Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
January 12, 2023
“Singing with Open Mouths Their Strong Melodious
Songs”
Number of pages in Outline Descendant
Report: 151 (up from 151 last chronicle)
Number of pages in the basic Descendant Report:
233 (up from 231 last chronicle)
Francis
Holmes is # 1. I am now # 328. # 327, where I was last week, is now Margaret
Holmes Clifford.
Jonathan
Marquez (Frances Anne Holmes Ballantyne line) is last at # 481.
#
480, where he was last week, is now Derrick Hurde.
This
should change weekly, if I’m doing my job.
Something
new in stats, just for fun:
I put the
names of all descendants of Francis Holmes who are either in our Facebook group
or on my mailing list for chronicles, in a bag. Spouses and friends are not
included as they do not get numbered in the program’s default. Those who have
no descendants are also not numbered, but I’ll include them with their parent’s
number. I pulled out three names, and will follow them for two weeks. Next
week, I’ll draw three more. This is for fun, but if the three names I drew were
not in my tree that I am using now, I insert them. Win-win exercise.
The three I
drew last week are:
·
Michael Holmes is now # 378.
Last week, he was # 377, who is now Justin Dockter.
·
Anne Marie Holmes Gautreau is
now # 325. Last week, she was # 324, who is now Robert Holmes.
·
Angela Wellman Brandenburg is
now # 477. Last week, she was # 476, who is now Keith Wellman.
New this week are:
·
·
Cathy Teakles Higgins is # 307. Cathy is in the Charles R Holmes line,
and the daughter of Howard Alexander Teakles and Dorothy Ketchum Holmes. There
is that Ketchum name again! Why? Well, several of Cathy’s ancestors lived in
the Anagance/Portage Vale area, including Davidson, Hoyt, Ketchum, McNaughton, Teakles,
and even Holmes for a while – long enough for George Holmes to court and marry Julia,
the daughter of her great-granddaddy, Duncan McNaughton – who disapproved of the
marriage and at the wedding, sat in the kitchen by himself rather than the
parlor. (So I was told.) It all worked out in the end, though. Mr. McNaughton
came to accept and love his son-in-law. Cathy was supposed to come to our2014
reunion but couldn’t make it, but her sister, Judy Smith, joined us with her
family. Cathy has three grown children – Jennifer, Brendan, and Ryan.
·
Steve Holmes is # 285. Steve is the son of Fen and Bette Holmes, and the
brother of Brian Holmes. Pretty sure he lives the good retirement life in
Hawaii. He’s in the William N Holmes line. He is married to Winona Wong and has
two grown children, Kimberly and Michael. He also has a young grandson, about
the same age as my grandson.
FYI, this
takes a lot of time, but it’s kind of fun. I do it on Tuesdays rather than
Thursdays. Watch for your name.
~
See that pen?
I remember my fascination with a pen like that as a kid. It’s going to come in
handy with its four colours.
This year, I
want to keep track of book scores that have meaning for my genealogy bookshelf.
This book, “A History of Salisbury,” by the late George Taylor, sent me off on
a rabbit trail this week. I’m back at the Holsteads, for I found a new
connection, thanks to Mr. Taylor and Ralph Wagner. I am an invited guest on
Ralph’s Holstead Ancestry tree. He is our Holstead resident chair. I leave most
of the heavy duty Holstead research to him, at least for now. Samuel Holstead was a loyalist ancestor
who came to Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, after the revolution. We have not
connected him to his immigrant ancestors yet.
Some of this
will be a review, but that never hurts. The first thing I want to do is update
the names of the children of Daniel Holmes and Charlotte Hoyt. I am not
changing their names, but whom they were named for. This is my opinion, and all
names were common at this time and place, and I could be right, I could be
wrong. Note that Daniel had no son named Samuel, even though both of his
grandfathers and an uncle of Charlotte was Samuel Ketchum, an uncle of Daniel
was Samuel Holstead. I believe that is telling, in that his father, Samuel
Holmes Jr, left him to be raised by his grandparents and probably never saw him
again.
·
Frances Anne married James
Ballantyne. She was given the name of Charlotte’s mother, Frances Ketchum; also,
Charlotte had a sister named Frances.
·
Margaret Eliza married William
Oliver Snider. I don’t know who she was named for, yet.
·
Sarah Louisa married Robert
Ballantyne. I don’t know who the Louisa was for, but Charlotte had an aunt, Sarah
Ketchum, who was a sister of her mother. Sarah was one of four siblings who
raised William Oliver Snider.
·
Harriet Olivia married Abner
Jones. Harriet had an aunt, Harriet Ketchum, who was a sister of her mother.
Harriet was one of four siblings who raised William Oliver Snider. Olivia was a
daughter of Samuel Holstead and married Robert Scott of Salisbury. (This is new
information for me.)
·
George H, twin of James
died young. I don’t know who he was named for, but Charles R Holmes named his
firstborn George Howard, and his youngest son, Howard Fenwick.
·
James Hoyt married Augusta
Corey. Charlotte’s father was James Hoyt III.
·
William Nelson married Anna
Heath. I don’t know who the William was for, but the Nelson was probably for
Horatio Nelson, who was popular in these parts but not related. There was also
a Rev. Horatio ‘Nelson’ Arnold who baptized some of these children.
·
Caroline Maria married Charles
Alfred Steeves. I don’t know who the Caroline was for; Maria was possibly for
Maria Holstead, Daniel’s aunt, who married Henry Hopper, a resident of nearby
Coverdale, NB, and where Carrie and Alfred eventually settled for a time.
·
Peter Ketchum married Hannah
Isabel Burpee. Peter was named for his uncle, Peter Ketchum. Peter was an uncle
of Charlotte, and one of four siblings who raised William Oliver Snider.
·
Charles Robert married Phoebe
Jane McMonagle. I don’t know who the Robert was for, but it carried down in the
family. Charles Holstead was an uncle of Daniel who lived in the Moncton area.
Note that William N Holmes named a son Charles Holstead Holmes; I assume he was
well -liked.
·
Charlotte Elizabeth ‘Bessie’
married Elias Kinnear and died a few weeks later. She has her mother’s name,
Charlotte, and perhaps Elizabeth, for Charlotte’s aunt Elizabeth Ketchum, and
Daniel’s aunt, Elizabeth Holstead who married Matthew Smith. Matthew and
Elizabeth Smith remained in Nova Scotia, I do believe.
·
Howard Fenwick married Maude
English. Howard was possibly for the brother who died, George Howard. There was
a Fenwick who was famous in these parts, and I think that is where the name Fenwick
comes from. I read in my new book that Robert Scott and Olivia Holstead had a
grandson named Fenwick – another Fenwick.
~
Now, on to my
new book, and Olivia Holstead Scott, and another Holstead connection. Although Ralph
Wagner probably doesn’t have Holmes DNA, we reign him tighter into our family. Those
names in bold print all moved to New Brunswick; I believe they all followed
their nephew, Daniel Holmes. This is a WIP – I am still reading the book and
taking notes.
Samuel Holstead
and his wife, Elizabeth MNU (possibly Smith) had twelve children.
·
Smith and his wife moved to
Ontario.
·
Phoebe married our Samuel
Holmes Jr, and gave birth to two children, one being our Daniel. Then
she died. The other child died young. Samuel married second, Elizabeth McElmon.
They left Samuel’s two children in the legal custody of Samuel and Elizabeth
Holstead, moved to New York State, and had six or seven more children. One of
those children is the ancestor of Jane Williams.
·
Nancy married William Ackles,
and I don’t know much more about her.
·
Maria moved to Salisbury and married Henry Hopper of nearby Coverdale.
·
Samuel moved to New Brunswick and married Eliza Pitfield of Sussex parish,
probably Portage Vale. Samuel owned and operated Holstead’s Tavern, an inn on
the stage coach run from Saint John, New Brunswick, to Amherst, Nova Scotia.
The stage put up in Petitcodiac at the tavern for the night. He didn’t own it
long.
·
Elizabeth married Matthew
Smith. I believe they stayed in Nova Scotia.
·
Mary probably died young.
·
Hannah probably died young.
·
James probably died young.
·
Olivia moved to Salisbury and married Robert Scott, also a resident of
Salisbury. More later. She is my new connection, thanks to my new-to-me book.
·
Charles married Ann Chapman and they lived in Moncton. He must have been a
well-loved uncle, for William N Holmes named one of his sons Charles Holstead
Holmes.
·
Matthew married Ann Davidson of Portage Vale. Anne is the daughter of John
Davidson. Matthew is the ancestor of Ralph Wagner, through the male lineage but
with a name change in there. Hence, there is a connection between my Aunt
Phyllis Davidson Holmes and her four children; also, between Ralph and Sandi
Thorne. We won’t go there today, but the connection is there.
~
I
want to explore these connections. Someday.
Connection with Burnham
Connection with Chapman
Connection with Corey
Connection with Davidson
Connection with Holmes
Connection with Hopper
Connection with Hoyt
Connection with Jones
Connection with Ketchum
Connection with Pitfield
Connection with Scott
Connection with other Portage Vale and
Anagance folks, possibly
Going in circles.
You might need to nudge me.
~
Discoveries this
week: from Ginger Ketchum Stork – Sarah Ketchum, daughter of Edward Ketchum, married
Joseph Whitney; they are the ancestors of Walt Whitman. Note, Walt Whitman is
not in our lineage but is rather a great grand uncle to some degree. Also of
note: Sarah’s step-father, Henry Whitney, put up a big stink about this
marriage and went as far as to go to the courts to try and stop it, because he
thought that young Joseph Whitman was trying to steal the affections of his
step-daughter. I try to keep my opinions to myself, just tell the tales, so I
shall say no more.
Imagine a world
without Walt Whitman, thanks to one of our step-uncles. Sing, my American
cousins, children of many common ancestors; sing what belongs to you.
The
genealogist singing as she makes a new discovery or uncovers a brick wall.
(I realize this
poem has concepts that some may consider inappropriate, but Whitman lived from
1819 to 1892.)
“I Hear America
Singing
by Walt Whitman
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should
be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or
beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or
leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat,
the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the
hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in
the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young
wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none
else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of
young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing
with open mouths their strong melodious songs.”
~
This Find a
Grave note put me in mind of Mr. Rochester. Mind you, his Jane Eyre wouldn’t
marry him, once she knew he had a wife stashed in the attic. Possibly my Mr.
Birmingham was divorced; no mention is made, but divorce records are not often
digitized.
I was puttering
around a bit with my Moore family tree – no Holmes relations here. Jemima is a
sister to my great-great grandmother, Margaret Jane Glendenning, for whom I was
not named. The name was just a coincidence, but since we share it and MJ’s
parents came from Scotland, I take an interest in her. There’s a story I heard,
and the memory is fuzzy . . . when I was born, my father heartily believed that
he was of Scottish stock and put that on my birth certificate. (He said Scotch,
but we now know that is a drink; people from Scotland are Scottish.) He was
misinformed; he was not Scottish but of English origins. He was disappointed
but, nonetheless, my brother was noted as of English heritage. Between Paul’s
birth and Pat’s, he learned that he was Irish. Smoke poured forth from his
ears, but my sister is noted as of Irish lineage.
I do not know if
that tale is true or not, and I could have the English and the Irish order mixed
up. Dad did not want to be Irish; but, there’s no doubt about it. The Moore’s
came from County Down. We three Ps are a
melange of Scottish, Irish, English, German, and French – one couple, the
Quintards, were Huguenots who fled to England. They are your Holmes ancestors
as well. (Your immigrant ancestors for Stoney this week, Jeanni: Isaac Quintard
and Jeanne Fumé.) And, probably a few other strands in there as
well.
Back to what I
read at Find a Grave about Isaiah Birmingham, who married second, Jemima White:
“Isaiah was born
in Connell the son of John Birmingham and Matilda Kinney. He married Clarissa
D. Kinney on 15 June 1871. Their 3 children are mentioned in Clarissa's memorial.
After his wife
Clarissa's confinement to the St. John Asylum before the 1881 census, and their
3 children were placed with various Birmingham relations, Isaiah found himself
in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he married on 26 Oct 1881 Jemima White, born in
the Parish of Kent, the daughter of John White Jr. and Margaret Jane
Glendenning. There were no children born of this union.”
Find a Grave
Memorial # 202908343. Yes, Margie, I realize it is Saint John. I’m quoting.
Have a great
week.
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