A Brick Fight? Seriously?

Did you know that Missouri has digital images of all of its death certificates between 1910-1965 available for free online at Missouri Digital Heritage? I took advantage of this service and downloaded the death certificates for all of the individuals in my tree who are known to have died in Missouri between those dates. Last weekend I was examining all those certificates and inputting them into my database.

One of the wonderful things about death certificates is that not only do they provide the date and place of death, but they also provide the cause of death. It can be extraordinarily difficult if not impossible to learn a cause of death without a death certificate, especially if it is one of the mundane ones that are named in so many of them: “Arteriosclerosis,” for example, or “Coronary occlusion.” I transcribed the word “hemorrhage” so many times that I no longer had to double-check how many Ms, how many Rs, or where the heck the second H goes.

But when I got to the death certificate of Ray Nelson, my great-great-great-uncle, the brother of my great-great-great-grandmother Minnie (Nelson) Hoyt—and the grandson of Timothy Soper—I was surprised to see the cause of death listed as “Concussion of brain from being hit in forehead with brick (Homicidal).” That piqued my interest, and so as soon as I got the chance I went to the Chronicling America website and began to look up newspaper articles. I figured that anyone who got a homicidal brick to the head would undoubtedly have made the papers. Though there was less than I expected, I did find two articles. The first article gave the information that Ray Nelson (denoting his first name as “Orren,” while I had “Otis” in my database) had died at the home of my 3great-grandmother, giving her address—which I previously did not have—and that the brick had hit him near the intersection of Eighth and Olive streets.

Transcription:

Orren Ray Nelson died at the home of his sister, Mrs. E. E. Hoyt, 712 Powell street, Monday. On the Saturday night previous he was hit by a brick thrown by some one at Eighth and Olive streets, which caused his death.

This, of course, is all very useful information, but it still leave a lot of questions, such as why a brick was flying at the corner of Eighth and Olive streets. Was someone just standing there throwing bricks? Was someone targeting him? After some more searching I found the second article, which turned out to be in the same edition of the newspaper on a different page. This article answered a few more questions. It turned out that a couple of parties were having a brick fight. A brick fight? Hmm.

Transcription:

KINZIE CHARGED WITH KILLING NELSON
When a coroner’s inquest was held Wednesday over the case of Orren R. Nelson, who was killed Saturday night by being struck by a brick, testimony was introduced that put new light into the matter and resulted in the arrest of J. E. Kinzie, his wife Dorothy and Bert A. Jensen. It developed that the Kinzie’s and Jensen were involved in a row, during the course of which bricks were thrown by both sides. At the hearing proof was adduced to show that it was Kinzie who threw the brick that caused Nelson’s death and he was held to the criminal court on a charge of manslaughter. His wife and Jensen were not held.

So, now we know to an extent how a brick happened to be flying through the air near Eighth and Olive streets, but I still have some questions. Was Ray Nelson participating in the brick fight? Was he trying to stop it? Was he an extremely unfortunate passerby at the wrong moment? Perhaps I will find still more articles, once I stumble upon the right search terms. (The limitations of OCR were quite glaring during this research. Finding the second article took some creativity.) I can’t help but think that a brick fight resulting in manslaughter would be an unusual enough occurrence to merit at least a couple more articles. Right now there is plenty of mystery to keep me engaged.

Citations:

"Kinzie Charged With Killing Nelson," The St. Joseph Observer, 8 Feb 1919, p. 7, col. 4; digital images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 24 Oct 2016), Image provided by State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO.

"Local Matters of General Interest," The St. Joseph Observer, 8 Feb 1919, p. 5, col. 4; digital images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 24 Oct 2016), Image provided by State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO.

Missouri Missouri State Board of Health, death certificate 4793 (1919), Ray Nelson; digital image, Missouri Office of the Secretary of State, Missouri State Library, and Missouri State Archives, "Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1965," Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ : accessed 14 Oct 2016).

Timothy Soper and the 1842 census

The New Soper Compendium explicitly states that Timothy Soper is the son of Solomon Soper, who lived in Dorset and Brandon, Vermont before moving to Canada. However, it does not offer any sources for this information (Soper 194-5). So, being a good little genealogist, I have embarked on an investigation to prove or disprove the connection.

I will state here and now that the investigation is still underway. I have neither proved nor disproved the hypothesis. I am creating this post to help me remember the disparate issues I have already uncovered and the conclusions I have thus far drawn.

Timothy Soper does not appear in the 1851 Canadian census for the simple reason that he died in 1847. Therefore, I must search earlier for a record of his residence. The previous census for which the Library and Archives Canada has online searching capabilities is the one taken in 1842. A search for the surname “Soper” returns four results, one of which has the forename Timothy. (Searching for the alternate spellings “Soaper,” “Sopper,” “Saper,” “Sopher,” and common mis-transcription “Loper” bring no results.)

This Timothy Soper is found in the district of Newcastle, sub-district of Darlington. If my transcription skills in this case are to be trusted—it was a difficult job to line up all the tallies and identify the columns—there are five members in his household, all Canadian natives of British origin. Two of them are single males between the ages of 21 and 29; one is a married male over sixty, one is a single female between the ages of 14 and 44, and one is a married female over 45. They are all Episcopal Methodists. One of them is engaged in trade or commerce. The family occupies 200 acres of land, 50 of the acres improved. Details are given regarding the amount of produce and number of livestock.

A quick look into the History of the Early Settlement of Bowmanville answers the question of whether this Timothy Soper is the same as mine:

Mr. Timothy Soper is now in his 86th year, enjoys good health, and has lived to see every President of the United States take their seats (Coleman 7).

As the book was published in 1875, and my Timothy Soper died in 1847, the Timothy Soper of Darlington cannot be mine. Moreover, the Timothy Soper of Darlington is said to be 86 years old, giving an approximate birth year of 1789, whereas my Timothy Soper was born in about 1773. In addition to all that, the Timothy Soper of Darlington was still living in that area in 1875, while mine had arrived in Kitley—about four counties away—by 1838 at the latest.

But 1838 is before 1842; he should appear in the 1842 census. Unfortunately, it is not a fully nominal census: it names only the heads of households. The other three Sopers who showed up in the search are a James Soper of the Niagara district and Rainham sub-district and a Levis Soper and a Susan H. Soper, both of the London district and Bayham sub-district. My Timothy Soper would have been about 69 years old in 1842. Since he is not named as a head of household, he is probably living with one of his children. The only Soper household with a male of the proper age is the aforesaid Timothy Soper of Darlington, whom we have already established is not the right person.

Perhaps my Timothy Soper is living with a married daughter. Or perhaps the census returns for Kitley have not survived. I know that it was located within the Johnstown district, but I don’t know what sub-district it was in. Looking at the district and sub-district list, I see that the returns for the Augusta sub-district have survived, but that is all. Some of the other districts have many sub-districts listed.

Citations:

Earl F. Soper, editor, The New Soper Compendium (Berne, New York: Earl F. Soper, 1989).

1842 census for Canada West (Ontario) of Canada, Ontario, Durham county, Newcastle district, Darlington sub-district, item no. 7384, Timothy Soper; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, "1842 Census for Canada West," Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed 6 Aug 2016); citing MG 31 C1 Census of Upper Canada, 1842, microfilm C-1344.

J. T. Coleman, History of the Early Settlement of Bowmanville and Vicinity (Bowmanville, Ontario: West Durham Steam Printing and Publishing House, 1875).

Sources:

CanadaGenWeb's database and images, Canada GenWeb's Cemetery Project (accessed 13 Jun 2016); entry for Timothy Soper, buried in Soper's Cemetery, Ontario.

Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library, "Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, 1933-1934," database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Aug 2016), entry for Timothy Sopper and Martha Sopper, 16 Dec 1838; citing Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858; Series: MS248; Reel: 3.

1842 census for Canada West (Ontario) of Canada, Ontario, Haldimand county, Niagara district, Rainham sub-district, item no. 13640, James Soper; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, "1842 Census for Canada West," Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed 6 Aug 2016); citing MG 31 C1 Census of Upper Canada, 1842, microfilm C-1344.

1842 census for Canada West (Ontario) of Canada, Ontario, London district, Bayham sub-district, item no. 15451, Levi Soper; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, "1842 Census for Canada West," Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed 6 Aug 2016); citing MG 31 C1 Census of Upper Canada, 1842, microfilm C-1345.

1842 census for Canada West (Ontario) of Canada, Ontario, London district, Bayham sub-district, item no. 15455, Susan H. Soper; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, "1842 Census for Canada West," Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed 6 Aug 2016); citing MG 31 C1 Census of Upper Canada, 1842, microfilm C-1345.

Timothy Soper

For a long time I have wondered how it would feel to find an ancestor who had fought against my country in a war. Every veteran of WWI or WWII thus uncovered in my family fought either for the U.S. or one of its allies, and my Civil War ancestors have all been on the side of the Union. There are even a few Revolutionary War patriots hidden in the branches of my family tree. But now I have finally stumbled across an ancestor—a direct ancestor, too—who fought against the United States.

The line goes like this: my Grandpa Jack’s father was Francis Albert Hoyt, Sr.; his mother was Parmelia “Minnie” Nelson; her mother was Maria Dianna Soper (who surprised me as the first Canadian in my direct line); her father was Harley Soper; and his father was Timothy Soper, the subject of this post.

Timothy Soper may have been born in Vermont; more research will be necessary to untangle all the various Sopers. At this point, the earliest period I can confidently identify Timothy, he was living in Kitley, Leeds county, Ontario. Thad. W. H. Leavitt’s History of Leeds and Grenville Ontario recounts this anecdote:

For a long time Mr. Soper acted as a general agent for the settlers, in bringing in supplies, doing to milling, etc. Upon one occasion he had taken a grist to Merrickville for Thomas Connor. Returning with it in the night, he left it beside the main road, at a point where the path leading to Mr. Connor’s house diverged. Having a piece of chalk in his pocket, he wrote upon the sack:--

“Here I lie upon my back,

My name it is an Irish sack;

Touch me not, upon your honor,

For I belong to Tommy Connor” (Leavitt 117).

I must say that is one of my favorite extracts regarding an ancestor I have yet come across, illustrative as it is of his playfulness and sense of humor, even if not, perhaps, of his diligence.

In June of 1812, America declared war on the British. The Americans expected to be welcomed by their neighbors to the north, but the Canadian colonists saw the Americans as an invaders. By September of that year, Timothy Soper had joined up with the Militia of Leeds county, to be specific, Captain John Howard’s Company in the 1^st Regiment Leeds Militia. Although this company does not appear by name in Officers of the British forces in Canada during the war of 1812-15, the volume does state that the 1^st Regiment of Leeds Militia fought against the American raid on Elizabethtown/Brockville (the village was in the process of being renamed in honor of a commander in the war) and it took part in the attack on Ogdensburg (Irving 50). Both locations are less than 40 miles from Timothy’s hometown of Kitley.

After the war, Canada headed (though not necessarily intentionally) toward independence of British rule. An early agitator, if that is the word for it, was Robert F. Gourlay. When Gourlay held a meeting in Kitley in 1818, Timothy Soper was a member of the committee (Leavitt 43).

Timothy Soper died on 12 Dec 1847 and was buried in Soper’s Cemetery in Kitley. As you can see, there is still much research to be done to flesh out Timothy’s life. And this will be my first serious foray into Canadian genealogical resources, so there is much to learn!

Selected Sources:

CanadaGenWeb's database and images, Canada GenWeb's Cemetery Project (accessed 13 Jun 2016); entry for Timothy Soper, buried in Soper's Cemetery, Ontario.

Christine Beek, OntarioGenWeb, War of 1812 Paylist Rolls  (accessed 17 Jul 2016), Timothy Soper included in a list of Capt. John Howard's Co, citing Folios 349-351, microfilm T-10381, North York Public Library, Yonge St., Toronto.

Irving, L. Homfray and Canadian Military Institute, Officers of the British Forces in Canada During the War of 1812-15 (Welland Tribune Print, 1908).

Thad. W. H. Leavitt, History of Leeds and Grenville Ontario, From1749 to 1879, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers (Brockville, Ontario: Recorder Press, 1879).