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April 25, 2014

52 Ancestors: Found Details re Great-Grandpa Peer Attacked By Axe-Wielding Neighbour in 1895

52 Ancestors: Found Details re Great-Grandpa Peer Attacked By Axe-Wielding Neighbour in 1895
Windsor Evening Record (Windsor, ON), 28 May 1895
Look what a very kind reader (Marsha W.) found for me! This is the story of what happened to my great-grandfather Stephen Peer the day he was attacked by an axe-wielding neighbour.

Marsha read my story Sometimes the Best Find Comes When You Least Expect it! which had a brief condensed published version of Stephen Peer and Walter Hyde, then she found this more detailed version in a different newspaper.

So now I have to wonder why on earth Great-Grandpa would not let Mr. Hyde pump water from the well. I'm guessing there was some kind of long-standing feud but it still seems extreme.

Now I want to find out how long Great-grandpa was hospitalized and whether or not Walter Hyde went to jail.

Contrary to the article title "Murder May Result From a Neighbour's Quarrel in Guelph" my great-grandfather lived another two years. But he must have been quite seriously injured in this attack for such a headline. 


Bellevue Hospital Ambulance, New York 1895
Another thing that interested me was the mention of Stephen being taken to the Hospital in an ambulance. This was 1895 and I'm wondering what an ambulance consisted of - a horse drawn covered wagon like this one in New York City in 1895?

Now I'm curious about ambulances and what each community used in various decades. I think an email to the Guelph Civic Museum is in order. Perhaps they have some information or photos.

10 comments:

  1. Still many questions (as always), but at least you've made progress. I still can't understand why the person who told you about the ax attack wouldn't give you more information, but at least some nice person hunted through the microfilm for you! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I agree with Sonja Hunter, not sure why the person who first told you of this story was reluctant to share more.

    One reason did occur to me though. . . perhaps she was somehow related to the attacker and his family(??). A thought.

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  3. Good questions about the woman who refused to share the source with me. She wasn't related to the attacker, she was from a different PEER family in Ontario - one that is not connected to mine.

    She stumbled on the newspaper story while researching HER ancestor. I always got the impression she didn't want to share HER work/time/research.

    She kept dropping hints that I needed to hunt for it on my own. It was weird because I shared everything I had on every PEER I had found.

    Some people are just territorial I think

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  4. I am so happy you were finally able to get an answer to this question. It gives me hope that I will find answers to all mine as well.

    I am curious how Marsha was able to find this. I am always amazed when people find things I searched for and could not find.

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  5. On your first posting, I wondered if the distant newspaper item had perhaps misidentified a Walter , who some years earlier had committed strange offenses in Guelph (ending up in a lunatic asylum). Nineteenth century Guelph jail registers are available at AO (maybe also Wellington County Archives?).

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  6. Thanks Brenda - I did write to Wellington Co. Archives to ask if they had those records but no response yet.

    Mind you AO is closer and an easier trip for me - thanks for the info!

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  7. Oops, that was supposed to be Walter Hind, but my bold face didn't work :-)

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  8. Hmmm,,, Brenda that is interesting about Walter Hind vs Walter Hyde. There was a Walter hyde in Guelph at that time so I guess I would have to figure out where my guy was living and see who was nearby

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  9. I've found there are information hoarders and information sharers. Thank goodness for sharers!

    It always surprises me what you find in old newspapers. They are a goldmine!

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  10. I'm really enjoying seeing this story unravel. I hope you find more answers! And, I'm interested in finding out more about ambulances during this time period. Very interesting!

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