Mabee Graves

These are the gravestones of Nancy Mabee Ostrander and her family at Jackson Cemetery near Courtland, Ontario. Len Fluhrer, a London local history writer, sent me the photos. He took them while at the cemetery with Kate Ford who is part of the Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project.

Near Jackson Cemetery, on the Otter River, is the site of the Middleton Hotel. James Clark(e) Ostrander owned the hotel with his first wife Nancy Mabee and, later, his second wife Louisa Maria Haney. About 1910, the hotel was washed away in a river flood.

If you’d like to see these places on an old map, follow Mr. Fluhrer’s directions:

“Go to the Historical Atlas from 1878 online free from McGill University. Select Middleton Township from the map. Click on to view a large version and wait – the map is huge.

Follow the Goshen Road

Follow the Goshen Road into Courtland the cemeteries are on the line of the old road I believe. The name Goshen itself has a hidden meaning to the Quakers, Methodists and Baptists and it connects the faiths to Genessee Conference which dates back to the early Calvinists in the 1600s.

Mabee’s Corners is still marked on Google Maps. It’s south of Tillsonburg on 38 Talbot Road leading out of Courtland. On the old map Mabee’s Corners would be almost directly above the Ostrander Hotel on the Talbot Road.”

Seeking information

Mr. Fluhrer is also looking for information on the career of Dr. George Haney, a relative and noted physician of London, Ontario. Dr. Haney’s gravestone is in the nearby Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery (853 Colonel Talbot Road, Middleton Township, Norfolk County).

You can follow the family history with my Mabee Family Tree. If you wish to contact Mr. Fluhrer, please comment on this page and I will send the information on to him.