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- Hattie Catherine was born November 23, 1887 in Livingstone Creek, Thessalon Twp, Algoma District, Ontario. She was child number eight for Fannie and William McCrea and her oldest sister, Lizzie, was 14 years older than her. When Hattie reached 30 (and unmarried) she was an aunt to 21 nieces and nephews and those numbers kept on climbing. She was enormously popular with them.
- Ray Elliott, the stepson of Hattie’s older sister Mary, was 19 years younger than Hattie but he loved her to pieces. According to family lore he pursued Hattie until she finally relented and agreed to marry him. Hattie was very concerned about their age difference and ‘what would people think’, bur her brother Bill would have none of it and said it was no one’s business. They were married in the Sault on August 26, 1933. ‘Hat & Ray’ was always one word; they were always a team, always together, for the next 32 years.
- Ray’s occupation, as listed on his wedding license, was engineer. He owned Snow White Laundry in the Sault not far from their home. He also partnered with Gordon Gavin to build a popular hamburger and ice cream snack bar called The Barbary Coast just west of Thessalon.
- Hat and Ray had no children of their own, but they were very involved with all the family nieces and nephews and cousins. One of these remembered how exciting it was to pump gas and sell hamburgers at The Barbary Coast when she went to visit. Another remembered that on ‘Orangemen’s Day (July 12) Ray would pound on the rain barrel under their bedroom window at eight in the morning to wake them.
A cousin tells about Hattie: "Hat was a dedicated church goer and when we visited she always wanted us to go with her. In those days you had to dress up to go to church and we never had much with us. Finally, Hat made each of us a hat out of Kleenex and we went with her." Also "On Saturday nights, Dean and Ray Allen would come out to Hat & Ray’s along with all the family. There must have been about 20 of us. We went down the driveway to the beach, built a fire and with Dean and Ray providing the music, we all sang songs for a couple of hours."
- The Heritage Park Museum at Little Rapids, Algoma District has an organ with the following note attached to it: “The pioneers of Livingstone Creek built a Methodist church in their community in 1897. Soon after, this beautiful organ was installed and for many years its music, played by Hattie McCrea (m Elliott), instilled spirit into songs of praise and worshipers of Livingstone Creek.” Hattie was always in demand for local concerts and was likely one of the main organizers for the annual Irish and Christmas Concerts put on in Livingstone Creek. She gladly taught many of her nieces and nephews how to play the piano.
- Hat & Ray moved from the Sault to their Barbary Coast, before retiring to Livingstone Creek. They built a house directly across the highway from the United Church. Hattie baked a delicious chocolate cake, among many other good things, and she was always pleased to welcome company.
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Singing Our Family Song
1887 - 1965 (77 years)
