"Born Aug. 6, 1834; married in Bayham, Ont. by Rev. M. S. McConnell, Sarah Amelia Dakin (George, Daniel, Abram), daughter of George and Phebe Ann (Young, daughter of Job and Hannah (Barnes) Young) Dakin, Dec. 24, 1856, and lived on the west side of his father's farm, south side of the second concession, a farmer. As he was appointed one of the executors of his father's will, in order to get funds to pay off legacies, he went to British Columbia, spring of 1862, and did well, but in coming home in the fall he was induced to stop in California and try his hand at gold mining, and somehow in Esmeralda, Mono Co., he contracted some distemper and started for Stockton to a water cure, and was found dead in bed Aug., 1863. His widow married 2nd, James, son of Michael Timmons (b.1830), July 4, 1866, and live on the same old farm."

Source: Chute, William Edward. A Genealogy and History of the Chute Family in America: With Some Account of the Family in Great Britain and Ireland, with an Account of Forty Allied Families Gathered from the Most Authentic Sources. Salem, Massachusetts, 1894. Pages 120-121

"Aaron Chute lived on the west side of his father's farm, south side of the second concession, a farmer. As he was appointed one of the executors of his father's will, in order to get funds to pay off legacies, he went to British Columbia, spring of 1862, and did well, but in coming home in the fall he was induced to stop in California and try his hand at gold mining, and somehow in Esmeralda, Mono Co., he contracted some distemper and started for Stockton to a water cure, and was found dead in bed Aug., 1863. His widow married 2nd, James, son of Michael Timmons (b. 1830), July 4, 1866, and live on the same old farm."

"Born in Bosanquet, Lambton Co., Ont. July 17, 1856; was with his parents in Minnesota and Arkansas; married Caroline, daughter of Christian Bouer, March 4, 1878, and lived in Hillsborough, Wis."

Source: Chute, William Edward. A Genealogy and History of the Chute Family in America: With Some Account of the Family in Great Britain and Ireland, with an Account of Forty Allied Families Gathered from the Most Authentic Sources. Salem, Massachusetts, 1894. Page 172.

"Here is what we've learned from a variety of sources re the story of Andrew's life. Somewhere I have a pic of the Wilcox daughter Maud who in our family circles has always been accepted as Andrew's illegitimate daughter. He did of course have a daughter Maud with his first wife who I believe was a city clerk in Hillsboro, WI.

Andrew Fuller Chute (son of Alfred Chute and Olivia Miner) was born 17 Jul 1856 in Bosanquet, Lambton County, Ontario. He was with his parents in Minnesota and Arkansas while growing up. He married Caroline Bouer 4 Mar 1878 and they had 4 children between 1879 and 1884 (Alfred Hervey, Hattie-died young, Maud Olivia & Adolph Andrew) and lived in Hillsboro, Wisconsin. This much we know from his daughter Maud Olivia's compilation of the descendants of Alfred Chute.

Apparently Andrew and Caroline's marriage was not a happy one and by ca. 1890-95 they were not living together and Andrew had shown up in Blue Earth, Minnesota and was staying with a family by the name of Wilcox. As we shall see the lives of Andrew F. and the Wilcox family are from this point inextricably intertwined for the next 40 or 50 years!

Shortly thereafter he accompanied his nephews Andrew Augustus and Alfred Edward (teenaged sons of his older brother Martin Luther) west into Oregon and Washington. Then about 1901 he arrived in Innisfail, Alberta (at that time this was part of the North West Territories & not yet a province) and took up a homestead (under the Dominion Lands Act) in the Milnerton area east of town. Accompanying Andrew F were the Wilcox family who also took up a homestead in the area, next to Wallace Parcher who besides farming, operated a small country store and a community hall (Parcher's Hall) where the whole countryside gathered for dances etc.

"Dominion Lands Act: An act passed by the federal government in 1872 in order to encourage settlement. Under the terms of this act, the government provided 160 acres (65 hectares) of free land to each head of a family or 21 year-old male if he paid a $10 registration fee, resided on the land for three years, cultivated 30 acres (12 hectares), and built a permanent dwelling."

In 1905 Andrew's nephew, Alfred Edward (my grandfather), arrived in Innisfail from Yakima, Washington, where he had been working on the irrigation system in the Yakima valley. He had come simply for a visit with his Uncle but at Parcher's he met 23 year old Mary Lucenetta Clark who was working at that time for Wallace Parcher. They were married 17 Nov 1905 and Alfred also took up a homestead, on the same section as that of his Uncle Andrew. My Uncle Alfred M. (b.31 Jul 1906) and my Aunt Edyth (b. 30 Oct 1908) were born on this homestead. On the night Edyth was born there was an early winter storm that my grandfather always claimed was the worst one he had ever seen. Andrew F. on a saddle horse almost lost his life in an unsuccessful attempt to bring a midwife. Fortunately, Grandad and Andrew were able to get help from a nearby neighbor with the help of a good team and a sleigh with a high box and lots of blankets.

Sometime in 1909/1910, probably because of crop failures, and at least on my Grandad's part, a disinclination for the farming life, Grandad, Andrew F. and the Wilcoxs moved into Innisfail. The elder Wilcox daughter, Mary, married Whit Gunston and lived in Innisfail for many years. My grandparents raised their family here. My Dad (Edward Clark) came along 21 Apr 1915 and my Uncle Bill (Willys Glen) 1 May 1922. Grandad passed away in May 1970 after 65 years in the district. However, Andrew F. stayed on for only a few years before moving to the Albany/Salem area of Oregon. And the Wilcoxs went with him--or vice versa. Sometime after 1919 they were joined by the Gunstons who settled in Scio, Oregon about 10 miles northwest of Albany.

Andrew owned a small farm near Albany and in 1919 the Wilcoxs (along with their younger daughter Maud) were living there with him. The Wilcoxs had previously purchased a small holding of about 5 acres but in 1919 they were renting the house and a small garden plot to my newly married great Uncle Glen ( youngest son of Martin Luther Chute). Maud Wilcox worked for a time in Albany, apparently while she was still living with her parents. She later transferred to Salem where she met and married one Harry McWorter. It is commonly accepted in our family circles that in fact Maud was Andrew's illegitimate daughter by Emma Wilcox.

(Somewhere I have a picture of this Maud Wilcox and my great Aunt Lou Tester, my maternal grandfather's sister, taken, I believe at Parchers. My Grandad Tester actually courted Maud briefly before marrying my Grandmother Minnie Scott from New Brunswick. So he nearly married a Chute but married instead a Scott and had a daughter who married a Chute!!)

There is always so much more behind a life than births, deaths & marriages which often, unfortunately, is all we know of our ancestors.

I am also enclosing an extract of a letter send to me by Glennis Lynch, eldest daughter of Glen Chute my grandad's kid brother. It sheds more light on Andrew F & the Wilcox family as well as telling more about her own family.

Extracted from a letter from Glennis Jul 2002:

"... to respond to your inquiry about Andrew Fuller and where he lived in Oregon. It was not far outside Albany, probably due North, I think I remember going one direction for a while, then rounding a curve and the house was on the right side of the road.. When you try to remember a place, do you get pictures in your mind? Mom and Dad lived on the same property for about a year. I remember a small weathered building, actually little more than a shed. When we went inside, it was very dark. The Wilcox house was small and close to the ground. AFC lived with them, I am sure he was paying the bills. He seemed to always have money, he carried a Railroad watch, big with a loud tick. I believe he was a retired conductor. Aunty Wilcox was a round little woman with white hair and seemed always cheerful to me. I was born October 15, 1920, while the folks lived on that property and Dad sent immediately for his mother (MEC) and Arthur Glen Gregory (AGG) to come and "take care of him" while Mother was in the hospital. We were still in that little unpainted building when I was about 8 months old, only now it was Mom, Dad, MEC, AGG and me. Mother took me and went visiting to Idaho in early June and did not return until mid-September. MEC and AGG were finally gone in October living with Uncle Ernest in Peshastin, Washington, where he was teaching school. MEC and AGG spent the summers with us 1922 through 1924. Uncle Ernest settled them in a small house in Edgewood, Washington (near Tacoma) about 1925 and provided money, monthly. The rest of their livelihood, meats, dairy products, chickens, eggs, vegetables, transportation, came from my parents.

We had moved to Meeker's Corner which was near Jefferson on the Santiam River, 13 miles out of Albany somewhere around my 1st birthday. Andrew Fuller visited us there quite often. I was his "Tootsen." He was a likable man, tall and as I remember, clean, handsome and laughing, he always had Hershey chocolate bars, nickles and pennies, large, small and Indian heads in his pocket change which he gave to me. He let me listen to the tick of his railroad watch. He also gave me the railroad spike I used as an equalizer against AGG when I was 2 years old. Dad was transferred by the Oregon Highway Department and we moved to Burnt Woods, westward toward Newport Beach. AFC was with the Wilcox couple when we left Oregon in the Spring of 1927(??). When Mr. Wilcox died, he and Emma married and moved to Salem where they lived until she died, then he returned to Hillsboro, Wisconsin, where he died March 6, 1949. AFC and Emma had two daughters who were married and lived in the area, one was in Salem. I think the married names were Long (Dixie Fay Long, grandchild in Portland) and Bobbie McWhorter, a grandchild in Salem.) This is information from about 1925 or 1926. The daughters would have been about the same age as my mother (April 4, 1900) so AFC and Emma's relationship was a longstanding one. I know I have written this before, maybe I did not sent it to you. Mr. Wilcox was not capable of being a father because of an injury during some horseplay on his job. AFC provided for the two girls, but they did not like him. Mother told me this. Dad was killed March 15, 1974 in an auto accident. Mother was badly injuried, Bob and Laurel told me that Dad did not believe in seat belts. He did not want to be "pinned down." He was thrown against the steering wheel and his liver ruptured. They said he bled to death in about 45 seconds. Mother was thrown against the windshield and had blackened eyes and a big lump plus a shattered collarbone."

1. You asked earlier about what related evidence we had re: the tale of the wandering Andrew and that got me thinking. I found mention of Maud Wilcox being really Andrews daughter in letters from Margaret Chute and from Glennis Lynch and from my Uncle Alfred (Dad's older brother). Also my mother's father was briefly engaged to young Maud Wilcox and he also accepted this as common knowledge. Mom also heard this from her mother-in-law Mary (Clark) Chute. Andrew Fuller and the Wilcoxes left the farm east of Innisfail, AB and moved into town and built a house. The Wilcoxes operated it as a rooming house and Andrew Fuller along with my granddad Chute (AE Chute) operated a livery stable in town. There was never any hint of Andrew Fuller's wife being anywhere around or even if anyone at the time knew of Andrew's first family. I do know that Granddad Chute many years later was very excited to learn he had a cousin Maud in Hillsboro WI. BTW I beleive he discovered this through his association with your Granddad.

2. Now it occurred to me that I might try to find out what happened to Caroline and Andrew's first family. And after pouring over many pages of census images I found her. In the 1900 US Census she was still living in Hillsboro, Vernon Co. WI with her 3 chidren now 20, 18 & 15. She is listed as HEAD of family but unemployed. Her oldest son is working as a HOSTLER and 18 year old Maud is teaching school in town, supposedly between them keeping the family solvent. Maybe old Andy sent something home periodically? But the kicker is that her marital status is listed as WIDOWED! At least certainly deserted as our family always believed. By the way Andrew, Caroline and baby Alfred are listed living together in Hillsboro in the 1880 US Census.

3. But that's not all. I was on a roll & thought I'd look in the 1920 US Census for Oregon. Lo & behold there is Andrew market garden farming in Knox Hill Twp., Linn Co., Oregon, owning his own home and having living with him...old man Wilcox (Andrew J) aged 74 and his wife Emmaline C. Wilcox. BUT GET THIS...also living there was Andrew's first wife Caroline. One can only imagine the kind of open living arrangement they all had....wife, mistress & hubby all under the same roof!!!!!! Was this a reconciliation? Apparently Caroline died two years later. Andrew & the Wilcoxes carried on and Andrew Wilcox passed away and Andrew Fuller married Emma ca. 1926. When Emma died Andrew returned to Hillsboro an old man most likely in search of support from his first family. All in all a rather interesting tale don't you think?"

"Live on his father's farm, 4th concession, Malahide, 2 children."

Source: Chute, William Edward. A Genealogy and History of the Chute Family in America: With Some Account of the Family in Great Britain and Ireland, with an Account of Forty Allied Families Gathered from the Most Authentic Sources. Salem, Massachusetts, 1894

Two more children, Alma and Bessie, were born after William Edward Chute compiled his data, for a total of four. Alma was born in Aylmer, so this may have been the location of the farm.

Chute Family Data Worksheet

Source: Chute, William Edward. A Genealogy and History of the Chute Family in America: With Some Account of the Family in Great Britain and Ireland, with an Account of Forty Allied Families Gathered from the Most Authentic Sources. Salem, Massachusetts, 1894. Pages 121-122.