 Eliza Maharg, daughter of Archibald Maharg and Grace Ann Freeland.Married name: Myers, born 3 Dec 1859 Amaranth Township, Wellington County, Ontario Source: Wendel Web Site (1901 Census). Note this date agrees with the stated age on the marriage certificate. However, the birth certificate for Grace Helena Myers gives Eliza's age as 21 in 1877. This would make her birth date 1856. There is no explanation for this discrepancy. According to the information give to H. J. Suter (1922-1999) by his grandmother, Grace Helena Myers Robinson, Eliza was 16 when she married Thomas Myers. Thus, the birth date of 1859 is most likely the correct date. , died 24 Sep 1938 Alliston, Ontario, 78 years, buried Kitchener Mausoleum, OntarioMahargs-Huron Tract Pioneers by Harry J. Suter, 20 October 1992 Archibald Maharg senior was born in Ireland. “Maharg” is Graham spelled backwards and there is a whimsical story about a feud in the homeland pitting one branch of the family against the other. His gravestone is in the Mono Mills Cemetery. Archibald Maharg, the son, was born in the U.S.A. He lived in the States and came to the Huron Tract with his brother Clarke. Why they left U.S. civilization for the privation of the bush is hard to fathom unless it was for the promise of free land. Archie settled on Lot 25, Concession 1, Amaranth Township where he is shown living during the 1871 census. He was married to Grace Anne Freeland who had been born in Ireland. They were shown with seven children in 1881. Tragedy struck them a colossal blow just during the Christmas season of 1874. Grace died December 27th, 2 days after the birth of a son, George. The baby died at 22 days of age and Archibald followed 2 months after Grace. All three perished within 62 days. The stark story is chiselled in the granite of the gravestones in Mono Mills Cemetery on Highway 10 about 2-4 kilometres north of Orangeville. Eliza was approximately 16 years old at the time. She married Thomas Myers 3 months after her father’s death and her first baby was born within the year. Her husband was 11 years older than she. Pioneer life was not easy and there are many stories about the untamed state of the country in those days. The living conditions were primitive and especially hard on the women. Wild bears were common intruders and the forest was uncut. Roads were scarce and rough as only Canadian roads could be. But this same lady lived to be 80 years old and my great-grandmother whom I still remember. She travelled the breadth of Canada, lived in Saskatchewan and Ontario and had 11 children and their families to cherish. She was alert and bright right up until her passing. She was a grand old lady, one of whom I am very proud. Married 6 Apr 1875 Amaranth, Dufferin County, Ontario, Canada (50 years married) to:  Thomas Watson MyersBorn 6 Apr 1848 Trenton, Ontario Source: Daughter Grace Helena Myers' birth certificate, baptised 13 Aug 1854 Trenton, Ontario, Canada, died 11 Mar 1926 Alliston, Ontario, 77 years, buried Kitchener Mausoleum, Ontario. Occupation: Farmer, Contractor THE MYERS FAMILY 27 December 1992, by H.J. Suter, Regeneration: The Suter Saga, page 25 Thomas Watson Myers married Eliza Maharg when she was 15 years old in early April 1875, the same year in which she lost both her mother and father. They moved to Gravenhurst from Amaranth Township and lived according to Opal Patterson, her granddaughter, "about a mile north of Gravenhurst Highway on the old Hawk Rock River". He was a Carpenter and they probably raised most of their 11 children at this location. We have a picture of Norman Myers driving the Slater store team in Gravenhurst when he appeared to still be a teenager and Opal recalls that the Myers moved out West "between Frank Myers getting his Telegrapher's job at 14 (1906) and winning the Station Agent's job at Burks Falls at the age of 16 (1908)." It stands out in her mind because the family repeatedly discussed Frank's precociousness in being able to procure such a good position at such a young age. Alfred Myers who did not return from World War 1, stayed with Frank while he finished his education. The remainder of the family moved to Saskatchewan at this time. The year of 1917 is when I believe the Robinsons tried their luck in Hazenmore, Saskatchewan. This event precipitated Ethel Eliza Robinson leaving the nest to live with her sister in Toronto in 1917. At the Myers' reunion of 1986, Dorothy Davey of Cadillac, Sask. developed the following tree: William Robert McNabb Married Anne Campbell Lived- Shelburne Ont William John Mcnabb married Naomi (Tess) Maharg Gravenhurst Gravenhurst His parents moved to Michigan when he was 3 Francis McNabb married Lily Thompson Gravenhurst near Aneroid They lived in Aneroid, Sask. Dorothy Davey Box 25 Cadillac Saskatchewan Children: 1. Nettie Jane MyersMarried name: Clark, born 2 Feb 1876 Amaranth Township, Wellington County, Ontario 1 child 2. Grace Helena Myers Grand Matron Loyal Orange Benevolent Association, Silver Leaf Lodge no. 507, Gravenhurst, OntarioMarried name: Robinson, born 4 Dec 1877 Amaranth Township Source: Birth Certificate - photo attached, died 1966 Muskoka Pines Home, Bracebridge, Ontario, 88 or 89 years. Occupation: Cook in lumber camps, Muskoka and Manitoulin Island, Ontario HONEST IRISH CANADIAN 21 December 1992, by H.J. Suter, Regeneration: The Suter Saga, page 34 Halena was born in the wilds of the Huron Tract of an Irish mother and a father born in England. The Irish prevailed. She was born in 1877 of a mother whose own mother, Helena's grandmother, died in childbirth in 1874, just two days after Christmas. Helena's grandfather also died in February of that same winter, leaving Eliza, her mother, one of 8 surviving children, the eldest of whom was a daughter Jane, 19 years old. Her sisters must have looked after the children for a time. Young Johnny was only six. Helena Grace's mother married the son of a well to do contractor in that same year. I suppose the wedding day was accelerated by this tragic event since she was only 16 years old. When Helena was a very young teen-ager, she was driven by her parents to visit a widow in the neighbourhood. With no warning whatsoever she was left at this near stranger's home to help look after her family. The widow may have been a relative of their family. From that time, she looked after all that family's needs, cooking, laundry - the works. It was a very hard life for a young girl, but it must have been excellent training for her life's work. Home making for a large family was the only choice for most young ladies of that era. Miss Myers married Joe Robinson and they had 8 children who survived to adulthood. She was a strong lady, both physically and will power wise, who spoke with a Northern Ontario drawl. She appeared very gentle and never raised her voice, although she must have possessed an iron will to raise such a large family in those times. During the Depression, she operated a boarding house for railway section hands in Severn Bridge, Ontario. She attended, and packed her family off to the Gravenhurst Baptist Church on Sundays. Her husband would not attend, and quite often partied with the Fire Hall Gang on the Sabbath, to her chagrin. She was a serious member of the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association and rose to become Grand Matron of the Number 501 Silver Leaf Branch in town. My grandmother was a no nonsense farm wife who worked hard her whole life but who could not chop the head off one of her chickens for Sunday dinner. She was wonderful with her grandchildren but nagged her husband incessantly, possibly for good reason. 3. Sarah Leah Naomi MyersBorn 20 Mar 1880 Amaranth, Dufferin, Ontario, Canada, died 16 May 1950 Creston, West Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada, 70 years 4. Thomas Oliver W. MyersBorn 14 Mar 1882 Gravenhurst, Simcoe, ON. Canada Source: Mendel Web Site (1901 Census) lived near Orillia, Ontario 5. Letitia May MyersMarried name: Patterson, born 26 May 1884 Gravenhurst, Muskoka Twp. Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada Source: Mendel Web Site (1901 Census), died 28 Jan 1965 Pickering, Ontario Source: Pickering/Ajax digital archive: http://www.pada.ca/bdm/results/?name=31968, 80 years, buried Torrence Cemetery, Ontario, Canada 5 children 6. Ethel Florence MyersMarried name: Huntley, born 25 May 1886 Gravenhurst, Muskoka Twp., Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada Mendel Web Site (1901 Census), died 10 Aug 1956 Fort Frances, Rainy River, Ontario, Canada, 70 years 14 children Live in Moose Jaw, Hazenmore Sask. and Pinewood, Ontario. 7. Eliza Lillian MyersMarried name: Boynton, born 15 Mar 1887 Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada Source: Mendel Web Site (1901 Census) 3 children 8. William Norman MyersBorn 16 Jan 1890 Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada Source: Mendel Web Site (1901 Census), died 1978 Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, 87 or 88 years 8 children 9. George Frank MyersBorn 28 Jul 1892 Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canda Source: Mendel Web Site (1901 Census), died 2 Mar 1982, 89 years. Occupation: CNR Station Agent The Myers Family Harry J Suter 27 December 1992 Thomas Watson Myers married Eliza Maharg when she was 15 years old in early April 1875, the same year in which she lost both her mother and father. They moved to Gravenhurst from Amaranth Township and lived according to Opal Patterson, her granddaughter, "about a mile north of Gravenhurst Highway on the old Hawk Rock River". He was a Carpenter and they probably raised most of their 11 children at this location. We have a picture of Norman Myers driving the Slater store team in Gravenhurst when he appeared to still be a teenager and Opal recalls that the Myers moved out West "between Frank Myers getting his Telegrapher's job at 14 (1906) and winning the Station Agent's job at Burks Falls at the age of 16 (1908)." It stands out in her mind because the family repeatedly discussed Frank's precociousness in being able to procure such a good position at such a young age. Alfred Myers who did not return from World War 1, stayed with Frank while he finished his education. The remainder of the family moved to Saskatchewan at this time. 10. Howard W MyersBorn 1 Jul 1894 Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada Source: Mendel Web Site (1901 Census), died 1977, 82 or 83 years Married Margeret. Maiden name unknown. 11. Alfred Cromwell MyersBorn 4 Mar 1897 Gravenhurst, Muskoka Twp., Muskoka District, ON Source: Registration record for WW1 (document attached), died 19 Feb 1917 Vimy, France Killed in Action, Source: Veterans Affairs records (see attached documents), 19 years, cause of death: Killed in action WWI, buried Vimy, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. Occupation: Teacher; Source: Veterans Affairs death records (1916 Cananae, Saskatchewan) 12. Harriet MyersBorn 25 Feb 1901 Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, died 25 Feb 1901 Muskoka, Ontario, Canada | |||