Under the Grass and Trees

 

May 16, 2024

 

 

“These were their settlements. And they kept good family records.”^[1]

 

Don’t forget to look for the title which is embedded in the chronicle.

 

“Under the Grass and Trees”

 

FAMILY ALBUM

 

 

Some of you know Chip Brock, husband of Jean Fogg Brock of the Charles R Holmes line. Their friend, Elizabeth, took this photo of Chip. He is sitting in the Dune Shack that he is a caretaker of, located in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Used with permission. To me, this photo is just about perfect. He’s not too old, not too young. The view outside the window is lovely. The newspaper, the glasses beside it – what else do you see that intrigues you? What I don’t see is a cup of coffee! Jean, I’d put this on the wall if I were you.

 

 

I did not see the aurora borealis myself, but I saw lots of photos in my Facebook scroll. I remember, as a young girl, my father waking me up in the late evening and taking me outside. The sky looked something like this; lit up with northern lights. Annmarie Holmes took this photo from her dooryard in Berkely, MA, at 3 AM Saturday morning.

 

Aurora Borealis

 

GRATITUDE

 

“Peggy, you have so many lovely childhood memories. Thank you for sharing these stories with us. I enjoy them so much and they make me think about my own childhood experiences. Your stories of relatives who came to visit reminded me of one of my favorite children’s books. If you haven’t gotten it for the grands yet, you may want to get it. Happy Mother’s Day!” Thanks so much, Annmarie, for your thoughts and your suggestion. I will add it to my book list. https://www.amazon.com/.../dp/0689717385/ref=mp_s_a_1_1...                                                                            Also, I reposted a Facebook suggestion from ten years ago in my own page. It was a couple of photos of my book, “A Homestead on the Old Post Road.” Several of you commented, and I want you to know I am tickled pink: Mark, Cindy, Annmarie and Jeanni – thanks for making my day.

Should you wish a copy, I now make it available to you on pdf. It’s very costly to print and mail one book now. This was my rough draft.

 

                                                               MY GENEALOGY GOALS

 

• Chronicle several times, and publish on Thursday morning.
• Keep writing my next article for Generations, which is about the will of Daniel Holmes.
• Spend a bit of time on Moore family research: “Three Peas in a Moore Pod.”
• In the evening, after chores are done, edit the Charles and Phoebe family genealogy.
• Index old newspapers for NBGS. On hold.
• Index Riverbank Visitors for NBGS. Put old newspapers on hold while I do this.

 

I finished my past-president position of my branch of the genealogy society and gave my final report, at least for that position. I also retired from the program committee. Then I had a thought, and this morning contacted the village of Salisbury to see if I can find a speaker for September. Some habits die hard. (So far, no reply.)

1924 to 1928

Those are the years that our great or great-great grandparents spent renewing relationships that had somehow fallen by the wayside but with organization, letter writing, and challenging travel – by hook or by crook – they managed to come together again. They reacquainted and rediscovered their family ties. And then, one by one, they died, and many of those ties died with them.

2024 to 2028

                I’m all hepped up after hearing our speaker at the genealogy meeting give a presentation on LIDAR. I have a better idea of what it is, and how it applies to our past. I’ve been studying the farm ever since. Thanks, Joseph, (my nephew) for your interest. There are lots of dips and valleys, some of which I recognize from my past or Mum’s stories, and some of which I don’t recognize, like the rectangular dip in the back. What I see under the grass and trees makes some sense to me now. I sent off an email to our speaker, asking him a couple of questions. Hopefully, he will answer. (He did.)                                                                                                                                                       Byron Holmes sent a link to learn about LIDAR, and I intend to look into that three-hour course.

https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalc.../training/intro-lidar.html

Underground at the Farm

Buildings outlined in red, starting on the left:

Left center, above the first Rte. 890 box – the Waldow Farms barn.

Within the blue lines (the only Holmes land left in our family) on the left is the little house, which Floyd built for his parents, Charles R and Phoebe Holmes, when he returned home from England after WWI. They did not outline the farmhouse, but it was to the right and back a bit.

Above the blue lines: an abandoned eyesore of an old trailer. Above that, another trailer, not quite so ugly but not pretty.

The three red buildings beside the blue box are the Blakeney (now Wynes) farm.

The red rectangle on the bottom right is the church. The cemetery is to the left of it.

 

The borders of lots 6 to 8, all of which Daniel Holmes purchased from the original land grantees, went back (north) in acres of one hundred lots each (lot 6 was 113 acres). They went back in rectangles to what you see as the Baseline Road. I think they may have started (west) at the bottom left corner of the blue box, and extended perhaps (east) to about the final Rte. 890 sign. Some of them probably extended (south) to about the Salt Springs Brook. The x marks the approximate spot of the D. Holmes Saw Mill which appears on the Walling Map of 1861.

The owners. Daniel purchased all three lots, and sold them to his children.

·         Lot six, he sold to Abner Jones, husband of his daughter, Hattie. Abner Jones sold it to Elias Kinnear, husband of Daniel’s daughter, Bessie. Elias sold it to Daniel’s son, Charles R Holmes. It borders what is now the Graves Settlement Crossroad.

·         Lot seven, he sold to Charles R Holmes. Daniel must have sold about 15 acres of it. Charles sold it to Samuel Burnett, who sold it to Walter Mitton. More investigation needed, as we know it as Blakeney property until recently.

·         Lot eight, he sold to James H Holmes. James sold his lot to Rev. David Bleakney.

When the Holmes family reunited in 1926, they dined within the little blue area, probably as a picnic in the front yard, and had their photograph taken along the front, which bordered the road, Route 890.

AN EXCERPT FROM MUM’S MEMOIRS

We took our lunches to SCHOOL. Mondays lunch was always bean & relish sandwiches with brown bread. The older girls would take my “sweet.” I think Bryce told Dad so he went to the teacher & told him to put a stop to that or he’d have to go. Dad was a trustee & teachers a dime a dozen so it stopped. He was the teacher that Jim told about his seven wives which he kept in the fox pens! (Dunfield.)                                  When we were in grade 8 we had to go to Petitcodiac school to write High School Entrance papers. Bryce & I were both in 8 grade. He had written before but had no intention of going further. One night he took old Bess our horse to the brook & when he got off her back he cut his foot quite badly & could only wear a slipper – he thought he wouldn’t have to go back to school but he had too. [sic] How embarrassing – my brother in class with a slipper on! One day the teacher told him to say a poem they’d had to memorize. “I have a face a lovely face As full as beauty as of grace.” Of course every one laughed. It should have been “I know a face” etc. He wasn’t too easily embarrassed though.                                                                                  High School was a happy time for us. Edna Davis, Frances Bishop & myself biked out until snow came, then we had to board. Frances didn’t go very long but Edna & I graduated. Our board was $2.50 a week and our tuition $75. a year. We knew if our parents were spending that much money we had to pass. How I dreaded asking for .10 for a scribbler. We had to buy our text books too. Once in awhile we would have .10 to go skating at the rink. We’d save it until someone else could go. One afternoon a winter the whole school could go free. It was fun.

Noon hours were sometimes hard. One boy – “Pee Wee” was a real bully of course there was no teacher there so he had a hay day then. One day he took his comb & twisted it up in my hair. What a mess & it had to be out before the teacher came back, another day he put me in a big high waste basket & I couldn’t get out. I did have help that time. Billy Wilson upset the basket & I climbed out.                                One winter Monday Dad was driving Edna Frances & a neighbor in the truck out to school. The roads were icey & very slippery, it was raining, when we came over the top of the hill the truck kept going to the side of the road, the ones in back jumped out but when the truck tipped over it came against the bushes on its side. My suitcase was in the back. I had been knitting striped mittens – it came open & my balls of yarn went down the hill. We finally got out Edna & I got the yarn, we were very late for school as we had quite a long walk.

FAMILY HISTORY LESSON

 

 

Here is the map in LIDAR shaded relief. Click to enlarge. On the left is Waldow Farms (not our property, but good neighbours). In the centre, within the blue lines, is the current Holmes family-owned property. The red box, on the bottom right, is the church. The x marks the approximate location of the D. Holmes Saw Mill which appears on the Walling Map of 1861/62.

 

Credit is due to the Province of New Brunswick for sharing these maps. You can see them yourself at http://www.snb.ca/geonb1/e/index-e.asp  It is a learning process, but start by clicking on the link below the blue circle. In the box on the top right, type in 02296649.

  

Help, cousins. I could be wrong about some of these. Photo below is same thing above ground.

 

1. Unknown. Maybe the church and cemetery that became our wood shed. Have messaged our speaker about this. “Probably,” he said.
2. The little house that Charles R and Phoebe lived in.
3. Unknown.
4. (Or 4 and 5). The farm house.
5. Part of the farm house?
6. Pigpen.
7. The paddock.
8. The horse barn.
9. The barn – cattle, chicken coop, place for tractor, hay.
10.  Maybe part of the barn.
11. Unknown.
12. The granary.
13. Unknown. I think that’s about where the fox pens were, but they shouldn’t show up. Outhouses? 

This ends week twenty of our centennial virtual celebration.