By 1867 Samuel was a wood workman with the Canadian Engine & Machinery Company[i]. He married Mary Ann Nobes in 1859, in Kingston. Again I was fortunate to obtain a copy of their marriage from one of my mother's cousins.
Mary Ann's family had come from England in the 1830's; Mary Ann
was born in Kingston in 1836. See blog post: http://judystree.blogspot.com/search/label/Nobes?updated-max=2018-11-26T17:52:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=1&by-date=false
The 1862 directory for Kingston lists Mary Ann’s mother – a widow living at Young near Barrie. Samuel Oakley, carpenter was living at Colbourne near Sydenham. By 1865 Samuel and his young family were living at Young near Barrie. Either mother-in-law Mary was deceased by this date or Mary and Samuel had moved in with her.
In the 1867 directory Samuel Oakley is listed as a wood workman with the Canadian Engine and Machinery Company. By 1873 there weren't any Oakleys listed.
The 1862-63 directory for Kingston shows Mary, widow of John, at Young & Barrie, in Kingston.
Nobes John carpenter home Young near Barrie – Mary’s son
Nobes Mary widow John home Young near Barrie – Samuel's mother-in-law
Nobes Robert labourer home John near Patrick
Oakley Samuel carpenter home Colbourne near Sydenahm
1865 directory
I could not locate Mary
Nobes, James baker h Young near Barrie
Nobes, Robert pensioner h York corner Stuart
Nobes, William Carpenter h William near Barrie
Oakley, Samuel carpenter h Young near Barrie
1867 directory
Nobbs, John carpenter h Wellington between Queen & Barrock
Nobbs, Robert labourer h Chalam corner York
Oakley, S. wood workman Canadian Engine & Machinery Co
Mary Ann & Samuel had 11 children, the youngest, George Lester, was a year old when his mother passed away. By 1873 the family moved to Cobourg, Ontario where Sam worked for the Cobourg Car Works.
Mary Ann died there in 1880 at the age of 44, either from childbirth or complications from pregnancy (cause of death was from puerperal albuminuria a disease of the time, something to do with a reaction to pregnancy.)
This left Samuel with a young family ranging in age from 1 to 20. Sarah Elizabeth being the oldest and was the one in charge of raising the family. About 1882 the family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba where Samuel was employed by the CPR. In Winnipeg, Sarah met and married (1885) John Lewis Powell. A short time later, Samuel moved his younger children to St. Paul, Minnesota.
From an inscription in Samuel’s watch we know he was working for the Cobourg Car Works, a company that had been established in 1873.
Not sure if this watch was presented as a result of Samuel changing jobs or as the inscription said “as a token of esteem”.
[i] The Canadian Locomotive Company had its beginnings with a number of predecessor businesses. It began business as the Ontario Foundry in 1848, but after commencing construction of locomotives it became known as the Kingston Locomotive Works. The first steam locomotive was turned out on Wednesday, December 20, 1854. This was the first of four locomotives for the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, which was being built at that time. A further order of five locomotives for the GTR followed in October and November 1856. However, less than three dozen locomotives were built before the business went bankrupt in 1860.
The Canadian Engine & Machinery Company was a shareholder-owned successor company founded in 1865. It too ran into financial troubles during the depression of 1878-1879 and also went bankrupt. (from Wikipedia)
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