31 Spruce Street
Sergeant Norman Alexander Bethune
Donald Bethune and Eliza Rutherford presumably moved from Bracebridge Ontario, first to Brantford and then to Paris, for employment opportunity. They rented a house at 31 Spruce Street in Paris from a Mr. Taylor, who owned Taylor’s Coal Yard at the corner of Market and Brydges Streets, so it is quite likely that Donald also worked for him at the coal yard. Donald and Eliza had 10 children, four who were born in Bracebridge and six who were born in Brantford or Paris. There were seven brothers and three sisters. Their first son, Donald, and their youngest son, Wilfred, did not serve in the Second World War, but the other five sons did.
Norman Alexander Bethune second oldest son of the family, was born in Bracebridge in 1916. He worked at the at Taylor’s Coal Yard when the family moved to Paris. Little is known of his military service so far, but he achieved the rank of Sergeant and earned the Distinguished Service Medal.
After the war he worked at Massey Ferguson. He died in Brantford in 1999 in his 84th year and is buried in the Farringdon Burial Ground.
(Some of this information is from Robert Hasler’s book, Paris Junction, vol 5, The People Who Lived in the Junction.)
Bethune Brothers: