Another Visit to the Archives of Ontario

I love archives, but good heavens, can they be frustrating.  Take the Archives of Ontario, for example.  It takes me a cool two hours to reach the archives from downtown Toronto by public transit--so, since I go home again afterwards, it's four hours of travel time for an afternoon there.  The York University subway station can't come soon enough--once it's in, the archives will be right on its doorstep.  Sadly, it's not due to open until 2016.  Anyway, once you get there, you have to find what you're looking for, and they couldn't make it more complicated if they tried.  To find a will, for example, you have to have the name of the person you're looking for and the date and place of their death.  Then you consult a binder, which directs you to an index on microfilm for that year and place.  Once you're found the person indexed on the microfilm (which can take a while) you jot down the number of the probate record and the date it was filed.  DON'T forget to get BOTH of these pieces of information because you'll never ever ever find the record you're looking for (don't ask me how I know).  Once you have these in hand, you go back to the binder, where you look up the probate number, and get directed to the microfilm which has the actual will.  Then you have to find the will on the microfilm (sometimes it's in probate number order, sometimes it's in date order).  You shuffle back and forth on the film a lot until....finally!  There it is!  Then you look up the next person.  It's worth it to me, because I find wills really interesting, but as a librarian, I can see how it could be a whole heck of a lot easier...and wills are among the easiest things to find there.   The Ontario Archives really needs more cataloguing staff.

Anyway, I found several family wills today.  I'm going to start with the will of Violet Elliot, daughter of Robert Watt Elliot and granddaughter of William Elliot.  She died a spinster, and her will is short and sweet.   She names her brother William Scott Elliot her executor along with the National Trust Company Ltd, and leaves her estate to her nieces and nephews, whom she does not name individually.  Her will is located on MS 584 Reel 411, probate #90031, probated January 23 1940(she actually died on December 1, 1939).

Violet had a total estate worth about $38,323.00, much of it invested in stocks:

I also found the will of William Elliot's brother John Elliot, who was (obviously) a son of Robert Elliot and Ann Bland.  He was also the husband of Harriot Pontifex.  He died on December 12, 1883 in Toronto.  His will is on microfilm GS1, reel 994.  His will gives us his occupation, Clerk of the York County Council (retired).  He names a granddaughter, Amy Smith, and two daughters, Fanny Elizabeth wife of James Smith, and Harriot Ann Elliot.  He also makes a bequest to James Smith and to two nieces, Ann Hilton and Sarah Dixon.  He leaves his brother William a life insurance policy, but it may only be entrusted to him to divide up among the nieces--that's not entirely clear to me.  His executors are his brother William, James Watson, whom he refers to as a friend (James Watson is the husband of Sophia Watt Elliot, William's daughter) and his son-in-law James Smith. At the end of the will he gives a profession of his faith in God:

"...and I commend my said Grand daughter and my said Daughters to the care of a good God, who has promised to protect all those who put their trust in him.  I hope also, that they will live happily and comfortably together during their lives, and enjoy the fruits of my savings, and at length, join us in Heaven above, and be for ever happy."   

John's estate is worth about 3,000.00 in cash assets (see below), but as you'll notice above, the bulk of his estate seems to be in property.

 The next paper mentions a codicil, but I couldn't find it.  Here's William leaving the executor duties to the other two executors nominated:

Now let's go to the will of Robert Watt Elliot, William's son and the husband of Catherine Scott.  This is the son who took over the family pharmaceutical manufacturing business as William grew older.  This will is pretty short considering the complexity of his estate. He died November 12, 1905, and his wife Catherine is the executrix. The will is located on MS 584, reel 1786, probate # 18388, probate date January 13, 1906.

Notice that Robert Watt was worth about half what his father William was, even though you would still certainly call him prosperous  his entire estate is worth just under $50,000.00.  Already the family fortunes seem to be slipping a little. I like knowing that he owned a horse and carriage.  Notice the detailed accounts:  his household goods and furniture are worth $573.00--it's calculated down to the dollar.

 I can't believe a house on Pembroke Street is worth $3,000.00.  Those were the days!  If only it had come down to us (sigh...).

Here we can see exactly what he was invested in at the time of his death.  The railway stock seems to have been a bad decision!

Next is the will of Thomas Sutherland Stayner, husband of Harriet Rose Elliot (William Elliot's daughter;  notice that her name is consistently spelled "Harriot" in these documents) and Robert Watt Elliot's brother-in-law.  His will is located on MS584, reel 1105, probate # 17383, date of probate November 19, 1904  (he died on June 11 of the same year).  His family is a little complicated as Harriet was his second wife.  His oldest son Winslow is from his first marriage and is living in England at the time of Thomas' death.  His  sons Harry and Dudley are from his second marriage to Harriet. .  The grandson he mentions is Winslow's child.  Thomas' will is long and involved.

Thomas' codicils (there are two) are quite interesting;  the first deals with changes in property value of his real estate, and the second deals with bequests of individual items, such as tableware, art, family photos,  and books, which he would like specific children to have.  He also leaves his watch and chain to his grandson Joscelyn.  I like his final bequest to Winslow, the "Large china bowl in the drawing room, supposed to have been used at my christening."  Harry gets a silver tray which is a "gift from Minnie and Janie" (Janie is presumably Cynthia Jane Elliot).

There is an affidavit from Harry Stayner which is a bit curious.  He says that at the time of his father's death he was living with Thomas (and presumably Harriot as well, although he doesn't mention her) and they were boarding temporarily in Davisville (Toronto).

There are a lot of other probate papers in this estate file which I won't include here because they have to do mainly with estate taxes etc. and don't seem to have much family history value.  Here are papers relating to the value of his estate-he is much wealthier than his brother-in-law Robert Watt Elliot, and most of his money appears to be in stocks rather than property:

Thomas' wife Harriot Rose also left a will, which I didn't have time to get on this trip--I'll look for it in my next visit.

Next is the will of William Elliot Watson, son and eldest child of James Watson and his wife Sophia Watt Elliot (daughter of William Elliot and Mary Oliphant).   This would make him a grandson of William Elliot and nephew to Robert Watt Elliot and T. Sutherland Stayner.  He is a chartered accountant.  William Watson's will is on GS1 reel 1053, probate #11407.  He died March 5, 1896, at the age of 35, of "la grippe", leaving a wife, Hattie Alberta (Badgely) Watson.  It is unclear whether they have any children.   He leaves his estate to his wife and any children;  if they predecease him he leaves one third of his estate to his wife's family and two thirds to his mother Sophia (if his wife and mother both predecease him he leaves the two thirds to be divided up between his siblings, whom he names). His estate is not particularly large.

 

I know that the archives also holds wills for Sophia Watt Elliot (another child of William Elliot and Mary Oliphant, and the mother of the above William Elliot Watson) and Sophia's husband James Watson, as well as Harriet Rose Stayner and Cynthia Jane Elliot, and Thomas Hilton, the husband of Louisa Elliot (William Elliot's sister).  What I'd really like to find is the will of Robert Elliot, William's father, but so far I've been disappointed.  It's possible that he didn't leave one. 

The Elliot and Scott Families in the Baptist Year Book

Religion was an important part of the lives of both the Elliot and Scott families, who were first Disciples of Christ and then, later, Baptists, during their first three generations in Canada.  It's hard to get much insight into this part of their lives, but I have gained access to some volumes of the Baptist Year-Book for Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the North-West Territories, which was an annual publication and served as an annual report of Baptist church building and committee activity for parts of Canada.  During the years 1877 to 1900, the Elliot and Scott families are repeatedly mentioned. 

One of the most consistent name to appear during these years is Violet Elliot.  Violet was the daughter of Robert Watt Elliot and Catherine Scott. She remained unmarried but seems to have had a head for business:  she is the Treasurer of the Women's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of Ontario (sometimes also called the Women's Foreign Mission Society (West)) from at least 1889-1900.   In 1897 she is made a life member of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society.  The 1884-1885 yearbook names her as Recording Secretary to that Society, while Mrs. W.H. Elliot is the treasurer.

Miss V. Elliot, Recording Secretary, 1884-85. I'm not sure who Mrs. W.H. Elliot is.

Miss Violet Elliot is made a life-member of the Women's Baptist Foreign Mission Society of Ontario. Baptist Year-Book 1897-1898.

What about William Elliot?  We know that he was a deacon at Jarvis Street Baptist Church for many years, and also that he was quite involved in the building of the Baptist Street Church in 1875 (the church's previous location was on Bond Street).  I found a mention of him in a small publication called Souvenier of the Tenth Anniversary of the Settlement of Rev. B.D. Thomas with the Jarvis Street Baptist Church, which was published in 1892 by Davis & Henderson, Toronto, and is now archived on Open Library.  The bulk of the publication is a sermon by the Rev. Thomas, but a small section at the end, on page 18,  describes the event:

"Preliminary, however, to the services on the Lord's Day, the Pastor and his devoted wife were invited to meet the Deacons and Trustees in the Pastor's room, when Deacon Elliot, on their behalf, presented the Doctor with an elegant Parisian marble clock, and read an appreciative and affectionate address, testifying their devotion to him as their Pastor, and their love for him personally, and for his gentle and devoted wife, for whom every member of the church holds the warmest affection."  

To my delight, it also contains a transcript of William Elliot's speech! I love being able to read the actual words of our family members:

 
 The Baptist Year Book does have a brief obituary for William Elliot in the 1893-4 edition:

The Baptist Year-Book for Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the North-West Territories.  Twenty-Eighth Annual Report, p. 74, Foreign Mission Board.  1893-1894.

The same edition lists William Elliot among its bequests, twice;  $250.00 under "bequests" and $500.00 under "donations for investment", both going to the Foreign Mission Board.

John Galloway Scott also merits several mentions in the Baptist Year Book. In the 1877 Year Book, one of the companies he is involved places a prominent advertisement:

J.G. Scott on the Board of Directors for this company, along with George Brown, William McMaster, and John A. MacDonald.

 In the 1888 Year Book, his name is signed as the Recording Secretary of the Baptist Home Missionary Society. In 1888 he is also appointed to a committee within the Foreign Missionary Board "to confer with other committees which may be appointed by the other Denominational Societies with a view to framing a constitution which shall embrace all of the societies".  As a lawyer, constitution-writing was a natural fit for him.In 1889 he presented the work of the combined committees as a Parlimentary Act;  "An Act Respecting the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec." Here's the first of three and a half pages:

The Baptist Year Book, 1889, p. 26. 

John Galloway Scott is on the Baptist Year Book Publication board in 1892-1896, and again from 1896-1900.   In 1894 he is elected to the Foreign Mission Board for a four-year term;  this is at least his second term since the 1893 Year Book names him as a committee member whose term ends in 1894.  In 1889 he is elected to the same board for yet  another term.

The Baptist Year Book 1894-5.  John Galloway Scott elected to Foreign Mission Board.

J. G. Scott is also on donor lists several times, giving donations varying from $25.00 to $100.00.

I wish I had access to more issues of this publication;  I know that what I have seen is a slice in time, and not a full picture of our ancestors involvment in the Baptist church.  Missionary support seems to have been of significant interest to everyone in the family who ventured into committee work.   I love how William Elliot is supporting a woman medical student!  Go William!