Peter James Uttley -- 1875-1944

This is the information that we have learned about Peter James, the eldest son in Nathan's second family with his wife Mary Ann:

From the Ontario Birth Archive, 1875 #021737:

     Name:       Peter
     When:       17 July 1875
     Where:      Woolwich Township
     Sex:        M
     Father:     Nathan Uttley
     Mother:     Mary D. Lamburn
     Informant:  Nathan Uttley, Fireman, Woolwich
     When Reg:   14 Aug 1875
     Accoucheur: Dr. Leitz

Either the registrar made transcription errors or else I can't read. In any case the mother was Mary [Ann] Delena S..... {one of those variations of Saunburn}.

Next from the Ontario Marriage Archive of 1898 #014577, Peter gets married:

     Groom:     Peter J. Uttley
     Age:       25
     Residence: Berlin, Ont
     Born:      Elmira, Ont
                bachelor
     Occ:       Baker
     Parents:   Nathan Uttley, Marie Bingham
     Religion:  Presbyterian
     Bride:     Katie Oberer
     Age:       22
     Residence: Berlin
     Born:      Berlin, Ont
                spinster
     Parents:   L. Christian Oberer, Lydia Gildner
     Religion:  Lutheran
     Witnesses: Herman Oberer, Berlin, Ont,
                Mary       , Berlin, Ont  [no last name entered]
     When:      Sept 29, 1898, Berlin
     By:        Rev. R. Von Pirch

Another example of butchering Mary Ann's name. It is almost as if she wants to remain anonymous.
I wonder how a baker at age 25 ends up as an engineer in a rubber factory? I suppose you could knead bread dough, and lots of it, in one of those monster Banbury machines in a rubber plant.

In the 1907-1908 Vernon Directory for Berlin, Peter is listed as an engineer, a householder living at 92 Wilmot in Berlin. He is still there one year later, but by 1921 he has moved to 285 Joseph Street and he is working as an engineer at the Ames-Holden Tire Co.

I have no idea where Wilmot Street is in Kitchener, and I've no idea where the Ames-Holden Tire Co. was located, but it would be easy to research at the Kitchener Public Library.

Peter's wife Catharine dies in 1935. On March 14, 1935, pg 15, the K-W Record printed in the DEATHS column:

UTTLEY, Mrs. Peter J., 285 Joseph
street, March 14, 58 years.

along with an obituary that read:

---------------
The Departed
MRS. PETER J. UTTLEY
The death of Mrs. Peter J. Uttley, 285 Joseph street, occurred at the K-W hospital at 10 30 o'clock this morning after a lengthy illness.
The deceased was born in this city and was in her 59th year. She was a member of St. Peter's Lutheran church. She is survived by her husband, two sons and one daughter, Clarence Uttley of Cleveland, Ohio, Laurier Uttley of Detroit, Mich., and Miss Alide Uttley at home. Two sons and one daughter predeceased her. Also surviving are one grandchild, three brothers, Henry Oberer of this city, Jacob of Detroit, Mich., and Herman of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and three sisters, Mrs. Leo Kabel, Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Levi Melitzer, Bridgeport and Mrs. Fred Kliminski of this city.
The funeral will take place on Saturday afternoon at 2 30 o'clock from the Ratz-Bechtel funeral home. Interment will be made in Mount Hope cemetery. Rev. Dr. H. A. Sperling, the pastor of the church will have charge of the service.

And on the next day appeared:

MRS. P. J. UTTLEY
The name of one sister, Mrs. Eli Ciceri of Guelph, was omitted in the list of survivors of the late Mrs. Peter J. Uttley in Thursday's issue.

Perhaps the name was Ell, it isn't clear. I'm betting on Eli which is short for Alide (??) -- the daughter being named after her aunt.
But that wasn't all that was omitted from the obituary. The woman that died doesn't even have a given name!!

The records at Mount Hope Cemetery, the Kitchener side, show that Catharine Uttley was buried there on March 16, 1935. The spelling Catharine (with an 'A') is substantiated on the headstone she shares with her husband Peter.

Their headstone contains:

Peter J. Uttley
born July 17, 1875
died Feb. 4, 1944
---------
Catharine W. Oberer
his wife
born Nov. 5, 1876
died Mar. 14, 1935

which confirms Peter's birth date, gives Katie a middle initial and tells us when she was born.

Peter died nine years later. In the K-W Record for Friday Feb 4, 1944, pg 15 we read:

UTTLEY, Peter Jr. 285 Joseph
Street, Feb. 4, 68 years.

I'm sure that 'Jr.' was a typo on the part of the Record and it should have read 'Peter J.'.

The obituary follows on the same page:

PETER J. UTTLEY
A native of Elmira, Peter J. Uttley, 68 died at his late residence, 285 Joseph Street, today, following an illness of three months. He was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Uttley. A former engineer at the Goodrich Rubber Company for many years, he had of late been employed in the textile division at the Dominion Rubber Company. His wife, Catherine Oberer, died in 1935.
Surviving are two sons, Laurier and Clarence, both of Detroit; one daughter, Mrs. Eli Britnell, Kitchener; three brothers, Abraham, Kitchener, Jack of Waterloo and John R. of Copper Cliff, Ont.; and three sisters, Mrs. Caroline Kalbfleisch, Toronto, Miss Dianna Uttley, New Dundee, and Mrs. Bella Hohner of Stratford. Three grandchildren also survive.
Funeral service will be held Sunday at two o'clock at the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home, with Rev. A. W. Lotz, pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church officiating. Interment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery. The remains are resting at the funeral home.

Here we have some minor inconsistencies:
- his wife Catherine is spelled with an 'E'. An error I would blame on the K-W Record if not for another coincidence that follows
- his younger brother Jonathan is referred to as 'Jack', a nickname that neither my uncle Doug or I am familiar with. In his mother's obit in the Daily Telegraph on Feb 18, 1920 it was Jack that lived in Port Huron and it had to refer to John R. as it was listed with Nathan's first family children.
Joseph Street in Kitchener is near the downtown area and its west end was close to the main CNR line where the rubber factories once stood. The location is a municipal works yard today.

There was a reference to three children that predeceased Catharine. Beside the parents' headstone is a small black granite stone. The front of it reads:

Mary Ann
dau of
Peter & Catherine
Uttley
died Nov 9, 1903
aged 11 days

which can be substantiated from the Ontario Death Archive [1903, #026992]:

     Name:      Mary Ann M. Uttley
     When:      Nov 10, 1903, Berlin
     Age:       10 days
     Residence: Berlin
     Occupation: Infant
     Born:      Berlin
     Cause:     Meningitis, 1 day
     Religion:  Lutheran
     Doctor:    Dr. Armitage

Perhaps the Mary Ann M. is "Mary Ann Maud" like her grandmother, or maybe the extra M. is a transcription error.
The cemetery records of Kitchener's Mount Hope Cemetery have recorded this name as Mary Anne. Just an extra 'e' and no 'M.'.
And on this stone the spelling is Catherine with an 'E'! How can this be? She could not have missed it every time she visited her daughter's grave.

And on the back of the same black granite stone you can read:

Robert I.
son of
Peter & Catherine
Uttley
died Feb 23, 1907
aged 1 yr 7 mo 21 d

which cross checks with the Ontario Death Archive [1907, #030191]:

     Name:     Robert I. Uttley
     When:     Feb 23, 1907, Berlin
     Age:      1 yr 7 mo 21 days
     Res:      Berlin
     Occupation: child
     Born:     Berlin
     Cause:    Bronchitis, 6 days
     Doctor:   Dr. Armitage
     Religion: Lutheran

The fonts and layout on the front and back of the headstone are a match. And so is the spelling of Catherine with an 'E'. This son dies 3+ years later and Peter/Catharine duplicate the same spelling slip! Surely that can't be. It is strange to see two spellings of the same given name on headstones that are side by side. Moreover the later headstone was put up by Peter when Catharine died, evidenced by the fresher look of only his death date line in the granite.

Alas I have no leads to follow for the third child, a son, that predeceased Catharine. I would presume he died as an infant.

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Dorothy Gwynn
dgwynn@dns.magtech.ab.ca