Surprise Relative ~ Miles Gilbert (Tim) Horton

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 6 (SURPRISE)

Every week WikiTree sends out an email with Featured Connections, and every week I check each one wondering if we are actually related.

Each week I find they are somehow related to our Bramble Bush, but not directly. 

What I'm looking for is a list of green connections. 

When the connections are yellow they are through marriage, and not blood. 

Last week the Featured Connections were for the Year of the Snake.

In scanning the list I didn't expect to find any direct connections. 

When I clicked the links I found 11 of them had a lot of yellow as I had expected.

BUT then I was surprised to find a solid green connection between Chris & Tim Horton.

In hindsight I shouldn't have been surprised - Chris' 8th great grandmother is Penelope Horton.

Abigail Penelope (Penelope) Horton
Birth 14 FEB 1690 • Southold, Suffolk County, New York, USA
Death 1 DEC 1746 • New Jersey, USA

I'm not sure why I never put the 2 thoughts together. 

Usually I see a famous last name in our Bramble Bush, and immediately wonder if there is a connection to the famous person.

In 2019 I wrote about 8th great grandma Penelope Horton, and never even wondered about a possible famous connection,

Snake Hips - Swayze, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 9 (At the Courthouse)

We are Canadian - you can't go anywhere without seeing the Tim Hortons sign. 

I am very surprised I never once wondered about the family connection to Chris' 8th great grandmother Penelope Horton:

Miles Gilbert (Tim) Horton
Birth 12 JAN 1930 • Cochrane, Ontario, Canada
Death 21 FEB 1974 • St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Feeling pretty excited about this new find I quickly set to researching the connections & adding descendants to connect the 2 in our Bramble Bush.

I decided to add Tim Horton as a floater in my tree, and work up his line until the connection arrived.

Once completed I clicked on Tim Horton to see how he is related to Chris.

It was then I was surprised for a 2nd time.

It said Tim was the step 7th great-grandson of my 9th great-granduncle.

My immediate thought was that I had entered something wrong, and lost the connection to Chris.

My 2nd thought was that maybe this Bramble Bush had a second connection to the Horton line, and I had lost Chris' connection.

I wondered if I had followed the wrong line up in attempting to bring the Bramble Bush together.

I decided first to change to Chris as the home person to see exactly what happened.

I was delighted to find I did nothing wrong. 

Chris and Tim are 8th cousins X2 removed.

Chris' 9th great grandparents are Tim's 7th great grandparents (Penelope's parents): 

Barnabas Horton
Birth 23 SEP 1666 • Long Island City, Queens County, New York, USA
Death 15 NOV 1705 • Long Island City, Queens County, New York, USA
and
Sarah Wines
Birth APR 1668 • Southold or Martha's Vineyard, New York, USA
Death 16 APR 1733 • Suffolk County (Long Island), New York, USA

Now back to the confusion of my connection to Tim Horton.

My 9th great uncle through my mother's maternal line was Sarah Wines' 2nd husband:

Eleazer Luce
Birth 1674 • Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts, USA
Death 3 NOV 1740 • Southold, Suffolk County, New York, USA

Tim Horton is a Canadian Icon.

"For many people today, the name Tim Horton means doughnuts and coffee at the fast-food franchise business he founded in 1964. But for more than two decades, Horton's name meant skill, mobility and unsurpassed strength on defense in the NHL. Horton spent most of that time with the Maple Leafs, helping Toronto win four Stanley Cup championships. He was runner-up for the Norris Trophy twice and earned postseason All-Star recognition six times."  1 

A hockey player with a connection to donuts & coffee.

"Tim Horton was an elite player on one of the league’s most storied franchises, but players in the Original Six era did not earn the types of salaries that we associate with contemporary NHL superstars. As Tim had a large family that included wife Lori and four daughters (Jeri-Lyn, Kim, Kelly and Tracy), he often worked in the offseason to supplement his income. While Horton had picked up summer jobs that included working at Brewer’s Retail (The Beer Store) and Conn Smythe’s gravel company, he also had an entrepreneurial spirit that led him to pursue business ventures. These included a hamburger restaurant in Scarborough and a car dealership in Toronto. He and his brother, Gerry, also opened another restaurant, the Big Seven, in North Bay, Ontario, in the 1960s. It would be another eatery, however, that would cement Tim Horton’s legacy.

In 1964, Horton established a little coffee and donut shop, then known as "Tim Horton," that would eventually become a well-established Canadian franchise. Horton opened his first coffee and donut shop on Ottawa Street in Hamilton, Ontario, selling coffee for a quarter and featuring his own personal creations, the apple fritter and the Dutchie. The shop was an enormous success. Horton decided to expand it into a franchise, choosing Ron Joyce as the store's first franchisee. The Hamilton store then became the model for a giant Canadian chain, with Ron Joyce and Horton as full partners."  2

Surprised to find 2 connections in this Bramble Bush to Tim Horton.

When you find the connection to a Canadian Icon!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1  Tim Horton. Bio. NHL. Retrieved February 4th 2025 from
https://www.nhl.com/player/tim-horton-8446917

2  Tim Horton. Commito, Mike & Lorraine Snyder. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Originally published January 23rd 2008. Last edited October 16th 2015. Retrieved February 5th 2025 from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tim-horton

Sources:

Tim Horton. Bio. NHL. Retrieved February 4th 2025 from
https://www.nhl.com/player/tim-horton-8446917

Tim Horton. Canadian ice hockey player and entrepreneur. Britannica. Retrieved February 5th 2025 from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Horton

Tim Horton. Commito, Mike & Lorraine Snyder. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Originally published January 23rd 2008. Last edited October 16th 2015. Retrieved February 5th 2025 from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tim-horton

Photos:

Clipped. Wiki tree email. Received January 29th 2025

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Grandpa Jack ~ Earning a Living in the Canadian Navy

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 6 (EARNING A LIVING)

I have discovered that elbows are integral in the act of typing. 

I am currently dealing with an elbow injury, and am not able to type for any length of time. For the next while my blogs will primarily be photos. 

Meet my grandpa Jack Graham (AKA John Robert Graham) - he earned a living in the Canadian Navy

John Robert (Jack) Graham
BIRTH 7 MAR 1930 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 5 AUG 2011 • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 When a photo says it all!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Photos:

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Maps ~ Finding Your Family In Their Old Neighbourhood

I remember hearing the tale about my great grandparents' house in Calgary. 

Thomas & Elizabeth (nee Slicer) Thomson were married on December 31st 1908. They immigrated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada from North Berwick, Scotland. 

He arrived in 1909 & she arrived in 1910 (according to records found). They purchased their home in Calgary (or so the story goes, no records have been found) and prepared to live happily ever after.

Sometime in 1913 they rented their house in Calgary out & returned to Scotland. Elizabeth wanted to be with her family for the birth of their first child. Maisie was born May 24th 1914 at her grandparents home on Clifford Road, North Berwick, Scotland. 

World War 1 broke out a month later on July 28th 1914. 

The family was trapped in Scotland for the duration of the war. 

Thomas volunteered for the British Army, signing up November 19th 1915. 

My grandmother, Mary, was born a month later on December 20th 1915. 

October 11th 1920 the family arrived back to Canada (according to the passenger lists). 

I'm not sure why the family waited a full 2 years after the war ended. It's possible that it had to do with the baby brother who was born & died that grandma told me about. I haven't been able to find any records for this lost brother. 

For almost 7 years my great grandparents resided in Scotland while their house in Calgary was rented out. 

Through the lens of today this story seemed completely impossible, and yet research indicates that is exactly what happened. 

According to the tales grandma told they arrived back in Calgary & the family who had been renting the house had cared for it the entire time, and then moved out so grandma and her family could move back in. 

In the yard of their home in Calgary after their return from Scotland

I was able to find the address of their home in Calgary from the 1921 & 1926 Prairie census. 923 5th Street, North West Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The census below is from 1926. 

Google Maps streetview - the house as it stands today.

I was left wondering - could this be the original house that my great grandparents bought sometime between 1910 & 1914?

Looking at this photo of grandma with her father and sister in front of their home - I am left believing this is not the original house. 

The house looks closer to the front of the lot in this photo than the position of the current home. 

It's also hard to say if the neighbours house is the original home or a rebuild when looking at this photo of grandma & her sister.

The 1921 census records 2 rooms - I think there is little chance the house we see today on Google Maps Streetview is the same house my grandma and her family lived in. 

BUT it is the same neighbourhood that likely has grown a lot.

This was grandma & great auntie Maise's walk to school when they were the ages in the photos above

Grandma and her sister attended Hillhurst School.

Grandma went to the 75th Anniversary celebration in 1987.

I have no idea how much my great grandparents paid for their home initially or what they sold it for, but I'm pretty sure they would be shocked at the value in 2022.

Finding your roots in the maps available online!

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Sources:

923 5 St NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1R3, RedFin, Retrieved February 9th 2022 from
https://www.redfin.ca/ab/calgary/923-5-St-NW-T2N-1R3/home/156786660

Public Access, Assessment,  Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Retrieved February 9th 2022 from
https://assessmentsearch.calgary.ca/Map/MapSearch.aspx?featureType=PARCEL&featureList=180168507

Maps:

Directions, Google Maps, Retrieved February 9th 2022 from
https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/923+5+St+NW,+Calgary,+AB+T2N+1R3/Hillhurst+School+%7C+Calgary+Board+of+Education,+1418+7+Ave+NW,+Calgary,+AB/@51.057463,-114.0881551,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x53716ff476f76cc1:0x926d2bd6fb817b8f!2m2!1d-114.0747507!2d51.0601547!1m5!1m1!1s0x53716feb5f3d0dd5:0xc9cac996ac813e79!2m2!1d-114.0931992!2d51.0591861!3e2?hl=en&authuser=0

Google Maps, Retrieved February 9th 2022 from
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/923+5+St+NW,+Calgary,+AB+T2N+1R3/@51.0601547,-114.0769394,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x53716ff476f76cc1:0x926d2bd6fb817b8f!8m2!3d51.0601547!4d-114.0747507?hl=en&authuser=0

Public Access, Assessment,  Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Retrieved February 9th 2022 from
https://assessmentsearch.calgary.ca/Map/MapSearch.aspx?featureType=PARCEL&featureList=180168507

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

Valentine Schram ~ Born February 21st 1757

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 6 (VALENTINE)

I will introduce you to my husband's 7th great grandparents on his father's mother's side of the Bramble Bush.

Johan Wilhelm (John) Schram
BIRTH 22 JUL 1717 • West Camp, Ulster, New York, United States
DEATH JAN 1785 • New York, USA
&
Anna Catherine (Catharina) Lehman
BIRTH 12 FEB 1720 • Loonenburg, Greene, New York, United States
DEATH 1784 • Athens, Greene, New York, United States

I was super excited to find John's Will. Their 10 living children were listed along with married names for their daughters. 

                                                        New York Wills, Calendar of Wills, page 369

Today I focus on their 3rd son (my husband's 6th great uncle):

Veldte Schram
BIRTH 21 FEB 1757 • Loonenburg (now Athens), Greene County, New York, USA
DEATH 20 MAR 1846 • Louth Township, Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada

Born 1 week after Valentine's day Veldte was known as VALENTINE. as recorded on the marriage registry to:

Hannah Bowman
BIRTH 14 APR 1760 • Canajoharie, Montgomery, New York Colony, Colonial America
DEATH 1864 • Halton, Ontario, Canada

The other 9 living children referenced to John & Catharina were:  Frederick, Petrus/Peter, Johannis/John, Jeremiah, Annaeje, Geertruy, Mariah/Maria, Clement.

I was intrigued that the son born one week after Valentine's Day (Febraury 21st 1757) would become known as Valentine. I hadn't realized that Valentine's Day has been celebrated as long as it has.  

If you want to learn more about the history of Valentine's Day see the sources below. 

There is no guarantee that the reasons lie with this special day, but I would like to believe they do.

Finding meaning where none may exist!

This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***






Sources:

History of Valentine's Day, History Channel, updated: Jan 29, 2021 - Original: Dec 22, 2009.  Retrieved February 7th 2021 from
https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

 

4 Generations ~ Robert Graham

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 6 (SAME NAME)



I never knew my maternal grandfather when I was growing up. He made a brief appearance to walk my mother down the aisle, and then disappeared from mom's family right after. 

My mom and her dad

He had been in and out of their life for many years, but after mom's wedding he never returned. Years later when his mom was dying my mom and her sisters went to see their grandmother. They ended up seeing their dad during that visit, but I wasn't there so never saw John Robert Graham who was known as Jacky as a child & Jack as an adult. 

Jack and his dad (Robert the 4th)

I asked my grandmother what Jack's father's name was, and she told me Bob who was also known as Bobby. I asked her if Bob was his legal name. She said it was. I asked her where Bob was born, and she told me Manitoba. I had entered these details into my tree on Ancestry, but no hints arrived. I waited several months, and did searches without finding any real information. I finally sent away for my great grandparent's marriage license. When it arrived I discovered Bob's legal name was Robert, and he had been born in Scotland and moved to Manitoba as a small child. 

There was a witness who shared his last name. I guessed she was his sister. I added the new information, and immediately the desired shaking green leaves appeared. I began researching the family line using records. I managed to track back 4 generations of Robert Grahams before I hit the brickwall that still stands today.


4 generations of ROBERT GRAHAM!

Robert (Bob/Bobby) Graham (the 4th)
BIRTH 3 MAY 1906 • Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 10 AUGUST 1960 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
married
Nellie May (Con) Cannon
BIRTH 4 DEC 1904 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 14 SEP 1984 • Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Robert Graham (the 3rd)
BIRTH 23 DEC 1883 • Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 13 JAN 1929 • St Boniface Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
married
Jessie Crawford Gray
BIRTH 23 JUN 1884 • Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 17 JUL 1952 • Manitoba, Canada

Robert (the 3rd) & Jessie Crawford (nee Gray) Graham

Robert Graham (the 2nd)
BIRTH ABT 1851 • Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire
DEATH BEF 1905 • Scotland, United Kingdom
married
Margaret (Maggie) (Mary) Burt
BIRTH 19 APR 1854 • Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire

DEATH 14 JUL 1933 • 61 Church St, Newharthill, Scotland
Robert Graham (the 1st)
BIRTH 16 JAN 1814 • Thornhill, Closeburn, Dumfries-shire, Scotland
DEATH 24 MAR 1892 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland
married
Susanah (Susan) Hamilton
BIRTH 03 NOV 1814 • Carnwath, Lanarkshire
DEATH 11 APR 1894 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Robert Graham (the 1st) was the child of 
Peter Graham
BIRTH ABT 1788 • Closeburn, Dumfriesshire
DEATH Unknown
&
Ann Kirk
BIRTH ABT 1785
DEATH Unknown

Peter Graham and Ann Kirk are my 5th great grandparents. I have DNA matches that confirm them as the parent of Robert Graham. They are listed as parents on birth registries for 4 children, but those are the only records I can find - no birth, no marriage, no death.


I have made no progress in breaking down this brickwall in the past 7 years of researching. In my tree I have guessed that Robert's parents might be James & Elizabeth, and Ann's might be Robert & Mary. I have made those guesses based on Scottish naming patterns, and have noted that in the placeholders for them. My guesses may be way off because I don't know if I have found all of the children of their marriage. I do know that later generations did follow Scottish naming patterns, but I don't know if Peter & Ann (nee Kirk) Graham did.


Someday I may break through this brickwall.

*******

Jessie Crawford (nee Gray) Graham
with her sons: Bob,  Bill, Doug, Burt

Now back to Robert the 4th's son Jack - my grandfather.

I understood Jack didn't spend much time with his dad's family after his parent's separated and divorced August 19th 1948.

Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba, Canada, August 20th 1948

The divorce notice above says that Nellie and Bob were married on May 5th 1943, but the marriage record is dated November 16th 1927. Their son, Jack, was born on March 7th 1930.

And Jack's dad remarried October 1948 .

Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba, Canada, September 11th 1948

Jack was an only child for both his parents. Bob had no children during his second marriage, and Nellie never remarried or had any other children.

John Robert Graham, known as Jacky/Jack

After finally figuring out the family tree, and following the shaking green leaves I was able to connect with the Graham family in Canada, and get the children of Jack's first marriage into the Graham family tree. This was also when I found out that Jack had not stayed connected to his father's family any more than he had the children of his first marriage. Jack's 1st cousin had thought that he died young, and was shocked when I told him that Jack lived until the age of 81.

I found it a bit strange that everyone thought Jack didn't stay connected to the Graham family after I found this family photo that had Jack and Nellie in the photo, but no Bob.

Jack with his first wife and oldest 4 children

Never knowing quite enough about the past to truly understand the present!







This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***





Related Previous Blogs:

Somehow Related Blog Spot,
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2019 Week 2 (Challenge)
Brick Wall - researching Grahams from Holytown, Scotland who immigrated to Canada
https://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/2019/01/brick-wall-researching-grahams-from.html

Somehow Related Blog Spot
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2019 Week 18 (Road Trip)
Robert Graham ~ Scottish Carrier
https://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/2019/05/robert-graham-scottish-carrier.html

Somehow Related Blog Spot
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2019 Week 21 (Military)
Jack (John Robert) Graham ~ Navy Man
http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/2019/05/jack-john-robert-graham-navy-man.html

Somehow Related Blog Spot
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2019 Week 38 (COUSINS)
Tale of Two Cousins ~ Ann(e) Kirk Graham
http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/2019/09/tale-of-two-cousins-anne-kirk-graham.html

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________