Martha Thornton (1861-1953), daughter of Thomas Thornton, married W.E. Souch (1866-1951) of Clarke Township, Ontario. Martha married quite late (I think on Dec 25, 1902) so I have not been able to trace the family; for some reason they are not in the 1911 census,.
However, Helen Thornton’s family did know the Souch family (some of them moved to Saskatchewan; a Bertram Souch moved to Medicine Hat around 1900 where he operated a store and had a homestead as well) and there are references to two children: Edwin and Eber. (There is a Heber Souch born in 1872 but this can’t be Martha’s child.) These names appear on photos but were placed there quite late so not sure if this is accurate. First a lovely photo of the store of W.E. Souch somewhere in Ontario. Ah! I have now found store at 271 Albert St. in Oshawa. A 1924 directory reports W.E. is retired and there are two other Souch family members, both book keepers, are listed (W.Edgar and Leighton).
Is this W.E. Souch in the photo? If so, note the prominent ears as they appear in other photos. Store in Oshawa, Ontario. I believe the family may have lived in the store.
above: Notes on back say Souch, but not sure. Could this be Martha Thornton and W.E. Souch? Martha married very late so if these are her children this son may be the right age. Photo taken in Toronto. Or is this Richard Best Thornton, of Woodstock? See a post under his name.
Could this be the young man running the W.E. Souch store above? Photo taken in Toronto.
And now a grave marker from the Orono Cemetery in Ontario. These names appear to have been added to the monument so I suspect Martha and W.E. Souch were not buried in Orono, but I haven’t found a grave in Oshawa.
