Laura Nixon Haynes

Laura Eleanor Nixon was born and raised Baltimore, Hamilton Twp., Northumberland Co., Ontario. While attending Cobourg Collegiate, she had her first book of poems, When You and I Remember, published in 1900.
She received her teaching credentials from the Ottawa Normal School, the odd term once used to identify teachers colleges in Ontario. Her career brought her to the Niagara Peninsula, where she taught in the communities of Pelham, Stamford, and Grantham Townships.
While teaching, many of her poems were patriotic verses for her students pupils to recite. Her poems were also published in the following periodicals: Canadian Countryman; Farm and Dairy; Farmer's Advocate; and The Mail and Empire.
On October 12, 1916 she married Frederick Charles Haynes (Aug. 24, 1876 -Jan. 12, 1948) at St. George's (Anglican) Church, St. Catharines, Ontario. Despite Frederick's being thoroughly involved local politics, they continued to find time to farm the original family homestead granted by the Crown in 1784 to Frederick's great-grandfather, Adam Haines. Not surprisingly, an abiding sense of place and local colour figure strongly in Laura's the four books of poetry that were published after her marriage: Pioneers (1938), Lanterns in the Dusk (1944), Coming My Way (1948) and An Hour of Leisure (1955). Her style ranges from traditional forms to modernist free verse. In 1938 several of her pieces appeared in Creighton and Ridley's New Canadian Anthology.
Many of her poems are also characterized by her religious faith and patriotism, the latter was also evident in her desire to leave a presence in her adopted hometown: After Frederick died in 1948, Laura, used money from the estate to commission a 40 ton concrete cenotaph and memorial, which stands on the property to this day, to "... honour all of those pioneers whose courage and labour made this into our pleasant heritage."
Not having had any children of her own, Laura sold the Haynes family homestead and moved to Oshawa in 1963 to be closer to her remaining family. It is there that she died 8 years later. She was buried beside Frederick in row 6 of Maple Lawn Cemetery (alias The Methodist Burying Ground), 3rd Ave., Louth Twp., St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

Sources:
1) The 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 Censuses of Canada
2) Wedding notice, St. Catharines Standard, October 12, 1916, p. 4
3) Charles Clay in his introduction to Laura's Coming My Way, p. vi (Tower Books: Ottawa, 1948).
4) The inscription on the 30 ton monument St. Paul Street West. St. Catharines.
5) Laura and Frederick's tombstone in row 6 of The Methodist Burying Ground (aka Maple Lawn Cemetery) Louth United Church, 3rd Avenue Louth Twp, St. Catharines, Ontario.
6) Discussions with various family members who knew Laura.