Question about the Blastorah Name

A question about the name Blastorah and my answer, so that everyone can see it. To make a long story short, I don't know what the origin of the name is but I will try to find out! It's interesting to see how the name evolved in the census, in which the recorders were known to make mistakes and write down names as they heard them. I will be heading to Vienna and Venice in August to search through the military and church records and see what I can find.  

Hi Jennifer,  What do you know of the origin of the name Blastorah.  I would like to think I have the story correct.  I noticed the spelling in some of your records as Blastore.  I had always heard that it was at one time Blaustora, a German spelling.

A.K.

Answer: The name Blausaura I've seen before...my dad had it written down on one of his many papers. It's actually an old German name for prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide I think. There are so many stories I've heard about the origin of the name, and the disappearance and reappearance of the h. I think the family members that went to the States during WWI took off the h in order to stay hidden from the conscription authorities (as you see in the Salt Water Taffy shop photo). But the h appeared already in the 1901 census, so I have a feeling it was around for quite a long time. Each census the name was spelled differently, but all the family members signed the name as we spell it today, dating all the way back to the 1910s. Here is the information I have right now on hand about the spelling of the name in the censuses:

1881: Blastore
1891: Blastero
1901: Blasterah
1911: Blastorah

1911 Census - First time recorded spelling 'Blastorah' listing Catharine, Margaret (Geta), and Will

(this info will be helpful for anyone wishing to search through the census data themselves...without the exact spelling, you don't get any hits! So it takes a lot of guesses before you find it!)
Canadian Census Archives

I can't find any ship records with the name Bernard or Blastorah (or anything similar) on it around the time he would have immigrated. He probably came over in secret, since I heard he jumped ship and then the name wouldn't have been recorded. What I will do is have a look for this guy named Dickson. Apparently, the original Blastorah came over with a Brit with the last name Dickson whose uncle ran all the Mills around Harwood at the time.
(My guess is that this man, Samuel Dickson, was his uncle)

If I can find out who Dickson was, which I think I'm on the trail, then I can try to figure out which ship they came over in and go from there.

Jen
ps: If anyone else has any tips or hints, I would love to hear them. Even the smallest detail might help in the search for old records.

Frederick Leo Blastorah (1874-1930)

Frederick Blastorah died on September 12th, 1930. It’s usual to describe a person beginning with the start of their life, but I’d like to begin at the end. Fred’s little brother Bernard was deeply affected by the passing of his brother, as the inscription on the cover of this book attests.

 In the year he died, Fred was listed in the U.S. Census as living in Atlantic City, New Jersey with his wife (Julia) Annie (Corkery) Blastorah (1868-1947) and with his two daughters (Mary) Anastasia (1906-1983) and (Bridget) Corrinne (1909-1996). My dad tells me that Fred died of cancer, but I’m not sure of what kind. The girls were in their twenties when their father died.

 Fred had immigrated to the United States in March of 1917. It seems that several of the siblings left Harwood around that time (Will and Katie as well). I have been told that one reason for this was to escape mandatory military service during WWI. Fred travelled with his wife and two daughters via ship first to Rochester, New York and then continued on to St. Albans, Vermont. He registered himself as being of Irish origin at the time of his border crossing, probably to avoid suspicion.

(For information about the ferry crossing, see this website: http://www.cobourghistory.ca/ferry.htm  )

Fred was born around 1874 in Harwood, Ontario. His name first appears in the 1881 census where he is listed as being 7 years old.

He and his family had spent some time in Ste. Anne de Monts in Quebec during the first decade of the 20th century. There exists a picture of his eldest daughter Anastasia in her first carriage in that town.

 

Anastasia, it has been said, suffered from Schizophrenia and lived most of her life in an institution in the state of New York. Her illness likely caused great grief to her family, particularly during an era where stigmas surrounding psychological disorders remained strong. As far as I know, neither of Fred’s daughters had any children of their own.

Fred was the eldest son of the first generation of Canadian Blastorahs. His father, Bernard Blastorah, an Italian immigrant, would have been around 50 years old at the time of his son’s birth. His mother, Catherine O’Sullivan Whaley, was born in the U.S. to Irish parents, and was raised in the Northumberland, Ontario area. She would have been around 25 when Fred was born.

Fred, Katie, Fred Triplican, Will, Captain (the dog)

Fred lived a short life, having died in his fifties. For this reason there is relatively little documentation about him. While most of his siblings returned to Harwood at some point in their lives, Fred was never afforded the chance. Nevertheless, from the existing information, it seems Fred was close to his siblings and enjoyed spending time with them, hunting and spending time outdoors during his youth. Any further information about Frederick Leo Blastorah (not to be confused with his nephew Leo Frederick Blastorah) would be appreciated. Feel free to contact me by email, or make additions in the comments section here underneath my post.

J.B.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Sources

Canada Censuses. Library and Archives Canada.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/census/index-e.html (accessed 08/07/12)

Family Photographs

Family Oral History

https://www.familysearch.org/search/records/index#count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3ABlastorah~ (accessed 08/07/12)

http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/person/9056024/corinne-blastorah-profile-and-genealogy (accessed 08/07/12)

http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/person/19339828/anastasia-blastorah-profile-and-genealogy (accessed 08/07/12)

*As I'm unsure about the spelling of Frederick (due to various spellings documented) I decided to use 'Frederick' until I'm told otherwise. 

Tierney House- Update

As a quick addition to my post on the Tierney House in Fort Francis, I have a document to add. I had forgotten that in one of Bernard Blastorah's (II) old ledgers he had a hand drawn map of the house plan. I will upload the pics below.

Jen

Bottom end of drawing

Top end of drawing

***Second Update
I came across a couple of other records in B. Blastorah's personal book that document this property on 250 Church St. as well:

1920 Vehicle Permit

1922 Renting of Basement

1925 Sale of House