MATERNAL NAMES
FRANCES GERTRUDE OSTROM 1873 -1910
grandmother
FRANCES GERTRUDE 'FANNIE' OSTROM 1900 WEDDING PHOTO
Frances Gertrude Ostrom, also known as "Fannie," was the second child of SIMEON CHARLES OSTROM 1859-1942 and FRANCES MAY KNIGHT 1857-1943. She was born in the hamlet of Bowmanton, Co. Northumberland, Ontario. Her parents lived beside Fanny’s grandparents, FANNY MAY 1834-1908 and RICHARD KNIGHT1823-1892.
023110 Fanny Gertrude OSTROM, February 11, 1883, female, S. C. Ostrom, Frances Knight, S. C. Ostrom, laborer, Hope County, reg: 2 Mar, 1883.
Fanny had an older sister, Emma, born in1881 and would soon have a brother a year and seven months later. Simeon D was also born in Bowmanton, but her next sister was born in Garden Hill (part of Port Hope), in 1887, which would suggest that her parents had moved there.
By 1891,(2) Frances was living in Toronto with her mother and grandparents, on Queen Street in Toronto. The census did not include her father and brother Sim, but two recent additions were present, Jane five and Victoria May eleven months old.
Both parents of Frances are living with them and four of her aunts and uncles, creating a crowded living situation for the family. Her father Simeon appears to be away working. I found him in Halton County, Esquesing Township, working as a farm labourer, confirming his whereabouts. He would never return.
Just eight when her father left in 1891, her mother struggled to raise the children alone. As previously mentioned, I do not know if Frances knew what happened to her husband, but she referred to herself as a widow, and no one in my family ever mentioned Simeon so it remained a secret either never revealed or that no one was aware.
Fanny’s grandfather, Richard, died in 1892. He worked as a tailor, so it was possible that she and her mother Frances and families remained in the same place for several years to support each other.
The family can be found in the Toronto Directory at 721 Queen Street East for the year 1899. The place would have been an ideal spot for a tailor, as it was a storefront with an apartment above. One of Fanny’s uncles had apprenticed with his father and might have continued on for several years until Fanny’s grandmother and her family moved out west to Saskatchewan.
In 1901, Fanny’s mother moved to 622 Queen Street East, a working-class neighbourhood in the heart of Toronto.
Fanny probably met Ben McEwan at school. He was the older brother of both Emma and Helen “Nell” McEwan, who lived only a few blocks from her on Saulter Street. They all would have attended the Hamilton School near Dundas and Broadview.
The pretty young friend of the McEwan girls would surely catch his attention. They married in 1900 when Fanny was just seventeen years old.(3)
01531-00 (York) Benjamin MCEWAN, 21, fur cutter, Toronto, same, s/o John MCEWAN & Janet STEVENSON, married Fanny G. OSTROM, 18, Cantou Ont, Toronto,d/o Simeon C. OSTROM & Frances KNIGHT, witn: Emma OSTRAM and Harry KNIGHT both of Toronto, 10 April 1900 at Toronto, Congregational, Rev. J. P.GERRIE, licence reg. 9 May 1900.
Ben and Fanny had their first child in September of the same year. They named her May Irene. She lived only four months. I have not been successful in locating Ben and Fanny in the 1901 Canadian census.
In November 1901, John Benjamin was born but only survived one week. How hard it must have been for the young mother. Only nineteen and already she had lost two children.
Fanny got pregnant again almost immediately after losing John Benjamin and this time, in November 1902, she gave birth to Frances Munro McEwan. Frances would live a long life.
In 1903, the family was living on Gildersleeve Avenue, which bordered Riverdale Park on the south side.(4) see inset above This would have been a nice place for Frances. With the Necropolis cemetery close by, she could visit her first two children’s gravesite. Their next child, Edgar Irwin, born in March 1905, would also live to grow up and have a family of his own.
My mother Lilly was next in January 1908. Lilly would be their last surviving child. The family resided in Balmy Beach, located a more easterly part of Toronto. The following year, Frances would become pregnant again and in 1910, both mother and child succumbed to childbirth.
Ben had just completed building a house was at 87 Oak Avenue, their first owned home.(5)(6) They had recently moved into their new home on Oak Avenue (to be renamed Willow Avenue).InsertThe cemetery and crematorium at Saint Johns Norway in the Beaches area of Toronto, Ontario, is where Fanny is buried.
McEWEN, Fanny, Gertrude, f, married, 5 Jan. 1910. 26 years, 10 mos., 25 days, Port Hope, Ontario died at Oak Avenue, Toronto, cause - acute nephritis duration 11 days, causing cardiac failure, housewife, father's name Ostrom, mother's name unkown, Toronto twp. (York Co.) 001107-10. Name of attending physician T. B. McDonald, 469 Parliament St. Toronto.
My mother always told me a story that was told to her by her grandmother. The doctor shared with the family that he had recently been to the house of the most attractive woman he knew, but was unable to save her.
I imagine how lovely Fanny would have looked in the furs that came from the furrier where Ben worked. That never was to be.
Citations
(1) B. 1883 Ostrom Frances Gertrude Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 60
(2) C. 1891 Canada Census Census Place: St Mathews Ward, York East, Ontario; Roll: T-6379; Family No: 341
(3) M. 1900 McEwan Benjamin/Ostrom Frances Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, 1933-1934 Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(4) The Toronto City Directory 1903 Might Directories Ltd
(5) The Toronto City Directory 1908 Might Directories Ltd
(6) The Toronto City Directory 1909 Might Directories Ltd
(7) D. 1910 Ostrom Fanny Gertrude Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947 Archives of Ontario; Toronto,Ontario, Canada; Series: MS935; Reel: 150
(8) Bur: 1910 Ostrom McEwan Fanny
CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN McEWAN AND FRANCES OSTROM
MAY IRENE MCEWAN 1900–1901
May Irene McEwan was Benjamin and Frances first child. Frances was young at the time, just seventeen at the time she was barely a women herself.
May arrived into the world September 14th of 1900, but alas, her life would not be a long one. She died several months later on January, 9th 1901.
May was buried in the Necropolis Cemetery, Section 1 Lot# 153 with many of the other family members at that time.
I have no other knowledge of May Irene.
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JOHN BENJAMIN MCEWAN 1901–1901
John Benjamin McEwan, named in honor of his grandfather and father was born November 17th, 1901 was the second child of Benjamin and Frances.
Like his sister before him, he did not survive. It is not mentioned if he was stillborn or if he died immediately after the birth, but his death is the same day as his birth.
He is buried with his sister in the Necropolis Cemetery, Section 1 Lot# 153.
There is no other information about John Benjamin.
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FRANCES MUNRO MCEWAN 1902–1985
Frances was the name of her mother, maternal grandmother and maternal great-grandmother, so it was fitting that Frances and Benjamin would have a child bearing this name. Her second name was the maiden name of Benjamin’s maternal grandmother. I’ll always remember her as aunt Fan. She was just seven when her mother died and her life changed forever. She was born November 02, 1902, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
She and her younger brother went to live with their father and stepmother when Benjamin remarried one year after the death of Frances.She and Edgar her younger brother would not remain there long, instead being sent out west to Saskatchewan to live and be raised by their maternal Grandmother Frances Ostrom.
At some point she returned to Toronto, where she met Ed White,(1). Frances and Edward were married in Toronto, June 21st, 1923 Registration #003899/23.
They left Toronto and immigrated to the United States.
Frances and Edward adopted a boy born on February 4th, 1930 and named him Edward Keith,(2). At the time, they were living and working in Michigan.
Unfortunately, Frances and Ed’s marriage did not work out and Frances was left to work and raise Keith independently.
In later years, after Keith had left home, Frances met Morley Weston and they married.
Frances' first husband died August 28, 1985 in Taylor, Wayne, Michigan.
They retired and lived in St-Petersburg, Florida, until her death on April 14th 1985 while my mother was there giving her care. Morley was not well enough to do it alone.
Morley died four years later, on January 4, 1990. Even though my mother and Frances lived far from one another all their lives; they had a close bond and kept in touch as much as possible.
Frances would come to visit in Toronto and in later years my mother lived just a few blocks from her in St-Petersburg Florida.
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Citations
(1) B.1902 McEwan Frances Munro
(2) M.1923 McEwan Frances Munro/White Edward Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Series: MS932; Reel: 638
(3) Div. 1947 McEwan Frances Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Michigan. Divorce records Michigan, Divorce Records, 1897-1952
(4) M. 1970 McEwan Frances/Weston Morley Florida, Marriage Indexes, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001 Certificate038487 Volume2931 SourceFlorida Department of Health
(5) D.1986 U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
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CHILDREN OF FRANCES MCEWAN AND EDWARD WHITE
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Edward Keith White 1930-1992 life-partner Dr Ernest John Bragg 1925-1995, no children. Keith and John spent 30 years together
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Citations
(1) B.1830 White Edward Keith -- U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
(2) D.1992 White Edward Keith -- U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, United States of America
(3) Obit. Newspapers.com - The Los Angeles Times - 21 Sep 1992 - Page 252
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EDGAR IRWIN MCEWAN 1905–1990
Edgar was Benjamin and Frances's fourth child and second boy, in almost as many years as their marriage. He did visit Toronto, but I was too small to remember him.
Like his sister Frances, he went out to Saskatchewan and was raised by his maternal grandmother shortly after the death of his mother.
At his birth, the family lived on Oak Avenue in Toronto in a house his father had built.
Edgar, also like his sister Frances, moved to the United States and lived in Ohio.
He met and married Agnes Deschryver on April 24, 1929. She was the daughter of Feliz Deschryver and Mary Louise DeKeyser.
The couple would have three children from their marriage, two boys and one girl.
Edward died December 26, 1990, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Milford, Clermont County, Ohio, United States of America.
Agnes died in 2003 and is buried alongside her husband and eldest son Robert.
Citations
(1) B.1902 McEwan Edgar Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 176 Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913
(2) M.1923 McEwan Edgar/Deschryver Agnes Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 County File Number 362583 State File Number82 55960 Fort Wayne, Michigan
3) D.1990 U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
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CHILDREN OF EDGAR MCEWAN AND LOUIS DESCHRIVER
Robert Edward McEwan 1931-2016 married Private, eight children
Nancy Lee McEwan 1936-2020 married Private, three children
William Michael McEwan 1943-3031 married Private, two children
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LILLY (LILLIAN) MCEWAN 1908–1998 Mother LINK
Lillian or Lilly as she was christened was the fifth and last child of Frances and Ben to reach mature age. She was born on January 28, 1908, in Toronto. There is much more on Lilly through the linked page
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Citations
(1) B.1908 McEwan Lilly Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 176 Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913
(2) M.1926 McEwan Lillian/Bell Kelvin
Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Series: MS932; Reel: 752 Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, 1933-1934
3) D.1998 McEwan Lilly Findagrave Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.
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BABY MCEWAN 1909–1909 (Male)
Frances' final child was born December 5th 1909 and lived but one day. This birth would also lead to her death one month later. Try as I might, I am unable to find any valid record of the infant.
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Citations
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