Notes:

. 1875 Photograph :
Clarissa Simons' father Bildad Simons was one of the first settlers of Trafalgar Twp. A land patent for Lot 30 1 S Dundas St. was granted to him in 1806 as the settlement duties had been fulfilled.

. Francis Wilkinson & Clarissa Simons were married 2 November 1831. Clarissa 1807-1886 & Francis 1795-1884. Their grandson Francis John Norton 1868-1880 was the son of Hiram C. Norton & Elizabeth Wilkinson.

. By 1850 Francis 1795-1884 & Clarissa 1807-1886 owned & farmed in Palermo just west of old Bronte Rd at Dundas. In his will Francis left the farm equally to his sons George, Walter & James. Walter sold his share to his other 2 brothers.
Ref: Trafalgar Township Historical Society, Ontario.

. Clarissa has 3 daughter & 7 Wilkinson children.

Ontario Land Registration Abstract Halton Co.,
Lot 30, Con 1, North Dundas Street, Trafalgar Book 34, p398-9
. 1828 Apr 3, Bargain&Sale, Daniel Becay, to Bildad Simons, 100 Acres South Half
. 1864 May 2, B&S, Francis Wilkinson & Wife, to Lucinda Wilkinson wife of Ezra Winchell, 1 Acre - - -

Birth:
Ref: ON Death Reg. Born Trafalgar.

Died:
Aged 79y 2m. COD: old age, heart disease 3 months.

Buried:
Milton.

Clarissa married Francis FRANK WILKINSON on 2 Nov 1831 in Trafalgar Twp., Halton Co., Ontario. Francis was born on 16 Oct 1795 in Burslem, Stoke On Trent, Staffordshire, England; died on 31 Mar 1884 in Palermo, Trafalgar Twp., Halton Co., Ontario; was buried in St. Luke's Anglican Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John is the son of Clarissa Simons & Francis Wilkinson.

Notes:

Joseph is the son of Clarissa Simons & Francis Wilkinson.

Buried:
Palermo

Notes:

Francis Jr. is the son of is the Clarissa Simons & Francis Wilkinson.

Birth:
Verify year 1836 or 1838.

Died:
Aged 40y 6m.

Notes:

Robert is the son of Clarissa Simons & Frank Wilkinson

Robert married. Louisa Norton of Saltfleet Twp., & died 1940 Leduc, Alberta. T

The 9 children of Clarissa Simons & Robert H Wilkinson are:
1 William Francis Wilkinson, 1866-1932
2 Clara Elizabeth Wilkinson,1869-?
3 Hiram Robert Wilkinson, 1873-1888
4 Delbert Wallis Wilkinson, 1875-1938
5 Walter Wilkinson, 1877-?
6 Alice Maude Wilkinson,1880-1943
7 George Percy Wilkinson,1884-?
8 Edmond Oscar Wilkinson,1886-?
9 Norman Robert Wilkinson,1894-1993. - - -

Died:
Aged 67y 11m.

Buried:
Edmonton Region.

Robert married Louisa Ann NORTON in 1865. Louisa was born on 29 May 1849 in Ontario, Canada; died in 1940 in Leduc, Leduc Co., Alberta; was buried in Leduc Public Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

George is the son of Clarisa Simons & Frank Wilkinson.

. Obituary:
Geo. Wilkinson of Palermo, Dead. His mother was the first white woman born in the district. Grandmother fell prey to barbarous Indians.
After a week's illness, Geo. H. Wilkinson died at his home on Dundas St, Palermo, yesterday morning in the 74th year of his age, cause of death being Pneumonia. The deceased had been a member of St. Luke's Church, in the village, & his remains will be interred in the Anglican cemetery there beside those of his parents tomorrow afternoon. Geo Wilkinson was the son of the late Mr. & Mrs. Francis Wilkinson, also lifelong residents near the village on Dundas St. He first saw the light of day in the home in which he died, where his mother was also born. He was a farmer by occupation, & a conservative by policy.

Mr. Wilkinson was married in Palermo, where he chose for his life partner miss Maria Patterson, daughter of the late Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Patterson, who is left to mourn with one son, Morely Wilkinson, a well-known farmer near the village.
The deceased was a most highly respected gentleman, & possessed a very kind & cheerful disposition up to the time he knew that he was about to pass away to the great beyond, & was satisfied to leave this world of wars when the great Creator called him to his reward. The funeral will no doubt be a large one, as Mr. & Mrs. Wilkinson's large circle of friends will surely attend to show their last respects to the deceased & sympathy to the bereaved widow, son, & his family.

Touching on the history of the deceased's ancestors, who had lived around the wilds near Palermo, many thrilling experiences could be related to them, especially at times when they would come into contact with the Indians. One day Mrs. Simmons, Geo. Wilkinson's grandmother, fell prey to a tribe of the redskins. The white woman had just crossed a fence to enter a lonely part of the woods when she was captured. It is stated one of the Indians inflicted one of their cruelest tortures on the poor woman by "Scalping" her. The dear old mother, grandmother, & Christian woman died in her agony on the spot, & her tragic death caused the greatest grief by all the white inhabitants in the scattered district.
Ref: Trafalgar Township Historical Society. - - -

Died:
Pneumonia.

Buried:
Red Granite monument.

George married Maria PATTERSON on 2 Dec 1885 in Trafalgar Twp., Halton Co., Ontario. Maria was born on 22 Jun 1863 in Trafalgar Twp., Halton Co., Ontario; died on 10 Nov 1939 in Trafalgar Twp., Halton Co., Ontario; was buried in St. Luke's Anglican Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Elizabeth is the daughter of Clarissa Simons & Francis Wilkinson.

. 1860 Photo of Elizabeth Wilkinson, may be found at the Trafalgar Township Historical Society.

Further Research. Photos of
. Edna Wilkinson & her grandmother Marie Wilkinson, with Irene Patterson & her mother Mary Patterson. In front is Ernie Patterson, Edna Wilkinson & her grandmother Marie Wilkinson, with Irene Patterson & her mother Mary Patterson. In front is Ernie Patterson.

. Edna Waldie (nee Wilkinson) & her Mother Nettie E (Bowman) Wilkinson, with dog Nip.

. Wilkinson Norton Album Mementoes including Item # 70 - Happy New Year card; 72- A card from Pratt & Watkins of a photograph of General Gordon, the hero of Khartoum who was murdered on the 26th of January 1885.;
78-Prince & Princess of Wales
82- Woman & child picture.

. Wilkinson Norton Unknown Soldier. There is no explanation why this photo is in the Wilkinson-Norton album but it was family legend that one of Clarissa Simons' cousins fought in the American Civil war.

. A photo may be a son or daughter of Robert Herbert Wilkinson & Louisa Ann Norton who lived in the Parry Sound area & had children there before moving to Alberta.

Ref: Please see, as of 2016, www:tths.ca, Trafalgar Township Historical Society for a complete listing. - - -

Birth:


Buried:
Palermo.

Elizabeth married Hiram Clark NORTON, .1 on 2 Apr 1867 in Saltfleet Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario. Hiram was born on 16 Sep 1846 in Tapleytown, Wentworth Co., Ontario; died on 24 Nov 1919 in Nelson Twp., Halton Co., Ontario; was buried in St. Luke's Anglican Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Clara A is the daughter of is the Clarissa Simons & Francis Wilkinson.

Clara A Wilkinson is the wife of Wm. B. Harrison. - - -

Notes:

Mary C is the daughter of is the Clarissa Simons & Francis Wilkinson.

Died:
Aged 1y 8m 12d = 18.1.1847

Buried:
Recumbent, cracked monuments.

Notes:

. 1881 May 13 Census Trafalgar, Halton Co.
Walter Wilkinson, Age 31, b. Ontario, Farmer, married
June Wilkinson, Age 20, Irish, married
Francis Wilkinson [the third}, age 11 months, born June 1880, Ontario. - - -

Died:
COD: Myocarditis & Arterio Sclerosis.

Buried:
Oakville.

Notes:

James is the son of Clarisa Simons & Frank Wilkinson.

James married 26 Jan 1881 to Demarius Norton, of Saltfleet Twp., sister to Clara E Wilkinson Norton. - - -

Buried:
Oakville.

James married Demarius NORTON on 26 Jan 1881 in Tapleytown, Wentworth Co., Ontario. Demarius was born in 1855 in Saltfleet Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Morley is the son of Maria Patterson & Geo H Wilkinson.

. Morley died in St. Josephs Hospital in Hamilton Ontario from pneumonia, he was 44 years old.

. Morley married Jeanette Elizabeth Vivian, known as Nettie, on December 20th 1911 in Halton County, Ontario Canada.

Children of Nettie vivian & Morley Wilkinson are:

Edna Marie Wilkinson,
William Henry Wilkinson
George Wesley Wilkinson
Edna May Wilkinson
Charles Ray Wilkinson
Harold Alexander Wilkinson - - -

Birth:


Died:
COD: Pneumonia, aged 44y.

Buried:
Palmero, Halton Co., Buried with parents.

Notes:

Buried:
Palermo. Buried with parents.

Notes:

Forbes Murder
Prudence & Alex Forbes & Prudence Norton 1843:

. 1882 was the 4th of 8 children of John Norton & Elizabeth Clark of Tapleytown, Saltfleet Twp., Wentworth Co.
3 of her siblings, Louisa, Hiram & Demarius married Wilkinson siblings of Palermo, Trafalgar Twp. Halton Co. They were Robert, Elizabeth & James "Andy"respectively. It is family lore that Hiram Norton, the 2 times great grandfather of the author Alan Norton, was a hired hand of Francis Wilkinson & Clarissa Simons & that is how he met their daughter Elizabeth. They married in 1867. How he got to be in Palermo is not known, a distance of 35 kilometers. Interestingly though, Robert W & Louisa N married in 1865. So who actually first made the Wilkinson-Norton connection & where is open to speculation. But obviously there was a close relationship between the 2 families, regardless of the distance which likely took 3 or 4 hours by horseback.

Prudence, the 4th Norton to be connected to Palermo, was married to Alex Forbes about 1864 in Hamilton, Canada West. Very little was known of Prudence's life however, for today's family historians. This all changed very dramatically in October of 2009 thanks to the author's fourth cousin, Catherine Richards of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She was able to determine that a Prudence Forbes had been killed in Hamilton, Ontario in June of 1882.
Further investigation in the Hamilton Spectator archives by Alan Norton at Burlington Library, showed that she had been shot to death by her husband Alex Forbes. He also murdered Prudence's employer George Ralston before taking his own life. The date was 21 June 1882.

From the first article on 22 June 1882 it became immediately apparent that this was Prudence Norton, sister of Louisa, Hiram & Demarius. As stated in the newspaper, Prudence's father John Norton had been visiting her only an hour before & while on his way home to Tapleytown was overtaken at Bartonville by someone on horseback with the horrible news that his daughter had been shot & killed.
Over the course of 3 days, in detail to rival today's sensationalist reporting, the Hamilton Spectator carried the story. On Thursday 22 June 1882 the headline was:

"THREE CORPSES. Horrible Double Murder & Suicide. A SHOCKING SCENE.
In reading the articles, Alan Norton was able to confirm Prudence's family lineage & find information pertaining to herself & her children.
. Prudence was the daughter of John Norton of Tapleytown & had a sister connected with Walker's confectionary store on King Street west.
. Alexander "Sandy" Forbes was the son of Alexander Forbes Sr. & lived with his father in Hamilton until he married Prudence Norton. After marriage, Forbes & Prudence removed to Palermo & carried on a potash factory, which they later sold & moved to the USA. Prudence & Alex Forbes had lived in Pittsburgh & Erie, Pennsylvania. Prudence & her children had left their home in Allegheney, NY as a result of her husband Alexander Forbes' continued drinking & ill treatment. . She had been separated from her husband for about 6 years at the time of the killings.

. The house where the murders took place was on Bold St. at the rear of Central School.
. She had been employed by Mr. Ralson for about 6 months as a housekeeper & nanny.
. There were 3 Forbes children: a daughter Kate & 2 boys Erney (sic) & Willy.
. Kate was recorded as both 17 &19 years of age at the time. Ernie was 9 & Willy 7.
. Kate Forbes was living with Mr. Bateman on Victoria Avenue at the time of the murders. The verdict of the coroner's jury was that Prudence's murder was premeditated. Prudence was buried at Tapleytown.

. DIED, FORBES - In this city, on Wednesday, the 21st inst, Prudence Forbes, aged 37 years, second eldest daughter of John Norton, Esq. of Tapleytown. Funeral will start at 10am from 71 Cathcart street north on Friday, the 23d inst, for Tapleytown M. E. Church. Friends & acquaintances will please accept this notice.
Ref: The Spectator's 23 June 1882.

In the summer of 2010, Debbie Havens, great granddaughter of Kate Forbes visited the author in Burlington, from her Colorado home. Debbie had been unaware of the tragedy surrounding her 2 times great grandparents until Alan Norton's investigation the year before. The author was able to show Debbie where the murders took place & the locations where the bodies now lay:

Prudence in Tapleytown Cemetery beside her mother & father, while Alexander is in Hamilton Cemetery, in an unmarked grave. From any indications in Debbie's family, her great grandmother Kate Forbes was a kind loving woman but not surprisingly, never discussed having witnessed the violent death of her mother Prudence. The author has never been able to ascertain where the Forbes potash factory was in Palermo & would welcome any information from readers.
Ref: Written by Alan Norton in Trafalgar Twp. Historical Society, Winter Newsletter 2014. - - -

Died:
Oakville.

Hiram married May MARTIN on 13 Jan 1900 in Hamilton, Barton Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario. May was born on 1 Sep 1879 in Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Obituary Cecil Hiram Norton
Ref: Burlington Gazette, published 14 Jun 1983, p54, Col 4. - - -

Birth:
at the Hamlet of Tapleytown, Saltfleet Twp. (i.e. near Stoney Creek.)

Buried:
Palermro. Black monument with large scroll/ cylinder on top.

Cecil married Gladys Agnes ROBINSON on 4 Apr 1923 in Palermo, Trafalgar Twp., Halton Co., Ontario. Gladys was born on 28 Jun 1903 in Tansley, Nelson, Twp., Halton County; died on 24 Jan 1974 in Burlington, Nelson Twp., Halton Co., Ontario; was buried in St. Luke's Anglican Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Clara is the daughter of Hiram G Norman and May Martin.

Birth:

Clara married William Earl ESSERY on 28 Feb 1925 in Mimico (Toronto) ,York Co., Ontario. William was born in 1890 in Mono Centre, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]