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The Descendants of Thomas York and Mary Dickens

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John3 York
He emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1844 and moved to the Meaford area in 1847.  He was Meaford's oldest citizen at the time of his death.

In his earlier years he was a hardy man and settled in a small shanty near Hamilton's hill, along with six other families.  He lived for a time on the Seventh line where he farmed 100 acres of land.  He carried the first daily mail from Meaford to Owen Sound in 1862.  In 1871 he was appointed a poundkeeper for St. Vincent Twp.  He had a very retentive memory and could relate most of the important events of the Meaford community.

He lived in Meaford for a few years after his first marriage, then moved to the "Gravel Road" where they built a brick house.  In 1885, they moved to the 9th line north, St. Vincent Twp, where they resided until 1896, when they returned to Meaford.  In 1901 he was living on Williams St. in Meaford.

Newspaper accounts in the Meaford (ON) Monitor reflected his livelihood:

16 Apr 1886: Mr. John York offers to rent his dwelling house and garden and four acres land on gravel road west.  See ad.  [ad] Small Place to Rent/ A dwelling house and garden with four acres of land if required, on Lot 18, Concession 7, St. Vincent, Gravel Road.

6 Jan 1888: A thoroughbred Berkshire Boar from the famous Snell herd will be for service at lot 21, con 8, St. Vincent.  Terms $1.00 at time of service.   25 May 1888: Cow Estray - Came into my premises, lot 22, con 8, St. Vincent, a farrow cow, red and white.  Owner is requested to pay expenses and take her away.

26 Oct 1894: About 5:40 Saturday morning the barn on the premises occupied by Mr. John York, 9th line St. Vincent, was discovered to be on fire.  It was first noticed by a neighbor, Mr. George Cramp.  He at once went to the scene of the fire, but before he reached there the family were awakened by the bright light of the blazing barn.

Mr. York's son, Edward, rushed to the stable and with difficulty got a horse out, the live coals dropping all around him.  There were six pigs, a number of chickens, 10 tons of hay, and a quantity of oats, barley, and straw, together with all their farming utensils.  Loss partly covered by insurance.

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Archibald4 York
He was a member of the Masonic Order and was a past master of Pacific Lodge No. 16 A.F. & A.M., Mission City.

He began his business career in Meaford ON where he was a partner in Brady & York, bakers and confectioners (see ad).  (In the 1881 Census, he was living in Meaford in the household of Peter Brady, baker.)

Meaford (ON) Monitor 26 Aug 1881: Messrs. Brady & York, of this place, were fined $40 and costs for selling liquor at Rocklyn on the 12th of July without a license.

2 Sep 1881: The following is what the Thornbury Standard had to say about the 12th of July at Rocklyn: - The 12th of July must have been a happy time in Rocklyn.  It is just beginning to leak out that several tents were there in which liquor and refreshments were sold.

Messrs. Brady & York, two Roman Catholics of Meaford, went to Rocklyn on that day, and it is said many of the Meaford and St. Vincent Orangement sponged their dinners off them, while others of them sponged around among the neighbors, and carried flasks in their pockets, so that Mr. Barry did not make much out of them....

Brady & York had two sessions here before two of our magistrates, and were defended by Mr. John Albery who would have no doubt secured the dismissal of the case but for the admission of Brady himself who said he sold lager beer.  The fine and costs were about $50.

16 Dec 1881: Brady & York have moved into their new premises this week.  Their store is one of the most convenient and handsome in town.  The oyster parlor will be a model of neatness when finished.  But the business was short lived.

7 Apr 1882: Notice - All accounts due to Messrs. Brady & York, Bakers & Confectioners, are to be paid to Messrs. Pitts and Robinson, at the old stand, where the business will be continued.  ... The firm of Brady & York, it appears, have been doing a losing business and yesterday affairs came to a crisis with them.

Mr. John York, who was their security, endeavored to secure himself from loss by removing the goods, but the landlord, Mr. Plunkett, intercepted them and held them for his rent.  Subsequently, Mr. Pitts, of Centreville, and Wm. Robinson, of this town, purchased the stock and business, and Mr. Plunkett and Mr. York were satisfied.  Mr. Pitts will carry on the business without interruption.

He left during the summer for Winnipeg MB, his wife joining him in September.  They arrived in Winnipeg during a boom.  After a year they moved on, living at Moosomin SK, Calgary AB and Edmonton AB, reaching Vancouver in 1888 where he established a general store on Cordova street.  They were living in there in 1891.  Archibald's business ventures soon took them out of Vancouver.  In 1894 and 1895, there is an Archibald York, stock dealer, in Mission City BC, and by 1900 Archibald was a butcher in a meat market in Slocan City BC.

Slocan (BC) Drill: Archibald York arrived in Slocan around 1897, where he opened A. York & Co. meat market.  A year later, he and druggist J.L. White moved into a new building on the northwest corner of Delaney Ave. and Main St., next to the Bank of Montreal.  He also owned an interest in the Two Friends mine and Star Pointer group.

According to later campaign rhetoric in Edmonton, he had considerable experience in municipal affairs in British Columbia.

Slocan (BC) Drill: York chaired both the civic committee formed in 1897, and the incorporation committee formed in 1900.  When incorporation became a reality, he was petitioned to run for mayor by over two dozen men.  His platform included a fair wage clause for city employees, a new waterworks, and no salary for the mayor or council.

He won the city's first election on June 22, 1901 over Donald Robertson 46-36, and was sworn in as the city's founding mayor a week later.  He ran for re-election on January 16, 1902, but lost to Robert Bradshaw 45-44.  York protested his loss, claiming his opponent was ineligible to run because he "did not meet the necessary assessable property limit on the government assessment roll."

Bradshaw resigned on February 10, the Slocan Drill said, because "as being postmaster, it was not the wish of authorities that he should continue as mayor ... His worship said he had taken advice before being elected and there was nothing to interfere with his position.

It was perfectly legal, but ... influence had been used and the matter brought to the notice of the department and the situation forced upon him."  If this was indeed the real reason for Bradshaw's resignation, perhaps York's supporters had something to do with it -- many other B.C. postmasters also served as mayors in the early 1900s....

In the mayoral by-election of April 28, 1902, York regained the mayor's chair by defeating John Bull 49-33.  York was acclaimed for a third term in January 1903, but tendered his resignation on April 21 of that year.

The Slocan Drill stated he was quitting for "business reasons" -- namely to go prospecting in Edmonton the following month.  However, council was reluctant to let him go, apparently because of the cost of an election, and because there was already a vacant seat -- an alderman had resigned in the spring, but no candidates stepped forward to replace him.

Instead, they granted York a month's leave of absence.  He served until the end of April, and then in May, Ald. Alfred Smith was appointed acting mayor.  In July, York sent a second letter of resignation to council from Edmonton.  The Drill wrote: "Argument followed, the aldermen casting about for an avenue of escape so as to avoid the expense of another election." Action on the letter was indefinitely postponed.

The city's solicitor, however, strongly advised council to accept the resignation and fill the position.  On July 27, 1903, they agreed to accept the resignation, but refused to hold an election, again citing the expense.  Alfred Smith was appointed acting mayor for the rest of the year.  York returned periodically from Edmonton to Slocan, where he continued to own the building his butcher shop had been in.

In Edmonton, Archie and his sons, as A. York and Sons, operated the Edmonton Fruit and Produce Co.  That firm was sold in 1905 and A. York and Sons went into the wholesale grain business.  They also began to be very active in real estate.

Along with his real estate activities, Archie and his brother-in-law, Richard Secord, owned a firm called the Edmonton Hotel Company, which included hotels King Edward, Windsor (purchased in December 1905), Yale, Alberta and New Edmonton.  In April 1908 the company was dissolved, with Archie assuming control of the Alberta, Windsor and Yale Hotel businesses and Richard Secord retaining control of the property.

But Archie's finances were already in trouble and in January 1908 his holdings were put in the hands of a receiver.  In February 1908 he won a court suit in which he was charged with allowing boys in the barroom.  The suit was brought by a Rev. G. Webber of Innisfail.  On 16 Dec 1908 he sold the Windsor Hotel business and in April 1909 sold the Alberta Hotel business.

In 1904 and 1905 Archie was an unsuccessful candidate for Alderman on the Edmonton City Council.  The Edmonton (AB) Journal described him as a citizen with progressive ideas and with the energy and ability to serve the city with profit to the citizens and honor to himself.

Archibald and Agnes were world travelers.  In early 1906, they accompanied Richard and Annie Secord on a "trip around America", through Winnipeg, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.  (Sources disagree on which of Annie's brothers accompanied the Secords on the trip.  According to the Edmonton Evening Journal, it was Archibald.  According to Richard Secord, Builder, it was John.  However, John was not living in Edmonton at the time and Archibald was.)

Later that year Archibald, Richard Secord and Dr. H.C. Wilson, went to Honolulu HI and then on to Japan, returning in February 1907.

Only a month later, he, his son Lorne, and John A. McDougall and his son James, left for a trip to Europe, returning in July.  While on the trip he made two purchases significant enough to be reported in the Edmonton (AB) Journal:

10 Jul 1907: a number of bronze chandeliers of a very elaborate pattern at a cost of several hundred dollars each.  They will be placed in the Alberta and Windsor hotels and in R. Secord's home.; 29 Aug 1907: a new six-cylinder Napier touring car.  The machine is a beauty and very powerful.  It comes direct from London and costs upwards of $5,000.

In May of 1907 Agnes left for England, returning some time in the summer.

In the summer of 1909 Archie and Agnes returned to Vancouver to live.

Edmonton (AB) Journal, 16 Oct 1909: I hear there is quite a colony of Edmontonians at the coast.  Mr. Archie York may be seen daily driving his auto... Mr. York's cockaded coachman also drives a new and very smart Irish jaunting car, which creates a sensation on Granville street.

He continued in the real estate business, selling Edmonton real estate as well as local real estate.  He sold his Edmonton property to his son Lorne's real estate firm.

In Vancouver, the family continued their social activities.  Among the children at a December 1909 Victoria Order of Nurses fancy dress dance for children were Isobel as a snowball, Irma as a violet, and Bertha as a butterfly.



50th wedding anniversary

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Agnes Ritchie Marsh
Edmonton (AB) Evening Journal 6 Oct 1906: Mrs. York received for the first time in her beautiful new home on Seventh Street on Monday afternoon and evening.  It was the first social event which gave the hostess' many friends an opportunity of admiring her home, which is most artistically furnished.  The number of magnificent bear robes which are the pride of Westerners were the cause of much admiration, especially the great polar bear which lay in the hall.

Mrs. York received her guests in the drawing room and looked extremely well in a handsome gown of black sequin net, the folds in the bodice caught with a diamond sunburst.  Miss York wore a pretty silk cashmere trimmed with rich lace.  ...

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John Arthur5 York
He was a partner in A. York and Sons in 1905.  He may be the former Edmontonian living in Vancouver referred to as Jack York in the 19 Jul 1909 Edmonton (AB) Evening Journal.  Also in the Journal,
Edmonton (AB) Evening Journal 30 Apr 1912: A new firm under the name of Carnegie and York has opened a realty office in Suite 3-4 Victoria Block, First street.  J.A. York is well known in realty circles in Edmonton, having been in the business for the past nine years and during that time has been closely in touch with local estate values and is therefor in a position to offer his clients good paying propositions on the realty market. ...

Prior to WWI he served in the Canadian Mounted Rifles.  He enlisted in the 1st Divisional Supply Column of the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force (COEF) on 18 Sep 1914 at Valcartier PQ.

Apparently he had some difficulty adjusting to military life.  He lost pay on two occasions in England for being absent without leave, and was awarded 42 days of detention without pay for "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline".  Once in France he was sentenced to 48 hours "C.B." for not saluting an officer.

He was in England by Apr 1915, and went to Havre, France on 18 Jan 1916 and was attached to the Royal Flying Corps on 16 Sep 1916.  He was commissioned as a T. Lieut. on 25 Oct 1916 and was transferred from the COEF to the Imperial Army.

At the time of his enlistment he gave his occupation as broker.  He moved to the U.S. in 1923 and was selling stocks and bonds in Tacoma WA in 1930.  He resided in Seattle WA in 1932.

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Frederick (Frank) Nelson5 York
Although he did not shine academically as a high school student, often placing near the bottom of his class, he did shine on the athletic field, winning the senior cup at the Public Schools field day in October 1908 by taking first place in the standing broad jump, running hop/step/jump, high jump and shot put, and second place in the running broad jump and pole vault.

In May 1908 he was a private in the 19th Alberta Mounted Rifles, a local militia unit.  He was appointed as a signaller and transferred to regimental staff.

He served in WWI as an aviator.  He lived for a time in the Northwest Territories where he worked for the Hudson Bay Co.  Later he worked for Stan McKeen as a stevedore on the waterfront in Vancouver BC.  He resided in Fort McMurray AB in 1932 and Vancouver BC in 1965.

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Norman Sprague5 York
He served in WWI, in the transport division of the Canadian Army.  He enlisted in the 16th Battalion of the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force (COEF) on 13 Sep 1914 at Valcartier PQ.  He was in France by Sep 1915 but had returned to Canada in October 1916, where he was discharged in Quebec on 30 Nov 1916.

At the time of his enlistment he gave his occupation as auto mechanic.  He moved to Texas after the war.  He lived in Tyler TX at some point.  He moved from Stamford TX to Breckenridge in 1927 where he and his wife owned and operated York's Barbecue until 1956.  They then moved to Grand Prairie TX where they operated a motel until 1959.  They returned to Breckenridge in 1961.

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John Henry4 York
According to his testimony on the delayed birth registration of his brother Andrew, he left home at the age of about 14 years "but after that was frequently at home with him over a period of several years."

He is probably the person referred to in the Meaford (ON) Monitor:

5 May 1882: Marine Notes - The Steamer Francis Smith arrived on Friday morning last, and left same morning for Duluth after shipping a quantity of freight.  ... Jno. H. York ... of this vicinity took passage on her for the North West.

From July 1885 to June 1886, he was a student at Forest City Business College, London ON, where his cousin John Henry Wilford4 York was a proprietor and teacher.  According to their Catalog he was from Nelson MB and is listed among graduates as employed by Jones Lumber Co., Black River Falls WI.

According to Richard Secord's records, John worked for him from 1897-1900, clerking in his Edmonton store.  According to the Richard Secord book, he left Edmonton in 1900 to work on a ranch in southern Alberta.

However, the Business College catalog and other records show that he was in Black River Falls WI by 1 Mar 1888, working for his future father-in-law as the bookkeeper of Jones Lumber & Mercantile Association and was still there at least until 1905.  Since the two businesses were similar, it may be that John was an agent in Wisconsin for McDougall and Secord in addition to his employment as a bookkeeper.

(Black River Falls WI) Badger Banner 1 Mar 1888: R.C. Jones and J.H. York went to Greenwood Monday morning on a business trip.  10 May 1888: At an adjourned meeting of the Prohibition club Tuesday evening their permanent organization was completed by electing the following officers for the ensuing year: ... treasurer, J.H. York ...

6 Sep 1888: J.H. York, book-keeper for the Jones L. & M. Co., returned last night from Dakota, where he has been for the past two weeks.  He reports crops good in the section he visited.

On 22 Sep 1906, the Edmonton (AB) Evening Journal reported:

J. York, brother of A. York, of the Edmonton Real Estate Co., returned from the north about a month ago, where he was with the party that made the recent discovery of gold on the Peace River.  Mr. York intends starting in the express and baggage transfer business in the city on Monday September 24.

By 1910 he was a conductor on the Edmonton Radial Railway.

Edmonton (AB) Evening Journal 6 Aug 1909: On July 31st, G. Link, of Fraser avenue, lost a wallet containing $28.00 in bills and thinking the amount was on one of the street cars, he had just left, communicated with the officials at the car barn, and learned, to his delight, that Conductor John York, of car no. 4, had made the find and handed over the purse.  This is the second time quite recently that Mr. York has picked up wealth and restored it to the rightful owner.

He soon moved into other ventures as he was of Carnegie & York in 1912.  In business with a brother-in-law, he was the manager of Edmonton and Clove Bar Sand Co. Ltd. in 1913, a gravel and crushed rock business.  However, a general business downturn paralyzed the business.  In her diary, on 22 Apr 1916, Annie Secord recorded:

J.C. MacDougall here to have me sign business paper re sale of shop -- east of Market St. to John H. York.

By 1920, along with Richard York Secord, John was handling Richard Secord's interests in McDougall and Secord, as Richard was spending considerable time outside of Edmonton.  John continued to work for McDougall and Secord until he retired.

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Anna Laura Jones
She died, following a car accident.  John and Anna had gone with friends to Vancouver and were returning to Edmonton via the Big Bend Highway through the mountains.  The car went over an embankment and Anna, riding in the front seat, was killed instantly.  (That is the account from family members.  The (Black River Falls WI) Banner - Journal account of her death says the accident was on Monday and she died on Wednesday in a hospital.  It also says they were en route to Vancouver.)
(Black River Falls WI) Badger Banner 18 Jun 1886: School commencement exercises ... The essay of Miss Anna Jones showed careful preparation and thought.  Although her subject was "Moonshine," yet she drew many practical lessons from it, That most of the frivolity of the world was only moonshine, also that often when people grow restless and think they could better their condition they often find their visions to be only moonshire.

She also presented the brighter side of life to show that everything in this world is not moonshine.  Her style of delivery was good and voice clear and distinct, though at times rather low.

After attending college in Milwaukee WI for the 1887-8 school year, Anna studied art and music in Chicago IL and was an accomplished musician.  She was also an accomplished artist, winning prizes in 1885 for landscape, flower and trout paintings, and in 1888 for drawn, crayon and charcoal work.  She accompanied her sister-in-law, Annie Secord, on a trip to Vancouver in 1908, a trip to Europe in 1910, and a trip to England for the coronation in 1911.  She often poured tea at Annie Secord's teas.

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Anna Ada4 York
Annie received her teachers certificate at Morden MB in 1886 and was a teacher that year at Kilmory MB.  In 1889, through correspondence with her cousin Annie4 (Laycock) Long, she learned that there was a building for a school but no teacher.  They would be pleased to have Annie come to fill the position and she could stay with them.

Annie went by train as far as Calgary.  She had friends in Calgary with whom she stayed.  Her departure from there was delayed as the weather, which had been cold, was now warming so the roads were muddy and the rivers treacherous with breaking ice.

Finally Annie was able to complete her trip to Edmonton by stagecoach, a trip of 5 days.  The stage had to ford the Saskatchewan river on ice and through shallow water.  She was met in Edmonton by a minister who was a friend of the Longs.  He drove her in his buggy on the last lap of her journey, approximately 18 miles, to her cousin's home.

While living with the Longs, Annie taught in the district of what is now Namao.  By 1891 she was a school teacher at Poplar Lake School and living in Fort Saskatchewan AB.

This area with its newness and vitality appealed to Annie.  Besides her teaching duties, she found time for an active social life.  Because of the proximity to Edmonton, her social life, quite naturally, was centered mainly in the town.

Before the end of the year 1890 Annie's circle of friends included Richard Secord.  Soon after the middle of February 1891 Richard and Annie were engaged.  The original idea was to be married in the fall but it appears, from Secord diaries, that Richard tried to persuade Annie to agree to an April 1st date, but Annie insisted on completing her school term so they compromised on a summer wedding.

After her marriage, she was frequently mentioned in the society news.

Edmonton (AB) Journal, 18 Feb 1911: Mrs. Richard Secord was the hostess of a very smart young people's dance on Thursday evening, to celebrate the festival of "St. Valentine."  The invitations to begin with were written on dainty cards covered with cupids, roses and hearts which were very fetching and did fetch about 35 of the young dancing set, who enjoyed themselves hugely.

The decorations were lovely, particularly the programmes, which were in the shape of a lady's slipper, when on opening were tied with white ribbons, at the ends of which were tiny red hearts.  With a big comfy house, good music, "hearts" in abundance, with pretty girls and heaps of dancing youths, what more could one ask.  Certainly it was one of the jolliest dances of the winter.

5 Jan 1912: Mrs. Richard Secord gave a dinner party on Wednesday evening, when covers were laid for sixteen.  This party was unique in that the guests were composed of a little group of Edmonton people who were together in London at the time of the coronation, and it was therefore quite natural that the after-dinner stories centred chiefly about the old land and events connected with the journeys of each, which finally converged in the British capital.

There is a saying that all roads lead to Rome, but this was amended to read: All roads lead to London; and when in the latter city, big as it is, three Edmontonians were always running across one another at the most unexpected moments, and seeming to argue that the world is not such a very big place after all.

The colors of the Yuletide still prevail at social affairs, and this "dinner" was no exception, as crimson flowers were arranged in all the vases.  Mrs. Secord received her guests, wearing a gown of crimson satin, with overdress of black silk ninon, having draperies of chiffon embroidered in a Persian pattern.  She wore a diamond necklace set in platinum.  ...

16 Oct 1912: Mrs. Richard Secord has established a very good precedent and one, which if followed should prove a stimulus to early rising.  Mrs. Secord has sent out invitations to a "breakfast" on Friday morning at nine o'clock in honor of Miss Addie Belcher, whose marriage takes place next Wednesday.

There have been breakfast parties - a few - given in eastern Canada, but never earlier than eleven o'clock; and the idea of going to Mrs. Secord's beautiful home while the dew is still on the purple pansies in their beds presents many attractions.

18 Oct 1912: The happiest idea of the whole series of festivities in honor of Miss Addie Belcher, the bride-elect, was that which originated with Mrs. Richard Secord, one of Edmonton's most charming hostesses, and which culminated in the early breakfast given this morning at nine o'clock.

It was a glorious autumn morning with just enough crispness in the air to give a keen edge to the appetite of the guests who arrived very promptly and were greeted with gay sounds of music and laughter - fine accompaniments to the breakfast bell.

There had been considerable speculation as to just what the guests would be given to eat - which was very rude, of course, but excusable perhaps, seeing that it was the first breakfast party ever given in the city.  And who had a better right to establish the pretty custom than Mrs. Secord, one of the old-time ladies of Edmonton?

The guests were received very informally in the big, broad hall beside the cheery fire-place which the early frost made welcome - the frost which was yet not heavy enough to discourage the pansies, great bunches of which were picked early and brought into the house for the occasion.

Breakfast was served in the big dining room, where also was a fire burning on the hearth; and the table with its centre of bridal roses, gleaming silver and fine china, attracted the eye even before the delicious things-to-eat were served.  At every place was a little knot of lilies of the valley tied with bride's ribbon, Miss Belcher's being an exception - a cluster of white rosebuds....

After breakfast Miss Haight slipped away to the drawing room, sat down before the piano and played the opening chords of Lohengrin's bridal chorus, at the sound of which some of the girl friends of the bride-to-be marched her laughingly through the hall to the piano where she was surrounded and showered with congratulations.

Her travels were also reported, including her 1910 trip to Europe and her 1911 trip to England to attend the coronation.

Annie and Richard were married, on 4 Aug 1891 at the home of Frank Oliver (Editor of the Edmonton Bulletin and a friend of both Richard and Annie) in Edmonton.

The wedding was at 5 o'clock in the morning.  At 6:30 AM the bride and groom set off in a democrat driven by Frank Osborne and accompanied by the minister, the best man and a bridesmaid, and the bride's cousin Annie4 (Laycock) Long.  They left in a wagon and reached the rail head at Twenty Mile House in time to meet a work train as the railway from Edmonton to Calgary was not yet completed.  They went on to Banff, a two day rail trip, for their honeymoon.

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Richard Secord
His boyhood was spent on the family farm at Cathcart ON.  He took a course at the Branford Collegiate Institute and with his scholastic honors fresh won, went at once to the Northwest.  He traveled via Chicago to Winnipeg and then from Winnipeg by Red River ox cart, arriving in Edmonton on 1 Sep 1881.

Initially he engaged in various occupations.  He helped survey the townsite of Edmonton and helped to build the first public school.  The following year he went to Pakan AB and taught school for one year, at which time there were no white children there.  He returned to Edmonton and taught school there for four years.  Then he became a clerk for John A. McDougall.

In June 1888, he moved to the Landing to open a trading store, his first independent commercial venture.  He purchased two lots from the Hudson Bay Company (H.B.C.), land which the Company itself had purchased from the Canadian Government only a few months before.

Relations between Leslie Wood at the H.B.C. post and Secord seem to have been less than cordial.  They were both hard-headed businessmen, but Secord had the edge: he brought into his store a wider selection of merchandise than the HBC made available to Wood; he had established good trading connections with trappers and independent fur-buyers in the far North; and he paid higher prices (and gave credit more readily) to local Indian and Metis trappers.

By the spring of 1890, this irksome competition was strong enough to require action by the Company.  As Harrison Young of the Fort Edmonton post explained in a letter to H.B.C. Commissioner Joseph Wrigley, Secord "did not care to sell, but I assured him I was prepared to drop a couple of thousand in forcing him away."  This threat, plus the carrot of $3,500 for buildings, stock and "book debts" really worth considerably less, achieved the desired result - in May the H.B.C. regained its monopoly of trade at the Landing.

Although Richard Secord left the Landing and relocated his main office to Edmonton in 1890, he remained in the fur-trade, setting up in Edmonton the next year, in partnership with John A. McDougall.  He also set up a series of posts between Athabasca and Great Slave Lake (north of the current northern boundary of Alberta, still in the area called the Northwest Territories), and regularly travelled to the Landing to receive shipments of furs brought up-river from these posts.

The Edmonton (AB) Bulletin reported his activities in great detail, particularly his purchases, the shipping of his furs to New York or London, and arrivals and departures on train trips and trips to the Landing and to his northern trading posts.  In 1896, he and John McDougall opened a large department store in Edmonton.

Other aspects of Richard Secord's life were also of interest to the Bulletin:

20 Aug 1894: Mr. Secord has a dog, a genuine husky of the Esquimaux, which, since his arrival among civilization has learned to enjoy life by travelling in various parts of the country.

When he gets tired of a town he waits for the train, boards the baggage car and gets off wherever he pleases.  He is such an affectionate animal that all the trainmen know him.  He is never refused a ride and is always a welcome passenger.  He has been absent for four months, has visited Banff and various stations in British Columbia, and when last heard of was at Fort McLeod.

The Secord family lived in several rented homes in Edmonton.  Richard later purchased the last of these.  At the side of the house was a stable, the home of Annie's horse Paddy.  Living in the house, and having full run of the place was the family's pet mink.

In 1907, they moved that house one lot west and built a mansion known as Chateau Rochelle (see the Secord Photo Album for a photo and description of the house).  Following Annie's death the Secord home became the Edmonton Art Gallery.  Although efforts were made by the family to preserve the house, it was torn down in 1968.  Today an apartment building stands on the old Secord lot.

It is impossible, within the scope of this narrative, to include all of the information that is available regarding the life of Richard Secord.  Those who are interested in reading more about him should consult the biography written by his son Richard Y. Secord and others, Richard Secord, Builder.  It is available through interlibrary loan.  Also, the City of Edmonton Archives has Secord papers and diaries.

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Helena5 Secord
Helena attended Glen Mawr School at Toronto ON, and in 1913 went to "finishing school" in Paris.  She was still abroad when the first world war broke out, and she and her sister soon became involved in the war effort, serving with the V.A.D. in England and Ireland.  Later they worked at the Perkins Bull Hospital for Convalescent Canadian Officers in London.  In 1964 she resided in Victoria BC.  She had no children.

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Alexander Campbell McFadyen
He died after being hit by a car.  The Daily Colonist reported the inquest on 28 Jul 1970:
A pedestrian killed by a car and the driver of the car involved were found equally at fault by a coroner's jury ... The pedestrian ... was at fault in running in the crosswalk ... into the path of an oncoming car ...

The driver of the car ... was driving without due care and attention considering his impaired vision ... Abernathy told the jury he had suffered a hemorrhage in his eyes in 1963 that impaired his vision of objects to his left.  He said that McFadyen came from the left and he didn't see the victim until after he had hit him.

In 1925 Alex was a clerk for the Alberta Provincial Government, and in 1930 he was the manager of Alberta Muskrat Ranches Ltd. and Alberta Trappers and Muskrat Breeders Association.

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Ian George Secord6 Keltie
He was in the RCAF during World War II.  He won his wings at Yorkton SK in 1941.  In October 1942, shortly after he had taken part in the Dieppe raid, he suffered a shrapnel wound in his leg while on a raid over Germany.  During the Dieppe raid, he and other members of his squadron made four sweeps into the battle area in six hours and 45 minutes of flying.

In 1943 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for having "completed a very large number of operational sorties, including 75 sweeps over enemy territory" and as possessing "exceptional qualitites of leafership and administrative ability.

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Isabel5 Secord
Isabel was a nurse.  She was a member of the 1923 class of the University of Alberta's nursing school in Edmonton, the first graduating class from that school.  Then came a tour of duty with the Grenfell Mission, serving native settlements and small fishing villages in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Isabel took postgraduate work at Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore MD.  In 1939 she went to nurse at Groot Shurr Hospital in Capetown, South Africa.  The trip out turned out to be more of an adventure than anticipated, when the 14,000 ton Cunart-White Star vessel, the Ascania, went aground in the St. Lawrence River off Bic Island.  All of the passengers were safely removed from the ship, and after resting briefly in Quebec, Isabel re-embarked upon another vessel.

When she finally made it to South Africa, like her sisters some decades before, she was caught by the start of a world war and made her war contribution on foreign soil.  She worked at the hospital during the Second World War, living with a group of Canadian nurses in a residence they nicknamed "Canada House", and after the war returned to Edmonton to care for her ailing mother.

She was Edmonton's first licensed female pilot, receiving her license in 1931.  She was an avid mountain climber and a founder of the Allen Gray auxiliary hospital.  She traveled extensively, visiting China and Japan in 1935 and from 1981 to 1993 visited South America, Russia, and went back twice to China.

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William David4 York
In 1901 he was a farmer on Lot 22, Concession 8 in St. Vincent Twp. 

He moved to Edmonton about 1918 and worked in that area until the late 1920's when he returned to Meaford to help care for his aging father.  By the mid 1930's he had returned Edmonton AB where he lived with his widowed sister Annie Secord until her death in 1951 and then with his brother Edward.  Although his birth record says William David, he is usually referred to in records, including his will, and family notes as David William.

In 1910, a David York was the assistant at the Thistle Rink in Edmonton which was owned by Richard Secord and managed by James York.

In a letter to Lydia3 (York) Stevenson dated 11 Nov 1932, Annie4 (York) Secord writes:

>Dave is here in our home for over one year and a half.  His eyes are very bad, at times can scarcely see, then after he uses some medicine he is much better.

They put him off the place down there in Meaford.  He wrote me about it, and as I promised my father the last time I saw him that I would try to look after Dave.  ... This accounts for Dave being here.  He wrote me he didn't know what to do.  He has been [here] continually since coming West.

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Andrew Nelson4 York
In 1888 he was in Manitoba, working for his grandfather, Henry2 York.  Soon after that he went to British Columbia.  He opened butcher shops with his brother Archibald in Mission City and Slocan City BC before branching out on his own in Ladner BC, to the south of Vancouver.  In 1912 he started a pioneer jitney service, operating the first mail carrier and passenger service from Woodwards Landing to Vancouver.

Andrew, better known in the family as 'the Boss', went to the Peace River Block country in 1917 to assess the possibilities of feeding cattle on open range.  He decided to homestead and moved his family to the Rolla area via the Spirit River Trail the same year.  He brought cattle and equipment with him.  Of his children, only Annie, Archie, Gordon and Edgar moved with him.

They settled on land two miles west and one mile north of the new town of Rolla BC.  The family was new to farming and they had to work very hard to survive.  Fortunately they had good neighbours who helped them put up slough hay for their stock until some land was ready for a crop.  The boys did odd jobs and Annie worked for another family to help with the finances.

After his first wife died the family returned to Vancouver for several years.  On Andrew's return to the Rolla area, he settled in Coleman Creek.  Here he took an active part in community affairs.  He was for many years Chairman of the School Board.  He faced the hardships of all the Peace pioneers.  He had his barn destroyed by fire and later his home, he fought mosquitoes and mud, he walked many times to Rolla for his supplies and chopped many cords of wood.

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Eva Pearl5 York
As a young woman, she worked as a telephone operator at the Hotel Vancouver.  She had no children.

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David Stewart
He was a golf club master at the time of their marriage and died soon after they were married.

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Laurist (Louie) Petersen Craig
He was a brewer for Vancouver Brewery and was known as Louie.  He was married, first, on 9 Jul 1913 at Vancouver BC, to Ingeborg Hanson.

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Edgar Charles Nelson5 York
Edgar resided in Vancouver BC.  He served overseas in WWII with the Seaforth Highlanders.  He was wounded and had a permanent disability with his legs.  In his early years he was a homesteader and a stevedore.  He had no children.

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Myrtle Ann Jane Fox
She lived in Kamloops all her adult life.  At the time of her marriage to Edgar, she was a widow and was a cook at a restaurant.  She had three children from a previous marriage, Donald, Mervin and Mary Anne Campbell.

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Eline Mathilda Nelson
She was thrown from a wagon when a team of horses ran away with the wagon when Andrew was opening a gate.  Previously married to Albin Anderson, she was the mother of Ted Anderson and Theresa (Anderson) Peirce.

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Sara Wilmont McGill
She had come from Scotland to visit her sister-in-law, Mrs. Bob Holgate.  She was known as Sally.

Andrew and Sally lived at Coleman Creek for several years until Andrew obtained a job on the ferry at Taylor Flats.  While there, Sally became ill and was sent to Vancouver for treatment.  The Yorks then purchased an acreage on the Cambie Road, Lulu Island.  This was a great change from the Peace River.  They had fruit in abundance and invested in the poultry business.  For several years, Sally enjoyed good health, but then her cancer recurred.

After Sally died, Andrew sold his farm to his daughter Ethel and her husband and after living with her for several years moved to Vancouver.

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Emily Mercy Coleman
Andrew met her while shopping and they were married the next year.  She was known as Betty.  After Andrew died she resided in Hope BC and worked in a shop there.

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James4 York
Meaford (ON) Monitor 11 Sep 1896: Mr. James York of Monitor Staff is taking in the sights at the fair this week.

By 1901 he had moved to Edmonton AB, where he was recorded in the 1901 Census as a lodger with John Asselin on Jasper St.  For a time he was the manager of the Thistle Rink in Edmonton which was owned by Richard Secord.  The rink was closed in 1912.  A James York, painter, is listed in Edmonton in 1912.

He played the violin and was often asked to play for special occasions.  His violin was passed on to his nephew Robert John5 York.

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Edward Dufferin4 York
In the 1890's he went west on two harvest excursions, first to Manitoba and secondly to Edmonton AB.  The harvest finished, he returned to Meaford.
Meaford (ON) Monitor 16 Aug 1895: There was quite a lively time at the G.T. station on Tuesday morning, the occasion being parties taking the morning train to connect at Allandale with the farm laborers' excursion to the Northwest.

Nineteen took passage from here, and three purchased tickets here to go from Owen Sound, making in all twenty-two emigrants. ... Those who left the station here were: ... Ed. York ... Most of the company intend to return in the fall, which they can do before 30th November for $18.

In the spring of 1904 he moved to Edmonton with his wife and three small children.  He obtained work on several projects and in time he was able to buy some property, through his brother Archibald, and build a home - he is listed in the city directory in 1910 when he is shown as living in North Edmonton where he served as trustee on the Public School Board.

In 1922 Edward bought a 320 acre farm at Vegreville where he and son Robert farmed together.  They kept their home in Edmonton where all the children went to public and high school.  Later they sold the Vegreville farm and Edward and Catherine retired to Edmonton.

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Gertrude Martha5 York
She never married.

She went west to Edmonton with her parents in 1904.  She obtained her First Class Teacher's Certificate at the Calgary (AB) Normal School.  She first taught in rural and town schools and then in the Edmonton Public School System.  She specialized in the primary grades and took special courses at the University of Alberta in primary teaching.

In the mid 1950's she travelled to Europe with teacher friends during the summer holidays.  In 1957-58 she went to England as an Exchange Teacher and taught in Leicester LEI ENG.  Whenever she had a few days holidays she would visit other countries in Europe.  At the end of August 1958 she returned to Edmonton and to her former classroom.

She taught Sunday School at the Bethel Gospel Chapel.

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Norma Aileen5 York
She never married.

She studied at the Royal Alexandra Hospital School of Nursing and obtained her diploma as a registered nurse.  She took a post graduate course in obstetrics at the Women's College Hospital in Toronto ON.  She also had some training as a VON (Victoria Order of Nursing).  She did private duty nursing for a short time, then nursed at different hospitals in Alberta (Cold Lake, Bentley, Edmonton, Lethbridge) and British Columbia (New Westminster, Alert Bay, Lillooet).

She was also assistant night superintendent at the Royal Columbian Jubilee Hospital in New Westminster BC.  She was president of the A.A.R.N. for one term and secretary treasurer the following term.

Interested in music, she sang with the Edmonton (AB) Choral Society.  In her later years she lived in a Senior's Lodge and played the piano for their sing songs.  She also helped with their handicraft classes, having done many needle point pieces herself.

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Bernice Irene5 York
Bernice attended Business College and worked for the Alberta Provincial Government.  For many years she was the private secretary to the Deputy Minister of the Department of Mines & Minerals.  Later she held a supervisory position with the Board of Arbitration.

She was interested in music and sang with the Edmonton Choral Society for a number of years.  She was also a church pianist and organist.

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John Wheeler Sutherland
but grew up in Edmonton where he was a neighbor and friend of the York family.  He died of cancer on 17 Sep 1988 at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton AB and is buried in Edmonton Cemetery.

He was a mechanical engineer and later a supervisor for Trans Canada Airlines which later became Air Canada.  He had two sons, Donald and Gordon Sutherland by his first wife.

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Charles Nelson4 York
As a young man, Charlie lived in Edmonton AB, appearing in the 1899 City Directory as a deliveryman for McDougall and Secord.  In 1908 he joined a survey outfit which named rivers, etc., especially around Watson Lake.
Edmonton (AB) Evening Journal 4 Feb 1909: Charlie York and George Pryor will conduct a large party of Edmontonians to the Pembina, leaving today, on a prospecting tour to look over the business situation.  They will take six teams and expect to be away a couple of weeks.

He fell in love with the North and filed on a homestead north of Rolla BC.  Here he built a log home with a dirt roof.

In 1915, he walked out to Edson BC and joined the Fifth Battalion.  He served in France in World War I, leaving for Europe in April 1916.  In June of that year he was in the 63rd Battalion.  He was wounded and in September of that year he was convalescing in Epson (BC) Hospital.

After the war he returned with his wife to his cabin in the Peace River District, traveling there by ox-drawn sleigh.  They homesteaded a quarter of land one mile east and a half mile north of Rolla.  They suffered many hardships.  Charles helped his brother Andrew with a large herd of cattle that turned out not to be worth anything.  Louise was left to melt snow for the animals while Charlie was hauling grain to Spirit River in the winter.  In the summer he was a fire ranger.  They sold the land in the late 1920s.

In 1930 they built a new home on a soldier's land grant that Charlie had received.  They had an outfit with a steam engine clear some land, and while there the steam engine burst, badly scalding the operator.  Louisa had large flocks of turkeys.  She could hardly get 50 cents apiece for them.  Once she tried using something other than coal oil for the brooder and lost around five hundred chickens and turkeys when the heat went out.  In 1934, they went to Vancouver for a year but then returned to the farm.

Charlie and a partner filed on a homestead in the Bonanza district.  They took a team and supplies and forded the Pouce.  There they built a cabin and had to live there for a period in order to become owners.

In 1937 Charlie and Louisa sold their farm and returned to Edmonton where they operated a mink and chinchilla ranch in Jasper Place for many years.

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Millicent Louisa E Cornock
While Charlie was overseas, he met Denny Cornock who was also in the army, and he happened to see a picture of Denny's niece Louisa.  They began writing back and forth until Charlie sent for her.

Louisa, daughter of Charlie Cornock and Millicent Bishop, was born on 17 Jul 1897 at Wotton-Under-Edge GLS ENG.  She died on 5 Feb 1976 at Calgary AB and is buried at Westlawn Memorial Park.  At the time of her death she resided with her daughter at RR 6, Calgary.  She was very active in the community, and was president of the Anglican Church W.A. for many years in the town of Rolla.  Due to ill health Louisa moved to Calgary in 1969 to live with her daughter.

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Janet Nelson
When she was more than 80 years old she took a dip in the waters of Georgian Bay as a test of her courage and strength.

John was Janet's third husband.  She was married, first, to Peter McLennan, who was lost in action during the U.S. Civil War.  They had a son, Peter McLennan Jr. (1859-1877) who was raised by his Nelson grandparents.  Janet moved to Meaford in the early 1860's to live with her sister Betsy, Mrs. James Stewart, brother of Robert Stewart.

Janet was married, second, on 8 Nov 1865, to Robert Stewart.  He died, age 47, on 4 Jul 1875 at St. Vincent Twp, Grey Co. ON.  They had five children: (1) Robert Henry born circa 1866 who lived in Edmonton AB; (2) a daughter Annie Laurie, born circa 1868 at Meaford, who was married on 18 May 1887 to James M. Walkinshaw (their daughter Nell married Harry Alexander5 York); (3) James - the Meaford (ON) Monitor reported the birth of a son on 19 Aug 1869 at St. Vincent Twp - the son James, age 1 in the 1871 Census; (4) Agnes - on the delayed birth registration of Irma Jessie4 York, an older sister gave her name as Agnes Petchell, born circa 1872; (5) a son, Archie Stewart, who was born circa 1874 at Meaford ON and died in 1941 at Winnipeg MB.

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Irma Jessie4 York
She resided in Meaford ON until after Peter Davey died, when she moved to White Rock BC to care for her sister Agnes Petchell.

Agnes' farm adjoined the land where the Peace Arch was built, on the 49th Parallel, at the Vancouver BC border crossing between Canada and the United States.  Her first husband's niece, Helen Margaret (Ker) Bennett, came out from Toronto to live with Irma until Irma died.

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