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The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Eratus Seth Howard

  Official photograph of their fiftieth wedding anniversary celebrated March 11 1914.

  1. Rev. Eratus Seth Howard, 1833--1923
  2. Daniel Hersey 1865--1953
  3. Theresa Elizabeth (Solomon) 1873--1923
  4. John Albert Schmidt/Smith 1880--1950
  5. Mary Gertrude 1875--1931
  6. Eratus Edwin 1868--1934
  7. Elthea Annie (Dolly) (Garratt) 1867--1936
  8. Catharine Maud (Mary) (Frye) 1870--1940
  9. Harriet Adelaide (Lahue/Layhew)
  10. Harriet Adelaid Hersey (Howard) 1837--1924

Informal group snapshot of the family members who attended the 50 anniversary.

Back row
: Wilbert Howard : Mrs D. H. Howard : Edwin Howard : Mrs John Howard : Waldy Howard : Mrs E. E. Howard : ? : Herman Frye : ? : Mrs R. Garratt : ?
2nd row back
: Mary Howard : Rev. Seth Howard : Mrs Seth Howard : Mrs M. Layhew : Mrs A. E. Solomon : Vera Frye : Howard Frye
3rd row back
: D. H. Howard : Howard Layhew : Jane Howard : Mary Layhew : John Howard with Lorne Howard in front to right : Mrs H. Frye with Northrop Frye on knee : Donald Howard
front row
: a Layhew twin : Evelyn Howard : Hazel Howard : second Layhew twin : Willie Solomon

( ``?'' marks: Matthew Layhew, Bert Solomon, Rev. Rufus Garratt)

There are only a very few markers in my grandfather's life that I can pick out as I read through the data (or copies of it) that I have. The first one is the photo of a stone on which is written ``Rev. E. S. Howard, Born Again, Bic Island Ont. 1848'' which I presume means that at the age of 15 he was accepted into the Methodist Church. According to C. Loral Wannamaker, one-time genealogist for the Bay of Quinte branch of the United Empire Loyalists (who is known not to be always accurate) is this: ``At the (age) of twenty he (E. S. Howard) decided to devote his life to the Ministry and entered Victoria College. He was a faithful, earnest student. At the age of twenty-seven, in 1860, he was ordained as a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church by the Rev. James Gardiner in the City of Kingston.''

Dr. W. K. Burr wrote in 1927 as follows: ``Rev. Howard was an earnest student of the Bible and loved to engage in Revival Services. In this line of work he accomplished much good. He served on the following charges: Hungerford, Seymour, Coburg, Kingston, Ottawa, Brockville, Wolfe Island, Aultsville, Sydenham, Elgin, Nepean, Inkermann and Iroquois in Ontario. In Quebec he served Inverness, Windsor Mills, Farnham, Philipsburg, Lawrenceville, (West) Brome, Minton, Odelltown and Marbleto[w]n in the Montreal Conference. At a ripe age he retired from the regular work of the Ministry but continued to preach on many occasions till his earthly ministry closed. He died in Wellington, Oct. 26 1923. He and Mrs Howard are buried in Wellington Cemetry.''

My own memories of my grand-parents and my uncles and aunts are very sketchy indeed, but Evelyn remembers the preparations our father made for his parents' visit to the Farm which, she thinks was in 1915 when Jane was 8, the twins just 6 and Alma less than 2. Daddy bought hickory chairs: 4 large ones for the grown-ups and 3 small ones for the older children, Alma being too small. Perhaps, really, it was in 1914. And my memory is that Grand-mother picked that pail of raspberries in her 80 year --- we thought she was wonderful --- which would make the year 1917 and Jane --- seen on the left side --- 10 years old. Evelyn remembers too that visits of the grandparents were somewhat miserable: not even sewing was allowed on Sundays!

There are a few letters to Daddy written between 1909 & 1918 (a lot are undated) from the grand-parents, Dolly, Cassie and Mary. What one gathers from them is a general feeling that Daddy was the pillar of the family who supplied money and advice and understanding when needed. Of course by 1909 his parents were getting on: Grand-father 76 and Grand-mother 74, and though not retired needed some support. Mary, the unmarried member, was a school teacher in Alberta. (There's no word on what or where) but she spent all her holidays with her parents and seems to have been a great comfort. She and her mother got along together exceedingly well. She apparently was self supporting. And so was Tessy whose husband, Bert, became a prosperous lumber merchant in Granby. We all knew that the eldest brother, D.H., was always without funds. In fact it was Daddy who saw to it that Wilbert got to university. I don't know about Waldy who was a bit of a genius, reading at 2 and that sort of thing. I think both Tessy and Mary also helped financially those members of the family who got into difficulties. And then there was Dolly! She and her preacher husband, Rufus, seemed almost affluent but Dolly was always a thorn in Daddy's flesh --- and perhaps in others too. But not in Grand-father's. She was his favourite child. Like him she was a fundamentalist and a revivalist, as was Rufus, and conducted Meetings of the ``Holy Rolling'' type. There's a sentence in a 1968 letter from Hugh Layhew which says: ``Aunt Dolly was the only Howard who believed in `second birth' including Xmas cards pasted over and returned as new the following year.'' She also handed out religious tracts! All of which appealed not at all to Daddy.

Somewhere it says that all Howards were ``musicians of a high order'' and all had earned teaching certificates. Certainly there was music in the family. Daddy could read music and relate it to the piano even if most probably he couldn't play at all fluently. It was Mother who did the piano-playing when every evening, having read a chapter of the Bible a verse at a time by each member of the family, we gathered at the piano and sang hymns. (P.S. when it was discovered that I couldn't keep a tune I wasn't allowed to sing. gif Later on both Jane and Alma did some piano playing and sang in choirs.) And Aunt Cassie taught Northrop to play the piano from the age of 3. Only when there was money to spare did he have professional lessons. Daddy certainly had a teaching certificate because it was by teaching that he earned money to put himself through McGill. There is a letter from Aunt Cassie which says that Mary suggests that she, Cassie, join her, Mary, ``in the West and take on a school'' in order to earn some money. (Cassie didn't do this because she felt it would break up the family.)

Reading the grand-parents letters to Daddy (they pretty well were all written from Odelltown or Lawrenceville where the grand-parents were, I would guess, between 1909 & 1913) tells one quite a bit about what they were like and what they were doing at that stage of their lives. They also talk a good deal about their children and a very little bit about Thomas Hersey, Grand-mother's brother, who lived in Los Angeles and died on 28 Sept. 1910. This was a sad loss to them. Of course the letters are full of Biblical quotes and fervent prayers and blessings. A suggestion of what Mary calls her mother's ``practical stability'' shows through.

Even at 77 Grandfather was still the autocratic parent who ordered his children about. I particularly like his letter (from Odelltown dated April 6 1910) to Daddy (aged 42). I quote: ``I am much concerned about your eyes. Nature has been pushing out hairs over your face and you have said `I will not allow it'. I never liked my mustache, as to color or otherwise, but it would grow and I let it. I have been using glasses only 19 years. I believe there is a design in this hair growing. I have found a great protection, at times, in my beard. My side whiskers have never been shaved but once. Dr. Badgley wore a mustache, no whiskers. He told me years ago, `Let me shave off my mustache and my eyes will get sore at once.' If he found it imperative to wear it, why not you. Try it at once. What is a notion compared with eyesight. You may not like whiskers. You may spend dollars besides all the trouble and yet lose your sight. Let the hair on your upper lip grow. If the color does not suit, color it to suit but let nature effect a cure: she knows her business better than we think sometimes.'' Daddy remaine clean shaven!

There's one story about Grand-father which tells us something of his work ethic. I think Uncle D.. told us this one. He and Daddy as boys were detailed off by their ``Pa'' to split the firewood and get it into the basement of the house. No problem about splitting it and no problem in getting it into the house because all one had to do was to make a board into a slide from the convenient window and down it (the split wood) went. The next step was to stack it neatly. All of this they did in record time, which was just great. Or, so they thought. But ``Pa'' didn't. He deemed that the Devil had been at work here and angrily ordered his sons to take all the wood out of the basement and carry it back in --- as it should have been done in the first place!

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Next: E. Edwin Howard Up: No Title Previous: Evalyn Isobel Peverley



Prof. T.H. MERRETT
Fri Oct 17 12:03:53 EDT 1997