The Story of John Steel Jr. And Sarah Odber is the true beginning of our Canadian ancestors. Sarah
    Odber was the daughter of another discharged military settler. John Odber had been with the Royal
     Sappers and Miners. Sarah was born on the military base at Spike Island, Ireland and emigrated with her parents when they settled in Lanark Twp. After John Odber's premature death, the family moved to Bristol Twp. Here Sarah met John Steel and they made plans to marry.
 

In March of 1832 they set off on foot towards the settlements of Hull and     Bytown (Now Ottawa), crossing the Ottawa river by the bridge over the    Chaudiere Falls. They were met in Bytown by John's brother -in -law Daniel    McLeod. Their destination was an old stone church where the present site    of St. Andrew's presbyterian church now stands. Built in 1828 it was then    the center of Presbyterianism in Canada. After banns being published over    several Sundays, John Steel and Sarah Odber were married by the Rev. John      Cruikshanks - Daniel McLeod appeared as their witness. The date was                        March 13 1832.

A simple man who had to raise himself after the dearth of his father. John Jr. never learned to read
or write. Farming was his trade. b 1851 he had 35 acres of the 199 acre lot being used for crops
and pasture, the rest being wildwood. His biggest crop was oats.

    By 1861 John and his sons hadbuilt a 1 1/2 story log house for the blossoming family, 14 children in all. Most of the children married into local families. In the 1880's the family moved to a smaller farm in Clarendon Twp.
On February 11, 1873 Sarah Odber Steel, mother of the family passed away and was buried in
Portage du Fort. On April 13 1876 John Steel died at Clarendon.
The farm in Clarendon was left to his sons Thomas and Joseph with a provision that his daughter
Catherine be allowed to stay there.
In just a few short years the large family drifted apart, with all of the sons moving to different
districts. As the daughters in the family married, the Steel name became less and less prevalent in the
county. though descendants of the Steel daughters and their families can still be found.
 

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN STEEL JR. AND SARAH
                                ODBER

Elizabeth
              Born September 17, 1833 Bristol Twp.  Married Robert Lewis Dec. 29, 1870 Clarendon Twp.     Date of death unknown. Buried Portage Cemetery.
   This family farmed in Clarendon for several generations.  Children included some from Mr. Lewis' former marriage:  Catherine, William, John, Cornelius, Hugh, Ann, and Ellen as well as Elizabeth and Robert's son Newton Lewis.

Catherine
          Born 1836 Bristol Twp.   Married to Charles Logan, Bristol Twp.
  Died April 26, 1914 Ottawa, Ont.  Buried Portage Cemetery in family plot  Mr. Logan was originally a lodger in the early Steele household. Their union produced one child, Maria Louisa Logan, who married a Donely. After their separation, Catherine tended to the duties of her parent's household. In 1885 she lived in Pembroke and died in Ottawa in 1914.

Jannet
        Born 1838 Bristol Twp.
        Married Henry Beaulieu Nov. 17, 1863 Clarendon. This couple took over the Steel farm after the death of  John Steel. Mr. Beaulieu emigrated from France. The  locals often corrupted his name to "Bulliard", and some  descendants took on the spelling. An exceptionally strong man with a huge beard, Henry (originally Aren)  was 89 when he died in 1926. They are buried in the  Portage Cemetery.
    It is interesting to note that in the church records 'Jannett' is spelled 'Jeanette' The marriage was performed by Rev. Wm. Creighton and the witnesses were Elizabeth Steel and Catherine Steel.
Their children were;
    Michael (Arnprior), John (took over the family farm in Clarendon), Joseph (Clarendon), William Edward (shoemaker in Cobden and Pembroke), Thomas, and Mary (married an Aubin in Montreal)

JOHN
   Born 1839 Bristol
                Married Mary Ann Kelly 1871 Clarendon.  Little trace has been found of this couple after their marriage. They had two daughters, Sarah and Lora Mary Steel.

SARAH
          Born Bristol Twp. 1840  Possibly died at a young age

MARY
          Born Bristol Twp. 1842
       Married Daniel Macan (MacCann) Nov. 1868 They lived in Pembroke. The Macan (or McCann) family was from Pembroke, and Mary Steel and Daniel moved there after their marriage. Their children were Daniel Esther, Margaret, Joseph, David, Denise and James.Between 1887 and 1891 Daniel died. In 1891 Mary was living with her children in Oldfield Twp Pontiac Cty.

WILLIAM
      Born 1847 in Bristol Twp. Married Sarah Olmstead-Leitch on the 17th of August 1871. The Minister was Edwin Fessant and the witnesses were Henry Steele and Robert Lewis. The couple lived in Clarendon Twp. and later Braeside
  William died May 6 1938 and is buried in Albert Cemetery, Arnprior
   William Steele was a mill labourer at the mill in Braeside, but he was also known for his fondess of horses. He lived in a frame house on the main street of Braeside. When he was an old man, he would borrow a fast horse and ride it to Bristol to visit his old friends.
                                                            
He was well known and well liked. Sarah Olmstead had been previously married to Henry Leitch of the township of Clarendon and they had children, Henry, Mary, Stewart and Marion. William Steele and Sarah had the following children, Thomas, 11872, Sarah, 1873, William,
           1876, Lavina May, 1880 and Annie Laura 1884.
 

HENRY
        Born in Bristol Twp. in 1849, his first marriage was to Lynda Brazier in 1874.
   One child a daughter, Louisa Alice, resulted from this marriage. They lived on the next farm East of John Steel's in Clarendon - Later, after the death of Lydia, Henry married Emily Cameron, daughter of John Cameron and Mary Cuthbertson all of Bristol Twp. The marriage took place in Nipissing , Ont.
    For many years Henry ran a hotel in Nipissing, later moving to Haileybury. There Henry was the proprietor of the King Henry Boarding House. In 1919.  Tragedy struck when the establishment burnt to the ground, and Emily died of burns contracted when she ran back into the house looking for her youngest daughter who, unbknownst to Emily had already escaped.

MARGARET
        Born in BristoL.  No other information known.

THOMAS
      Born Jan 19,1853 in Bristol, Thomas married Mary Brownlee . The
  couple lived in North Bay. Thomas died August 18, 1937 and is buried in Nipissing Junction Cemetery, North Bay. Thomas and Mary were wed just as railroads made their big splash in Canadian history. Immediately Thomas caught the bug, and was hired by the railroad as a carpenter. They moved to North Bay where their children Ernest (1886), Blanch (1889), Clarence (1892, and Leotta (1898), were born. Descendants are still in the area.
                                                            

 

GEORGE
      Born May 24, 1852 Bristol
             Married Joanna Bunting 1872 Perth
           Lived 69 Wilson St. and 65 Brock St. Perth
                 Died June 14, 1937 Perth
              Buried Elmwood Cemetery, PerthOf all the children, George appears to be the most independent. He moved out of the homestead early to apprentice in Shawville with Mr. Armitage as a shoemaker. He owned property there, but moved to Smith Falls and later Perth, married and settled there. He was a keen baseball fan. His wife Joanna Bunting was the oldest woman in Canada when she died in her 104th. year. Their children were: William (1874), John (1877), Thomas (1879) Annabell (1882), and Henry (1884). Steeles of this branch still reside in Perth and throughout the Ottawa Valley.

JOSEPH
      Born 1857 Bristol
               Married Susan Brownlee 1878 - Mary's sister
                 Lived in Hastings, Northumberland Cty.
                      Date of death unknown
    Little information has been uncovered about Joseph Steele. Some evidence
            points to him actually being a son of Elizabeth Steele.

HARRIET
            Born 1859 Bristol    No other information

MARIA
      Born 1864 Bristol    No other information
 

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