1931 Canada Census

On June 1, 1931, Canada conducted its Seventh Decennial Census, enumerating over 10 million people. Clara Belle Morgan (born Clara Belle Dodge) and her family were enumerated in this Census. In the last national census conducted in 1921, Clara, her husband William John Morgan, and their children William Hiram and Mary Anne, were found at Township 41, Range 18, West of the Third Meridian, near the town of Wilkie in Saskatchewan. In 1922, their homestead was foreclosed for failure to pay back a mortgage that had been taken out several years earlier, in 1917. William John Morgan left Saskatchewan at that time, leaving Clara and their children in Saskatchewan. He went back to Ontario, where he ended up living out the rest of is life.

Canada conducted a special Census in 1926 of the Prairie Provinces. Clara, along with her daughter Mary, are listed at Township 40, Range 16, West of the Third Meridian, near the town of Red Pheasant. Clara was listed as a lodger at the residence of Arthur Amor, and her daughter Mary was listed as a Domestic. I was unable to locate her son, William Hiram Morgan, in the 1926 Canada Census.

In 1911, Clara had immigrated to Canada with her family, while her siblings remaining in the United States. 20 years later, in 1931, her siblings were found in Colorado, Wyoming and California, as follows:

- John Edward Dodge: Fairplay, Colorado

- Rachel Elizabeth (Dodge) Newitt: Grand Junction, Colorado (She would move with her family to Tacoma, Washington at the end of 1931).

- Frances Cleveland (Dodge) Nemetzky: San Francisco, California (She married her second husband, David Nemetzky, in January of 1930; he was honorably discharged from the Army in January of 1931).

- Dwight Hector Dodge: Woodlake, California

- James Robert Dodge: Laramie, Wyoming

- Ann Hazel (Dodge) Graham: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Unlike the United States, which has a 72-year restriction on publicly releasing census records, there is a 92-year restriction on the public release of census records in Canada. Yesterday, the 1931 Canada Census was made public and is available on Ancestry. The Census, which is organized by enumeration district,  is available to search by image. The names in this census will be indexed using AI technology (much like the 1950 US Census was when it was released). 

Several years ago, I found her son, William Hiram Morgan, in the 1935 Canada Voting List in the locality of Winter (about 20 miles south of Neilburg) in western Saskatchewan. I decided to use the information from this voting list to search for Clara and her family in the 1931 Canadian Census. Looking through the images, and using information I had previously found, I found Clara, and her daughter, Mary, as well as her son-in-law Clarence McNab, and grandson Wilbert (spelled Wilber) McNab at Senlac Rural Municipality #411. However, I didn't find her son listed with them.

Clara and her family are located at Township 42, Range 25, West of the Third Meridian in this Census. Clara and her daughter were both born in the United States, and 1912 is the listed year of their immigration to Canada. Her son-in-law, Clarence McNab, and her grandson, Wilbert, were both born in the Northwest Territories. Wilbert is one year old, although his family have told be that registration of his birth was delayed by two years as they were living in a very remote location when he was born.

Each Canadian Census lists the national origin of each person enumerated. Clara and Mary were listed as Irish, while Clarence and Wilbert were listed as Scottish. Each Canadian Census also lists the religion of each person enumerated. Clarence, Mary and Wilbert were Anglican, while Clara was listed as an Adventist. Her parents were baptized in the Adventist Church when she was a young girl in Colorado.

The most surprising thing I found in this Census is that Clara had remarried. This is something that I never would have expected to come across, as all the later records of her (1940 and forward) all list her name as Clara Morgan. Her new husband's name is Goodwin O'Grady, and Clara is listed as Clara O'Grady. The Census indicates that they were married. Goodwin O'Grady was 37 years old, and Clara lists her age as 41 years old (she was 47 at the time of the 1931 Census, having been born in 1884).

From what I have found so far, Goodwin O'Grady was born in July of 1893 in Ireland, immigrated to Canada in 1914, and applied for and received a homestead. He is found at this location in the 1916 and 1926 Canadian Census (I didn't find him listed in the 1921 Canada Census). He passed away in 1938 (the exact date is unknown) and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Neilburg, Saskatchewan. In looking at the 1935 Canada Voting List, Goodwin O'Grady is listed on the same voting list as William Hiram Morgan.

I am in the process of requesting a marriage record for Clara & Goodwin, as well as a death record for Goodwin, in addition to the homestead record. Once I have these records, I will share what I will have found. Once the indexing for the 1931 Census is completed, I will need to take the time to search the name index to locate Clara's family that I am still missing. Until then, please enjoy the image of the 1931 Canada Census I found of Clara, her husband, daughter, son-in-law & grandson.

1931 Canada Census