Great Grandfather Edmund Boardman and more news accounts of his death!

Edmund Boardman with one of the children

Newspaper research is time-consuming but can be very rewarding.  Just recently I found these articles in the Winnipeg Tribune.  This one is dated 29 October, 1908 on page 12.

Edmund Boardman, one of Winnipeg’s most respected citizens and an old-timer, passed away at his residence, 583 Logan avenue, yesterday morning.  His genial disposition and kindly actions will be remembered for a long while, not only at St. George’s church, where he was a life-long worker, but in the C.P.R. shops, where he spent 26 years as a coppersmith.  The late Mr. Boardman was born in Rochester, Eng., 59 years ago, and lived for a while in London, Ont. Afterward he resided in Shediac, N.B., then he settled in Winnipeg.  He leaves a wife and four sons, Dr. E. J., Robert and John of Winnipeg, and William of Vancouver.  The funeral will take place tomorrow from the above address, where a private service will be held at 2 p.m., after which a service will be held in St. George’s church at 2.30, to St. John’s cemetery. Rev. J.J. Roy will officiate. 

This article was in the Winnipeg Tribune 31 October, 1908 is a funeral notice on page 12.

The funeral of the late Edmund Boardman took place at 2.30 yesterday afternoon from his late residence, 582 Logan avenue to St. John’s cemetery.  Rev. J.J. Roy officiated at the service, which was held in St. George’s church.  The pall bearers were as follows:  T. Boyd, J. Dunn, W. Powles, S. Pentland, B. Hutchinson and W. Lockhart.  

There is new information in the above obituary notice.  I knew that great-grandfather Edmund Boardman was born in the Rochester area of Lancashire in fact he was born in Oldham.  I did not know he was in London, Ontario before going to Shediac, New Brunswick.

Grandfather Robert Boardman passes!

Grandpa Robert Boardman 1944

It was 1945 and my grandfather passed on 27 Nov 1945.  He died in Steilacoom, Pierce Co., Washington where he had been residing at the hospital there. In those days people with conditions associated with aging would be placed in the state hospital for care.  Today, there are more options and we understand some of the conditions better.

As far as I can figure out, grandfather had no estate.  I have checked in both Pierce and King Counties at the Washington State Archives.  The only thing I have not done is look at deeds or court documents to see if he sold his business to his son.

A curious thing happened when I looked at the Seattle newspapers for grandfather’s obituary notice.  The newspapers in Seattle had gone on strike and the issues stopped.  They did try to catch up but I never did find an article in the Seattle papers.  So I went to a neighborhood newspaper the West Seattle Herald and found this piece.

Robert Boardman’s obituary 1945

Obituary for Grandfather in the West Seattle Herald, Thursday Nov. 29, 1945 front page middle area.

Robt Boardman Funeral Friday – Robert Boardman, 5013 50th Ave. SW, well know for 29 years in West Seattle, in the Boardman Plumbing Service, passed away at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, following a heart attack. He had been ill for several weeks. Funeral services will be held at the St. John Episcopal Church, California and Hanford Streets, at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30. Cremation will follow. Surviving are his wife, Ethel; a son, Robert; two daughters, Aileen and Marjorie; and a brother John H., all of Seattle.

Here is one of his many ads in the newspaper. It is the ad in the middle.

Grandfather’s plumbing business 1940

A city directory ad in 1922 at the bottom:

Grandfather’s death certificate for Washington State Reads:

This death certificate indicates that Grandfather died at the Western State Mental Hospital at Ft. Steilacoom, WA on November 27, 1945. He was living at 5013 50th Ave. SW prior to his admittance. He had been in the USA about 28 years. He was born on September 8, 1881 in Shediac, New Brunswick. His father was Edmund Boardman whose birthplace was England. His mother was Charlotte MacMurray, born in New Brunswick. The death certificate states he did not serve in the military. He was 64 years, 2 months and 19 days old when he died. His occupation was “plumber.” There is a correction record done by Aileen Boardman Cahan, his daughter, that states he was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Seattle not at Washelli.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_State_Hospital_(Washington)

https://www.dshs.wa.gov/bha/division-state-hospitals/history-western-state-hospital

With the passing of my grandfather Robert, whom I never knew, we come to probably the end of the migration of the Boardman family.  I named this blog the Boardmans & Browns of Winnipeg A Canadian Story because they were the kind of people who built Canada creating the great nation it is today.  He was born in Shediac, New Brunswick and migrated with this family to Winnipeg where he met up with the Browns and married Ethel Adella Brown.  Both families worked for the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Browns had come from Ontario migrating to Winnipeg.  Of course, from Winnipeg these families have dispersed to other parts of Canada and the United States.  My family left Winnipeg around 1908 and headed to Vancouver, British Columbia and from there to Seattle, Washington in 1917.  I don’t think grandfather ever did complete his naturalization process, perhaps his heart was still in Canada.

Grandfather Robert Applies for Naturalization

On the 16th of June 1924, grandfather Robert, applied for Naturalization or what they call “Declaration of Intention,” 1st papers.

It is interesting that he writes they came in 1915 and not 1917 which is the date I know about.  In the description, he is missing part of his fingers.  He was not the only person in my family to have suffered that type of injury.

So far I have not been able to find a final “Naturalization” or 2nd paper for my grandfather which would have taken place about 5 years later about 1929.  They are usually filed together.  It did some of this research at the National Archives at Seattle branch http://www.archives.gov/seattle/  using the finding aid binders and indexes.  Ancestry now has many of these Naturalization indexes and documents online as well.  It was one of the reasons I was able to find the 1st paper and was finding him in the film indexes but not the papers.

I mentioned that I cannot find any 2nd papers.  It is looking like he never completed the process.  In the 1940 U.S. Census he is listed as an Alien.

A Declaration of Intention – partial view

Source:  Declaration of Intention June 16, 1924, Robert Boardman, #22101, pg. 493, NARA Film M1542 Roll 17, U.S. District Court, Western District, Western Washington, Seattle V47 (21110) 1924 to V50 (23109) 1925.

• Name: Robert Boardman
• Age: 42
• Occupation: Plumber
• Color: White
• Complexion: Fair
• Height 5 feet 7.5 inches
• Weight 150 lbs.
• Hair: Brown
• Eyes: Gray
• Distinctive Marks: 2 & 3 fingers off at 2nd joints
• Born: Shediac, Canada
• 8th day of Sept. 1882
• Residence: 7205 Wright Ave., Seattle, WA
• Emigrated from Vancouver, B.C. CP Boat
• Married, Ethel she was born in Winnipeg, Canada
• With me
• Arrived at Seattle, WA Sept 1915.
• Signed 16 June 1924

F.M. Harshberger, Clerk of the District Court, by P.A. Page, Deputy Clerk.

Note:  Grandfather filled this out and signed this form so he is stating he was born in Shediac, Canada which is in New Brunswick.  I have tried to find his birth record but Westmorland Co., NB is very thin in this type of record per the New Brunswick archive.  I have been informed by a cousin that there was a Boardman family bible but it has disappeared with great-grandmother Charlotte?

Here is a link to a listing of NB Parishes which might be interesting.  You have to learn the timeline of an administrative area like a county, province, state to know where the records are:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nbpast/localhistory/parishes.html

Try this link for further information on this topic of Immigration and Naturalization research: 

http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mdtmgug/education/immigration.htm

Grandfather Robert Boardman learns his trade in Winnipeg!

My grandfather Robert Boardman was born in Shediac, Westmorland, New Brunswick, according to his death certificate and other sources.  I have not been able to find a birth record.  The  New Brunswick Provincial Archives were very kind but they could not find any record and I was told it would be difficult.  I have tried seaching some of  the Family History Library records but so far no luck.

Robert Boardman

Photo:  This is a cropped photo of another larger photo taken around 1915.  I do not have any earlier photos of my grandfather Robert Boardman.  Gazing upon his face I see someone very close to me who is still living.  The resemblance is amazing even the scowl!  He looks very dapper in this photo.

As I have written before, the Boardman family came to Winnipeg after 1881 and by 1883.  Robert was born 8 September 1881 so he was a baby when they made this move and his memories were probably of Winnipeg only.  His older brother Edmund James was 5 years old and he might have had memories of the trip although it is a very young age.

I return to the Winnipeg city directories and in 1897 Robert is listed as an apprentice but it does not give the business name.

Several years later, we  find him working as a clerk for the W. L. MacKenzie & Co. manufacture agents from 1902 to 1903.  The Manitoba Historical Society series of  “Historic sites of Winnipeg” shows the former building where this business was conducted.

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/mackenzieblock.shtml

He was a steam fitter for the Canadian Pacific Railroad in Winnipeg living at 573 Logan Avenue in 1904-1905. http://www.cpr.ca/en/

Robert and Ethel had married in St. Paul, Minnesota on 28 August 1905.  I featured this marriage in the post dated April 5, 2010 “Two Families Merge – A Marriage.”  Why they went to St. Paul to get married I do not know.  There are alot of Boardman’s living in that city.  I ponder that there was a really good story that will never be told.

Ethel and Robert were living with her father Richard Brown in 1906 according to the Canadian census.  See the posted dated: August 5, 2011 “Richard Brown After Emma.”

From 1907 to 1908 Robert is Manager of the NW Brass and Copper Works in Winnipeg.  He would be about 26 years old.   Several events took place about this time:  a child was born in May of 1908 and his father Edmund passed away a year later in October of 1908.

I cannot find anything online for this NW Brass company.  Businesses are usually very hard to research.  Sometimes their papers are left with the nearby college or university, historical society or local library.  City Directories might have their advertisements.

By the year 1909, the city directories have Robert back working with the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a coppersmith.   This was his father Edmund’s profession.

Unfortunately, the CPR does not allow access to employee records per their website.  I actually called them several years ago and was told to call back.  Maybe it is time to try again?

We see from the city directories that grandfather Robert Boardman was on the path of a tradesman like his father Edmund Boardman.  This path would take him to Vancouver, British Columbia and eventually to the U.S. permanently.