Person:Grace Reid (3)

Born in Prince Edward Island, Grace Lydia (Reid) Clay moved to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia with her husband in 1899. After her husband's death in 1925 she moved to Truro, Nova Scotia. In Truro, Mrs. Clay maintained a large residence at 41 Pleasant Street. One part was a separate apartment which she rented out and some rooms were available for borders, especially students from the Nova Scotia teachers' College which was located in Truro at the time. Her daughter-in-law, Mary Holmes Clay, and her grandson, John A. H. Clay, lived with her during the school year 1946-1947 while John attended grade 3 at the public elementary school.

The records of the P.E.I. Board of Education state the Grace Lydia Reid was a teacher at Tryon North for the year 1880-1881 and was paid $40 and $23.

The History of Crapaud, Prince Edward Island, compiled by Crapaud Women's Institute, states, on page 88, that, for the school year 1883-1884, William A. Thomson was principal of Crapaud School and his assistant was Lydia Reid.

Chappelle's Almanac of 1884 records that of the Teachers' Institute, Prince County, the Treasurer was Miss Grace L. Reid.

The Charlottetown Guardian, in the Summerside column of 29 Aug 1911 reported:

" Mrs. Alex A. Clay and daughter, Gwendolyn, of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, are visiting the former's mother, Mrs. Andrew Reid, Summerside. "

In the Town Directory for Truro, Nova Scotia, for 1939 on page 15 we find the following:

" Clay, Mrs. Grace, 41 Pleasant Street

 Clay, Gwendolyn, stenog. Lewis Ltd.,
 41 Pleasant Street	"

In 1945, Grace (Reid)Clay addressed the following to her daughter, Gwendolyn:

May 5, 1945

Dear Gwen: You will see by my will that I have left all I have to you. I love you all the same, but my little was not worth dividing. I have a few wishes that I am going to insert here. I would like Hazel to have first choice of anything in the house and also to help you to divide or sell whatever you do not need yourself. May the Good Lord save and bring you all to His Kingdom. Be good. Much love, Mother

The signed original of the following letter from Gwen to her mother is in the possession of John A. H. Clay of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and a phhotocopy is in the Clay Archives of Marilyn Clay Adair, Ottawa:

Halifax, N.S., November 8, 1951

Dear Mother:

Happy Birthday to you!

What a flurry there must have been in the little home of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Reid, Tryon, Prince Edward Island, 90 years ago today! New babies are always exciting, and this one with her broad intelligent forehead -- so broad as to be described by an elder sister an "the baby with her eyes in the middle of her face" -- was no exception. You were a go-getter from the start. Went through Grade, High and Prince of Wales College like something jet-propelled; and shortly before your sixteenth birthday you took your place behind the teacher's desk, first in your local school, then in one a size larger, and finally -- because you were reported to have the "best organized schoolroom on Prince Edward Island" -- you were offered the Vice Principalship of the Summerside High. In this motorized and air-borne age, it's interesting to note that you travelled by horseback and between your home and school, usually bareback and at the gallop. A pat on the nose and a slap on the rump would send your mount home until the time to come for you at the of the day. It's also interesting to note that two of your pupils were to become quite famous - the late Sir John W. McLeod, at the time of his death President of the Bank of Nova Scotia; and Archbishop McNally, now of Halifax, N.S. And a few years ago, while on a trip to "the Island" you trotted around and visited several of your former pupils, all of whom remembered and welcomed you, and one of whom (a man, of course!) remarked that you "still had the neatest pair of ankles he ever saw!" In due time you met and married Alexander Clay, and crossed to the mainland to set up housekeeping, in Trenton, N.S., where you started a family. Later you moved to New Glasgow, where you continued, and finished, the job (witness the undersigned). You had a busy time of it in New Glasgow, and your days were scheduled as had been your schoolroom hours. There you brought your family through the "childhood diseases" as they were then called; there you watched your elder son , scarcely of age, march off to World War I, while you yourself opened your dining room to the inspectors of shells manufactured at the Trenton Steel Works; and there your Sunday School Bible Class spilled 'way beyond its allotted space in the church. In 1925, Dad -- who all these years had fought a courageous but losing battle against anaemia -- died, and you moved to Truro, where you have since made a definite place for yourself in the community. This was publicly acknowledged a few years ago when you were honored by the First United Church for your Red Cross Work in World War II. It has been privately acknowledged many times by former Normal College students whom you fed, housed and tutored; by former soldiers from Debert Camp, with their wives whom you housed and tutored in the ways of housekeeping; and by countless friends who come through our front door and down the hall to the second room on the left where they will find you, smiling, on the couch. "God gave us memories so that we might have roses inn December" -- may your memory garden be very fragrant on this December 8, 1951!

(Signed) The Very Last One

From the Halifax Chronicle Herald of Tuesday, 24 Feb 1953, page 12, column 3 - read on film # 5779 at NSARM 1 Sep 2005: (copy on file)

" Mrs. Grace Lydia Clay

Truro - Mrs. Grace Lydia Clay, highly esteemed Truro woman, passed away on Sunday at Colchester County Hospital, following a brief illness. She was in her 92nd, year. Mrs. Clay, whose husband predeceased her in 1925, was an active member of the First United Church in Truro until shortly before her death. Before her marriage, she was Grace Lydia Reid, of Tryon , Prince Edward Island. Surviving are two sons, Dr. M.A. Clay, of Ottawa and Harvey R., of Hartford, Conn., and two daughters, Gwendolyn of Halilfax and Mrs. Raymond Topper of West Hartford, Conn. The funeral will be held at 1:30pm on Tuesday, February 24, from the Christie Funeral Home, with Rev. C. Earle Gordon officiating. Interment will be in New Glasgow."

NOTE: A search of the records of Vital Statistics for Nova Sctia for death registration of Grace Lydia (Reid) Clay, who died in Truro, 22 Feb 1953, was unsuccessful (see form on file).

From Truro Daily News, 23 Feb 1953, page ?, column ?:

" OBITUARY Mrs. Grace Lydia Clay Truro, Feb 23 - Mrs. Grace Lydia Clay, passed away on Sunday in Colchester County Hospital, following a brief illness. She was in her 92nd. year. Mrs. Clay, whose husband preseceased her in 1925, was an active member of First United Church in Truro until shortly before her death. She always took a keen interest in Church work. Before her marriage, she was Grace Lydia Rreid, of Tryon, P.E.I. Surviving are two sons, Dr. M. A. Clay of Ottawa, and HArvey R. of Hartford, Conn; and two daughters, Gwendolyn of Halifax, and Mrs. Raymond Topper of West HArtford, Conn. The funeral will be held at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, February 24, from the Christie Funeral Home with Rev. C. Earle Gordon officiating."

On 6 Sep 2005 we visited Riverside Cemetery, Trenton Road, New Glasgow and recorded the following:

Black marble stone:

CLAY/Alexander A Clay/1858-1925/His wife/Grace Lydia/1861-1953/Vera Blanche/1888-1910/ Gwendolyn Howat/ 1902-1985