| Notes |
- . 1851 Garafraxa Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, page 55
John Skippen, , Born England, 38 ys. /1813, farmer;
Elisabeth Ann, b England, 32 y, 1820;
Ann, b. Ontario, 15 y /1836;
Eliza, b Ontario, 13 y /1818
Carlene, b Ontario, 10 y /1841;
Mary, b. CW, 8 y /1843;
William, CW, 7 y /1844;
Arman (Maria Ann?), CW, 5, 1846;
John, CW, 3 years /1848;
Noah Shippen, born Canada West, 1 year /1850
. 1861 Census, Garafraxa: John Skippen, , b 1815, England, Baptist.
Biography
Through The Years, Vol. XII, No. 9, page 25
The Skippen, Settlement in Green Bay, by George Skippen, - 1995
John Skippen, was born in 1815, & came out from England as a young man & worked & lived in the Guelph area. It was here he met a young lady by the name of Elizabeth Ann Nichols who was born in 1820 & had also come from England. They were married in 1836 in the Anglican Church in Guelph, Ontario. They resided in that area for some time. Later they moved to Garafraxa Twp. & started farming. They raised a family of 7 girls & 8 boys. Starting with the oldest they were Ann Elizabeth, Eliza Cotton, Caroline, Mary, William, Anna Maria, John, Noah Cotton, Henry, Samuel, Frank, Alfred, Sarah, Ellen & Charles. As time went on John & Elizabeth heard of land being opened up to settlers on the Manitoulin Island. They thought this would be a good place for their growing family to have a place of their own & so planning was made for the big move. At that time, John & Elizabeth were age 56 & 50 respectively.
In the spring of 1870, John & Elizabeth moved to the Manitoulin bringing with them three of their sons William, John & Noah to help build a house & small barn. After arriving they made their choice in Howland Twp., an area that is now known as the lime kiln hill. The Indians of the Sheguiandah reserve had a large maple bush adjoining the property that they used for making syrup & sugar. This came in very handy as Chief Waindubence let them use their wigwams to live in while they were building. They worked very hard all year & that fall returned to Garafraxa to bring more supplies for the coming winter & for William to bring his new wife Harriet. They worked very hard that winter clearing the land & when spring came they were very disappointed to find that the land was not very good. They later made use of the lime stone that was there & burned it to make lime for future building. After finding their land of no value they started to look elsewhere & about a mile from where they were they came upon a beautiful valley with a large lake. This valley today is called Green Bay.
William & Harriet Skippen, were the first to move to this valley & selected the property where Bruce Wood now lives. William died in 1886 at age 41, but his wife Harriet & her 6 young children carried on. (William & Harriet were my grandparents). The parents John & Elizabeth & the younger children settled where Don Hughson lives.
As time went on the family grew older & they selected land for their own.
Henry Skippen, married Jane Moore & built where Cliff White lived. They raised a family of eleven. In 1909 Henry & his family of 11 moved to Delia, Alberta. Henry & Jane like his parents, were 56 & 49 respectively, when they went west. Samuel Skippen, married Amelia McDonald & lived for awhile where Ross Skippen, lives, then traded with his sister Mary & brother in law Robert Gamble who lived where Clarence Cosby farmed for years. Samuel & Amelia had a family of 7 & Mary & Robert Gamble raised seven children. Both of these families later moved to Walford.
Frank Skippen, married Annie Bryan & farmed where Leslie Gammie lives. Frank died in 1892 while working in the lumber camp for the winter. Frank & Annie had two children. Annie moved to Sheguiandah in 1898. She later married George Eade & was always known as Aunt Annie Eade.
Caroline Skippen, married Wm. Scott & lived on a farm back of Leslie Gammie's. Caroline & Wm. raised seven children. Caroline died in 1892. Her husband Wm. committed suicide a few years later.
Noah Skippen, married Rebeccah Bayes & lived where Tom Stringer lives. Noah & Rebeccah raised 9 children. Later they moved to Sheguiandah where he owned the hotel for a few years & then moved to Massey, & then to Vancouver where they spent the rest of their lives.
Ann Marie Skippen, married John Nevills & farmed where Roy Bayer lives. Anna Maria & John raised 8t children. Later they also moved to Sheguiandah.
Ann Elizabeth Skippen, married Henry Woolley & lived where Don Holmes now lives. Ann Elizabeth & Henry were married in 1858 in Guelph & moved to Green Bay in 1872. Ann Elizabeth & Henry raised 3 children. In 1908 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. By 1912 both had passed away.
Sarah Skippen, married Wm. Idle & lived on the Leslie Wood farm. Sarah & Wm. raised 5 children. They left in 1893 & moved to Southern Ontario.
Ellen Skippen, married Wm. Parkinson & lived on the farm across the road from where Alvin Wood now lives. Ellen & Wm. raised 2 children. They also moved to Southern Ontario.
Charles Skippen, married Lina Gordon & lived on his parents farm where Don Hughson lives. Charles & Lina raised 3 children. In 1901 they moved to Idaho.
John Skippen, married Hannah Theakston. They did not live in Green Bay but settled outside of Little Current on the Ross Morphet farm. John & Hannah raised7 children. They later moved to the Owen Sound area. (Ross Morphet is their great grandson).
Eliza Skippen, married Robert King & never moved to the Manitoulin. Eliza & Robert raised a family of 6 in the Orangeville area.
Alfred Skippen, left Green Bay in his teens to live with his older sister Eliza King, to further his education. He taught school for awhile then later he became a Doctor. Alfred married Sarah Dyer & they raised 4 children. In 1898 they moved to Idaho & then to Oregon in 1919.
It is no wonder that at one time Green Bay was called the Skippen, Settlement as John & Elizabeth had their families living on both sides of the road for 2 & a half miles. John was a well respected community man & in 1882 he & his family built a church which was called the Disciples of Christ. John died in 1890 & Elizabeth died in 1899. They are buried in that church cemetery but the church no longer stands.
By 1912 all of their families had left Green Bay except Wm. & Harriet's family. Today a great grandson of John & Elizabeth, Ross Skippen, , his son John & wife Ray & their son Paul are the only descendants still living in what was once known as the Skippen, Settlement. - - -
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1814 - 1890 (75 years)