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Nellie's baby son, followed only seven months later by the accidental death of Arthur.
Daughters Cora Altha Mary, Artha Emily and Katherine Arrabell were born to Rachel and Frank Rarick in 1891, 92 and 93. Valley Lee Carey was born to Myres and Mary Ellen the summer of 1992, and they followed that with the birth of my father, Arthur Albert II, just two days late for Christmas 1894.
In July of 1897, the most devastating of all their loses occurred when Rachel was struck and killed by lightning. Her eldest daughter was only six.
My Aunt "Merle" arrived in 1898; her real name was Lavina Muriel and the new century brought the last of Myres' and Mary Ellen's children, Mary Viola born in 1903. George's widow, Emily had been able to make a return visit to Lambton County in 1893 to visit with her sons and their families and meet her Canadian-born grandchildren. Back in Bradley she was filled with joy at the birth of each new grandchild and in 1901 she passed away. She and George are buried near Bradley.
During the intervening years, Myres farmed his father's land as well as the land that had been his brother's, however as the children grew older he bought a house in Bradley so that they would have a better educational advantage and take part fully in the activities of the church. The Carey families always placed high priority on the church and education. Four of Myres children later attended college and three of the girls became teachers (Merle with a B.A., was the principal of her school).
Mary Emiline Carey, who never married, had received voice and piano training before the move from Canada and the family managed to purchase a grand piano for her. She taught music to her own nieces and nephew as well as many other young folks in Bradley. An evening of harmonizing around the piano was prized by the entire family. Mary Emiline was also a leader in the church choir.
Although Mary Ellen had been born and raised in Wisconsin before her marriage in South Dakota, Myres was always nostalgic about the home in Ontario that he and Arthur I had been so insistent about leaving! Many neighbors had fled the drought that plagued the land at that time. In 1905, Myres journeyed to the edge of the Parkland area in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada and was thrilled by the stands of aspen, the lakes and once again the promise of land for settlers.
And so as history repeated itself, a boxcar was loaded in the early spring of 1906 and Myres and his 11 year old son Arthur set off for that new province of Saskatchewan, where they were soon joined on a farm three miles south of Foam Lake by Mary Ellen, Mary Emiline and his four daughters. My father
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