Thomas Amaziah Strain

1852 - 1937  (85 years)

• Name	Thomas Amaziah Strain  [1]
  Birth	27 Apr 1852	Hogg's Hollow, Toronto, Ont
  Gender	Male
  Death	9 Jul 1937	South Porcupine, Ontario
  	Cause: Arteriosclerosis/Endocarditis/lung congestion
  Burial	South Porcupine, Ontario
  Person ID	I603	Dougherty
  Last Modified	10 Aug 2002

  
  

  Father	William Wright (R) Strain,   b. 1807, Co Monaghan, NIR d. 28 Sep 1902, Patton Twp, Algoma District, ON, CAN (Age 95 years)
  Relationship	Natural
  Mother	Margaret Susan Bray,   b. 1829, Pickering, ON, CAN d. 13 Nov 1902, Kirkwood Twp. (Age 73 years)
  Relationship	Natural
  Marriage	Abt 1850
  Family ID	F233	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Rachel Gerow, Genoe,   b. Feb 1857, Flesherton, Grey Co., Ontario d. 9 Jun 1937, South Porcupine, Ontario (Age ~ 80 years)
  Marriage	30 May 1876	Flesherton, Grey Co Ont
  Children	1. Edna Strain  [Natural]   2. Mary Ellen Strain,   b. 1878   d. 1878 (Age 0 years)  [Natural]   3. Thomas E. Strain,   b. 29 Oct 1879, Markdale, Grey Co, Ontario d. 1923, Thessalon, Ontaio (Age 43 years)  [Natural]   4. Ida Maud Strain,   b. 1880  [Natural]   5. Margaret Ellen 'Nell' Strain,   b. 30 Sep 1881, Assiginac, Manitoulin Island, Ont d. 13 Sep 1970, Winnipeg, Man (Age 88 years)  [Natural]   6. Sarah Gertrude Strain,   b. 1883   d. 1884 (Age 1 year)  [Natural]   7. Almeda A. Strain,   b. 1887   d. 1887 (Age 0 years)  [Natural]   8. Frederick Mervin Strain,   b. 1891   d. 1911 (Age 20 years)  [Natural]   9. Bert Strain,   b. 1893, Thessalon, Algoma District, Ontario d. North Bay  [Natural]   10. Nora Ethel Strain,   b. Abt 1898, Thessalon, Ont d. 20 Nov 1919, Thessalon (Age ~ 21 years)  [Natural]   11. Louis Russell Strain,   b. 1899   d. 1899 (Age 0 years)  [Natural]   12. Eva Gladys Strain,   b. 4 Feb 1900, Thessalon, Algoma District, ON, CAN d. 24 Jan 1953, South Porcupine, Tisdale, ON, CaN (Age 52 years)  [Natural]
  Family ID	F222	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Dec 2014

  
  

• Notes

  Thomas was born in Hogg's Hollow, a valley in the North York area of old Toronto. He marrie d Rachel Gerow in Flesherton, Artemesia Township, Grey County, in 1876. Their first child, S arah Gertrude died in infancy and was buried in Flesherton Cemetery. Altogether they had twel ve children, four of whom died in infancy and three others who died in their early twenties . The five surviving children went on to marry and have families of their own. Tom's young family started out, however, from Owen Sound, where they boarded a boat for Thes salon. They almost perished when the boat became overloaded with a thick coating of ice an d almost sank to the bottom of Georgian Bay.. They stopped at Manitoulin Island, where bab y Nell was born...in an Indian viillage called Assiginack. They resided in Assiginack for at least one year, as is indicated by the 1881 census. At th e time of the census Maud (3) and Thomas (1) were with them. Rachel's sister, Mary Ellen (1 9) stayed with the household until she married J Jamieson. Tom and family eventually arrived in Thessalon where he opened a Singer Sewing Machine dealer ship in 1881. He was a jack-of-all-trades, including barrel maker and stone mason. He became Reeve of Algoma about 1900 and the family thrived, residing in a beautiful house i n Little Rapids. In 1910, however, he decided to move the family to the Porcupine gold camp, where he would la y bricks at the MacIntyre mine...He also built several of the town buildings, his own hoime a t 22 Bruce Ave, as well as several other houses along the Bruce Avenue strip, including th e 10 Bruce Avenue house where Rachel and Tom's daughter, Eva, lived with her husband, Arthu r "Ewie', and their brood. In 1911 the great fire wiped out the town and surrounding district, killing their son, Merv , when a tank car on the railroad siding blew up, with a ton of TNT on board. The 'tidal wave ' that was generated swamped the boat that Merve was in, drowning him and several others. Th e rest of the family managed to survive the blast and ensuing flood. They lived the rest of their lives realtively peacefully, with the exception of the untimel y deaths of young Ethel, who died of peritonitis, when her appendix burst, and Tom Jr, who, a fter surviving horrendous injuries during action in WW1, drowned in Pearl Lake while rescuin g a girl who had fallen through the ice. Tom and Rachel are buried in Tisdale Cemetery, South Porcupine. The children who died are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Little Rapids, and Thomas and Rach el are in Tisdale Cemetery

  
  

• Sources

  [S1704] Ontario Census, 1881 Census Assiginack, Manitoulin Island.