Lillian Snook
Lillian Mildred McLeod (maiden name unknown) (18 January 1903 - 26 January 1989) was the adopted daughter of Anne Snook.
Early life
According to unsourced information on Ancestry.com, she was born in Regina, Saskatchewan on 18 January 1903, but the 1921 census records that she was born in "Ontario", and nothing more specific than that she was 18 in 1921, so likely born in 1903. However, her brief 1989 obituary stated she was 85, which would put her birthday between 27 January 1903 and 26 January 1904.
Between the ages of 8 and 17 (after the 1911 census but before the 29 April 1920 wedding of Anna's brother Joseph Parsons) she was adopted by Anne Snook and George Snook.
She was adopted sometime after 1911 but before 1920. (In 1911 she does not appear in the census listing with the rest of her family. In this census, it's just George, Anne, their namesake children, and George Sr.'s brother Edward Langley Snook living together.)
After being adopted her name became Lillian Mildred Snook. It's not known what her family name was prior to being adopted.
At the wedding of her mother's brother Joseph Parsons in Port Arthur on 29 April 1920, a "Miss Lillian Snook" is cited as attending the bride.
"The bride... was attended by Miss Lillian Snook, who wore a dress of negre brown trimmed with cream point lace and beads, with a corsage bouquet of pink carnations"
— Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 2 May 1920
In the census of 1921 she was living with her adopted parents Anna and George at a wooden home at 230 Algoma Street in Port Arthur, Lillian as an 18-year-old "tailoress" with an income of $900 CAD per month, but who had been been out of work for 2 months. Her adopted father's income is $1550. All three are listed as Methodists; he is an Engineer at a "Powerhouse", his wife has no job.
At the time of her adopted mother's death on 10 May 1924, she was listed as living in Winnipeg.
Strangely, in her father George's 1930 obituary there is no mention of her—she is not listed as a surviving child, or at all.
Marriage and family
She married Donald Cameron "Don" McLeod (12 March 1899 - 19 March 1963) in Winnipeg three weeks after her mother's death, on 4 June 1924. Don was listed as a fireman on their marriage certificate, and according to his granddaughter Karen's recollections in 2019, he was the oldest in a family of 18 children.
According to Karen, Lillian and Don had four sons:
- Elgin Murray Cameron "Murray" McLeod (6 September 1926 - 14 July 1993), born in Winnipeg. His father Don's obituary gives his name as "Murray".
- Kenneth
- Ronald
- Bruce, who died "very young", according to his niece Karen, and does not appear in his father's obituary.
Her husband's 1963 obituary gives her address as 1727 Crawford Avenue in Fort William, and her step-brother's obituary in 1960 says she also was living in Fort William at this time.
Later life
In 1960 according to her step-brother George's obituary she was living in Fort William. Lillian's husband Don died in Ontario in 1963, while Ronald was still living at home. At some point after her husband's death, Lillian moved to British Columbia.
Lillian died at Trillium Lodge, a publicly-funded senior's home in the small town of Parksville, on Vancouver Island, on 26 January 1989. Her uncle John also died there so it is possible there was a family exodus for some reason to BC.
Lillian's obituary is infuriatingly short:
Lillian McLeod, 85, of Parksville died Thursday in Trillium Lodge [1] [2]. Sands Funeral Home.
— Nanaimo Daily News, Friday 27 January 1989
Her step-sister Anna died five months later, in June 1989. There is no evidence Anna and Lillian were close friends, perhaps since Anna had already left Port Arthur by the time Lillian was adopted.
Descendants
Ronald had no issue, given family trees from Lillian's descendants on Ancestry.com.
Murray would go on to have, according to his daughter Karen, seven children with Jeanette Lillian Maxine McQuaig (born 1930 - died in Kamloops before 2018). He died on July 14, 1993, in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 66.
Among Murray's seven children with Jeannette are:
- Martin Leonard McLeod (19 March 1958 - 1 September 1999), who died in British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 41. He married the daughter of a Kenneth W. McKinnes (1939 - ) (who was perhaps this man: [3]) and had two children, including Ancestry member (and possible NHL player?) Kiel McLeod.
- Karen Dawn McLeod Heimbechner (born 1955) [4]. Karen married a Fred Heimbechner and as of 2019 lives in Kamloops, British Columbia. [5]
Kenneth also had one child.
Sources
Lillian is somewhat mysterious because she isn't mentioned in her adopted father's 1930 obituary, and the rest of the Anna Currie descendants remember very little of her. She really only interacted with the Snook family when she lived with them for between 3 and 13 years as a teenager.
We know about her from several independent pieces of evidence:
1. The 1921 census, by which time she was living with Anna and George Snook, and establishing her year of birth as 1903. She is missing from the 1911 census at age 8, so she must have been adopted sometime after 1911 but before 1921.
2. Her mention in a news article about the 29 April 1920 wedding of her adopted mother's brother Joseph Parsons. (The article appeared in print in the Port Arthur News-Chronicle on 1 May 1920; so the wedding was definitely in April 1920. However, the article mentions "Thursday 20 April", although the "Thursday" listed would be impossible as 20 April was a Tuesday in 1920. Furthermore, in his death documents, Joseph Parsons' wedding is listed by relatives as having been on 29 April 1920. Since 29 April was indeed a Thursday, and because it would be unusual to delay reporting the wedding so long between 20 April and 1 May, and because it would be harder to make a mistake about the day of the week, it is likeliest that it was a typo in the news article and in fact the wedding was on the 29th.)
3. Her mention in her adopted mother Anne Snook's 10 May 1924 obituary, which is the only source attesting that she was adopted, and which establishes that she was living in Winnipeg as of 10 May 1924.
4. The recollection of Bill Currie, who remembers personally meeting Lillian when he moved to Port Arthur in 1954; and she was specifically said to be an aunt of his father Jack Currie.
There were a number of my Grandma Currie's relatives living in Thunder Bay (Port Arthur) when my family moved there in 1954 and whom I met but, unfortunately, never clarified their exact relationship. Lillian, whom I believe my Dad referred to as his Aunt (which would make her Anna's sister - I don't recall any mention of what happened to George Jr.), was one. I can imagine census taking in 1911 missing or losing details so that could explain Lillian's absence in that edition.
— Bill Currie, grandson of Anna Currie, 2019
5. The recollection of Marilyn Hermiston, who also remembers a Lillian, although more vaguely. Marilyn Hermiston, great-granddaughter of George Snook, in 2019 remembered this: "Besides Annie Snook's brother George, I’m not sure [she had other siblings]. Think Dad had a relative by name of Lillian but that could have been his Uncle George’s wife, or the baby that died. Just know the name Lillian mentioned sometime. Sorry I can’t give you anything more"
6. Her brother George Jr.'s obituary (establishing that she married a Don McLeod and lives in Fort William as of June 1960).
7. A Manitoba marriage license on 4 June 1924 saying a Lillian Mildred Snook married a Donald Cameron McLeod (born 1899). This is the only primary source for her middle name.
8. Her husband's obituary from 1963.
9. Nanaimo Times obituary from 1989.
10. Two ancestry.com members who are her direct descendants. (Karen and Kiel)
11. McLeod, Donald C. 64 19 Mar 1963 FW 20 Mar 1963 p.3 (obituary)