The Halifax Explosion: A Tomlin and Moreland Update

On the morning of December 6, 1917, there was an explosion in the Halifax Harbour that injured 9,000 people and killed 2,000.

This blog post is an update to previous posts about the impact of this explosion on our ancestors:

1. My grandmother Dorothy Moreland was only seven years old and was living with her sister Florence at a foster home because her father John Miller Moreland was overseas fighting in WWI. The foster home at 500 Gottingen was destroyed.
2. My 2nd great-uncle Francis Clifford Tomlin was a tinsmith at the Hillis & Sons Foundry and searched day and night through the ruins of north end Halifax and the next day's blizzard looking for the bodies of his daughter, mother-in-law, 4 sisters-in-law and their families; 3 brothers-in-law; all those who worked with him at the Foundry. He died of meningitis on March 21, 1918 and when the Halifax Relief commission refused to give his widow, Maggie a survivor's pension, she was angry and made a point of carving into her husband's headstone that he was a victim, putting the date of the explosion before the date of death. This post is the story about his family that survived.

Dorothy Moreland's Gottingen Home Destroyed

The address of my grandmother Dorothy's foster home was written on her father John Moreland's Attestation Papers : 500 Gottingen St., Halifax, Nova Scotia

Source: The MacLaughlan Images

The story passed down was that the foster family was out of town that day visiting with family elsewhere. If this hadn't been the case, there is a good chance that my grandmother Dorothy, her sister Flo and the foster family would have been killed.

Gottingen St. felt the full force of the explosion (as shown in the map below) and the first photographs of the city the "fire department at work extinguishing the many fires that broke out on Gottingen Street, half a mile west, after the explosion"

Source:  Calgary Herald Calgary, Alberta, Canada Fri, Dec 14, 1917 · Page 1

Source: The Ottawa Citizen Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Sat, Dec 08, 1917 · Page 1

Source: The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 07 Dec 1917, Fri  •  Page 1

When I reported on the Gottingen house previously to family, a cousin commented how peculiar it was to consider that had our grandmother been home that day, and died, that none of us would be here today!

The Tomlin Family Carries On

In 2009, Carolyn Tomlin, (the grand daughter of Frank C. Tomlin (1882-1918)) shared a lot of information about our Tomlin-Nickerson Nova Scotian roots and I was able to tell the incredible story of Francis Clifford Tomlin and his wife Maggie here: https://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tomlins-and-nickersons-of-nova.html

Neither one of us had seen the two obituaries that I received in the mail in November, 2019 from Information and Readers' Services at the Halifax Central Library (5440 Spring Garden Road Halifax, NS)

Source: Halifax Herald - 23 March 1918 p. 2;

Source: Halifax Herald - 29 April 1918

On November 18, 2019, as part of my OTD (on this day) practice, I was looking at Dorothy Frances Tomlin born today November 18th (1916-1984) and her sister  Winnifred Marion Tomlin  (1913-2000) and I noticed that they both never married and that they lived together on Brunswick St and worked at Moirs in Halifax (the chocolate factory?)

I contacted my cousin Carolyn Tomlin for help to fill in some of the details and, as expected, she was a gold mine of information! Carolyn wrote back: 

"Yes, my aunties never married, and they did work at Moir’s chocolate factory. They met a woman named Ida Pike there, working on the humbug line. They set her up with their brother Frank, and here I am!"

 Moirs Limited of Halifax: Source: National Post Toronto, Ontario, Canada Thu, Nov 28, 1929 · Page 43

 "Winnifred was known as "Vic", having been born on Victoria Day. Dorothy was diagnosed as Type 1 Diabetic at a young age, and when she died she still had all her organ function and her limbs. And believe me, she loved the chocolate line!"

1955 Moirs Chocolates original vintage advertisement

 " Another Aunt, Margaret died in 1960 of ovarian cancer. The three of them lived with my grandmother ("Nan"), Margaret (Maggie) Theresa (Guess Tomlin) Crozsman. Nan had severe arthritis which put her in a wheelchair when she was 40. Her daughters faithfully cared for her till she died in the 1960’s. Another Aunt, Emily Tomlin Clarke lived with her family in the house. I think her husband Walter owned it."

Carolyn sent this incredible photo of ALL of the Tomlins sitting on the porch of their Brunswick St. home:

The toddler is Wayne Clark, being supported by his mother Emily "Em" (Tomlin) Clark. The young girl is Shirley.

"Vic" (aka Winnifred) and Margaret are seated to Em's left, Nan (Margaret (Guess) Tomlin) is seated in her chair behind everyone and my Mom (Ida) and Dad (Francis) far right

Top left, Vic & Margaret
Right, Nan, Margaret Guess Tomlin Crozsman
Bottom left, no idea. Twins?
Centre left, Winnifred (aka "Vic"), family friend Marge Higgins, Margaret, Dorothy

Carolyn's father Francis William Tomlin (1916-1984) in WWII

I was delighted to receive these photos of the Tomlin family and getting to see the faces of those who survived the Halifax Explosion after having lost their father and sister Veronica

On 3 Oct 1921, widow Margaret (Guess) Tomlin married George Owen Crozsman in Halifax and they are buried together at the Gate of Heaven cemetery in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia

Maggie had severe arthritis which put her in a wheelchair when she was 40.

Margaret Tomlin (1910-1960)

Winnifred M. ("Vic") and her sister Dorothy F Tomlin buried together

Francis William and Ida (Pike) Tomlin

Emily ("Em" Tomlin) and Walter Clark https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/203682832/emily-lillian-clark

Halifax Explosion Lessons

Knowing the stories of our ancestors who lived in Halifax at the time of the Halifax Explosion has taught me a lot:

1. That the fact that any of us exist is a miracle given all of the challenges, dangers and life-changing events in our ancestors times.
2. That families can survive terrible things and find the strength to carry on and the Tomlins are an example of that steadfast resolve.
3. That the best genealogical records are the ones that live in the memories and hearts of people like my cousin Carolyn who has brought this family to life again.

Rest In Peace Francis Clifford Tomlin