17957: Neil Jay Beaton

Neil Jay (1854-1936) was the son of John Beaton and Ann Macaulay, of Hampton, Quebec. He was the first of the children in this family born in Canada.

Neil worked in and out of New York City for several years, travelling by train, for a New York publishing house supervising the delivery and distribution of a magazine. However when the owner died the business closed.

Neil took up photography and opened a studio in Baldwin, Wisconsin; there he met and married Johanna. He owned and operated the studio until his mother-in-law died.

In 1900they moved to Milan. He already owned property there and as soon as they arrived they built a home and farmed the land. He continued photography in Milan. He then sold the farm and moved into Milan for a couple of years.

He was appointed Justice of the Peace for Compton County after his brother Donald could no longer manage it. In 1919 he bought a hobby farm in Lennoxville.

Neil became the guardian of four children whose mother had died in Montreal. At the time their father was serving in the Army and was later killed in France in WW1. The four Parker children, two boys and two girls, ranged from six to 14 when they came to live with the Beatons