My Family History

My great-grandfather was born in Reach Township, Ontario County, Ontario, Canada as were most of his siblings. His parents were George Porteous (born in Elvington, Yorkshire, England in 1818) and Margaret Stewart (born ca. 1823 somewhere in the United States). The year was 1851. George became a cabinet maker, marrying Margaret ("Maggie") Reid in Toronto in 1874. The marriage registration indicates that he worked as a telegraph operator (possibly employed by the Montreal or Dominion Telegraph Company), although the bulk of the information I have suggests that he worked as a cabinet maker and furniture designer for most of his life. George and Maggie spent the first year of their married life at the home of Maggie's mother, Isabella (Harrison) Reid at 50 Nelson Street. Previously, the Reid family had lived on the southeast corner of Elm and Elizabeth Streets in a neighbourhood known as the Ward. A fire insurance map of 1899 shows their home address may have been 79 Elm; it