Seventy years ago, in 1954, seven brothers lived quietly on their family farm near Port Stanley in Elgin County. They shared it with their three sisters. None of them ever married.
Then, that year, Hollywood came calling. Promotion people for a new musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, thought seven real-life bachelor brothers might be good publicity for the movie. So they advertised, and found seven bachelor brothers in rural Ontario. For their part, the House brothers thought a trip to New York City and a movie premiere sounded like fun.
The brothers were Vernon, Clarence, William, George, Earl, Leland and Raymond House. Their sisters were Annie Belle, Ada and Marjorie. Sister Laura died in 1945 at the age of 34. Born between 1901 and 1928, they were children of William James House and Annie Waite.
I came across them, and this story, while googling Burwells in the Fingal Cemetery. The House parents and eleven children are buried there. The surname House was familiar to me from my genealogy database. So more searching to find the parents of their parents. I found them but, alas, not a connection to my family.
There are many connections between my Lymburner family and the House family in the Welland and Niagara area of Ontario. But no luck making any connection with this House family through the Lymburners either. So I welcome any help that readers can give.
Still, the story of the seven brothers has stuck with me. So here it is.
Great Day Arrives And House Brothers Leave For New York
All the excitement and exuberance that marks the anticipation of a first train ride bubbled over onto the platform and in the waiting room of the New York Central station here shortly before noon on Tuesday. It was apparent in the actions and the eyes of seven bachelor House brothers.
It was “D-Day” for the House brothers of Port Talbot, Vern, Earl, Ray, Lee, Bill, George and Clarence, who are New York-bound to attend the premiere of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s latest release “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”
Their three maiden sisters, Ada, Annabel and Marjorie, and a host of relatives and friends travelling from as far as Toronto, were on hand to bid them “bon voyage.” Getting into the act were a host of other travellers who were also waiting for the Empire State Express to pull alongside the station. They joined the merry throng.
Tuesday morning marked the end of three weeks of anticipation and a final two days of hectic preparation in the House-hold. It marked the end of a successful “manhunt” staged by managers of Loew’s theatres across United States and Canada. It was a manhunt for seven bachelor brothers and the House brothers were the only such septet turned up.
The seven brothers were at the station bright and early, more than an hour before the train was due to arrive. They were spic and span, ready to stand before television cameras and press photographers here and in New York. Their work-a-day gear was left back on the farm and they were off to the big city in their Sunday-go-to-meet-in-best. Joking and good natured jesting was the order of the day.
It was a big morning for the seven brothers. According the MGM’s representative, Fred Jackson, manager of Loew’s Theatre in London, Ont., none of the brothers had ever been away for a long train ride before. Their only previous experience with railroad travel had been on the London and Port Stanley railway. Mr. Jackson was on hand to see them safely on their way to New York.
Travelling with them is a London, Ont., reporter, Norman Riddiough, who will send back stories for The Canadian Press.
Among those on hand to wish the brothers the “best of luck,” were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Waite, 67 Flora street, an aunt and uncle; George Waite, another uncle (his wife, Elizabeth, wanted to be present but illness prevented it); Mrs. Aileen Thorpe, Fingal, a cousin; Mrs. Donald McLellan, a neighbor; Richard Timewell, Fingal; Mr. and Mrs. William Edwards and family, Toronto; all good friends of the House brothers. Just before the train was due to arrive, Frank Curtis, R.R. 1, St. Thomas, Bill House’s boss, drove up to extend his west wishes to the “boys.”
Then, with photographs for newspaper and television taken, the brothers boarded a sleek and shiny NYC passenger coach, waved “goodbye” from the windows and were eastward bound, not to return until next Monday evening.
St. Thomas Times-Journal, July 1954
Bachelor Brothers in movie
In the movie, Howard Keel, Jacques d’Amboise, Matt Mattox, Marc Platt, Tommy Rall, Jeff Richards and Russ Tamblyn play the seven brothers. Jane Powell, Betty Carr, Norma Doggett, Virginia Gibson, Nancy Kilgas, Ruta Lee and Julie Newmar play their brides.
In 1850s Oregon, a man decides to marry. His six brothers decide they want to as well. So they go to town and find themselves some women. Dancing and singing ensues.
Bachelor brothers in real life
In 1950s Elgin County, the House brothers returned home from their trip to the Big Apple. Back to their sisters and their farm. But people didn’t forget their story, or the musical. When a television series loosely based on the movie began in 1982, reporters came calling on the House brothers again.
Seven Brides recalls local story
By Richard Loesch of The Free Press
A new CBC series, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, brings to mind an unusual entertainment story which happened in the London area 28 years ago.
In 1954, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced the hit musical by the same name, starring Howard Keel and Jane Powell. To promote the film, somebody at MGM came up with the idea of trying to find seven real-life bachelor brothers.
News about the search ran in about 60 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada, including the London Free Press. A small three-inch long item in this newspaper found the bachelors – seven brothers named House in the Port Stanley area. No other place on the continent could match the find.
All but one of the House brothers were farmers. Four worked their Lake Erie-edge farm near Port Stanley. Two worked on other farms in the district and the seventh was employed by an auto parts firm in St. Thomas.
That led to a six-day whirlwind trip to New York City for the shy, non-smoking, non-drinking brothers. They hit the high spots, going to many of them accompanied by professional models provided by their hosts. One of the events was the premiere of the movie at Radio City Music Hall. The Free Press sent a reporter along to tell the folks back home all about it.
After they got back from New York, they went to the film’s Canadian premiere at the Loew’s Theatre in London – a first for this city.
Inevitably, the years have brought changes to the House brothers. One has died and another is in a nursing home. Their ages range from 59 to 80. Four still work the farm. And all have remained bachelors.
When they went to New York, their hosts told them, jokingly, that while they would be shown a good time, that didn’t go as far as finding brides for them. The big-city boys needn’t have bothered. The brothers seemed to be quite content with their unmarried status.
In an interview in 1962, Earl was the only one to even try to explain why the seven never married. “I guess we’re too choosy,” he said.
Reading the stories about their trip, one gets the impression the brothers were not overwhelmed by it. They took it all in stride. New York was interesting, maybe even enjoyable for some of them, but they sure wouldn’t want to live there.
When I talked to Raymond by telephone the other day, I asked if he ever thought about the trip. He answered with one word, “Nope.”
Now, back to the new series, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. A special 90-minute preview is scheduled Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS. After that, it will run as an hour-long show Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
CBS calls it family drama with musical highlights. The network says it is “loosely based on the 1954 film, but unlike the film, is set in contemporary times.”
Peter Horton, one of the stars in the series, thinks that skeptical critics as well as the public will be “extremely, pleasantly surprised” with the show. For that matter, so is he.
He admits that when he first heard about producer David Gerber’s plan to adapt the big-screen musical into a series, he said, “Oh, come on!” Horton really didn’t care for the movie that much, and he thought, “What they’ll do is make it into a real cutesy, boring thing.”
He claims it’s emerging as anything but that.
“It’s got a texture I never expected,” he says. “It’s got dirt – not nasty dirt, but rural dirt – and they’re dealing with issues in it, real-life situations. I’m thrilled about that.”
I wonder if the House brothers will be watching?
London Free Press, 17 September 1982
The television series ran for one season of 22 episodes. It starred Richard Dean Anderson, Drake Hogestyn, Peter Horton, Roger Wilson, Tim Topper, Bryan Utman and River Phoenix as the seven McFadden brothers. Terri Treas played Hannah, wife of eldest brother Adam (Richard Dean Anderson). Other women came and left, episode to episode. The series left too after that first season.
The House siblings stayed for many more years in the Port Stanley-St. Thomas area. In 2018, the St. Thomas Times-Journal printed a story about them, “Bachelor brothers from Elgin made big splash in the Big Apple.” From it, the other newspaper articles and Find A Grave, I put together part of their family tree. Here is the chart.
