Coffin Plate - George Benham M.D.

Coffin or Casket Plate/Plaque

George Benham M.D.

I have had this item in my possession for many years and never gave it much thought. This is a coffin plate for George Benham M.D. Died April 9th 1887, aged 47 years. (Aug. 1840 - April 9, 1887).
He was the husband of Calista Emery Kipp January 30, 1846 to June 13, 1911. [My 1st cousin twice removed. Descended from Richard Titus Kipp, a brother to my great grandfather Benjamin Kipp]
They lived at Princeton, Ontario.

Coffin plates are decorative adornments attached to the coffin that contain genealogical information like the name and death date of the deceased. Generally made of a soft metal like lead, pewter, silver, brass, copper, zinc or tin. The different metals reflect the different functions of the plates, or the status and wealth of the deceased. For a basic funeral, a simple lead plate would be lettered with the name, date of death and often the age of the departed, and nailed to the lid of a wooden coffin.

In the late 1840s the first machine made coffin plates began to appear. At first they were simple shapes stamped out of a flat piece of metal. The industrial manufactured coffin plates of course had no names on them. They were in fact just blanks that were intended to be engraved by someone in the local community such as a jeweller or undertaker. As such the quality of the engraving varies wildly.

In North America the same time that the use of coffin plates was increasing in popularity the practice of removing the plates from the coffin before burial increased. Often the Coffin Plates were never attached to the coffin but displayed on a stand or table next to it. The coffin plates were removed to be kept as mementos by the loved ones of the deceased.

Brant County Museum, Brantford, Ontario and Princeton, Ontario - October 2014

Last weekend we drove to southwestern Ontario to attend a wedding. Along the way, I managed to fit in a few hours of research at the Brant County Museum in Brantford, Ontario. This museum is run by the Brant County Historical Society.

My main reason for being there was, that they have recently made available for public use the older Land Registry Copy Books for Brant Count, which includes Burford Township, where many of my ancestors settled and lived.

We were able to photograph the first two concessions of the copy books for Burford from the Crown Grant to about 1900 for lots 1 to 24.  We also photographed various lots along the middle townline of Burford. That would be specifically Concession 3, 4 and 5 from lots 10 through 15.

I noticed lots of entries for my families of interest, Kipp, Link, Rathbun, Ryder, Force, and Beamer.
It will take a few days to read them and pick out the information I want.

I also found time to visit my hometown of Princeton, Ontario.
The main reason was to look at a Schultz tombstone in the local cemetery. It has been there for a number of years and had no names on the stone. Either side of the stone there are three markers. One say Mother 1873-1952, the second says Father 1867-1939, the third reads Wilfred 1903-1937.

In reality Mother and Father are Elizabeth Kipp and Charles William Schultz, my 1st cousin once removed and granduncle respectively.

At the September 2013 Schultz reunion, it was decided to add their names to the stone. This was approved at the 2014 reunion and completed. The lettering looks great and now it is easy for relatives to know who rests there.

Foote Family Reunion June 6-9, 2013

Foote Family Reunion June 6-9, 2013

My Foote connect is rather distant, going back to my 7^th Great-Grandmother Elizabeth Foote (1654-1696), who married Daniel Belding (Belden) (1646-1731). This family had exceptional things happen in their lives. Daniel and Elizabeth were caught up in the Indian raid of Sept. 16, 1696 on Deerfield, Mass. Daniel was taken prisoner but Elizabeth was killed. Daniel and other members of the family who were not killed had a long trek ahead to Canada. One of their daughters Sarah (1682- ) managed to survive the attack by hiding under a pile of tobacco. Sarah and her husband Benjamin Burt were later involved in the French Indian raid on Deerfield, Mass., Feb. 29, 1704.

I decided to attend the reunion and meet some of the members of the Foote family. The reunion was held in South Burlington, Vermont.

First however, I should comment on our trip from Orleans to South Burlington. We took our usual route through Cornwall, Ontario and then across upper New York State, through Fort Covington, Westville, Constable, and Chateauguay to Ellensburg. At Ellensburg we stopped for lunch at the local deli (where route 190 leaves Highway 11) and were very pleasantly surprised. The food was great and it was prepared fresh as it was ordered. From there we followed Highway 11 to Champlain and then to Rouses Point where we crossed the bridge into Vermont at the top end of Lake Champlain where it meets the Richelieu River. We then travelled south through the Champlain Islands. The drive through the islands is very nice for views of Lake Champlain but it is a very slow drive. We decided this time to stop at Isle La Motte to visit Saint Anne’s Shrine. There were not many people around at this time of year so it was very quiet. We visited the gift shop and looked around. There is also a statue of Champlain and guide located there. This is also the site of Fort Ste. Anne, Vermont’s oldest settlement. After this stop we were on our way to our hotel in South Burlington.

The first order of business after arriving at our hotel and getting settled was to go to the family meeting room to check in and meet some of the Foote relatives. They were very friendly, and interested that we were from Canada. At the Friday night get together, we were introduced to the group and I had an opportunity to point out that I had Loyalist ancestors as well as ancestors on the other side. They also held part of their annual meeting on Friday evening.

Friday, the organizers arranged a group bus tour to the Shelburne Museum at Shelburne, about 20 minutes south of the hotel. In spite of the rainy weekend and the fact that the museum involved outside walking we had a great time. The museum is a collection of different collections that had been collected by Electra Havemeyer Wyeth (See Wikipedia). They were all very fascinating, and if one had a particular interest, this would be a great place to study in detail. The doll and carriage collections were extensive. The Circus Building with its miniature circus was outstanding. Also on site is the steamboat Ticonderoga which was hauled there from Lake Champlain by rail. They have a video showing how it was done.

On Saturday we attended two genealogy lectures given by members of the family. They were both very good. The afternoon was free so we got in the car and went to visit Shelburne Vineyard, Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and Lake Champlain Chocolates. At the Teddy Bear Factory we bought two bears and had a tour of the manufacturing area. The Lake Champlain Chocolates were excellent and we did bring some back with us. We even managed to fit in a bit of shopping at the University Mall, near the hotel.

In the evening, we all trouped off to the Burlington Harbor for a dinner cruise on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III on Lake Champlain. Everyone seemed to have a good time. We said our goodbyes, as we were off on our travels the next day.

I had decided to travel to my home town of Princeton, Ontario to plant flowers at the gravestones of my mother and grandparents. After leaving Burlington we headed back towards the Champlain Islands and took the ferry to Plattsburgh, New York and then headed across rural New York to the border crossing at Ogdensburg. We then headed west on the 401. While the day in Princeton was a bit wet we did manage to purchase geraniums at a local nursery and then plant them. We also found time to visit the new library facilities for the Oxford Branch and the Brant Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. These visit indicated that it was time to return to do some more research at each one.

On our arrival home the next day, our trip ended successfully!

Mercy Ann Rathbun & William Henry Link - my Great Grandparents

142.  Mercy Ann Rathbun (Horace Rathbun ⁸, Mercy Ryder ⁷, Gideon ⁶, Jonathan ⁵, William ⁴, William ³, Samuel ², Samuel ¹) was born on Jul 13, 1856 in Brant Co., Canada West, died on Apr 26, 1930 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, and was buried in Congregational Cem., Burford, Brant Co., ON, Can.

 

Notes: Marriage: September 23, 1874, Brant, Ontario, Canada.

After Henry died she moved to Woodstock for a while.

Burial: Congregational Cemetery, Burford, Ontario, Canada 

Sources:

Marriage: Woodstock Weekly Review, Oct. 2, 1874, p. 8, col. 1. Woodstock, Ontario 

1901 Canadian Census: Ontario, Oxford (South), Dist. 102, Burford, Subdist. A-1, p. 2, LAC mf T-6489.

Mercy Link  W  43  Jul 13 1857

Horace         S   23  Jun 26 1877   

Earnesr        S   22  Jul 24 1878

Arthur          S  19   May 6 1881

Arretha        D  13   Mar 6 1887

Gertie           D  11   Dec 26 1890

Pearl             D   8   Dec 15 1892

Letta             D   7   Jan 2 1894

Stella            D   4   Mar 19 1896 

1911 Canadian Census: Ontario, Brant (56), Burford (12), p. 3. LAC mf T-203??.

Mercy A Link         54    ON    Jul 1857  Methodist  Farmer lot 12 con 4

Pearl                       18    ON    Sep 1893

Letie                        16    ON    Jan 1895

Estella                     14    ON    Mar 1897

Eliza Rathburne       80    ON    Feb 1830 

Daily Sentinel Review, May 1, 1930, p. 17, col. 5. Woodstock, Ontario

Brantford Expositor, Apr. 30, 1930, p. 20, col. 5. (Brantford, Ontario) 

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths - 1869-1932. MS935. Brant Co., 1930.  Registration No. 009362. 

Burford Congregational Cemetery, Burford, Ontario.  Tombstone N 43.10169 W-80.42735 

Mercy married William Henry Link, son of John Link and Mary Ann Abbs, on Sep 23, 1874 in Brant Co., ON, Can. William was born on Jul 19, 1850 in Newmarket, York Co., Canada West, died on Feb 26, 1899 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, and was buried in Congregational Cem., Burford, Brant Co., ON, Can. 

Notes: They were married by Rev. H. Locke. In 1877 he was a butcher in Princeton, Ontario. They lived on and farmed on lots 12 and 18 concession 4 of Burford Twp. near Woodbury, Ontario. In 1891 he was on concession 5 lot 12 of Burford Twp. near Cathcart, Ontario. E. Methodist. He died at Woodbury, Ontario of pneumonia contracted while butchering. Buried Congregational Cemetery, Burford, Ontario. 

Sources:

1851 Canadian Census; Canada West, York County, East Gwillimbury Twp.

Dist. No. 42, Sub-dist. 406, p. 81. LAC mf C-11761. 

Henry 2. 

1861 Canadian Census; Canada West, York County, East Gwillimbury Twp.; District No. 3,  p. 7. Henry 11.  LAC mf C-1087. 

1871 Canadian Census; not located. 

1881 Canadian Census; Ontario, Brant South, Burford Twp. District No. 159,

Div. 6, p. 35.  NAC mf C-13263.

Link, Henry       31   Ont   E. Meth   English

Link, Mercy A   25   Ont   E. Meth

Link, Eliza V       5   Ont   E. Meth

Link, Horace L    3   Ont   E. Meth

Link, William E   1   Ont   E. Meth

1891 Canadian Census: Ontario, Oxford Co., Burford Twp., Dist. No. 105, Div. No. 3, p. 11, LAC mf T-6360.

                                 Born       FB        MB

Henry Link    40       Ont       Ont.       Eng   Meth   Butcher

Ann                34                    Ont       Ont.

Elisa               15                    Ont       Ont.

Horace L        13       Ont       Ont.

William          11       Ont       Ont.

Henry               9        Ont      Ont.

Mary                4        Ont      Ont.

Gertrude          1        Ont      Ont.

Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1932. MS935. Brant County. 1899. Reg. # 004931. Pneumonia. Burford Congregational Cemetery, Burford, Ontario.  Tombstone N 43.10169 W-80.42735 

Children from this marriage were:

  +    174   F         i.      Eliza Viola Link was born on Jun 11, 1875 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can and died on Apr 17, 1952.  

  +    175   M       ii.      Horace Lorenzo Link was born on Jun 26, 1877 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, died on Aug 17, 1966 in Brantford, Brant Co., ON, Can, and was buried in Congregational Cem., Burford, Brant Co., ON, Can.  

  +    176   M      iii.     William Ernest Link was born on Jul 24, 1879 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, died on Sep 26, 1934, and was buried in Burford, Brant Co., ON, Can.  

  +    177   M     iv.       Henry Arthur Link was born on May 6, 1881 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can and died on Jul 26, 1936.  

  +    178   F        v.      Mary Aretta Link was born on Mar 2, 1887 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, died on Sep 28, 1942, and was buried in Burford, Brant Co., ON, Can.  

  +    179   F       vi.      Alberta Gertrude Link was born on Dec 26, 1889 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, died on Apr 24, 1955, and was buried in Richwood, Blenheim Twp, ON, Can.  

  +    180   F      vii.      Annie Pearl Link was born on Sep 16, 1892 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can and died on Jun 17, 1985.  

  +    181   F     viii.      Maria Leata Link was born on Jan 2, 1895 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can and died on Nov 27, 1940.  

  +    182   F       ix.      Mary Estella Link was born on Mar 19, 1897 in Woodbury, Burford Twp, Brant Co., ON, Can, died on Jul 1, 1953 in Paris, ON, Can, and was buried on Jul 3, 1953 in Pioneer Cemetery, Burford, ON, Can.