A Surname Caught My Eye -- Part Three

In Part One of A Surname Caught My Eye, I described how a description of the book, Bullets, Brothels & Blood led to a search for the Wonch and Leppard family names mentioned together. This led me to newspaper articles about the death of a mother and her four children in a house fire near Barrie, Ontario. The mother was the daughter of J. Leppard from near Markdale, Ontario. I found their death registrations and found that Mrs. Wonch was named Mary. 

In Part Two, the closest match for a marriage for a William Wonch to a Mary Leppard was William Wonch to Elizabeth Jane Leopard, daughter of James and Rose Ann Leopard. In the 1871 census, there was a James Leppard family with daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, and Bridget (name of the witness) and wife named Rose Ann. Looking at the Markdale newspaper again, I found another article on the same page showing that James Leopard was also the father of the wife of the late Cook Teets. 

While Cook Teets is the name of a character in a novel that I am going to read next, there is another character in the book, I didn't mention at the end of Part Two. The description on the back of the book reads: "An Act of Injustice is inspired by the true stories of Rosannah Leppard and Cook Teets . . . ." [1]

I know from local history that Cook Teets was the first person to be hanged in Owen Sound. 

Now, I can't wait to read the book.

Now back to the research at hand. There is no mention in any of the articles the first name of the woman burned in the fire. The question is "Was Mary or Elizabeth Jane the name of the wife of William Wonch?"  Possible research would be to follow the Mary Leppards that I found marriage registrations for.

Now back to the book that started this hunt:
Bullets, Brothels & Blood. In the list of characters are these familiar names: William Wonch, Mary Wonch, Eliza Jane Wonch, Roseannah Leppard and Cook Teets.[3]

It looks like I have another book to add to my want to read list.

[1] Ray Argyle, An Act of Injustice, Oakville, ON : Mosaic Press, 2017
[2] Cook Teets Ontario death registration (#005154, 6 December 1884); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 15 July 2017), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 37, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.
[3] Bullets, Brothels, & Blood on GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34394296-bullets-brothels-blood  http://www.goodreads.com/characters/980832-william-wonch

© 2017 Janet Iles

A Surname Caught My Eye -- Part Two

Before searching the title of the book that started the search and resulted in finding the tragic fire that killed a mother and her four young children, I did some more investigation into the family. As often the case, what I found raised more questions. 

What we know based on the newspaper articles and the death registrations:

The father was William Wonch. The mother was Mary, daughter of J. Leppard from near Markdale, Ontario. At the time of her death, she was 29 years old according to the death registration. 

I didn't find any birth registrations for the children.

When I searched for the marriage of William and Mary Leppard, the closest match was a marriage of a William Wonch, aged 24, living in Collingwood, born in Ontario and a farmer. His parents were Georg and Mary Wonch to Elizabeth Jane Leopard, 19, living in Collingwood, daughter of James and Rose Ann Leopard. The witnesses were John Sproul and Bridget Leopard, both of Collingwood. [1]

-- The problem is the discrepancy in her name. The surname Leopard and Leppard seem to be interchangeable with some families. In the marriage record, her first name is different 

It would have been helpful to see the name of the mother in the birth records. There may be baptismal records available.

The 1871 Census has a James Leppard from Artemesia Township. [2] It is a large family.
James, 41; Rose Ann, 40; Thomas, 22; Joseph, 19; Mary, 18; Bridget, 15; Elizabeth, 14; Rose Ann Leppard, 11; James, 9; Abigail, 8; Peter, 6; Sarah, 4; Abraham, 2. [2]

The family has a Mary as in the death registration, an Elizabeth as in the marriage registration and a Bridget who was the witness to the marriage of Elizabeth Jane Leopard.

I found two marriages for a Mary Leopard/Leppard in the Ontario marriage registrations with parents, James and Rosanna/Rose Ann Leopard/Leppard but not to a Wonch. 

Why the name of Mary in the death registrations and not the marriage registration is still a mystery.

I went back to look at the Markdale newspaper article. The one entitled "Sad End" [3] but I looked at the image again. The article in "Sad End" was in column 4. Looking at the whole page, I found another article in column 1.

"Flesherton
Mr. James Leopard, father of the deceased wife of the late Cook Teets, received the sad intelligence by telegram on Saturday night last of the terrible fate of his daughter who lived in Barrie, who, with her four children were burned to death in their beds on Friday night last . . ." [4]

"Cook Teets" now that name is familiar. It is the name of one of the main persons in a novel I plan to read next, An Act of Injustice by Ray Argyle. [5]

To be continued

[1] William Wonch -- Elizabeth Jane Leopard Ontario marriage registration #010087 24 September, 1877; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 12 July 2017) citing microfilm MS 932 Reel 5, Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

[2] 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, South Grey (district 36), Artemesia Township (subdistrict g), division 1, p. 73, family 261; digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 14 July 2017), citing microfilm C-9952, Library & Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

[3] "Sad End" Markdale Standard, 11 June 1885 p. 5, col. 4 
http://images.ourontario.ca/ghpl/121098/page/6

[4] "Flesherton" Markdale Standard, 11 June 188Ra5 p. 5, col. 1 
http://images.ourontario.ca/ghpl/121098/page/6

[5] Ray Argyle, An Act of Injustice, Oakville, ON : Mosaic Press, 2017.


© 2017 Janet Iles

A Surname Caught My Eye

Yes a surname caught my eye and off I went on a search to learn more. 

I was looking at Facebook and saw that one of my cousins liked a particular author. The author is Canadian author, Antonia Monacelli from Cambridge, Ontario. Her recently released title, shown in the image, was Bullets, Brothels & Blood. The title itself is intriguing. It was in the description about this book where the surnames Wonch and Leppard caught my eye. The Wonch surname was the one of interest as it is one of the family names of a Markham Berczy settler. Now the original spelling would have been Wunsch. The Leppard surname held no special meaning. The book describes a feud between two families over many decades. 

Now I was intrigued, so I did a Google search: wonch leppard ontario murder. In the list appeared 

Sad End.: Grey Highlands Public Library Digital Collections - Our Ontario

images.ourontario.ca/ghpl/1118693/data

A woman and four children burned to death. ... Mr. Wonch is an industrious man who has lived on the Mill road some time, his wife a kind ... Irish woman, daughter of J. Leppard, near Markdale, Grey Co., and four children comprised the family.

Check out the tragic story that appeared in the Markdale Standard (Markdale, Ont.), 11 Jun 1885, p. 5. [Click the link above] [1] Although the story did not appear to relate to the subject of the book that started this search, I wanted to know more about this family.

So off I went to Ancestry to locate the death registrations for Mrs. Wonch and the four children. I kept the search simple - surname Wonch  death date 1885 where Ontario, Canada.

Mary Wonch's death was registered in the township of Vespra, Simcoe County. [2] Mary Wonch was 29 years old and born in Ontario. The original cause of death is listed as "burnt to death".  In the remarks it says "The above Mary Wonch and her four children were accidentally burnt to death by their house taking fire while they were in bed." [3]

The children were Lillian May Wonch, age 6 years; [4] William James Wonch, age 4 years; [5] Peter John Wonch, age 2 years; [6] baby Wonch, age 1 month. [7] They all died 5 June 1885.

Now because the deaths occurred in Simcoe County, it was worthwhile to check if information appeared in a newspaper of the time most likely in Barrie, Ontario, the nearest large community. Barrie Public Library has a link to the index and images of newspapers. There was a write up of the tragedy in the Northern Advance. [8]

The story is told in a much different way with different information provided. The husband is listed as William Wonch in the Barrie newspaper. The article does not give his wife's first name. There is no reference to where she came from or her father's name. In the Barrie newspaper, there is no mention of the coat. Even the sequence of events are different. Very mysterious -- a tragic event.

To be continued

Sources of information

[1] "Sad End" Markdale Standard 11 June 1885 p. 5, http://images.ourontario.ca/ghpl/1118693/data; transcription

[2] http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Vespra,_Simcoe,_Ontario,_Canada

[3] Mary Wonch Ontario death registration (#015790, 15 June 1885); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 June 2017), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 41, Archives Ontario, Toronto.

[4] Lillian May Wonch Ontario death registration (#015791, 15 June 1885); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 June 2017), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 41, Archives Ontario, Toronto.

[5] William James Wonch Ontario death registration (#015792, 15 June 1885);  digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 June 2017), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 41, Archives Ontario, Toronto.

[6] Peter John Wonch Ontario death registration (#015793, 15 June 1885); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 June 2017), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 41, Archives Ontario, Toronto.

[7] Baby Wonch Ontario death registration (#015794, 15 June 1885); digital image, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 10 June 2017), citing microfilm MS 935 Reel 41, Archives Ontario, Toronto.

[8]"Fatal Fire: A Mother and Four Children Cremated Alive" Northern Advance (Barrie, Ontario), Thursday, June 11, 1885, p.1; digital image, http://news.ourontario.ca/Barrie/2765153/page/1?n=2&q=wonch

© 2017 Janet Iles