Jane Rosebella Howie - Hastings

Rev. Calvin John Hastings, Cora May Hastings, Jane Rosebella Howie - Hastings.
Photo from the Lawrence Frizzle Collection, Brome, Quebec.

Cora May Hastings was born December 15th, 1880 in Brome, Quebec, Canada. Standing in the center between her parents in the photo above.  Her mother Was Jane Rosebella Howie, and her father was Rev. Calvin John Hasings. When Jane Rosebella Howie was born on July 28, 1849, in Brome, Quebec, Canada her father, James Howie Jr., my second Great Grandfather was 28.  Her mother, Ann Howie, nee Stewart, was 25. Ann (Stewart) Howie photo appears at the end of this post.   Rosebella married Calvin John Hastings.  They were married New Years Eve, December 31, 1880 in the Methodist Church of Shefford, Quebec, Canada. They had one son and one daughter together between 1876 and 1880, Armand Hill Hastings, and Cora May Hastings.  Armand Hill was born April 10th, 1876.  Unfortunately, he died that same year, on September 15, 1876.  Rev. C. J. Hastings died March 21, 1901.

Memorial of Armand Hill Hastings

 
Rosebella then  at age 58, married Peter McKenny Hitchcock on December 24, 1907, in Philipsburg, Quebec.  Christmas Eve. 
Peter Hitchcock, and his first wife Elisabeth, and their daughter Della May we find living next to the James Howie Jr. family on the 1861 Census of Canada. In the township of Stanbridge, Canada. The proximity to the Howie family probably added to how they ended up knowing each other, and getting married.
Della May, Rosebella's Step-Daughter, married a Richard Smith (1859 - 1905) who was born in the United States, in Lisbon, Grafton, New Hampshire.  They had four children. Their Second Son, Eugene Francis Peter Smith (1890 - 1919) brings a special connection to Canadian's who served during World War I. Eugene was a Great-Step-Son to Rosebella. 

The Military Badge of the British & Commonwealth
The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons

Eugene F.P. Smith served for three years in The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons prior to Canada joining the allied forces of WWI, and attested his allegiance to His Majesty King George V. 

King George V

 The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons was a Calvary Regiment of the Canadian Army.  If his service to his country of three years was not enough, in 1914 he joined the first contingent of the Canadian Overseas Expedition Force, "CEF" which formed in Valcartier Quebec in 1914.  This enlistment was voluntary, as conscription was not enforced. Here I have clipped his signature and oath from the attestation form.

He would have adorned to his military uniform many badges and metals, to include these:

The distinguishing patch of the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF.

He served as a Private in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Riffles Battalion.  They embarked for Great Britain June 12th 1915.  They later arrived in France September 22, 1915.  This unit fought to the end of the war.  

Eugene returned home, and married his bride Eva Rebecca Price (1892-1977) on June 12, 1918. He unfortunately died of tuberculosis in Riceburg Quebec, on the 20th of October 1919 at the age of 29 years old, before ever setting eyes on his one and only daughter, Thelma Imogene Smith who was born on the 9th of December 1919.  

Here is his final resting place, and memorial.

Photo courtesy of Graceti on Find A Grave Memorial # 121204425

Jane Rosebella (Howie) died on April 12, 1947, in Colchester, Vermont, at the age of 97, and was buried in Brome-Centre, Quebec Canada.

Jane Rosebella's sister Ann Craig Howie, who was named after her mother, was born on August 4, 1850, in Quebec when Jane Rosebella was 1 year old.

The resemblance between the two sisters is remarkable.

Annie Craig Howie-MacFarlane

Jane Rosebella Howie-Hastings

I have one more photo I wish to share, and that is of my second Great Grand Mother
 Ann Craig Stewart-Howie, with her Grand Daughter Cora May Hastings.

Ann Craig Stewart - Howie, and Grand daughter Cora May Hastings-Goodrich.

When Cora May Hastings was born on December 15, 1880, in Brome, Quebec, her father, Rev. Calvin Hastings, was 33 and her mother, Jane, was 31. She married Max William Goodrich on October 3, 1906, in Montgomery, Vermont. They had three children during their marriage. She died on January 4, 1938, in Oxford, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 57, and was buried in Brome Centre Cemetery.

Without Ancestry.com I would never have had access to the above photos, or have made the connections with cousins in far away places.  The photo of Rev. Calvin John Hastings, and family are from the collection of Lawrence Frizzle.  He is the great grand nephew of my Great Grand Aunts Jane & Annie.  A BIG Thank you to Lawrence Frizzle.