The article is by John Patton and it is called the Ballad of Syd and Annie: A Genealogical Mystery, and it is a story of two people, whose story is totally unbelievable. Sydney Frank LEWER (1892- c.1925), is an Englishman who immigrated to Canada in 1909. He gave so many birthdates, it is difficult to understand exactly when he was born. And the plot thickens when he meets Annie HOSKO. There was apparent deception in an adoption process of a son, unusual evidence in a his First World War military record, prison sentence because of a bigamy charge, and on and on it goes. Their life together was turbulent, to say the least, ending with the fact that he possibly may have died in 1925 – at least his wife declared herself a widow at that time.
This article shows that good research can go a long way in resolving these genealogical mysteries such as this.
The index of Early Bytown Settlers Index in this issue go from the letter D to the I. It gives the name, reference and page number, and some information, such as where they lived, their occupation, their age.
The reminder of the journal is filled with news of the Ottawa Branch of the OGS, Interesting Web Sites, Branch Library Additions, and Gleanings from Newsletters in the Ottawa Branch Library.
To go to the website of the Ottawa Genealogical Society, the website is at http://ogsottawa.on.ca