Nicholas Hedley was born Jan. 14, 1843 in March Township, Carleton County, the fourth child in the family of fifteen children of Nicholas Hedley and Jane McBride. Nicholas was born after his three brothers William, John Henry and Thomas. The 1851 Ontario Census for March Township shows the family of ten living in a one-story stone house and operating a sawmill worked by water producing 20,000 feet; one employee; the six eldest children were attending school:

Headley	Nicholas	38	farmer	b. in England	Church of England
	Jane	33		b. in Ireland	Church of England
	William	14	labourer	b. in March Twp. att. school	Church of England
	John	13	labourer	b. in March Twp. att. school	Church of England
	Thomas	11	labourer	b. in March Twp. att. school	Church of England
	Nicholas	9	labourer	b. in March Twp. att. school	Church of England
	Robert	8	labourer	b. in March Twp. att. school	Church of England
	Ann	7		b. in March Twp. att. school	Church of England
	Edward	4		b. in March Twp	Church of England
	Mary J.	1		b. in March Twp	Church of England

Unfortunately missing is an 1861 Ontario Census listing the Nicholas and Jane Hedley family. Possibly the family, in the process of moving from March Twp., Carleton Co. to West Wawanosh Twp.,  Huron County  was missed by census takers in both townships. About 1860 the family settled on Con. 10,  Lots 15-16 of Wawanosh Township, where they worked as millers at the Treleavan Mill. There is some doubt as to whether Nicholas, age 17, Robert, 16, and Edward,12, accompanied the family when they left March Township.  There is little evidence of their presence in the family in either Huron or Bruce Counties; however, seven of their brothers and sisters married in the seven years between 1863 and 1870. In 1863 William, age 25, married Sarah Phillips. Three years later, in 1866, Ann, age 19, married Henry Phillips; Thomas, age 26, married Mary Ann Armstrong; and John Henry (of Ashfield Twp.) age 27, married Margaret Florence Johnston. Six months later 17-year-old Mary Jane (of Ashfield) married James Woods. Nicholas Hedley, Wawanosh (either Mary Ann’s  father or her 24-year-old brother) was one of the witnesses at Mary Ann’s marriage. Seventeen-year-old Maggie married John Burns in 1870.

Sometime before 1871 the parents and three younger children moved to Lot 8, Concession 9 of Kinloss Twp. in Bruce County. The 1871 Ont. Census for Kinloss Township lists the parents Nicholas, 57 and Jane, 51 and their three youngest children, Susan, 11, Alexander, 9, and Pharoah, 6.  The County of Huron Directory for 1863-4 shows John Hedley in Ashfield Twp., Con. 10, Lot 8 and Nicholas, his father (or his younger brother Nicholas) on Con. 12, Lot 9. If it was the younger Nicholas who bought land in Ashfield, he sold his land soon after and moved  to Michigan.
The 1900 US Census for Armada Twp., Macomb Co., Michigan states that Nicholas Hedley moved to the USA in 1863, when he would have been 20 years old. If his brother Edward accompanied him, Edward would have been only 15 at the time.

Nicholas Hedley, age 22,  married Mary Jane Woodbeck, also 22, in Oakland, Michigan on April 20, 1865. Mary Jane was the fourth of the seven children of Peter and Mary Woodbeck of Armada Township, Macomb County, Michigan.  Peter Woodbeck was b. July 7,1808 in New York State; d. Sept. 19, 1853 in Armada Twp., Mich.  Peter’s wife Mary was born Oct. 10, 1815 in NY; d. Oct. 21, 1892 in Armada Twp., Mich. (Woodbeck Family Monument in Macomb Center Cem) Eight-year-old Mary is listed with her family on the 1850 census:

 1850 US Census for Michigan, Macomb County, Armada Township
Woodbeck,  Peter, 41, farmer, b. in NY         (Peter died 3 years later)
                    Mary, 35 , b. in NY
                    George, 14, b. in Michigan
                    Orrin, 11,  b. in Michigan
                    James, 10,  b. in Michigan
                    Mary, 8,  b. in Michigan
                    Elnora, 6,  b. in Michigan
                    Charles, 4,  b. in Michigan
                    Ella, 1,  b. in Michigan

Nicholas and Mary Jane (Woodbeck) Hedley had two daughters (gen. iv):
       1 - Mary E. Hedley b. abt. 1866 in Armada Twp.; d. Oct. 19, 187?; burial Hadley Cem.
       2 - Estella E. Hedley b. Jan.1870 in Armada Twp.

By 1870 Nicholas and Mary J., married, with two daughters ages 4 years and 4 months, had settled in Armada, Mary’s home township, possibly next door to some of Mary’s Woodbeck relatives. Edward, Nicholas’s younger brother, age 22, was working as a farm hand for another  Woodbeck family on a neighbouring farm:

1870 US Census for Michigan, Macomb Co., Armada Twp. (Page 27)
Dwelling 215, Family 217, Line  1 (cont.) Woodbeck, Franklin, 10, att. school, b. in Mich.
                                                    2                               Peter, 3,  b. in Mich.
                                                    3                               Chester, 1,  b. in Mich.
Dwelling 216, Fam. 218,  Line   4  Hedley,  Nicholas, 27, farmer,  b. Canada
                                                    5                Mary J.,  28, keeping house,  b. in Mich.
                                                    6                Mary E.,   4, b. in Michigan
                                                    7                Stella E.,  4/12 (Jan), b. in Michigan
                                                    8  Walker,  Caleb, 10,  attending school, b. in Michigan
(Page 29)
Dwelling 232, Fam. 235, Line  17   Woodbeck  Lorenzo, 34, farmer, b. in Michigan
                                                  18                      Adeline, 29, keeping house, b. in Michigan
                                                  19                      Caroline, 9, attending school, b. in Michigan
                                                  20                      Powell, 7, attending school, b. in Michigan
                                                  21                     Adeline, 3, b. in Michigan
                                                  22                     Ellen, 2/12, b. in Michigan
                                                  23   Hedley,   Edward, 23, farm laborer, b. in Canada

Mary E., the younger daughter of Nicholas and Mary J. Hedley died sometime in the 1870s. A worn headstone in Hadley Cemetery may stand over the grave of Mary E. Hedley. It bears the inscription HEDLEY, ELLA  N. d. Oct. 19, 187? (stone worn).  Mary E. (or Ella) must have died  between the ages 4 and 13.

1880 US Census for Michigan,  Macomb County, Armada Township:
Hadly  Nicholis, farmer, 38,  b. in Canada, father b. in England, mother b. in Ire.
            May J., wife, 38, keeping house, b. in Mich., parents b. in NY
            Stella, daughter, 10,  b. in Mich., att. school; fa. b. in Can., mo. b. in Mich.

The 1880 US Census for Armada Township also lists Mary Jane’s widowed mother living with her son Charles and his family:
Woodbeck, Charles, 34 , m, farmer, b. in Mich; fa. b. in Mich;    mo. b. in NY
                    Sharlotte, 33, m, wife,     b. in Mich; fa. b. in Ireland; mo. b. in NY
                    Nellie, 3, s, daughter,      b. in Mich; fa. b. in Mich;    mo. b. in Mich.
                    Zelina 1, s, daughter,       b. in Mich; fa. b. in Mich;    mo. b. in Mich.
                    James 42, s, brother,       b. in Mich; fa. b. in NY;      mo. b. in NY; farmer
                    Mary, 64, w, mother,    b. in NY; fa. b. in NY;      mo. b. in NY
                  
m1 - Estella E. Hedley married (–?–) Seward about 1894, when she was about 24. Estella and her first husband were married for six years. They did not have a family. It appears that Estella’s first husband died, or perhaps they were divorced. In any case, Estella is listed in her parents’ household on the 1900 census:

1900 US Census for Michigan, Macomb County, Armada Township
Hedley,  Nicholas,             57, marr. 35 yr.; b. in Canada; fa. b. in Eng; mo. b. in Ire; farmer
               Mary J.,             58, marr. 35 yr.; 2 children/one living; b. in Mich; fa. b. NY; mo. b. NY
Seward, Estella, daughter, 30, marr. 6 yr;   no children; b. in Mich; fa. b. Can; mo. b. Mich.

m2 Estella (Hedley) Seward m. George Wintersteen on April 27, 1903 in Mount Clements, Macomb, Michigan. George was 28 and Estella 33. George was b. Jan.1875 in Paulding, Ohio, the son of James Wintersteen (b. abt 1836 in Ohio) and Rachael Dicus (b. abt 1842 in Defiance, Ohio). James and Rachel (Dicus) Wintersteen were married Jan. 4, 1872 in Defiance, Ohio. George was the eldest of their four Ohio-born children: George Wintersteen b. Jan. 1875; Clarence Wintersteen b. Nov. 1875;  Mabel Wintersteen b. April 1883 and Johyn Wintersteen b. May 1878. (Please see addendum for the maternal grandparents of George Wintersteen.)

Nicholas Hedley, born Jan. 14, 1843 in March Township, Carleton County, Canada  died Nov. 24, 1916, age 73. The graves of Nicholas and his wife Mary Jane Woodbeck are in Willow Grove Cemetery, Macomb Co., Michigan.


 Isaac Dicus married Susanna Williams in 1797 in Baltimore, Maryland. Susanna was b. March 6, 1776 in Elkridge Landing, Maryland; d. 1842.  Isaac and Susanna Dicus were the parents of Burgess Dicus. (They were the maternal great grandparents of George Wintersteen)

Burgess Dicus born March 15, 1809 in Coshocton, Ohio (died 1869 in Defiance, Ohio) married
Hannah Cornell b abt. 1809, Pennsylvania (maternal grandparents of George Wintersteen).
 Burgess and Hannah (Cornell) Dicus had eight children:

Joshua Dicus b. Dec. 15, 1839, Defiance, Ohio; d. March 11, 1924
George Hickman Dicus, b. Aug. 14, 1841, Defiance, Ohio; d. March 13, 1921
Rachel Dicus b. abt. 1842, Defiance, Ohio (wife of James Wintersteen; mother of George W.)
Mary Dicus b. 1844, Defiance, Ohio; d. Nov. 1, 1928
William Dicus b. abt. 1846, Defiance, Ohio
Elizabeth Dicus b. abt. 1847, Defiance, Ohio
Henry Whiteman Dicus b. 1848, Defiance, Ohio; d. Feb.1931
Alonzo Coy Dicus b. April 12, 1849, Defiance, Ohio; d. June 22, 1918