Gazlay Family History
 

Family HistoryFamily History - Winfield Burrows Sifton


Key:1.“+” before a child’s name indicates the child has their own entry in the next generation.
 2.“born xxxx” indicates the child is under 18 years of age so the birth date is not shown.
This family history features Winfield Burrows Sifton and one of his descendants down to the second generation.


First and Second Generations
1. Winfield Burrows Sifton,1 born 21 January 1890, the son of Sir Clifford Sifton and Lady Elizabeth Armanella Burrows;1 died 13 June 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.2 Winfield married, 30 July 1913 in Milburn, Essex County, New Jersey, Jean Gazlay Kirwan (née Donaldson) 8, 9 (born 12 March 1893 in Nutley, Essex County, New Jersey, the daughter of Andrew Donaldson and Emma Jane Gazlay;3, 4, 5, 6 Jean died 9 February 1956 in Paris, France4, 7). Their marriage ended in divorce on 7 July 1919 in Canada.10 Winfield is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.2 Jean is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.4

Winfield Burrows Sifton was the second son of Sir Clifford Sifton. Winfield went to England during the First World War, initially to deal in war material. After the Armistice, he became involved with several companies bearing such unlikely names as the Anglo-Canadian Association of Roumanian Trade and the Venezuelan Estates & Oil Company, all of which failed. Often the failures were followed by lawsuits and the despatch of substantial cheques from the elder Sifton. Winfield also managed to interest Sir Clifford, who had great hopes for his son, in the projected Montreal, Ottawa and Georgian Bay Canal Company. The project, which would have involved the construction of a huge hydro-electric power and transportation complex, ultimately embroiled the Siftons in a decade of futile litigation and cost its investors their entire stake. Eventually, the chastened Winfield returned to Toronto, where he died in 1928 at the age of 38.11

Much has been written about Jean Gazlay Donaldson, known mostly by her third married name, Jean Nash, and her six marriages, her celebrity as the “world’s best dressed woman,” and her other social adventures that captivated the imagination of the media and the public, such as gambling among the rich and famous. Jean fostered her own renown by authoring a series of 15 weekly chapters of autobiographical articles from 1 February through 10 May 1925 that were carried in newspapers nation-wide, among them the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Pittsburgh Press. In the articles, Jean recounts numerous anecdotes that provide fascinating insight into her life and the high style to which she was accustomed.12

Jean was born in Nutley, New Jersey, and was raised by her mother after her father died in 1904. While attending school in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Jean met and formed a relationship with John Stanley Kirwan. Her mother objected to the relationship, and so proceeded to make plans to move Jean to a school in Europe. Jean discovered the plan, and quickly eloped with Kirwan in New Jersey, which naturally shocked her mother. Their marriage was annulled in April 1913, aided by Jean’s eventual second husband, Winfield Sifton, when he engaged the services of a lawyer in New York. Jean’s marriage to Kirwan produced a son, Andrew, born in the fall of the 1910.9, 12

Jean met her second husband, Winfield Burroughs Sifton, at an embassy ball in London. Winfield was the son of Sir Clifford Sifton, who was Attorney General, Provincial Lands Commissioner and Member of Parliament of Canada. Despite Jean’s initial rejections, Winfield persisted in his desire to marry Jean, and in July 1913 he and Jean slipped away from Jean’s mother, sailing across the ocean from Europe to New York. They were married in “the oddest wedding last night that Milburn [New Jersey] had ever seen,” being married in a motor car, under the light of a street lamp, in the presence only of the reverend and two of Winfield’s friends. The wedding supper consisted of chocolate ice cream sodas served in Newark before setting out for Milburn, where they able to obtain the marriage license. Jean and Winfield’s daughter Elizabeth was born in London when the couple lived there, and Elizabeth lived with the Siftons until she died in 1950. Jean never got along with her mother-in-law, Lady Sifton, mostly over Jean’s taste in fashion.8, 9, 12, 13

Her mother Emma could never control Jean. In March 1914, Jean locked her mother in a closet and refused to let her out until Emma signed a deed of trust to the Knickerbocker Trust Co., conveying Emma’s interest in several pieces of property in Cincinnati to Jean. Emma, aided by a relative, Oscar W. Kuhn, filed suit against Jean, then Mrs. Jean Sifton, her husband Winfield, and the trust company to recover the deeded property. The suit was eventually dismissed in October 1914 on motion of counsel when the property was re-conveyed back to Emma.9, 14

Jean met her third husband John Victor Nash toward the end of her marriage with Winfield Sifton. Needing a divorce from Sifton, Jean filed for divorce in Canada since the marriage was recorded there. The divorce was finalized on 12 July 1919, and five days later Jean and John Nash were married in London. Jean’s extravagant lifestyle eventually overwhelmed John’s modest salary as a captain in the British army. Eventually he sued for divorce, which was made final in March 1923.12

Following her divorce from Nash, Jean was courted by several suitors, including Mohammad Sabit Bey, an Egyptian prince, whom she met in a casino in Cannes. Sabit pursued Jean’s affections, and they were engaged to be married. Jean broke the engagement, but eventually she agreed to marry him. She was required to adopt the Moslem faith, and she took the Moslem name of Dowlett. Jean and Sabit were married on 1 February 1925 in a Moslem church in Cairo, with only three witnesses present. Very soon, Jean learned that Sabit had incurred many debts all over Europe, and so may not be able to support her high lifestyle. Also, she and Sabit could not agree on the degree of freedom that she should be allowed. Jean was accustomed to the independence customarily allowed to American married women, whereas Sabit could not disregard the Egyptian habits of the harem and the centuries-old traditions where women are shut out from the world. They were divorced a month after they married.12, 15

Shortly after their divorce, Sabit was arrested in Paris on three charges of swindling cash, jewels, and motor cars, valued at $75,000. He pawned his first wife’s jewels that, it was claimed, were not paid for. Jean was also implicated in the alleged crime but was not arrested. Sabit was acquitted after spending a month in jail.16

In a secret Paris wedding in 1926 with only two witnesses present, Jean married Paul Dubonnet, of the Dubonnet apéritif wine family. Jean maintained her image as the “world’s best dressed woman,” living in Paris and on the Riviera. Her choices in the latest clothing styles still captured the attention of the media wherever she went. Jean frequented the great gambling resorts of the Continent, including Monte Carlo, Deauville, and Cannes, and her winnings were especially newsworthy. Eventually, she settled into a more quiet life than she had previously known, raising her and Paul’s daughter.17

Jean, Paul, and Jean’s mother Emma, stood by Jean’s son Andrew (from her first marriage) during his 1934 trial and eventual acquittal for murder. Paul, in fact, was the only witness who testified for the defense.

Although Jean’s marriage to Paul Dubonnet was her longest, nearly 22 years, it too ended in divorce, in 1948.9

In 1950, Jean married Guy Douglas Bridge Puckle, a British stock broker who traded in London and New York. Jean died on 9 February 1956 in Paris, and is buried as Jean G. D. Puckle in the Donaldson plot in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.4, 7, 9


 2i. Elizabeth Arma Burrows Sifton, born 2 May 1915 in London, England;9, 18 died 24 February 1950 in New York.18, 19 Elizabeth was born in London but moved to Canada as a child. She attended Elmwood School for Girls in Ottawa, and the University of Toronto where she specialized in modern languages. Elizabeth was a writer for the New York Post and left the newspaper to write a book.19 Elizabeth is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.19

  1. Clifford Sifton, Volume I, The Young Naploeon, 1861-1900, by D. J. Hall. The University of British Colombia, 1981. Available at Google Books.
  2. Find a Grave (website). Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Winfield B. Sifton, born January 1890; died 13 June 1928 in Toronto [from article].
  3. New Jersey, Births and Christenings Index, 1660-1931, Jean Donaldson, born 12 March 1892 in Essex [County], New Jersey; father: Andrew Donaldson, age 47; mother: Emma J. Geglay [sic], age 35. [The birth year is 1893 in other records and is probably a transcription error here, as is the surname of her mother, known to be Gazlay.]
  4. Cemetery Record, Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio (website); Puckle, Jean Donaldson, card no. 142683, born 12 March 1893 in Nutley, NJ, died 9 Feb 1956 in Paris, France, wife of Guy B. Puckle, parents: Andrew & Emma J. Gayley [sic], Sec 86 Lot 25.
  5. U.S. Federal Census, 1900, New York, New York County, New York City, Enumeration District 458, Sheet No. 17B, family of Andrew Donaldson (54, Ohio, Sep 1845, accountant); wife of 9 years Emma G. Donaldson (43, Indiana, Nov 1856, 1 child, 1 living); daughter Jean G. Donaldson (7, New Jersey, Mar 1893); servant Annie Waehole (21, Germany, Aug 1878).
  6. U.S. Federal Census, 1910, New York, New York County, New York City, Enumeration District 823, Sheet. No. Supp 11A, family of Emma G. Donaldson (50, Indiana, widow, 1 child, 1 living); Jean G. Donaldson (17, New Jersey). They are lodgers in a hotel.
  7. Obituary, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois. 10 February 1956; Jean Nash Dies at 60; Heiress Wed Six Times. In Paris on 9 February 1956.
  8. Marriage Announcement, New York Times, New York, New York, 1 August 1913, Jean Donaldson Kirwan and Winfield Burrows Sifton, married 30 July 1913 in Milburn, New Jersey. The article provides an interesting account of their secret wedding, and other biographical details.
  9. Gazlay History, written by Spencer G. Kuhn, a grandchild of Theodore Gazlay; undated. This is a typewritten re-compilation of the earlier Genealogy of the Gazlay Family, compiled by Theodore Gazlay in 1890, including the 1852 statement of the family history by Reverend Sayers Gazlay, an elder brother of Theodore. This document re-formats the information in the 1890 work. For example, facts originally shown in list form, such as birth and death dates, are incorporated in the narrative of this later work. Two post-1890 sections are unique to this document: one with additional details about Theodore Gazlay’s family, with dates as late as 1951; and another on the Donaldson family, featuring Jean Gazlay Donaldson and her six marriages, with several dates in 1965.
  10. Journal of the Senate of Canada, Volume 55, page 411-413, 7 July 1919, Royal Assent to the petition of Jean Donaldson Sifton to dissolve her marriage to Winfield Burrows Sifton [among other Bills].
  11. The Siftons, by Neil Forsythe, The Archivist, No. 13, appearing at Library and Archives Canada (website). This is a copy of an official work that is published by the Government of Canada. The reproduction has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada.
  12. Milwaukee Sentinel, and Pittsburg Press, both available at Google News. These newspapers, among others, carry the series of 15 weekly chapters of autobiographical articles from 1 February through 10 May 1925 by “Mrs. Jean Nash” (search term in the Google News Archives).
  13. Clifford Sifton in Relation to his Times, by John Wesley Dafoe, 1931, reprinted 1971 by Ayer Publishing. Available at Google Books.
  14. The New York Times, 21 March 1914, Cincinnati, Ohio: ‘Accuses Daughter and Bank of Fraud,’ and 1 October 1914, Cincinnati, Ohio: ‘Mrs. Donaldson Ends Suit.’ Both articles available at query.nytimes.com (website).
  15. The Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, Iowa, 2 February 1925. Available at Google News.
  16. The Southeast Missourian, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 3 June 1925. Available at Google News.
  17. Marriage Announcement, The Milwaukee Sentinel, 16 October 1926, marriage of Paul Dubonnet and Mrs. Jean Nash in Paris on 15 October. The article mentions that Paul’s divorce was final the previous day.
  18. Find a Grave (website). Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Elizabeth A. B. Sifton, born 2 May 1915; died 24 February 1950; incorrectly identified in the record as daughter of Sir Clifford Sifton, she is actually his granddaughter; she is correctly identified on her gravestone as the daughter of Winfield B. Sifton.
  19. Obituary, The New York Times, 27 February 1950, story from the Canadian Press on 26 February; Elizabeth AB Sifton, died in New York.