Version 6.01

11 February 2025

David March © 2014

EDNA SAUNDERS

Edna Della Brady was born in January 1886 in Iowa, USA to Eugene Harris Brady (b 1852) and Louisa Ackerman (b 1857). Her siblings were Cora (b 1883), John C (b 1888), Frank (b 1890), Blanche (b 1891), Edith (b 1893), Thomas L (Tom) (b 1897) and Leeta (b 1898). According to census records, the Bradys immigrated to Canada in 1901 or 1902 which is supported by homestead records. Eugene was issued a grant on SE-16-36-7-W3 in Vanscoy RM on 26 January 1906 which means he likely began to work that land about five years earlier.

According to Edna’s obituary, her family came to Saskatoon in 1902 and moved to Grandora, Saskatchewan in 1907. She married Thomas Percy Saunders on 2 February 1910 in Grandora. Thomas was born on 4 March 1884 in Stockwell, Quebec to William Saunders (1841-1922) and Margaret Eleanor McCort (1851-1942). His siblings were: Annie Maria (1876-1914), Mary Maude Wilhelmina (1877-1878), Bessie Emmerson (1879-1968), Ethel Alberta (1882-1959), William "James" (1886-1976), Nelson Taylor (1887-1945), Lydia Hazel (1889-1982) and Margaret Julia (1891-1968).

In 1891 his family was living in St Antoine, Chateauguay, Quebec and by 1906 he was homesteading on SE 32-30-10-W3 near Glenhurst, Saskatchewan. Edna and Percy had one son, William Eugene (1911-1969). By 1916 they had moved to Edmonton, Alberta where Thomas was a conductor. He enlisted for WWI on 31 January 1917 and their residence at that time was Alelstan, Quebec. Thomas was still a conductor. Thomas was first listed in the Saskatoon Henderson Directory in 1917 at #14 444 5th Ave N (active service). By 1921 he had returned from active duty and the family was living in Sutherland which is now a subdivision of Saskatoon.

Thomas died on 8 December 1953 and Edna on 6 February 1965. Both died in Saskatoon and were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

This family tree can be found on Ancestry under the title 3rd Ave Saunders Tree.

Lillian "Edna" Geralds was born on 27 October 1881 in Prescott, Leeds, Ontario to Walter Henry Geralds (1867-1918) and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Watson (1861-1954). Her siblings were: Charlotte Elizabeth (Lottie) (b 1878), Olga Annie Boyd ( b 1884), Walter Fieldhouse (1889-1891), Laura Gertrude (b 1892), Arthur Gordon (b 1895) and Francis Douglas (b 1896). In 1891 the Geralds family was living in Halifax, Nova Scotia and in 1901, Prescott, Grenville, Ontario.

Edna married Bernard (Bert) Saunders on 28 June 1905 in Grenville, Ontario. Bernard was born in January 1867 in Wellington, Somerset, England to Mark Saunders (1831-1905) and Mary Shepherd (1830-1919). His siblings were: Mary (1856-1929), Louisa Mary (1858-1949), Sarah Ann "Frances" (1859-1949), Amelia Ann (1861-1947), Emma J (1863-1945), Mark Richard (1864-1949), Grace (b 1870) and Ernest William Edgar Scunte (1872-1961). He was raised in Toronto, Ontario.

Edna and Bernard had one son, Bernard Gerald (1907-1910).

There is some doubt that the ancestry outlined above is that of the Bernard and Edna Saunders that were living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1921. The difference in their ages is similar, but the Bernard in the 1921 census had Ontario as his birth place and England for that of his parents. The Saskatoon Bernard was definitely not the son of Jemima and Thomas W Saunders - that Bernard did not marry an Edna. A search for other possible parents yielded no leads.

B Saunders was listed in Saskatoon Henderson Directories from 1916 to 1922. In 1916, he lived at #16 228 3rd Ave S and worked for Finnie and Murray. From 1917 to 1922 he lived at 427 4th Ave and generally had no listed occupation until 1922 when he was listed as an Agent for Great West Life Association. In the Henderson listings he was usually recorded as B Saunders, but the name was Bert in 1918 and Bernard in 1922. In the 1921 census, the name was recorded as Bernard. The couple could not be found in the 1911 or 1916 censuses, but Bernard and Edna were found at the 4th Ave address in the 1921 Saskatoon census. This is possibly the same couple who were listed in Toronto voter's lists in 1935 and 1957.

This family tree can be found on Ancestry under the title 3rd Ave Saunders 2 Tree.

There are two equally viable candidates for the Edna Saunders signature.

Candidate 1

Candidate 2