I thought I would toss in a few bits of information about farm locations, some pictures of the ancestors and other tidbits.
Solomon Peter “P” Fox heads west
I think by this time the Fox families were pretty well set up in Essex, Ontario. They had purchased and cleared a lot of land. However, I see Solomon was the 10th child so maybe an inheritance wasn’t in the works. Maybe opportunities were shrinking, or probably there was some really good advertising to get people settling in the West. For whatever reason he and his wife, Ann, headed west to settle just southeast of Brandon, Manitoba on the banks of the Assiniboine River. The timing appears to be around 1888. He had 2 quarters located on Township 9, Range 17, west of the Prime Meridian on the North West quarter of section 14 and North East quarter of section 15.
From what I gather his sons, Cyrenius, Clarence and our great grandfather Herbert, farmed the adjoining quarters – Solomon in the middle two, the boys on either side. Click image to see larger image.
This gives a better idea of the location. It is about 22 kilometers south east of Brandon, a few kilometers from Shilo. There is one farm yard currently on the center quarter. Click image to see larger image.
Thought this would be good time to share a photo of the family taken in 1882, a few years before coming to Manitoba. The two boys who also farmed are top left and right – Cyrenius and Clarence. And of course our great grandfather Herbert is bottom left. I found out Marshall Watson, beside Herbert, is buried in the Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg, Manitoba and visited his grave site May 2023.
I found an 1891 census taken shortly after Solomon and Ann would have moved to Manitoba with their children. Sometimes these are wonderful bits of information to interpret. In this case the census taker chose not to use full names for the children, just initials. Very odd. As well I notice another Fox family living near by. Lets try to interpret this below.
Houses occupied column – W 3/7 means Wooden house, 3 stories, with 7 rooms. Pretty impressive house.
Family 61 (or 62, census taker was sloppy) is comprised of (a tad rough but pretty close):
- Solomon Fox age 65 who was born in Canada. So he moved here at age 62? Wow!
- Ann Fox age 53 is wife and father is from Scotland
- DW is Darius Whitson age 20 and a farmer now
- HH is my great grandfather Herbert Hercules age 18
- AL is Angus Luther age 14
- DW must be Marshall Watson age 13. Not sure why the “D” initial.
- Luther age 9
That family 63 appears to be Solomon and Ann’s son Cyrenius Duncan with a young wife of 15 who is Nancy Alice McManus from Ontario. They are buried in Cannington Community Cemetery in Manor, Saskatchewan. Their house is W 2/2 so a wooden 2 story house with 2 rooms? Interesting. I wonder how much training the census takers received.
It appears Solomon and Ann spend the rest of their years in the Brandon area. I notice on a July 20th 1906 census that they are living on Victoria Avenue in Brandon. Solomon would pass away in December of that year. A further census shows Ann living with her grand daughter Gladys. Ann passes away in 1921. Solomon and Ann are buried at the Brandon Municipal Cemetery. Picture of their memorial head stone taken in June 2023.
To end this part of the story I see the two other sons who farmed in Manitoba with Solomon are resting at:
- Cyrenius – Cannington Community Cemetery, near Manor, Saskatchewan
- Clarence – Tummel Deer Park Cemetery south of Roblin, Manitoba
Great Grandfather Herbert Hercules Fox
Let us start with that second name of his – Hercules. I have seen it spelled Hercules and Hurculous as well as other variations. I was going to take the spelling from his birth record as that seems like a pretty good legal way to decide (see image here). Especially when an “accoucheur” is involved (a person that assists the birth). However, I did notice the marriage records shows Hercules and a quick check on Google tells me there is not such name as Hurculous. So Hercules it is.
From what I gathered Herbert journeyed to Manitoba with his dad Solomon in the late 1880s to start farming south east of Brandon. Those locations just south east of Brandon are shown above under Solomon’s information. I also noted that Herbert found himself a wife, from Kent Ontario. The county of Essex was just beside the county of Kent so they probably met somewhere back in Ontario. In 1893 Herbert and Mary Ann Lane were wed in Kent Ontario. This led me to believe that the Fox family farmed the Manitoba land in the summer and wintered back home in Ontario. Hence the marriage back in Ontario? Seems to make sense, however only my speculation. But it does seem odd they would go back one winter for a wedding, unless they were there anyway.
Below are a few photos mom had of Herbert and Anna.
I found 1895 information that showed Herbert and Mary Ann were living on a section of land quite far away from mother and father. It was in the Riding Mountain area roughly 30 kilometers north west of Neepawa in the RM of Lansdowne. The closest community to that farm was a very small town called “Birnie.” The closest railway stop was Arden, about 23 kilometers from the farm. I also found a 1901 census that showed they were still there and now had 4 children. That 1901 census showed:
- Herbert H Fox age 27
- Mary A Fox age 24
- Gladys J Fox age 7
- Florence A Fox age 4
- Myrtle G Fox age 3
- Roy L Fox age 1
Really, this area looks pretty desolate even today and hauling grain 23 kilometers across country wouldn’t be too appealing by truck, never mnid horse and cart back in 1901. I assume they thought the same as by the time of the 1906 census they had moved on to Saskatchewan.
Herbert and Mary in Saskatchewan
For this information I relied on the 1906 Canadian Census. A clip of their information is in this image (click to get larger copy). We can see their Post Office is in Grenfell and they are living on Township 17, Range 8, West of the 2nd Meridian on Section 35. They have 5 horses, either 4 or 9 milk cows, and 18 horned or meat cattle. The inhabitants were:
- Herbert H Fox age 33 born in O which means Ontario
- Mary A his wife age 29 ditto so also born in Ontario
- Gladys A age 12 born in Manitoba
- Florence A age 10 born in Manitoba
- Myrtle G age 8 born in Manitoba
- Leroy L age 6 born in Manitoba
- Harold S age 4 born in Manitoba
- Lillian B. M. age 2 born in Manitoba
Based on Lillian’s place of birth they have only been in Saskatchewan less than 2 years. On the map image you can see where their land is located in relation to Grenfell and Summerberry. I have no pictures of the actual farm, however we were out at that farm in 2014 for the opening of Discovery Ranch Arena – an equestrian (horse) based enterprise.
Eva Celina Fox (Ransom)
Our grandmother on mom’s side was born March 29, 1914. Her birth record indicates she was born on Section 25 Township 17 Range 8 West of the 2nd Meridian. Maybe that should say Section 35? Regardless, at the right is a copy of a picture mom had of Eva.
Shirley Ethel Fox (Gwilliam)
And I will end with my mom – Shirley Ethel Gwilliam. Born April 9, 1932 in Grenfell, Saskatchewan. She married my dad Frederick John Gwilliam who lived from 1927 to 1995. You can read more about them on the tribute page on this same site – click this link.
The picture of Shirley is with her sister Louise taken in 2010 (Louise left side).
Connection to Royalty?
I did reference that in my opening paragraph as being part of the interesting history on Mom’s side of the family. While the Gwilliam side was busy tending farms, sheep and manure in Wales, her side may have been fighting off the British in the form of Scotland’s King Robert I, or as he was commonly known Robert the Bruce. Several family trees have drawn linkage from our MacDonalds back to Robert, potentially through Sir John A MacDonald. I couldn’t verify the connection but there is a strong case. Read through this rather lengthy explanation by one researcher back in 2014. Regardless of the truth in that we are still from Clan MacDonald of the same area.
