Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
May 25, 2023
“Put on a Pretty Spring Dress”
This photo
made me smile this week. Snatched from Keith’s Facebook. These, I think, are
the sons of Peggy Steeves: Christopher, Keith, Gregory and Daniel Burden. Not
sure of the order: perhaps Peggy or one of these fellows will help.
I bit the
bullet, took the risk, and updated Family Tree Maker this week. Fortunately, it
worked. Now, all I need to do for Elizabeth and the Lincoln Historical Society
is to compile it.
~
New this week are Brenda Batchelor and Carolyn Brown: two
genealogists.
Brenda (Holmes) Batchelor is my first cousin,
daughter and fourth child of my Uncle Jim and Aunt Phyl, and sister of Karl,
Mike, and Douglas. She is my sister’s age. If you were there in 2016, you met
her. She jumped right into the Floyd and Minnie’s grandchildren’s cousin
shenanigans. We visited again last summer for the committal and burial of her
Mum, who died shortly after my Mum, and a few months after her aunt and uncle.
Brenda is involved in genealogy and is now officially one of my three busy
editors. Mostly she researches her mother’s Davidson line, but of course, is
interested in the Holmes and other collateral lines. It’s in the genes. Brenda
is in the Charles R Holmes line.
I have not met Carolyn Brown. I would like to.
I think we’d have much to discuss. Carolyn descends through her maternal line
from Zorobable Holmes, son of Samuel Holmes Sr and Elizabeth Fountain. Here’s
what I gleaned from Carolyn’s Facebook: she enjoys life. She writes about it
and photographs it. She takes part in community events, loves science, art and
music, and plays wordle. She lives in Ontario, where she grew up, but I get the
feeling that part of her heart is in Nova Scotia. She wrote about her father’s
life shortly after his passing; her article in the Globe and Mail is worth
reading.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/lives-lived-earle-chesley-brown-81/article17758440/
Watch for your name.
~
My genealogy goals for this week were:
·
Chronicle several times, and publish on Thursday morning.
·
Keep researching and writing
about Daniel Holmes for the “Where There’s a Will” article.
·
Complete the William Holmes
line for the Lincoln Historical Society when FTM is fixed.
·
Continue indexing old New
Brunswick obituaries and death notices for the NBGS website project.
·
Get ready to scan Uncle Billy’s guest book for the NBGS website.
·
Get ready for the AGM for NBGS and for our branch, both in May. Write
a teeny tiny welcome speech.
·
Revisit “Fairfield” of CCC.
·
Spend a bit of time on Moore family research.
I did everything except scan the
guestbook and revisit “Fairfield.” I think I am prepared to go to Dorchester on
Saturday – as prepared as I’ll ever be.
~
Obituary of Maryellen (Mavrides) Fielding
WAREHAM – Maryellen M. (Mavrides) Fielding, 68, of Wareham passed away
on May 19, 2023, at home. She was the wife of the late Guy S. Fielding and the
daughter of the late William M. and Catherine J. (MacMaster) Mavrides. She was born in Weymouth and
lived in Braintree, Pembroke, and Carver before moving to Wareham in 1992. She
graduated from Braintree High School and Fisher College. Mrs.
Fielding worked as a Real Estate Broker in the area for many years. She was a
member of the Wareham – New Bedford Lodge of Elks. She enjoyed life, nature,
gardening, animals and sunny days. Survivors
include 2 sons, Daniel W. Fielding of Nashville, TN and Joseph Guy Fielding of
Wareham; 5 grandchildren, Joseph James Fielding, Henry James Fielding, Serenity
Sky Fielding, Hazel Rose Fielding, and Sophia Wren Fielding. Visiting
hours are from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at Chapman
Funerals & Cremations – WAREHAM, 2599 Cranberry Hwy., Wareham followed by a
service at 5:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Donations
in her memory may be made to the Wareham-New Bedford
Lodge of Elks, P.O. Box 566, East Wareham, MA 02538.
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/27957061/maryellen-m-fielding/wareham/massachusetts/chapman-family-funeral-homes?fbclid=IwAR0PMAN61uuQgIS4e8a4OnAgnLtQam22LSSVnjwpTUM-ItgT08Ov7FNkgb4
~
My special
thanks this week to Rhys Reynolds. You don’t know him; he is a distant Moore
cousin. He shared valuable information with me.
~
Here is another
of Karl’s lost souls:
In the family
photo of the Alf and Carrie (Holmes) Steeves, there is Edith, plunked into the
center of the photo between her parents. The other two young ladies are her
sisters-in-law. Alf died in 1918, so the
family photo was taken before that.
Click to enlarge.
I believe this portrait
is Edith Maude Steeves. If any of you disagree with me, let me know. I am going
to tell you a bit about Edith and her family as a review.
If you have some
unidentified HOLMES photos and want to send them along, perhaps I can compare
to identified Holmes people photos. If you have some identified HOLMES photos
that you haven’t sent me, please do.
When Shirley was
eleven, her mother was working outside the home as a milliner in a millinery
shop. I wondered why, as most women were homemakers. Her husband, Peter, had a
job as a shipbuilder in a navy yard. The year was 1930 – the era of depression.
Was the family hard pressed financially, or did Edith enjoy working? I do not
know. I do know that when Shirley came home from school, her grandmother,
Carrie, was there to look after her.
Shirley married
H Robert Huke, and they had three children, Robert, Peter, and Wendy. Cousin
Wendy (Huke) Abraham is in our group.
~
I recently
received an email from Blogspot about an offensive post. I’ve tried to be
careful and respectful, really I have. I
clicked on the link that took me to the post to see what I had done now. It was
on a blog that I had completely forgotten about. The last post was in 2013. The
post was written in 2012. It has now been removed, although I can find and fix
it if I like, and send it back for their review. Fix what?
What was that
post? I remember working on it and it took me forever. It was a list of all the
grandchildren of Daniel and Charlotte Holmes in birth order. Only the years of
their birth were mentioned, not the dates, nor their dates of death. The
youngest people in that list were Cecil T Holmes of the Peter line, and Floyd O
Holmes of the Charles R line. Cecil and Floyd died about three decades ago.
Censorship is
alive and well. I hope I didn’t offend anyone way back when, with my list of
names of our dearly departed. I read over the guidelines, which are similar to
Meta’s, and I see that although I couldn’t list our ancestors names, I could post
them in the nude or in provocative scenes, as long as they were adults and not
involved in bestiality or with children or the like. Wouldn’t that be a treat!
Not.
I had fun
skimming the posts that I wrote before I printed up my “Homestead on the Old
Post Road.” I was surprised at what I did know at the time, as well as what I
didn’t know but have since figured out. I don’t seem to be able to post there
now.
~
I’ve continued
on with the probate of Daniel Holmes. The challenge is still there, both to
read the writing and to figure out some of the legalese of the day. In my
“Where There’s a Will” articles, I try to find something unique about the
probate, something to “teach” or inform my readers about. I didn’t know that
Daniel’s will would provide me with so much learning material. I’ve transcribed
annexed citations, mentions of
affidavits, different types of courts, and I’m on page 10 of 32 pages, some of
which contain ____s. I’ve heard all those words, but I need to know what they
mean in context. I want to figure out who the signatures are, so I spent an
evening plugging what I thought they were into Ancestry and Google. One fellow
who was a Commissioner for taking affidavits at the time eventually became a
Judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick. I’m learning about Dorchester and
its residents, especially those in the legal profession. This interests me, as
I am doing the welcome speeches at our NBGS meeting in Dorchester on Saturday.
And, I think I’ll find plenty to write about when it comes to write my article.
Challenge will be – what to leave out.
To drive from
Petitcodiac to Dorchester and attend court, Daniel’s executors would drive (on
today’s roads) approximately 84 kms or 53 miles. Most likely, in the mid-1880s,
they took a train. On Saturday, from my house to Dorchester, I will travel
approximately 38 kms or 23 miles. Half of the trip is quite rural.
Just for fun:
some of the signatures. These are only in the
email, not the blog; request an email if you wish to see them.
A E
Oulton/Alfred E Oulton Obviously he folded the paper in the first one, before
the ink was dry.
Not figured out
yet. Don’t know that it will be.
M B Keith/Murray B Keith
Thomas Herrett
Chas E
Knapp/Charles E Knapp
C E Knapp/Charles Edward Knapp and
FW Emmerson/Frederick W Emmerson
Guess.
~
I am so looking
forward to Saturday and my visit to Lady Smith Manor. Hopefully the weather
will be nice and I can put on a pretty spring dress.
I think it’s
nice, sometimes, to dress up and go somewhere.
