My Canadian Branches ~ Willie Bleakney Drowns in North River

Five young men in their twenties took advantage of a beautiful early June afternoon in 1892, and were swimming in the North River, at Victoria Mills, in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. It wasn't a break from school they were celebrating, as these youths were farmers' sons, warm from wearing their Sunday best, and dreading the morrow, when another day of late spring planting waited for them.

It would be a day that four of them, and their families, would always remember, and wish they could forget. With the braggadocio of most young men of their age, none of them confessed to the level of their swimming ability.  Showing off spoke far louder than words, indeed. So, it wasn't long before the more able of the five were matched against the new initiates, and the dreaded result.

 

Amidst all the shouting, laughing, and cavorting, it was not immediatly noticed that Willie was gone. Perhaps he had run up on the bank to take a breath, or was playing a prank on the rest of them. Minutes sped by like seconds, and the reality began to dawn. Willie had not dared to confess that he didn't know how to swim. The river was very deep once you swam out too far.

Two of the boys ran to the nearest farmhouse for help, screaming to neighboring farm help and families in wagons as they ran. The remaining boys stayed at the riverbank to mark the spot where Willie had last been heard and seen. Several families rallied to their calls, and gathered along the river to assist in the search.  It would take all of them eight long agonizing hours before finding Willie's limp body.

Willie's father, also named William, would have the heart-wrenching task of signing his only surviving son's death certificate, hastily correcting "William" to "Willie", thankful that his son's mother, Mary, had not lived to witness such a loss. 

On Tuesday next, The Saint John Daily Telegraph ran the following, dateline Moncton, June 13:

William BLEAKNEY, age 20, only s/o William A. BLEAKNEY of Steeves Settlement (West. Co.) was drowned in Main's mill pond at North River yesterday. The unfortunate young with four companions was bathing and being unable to swim got beyond his depth and sank before assistance could be extended to him by his comrades. The body was recovered after about eight hours search. The deceased's family consists of his father and two sisters living.

And, on Wednesday, the Albert County Maple Leaf  ran this, dateline Salisbury (West Co.):

Word reached here Monday of the drowning at Victoria Mills, of a young man while bathing on Sunday. The young man was a son of William BLEAKNEY, Victoria Mills in this parish.

It wasn't until almost ten day later that young Willie was laid to rest, although the location of his grave has yet to be found. This notice of his funeral was published by the Kings County Record in Sussex:

The funeral of Willie BLEAKNEY who was drowned at North River took place Tuesday morn. He was buried by Christel Lodge, I.O.G.T. of which he was a member.*

Willie Bleakney was my 3d cousin, 4x removed. I was able to glean quite a bit of family history from the above documents, while a few questions remain.

What I learned:

• Willie's approximate birth date
• Willie's birthplace
• Willie's death date and death place
• Willie's father's name
• Willie's mother, older brother, and two of his four sisters predeceased him
• Where Fawcett Hill, Wheaton Mills, and Victoria Mills are located

What I would like to find:

• Willie's grave
• The remaining information on the rest of his immediate family

* I.O.G.T. stands for International Organisation of Good Templars, a temperance organization, which still exists in many countries today.

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Three years ago this week, our family lost my sister's second child, Kerry James Queen, accidently and suddenly, at the same age as this ancestor.
 I wrote this story with Kerry

 in my heart.

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Photo credit:

"Boys At The Beach"

Albert Edwin Roberts [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABoys-at-the-beach-r.jpeg)

Sources:

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Vol. 81, No. 1972. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  4/20/2015.

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Vol. 82, No. 1598. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  4/20/2015.

Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, 1784-1890, Vol. 84, No. 202. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  4/20/2015.

New Brunswick. Dept. of Health and Social Services. Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141), Provincial Returns of Deaths (RS141C4), Reference C4/1892, Microfilm F14021. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. (http://archives.gnb.ca/. Accessed  and downloaded 4/20/2015).

"New Brunswick Provincial Deaths, 1815-1938," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XG4P-HYD : accessed 20 April 2015), Willie A Bleakney, 12 Jun 1892; citing Wheaton Mills, Westmorland, New Brunswick, certificate 001204, Provincial Archives, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 1,944,029.