Descendants of William (Will) Humphreys

Generation No. 1

Note:  there have been changes to this page.  In November of 2012 I received the following message from Lorene Meyer who wrote: "I am reading this information you posted on the internet and Francis Humphrey's was my grandfather.  Kathleen Humphrey's my mother.  My name is Lorene.  I think the picture you have is of Olive. I am going to check our family tree and get back to you!" 

Indeed she did!  She sent me much new information about the family and descendants of William Humphreys (born 1845).  The information she shared will appear in on this page in this type color

1.  WILLIAM (WILL)³ HUMPHREYS (DR. JOHN², JOHN¹ HUMPHREYS?) was born 17 Jan 1845. William and his family moved to Saskatchewan in 1908 at age 63 and was killed by his bull on 09 Jun 1908 in Ardath, Saskatchewan.  He married ELLEN AMELIA DECKER 18 Jun 1877.  She was born 08 Dec 1856 in Bosanquet, Lambton Co., Ontario, and died in Ardath, Saskatchewan 1917. She was one of thirteen children born to ISAAC SMITH DECKER and Sarah Hunt Decker.  Issac was born 1804 in Beverly, Ontario, and died 1872 in Stratford, Ontario.   Sarah was born in Ireland, and died 1888 in Forest, Ontario. Sarah could not read or write. By occupation Isaac Decker was a fanner and owned 126 acres of farmland (range 2, lot 19). The farm was quite self sufficient, producing wheat, barley, oats, peas, potatoes, beets, hay, flaxseed, hops and apples. The farm also had four horses, 14 cows, 14 sheep, 18 pigs and one beehive. The sheep wool was spun to make 40 yards of homemade cloth each year and milk from the cows was turned into 300 pound of butter. Isaac Decker also operated a sawmill five months out of the year, which ran on waterpower. The sawmill employed two men who were paid a wage of $200. The mill produced all kinds of saw logs and almost 150,000 feet of lumber with a value of close to $1200.  He and his wife were upstanding members of the Methodist church.

In the yellow box below is a history of this William Humphreys sent to Amy Humphreys (she in turn sent it to me) from Ruth Rolina Humphreys in Chatham, Ontario.  It appears that Ruth copied the information from a book or other record.  This record is another part of a record found on the Dr. John and Jane Warren Humphreys hyperlink of the Humphreys portion of this web site.   Ruth is the great granddaughter of Dr. John and Jane and this William would be her great uncle and Joshua Humphreys' younger brother.  This excerpt begins with : " William Humphreys. Who carries on general farming in Orford township resides on an eighty-acre farm in lot 14, North Middle road, where he was born Jan.17, 1845."

This history was apparently written before 1908 because William Humphreys moved his family to Ardath, Saskatchewan that year and was killed by his bull on June of the same year.  His widow Ellen remained in Ardath until her death in 1917. His sons William Edwin and Joshua (Fred) both married and continued to operate the farm. Fred's wife died in 1919 during a flu epidemic. William "Bill" was advised to take his wife to a warmer part of the country. So he and his wife returned to Ontario, settling at Kingsville in 1916. Ardath was once a thriving community with a population well over 1000, but is now a post office and church surrounded by several cemeteries. The account below of William Edwin Humphreys says that he was a photographer for 10 years.  The oval photo of elderly Jane Warren Humphreys on the Dr. John and Jane hyperlink of this web site was taken by William Humphreys.  Much of the same information compiled by Ruth Rolina Humphreys appears in the paperwork sent to me by Lorene.  The original writer or compiler of the Humphreys' family history paperwork was not identified by either Ruth or Lorene.  Perhaps that information has been lost. 

           i.    GEORGE J.³ HUMPHREYS, b. 1879, Orford Township, Ontario; d. 1889.

           ii.   JANET HUMPHREYS, b. 1881.

           iii.   HERBERT A. HUMPHREYS, b. 1882, Orford Township, Ontario.

           iv.   WILLIAM EDWIN HUMPHREYS, b. 21 Mar 1884, Highgate, Orford Township, Kent County,

                 Ontario; d. 24 Jan 1962, Kingsville, Ontario.

           v.   JOSHUA FREDERICK HUMPHREYS, b. 03 Jul 1888, Orford Township, Ontario; d. Toronto,

                 Canada.

           vi.   ROBERT E. HUMPHREYS, b. 17 Oct 1890, Orford Township, Ontario. Nothing further is

           known about Robert.

Generation No. 2

iv.   WILLIAM EDWIN HUMPHREYS (WILLIAM "WILL"3, DR. JOHN2, JOHN1 HUMPHREYS?) was born 21 Mar 1884 in Highgate, Orford Township, Kent County, Ontario, and died 24 Jan 1962 in Kingsville, Ontario.  He married (1) LILY BELLE WELCH 1912 in Ardeth, Saskatchewan.  She was born 05 Aug 1883 in Southwald, Saskatchewan, and died 31 Mar 1923 in Kingsville, Ontario.  He married (2) DORA TOWNSEND 06 Jun 1924.  She died 08 May 1949.  He married (3) EVA NOBLE COOK (WIDOW) 17 Jan 1951.  She died 15 Apr 1969.

Notes for WILLIAM EDWIN HUMPHREYS: W.E. Humphreys had a homestead at Ardath, Sask. and Mazonod, Sask.  Fred (Brother Joshua Frederick) and Frank (brother Francis Albert) were there at the same time.  We don't know when the three brothers moved to Ardath.  They may have moved there before their father moved there in 1908 at age 63.   W.E. moved from Ardath back to Kingsville, Ontario on Dec. 1, 1916 and ran a Massey-Harris (later "Ferguson") Implement dealership until his death.   Bill Humphreys remembers delivering a load of machinery in Kingsville to William E. when he was a young man.   At right ► is a photo of William Edwin Humphreys (standing) with whom we believe is Joshua H. Humphreys, his uncle (seated).  This photo was taken probably just before the death of Joshua in 1927 in Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan. We think you will see the resemblance to William in the photo below with his brothers Francis Albert and Joshua Frederick.

Notes for JOSHUA FREDERICK HUMPHREYS: Joshua "Fred" Humphreys was an engineer and worked at the Toronto Exhibition grounds when he died of a heart attack. Death date is unknown

      Children of JOSHUA  F. " Fred" HUMPHREYS and his first wife ELEANOR MATILDA MCDONALD are:

         i.   JANET HUMPHREYS, m. Jack Kingston in Meaford, Ontario.

Child of Janet Humphreys and Jack Kingston is: Gary Kingston

        ii.   ALBERT EDWIN HUMPHREYS b.1915, m. Eleanor Gane (Her last name was

              Anglicized from "Ganske" during WWI) She died 2008.

                      Children of Albert E. Humphreys and Eleanor are: Glenn Douglass and Gregory.

                       See here gmail letters and a new 3 generation family photo of Humphreys.

        iii.   JOSHUA FREDERICK HUMPHREYS, Jr., b. 1917; d. 18 May 1920, Toronto, Canada.

    Children of JOSHUA "Fred" HUMPHREYS and his second wife MARY JEFFERSON are:

         iv.    KENNETH HUMPHREYS, m. FRANCIS MCMAHON.

                     Children of Kenneth and Francis are: Janice and Katherine

         v.     RUTH HUMPHREYS, m. DAN or DON THAIN. at Sarnia, Ontario

                     Children of Ruth and Dan (or Don) are: Kristy, Lisa nd Nancy

        vi.     HELEN HUMPHREYS, m. PATRICK ADAMS at Willowdale, Ontario

                     Children of Helen and Patrick are: Steven and Peter

vii.     DR. FRANCIS ALBERT HUMPHREYS (WILLIAM (WILL3, DR. JOHN2, JOHN1 HUMPHREYS?) was born on 23 March 1897 at High Gate, Kent, ON, Canada. He married (1) Olive Bell McMaster, daughter of David McMaster and Maria Crane, on 28 February 1922 at Winnipeg, MB, Canada. She Died in 1957. Francis married (2) Kathryn which would have been late 1950's and they settled in Abbotsford.  After only about 1 year, he died suddenly from heart attack or stroke on Feb 8 1961 He was buried in 1961 at the Masonic Cemetery, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

Notes for DR. FRANCIS ALBERT HUMPHREYS from Lorene, his granddaughter:

Below on the right is a photo of Dr. Francis Humphreys and his wife.  Until I was contacted by Lorene, I did not know which wife it was, Olive or Kathryn?   Also, the style of dress is 1940s or later. This photo only says on the back that it was taken "in their orchard garden" in Kamloops, British Columbia. ▼ Lorene wrote:  "I recognized the picture of Francis Humphreys and Olive as I am sure I have this picture (in boxes of family history that my sister, Carolyn, compiled in December 1999).   I am pretty sure it is Olive because it was taken in Kamloops.  There aren't too many pictures of Olive but maybe it is time to go through the pile of what I have."

◄At the left is a photo of (l-r) of Dr. Francis "Frank" Albert Humphreys, William Edwin Humphreys and Joshua "Fred" Frederick Humphreys. This photo was taken in 1956 in Toronto, Ontario.

v.  JOSHUA FREDERICK HUMPHREYS (WILLIAM (WILL)³, DR. JOHN², JOHN¹ HUMPHREYS?) was born 1881, and died in Toronto, Canada.  A 1916 Canadian census shows Joshua F. and Eleanor living in Saskatchewan with his mother, Ellen, age 60, and his brother, Frances Albert, age 19.  He married (1) ELEANOR MATILDA MCDONALD. She died 1919 of "Flue" in Saskatchewan. He married (2) MARY JEFFERSON. She died 22 Feb 1976.

Notes for Olive McMaster Humphreys

from Lorene, her granddaughter:

Children of DR. HUMPHREYS and OLIVE MCMASTER are:

              i.  MARJORIE ELLEN4 HUMPHREYS, b. Regina, SK, Canada.  She married EARL D. HEWITT in Regina, Sask.  Adopted

                children of Marjorie Humphreys and Earl Hewitt are:  DONALD and KATHLEEN .  "My aunt Marj lives in Regina in a care home

                (is legally blind) but her memory is good and I talk to her a few times a year"

             ii. REGINALD GORDON HUMPHREYS was born on 16 November 1924 at Yorkton. SK, Canada. He married Shirley Grace

                 Scanlan on 14 December 1951 at Kamloops, BC, Canada. See his obituary here. Children of and Shirley Humphreys are: John

                and Lynn.

             iii.   KATHLEEN MARIE OLIVE HUMPHREYS, She was born on 15 January 1927 at Yorkton,

Saskatchewan, Canada. She married Kenneth Edward Stunden, son of William Gerald Stunden and Edith Elizabeth Victoria Blackford, on 7 October 1949 at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC, Canada. She died on 14 May 1989 at Richmond, BC, Canada.  Their children are: Donna, Lorene, Carolyn, James, and Kenneth Jr.

            iv.  ALLYN MCMASTER HUMPHREYS, b. at Ottawa, ON, Canada. Married Susan?.  Their adopted children are: Nancy, David and

                Gary.  "My uncle Allyn lives in White Rock in a care home with beginning Alzheimer’s."