible conversation while her three youngest children were saying their evening prayers at their mother’s knee.
When I was nineteen I visited friends in New York who took me to their Unitarian Church to hear Dr. Bellows preach. I was less impressed by his disclosure than by the fact that William Cullen Bryant was seated in the pew before me. I was thrilled by the thought that at my age he had written the wonderful poem, “Thanatopsis”
One of my class mates at Pickering College was the later internationally known Dr. Barker of Johns’ Hopkins University in Baltimore. He was a small, slight, white-faced boy known to all of us as Lewy Barker. He was easily first in everything, simply ate up knowledge like a child at a candy box. His father, A Quaker, was superintendent at Pickering and often preached in meeting.
Another noted man whom I knew was Lyman Abbott, successor to Beecher, who lectured in London in the fall of 1890, and was entertained by the Camerons when I was with them.
When Wilfred Campbell happened to be in London he called on me several times and read aloud to me from a sheet of his poems. We had considerable argument as I could not agree with his estimate of Lampman as a ‘carver of cherry stones.’
Disliked Dr. Johnson
I have always prized the friendship of Paul Peel. He was a very charming personality. I have his autograph on a picture he gave me.
I have been asked, frequently about my favorite books. In my teens I was fond of Emerson, Carlyle and Matthew Arnold and can truthfully say that they have never wearied me. The New England poets and essayists, Holmes and Lowell, always delighted me. I had read all of Dickens before I was fifteen and all of Shakespeare before I was twenty. I always enjoyed the prose of Swift and Addison but disliked Dr. Johnson because of his rough ways and the pleasure he evidently took in snubbing others. Cowper’s gentle and sympathetic nature attracted me more than his poetry. Of course, all the poets are dear to me, though of the Brownings I much prefer Elizabeth to Robert.
As for fiction I never cared for the realism of Zola; but there is a realism I greatly admire—that of Arnold Bennett, Jane Austen, W.D. Howells, Mary E. Wilkins, Booth Tarkington, George Elliot and the class of novelists who tell what is going on in people’s minds show that character always compels destiny.
Most of the winter of ‘95-’96 I spent in Philadelphia as assistant to Francis Bellamy; the literary editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal. There I met Mr. Edward Bok, who always impressed me as a man just fresh from a bout with the punching bag and a cold shower. Also I met and very much liked Mrs. George T.Lanigan, managing editor, and widow of the famous author of “The Ahkoond of Swat.” Mr. Lanigan, I fancy did not shine as a moneymaker, as she told me that, at the time of his death, she was left with five children and seven dollars. She was amazed to hear me say I would rather be the author of “The Ahkoond of Swat” than any other humorous poem in the English language, with the possible exception of Bret Harte’s “Heathen Chinee” and Oliver Wendell Holmes “One Hoss Shay.”..My work was altogether critical—reading of manuscripts which came in by the hundred every day and writing out an estimate of worthwhlie articles of their availability for the Journal In some ways I enjoyed the experience, but it was a lasting dissatisaction to feel at the end of each day, that I was too tired to do any creative work of my own.
My chance to assist one of the editors of The World’s Best Literature came about through correspondence. He had written in praise of my “Wind of Death.” and we had corresponded for years before we met. If ever there was a human cyclopeadia it was Forrest Morgan. He did a tremendous amount of work on “The Word’s Best.” When the mother of his assistant was so seriously ill that the girl had to give up her work and go home, Mr. Morgan wrote, urging me to take her place. I acted as his assistant for nearly a year, when the thirtieth and last volume of the series was published. This final volume consisted entirely of verse, and Charles Dudley Warner, editor-in-chief, included in it five or six little poems of my own. I was paid eighteen dollars a week.
When the work was finshed Mr. Morgan offered me a position as first-class proofreader at a large salary, but I longed for home. I was not homesick but there was an indefinable feeling that too much”Learned lumber in the head” must crush out whatever repressed spontaneous growth of my own was still surviving. Our correspondence ceased in 1923, just after his physician had told him he had only a few weeks to live. Certainly to know him was a liberal education.
Among the most memorable weeks of my life are two spent at Pinehurst, Helena Coleman’s island home in the St Lawrence near Gananoque. It was an ideal spot for a vacation in that exceptionally hot July of 1911, as it consisted of a three-acre island, satisfyingly rough and rocky with paths leading from the wide-verandaed residence to boat-house and bathing pool. We were a group of women and girls;Miss Colema, her two nieces, a literary friend from Austrailia, Marjorie Pickthall and myself, not to mention the cook, who produced the outdoor meals we so much enjoyed. These were movable feasts, as when the wind was fresh from the west, we moved to the east veranda and when the sun was hot at the east the table was set at the other side. My sleeping-room was open on one side to the St Lawrence and when a great steamer moved past in the night, the impression was unforgetable. My choicest pleasure came in the morning, for as the early light awakened Marjorie Pickthall in the room next to mine and Helena Coleman just across the hall we fell into frequent talk and discussion before arising.. How I wish I had taken notes of these impromptu exchanges of thought, fancy and opinion. I remember distinctly that Marjorie Pickthall did not argue. She questioned, mused awhile, differed gently or expressed her differing attitude by a little laugh, that was as charming as it was free from selfconsciousness. She was a poet to the innermost fibre of her beautiful and totally unaffected nature. Her Three Island Songs I am confident were written at Pinehurst.
The amusements of these harmonious housemates were boating and bathing rambles after wild berries, fishing, five-o’clock tea, discussion of just-read books and visiting of picturesque points of interest. I remember in particular the Sunday morning when the cook wished to go to church. Miss Coleman and I rowed her across to Gananoque and while she went to her place of worship we waited outside in the boat and talked of churches and creeds of Christianity and the meaning of existence of things that remind us we are infinite. The best of herself is what Helene Coleman gives in her talk as in her written prose and poetry.
[Welland Tribune March 11, 1940]
Death Comes to Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald In her 83rd Year; The funeral on Tuesday.
Fenwick, Ont. March 11- Death had ended the career of one of Ontario’s most renowned and well loved women in the person of Miss Agnes Ethelwyn Wetherald, distinguished poetess and writer. Miss Wetherald passed away early Sunday morning succumbing to an attack of pneumonia.
Deceased was a daughter of William Wetherald and Jemima Harris Balls of Rockwood, Ont., where she was born on April 26, 1857. She was the sixth child in a family of 11 children, of which she was the sole survivor. Her maternal grandparents were Irish while her father was English coming to Canada from Yorkshire in 1820. Mr. Wetherald established in 1851 a boarding school at Rockwood , it later became known as Rockwood Academy, from which graduated many distinguished men. He later resigned his principalship to become superintendent of Havergal College, near Philadelphia, returning a few years later to settle on the farm near Fenwick. Known as “The Tall Evergreens.” where he became an ordained minister of the Society of Friends. He had a fine mastery of English which he imparted to his family and it was in this home and under the fine tutelage of her father that Miss Wetherald receiver her early education. Later she attended The Friends Boarding School at Union Springs, N.Y., and subsequently Pickering College, Ontario.
Literary Career
As a writer, Miss Wetherald won her first prominence in the years 1887-88-89 when she contributed articles frequently to The Globe at Toronto. Each article was about a column in length and was signed by the mon de plume of Bel Thistlewaite, a contraction of the maiden name of her paternal grandmother. In June 1889, Miss Wetherald was requested by the editor to come to Toronto to write “Notes and Comments” and an occasional editorial. The editor was John Cameron.
The following year Mr. Cameron resigned and returned to London, Ont., where in 1890 he founded a small monthly magazine titled “Wives and Daughters” and Miss Wetherald became assistant editor. This little magazine continued publication for three years during which time Miss Wetherald capably wrote nearly all the editorials, as well as the book reviews and was responsible for selected poetry, the children’s department etc. It was during those years in London that Miss Wetherald began writing her exquisite lyrics and sonnets, which have since charmed so many readers. By 1895 she had enough for her first book. “The House of the Trees,” and other poems. In 1902 appeared “Tangled in Stars,” and in 1904, “The Radiant Road,” In the autumn of 1907 a larger collection of her verse was published in Toronto, “The Last Robin; Lyrics and Sonnets,”
Miss Wetherald returned to her home in 1893, going to Philadelphia in the winter of 95-96 as assistant to Francis Bellamy the literary editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal. Her chance to assist Forrest Morgan, one of the editors of the “The World’s Best Literature” came about through correspondence. He had written in praise of her “Wind of Death” and later asked her to be his assistant, in which capacity she acted for nearly a year and included in ne of his volumes five or six of her poems.
Active to the end
Miss Wetherald, in company with her brother, Samuel, travelled extensively before returning to the quiet life she lived of latter years. One by one her large family predeceased her and for a number of years she has left the shelter of her home only on rare occasions.
Happily engaged with her books, her writing and a large correspondence with friends far and wide, this quiet unassuming little woman with her keen intellect and wide interests in the affairs of the world of today lived out her life to a happy end. Although she left her home but seldom, many famous people renowned in the world of letters and art found their way to her door.
A complete edition of lyrics and sonnets containing every poem which Miss Wetherald wishes preserved and comprising 350 in all was arranged and published in 1931. John W. Garvin was responsible for the arrangement of this work. A couple of her better known poems also had the distinction of being a part of the public school readers in Ontario.
Miss Wetherald leaves to mourn an adopted daughter, Miss Dorothy Wetherald, two nieces, Mrs. R.D. Linden of St. Paul, Minn, and Mrs. Thomas Wollsright of San Franscico, California, one nephew, Rene Wetherald of St. Paul; and a host of sorrowing friends.
A private service for intimate friends will be held at the home on Tuesday, March 12th, at 3 o’clock proceeding to the Friends’ church at Pelham Corners for public service at 2.30 p.m. Burial will be in the Friends’ cemetery.
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