Simple Stone, Simple Story? - By C.J. Scott, BA, PLCGS

Image by ksblack99, creative commons

Have you ever heard of the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words”?  This could also be said of headstones in a cemetery.  Each week when I walk through Windsor Grove one of Windsor’s oldest cemeteries, the stones speak to me, almost whispering and taunting me to hear their story.  Some are larger than life monuments reflecting families of wealth.  Some include symbolism highlighting their faith, culture, and organizations that they were proud to be apart of.  Of all the beautiful monuments within this cemetery I seem to be drawn to the smaller, insignificant stones with little information on them.  They tease my curiosity with questions that need to be answered.  Why such a simple stone?  Did they not have enough money?  Where were they from?  Why did they die so young?  Where is the rest of their family?  The mind drifts off to many questions, but once the voices stop and I ground myself, I focus and try to answer the questions. 

This same type of moment came over me one day when I came across a simple stone which literally stopped me in my path.  In that moment, my thoughts drifted off to my Nana Breen’s journey from Northern Ireland.  She had left her homeland at the youthful age of 18 in 1927 travelling all by herself hoping for a better life in Canada.   The flat marker I came across seemed so disconnected. 

Photo courtesy of CJ Scott

There was too much space around it.  There were no symbols to be found on the marker, or any clues from other markers nearby that would suggest they were related.   It was simply inscribed, RUBY C. HARPER, BELFAST,1867-1924. 

The questions started swirling around my head again, and I started thinking of my Nana all by herself on a ship called the SS Metagama arriving in Quebec, and then boarding a train to Toronto, Ontario.   I stopped the questions, grounded myself again, and decided to unravel this person’s story.

An obituary is found in the Windsor Star, 8 April 1924, “WOMAN IS BURIED – Mrs. Harper, Native of Ireland, Laid to Rest in Windsor Grove”.¹  Ruby is described as living at 679 Pelissier Street, born in County Donegal, who came to Canada several years ago to connect with her brother L. Scott of Calgary.  She is survived by her husband William, proprietor of Harper Furniture Company on Wyandotte Street, son Leslie and daughter Phyllis.  Harper Furniture is found in the 1924 Vernon City of Windsor Directory located at 1410 Wyandotte Street East.²  How long was she in Windsor if she originally came to Canada to connect with her brother in Calgary?  Several years ago, would infer that she came to Canada in 1917.

A death certificate dated 5 April 1924 confirms that Ruby’s full name was Ruby Cooper Harper³ nee Scott, at a different address of 670 Pelissier Street only being a resident of Windsor for the past year.  Ruby had been home for weeks trying to fight an infection but unfortunately passed away in her home just one day short of her 57^th birthday.  Was it too painful for the family to stay in the same home where she died?  Did they pack up their lives and business and go to Calgary to stay with her brother?

A news article is found in the Calgary Albertan on May 8, 1925. “Young Musician is Lost to Calgary.  Death of Miss Phyllis Harper at the Age of Nineteen”⁴.  No understanding of how she died could be found, however another article published after the funeral stated that she died May 6 at the Holy Cross hospital.  She was an accomplished musician, well known within the city schools she had attended, since she arrived from Belfast Ireland 8 years ago.  Her father William is identified along with her brother Leslie now of Australia. 

More tragedy occurs just over a year later in July 1926 with the father William age 58 years now dead referencing his son C.L. Harper presently living in Australia.⁵  William is well known in his community first establishing a furniture business and later in general merchandizing, with 5 siblings in Ireland and his brother-in-law Mr. L.A. Scott within Calgary. 

A 1921 Census for Alberta, City of Calgary⁶ shows the Harper family as all born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1917.  A passenger list is then found for a ship called the Missanabie leaving Liverpool, England in 1917 arriving a few weeks later to the shores of St. John’s New Brunswick.⁷  

The Harper Family’s story began like many, leaving their homeland in hopes for a better life.  Little did they know how far they would travel, and how short a life they would live in their new home Canada.  Just as this family could not have predicted what events would occur over the next few years, we can never predict that a simple stone has a simple story. 

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¹The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) 8 April 1924, pg. 7. “Woman Is Buried, Mrs. Harper, Native of Ireland, Laid to Rest In Windsor Grove.” (URL: www.newspapers.com/image/501122468).

²Harper’s Furniture, Wm Harper, prop.  Henry Vernon & Son Publishers, Hamilton, Ontario.  Vernon’s City of Windsor Directory 1924-1925, pg. 363.

³ “Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1950,” database with images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 31 January 2025), death register image, Ruby Cooper Harper, 5 April 1924, no. 012827 image ONMS935_312-0766 of 1; citing Archives of Ontario.

⁴ The Calgary Albertan (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) 8 May 1925, pg. 2. “Young Musician is Lost to Calgary” (URL: www.newspapers.com/image/728776117).

⁵ The Calgary Albertan (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) 21 July 1926, pg. 11.  “WILLIAM HARPER” (URL: www.newspapers.com/image/481641823).

⁶ Canada. City of Calgary. Calgary West. Alberta. 1921 Census of Canada. RG31 - Statistics Canada, Microfilm Roll RG31, 4, family number 25; database with images. Ancestry (ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/8991/images/1921_004-E002857060, accessed 31 January 2025).

⁷Ancestry. “Canada, Passenger Lists, 1865-1935.” Database with images. http:/www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1263/images/CANIMM1913PLIST_0000408080-00378:2010.