John Henry & Clara Jane Douglas

Born John Douglas June 22, 1851 at Warkworth, Ontario. He was raised on, and later operated, the original Douglas homestead farm east and north of Warkworth, just a few miles from Campbellford. The story of his parents and his grandparents appears on the Ancestry Site at douglas.ca.
Douglas homestead farm near Warkworth.
In 1880 he married Clara Jane Boyce

Clara was raised in this house just east of Warkworth, Ontario. This picture taken in July, 1999.
John and Clara had five children and 11 grand children:
  • Don married Milly Hayden: Paul, Evan & Eric
  • William (Will) married Clara Shaw: Albert, Don, Jack, Elmer & Murray
  • Elizabeth (Bessie) married Charles Hayes: Helen & Doris
  • Helen married Carl West: Mary
  • Ross married Eleanor Ferris later in life: no issue 
Click for page from 1901 Canadian Parliametary Guide - 62kb
It is unknown to the writer why John selected Henry as his middle name, possibly because of his political career. He became an Ontario MPP in 1898 at age 47.
John H. is front and center at this 1905 meeting to get federal approval for a power generation project.
click for larger image - 92kb
For a couple of years around 1917 John H. and son Ross tried farming at Pasqua, Saskatchewan. This was near Briercrest where son Will and his wife Clara (Shaw) had settled. 

During this time John returned to Toronto often. He subsidized his travel costs by delivering horses to Saskatchewan. Ross returned to Toronto to go to law school. John also returned to Toronto to spend his retirement years there with Clara. 

Here are the addresses of two of their Toronto residences:

  • 86 Kenilworth Avenue, the home of Charlie & Bessie Hayes
  • 178 Glengrove Avenue West was purchased by son Ross in April 1927
 Click here to read a 1925 Christmas letter from John's cousin at Quaker Oats.

John & Clara's 50th Anniversary
at 178 Glengrove Steet in Toronto in 1930

Carl West, Eric, Milly, Don, Ross, Charlie & Bessie Hayes, Paul, Margaret
Click for larger image - 82kb
Helen Hayes, Evan, John H., Clara, Doris Hayes, Helen (West)
Missing: son Will Douglas, his wife Clara and sons Albert, Don, Jack, Elmer & Murray
Click for full picture - 54kb
John died in 1930. 

Clara moved to Campbellford with son Ross in June 1938. 

Ross had contracted polio at age 35/36 in 1933/34. 

She lived there until her death in 1945. 

Plot 15
Section 13
Lot 15
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Toronto, Ontario, Canada