Susan Hedley was born in
1860, about the time of Nicholas and Jane's
move from Carleton County to West Wawanosh. She was the 12th child
in the
family. In the 1871 Census for Kinloss Township the family was living
on Lot 8,
Concession 9. Susan, the eldest child in the household at the time,
was eleven
years old, her elder sisters and brothers having either married or
found work
outside the home.
|
Hedley | Nicholas | 57 | b. in Eng. | orig. Eng | C. of E. | farmer |
Jane | 51 | b. in Ireland | orig. Irish | C. of E. | ||
Susan, f | 11 | b. in Ont. | orig. Irish | C. of E. | att. school | |
Alexander, m | 9 | b. in Ont. | orig. Irish | C. of E. | att. school | |
Sarah, f | 6 | b. in Ont. | orig. Irish | C. of E. | att. school |
It is assumed that the name
"Sarah." as well as the designation "f" for
female was a misinterpretation of "Pharoh".The nationality "Irish"
assigned to
the three children also appears to be in error, for "origin" normally
referred to
the father's place of birth, which was Ovingham, Northumberland, England.
By the time of the 1881
Census the family had settled in West Wawanosh,
and Susan, 19, was working as a seamstress while living at home.
|
Hedley | Nicholas | 67 | b. in Eng. | origin English | C. of E. | farmer |
Jane | 62 | b. in Ireland | origin Irish | Methodist | ||
Susan, f | 19 | b. in Can. | origin English | Methodist | ||
Alexander, m | 18 | b. in Can. | origin English | Methodist | ||
Pharaoh, m | 17 | b. in Can. | origin English | Methodist |
|
Alton | Jeremiah | 63 | b. in Ire. | C. Meth. | Irish | farmer |
Mary | 54 | b. in Ire. | C. Meth. | Irish | ||
Henry | 21 | b. in Ont. | C. Meth. | Irish | farmer | |
Daniel | 18 | b. in Ont. | C. Meth. | Irish | ||
Francis | 15 | b. in Ont. | C. Meth. | Irish | ||
Mary | 13 | b. in Ont. | C. Meth. | Irish | ||
Joseph | 11 | b. in Ont. | C. Meth. | Irish | ||
Jeremiah | 9 | b. in Ont. | C. Meth. | Irish |
The year following the 1881 census,
Susan Hedley and Henry Alton were married.
|
|
|
RELIGION: Episcopal | RELIGION: Methodist |
BIRTHPLACE: Canada | BIRTHPLACE: Canada |
PARENTS: Nicholas and Jane | PARENTS: Jeremiah and Mary |
WITNESSES: Michael Alton
Martha Hedley |
CLERGY: James Currie, rector
Dungannon and Port Albert 1878-82 |
Henry
and Susan bought fifty acres at Lot 13, Concession 9, West
Wawanosh, near Belfast, but within a short time
moved north with their first
child, Horace, to the Bruce Mines area near Sault
Ste. Marie. Susan and Henry
Alton had six children, five boys and one girl,
all but the first born in the Bruce
Mines area.
Henry
Alton was born on July 23, 1859 and died on April 25, 1934 at age
75. Susan lived to age 98. She died October 14,
1958. Both Henry and Susan
are buried in Old Greenwood Cemetery, Korah Twp.
on the north end of the
present city of Sault Ste. Marie. The cemetery
is on the corner of 4th Line
and Peoples Road. The graves of Susan and
Henry are in Range 16s lot 7.
The plot has a large black headstone
in the center with the name ALTON on it.
On either side is a smaller black stone.
The left hand one reads
Susan Alton 1861-1958 |
The right hand one reads
Henry Alton 1859-1934 |
Horace Alton
|
b. Oct. 9, 1883, Belfast, West Wawanosh; m1 Elizabeth ‘Jane’ Harvey in Bruce Mines, Ont. m2 Charlotte Spack in Vancouver; d.1964 probably Vancouver |
Ernest Alton | b. Sept. 10, 1888, Bruce Mines; m. Margaret (Unknown); lived in Kamloops, B.C. |
Elmer William
Alton |
b. 1891, Bruce Mines; dentist in Wyndotte, Michigan; m.unknown; d. date & place unknown |
Estella Alton | b. Nov. 13, 1894, Bruce Mines; m. James Thompson; owned restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie; d. date & place unknown |
James ‘Melvin’
Alton |
b.1896, Bruce Mines; WW I veteran; m. Margaret Hopper; farmed at Leeburn near Sault Ste Marie, Treasurer of Algoma Central R.R.; d. July 18,1949 probably Sault. |
Russel Henry
Alton |
b. Feb. 2,1898, Bruce Mines; engineer on Algoma Central R.R., later Service Station manager Kamloops.; m. ‘Verda’ O’Ral Houston; d. Oct. 7,1945 prob. Kamloops |
Children (iv) and grandchildren (v)
1 - Horace Alton, b. October
9, 1883, probably in West Wawanosh, grew up
near Bruce Mines.
m1 was to Elizabeth 'Jane' Harvey (1889-1946) in Bruce Mines, Horace
and Jane moved to Kamloops, B.C. where Horace worked with his brothers
Ernest and Russel in a jointly-owned service station. Jane died in
1946
at age 57.
m2 was to Charlotte Spack (b.1891) a nurse, in Vancouver.
Horace died in 1964 at age 81. No family.
2 - Ernest Alton, was born
September 10, 1888. His wife's name was Margaret.
They moved to Kamloops where Ernest worked with his brothers Horace
and Russel in their jointly-owned service station. One adopted son: (v)
(1) Glen Alton
3 - Elmer William Alton, b.
1891, became a dentist and practiced in
Wyndotte, Michigan. One daughter: (v)
(1) Arlene Sue (Alton) Flintoff.
4 - Estelle (Alton) Thompson,
b. Nov. 13, 1894, m. James Thompson.
Estelle and James owned a restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie.
5 - James 'Melvin' Alton,
b. in 1896, served overseas in World War I and met
Margaret Hopper (b. 1896) in England. They were married June 2, 1919
in Sault Ste. Marie and had two daughters and a son. Melvin and
Margaret farmed in Leeburn, near Sault Ste. Marie, where he was
treasurer of the Algoma Central Railway. Melvin died on July 18,
1949
at age 53. Margaret died at age 84 on May 15, 1981.
They had three children: (v)
(1) Lloyd Alton, b. 1921, m. Reta Anderson. They raised two sons (vi).
[1] Jim
[2] Ronald, raised in Sault Ste Marie.
(2) Madeline (Alton) Phillip, b. 1924, m. Malcolm Phillip b. 1922.
They lived in Sault Ste. Marie and had one son: (vi)
[1] Leslie, b. 1944, lost his life in 1962 at age 17 in the air force.
(3) Phyllis (Alton) Anderson, b. 1931, was married in 1951 to
Edward Anderson (b. 1930), head of a detective division in the Soo area.
Two children: (vi)
[1] Dale b. 1954.
[2] Karen b. 1957.
6 - Russel Henry Alton, b.
Feb. 2, 1898, died 1945, was the youngest of
the six children of Susan Hedley and Henry Alton. He was an engineer
on the Algoma Central Railway before going to Kamloops, B.C. where he
was the manager of a Service Station operated by him and his two
brothers, Horace and Ernest. He married L.Verda O'Ral Houston of Deep
River, Ontario in 1928. They had three daughters: (vi)
(1) Carmen Lorraine (Alton) Pearse, b. 1929, was married in 1951 to
Richard Pearse. They lived in Kelowna and Kamloops.
Four children: (vii)
[1] Susan Lorraine Pearse, b. 1953
[2] Christine Jane Pearse, b. 1955
[3] Donald George Pearse, b. 1961
[4] Pamela Lynn Pearse, b. 1965
(2) Lois (Alton), born in 1931, was the second daughter of Russel and
Verda Alton.
m1 was to Hector Hannah (b. 1931) in 1950. Lois and Hector lived
in
Kamloops.Three children: (vii)
[1] Sandra Jean Hannah, b. 1954, m. Svend Sorensen
[2] Stephen Russel Hannah, b. 1955, m. Sheran Ritchotte
[3] Allan Bruce Hannah, b. 1961
Lois and Hector Hannah were divorced in 1963.
m2 was to Allan McLean (b. 1927) in 1951. Lois and Allan also
lived in Kamloops.
(3) Cleland O'Ral (Alton) Dumma, b. 1933, m. in 1952 to
Robert A. Dumma, b. 1928. Cleland and Robert raised five
children in Prince George, B.C., then moved back to Kamloops:
(vii) 5 children:
[1] Vicki Dumma was born in 1955 in in Prince George, B.C.
m1 to Larry Kronebusch in 1974, they were divorced 1978,
m2 was to James Fraleigh, b. 1950.
[2] Richard Dumma, b. 1957
[3] Gary Dumma, b. 1959
[4] Larry Dumma, b. 1959, m. Barbara Randall in 1981.
[5] Colleen Dumma, b. 1962
Our thanks to Phyllis Morrison of Lucknow, Marlene Hedley of Regina, Saskatchewan, and Barbara and Gordon Graham of Sault Ste Marie for providing the pictures and much of the information in this chapter. |
this page was updated Feb.19, 2003