Tombstone Tuesday & Great Grandpa Dennie *Updated Dec 12, 2016*

   Well I figured that since I have just started trying to blog regularly that I would concentrate on a theme for the most part. With remembrance day having just past and having looked at Great Grandpa Dennie, I figure lets continue with some other info.  His tombstone was purchased and placed on his grave sometime within the last 15 yrs or so. My Great Aunt Pinkie (Glady) one of his last surviving children and sister to my deceased Grandmother Elva, still lived in the Hamilton Ontario area, and so her children bought the tombstone as a gift for her. She wanted to see to it that he had a stone at some point; but was never able to afford one. She was laid to rest next to him June 1, 2007.  As I said in the blog on his enlistment into the Canadian Expeditionary Force of WWI he lied about his age to enter service, listing a date of birth in 1899.  He later continued the lie, as can be noted in the post with his son Ordell's birth certificate. He stated on that form that he was born in 1899 also. I have the 1901 census with him and his family and it was dated April 8th of 1901 and at the time William George was 2 months old. I  think the parents and census taker would be able to clearly tell the difference of a 2 month old and a 2 year old.  This would seem to be the most accurate and reliable record. So even here because of all the lies and mystery surrounding his age in life, the family still recorded the year of his birth incorrectly on his Tombstone.  Just one example of a complete record to determine the truth.  

     **So Ignore all this section in yellow. A bit of family lore that was handed down and the facts I found earlier seemed to prove them out. However I have since found the marriage record for William George Dennie and my great grandmother Gladys Forwell and on it, it gives his mothers name as Maria Chappell. I always believed that where I was seeing Mary for his mothers name that it was her Catholic Baptized name of Mary and her given name was the one I had as Sarah (Walker). Now we know it was Maria Chappell and so I have expunged the records of the Walker lineage and added the Chappell lineage to the official record.  He was born in 1899 and entered the service at the age of 18. His mother was probably reluctant to see him go and so the lore that she signed him in falsely as being born in 1899 grew.  Well we can now 'Remember When....' with some accuracy.  Updated Dec 12, 2016 by author of blog John Goodwin**