Wrinkle

(submitted by Lew McGregor)

Joseph Wrinkle (c.1829–1892) was born in the United States. He was a slave who escaped through the Underground Railway and eventually settled in the Napier (Middlesex County) area. He worked for Captain Beer’s family.

Joe was a strong man, an excellent singer and violin player. An article from the London Free Press (Apr. 30, 1932) reported that a white man hired him for $40 a year. After he stayed a year the man gave him $20 and told him to come back later. When Joe came back a month later the man told him that he did not have the money but that Joe could marry his daughter and they would be square. Joe married Scottish red-headed Mary Sarah McPhail (1843–1886) from Elgin County in about 1860. He and his wife often entertained in the community. Joseph and Mary had 13 children.

The Wrinkles’ son James Henry (1867–1931) married Charlotte Louise (Lottie) Williamson (1881–1954) in 1902. Lottie was the daughter of Benjamin Williamson and Annie Thelma McNee of Warwick. James Henry worked as a section hand for the Canadian National Railway.

James Henry and Lottie had two children: James Arthur (1902–1958) and Aileen Louise (1904–1988). Arthur worked at Imperial Oil in Sarnia. He married Florence Clara (Floss) Haskett (1902–1978) and they had five children. Aileen married Allan Jackson. They had no children. James Henry is buried in the Watford cemetery.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Wrinkle Family

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