It is always interesting to see how pieces of the family history puzzle fall together, or even how pieces of the puzzle show up that you don't even realize are missing. This is one of those pieces.
In July of 1910, William John Morgan returned to Canada from the United States and applied for a 160-acre homestead in the area of Wilkie, Saskatchewan. His wife, Clara, and their two children joined them in June of 1911. After three years of cultivating and improving the land, the homestead was granted in October of 1913.
In December of 1917, William took out an $800.00 mortgage on the homestead. The mortgage was payable as follows: '$50.00 on the Second day of January in each and every one of the years A.D. 1919, 1920, 1921 and 1922, and the balance on the Second day of January, A.D. 1923.' The loan was at 8% annual interest. Below is a copy of the mortgage. The Mortgage is signed by both William & Clara. We finally have the correct spelling of Clara's middle name, as found in her signature. Her middle name is Belle instead of Bell, which is how it has always appeared in the family records that I have.
Homestead Mortgage
In addition to the $800.00 mortgage, there were two other liens on the property. The first is a lien holder's caveat. This indicates that a particular party has an interest in the property. The caveat was filed by the Rural Municipality of Prairie No. 408. It is not clear what type interest this entity would have had in the homestead or the mortgage. The second lien was lien against the property securing a piece of personal property. The second lien was a mechanical lien for $79.85 filed by Galvin Lumber Yards, Ltd. Below is a copy of the title abstract.
Title Abstract
In July of 1922, foreclosure proceedings began against William Morgan for failure to make any payments on the mortgage. The Statement of Claim lays out the terms of the mortgage, the other lien holders, and asserts that William was in default for failure to make any payments on the principal or the interest due. In addition, the mortgage company had also paid taxes and insurance on the property, as well as property inspection and attorneys fees. Below is a copy of the Statement of Claim.
Statement of Claim
The Statement of Claim was filed in Court and served on William Morgan, as well as the other lien holders. In addition to the Statement of Claim, a Notice of Summons was also filed and served, indicating that he had 20 days from receipt of service to file an answer with the court. Service was given on August 8th, 1922. By this time, William was living in the area of Cando, SK. However, no answer was filed with the court and he did not file an appearance. Below is a copy of the Notice of Summons, Affidavit of Service and Affidavit of Non-Appearance.
Summons and Certificate of Service
Prior to beginning the foreclosure case, an inspection of the property was completed. The property inspection, which was completed in June of 1922, found 'that there was no crop whatever growing on this land, and that the land had been entirely abandoned.' Below is a copy of the affidavit of property inspection that was filed with the Court.
Affidavit of Property Inspector
In September of 1922, a representative of the Mortgage Company filed an affidavit with the court stating that no payments had been made on the property and that they had not taken possession of the property. They also stated that they had entered on to the property for the purpose of property preservation. The affidavit also included a complete breakdown of the fees and costs due, as well as the principal and interest that had been defaulted on. Below is a copy of the affidavit.
Affidavit of Creditor
On the 11th of September, 1922, based on the affidavit of the Mortgage Company and the affidavit of non-appearance by the defendants, an Order Nisi was entered by the Court. An Order Nisi is an order that does not have any effect unless one of the particular conditions is met. Once that particular condition is met, the Order Nisi becomes a binding Order. The Order Nisi stated the full amount that was due and owing to the mortgage company was $1,001.08. The Order also stated that the arrears due was $367.94. The arrears were to be paid by December 11, 1922, otherwise the property would be foreclosed. Below is a copy of the Order Nisi.
Order Nisi
The three month period came and went without any payment received by the Mortgage Company or by the Court. Following the three month period, affidavits were filed with the Court stating that the delinquent amount due had not been paid to the Mortgage Company or to the Court. Below are copies of these affidavits.
Affidavits of Non-Payment on Order Nisi
Following the filing of these affidavits on non-payment, the Final Order was issued on December 19, 1922. The Final Order foreclosed the property against William Morgan and the other lien holders and gave the property to the mortgage company. Below is a copy of the Final Order.
Final Order of Foreclosure
At the time of the foreclosure, William lived in the area of Cando, SK. Following the foreclosure, it is not known where William & Clara lived. Clara eventually lived in Neilburg, SK, with her children before returning to Wilkie in 1940. It is unknown if William & Clara stayed together or if they separated. The next Canadian Census, taken in 1926 and set to be released sometime next year, will answer some of these questions.
