Sunday, October 25, 2009

Black Sheep Sunday

Black sheep in the Hillman family line? I wish. I have looked long and hard for just such a person. So far all I have been able to find are hard working Baptists and Presbyterians. If another researcher has been able to find a black sheep in the Hillman tree I would very much like to find out who that person is.

The closest I can come up with is John James McLellan (29 April 1855-April 1910). He immigrated from Scotland in 1872, and was the second husband of my great grandmother Maria Gartrell Rickard Thomas(she is mentioned in a previous blog post).

He died apparently of ‘ an overindulgence of alcohol’. Not an uncommon problem in nineteenth century Ontario. During this period there was a growing Temperance movement which eventually led to Prohibition during the Drury Premiership(1919-1923).

1 comment:

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith said...

Thanks for sharing.
Did prohibition help?

Keep those ancestor stories coming!

Bill ;-)

http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/