MATERNAL NAMES
SIMEON CHARLES OSTROM 1859-1942
great grandfather
Centenary United Church with Thackeray Farm in the background 18 and Brook Road Alnwick
PART 1
Simeon, Charles Ostrom was the eldest son of Gideon Turner Ostrom and his wife Emma Turner. Born into a family of thirteen children in Clarke Township, Durham County on April 14th, 1859(1), he was of Dutch and English heritage.
The census of 1871(2) shows the family to be living in Peterboro County, Otonabee Township. From what I can interpret from the census and the map of the area, they would have lived closer to Rice Lake and, most likely, in one of the little towns, Keene comes to mind. His father, Gideon, was noted in the census as a labourer and most of his neighbours were also labourers, millers, or coopers. This tells us they lived near or in one of the hamlets in the area. Simeon’s grandparents, Joseph, and Martha Turner were farmers, so most likely Gideon worked for them.
The family seemed to migrate in the area, eventually settling in Alnwick Township, Northumberland West. They appear in the census for that area, along with Simeon, his brothers and sisters, Martha, Lucinda, Elizabeth, Emma, Joseph, Matilda, Annie, George, Lillie, William, and Melinda, ranging in age from twenty to two. The two eldest Margaret and Sim had left home by then. The old Thackeray homestead still stands near White’s Road on County Road 9. Both Gideon and his wife are in the little cemetery, which sits across from the farmhouse. According to a fellow genealogist, the Ostrom’s original homestead would have been further west on County Road 18 past Brooks Road and is no more.
Sim’s mother was from Yorkshire, England and immigrated to Canada after her birth in 1840. His father, Gideon, was born in Sidney Township, Hastings County, from a long line of Ostrom’s. I have traced the family back to Holland after first settling in Dutchess County in New York, their original name, Van Oosterham. They came to Ontario during the American Revolution as United Empire Loyalists.
The Ostroms were a prolific family. Sim’s Grandfather Simeon W. Ostrom was married twice and had fifteen children. His father, Gideon, had thirteen. Sim would keep in step with his ancestors.
My great-grandmother Frances Knight, (Sim’s first wife), also came from a large family of sisters, brothers and step-sisters and brothers. At least they had that much in common.
Sim married Frances on January 29th, 1881, in Cobourg, Ontario(4).
7717-81(Cobourg) Simeon, Charles OSTRUM, 22, farmer Canada, Haldimand Tp. s/o Gideon Turner OSTRUM & Emma TURNER, married FRANCES KNIGHT, 23, Canada, Haldimand Tp. d/o Richard & Fanny May KNIGHT, witn: William Thomas COWLING and Elizabeth Rebecca OSTRUM both of Haldimand, 29 January 1881 at Cobourg, Methodist Church of Canada, Rev. T. W. Jeffery.
Turner farm near where Simeon was born, his father's farm later near Gore's Landing where Sim grew up and the Knight farm where he met, married and lived for awhile with his inlaws.
Sim’s mother was from Yorkshire, England and immigrated to Canada after her birth in 1840. His father, Gideon, was born in Sidney Township, Hastings County, from a long line of Ostrom’s. I have traced the family back to Holland after first settling in Dutchess County in New York, their original name, Van Oosterham. They came to Ontario during the American Revolution as United Empire Loyalists.
The Ostrom’s were a prolific family. Sim’s Grandfather Simeon W. Ostrom was married twice and had fifteen children. His father, Gideon, had thirteen. Sim would keep in step with his ancestors.
My great grandmother Frances Knight, (Sim’s first wife), also came from a large family of both sisters, brothers and step-sisters and brothers. At least they had that much in common.
Sim married Frances January 29th, 1881, in Cobourg, Ontario(4).
7717-81(Cobourg) Simeon, Charles OSTRUM, 22, farmer Canada, Haldimand Tp. s/o Gideon Turner OSTRUM & Emma TURNER, married Frances KNIGHT, 23, Canada,Haldimand Tp. d/o Richard & Fanny May KNIGHT, witn: William Thomas COWLING and Elizabeth Rebecca OSTRUM both of Haldimand, 29 January 1881 at Cobourg, Methodist Church of Canada, Rev. T. W. Jeffery.
Sim settled in next door to his in-laws with Frances and in April 1881, they had a little girl. Her name was Syntha, Emma Alberta, but from family knowledge I know she was always called “Bertie”. He listed himself as a farmer in the 1881 census, so I imagine he helped his father-in-law Richard on the family farm in Bowmanton. Richard had been a tailor, but purchased land in Bowmanton and farmed for years, as well as being the postmaster for the little hamlet. This might have influenced Sim later in his life.
Over the next ten years, Sim and Frances would move from place to place and have four more children. Frances Gertrude, my grandmother 1883, Hope County, Simeon D. 1884, Hope County, Jane Katherine “Jenny” 1887, Garden Hill, and Florence Victoria May in May 1890 in Toronto.
I am not just sure when Sim left Frances, but it was sometime between September 1889, April 1891. He is listed in the 1891 census as living in Halton, and Frances is in Toronto.
004778-90 (Halton) Simon Charles ASTROM, (should read OSTROM), 23, farmer, Rosemont, Ballinafad, s/o Gideon & Emma TURNER, married Sarah CAMPBELL,21, Hillsburg, Ballinafad, d/o James & Annie Mariah CAMPBELL, win; Mrs. GIFFORD and Shirley GIFFORD both of Acton, 29 Oct 1890 at Acton.
Campbell farmstead and where Sim gave as a birthplace in his second marriage registration
These are the facts that I have been able to gather. On April 24th, they completed the enumeration for the 1891 census in Toronto. Frances was living with her parents and four of her five children. I am not sure where her son, Simeon D, is. Frances’ status is identified as married.
Simeon, Charles can be found on the 1891(7) in Halton County, Esquesing Township, as married to twenty-two-year-old Sarah Campbell Ostrom(6). He presents his job as a farm labourer and his age is twenty-three. In reality, he is thirty-two. Interesting how he reversed the numbers. The census took place on the 7th day of April of that year, just a few days before Sarah would give birth to Nell Ostrom, their first child. The couple is living with Sarah’s widowed mother, Angeline, and her six brothers and sisters. Sarah was the oldest in the family. I also find it interesting that his marriage registration changed his last name and that of his parents. Almost like he did not want any legal documents that identified him as who he actually was.
Just a few weeks later, his first wife Frances would bury Victoria May, born in May 1990. One wonders what went wrong. It does not appear that Frances was aware of what was going on, but if she was; she kept silent.
In those days, many men travelled to find work. Perhaps this is what Sim did. When he did not return, Frances must have thought him to have come to some demise, when in fact he had just moved on, taken a new life and a new wife.
**While looking at Simeon’s purchase of property for his homestead, I found another interesting fact. He purchased the land in 1892 and declares he has a wife and five children. I am not sure if he filled this application before he paid in full for the land in 1907, but in 1892 he had five children with Frances, but also two wives.
PART 2
Simeon, who now used his second name, Charles, or Charlie moved out west in 1891, with Sarah "Rose" and little Nell. He settled in Alberta as a homesteader near what would be South Calgary today(8). He and his new family settled in the Elbow River School District No. 999. The area was formed in 1905 by Bruce Long, Joe Robinson, and Keys Cullen. Charlie was the Secretary, Treasurer and tax collector. Elbow River was considered to be part of the Springbank district. The exact location of the Ostrom farm was S.W. 17-24-5-5. This would be what would now be part of the While they constructed their home they lived with the Long family.
The land on which they built was purchased from the C. P. R. in 1897 for three dollars an acre. The original dug well was not enough to supply enough water so for a time they were forced to gather water from local streams until in 1908 when they had a new drilled well installed at a depth of one hundred and ten feet.
Like in most settlements at that time, bartering was used. Someone would loan a tool in trade for a job the other person could provide. It was that way they were able to manage as the work was hard and the days long.
The school the children attended was typical of the time and the students formed a community each participating to help create a good environment for all. Lunches were sometimes supplemented by soup, warmed up on the wood stove. The school featured two small outhouses at the back of the playground.
The Elbow Valley’s tight knit community held Christmas concerts in their little hall where everyone was encouraged to participate.
Charlie worked as a carpenter in Ontario at some point, which led to his employment building wood pumps when he first settled in the West.
By 1905 the couple had four children all enrolled in the local one room school and one little one still at home.
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Bessie (white smock) and Annie Ostrom beside her Fred in front of horse on right and Nell behind the dog
On November 1st, 1905, the first day it opened, Charlie became the postmaster for Elbow Valley. This was the closest post office to the west of Calgary. Charlie designated part of the kitchen of his house to house the Post Office. This would have been like the post office in Bowmanton when he was with Frances and her father was postmaster. A sign placed on the gate of his home at the side of the road told everyone where they could fetch their parcels and letters.
The local cabinet maker by the name of Quayle built a special desk to suit the needs of the Postmaster. Three feet by six feet, it featured a row of cubbyholes across the top. Beneath was a shelf and below a writing area. A cupboard underneath housed the postal notes, stamps, and record books. The postmaster would have sorted mail and placed in the cubbyholes provided for the families of Springbank. A first-class letter had a two-cent stamp..
Developing the West brought many transient workers, and these men received their pay through the mail. This put the postmaster and his family at risk of robberies.
According to a story, one time Mrs Ostrom entered the kitchen of her house after working outside and a man accosted her while rooting through the mail. She told him to stop, and he produced a gun and demanded his mail. Nothing further came of it when one of Charlie’s daughters appeared with the family dog. The man startled and ran away.
The family is present in the Census’ for both 1901 and 1906 in the area(9,10).
The Post office was closed for three months in 1910 when the entire Ostrom family contracted with smallpox. The mail was diverted to the Springbank office. As it was a common treatment for the sores, the family used cow’s cream, and according to one family member, it proved successful.
Each year, when the Eaton’s catalogue arrived, it created a stir in Elbow Valley. This caused an onslaught of mail in the Ostrom’s little house. Everything from toys and clothing to medicine and machinery could be sent by mail ordered.
Being a postmaster did not take Charlie away from his daily chores, so the office was, again, like in his father-in-laws in Bowmanton, manned by his wife or one of the girls.
The mail carrier would arrive from Jumping Pond at noon, greeted by a hot meal, served to him by Mrs Ostrom at a cost of twenty-five cents. According to the local lore, she used the money she saved to buy herself a rocking chair.
The family reported that Charlie was often trying to find new money-making schemes. In 1913, he bought a lot of Aladdin lamps and sold them to neighbours.
The post office closed the last day of July in 1916. Still present in the Census’ for 1911 and 1916(11,12).
One of the important developments in their community was the gravity feed, to bring water to the people of the area. Charie’s sons, Fred, worked on that line in 1907 at fifty-cents an hour. It created employment for upward of one hundred men. Fred would join the 137 Battalion C. E. F. in 1916, later to be transferred to the 31 Battalion C. E. F. He went overseas only to return in December o 1918.
The Spanish Flu hit Elbow River in 1818 with a vengeance. None of the Ostroms succumbed to the disease.
Charles’ wife Sarah Rose took ill in 1920. In 1920, Charles' wife Sarah Rose was admitted to the local hospital for an operation but unfortunately developed pneumonia and passed away in March of the same year.
After her death, a woman by the name of Mrs Coutts came in to help with the youngest child, Marjorie, and brought with her two children of her own. Several others that took her place over time, until sometime between the death of Rose and 1924, Charlie married Florence Collins(14). By this time, Charles and Rose’s youngest would have been 17, but they had all left home by the time he married Florence. Florence was one year older than Marjorie when she married Charlie. She was 18(15). This is according to the census of 1926.
Charlie and Florence would have three girls and a boy during their marriage. Dorothy May was born in 1924, Irene 1927 and Joyce in 1929. I do not have a date for William. According to my notes, William died as an infant, but I have yet to prove it.
Simeon Charles Ostrom died April 12 1942, in Calgary Alberta. His burial took place in Union Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta.
*Much of the information was found in “Chaps and Chinooks: A History of West Calgary”, a wonderful book put together by the Foothills Historical Society and published 1974/75.
*Some of my beginning information was thanks to Bill Smith when I began my Ostrom quest.
Citations
(1) B. 1859 Ostrom Simeon Charles Canada, Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register, 1828-1910
(2) C. 1861 Census Otonabee, Peterborough East, Ontario; Roll: C-1067; Page: 15 Family No: 25 (Simeon not present)
(3) C. 1871 Census Otonabee, Peterborough East, Ontario; Roll: C-9987; Page: 8; Family No: 25
(4) M. 1881 Ostrom Simeon Charles/Knight Frances "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMJ7-TML : 11 March 2018), Simeon Charles Ostrum and Frances Knight, 29 Jan 1881; citing registration , Cobourg, Northumberland, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,869,511.
(5) C. 1881 Census Haldimand, Northumberland West, Ontario; Roll: C_13240; Page: 40; Family No: 158
(6) M. 1890 Ostrom Simeon Charles/Campbell Sarah Rose Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 67
Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, 1933-1934
(7) C. 1891 Census Esquesing, Halton, Ontario; Roll: T-6340; Family No: 16
(8) Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records, 1870-1930
(9) C. 1901 Census Calgary (West/Ouest), Alberta, The Territories; Page: 20; Family No: 172
(10) C. 1906; Census 10, Calgary, Alberta; Page: 4; Family No: 32
(11) C. 1911; Census 5, Calgary, Alberta; Page: 11; Family No: 101
(12) C. 1916 Census Alberta, Calgary West, 02; Roll: T-21949; Page: 10; Family No: 107
(13) C. 1921 Census of Canada Reference Number: Roll: 450734 Page: 3; Family No: 43 Line Number: 49 Reference: RG31, Statistics Canada Item Number: 450734
(14) M. 1924 Ostrom Simeon Charles/Collins Florence E Provincial Archives of Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Alberta, Canada, Marriages Index,1898-1942
(15) C. 1926 Canada, Prairie Provinces Census, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPKR-GSVY : 22 September 2019), Charles Ostrum, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; citing Census, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.
(16) D. 1942 Ostrom Simeon Charles Provincial Archives of Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Death Indexes , Alberta, Canada, Deaths Index, 1870-1966
(17) Bur. 1942 Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current and Web: Alberta, Index to Cemeteries, 1823-2013