Uncle Peg’s
Chronicles
August 6, 2026
“What Changes Would a
Year Bring?”
“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.
FAMILY ALBUM
The 1926 Holmes Family Gathering. The photograph was taken in Hill
Grove, New Brunswick.
And I Quote:
Excerpts
from my letters to the editor. Thank you.
You missed that
particular cranny because we weren’t supposed to go up to that chamber because
of the stairs and at that time, the open side. You must have been a
little rebellious that day! –
Cindy
Perhaps I had just reached the
age that I was allowed to climb the stairs, Cindy.
This was a fun chronicle, bringing back
both memories and questions. Congratulations to Kristy and Jeff!
And many thanks to wonderful people like
Terry Bannister, who take the time care, and interest to do the hard work of
repairing the old stones. What a wonderful gift . . .
I enjoyed your ponderings and memories
about Uncle Billy's violin. How wonderful to have family history that is
now recorded. - Jeanni
1926 to 1928
1924 to 1928
are the years that our Holmes ancestors 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.
2026 to 2028
This bi-weekly period, I have been busy with wedding
preparations. The bride and groom are from Chile – no relation to us but dear
friends. Poor old Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie had to take a back seat. Thankfully,
I had written out most of the history lesson in July, when I realized the
reunion took place in August 1926 – so that was about ready to go.
The wedding takes place this Saturday, so that will free up
some time, but my family arrives from Ontario in mid-August and I will need to
get ready for that, so I can enjoy them while they are here. Therefore, I will
take my vacation, and come back to you in four weeks.
Here is a newspaper clipping about another wedding between
Ormond Jones, grandson of Daniel and Charlotte through their daughter, Hattie,
and Jennie Snider, niece of Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie. It took place at Uncle
Billy and Aunt Maggie’s house in May of 1894.
https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/155/issues/22800/pages/166700
News
from Holmes
Jeannie Worster sent
me this birth notice about their new granddaughter, daughter of Paul Worster
and Leah Nickel. Paul and Leah have a new baby girl, Phoebe Rose Wren Nickel
Worster, a long handle for a wee baby. She was born on July 26th
in Massachusetts. Phoebe has two older sisters, Ayla and Emmy, who are thrilled
to have a new sister. Proud grandparents are Stoney and Jeanni Worster.
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
It’s been a century since our ancestors
gathered in Petitcodiac, for their 1926 family gathering.
I am sharing an excerpt from “A
Homestead on the Old Post Road.” Page 35 and 36. I made a few unimportant
grammatical changes.
Just
a few years ago, we cut down the trees in this photograph, taken in Hill Grove,
New Brunswick. There is still a beautiful view from where the family was
seated, along the driveway and to the left of Charles and Phoebe’s little
house. The photograph is of such poor quality that I cannot positively identify
many of the people, but I do have a record of who attended the reunion. From
the minutes of the 1926 reunion, I have the list of names, and it appears to
match the number of people in the picture:
Peter K. Holmes; Charles and
Phoebe Holmes; Carrie Steeves; Ormond Jones, Cuthbert Jones, and Mary Reeder;
Eliza Allard; Lee and Eades Corey: Dan and Mae Holmes; Floyd and Minnie Holmes
and their three children, Bryce, Margaret, and Jim; Ethel Colpitts and her
daughters, Catherine and Phoebe; Arletta McKillop and her son, Cecil (and I
believe her son, Ray, is there, although not mentioned); Kingsley and Laura
Ballantyne and their daughter, Ruth; Walter and Villa Steeves and their
children, Louise and Warren; Kate Ballantyne and her son, Roy; Walter and Mary
Holmes and their sons, Richard and Carleton; Edith MacCallum and her daughter,
Shirley. They
left the food preparations to Minnie Holmes. She was a wonderful cook. The
proverbial woman, she really did rise before the rooster crowed to bake bread
for her family and the hired help. She also had a three-month-old baby and two
children to look after, but she was used to hard work and I never heard her
complain; it was expected of her and she did it. She made the meal, according
to my mother, and the Association wrote in the minutes that they were
entertained royally, all thirty-eight of them. They held their third gathering
on the 12th of August in Hill Grove, New Brunswick. Peter came from
Sangerville, Maine, and Carrie from the Boston area. Some of Hattie’s children,
who lived in nearby Riverglade and Salisbury, met their cousins for the first
time. Since Hattie’s son, Ormond, and his wife lived in the homestead, the
family was able to visit the place. They also visited the Petitcodiac Baptist
cemetery and the cemetery in Hill Grove, right down the road from Charles’
farm, where they paid their respects to their parents and siblings. (DHFHA) Neither James and Augusta nor
William and Anna made it to the 1926 reunion. According to the minutes, Harry,
James’ son, wrote that they would not be able to attend the reunion “due to the
illness of Aunt Gusty.” Once again, distance could be the reason that William
and Anna did not attend. William sent a letter “expressing his good wishes and
interest in the meeting and tendering his resignation as secretary.” In
addition to visiting the Holmes homestead and going to the cemeteries, they
also held a business meeting and chose their officers for the following year,
with the only apparent change being the secretary. They elected William’s son,
Walter Holmes, the new secretary. Besides
the children of Daniel and Charlotte – Peter, Charles, and Carrie – who were
the people that attended the 1926 reunion? Phoebe, Charles’ wife, was there, as
they hosted the reunion. Charles and Phoebe’s son, Dan, and his wife, Mae, came
from Massachusetts. Their son, Floyd, his wife, Minnie, and their three
children, Bryce, Margaret, and Jim; their daughter, Ethel, and her daughters,
Phoebe and Cassie; and their daughter, Arletta, and her son Cecil – all lived
in Petitcodiac or Hill Grove. Kingsley, Laura, and Ruth Ballantyne came from
Maine, as did Kate Ballantyne and her son, Roy. They represented the Louisa
Holmes Ballantyne line. Brothers Ormond and Cuthbert Jones and their sister,
Mary Jones Reeder, children of Hattie, lived nearby, in Petitcodiac and
Salisbury area. How pleased they must have been to visit their step-mother,
Eliza Wilson Jones Allard, who came from Massachusetts. They must also have
invited their Uncle Lee and Aunt Eades Corey, Augusta’s step-brother, who were
home from Saskatchewan – the James Holmes line. Alfred and Carrie Steeves’ son,
Walter, was there with his wife, Villa, and their children, Louise and Warren,
from Maine. Their daughter, Edith, brough young Shirley, their granddaughter,
with her from Massachusetts. Walter Holmes, son of William and Anna, brought
his wife, Mary, and their sons, Richard and Carleton, from Maine.
They would meet again in
Lincoln, Maine, in early August of the following year, they decided. What
changes would a year bring, and who would attend?
This ends week thirty-two of
our centennial virtual celebration of 1926 – 2026.
