Emma Alberta Ostrom, like her mother was born in Bowmanton, Haldimand Township, Northumberland, Ontario, Canada April 9, 1881, to parents Simeon Charles Ostrom and Frances Knight. She was the first of their five children.(1)(2) Emma lived a difficult life in her younger years, moving from place to place caused by an unsettled father. She started her life in a house next door to her grandparents in Bowmanton, Ontario, where her grandfather ran a farm, grocery store and the local post office. From there she moved to Port Hope for a brief time and then in 1891,(3) she was with her mother and grandparents, along with several aunts and uncles and her siblings, in Toronto. Her one brother was not present on the census in 1891 and may have been missed. I have been unable to find him for the 1891 census. I have found an Emily Ostrom in East York working as a domestic in the 1901 census.(4) While I am not certain it is Emma there is a strong possibility as the girl is the same age. She would remain in Toronto, and March 7 1902 she married John Wesley Clark.
Emma's marriage to John in the township of York East, when she was twenty-one years of age. It lists her place of birth as Colborne, Ontario, daughter of Simson C Ostram and mother Frances Knight. He name is also misspelled as Ostram. Her husband John Wesley Clark is three years her elder at twenty-four years of age. He is from Toronto, Ontario and the son of Richard Clark and Mary M. Smith Clark. The wedding date was May 17th 1902.(5) Emma was always known as "Bertie" and John as "Jack". Like many of her siblings and family Bertie and Jack moved out west as homesteaders in search of a better life. John's father was a farmer in Pickering in 1891 but I am unable to find him in the 1901 census, perhaps he was looking for a homestead in the West at the time.
Frances McEwan and Cousin Mildred Clark, with Emma Ostrom-Clark and in front her mother Frances Knight-Ostrom circa 1920
April 21st 1902, Bertie and Jack had a baby girl. Mildred Alberta May Clark was born in York, Toronto, Canada.(6) I am not exactly sure when Bertie and Jack moved to the west but it was sometime after the 1906 census for the "Territories". They can be found in the 1911 census in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan. They are also in the 1916 census for the Prairies.(7)(8) In 1921 Maple Creek census they lived near the town of Cabri where Mildred attended highschool.(9) According to a homesteader book they had another daughter in 1910 but she did not live. In 1913 they gained entry to the SE 13-16-16 a farm in the Orillia District. Emma spoke about her mother Frances who was the mid-wife in Cantuar when the oldest of the Hanson boy was born. According to the homesteader book that particular farm was sold to a man by the name of Frank Pribl Se. in 1917. I also have information given by Mildred that her father bought a half section of land in the Orillia District lying east and west along what is no No. 332 Highway. This had been Hudson Bay land and Jack hired someone to break it. A small two story house was built on the quarter farthest east by Bill Wotypka, a noted carpenter. The Clarks never lived in this house and they eventually sold the land to the postmaster in Swift Current, a Mr. White. The house was later moved into the west quarter where it still stands.(10)
The family of three is listed in the census for Saskatchewan in 1926(11). Bertie's husband Jack died in 1929 in Cabri, Saskatchewan,(12) at just fifty years of age. Bertie lived until 1962 and died in Porcupine Plains, Saskatchewan, at the age of eighty-one.(13) She is buried in the Woodland Cemetery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Mildred taught school and as far as I know Mildred never married and died in 1982 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.(14) She is buried in Mount Pleasant Burial Grounds near her grandmother Frances Knight-Ostrom.
Citations
(1) Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 (2) C. 1881 Census of Canada Census Place: Haldimand, Northumberland West, Ontario; Roll: C_13240; Page: 40; Family No: 158 (3) C. 1891 Census of Canada Census Census Place: St Mathews Ward, York East, Ontario; Roll: T-6379; Family No: 341 *(4) C. 1901 Census of Canada Census Census Place: Toronto (City/Cité) Ward/Quartier No 3, York (east/est), Ontario; Page: 2; Family No: 14 (5) M.1902 Clark John W/Ostrom Emma A Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 106 Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, 1933-1934 (6) B. Clark Mildred Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 157 (7) C. 1911 Census of Canada Census Census Place 79, Moosejaw, Saskatchewan; Page: 2; Family No: 37 (8) C. 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta Place: Saskatchewan, Swift Current, 16; Roll: T-21945; Page: 17; Family No: 166 (9) C. 1921 Census of Canada Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 155; Census Place: Maple Creek, Saskatchewan; Page Number: 19 (10) "Success" The History of a District p. 312 published 1981 (11) C. 1926 Census Saskatchewan District: Maple Creek District: 220 Sub-District: 54 Family: 209 Pg: 19 Line Number: 16 Ref: RG31, Statistics Canada Item Number: 6274616 (12) D. 1929 Clark John Wesley Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (13) D. 1962 Ostrom Emma "Bertie" Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (14) D. 1982 Clark Mildred Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current