Mabel Margaret Forth
Mabel Margaret Forth
Mabel Margaret Forth was born January 3, 1909, in Utterson, Stephenson Township. Her birth registration recorded the location as Lot 16 Con 6. Lot 16 Concession 6 was approximately at the crossroads of Old Muskoka Road and Queen Street in Utterson. Old Muskoka Road exists as a street today, but Queen Street has been renamed Township Hall Road and is much shorter than it was a hundred years ago.
Mabel and her eldest son, Chuck, visited this location a few years before her death. Mabel pointed out a particular, not-quite-square house and said that is where she and her sisters had been born. To the best of my knowledge, the family lived in an adjacent farm and the upper floor of this home was used as a hospital in times of need. The ‘four-corner-house’, as it is known locally, stands at 25 Township Hall Road. If you stand at just the right angle you can see all four corners of the house at the same time!
Mabel said that she and her sisters had been baptized in the Utterson United Church. As the United Church did not form until 1925, she would have been referring to the Methodist Church, located just down the street from the house where the girls were born. I have attempted to get the old church records, but apparently they were sent away years ago and nobody knows quite where they went. They do not appear to be archived at the United Church of Canada. They may have ended up in a Presbyterian archive.
I found the photos below among Gran’s and Aunt Vi’s memorabilia. I believe the photos were both taken at the family farm in Utterson circa 1912. The photo with both children was labelled Vi (left) and Mabel (right) with boarder. I have no idea who the boarder was. I cannot imagine how there was ever room for a boarder at the Forth home, but can see the financial need for one with twelve children living at home at this point and a thirteenth on the way! On the back of the photo of Mabel with her father, Henry Forth, was written "here is a glimpse of Mabel and a kiss from her" Then there was a big x and under it had been written "her own mark".
Below is a page of Aunt Vi's autograph book written by Aunt Mabel.
Mabel married Charles Henry Poytress September 7, 1931 at the Anglican Church rectory in Parry Sound. While I was growing up, they lived in a tiny house across the back yard from my grandmother's house on Waubeek Street. They had three sons, Charles Alfred (known always to me as Chuck, but to some as Charlie), Richard Eugene (known to me as Gene) and Stanley Neil (known to me as Neil, but to others as Stanley). Chuck was best man at my parents' wedding and I was always struck by how incredibly TALL he was in the wedding photos.
Chuck (back), Gene (left) and Neil (right)
Charlie and Neil
Chief Warrant Officer Stanley Neil Poytress
Mabel and Charlie’s youngest son, Neil, passed away in 2012. Neil was known in the Armed Forces as Stanley (Stan), likely because his first name was Stanley. My grandmother always referred to him as Neil.
POYTRESS, Stanley Neil (Chief Warrant Officer, retired) Longstanding decorated and proud member of the Canadian Armed Forces: The Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers & Airborne Regiment Association of Canada. Stan Poytress, of Orange Corners, Omemee, in his 76th year, made his final jump on December 28, 2012. Schatzi was the loving husband of Renate Bossow for over 50 years.
Renate died in August of 2019.
Mabel was an avid gardener and member of the horticultural society. She especially loved to show me her roses whenever I visited my gran. She took immense pride in producing notable blooms that won awards every year.
Charlie worked for the Ministry of Transport as a marine stationary engineer and as a stationary engineer for the Defence Industries Limited (DIL) in Nobel. From 1960 until his retirement in 1970, he was a civilian stationary engineer with the Canadian Air Force in Alberta. (notes from A Dutch Cooper's Legacy: An Ouderkirk Story from 1660, page 82)
Fiftieth wedding anniversary, September 7, 1981
Mabel and Charlie seated and Neil, Chuck and Gene in the back row
Charlie had a little workshop behind their house where he used to do woodworking after he retired. He made the most beautiful egg cups, cribbage boards, salad bowls and candle sticks. I have a lovely set of candle sticks he made.
Mabel passed away on August 7, 1992. After her death, Charlie moved to son Neil's home in Peterborough. His middle son, Gene, moved the workshop to his own home in Parry Sound, where he continues to do woodworking to this day. It is certainly a workshop with a fine history.
Charlie died July 25, 1996 in Peterborough. He and Mabel are buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, in Parry Sound, Range B Lot 14.