Charles Franklin "Frank" Prosser
My great grandfather, Charles Franklin “Frank” Prosser, was born February 1, 1864 on the family farm in North Gwillimbury Township, York County, Canada West. He was the fourth child of Elijah Prosser and Cinderella Morton. I was so thrilled when I discovered that I was related to a "Cinderella".
Frank married his mother’s first cousin, Hester “Hettie” Purdy, on October 14, 1885. The wedding was officiated by Elder Daniel Prosser, Frank's uncle. The witnesses were Hettie's brother, William Purdy, and his wife, Maria. This information was recorded in Frank and Hettie's family bible. The bible found its way to my care in March of 2023, thanks to Karsten, who Googled the names in it and found me! Many thanks for this family treasure, Karsten!
Frank and Hettie were first cousins once removed. Their first two children, Leo Morton and Ernest Roy, were born in North Gwillimbury but in 1891 Frank moved the family to Saginaw, Michigan, where his next three boys, Thornton, William “Earle”, and Harold Stewart, were born. Frank worked as a teamster and a miner according to various census records. Frank and Hettie and the three youngest boys returned to Canada and settled on a farm in East Gwillimbury Township about 1904. Sons Leo and Ernest remained in Michigan.
Helen Leah Prosser
Photo shared by the late Betty Prosser, restored by me
Frank's eldest son, Leo Morton Prosser (1886-1970), became an accountant and lived in both Ohio and Michigan with his wife, Geneva Ellen Terry, and their four daughters: Geneva “Eveline”, Helen Leah, Jane Terry, and Alice “Shirley”.
To my recollection, my grandfather always referred to his brother as Lee not Leo.
Leo’s second eldest daughter, Helen, died at age 18 from heart disease.
Frank’s second son, Ernest Roy Prosser (1888-1910), worked as a teamster and was located on the 1908 City Directory for Saginaw, Michigan, living with his brother, Leo.
Ernest died from kidney disease at age 22 on June 3, 1910. He passed away in Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire, and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Lebanon, New Hampshire. It is unclear if he had moved to Lebanon or had been on a long-haul trip when he took ill. His death record noted that he was from Lebanon so it seems possible that he was living there at the time.
Ernest Roy Prosser
Photo shared by the late Betty Prosser, restored by me
On the 1911 Census, Frank and Hettie were recorded farming in East Gwillimbury with their children Earle (12), Harold (9) and Helen (2). Hettie died of an enlarged liver complicated by cardiac asthma in 1920 and was buried under a beautiful tree on a hill in Queensville Cemetery.
Etta May Prosser Terry Wilder
Photo courtesy of the late Betty Prosser and edited by me
In 1921, a widowed Frank was recorded on the census living in East Gwillimbury with his youngest child and only daughter, Helen, and his widowed sister, Etta Mae Terry, and her youngest of six children, Jean and Noreen.
Etta married Oliver James Wilder on New Year's Day in 1926. On the 1931 Census, Frank was living with Oliver, Etta, Jean and Noreen, daughter Helen having married in 1930. Oliver died of a cerebral thrombosis in October of 1944.
Frank eventually married a widow, Mary Jane Greenwood, on March 29, 1933. Mary Jane‘s maiden name was Morton and she was another first cousin of Frank's mother, also a first cousin of his wife, Hettie, and thus first cousin once removed to Frank himself. This is another stage of my family bramble bush!
Mary Jane died in 1941 and Frank would live for another 13 years.
(Funeral cards provided courtesy of
Georgina Pioneer Village and Archives.)
Thornton Prosser
Photo courtesy of Ewart Charters
Frank’s third son, Thornton Prosser (1893-1949), married Jennie Isabel Mainprize, Aug. 15, 1923 in Mount Albert and they had two children, Thornton “Keith” Prosser and Emma “Joan” Prosser. Joan married James Ewart Charters. As of this writing, Joan is still living, but her husband, Dr. Ewart Charters, died March 10, 2023.
Thornton received training to be a school teacher in North York and taught in Toronto for eight years. Jennie was also a school teacher. In 1928, Thornton was appointed school inspector of Whitchurch, Aurora and Newmarket. Sadly, he died from a heart attack May 11, 1948 while at work at the Duke of York School in Toronto.
William “Earle” Prosser (1899-1976), fourth son of Frank and Hettie, married Caroline “Carrie” Martha Banks Apr. 17, 1925 in Kitchener, and they had three children: Lela Lucille, Charles Edwin "Ed", another daughter and they adopted a fourth child, Dennis Wayne Prosser. Earle became a minister with the Evangelical Missionary Church. His son, Ed, also became a minister with the same church, and both daughters, Lela and Carol, married ministers Alf Rees and Wilson Wiley from the same church. Lela and Alf lived in India as missionaries and there they met Mother Teresa.
Many members of Earle's family are buried in the Ebenezer Cemetery, also known as the Ebenezer United Missionary Cemetery, Location: Con. 12, Lot 16, east of Sunnidale Rd., Stayner, Ontario. The only time I remember meeting Uncle Earle was at my grandfather’s funeral in 1966.
Earle and Carrie Prosser
Lela Prosser Rees, Archbishop of India, Mother Teresa, Alf Rees in India in 1977
Photo courtesy of Stewart Publishing
Frank’s only daughter, Helen Irene Prosser (1908-1984), was born in East Gwillimbury after the family returned from Michigan. She married Richard Browne July 8, 1930 in Toronto. They had four children, Helen Irene, Betty Irene, another daughter, and a son, Richard Howard.
I remember going to visit Aunt Helen and Uncle Dick in Toronto one summer. I was probably only ten or eleven and I must have looked very bored as they eventually shipped me off to stay with their daughter, Helen, and her husband George Clanfield. It was an eye-opening experience to visit the city of Toronto with its houses so close together. I was quite happy to return to the little town of Parry Sound.
Uncle Dick and my dad were great friends! They would go hunting and fishing together and told many tall tales over the years. I HOPE some of their adventures were at least partially exaggerated!
Helen is buried with her parents, Hettie and Frank, on a lovely hill in the Queensville Cemetery. Her name and death date were confirmed to me by the cemetery custodian who looked her up on the cemetery database. Also listed there is Richard G. Browne, even though he does not appear on the headstone.
Helen and Richard Browne
Queensville Cemetery, Queensville, Ontario
I was too young to remember meeting my great grandfather Frank, but the photo below shows that we did indeed meet and it looks like he was quite happy about the experience! This was most likely the only time we met as Frank died the following year on October 8, 1954 at age 90.
My grandfather was Frank's youngest son, Harold Stewart Prosser.