| 5. |  EDEY, Mildred  (1.Matilda1) was born in 1879; died in 1966. Other Events and Attributes:
Notes:
[Edey.FTW]
Alexander Moses Edey received a letter from a "long lost relative in
Quebec dated February 19, 1965. The contents of the letter are as
follows.
The return address is shown as Wyman, Quebec.
Mr Dear Cousin, Mr. A.M. Edey,
I can address you as "Cousin", for I know, since receiving your most
welcome letter that we are indeed related. I was thrilled to have your
letter and I thank you very much for writing so promptly, and for telling
me so much about your family. I know very little about the Huntley Edeys,
but I do know that your grandfather, Moses Edey, was my Grandfather
(Richard's) brother, and that your grandfather lived on a farm next to his
for a time after they left Hull and came to live in Onslow on the other
side of the Ottawa River from Huntley, to which your grandfather later
moved.
Three other brothers, Nelson, Elliott, and Delormie, of whom you have
probably heard, or maybe knew, settled in Aylmer, about a mile on this
side of the town, and a sister, whom we knew as (great-aunt) Aunt Betsy,
married a magistrate in Aylmer, and the house on the Aylmer Road still
stands and is in excellent condition though the other Edey homes are
either quite gone, or in a rather poor condition. Aunt Betsy's unmarried
sister, Great Aunt Amelia, lived with her until death.
Another brother, Edmund, lived in Arnprior, but his family grew up and I
only know slightly one or two of them. I think that is all of the family,
at least that I knew about. They came up from the U.S. with some other
families (from Vermont) with the U.E. Loyalists, with Philemon Wright who
founded Hull back in 1802 or thereabout.
One of the families who came up with Philemon Wright was the Joseph Wyman
family of Mass., U.S.A., one of whom married ? Wright, and two sisters of
the Wyman family married two brothers of the Edey family. Richard married
Mary and Edmund married Hannah. I did not know any of the latter family
except two. Most of them are buried in the cemetery at Arnprior. My
Great grandparents, (Wyman's) graves are in the Anglican Cemetery at
(Quyon?)
So much for the family history as I know it.
I was glad to know that your son-in-law is improving in the invigorating
Switzerland air, and getting strong. It must have been very hard for him
when he was working among the starving children in Indonesia and I do not
wonder that his health broke down.
I take the little magazine "World Vision" and have seen a picture of Mr.
Hieni German-Edey feeding the orphans and his name appeared often and that
is how I came to be interested in his name and to write to him. Your
daughter wrote me such a lovely letter and sent me such a lovely little
picture of the family. They have a lovely family and I think your
daughter is wonderful to carry on when her husband is ill.
You know, I have a daughter living not far from Spirit River. Her husband
is a Civil Engineer and is on the big Peace River Project M.B.C. Their
name is Miller and they live at Hudson Hope in the community of workers on
the project and seem to like it now.
They spent about 6 years at Pakistan (building dams, etc) and their
daughter, needing schooling she could not get there, was sent to
Switzerland for a year or two, so we know a little about Switzerland.
I got out my maps and I find that Spirit River is quite near to Hudson
Hope, 200 or so miles, I figured, and maybe when the deep snow is gone and
the highways are good, my daugher can drive out to see you. Intend to
send your and your daughter's letters to my daughter as I know she would
be very interested to know to learn there are Edey's near.
As for me, I live alone on my own home with a housekeeper, who is very
good to me. I shall be 86 years old if I live till July, and am now in
very good health, though very ill with heart trouble and live months
hospitalized in early spring. I had to have a partial amputation of my
foot some years ago which leaves me partially crippled, but I get about
the house very well with a cane.
I have four of a family, all of whom have been married and away for a good
many years.
The elder son has been 20 years at Chalk River Atomic Plant and my other
son is a Doctor in an Ontario city, and my other daughter lives in the
U.S. (in the state of Ohio) but hope to come back to Canada to live this
year. I have 9 grandchildren. They all come to seem me once or twice a
year, and the son at the Atomic Plant comes every other week.
I live right in the country, about 40 miles from Ottawa, and just off a
good highway and we have every convenience, and enjoy living. I have been
a widow since '53 and still miss my good man.
Now, I must not tire you with all this about myself and family. I shall
close, for this time at least.
If you should care to write to my daughter, her address is, Mrs. E.L.
Miller, Box 328, Hudson Hope, B.C.
I should be very pleased to hear from you any time you feel like writing
to me.
May God bless and keep you and your dear ones -
Yours in His Service -
(Mrs) Mildred Edey Pritchard, (descended from Moses Edey Senior through
his son Richard Edey.)
'Enclosed' with the above letter was an article which is labelled as
having come from "The Equity".
"The Wymans and Edeys: A Link With the Past"
It is of great local interest to report the close connection between
certain prominent Pontiac families and one of Western Quebec's most
illustrious founding fathers - Philemon Wright.
Philemon Wright, the founder of Hull, returned to Woburn, Mass., and
brought out several families to settle his new found country. Among these
pioneers were the Edey and Wyman families. (Philemon Wright was married
to Abigail Wyman). Two Edey brothers, Edmund and Richard, married 2 Wyman
sisters, Hannah and Mary Prentiss. Edmund and Hannah Edey later settled
in what is now known as Arnprior, while Richard and Mary Prentiss Edey
followed the trail through the bush along the Ottawa River on horseback
and settled at Onslow, around the year 1825. They settled in the dense
wilderness consisting mainly fo large birch, maple, elm, pine, hemlock and
spruce trees. Here they built their home out of logs and raised their
family.
When they first came as settlers, they called the area Woburn, afther
their home in Woburn, Mass. where the Wymans had lived previous to coming
to Canada. This remained the name until Joseph Wyman, Jr., changed it to
Bellerice, after a girlfriend Belle Rica, he had left behind in Woburn,
Mass.The name was changed from Bellerice to Wyman around the year 1907.
Joseph Wyman was the first mailman for this area, delivering the mail on
horseback from Aylmer to Portage du Fort. This was quite an improvement
at this time, as the coach served as a means of transportation for people
as well as mail. The first postage stamp used in this area was in the
year 1851. Wyman was the heart of the mail route in the area. Coachmen
changed horses here for the rest of their journey and let theirs rest, to
be picked up on the return trip.
Trains were unheard of, as were highways and other modes of travel that we
take for granted today. The first PPJ (Pontiac Pacific Junction) passed
through Bellerica on January 13, 1886.
With the coming of families to the area, a school had to be built and one
of the teachers contributing much to the cultural growth of the area was
Lucy Wyman Edey. She was a gifted descendant of the Wyman-Edey families,
and taught school in the little schoolhouse for 22 years, where she taught
music, and astronomy, as well as Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. She
prepared many of her pupils to go to the city and write and pass their
teachers examinations. She composed and wrote words for music, and wrote
poems. Miss Lucy Edey was an aunt of Mrs. W.F. Pritchard (Mildred), Mrs.
W.D. Campbell, (Maynie), Mrs. S.E. McDowell, (Lu Prentiss) and S. Wyman
McKechnie.
Lucy Wyman Edey wrote very colourful poems of the times in which she
lived, and also of the times that she heard about from her father and
mother. She wrote some of her poems under the pen name of George K.
Brown. Many of these poems were brought to mind on her way to and from
school. These poems described life in the district in her time in very
picturesque tones.
Held in high esteem by her pupils, one pupil wrote when Lucy Wyman Edey
was in failing health, asking if she was in need of any comforts that he
could supply in response to all that she had done for him.
Family/Spouse: PRITCHARD, W.Fred. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
|
1857 - 1901 (44 years)
EDEY, Howard 
