Amelia married Gilbert Williams of Falmouth, who followed the sea. She sometimes went with him, leaving her two children, Gilbert and Amelia, with her mother. The son, Gilbert, lived in Falmouth. He was an engineer, and had a large family. We visited them while in England. One daughter was named Mary Harris Dodge, for me, and one Julia Osler, for my sister Julia. My cousin Gilbert had a good mind and was well educated, but was never very successful in life. He died several years ago. His children are doing well, and are still located in Falmouth. His sister Amelia had always lived with them, being of feeble intellect and a great care. My Aunt Williams had a hard struggle in life. She was early left a widow, and her health was delicate, but she supported her family by teaching, and educated her children. Her health failed, however, and at last her reason gave way. She was for some time in the Bodmin Asylum, but later her reason returned, and she lived some years with her son, and died in Falmouth a few years ago.
Sarah, the youngest daughter, was nine years of age when the family returned from the Cape. She was adopted by her Aunt Harris and her husband, and through them received an excellent education—a thing very difficult to acquire in those days. She remained with them till their death, then went to Camborne to her sisters, and afterwards secured a situation in Truro, where she became engaged to a man much older than herself. She lost her interest in him as the time drew near for her marriage, and determined not to marry him. Hearing of a family who were going to Gibraltar and wished a governess, she at once secured the position, and after a hasty farewell to her mother, having gained her very unwilling consent, she left England in two days. This was in 1838. In 1840 she married Mr. Watson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who belonged to the Royal Artillery. At the end of two years they returned to England, and were stationed at Woolwich, but in 1845 they removed to Edinburgh. In 1852 the discovery of gold in Australia created a rush to that colony. My Aunt Sarah with her family removed there, her husband joining in the search for gold with varying success, while she labored energetically to rear and educate her children.
She was a widow for some years before her death. Her children, of whom six lived to grow up, were a great comfort and an honor to her. They are all respectably settled in Australia. Her eldest daughter, Julia Osler, married a Mr. Thomas Sayle, and they now live at Queenscliff, Australia. My sister Julia met them in her journey to the East, in 1900, as well as another daughter, Mrs. Evans, and two sons, William and Arthur, the latter of whom has since died. My Aunt Watson died after a short illness a few years ago,—I have not the exact date. In a letter received from my Aunt Sarah, dated June 10, 1872, she thus speaks of my mother:—
"My first recollection of your mother was when we returned from the Cape. I was then nine years old. She was much occupied by business, but often on evenings she would take a walk in a quiet, beautiful lane near our home, with your Aunt Phillis and myself. In these rambles I first learned to love nature and poetry, for, to our delight, she would repeat to us choice poems which I have never forgotten. She sowed the seeds of a love of literature in my mind, which time has never effaced and which has been a solace to me in prosperity and adversity. I never think of my dear sister Jane but as the most perfect and consistent Christian I ever knew."
She also quotes from a letter written to her by my mother, August 15, 1844, in which she says:—
"Mary is smaller than our other children, but she is a kind-hearted little creature, and is able to render me many little services. I think her disposition resembles that of our dear mother. Joseph is naturally self-willed, and little Susan volatile. Ann Jane is now two years old. She is an engaging little creature, and can sing and talk remarkably well. She is named for her two grandmothers."
Of the two sons, my Uncle Stephen Osler remained at the Cape. He was for many years a teacher in the government schools. I had for some years an interesting correspondence with him. He had two sons, Stephen and Benjamin, and a very sweet daughter, Katherine Jane, who died quite young. The sons were both men of position and influence at the Cape. My uncle and his wife both died some years ago.
My Uncle Benjamin returned to England and established his business there. He lived for some years in Barnstaple, and died of apoplexy, February 3, 1864. He left two sons, both of whom were men of character. One of them, Rev. Benjamin Osler of Exmouth, afterwards became a Baptist clergyman. I have recently had a delightful correspondence with him, and my sister Susan has met him and his family. He has two sons, John Stephen and Ernest Edward, both of whom have children.
I should have inserted before a sketch of the family of my Uncle John Toy, with whom we have been more intimately connected than with any other branch of either family. My uncle married Jane Rule of Camborne, and they had four daughters and one son. The eldest, Mary Ann, married Mr. Josephus Snell. He was a builder and contractor, and had a prosperous business. They removed to London, and most of their life was spent there. They had a very pleasant home, and Mr. Snell owned several houses which he rented. They have both died within a few years. The second daughter, Amelia, married James Snell, a brother of Josephus. They had two daughters. Asenath, the elder, was adopted by her Uncle Josephus, as they had no children of their own. She married Edward Brundell, and their home was in London. Louisa, the younger, always lived with her parents. My cousin Amelia died quite suddenly about two years ago. Jennefer married Philip Morshead of Camborne. They had two children: a son, John, who has always been a teacher, and a daughter, Annie Davis, who has been also a very successful teacher. My cousin Jennefer was a little older than myself, and was very fond of us as children before we left England. She was a favorite of my mother, and I always corresponded with her occasionally. Both she and her husband have recently died. Jane, the youngest, married John Gilbert, since captain of one of the large mines, and a man of much intelligence and influence. He has made several visits to America in the interest of the mines, also he was sent to India, where he was employed for two years by the mine-owners. They have a pleasant home in Camborne and three fine children: two sons, Arthur and Bertie, who are both in business, and Leonora, a sweet girl who is soon to be married to a Wesleyan minister.[2] The only son, John Toy, was not as successful as the rest. He came to America, and went from here to Australia, where he died some years ago.
I wish also to mention the family of my aunt, Mrs. Mary Ann Sims. She was my father's only remaining sister when we visited England in 1882. She was then living with her daughter, Mrs. Arthur, in Camborne, and was about eighty years of age. She was a lovely old lady, petite in figure, exquisitely neat in dress, her face beaming with kindness from beneath one of the snowy caps with which her grandson, Johnnie Arthur, delighted to keep her supplied. She was greatly beloved by her grandchildren, and the pet of all the nieces and nephews. She reared a large family of children, who are widely scattered. One son has long lived in Norway, and is the father of Joseph Sims of Simsbury, Connecticut. One is the Rev. James Sims[3] of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was for many years a Methodist minister in Wisconsin. Reverend and Mrs. James Sims celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage in 1907, when they were both over eighty. They had ten children, of whom seven are still living, Mrs. Mary Bainbridge being best known to us. Two sons and two daughters are living in England.