Photo Caption:
Picture of Mr. and Mrs. James Kettle, taken at the time of their 65th
wedding anniversary last October.
Her many friends throughout
Norfolk were saddened to learn of the death on Wednesday, Nov. 4th,
1925, of Mrs. James Kettle of Wilsonville, in her 87th year.
It is only about one year ago,
October 19, 1924, to be exact, that Mr. and Mrs. Kettle celebrated the
65th anniversary of their marriage, a rare event indeed in the history
of any family.
That occasion was quietly
observed owing to the slight indisposition of Mrs. Kettle, who was then
suffering from a heart affliction. But even up until that time she was
in practically full possession of all her faculties and was surprisingly
bright, active and cheerful for a woman of her years.
The late Mrs. Kettle was born at
Normandale in the year 1838, the daughter of
Andrew McIntosh, an employee of the man who established the Van Norman
Foundry in that village many years ago.
She always retained a warm spot
in her heart for the community where she spent her girlhood, and she
delighted in relating interesting incidents of those pioneer days.
She remembered when the first
stove was manufactured at Normandale, a clumsy thing that had to be
pieced together before using.
She could vividly recall
the occasion of the launching of Normandale's first steamboat, Sir Allan
Macnab officiating at the ceremony.
Another incident was the
presentation of a hymn book to her father by
Dr. Egerton Ryerson.
The family moved to Norwich when
Mrs. Kettle was in her teens, thence to the Indian Reserve. She was
married to James Kettle in her 19th year on October 19, 1859.
For a number of years they lived
at Onondaga, later retiring to the present Kettle farm one mile east of
Wilsonville where they have resided ever since.
The late Mrs. Kettle will always
be remembered by her many intimate friends in this county for her kind
and happy disposition, her never-failing readiness to lend her services
wherever they might be required and her cheerful devotion to the many
tasks that were her portion during the long and useful life which she
led.
Her devotion to her husband and
children particularly was always a source of gratification to those who
knew her best.
Besides her husband, who is now
in his 91st year, Mrs. Kettle leaves to mourn three daughters and three
sons, Mrs. R. Nelles of Wilsonville, Mrs. J. F. Gullen and
Mrs. J. P. Pitcher of Brantford, Mr. W. N. Kettle of Willia, Mich., Mr.
H. Kettle, Hamilton, and Mr. C. C. Kettle, at home.
The descendants in the second
generation number 16 and there are
23 great grandchildren.
