Recollections: Fred and Zelma Stevens

Grandpa Fred Stevens, Mom's father, is our mystery man. There are conflicting accounts of: (a) when he was born; (b) where he came from in England; (c) when he left England (1907 or 1910); (d) where he married Zelma (Graysville or Leary); (e) what caused his death (heart attack or stroke); and even (f) what his name was.

Frederick Guise Stevens, 1928

Research conducted by cousin Cheri (Stevens) Doucette offers the only information we have about Fred's background. Cheri discovered that Grandpa Stevens is actually Clifford Fredrick Guise Stevens. Apparently, he dropped the "Clifford" when he left England; it does appear as Uncle Ernie's middle name.

The spelling of "Fredrick" versus "Frederick" remains unclear. The Province of Manitoba's marriage records are scanty, but clearly spell his name "Frederick."

Provincial record of the marriage of Frederick Guise Stevens and Zelma Victoria Hood

And the "Frederick" spelling is literally carved in stone in the cemetery at Roseisle:

Gravestone of Frederick Guise Stevens, Roseisle, Manitoba

The additional "e" looks official, and yet the "Fredrick" spelling appears in Cheri's notes, and in the names of son Fredrick Charles Stevens and grandsons Fredrick Dalton Stevens and Brian Fredrick Stevens. Given the discrepancy, let's just refer to him as Fred.

The gravestone also records his birth year as 1883.

The 1916 Prairie census, however, lists Fred Stevens (right below the Hood family) as being 35 years old, which suggests his birth year was 1881.

The 1916 Census listed Fred Stevens (row 11) as 35 years old.

The 1921 Census, on the other hand, lists Fred (a foreman at the La Riviere brickyard), as 36 years old, suggesting he was born in 1885. The mystery deepens. Clearly, he can't be 35 in 1916 and 36 five years later.

Excerpt from the 1921 Census. Edmund and Charlie were both born in La Riviere.

Mom didn't share much about her father, but said he came from Cornwall, the very southwest corner of England. She once explained that Marguerite, her middle name, was the French spelling partly because the channel islands were so close.

When she and Dad visited England in 1975, Mom made a point of exploring Cornwall. She had a start when she heard an old fellow behind her calling “Aze-oh!” It sounded precisely like her Dad calling “Hazel!" She turned to look before catching herself. (Her dad died in 1949.)

In a shoebox of Fred's containing some personal papers and a few photos, Cheri found a letter from a Mr. William T. Vigar of Vicarage Lodge, in Thorverton, Devon, England (the county east of Cornwall). Mr. Vigar asked how Fred was getting along. This led Cheri to search the 1891 census of Thorverton, where she found Mr. Vigar listed, as follows:

It appears "Clifford Stepens" may, in fact, be Fred Stevens, born around 1884. (Note that Mary Vigar is from Guernsey, which would explain why Fred Stevens spelled Margaret as Marguerite.) We are left to wonder why seven-year-old Fred was not living with his parents, Frank N. (a civil engineer) and Mary Elizabeth Stevens. It seems he was an only child.

Cheri's research gives us more information to ponder. Her notes state Fred was born in Gravesend, England, just east of London and over 200 miles from Devon. One tale states that his mother had died, so it is not unlikely that his uncle took him in. His father may have re-married and had other children, but this is mere speculation.

Fred sailed from Liverpool, England on March 12, 1907 (although the 1921 Census above shows 1910 as an immigration date), arriving in Halifax on the Allen Ship Line SS Siberian, on March 27, 1907. He is listed as a 23-year-old headed for Winnipeg.

In about 1909 Fred applied for work at coal mines in Burlington, North Dakota, near Minot. His home is listed as Leary, Manitoba. Cheri's notes claim that in February 1911 he listed his married status as "M.P." That is puzzling if M.P. stands for "married person." He did not marry Zelma until 1917.

Zelma and Fred in their wedding finery, November 14, 1917

Nineteen-year-old Zelma Hood married Fred Stevens on November 14, 1917 in Graysville, a small hamlet midway between Roseisle and Carman. (Another source suggests they were married in Leary, Manitoba.) Attendants were Zelma's sister Flossie and Flossie's husband George Saunders.

Church in Graysville, Manitoba

Source: Up to Now: A Story of Dufferin and Carman

Zelma Victoria (Hood) and Fred Guise Stevens had six children. Mom, the only daughter, had two older and three younger brothers.

Zelma Victoria (Hood) Stevens, age 25

Zelma Victoria Hood

daughter of Oscar Edmund Hood and Mary Rosanna Weir

born: March 12, 1898, Leary, Manitoba

died: January 18, 1974, Winnipeg, Manitoba

married: November 14, 1917, Leary or Graysville, Manitoba

to: [Clifford] Frederick [or Fredrick] Guise Stevens

son of Frank N. and Mary Elizabeth Stevens

(b. 1883 Gravesend, England, d. November 13, 1949 Roseisle, Manitoba)

children: Edmund Guise Stevens, Charles Fredrick Stevens, Hazel Marguerite (Stevens) Fraser, Albert Walter Stevens, Ernest Clifford Stevens, George Wesley Stevens

Children of Zelma Victoria (Hood) and Fred Guise Stevens

(1) Edmund Guise Stevens

born: December 11, 1918, La Riviere, Manitoba

died: April 30, 2002, Ocoee, Florida

married: October 21, 1949, Regina, Saskatchewan

to: Phyllis Ernestine Hinkson, born Radville, Saskatchewan

(b. March 8, 1915, d. June 19, 2004)

children: Ernest Edmund (Ted) Stevens, Brian Fredrick Stevens

(2) Fredrick Charles Stevens

born: June 5, 1920, La Riviere, Manitoba

died: September 21, 2004, Carman, Manitoba

married: December 22, 1939, Carman, Manitoba

to: Hazel Isobel Anne Strutt, Barnsley, Manitoba

(b. October 6, 1915, d. January 7, 1976)

children: Marlene Gwen Stevens, Robert Charles Stevens, Glenda Rae Stevens, Frederick Dalton Stevens, Harvey Carl Stevens, Debra Jean Stevens

married: November 2, 1981

to: Gertrude Elizabeth McKay (Swain)

(b. 1914, d. 1993)

(3) Hazel Marguerite Stevens

born: January 11, 1922, Winnipeg, Manitoba

died: October 12, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba

married: July 9, 1949, Winnipeg, Manitoba

to: Murray Reid Fraser, Pilot Mound, Manitoba

(b. May 31 1919, d. April 20, 2013)

5 children

(4) Albert Walter Stevens

born: April 5, 1923, Winnipeg, Manitoba

died: January 22, 2012, Waterdown, Ontario

married: March 9, 1951, Gait, Ontario

to: Grace E. M. Rey, b. Dufferin, Manitoba

(b. August 6, 1930, d. August 14, 2014)

children: David Albert Stevens, Jonathan Harold Stevens, Robert Peter Stevens, Elizabeth Grace Stevens, Hazel Ruth Stevens, Mark Edward Stevens

(5) Ernest Clifford Stevens

born: September 14, 1924, Sidney, Manitoba

died: March 24, 2009, Virden, Manitoba

married: ____

to: Bertha Clark, Stephenfeld, Manitoba

(b. July 6, 1923, d. 1997)

children: Brenda Stevens, Cathy Lynn Stevens

(6) George Wesley Stevens

born: August 16, 1929, La Riviere, Manitoba

died: December 20, 2006, Regina, Saskatchewan

married: September 19, 1953, Winnipeg, Manitoba

to: Dorothea Friesen, Lowe Farm, Manitoba

(b. May 12, 1934, d. ____)

children: Leslie Joanne Stevens, Richard Byron Stevens, Cheri Crystal Stevens, James Arnold Stevens

This family tree helps us track the whereabouts of the family over the years, from one brick-making town to another. Fred was listed as a "cultivateur" (farmer) on the 1916 census, and may have worked on the Hood farm. (He is listed on the census directly below the Hood family, so he was clearly nearby.)

By 1918 the family was in La Riviere, where Ed (1918) and Charlie (1920) were born. The next two children, Hazel (1922) and Albert (1923) were born in a large home on McPhillips Street in Winnipeg. Perhaps Fred was employed by the Alsip's Brick, Tile and Lumber Company. A large firm with many brickyards (including Sidney, Manitoba), Alsip's was founded in the late 1880s and is still operating today.

McPhillips Street, Winnipeg, where Hazel and Albert were born.

By 1924, the family was in Sidney, Manitoba, where Ernie was born.

Zelma (at right) with "Old Jim Caswell" in front of the Stevens home in Sidney, Manitoba.

By the time Wes was born in 1929, the family was back in La Riviere. How long they lived there is unknown, but it might have been where the family split in 1934. It seems they were there for a few years, anyway. Ed and Charlie are included as students in the La Riviere School list for 1930-1932. [Source: Turning Leaves]

La Riviere student lists from 1932-39 are missing, but Mom must have attended no earlier than 1931, when Aunt Annie Fraser started teaching there. Hazel was one of her students. Later, Mom attended school in Roseisle before completing high school in Pilot Mound.

Perhaps the entire family returned to the Roseisle area in the mid-thirties, even if they didn't live together. Fred Stevens ultimately died there in 1949. Zelma moved to Winnipeg in 1940, sharing a roomy apartment with Hazel and Wes.

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ALBUM: Early Stevens Family Photos

It is difficult to identify Mom's five brothers in many of the old, tiny and fuzzy photos from her album. I hesitate to guess who's who. Their relative ages (and heights) are often the only clues; Ed is the oldest, followed by Charlie, Hazel, Albert, Ernie, and Wes.

Keep in mind that photos in the album were not labelled, so their order here may not be chronologically accurate. In some photos there are other unidentified people, perhaps relatives or caregivers, or an extra childhood friend or two.

There aren't many photos from this 1920s collection that include Wes. The youngest son was born in 1929, a full five years after Ernie. (Apparently, Zelma had miscarried twins in between Ernie and Wes, which explains the gap.) Wes would have been a mere five years old when Fred and Zelma went their separate ways in 1934.

Other photo collections can be found in separate blog posts for each of Zelma's and Fred's six children.