MARY CLUTCHEY (THE YOUNGER) AND MATHIAS KOSTER AND LOU MAJOR


MARY CLUTCHEY AND MATHIAS KOSTER

To reiterate, the term Mary The Younger, was utilized to distinguish between two sisters both of whom were named Mary. The researchers have not been able to identify a second name for either of the two Marys both daughters of Jean Francois Cloutier and Charlotte Salois. The authors have arbitrarily added the appendages "Elder" and " Younger" to distinguish between the two.

Mary 'The Younger' was born in Quebec in 1848 according to census data. She moved with her family to Borelia ( Port Perry) showing up as a 13 year old in the 1861 census. For some reason she is not listed in the 1871 census, but we know that on Sept. 12 1871 she married Mathias Koster. After their marriage, Mary and Mathias continued to live close to Mary's parents Jean Francois Cloutier and Charlotte Salois.

During the family's stay in Borelia, three children were born. Later when the family moved to Brechin, Ontario, an additional four children were born.

It appears that Mary and Mathias Koster moved with their family to Brechin prior to the year 1877 since their fourth child Francis Joseph ws born there. This was the same year that Joseph Cloutier ( Clutchey I ) and Mary Jane Gerow moved to Brechin. Joseph and Mary's son Israel died that year and it was on the 'Trek' to Brechin where he died. Joseph Clutchey and Mary Koster were brother and sister.


In the 1881 census the Koster family is listed as follows:

Koster, Mathias, age 35, German origin, Roman Catholic, laborer, born Germany

Mary C Koster, age 30, French origin, Born Ontario.

The children:


Two interesting observations can be made from the above census reference. First, the initial 'C' after Mary's name is the only indication ever found that Mary had a second name. Second, the identification of Ontario as her birth place was definitely incorrect.


A TRILOGY OF TRAGEDY

Three tragedies struck the Koster family ironically at intervals of ten years.


THE CHILDREN OF MARY CLUTCHEY AND MATHIAS KOSTER


JOHN WALTER (b.1872 d. 1944)

John was born May31st 1872 in Borelia, and baptized in St Joseph's church in Beaverton June 16 1872. He married Nora McDonnell on July 11, 1895. The couple had six children as noted below:

  1. Mary Catherine

    Born in 1921, Mary married James McMillan in July 1944. They had four children, Mary Frances born 1945, Robert, Born 1949, Carol, b. 1955 and Katherine, b.1957.

  2. Earl Francis

    Born June 20, 1923, Earl married Mary, Margaret (Marie) Hamilton ( b.Feb 19, 1928) Sept 22 1947. The couple had nine children. Michael James b. Feb 1, 1951; Paul John, b. June 24 1953; Stephen Francis b. Nov 12, 1954; Joseph Edward,b.Oct 2 1957; Bruce Anthony, b. Apri1 1, 1959; Philip Lawrence, b.Sept 29, 1960; Marie Elizabeth, b.Feb 16,1962; Anne Theresa, b.mar 16, 1964; Louise Margaret,b. Jun 6 1966.

    A Summary of Earl and Marie's children follows:

    1. Michael James lives in Richmond Hill and is single
    2. Paul John lives in Waterloo, Ontario. He married and later divorced Darlene Cudney. They had two children, Danielle, b. August 1980 and Nicole b. Mar. 1987.
    3. Stephen Francis lives in Elora. His wife is Lucia Medeiros from Hornepayne Ont. Their two children are Serena Frances b. Jan 10, 1985 and Alicia Laura, b. Aug 6 1987.
    4. Joseph Edward lives in Ajax, Ontario. He married Kerry Turner in 1981. His second marriage to Sherry Myers in 1993, resulted in two children, Ryan Joel b.June 27, 1994 and Quinton Earl b. Oct 22 , 1996. Joseph and Sherry eventually divorced and Joseph married Pamela Fry in Apr. 2001. They have two children, Eric and Jon.
    5. Bruce Anthony lives in Bolton, Ontario. He married Bianca Enfante in June 1998 and has two step children, Alicia Laura and Michael.
    6. Philip Lawrence lives in Ajax, Ontario. His first marriage ended in divorce and he later married Andrea Brunelle. He has two stepchildren, Megan and Justin and one son Evan, b. April 7 1999.
    7. Marie Elizabeth also lives in Ajax. She has remained single.
    8. Anne Theresa lives inToronto and has also remained single.
    9. Louise Margaret also lives in Ajax with her husband Michael Lloyd who she married in Oct. 1992. They have two sons, Jack Mitchell, b. Sep 22 1997 and Simon Hunter, b. Nov 13 1999.

    ABOUT EARL KOSTER

    Earl has an amazing history. He was born in York County, now Toronto, and educated at St. John's school, St Bridget's and St. Michael's college, all in Toronto. In 1941 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and went overseas as an aerial gunner. The life expectancy of a rear tail gunner on a Lancaster Bomber was seldom more than a few operations. However Earl, flying out of Squadron 61 (RAF), almost completed an entire Tour of Operations (29 operational flights) and was finally shot down on his very last mission After bailing out Earl was taken prisoner by the Germans and remained in a prison camp until the end of the war. On his return to Canada at the end of the war, Earl was promoted to Pilot Officer and discharged in 1945


    After the war, Earl attended Ryerson Institute and studied Technical Drawings. He then joined the Hydro as a draughtsman and later worked for the city of Scarborough for 30 years until he retired in 1985. It was in his beautiful Elora home in the fall of 2002 that he and his lovely wife Marie entertained this writer. Here, too, we learned much about the Koster family.


  3. Dorothy Koster

    Dorothy ws the third child and second daughter of John Walter. She was born on December 28 1924 and died in 1979. Dorothy married Gordon Dane in 1947. They had two children, Brenda b. 1950 and Debra, b. 1954?

  4. Nora Koster

    Born August 7 1926, Nora married Norman Sweezey in 1949. Their two chosen children were, Christine and Susanne

  5. John Cecil

    John was born Jan. 29, 1928 and died Mar. 10, 1998. His first marriage was to Marcy Pikarski in 1957 and his second was to Shirley Britnell in 1980, a marriage which ended in divorce.

  6. Patricia Theresa

    Born Mar. 11 1929, Patricia died Feb 15, 1997. Her marriage in 1947 to William Carter produced two sons, Daniel, b. 1949 and Ross, b. 1954.

    CLARA MATILDA KOSTER

    Clara was the second child of Mary ( the Younger) and Mathias Koster. She was born Feb 20 1874 and baptized in St. Joseph's church Beaverton, Mar 1. 1874. Her sponsors were John Clutchey and Mrs. J. Clutchey. Apparently her birth was not registered until 1950. The Ontario registration facts are:

    " Clara Matilda Koster, female, born Februay 20th 1874, Father: Mathew Koster, residence Port Perry, Ontario Racial Origin, German, profession, grain buyer, Mother, Mary Clutchey, racial origin, French, age 24 Canadian, Profession, Housewife, Children living at the time of birth, none, born dead, none"

    ED. NOTE:

    The birth was registered Sept. 6, 1950 at the post office, 410 Lansdowne Ave. Toronto, sworn before the registrar, (Routliffe), by Anna Elizabeth Downey. Clearly Anna Downey was not aware that Clara Matilda had an older brother, John Walter, when she registered the birth


    Clara married Francis Chris Carter, around 1897. They had three children, but few details are known. The Carter children are: Francis, b. July 24, 1897, d. Sept 28, 1918, Roy and Jack whose vital statistics are not known.

    MARY AGATHE

    Mary ws born on the 27th of May 1876 and died died on the 25th of August at the age of three months.

    FRANCIS JOSEPH

    Francis was born June 24 1877 and worked as a painter. At the age of twenty, he contracted peritonitis and died after an illness of only seven days. Francis' baptism was recorded at the Uxbridge Sacred Heart church. The church records are as folllows:

    Coster (sic) Francis Joseph, born Port Perry June 24, 1877, baptized June 29, 1877, parents, Mathew Coster (sic), born Germany and Mary Cluchey (sic), born Lower Canada. Sponsors Francis Fay and Mary Hickey. Priest, I. M. Enter

    ANN ELIZABETH

    Ann was born Feb 8 1880 in Port Perry. From the Sacred heart Chuch in Uxbridge her baptismal record reads as follows:

    " Coster (sic) Ann Elizabeth, born Borelia Township, Reach, on Feb. 8, 1880, baptized, March 14, 1880, parents, Mathew Coster (sic), born Germany and Mary Clutier (sic) born Canada, P.Q., sponsors, Mark Lupen and Mary Prudom (sic) priest, M. McCall.

    Ed. Note: It seems the change in priests did not improve the spelling.

    Ann married Patrick Downey on July 26, 1910 in St. Patrick's church Toronto.Some of the marriage details are as follows:

    The couple had two children. While no details are known the children's names were, Audrey and Alice

    WILLIAM JOSEPH (b. 1882 d. 1966

    William Joseph was the youngest son of Mathias Koster and Mary Clutchey. He was born in Brechin on August 2nd 1882 and baptized Sept. 10, of the same year. He married Lottie Marjorie Reed b. Sept 16, 1879 in Lansing Michigan, on Sept 5th 1904. The couple lived in Peterborough. Lottie died Feb 18 1962 at the age of 81. William died Dec. 15, 1966 in his 85th year. They are both buried in St. Peter's cemetery in Peterborough. William and Lottie had five children. The children and their families are as follows:

    Paul Reed

    Born Nov. 19, 1905, Paul married Doroth Metcalfe (b. 1908 d. 1987). Paul died 1983. Both are buried in Peterborough. Paul and Dorothy had three children:

    1. Donna Gail

      Born May 24, 1934, she married Donald Francis Ferguson on June 14th 1954. Gail and John have four children,

      • Heather Ann

        Born 1955 she married Scott Kirkpatrick and they have two children, Christopher Scott, b. 1983 and Kimberley Ann b. 1990.

      • Donald Wade

        Born 1956, he married Frances Boutin. they have a daughter, Sarah, Jessica, b. 1987

      • Reed Francis

        Born 1959, Reed has a son Jake Henry Reed

      • Robbin

        Robin was born April 7 1964

  7. Jane Ann

    April 28, 1948 was the date of birth of Jane. She married Donald Albert Tully in 1967 and the couple have two children, Cheryl Ann, b. 1967 and James David Paul b. 1969

  8. Michael John

    Born Nov 19, 1951, Michael married Lynda Charlene Harris. Their three children are: Alana Michelle, b. 1979, Ashley Lynne, b. 1983 and Katie Leanne, b. 1986

    WILLIAM RALPH

    Wiliam was born Sept 7 1907. He was the second son of William Joseph Koster and Lottie Reed. He married Eileen Smith and the couple had a daughterDianne born 1943. Dianne married a John Sampano and they had two sons. No other details are known of this family.

    MARJORIE GRACE

    Marjorie was born in Peterborough July 21, 1909. She was the first daughter of William Joseph Koster and Lottie Reed. She married Charles Leslie Outram (b. 1922) in Oct 1947 and the couple moved to the Toronto area. Their two children were David and Debbie Ann. Grace was a home maker and suffered from asthma. Charles was a maintenance supervisor. Summers were spent at their cottage at Britt Ontario and it was here they purchsed land and began a seasonal resort (trailor park). After five year they sold the business and moved to Sudbury Ont. where Grace died in 1975 of heart problems. Charles continued to live in Sudbury until his death is 1982. The two children are as follows:

    1. David Leslie

      David was born Dec 26 1952. As a youngster David was an active athlete particularly in baseball and hockey. As a teen he played in an Air Cadet band including a full summer at Expo in Montreal. After completing High School in Parry Sound, he attended Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough studying Electro-Mechanical Technology. Upon graduation, he obtained a position with General Motors in Oshawa and married Maureen Lamondin, also a graduate of Sir Sandford Fleming in Childhood Education. They have two children, Jessica Lois (b. 1975) a graduate of Trent University and Colin Leslie (b. 1978) whose interests are computers Tai Chi and music.

    2. Debbie Ann

      Born Dec 23, 1957 Debbie married Greg Swackhammer in 1973. They have two children, Eric born 1975 and Angela born 1977. Both children were born in Hamilton. Debbie's second marriage was to Dennis Ross in 1979 in Sudbury Ontario.

    Carl Mathias

    Carl was born Mar. 4 1914. He married Elizabeth Greenway and the couple had three children We have no information about the familly except for some of the details of the children as follows

    1. Carl William

      Carl William was born Noov 28 1942. He married Helen Houghton, (d. 1981) and they had two children. Kimberly and Darryl

    2. Paul

      Paul was born July 20, In 1975 at the age of 31 he married and later divorced Linda Foster. Their only child was Mathias William. Paul's second marriage was to Nicole Marie Godin who had a son Michael.

    3. Linda Marjory

      The third child of Carl Mathias and Elizabeth Greenway was a girl, Linda Marjory born Oct. 20 1945. She married Victor Alexander Robertson, and their two children are Nancy, born 1972 and Elaine born 1973.

    Arleigh Marie

    Born may 29 1921, Arleigh Marie was the fifth child of William Joseph Koster and Lottie Reed. She married and later divorced Keith Shepard. Arleigh and Keith had rwin girls Donna and Debra. Arleigh's second marriage to Earl Armstrong also ended in divorce in 1981. Information on the twins is as follows.

    1. Donna

      Donna was born Aug 23rd 1956. She married and later divorced James Kenneth Armstrong. The eldest child of Donna and James was James Jr. ( b. 1977) who married Nora Carere. Their son is James Austin.

    2. Debra

      Debra Ann, twin sister of Donna, married and later divorced Robert Hartke. Their son William was born Oct 3rd, 1978

    MARY LORETTA

    Mary Loretta was the last child born to Mary (the Younger) Clutchey and Mathias Koster. She was born Oct 24 1884 in Brechin, Ontario. On Dec. 31, 1910 she married Frank McDonnell. The couple had two children, Gerald and Marie. We have no further details of this family.


    MARY 'THE YOUNGER' AND LOUIS MAJOR (MUGGER)

    Four years after the death of Mathias, Mary married Louis Major who also lived in Brechin. Facts gleanded from the marriagae registration read as folllows:


In 1891 the family was still living in Brechin. The census listing of the family is as follows:

  1. Major, Louis, age 36, married, head of household, born England (sic)
  2. Birthplace of father, mother, unknown
  3. Painter, Methodist
  4. Major, Mary, age 38
  5. Wife, born Newfoundland (sic)
  6. Place of birth of father, unknown, mother, Quebec, methodist
  7. Children all born in Ontario

The two children born to mary and Louis Major are not included in the Census of 1981, but their names are Clara and Lizzie. At the moment we know little about the latter two children