Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
December 28, 2023
“These Were Their Settlements”
“These
were their settlements. And they kept good family records.”
This
photo made me smile this week. It also made me sad, in a way. Gone is the baby
Caden, gone is the toddler. Here is the cool kid – and hey, he’s still a
plumber, and he still looks like his grandmother. Caden is the grandson of
Glenn and Mitzi Holmes.
I enjoyed my
scrolls this month, with many of our littles’ Christmas pics. Winston did not
like Santa Claus.
GRATITUDE
Your comments keep me motivated to carry on . . . this time
– everybody’s comments. Thanks so much for your encouragement.
·
From Ami S (an excerpt; we had a catchup): Happy
Christmas, Cousin Peg! Thank you for the family newsletter, and I hope you find
rest and replenishment this winter!
·
From Brian
H: Thanks
for the Chronicle, and thanks for including my carol.
·
From Cindy
S: I
loved your story, Peg - so many shared memories. Paul’s bottle of olives made
me laugh. I always got a bottle of olives in my stocking and one year, when you
came to visit, Paul and I locked ourselves in my room and ate them. Was Pat
mad! Also, we have sleigh bells from the farm that we rang every Christmas
morning. That was our children’s sign that Santa was gone and we could get up.
We took them to my son’s last year and rang them there. I am so thankful for my
cousins and the memories that we share.
·
From Jeanni W: You did a beautiful job on it! And the best part
is the amazing response you got to your request for input! You got to a
lot of people and they dug out memories. Quite impressive. Thanks to you, Jeanni,
for thinking of our cousin contributors.
·
From Karl H: Thank you for sharing those wonderful Christmas stories.
I am still wondering about Mom’s white cake recipe. I’ll have to ask Brenda.
Keep reading, Karl.
·
From Liz S: Luv’d your Xmas Holmes newsletter. So great.
·
From Marvin D: Thank you for this
warm and fuzzy chronicle.
·
From Mary Jane H: Merry Christmas to you and your Family Peggy! I
love these chronicles!!
·
From Ralph W: Peggy, I’m always impressed
by the way you are ensuring the Holmes family will be able to remember their
heritage for many generations to come. Thanks for sharing. Keep reading,
Ralph – you are mentioned in this chronicle.
·
From
Trace H – a family photo taken Christmas Eve in Berkeley, MA, some of whom I
recognize but not all. William N Holmes line.
I posted a few
excerpts in the New Brunswick Genealogical Society Facebook group – only the
historical ones – not those that you wrote.
·
In regards to Mum’s memoirs: from Claudia Lou
– These memories are so precious to read, thank you so much for sharing
them. From a fellow Hillgrover . . .We are now Facebook friends.
·
About Christmas in 1913: From Jen – I love
it. Sounds like the coolest Christmas read yet – and about people who made a
difference.
·
About Gram’s letter to Mum: From Pat –
What a beautiful story this letter tells . . . love the part where the husband
said he was tired of taking catalogue orders back . . . substations were the
bane of my young rural existence . . . Mom would order pink and they always
sent blue . . .
News From Holmes
Congratulations to Dr. Tegan Holmes who received her PhD in Engineering.
She will be working as a researcher at the University of Calgary in Calgary,
Alberta. Tegan is the daughter of Doug and Cheryl (Johnson) Holmes and is in
the Charles R Holmes line.
MY GENEALOGY GOALS
Compile
the family Christmas letter.
- Chronicle
several times, and publish on Thursday morning.
- Keep
writing my next article for Generations, which is about the will of
William Lotham. Francis Holmes is mentioned in his inventory both as owing
money and being owed money.
- Spend
a bit of time on Moore family research: “Three Peas in a Moore Pod.”
Find
four two one none speaker for January to May of 2024, for the genealogy
society. - In
the evening, after chores are done, edit the Maggie Holmes and Billy
Snider family (second child of Daniel and Charlotte) the same way I did
the Louisa, William and Carrie lines. No rush on that.
- Index
old newspapers for NBGS.
- Plan
to do 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project for 2024.
The letter is done and gone for another year.
Thanks for all your kind comments. William Lotham is done – first draft;
revising now. Just heard from the fellow I want for the May speaker, so that is
done. I’ve resigned my position for the following year. I can now tell you that
I did binders for Paul and Pat, my sibs, of five generations: 30 people. It is
a WIP, and I’ll add to it from time to time. I’m back to working on Aunt Maggie
and Uncle Billy. Slowly, I am filling my spreadsheet of old newspaper obits
from 1847.
WHERE IN THE
WORLD IS . . .
Kristin Holmes. She’s in
Brooklyn, New York. All the way from Hawaii.
LOOKING
BEHIND AND AHEAD
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 discovered and rediscovered their family ties. And then, one by
one, they died, and many of those ties died with them
2024 to 2028
How easy it is
to lose our history!
“These
were their settlements. And they kept good family records.”
This
is the last chronicle that Uncle Peg will compile in 2003. I look forward to
2024 – the first year of the virtual centenary celebration(s) of our great and
great-great grandparents. Our forefathers and mothers, and aunts and uncles
worked very hard to reunite. How easy it should be for us to reconnect, at
least virtually, in the 2020s. Are you interested?
I have a new
header quote that I found in my journal as I was looking for stuff
articles for the Christmas newsletter. It’s my goal for this year, anyway. Do I
keep good family records? As far as the genealogy goes, I think I do quite well
with my Ancestry program. As far as the family history, not so well. I do it,
but I need to be better organized. I included the phrase “these were their
settlements,” as I find quite often, keeping a mental or written note of place
helps me to determine if I have the right individual or not, especially if
their name is common. Do any of you genealogists use place as a guideline?
If
you have any thoughts on this, please share. Otherwise, just know that I am
pondering. If you have suggestions to make the chronicle more reader
friendly, let me know.
I
wish you all a “happy getting to know from whom and whence you came year.” I
sure do hope a few of you will join me in 1924. Nope, that’s not a typo.
AROUND THIS
TABLE
Around this
table, we always tell the same old stories.
~ Cousin Sue
Once upon a
time, I discovered Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie in the records. Mum talked to me
of Billy and Maggie, especially Billy, ever since I placed his violin under my
chin. I don’t know why, but I got the idea that he was somewhat of a country
bumpkin. Mum called him a tinker.
From
the Oxford dictionary: tinker
Noun:
(especially in former times) a person who travels from place to place, mending
metal utensils as a way of making a living; or an act of attempting to repair
something.
Verb:
attempt to repair something in a casual or desultory way, often to no useful
effect.
So, was he?
Perhaps. I do know he made several items; they were at the farm.
I was 100%
surprised when I found William Oliver Snider’s vital stats. Mum talked of him
so often, I thought she knew him. However, he died in 1916; she was born in
1922. How did she know? She heard stories about him told ‘round the big table
in the farm’s kitchen. I think her grandfather, Charles R Holmes, was a
storyteller. It seems that everyone loved Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie.
My Gram, Minnie
Holmes, knew stuff about the Ketchums, who brought up Uncle Billy. She was no
relation to the Ketchum family except by marriage, and they were long gone.
And, she was a very busy woman. She had no access to the internet, and no time
for it even if she did have access. But, Cecil T Holmes, first cousin to her
husband and my Gramp, Floyd Holmes, thanked her for sharing information about
them. I think she heard about them from her father-in-law, Charles R Holmes.
Letter from
Cecil T Holmes, December 23, 1976, to Floyd and Minnie Holmes
Your
good letter came promptly, bringing us up to date and more closely acquainted
with your family and its doings . . . I was very much interested in the
information you sent about the Ketchum connection, all of which was new to me.
Of course my father’s middle name was Ketchum, but this never meant anything to
me. But years ago, on the same trip during which five of us called on you one
day in Petitcodiac, we also drove over the hill to the Portage to see the river
and the house where Aunt Maggie Snyder once lived. While we were there our son
Peter (named for Father) stumbled onto a stone in the little cemetery, bearing
the name Peter Ketchum; as I recall, his date of birth was 1775. I assume that
this Peter was probably the one for whom Father was named, and if so then about
a great-great-great uncle of our son Peter, who will be very interested to have
accidentally discovered the grave of a distant relative.
I invite you to
the table of Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie this week. You may recall that I
shared information with you last fall, but other pressing matters came up and I
left William Oliver Snider and his ancestors behind for a while. I’m back. And
I’m back with new information. I am surer than ever that Uncle Billy, even if
he did tinker, was not JUST A TINKER. Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie were
incredible. And, to sit at their figurative table is to sit down to a feast.
I continue this
table talk under “Clippings from Newspaper Archive.” Please read, for your own
reading pleasure. You have heard me talk about Portage Vale. This was their
settlement.
YOUR
STORIES
Genealogy
is the skeleton of family trees. Family history brings individuals to life.
Jeanni (Lloyd) Worster sent this to me along with her
story for the Christmas chronicle. You may recall that I wrote about preserves
a few weeks back: preserves in the larder juxtaposed with preserving the past.
All my father's family, for many
generations, were farmers, with a few cheesemakers who married into the family
and carried on the skill. My mother's family immigrated to New York State
in the late 1800s, and the background I've found sounds like large kitchen
gardens plus a job of some sort. They always preserved all sorts of
vegetables and fruits. I still have a couple of relish recipes that I
continued to make until we moved here. I still have that old magic food
grinder, too! Sue and I always helped with the tomatoes, peaches, and
pears. We're pretty short on family history and stories - even with my
Dad, being one of 7 children, bugging my cousins and long ago my aunts and
uncles for stories, names, dates, anything. I'm sure that Stoney's Mom
and Grandmother (who lived with them) preserved, as did Bertha's sister-in-law
Viola (Heather's mother). And now Heather's daughter, Laura, makes and
shares great pickle-lily (our pickle relish with a twist). So, the
preservation carries on.
Jeanni is married to Charles aka Stoney Worster of the
William N Holmes line. They have three children – Ami, Matt, and Paul.
THIS WEEK’S
CLIPPINGS FROM NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES
Progress, published Saturday June 3, 1899. Written
May 31, 1899, a week after Queen Victoria’s birthday celebration.
ANAGANCE
Gossip
columnist: MOSQUITO
https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00379_18990603/6
The snippet of this article came out pretty fuzzy. Those interested
should go directly to the link, where it is more legible. Some of the people
you won’t know, but most are known to one recipient of this chronicle or other.
I copied it in three sections, but due to the difficulty of reading, I only
included the first one. I transcribed it as is, to the best of my ability. I am
including a few footnotes so my comments don’t interfere with the transcript.
Remember, some of the old newspapers used terminology that may not be
considered correct now. That must be included in a transcription, but is not
necessarily the terminology I would use if I were writing. It is written in one
long paragraph. I broke it up. And yes, my “Uncle Bryce and Aunt Inez” cousins,
the writer use St. instead of Saint.
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“May
31 – To anyone who wishes to obtain rest for a tired body and mind, pure
bracing air, and complete change of scenes away from the maddening crowd of the
conventional holiday resorts, I commend “Sussex Portage.” It is a little
district situated two miles from Anagance station on the Kennebecasis River. It
is spoken of as a ‘perfect Paradise’ by reason of the beauty of its situation
and the richness of its soil. There is really no village of Portage, it is only
a scattered parish with a small population, but it is not a dull listless place
where one would only rest. It has a variety of attractions such as excellent
trout fishing, good hunting grounds, perfectly lovely drives, and splendid
roads for bicycling but one of the best attractions of ‘Sussex Portage’ is the
journey to it – to use an Irishism – for within a half mile of the place you
are on the top of a hill overlooking a beautiful valley with the noble Kennebecasis flowing through, and very pretty
farmhouses scattered here and there.
F. W. Davidson,
proprietor of ‘Waterside Villa Farm,’
has a magnificent place and does all his farming scientifically. Then right
opposite his home is the old episcopal church on the very edge of the bank of
the river with numerous stately English poplars surrounding it and where is the
late Canon Medley used to preach some thirty odd years ago.
Then
within a stone’s throw is the ‘Portage House’
conducted by Ormond L Jones and his estimable wife,
where board can be obtained at a very reasonable rate. The first glimpse of
this hotel is prepossessing, and, as I subsequently discover the internal
arrangements are perfectly satisfactory. The food is typical farm fare with
what one naturally looks for – butter, cream and honey ad libitum.
A school is run
during both terms of the year and is now in charge of Miss Rebecca J. Baird.
Methodist and Baptist churches are both here and the pastors of aforesaid
denominations administer, alternately to the spiritual needs of their
adherents, or in other words,
‘There
are houses of God within convenient reach
and
men of God the truth to preach.
Seat
rents the poorest of poor can pay
and
a flock so small one pastor can survey.’
On the ‘Queen’s
Birthday’ crowds of people from St. John, Moncton, Sussex, etc. flocked to
Portage among whom I noticed Messrs. Warner, Jones, Harrison, Davidson and
Fairweather, of St. John, Count D’Arno of Moncton, R. D. Hanson, Cliff Price,
Jas. H. Humphrey, Misses Mamie Trites, Annie Smith, and Clara Price,
Petitcodiac; Mr. and Mrs. Jas. A. Murray, Miss Mills, Dr. J. S. Dalry, Miss
Eloise Steeves, and Mr. John P. Mills, Sussex; Mr. G. H.
and Miss Davidson, Miss Black and Messrs Frank Millican, A. Stockton, Humphrey
Davidson and Geo. Holmes
of Anagance.
There was a
jolly party of some ten or twelve Sussex lads camping in the bank of the river
and when their chef was preparing meals you could see “the boys” with Camera
and rod meandering off for some more sport and when meal time came there was no
need of tonic for what ‘Amatuer Gypsies’ can put away.
Friday Mr. and
Mrs. Claude W. Price and Miss Emma Price (daughter of the Gen. Supt. I.C.R.) or
Moncton with several more of their friends came to Anagance and were joined by
Mrs. George Davidson and went to Portage where they will spend the day at the
“Old Hoyt Homestead.” Mr. Price who, by the way is an excellent angler was
lucky enough to secure ten dozen of the speckled beauties. Mr. Price was at
Portage one day last week, too, accompanied by his friends Messrs. Geo. H.
Trueman and G. B. Willett of Moncton and they were all very successful as their
baskets were ‘brim’ full of trout.
Mr. Ed
Outhouse, Dorchester, M. Steeves, Boston, Mr. Cleveland, St. John, and Mr. and
Mrs. W. O. Snider,
Sussex, are sdending (sic) some weeks at ‘The Portage.’
Mr. and Mrs. R.
B. Colwell and two children of St. John are visiting Mrs. Colwell’s mother –
Mrs. Emma Davidson on ‘Apple Hill Farm.’
Miss Bertha
Davidson left per C.P. R. west on Friday for Ottawa Ont. to spend three months
with her sister Mrs. Edmund E. Stockton.
Our Station
Agent Mr. G. H. Davidson spent a few days recently with relatives in St. John.
Miss Clara
Leakers and her brother Alexander, of Sussex, are visiting this uncle Mr.
Thomas Dunfield.
Rev. Thomas
Stebbings, Hampton, preached in the Methodist church here Sunday evening. Mr.
Stebbings while in town put up at Chris. Smith’s.
Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel Stockton of Corn Hill, West, have moved to our town
and are at present occupying the dwelling apartment in connection with S. A.
Stockton’s Gen. Store. Mr. Stockton is building a very fine residence adjoining
and expects to have it finished prior to winter.
Drs. Burnet and
MacDonald held a consultation Tuesday over Mrs. (sic, I think) Eliza Kinnear
who has been seriously ill all winter, and Wednesday the performed a successful
operation. Miss Kinnear is rapidly recovering.
The many
friends here and elsewhere of Mr. Duncan McNaughton will be grieved to learn
that he is through indisposition completely housed. Dr. Burnett is in
attendance.
Mr. Gilbert
Davidson,
St. John, who has been spending some days in town with relations on “Apple
Hill” and at ‘The Station,’left for Oxford, Nova Scotia Monday. From Oxford Mr.
Davidson goes to Pictou, Halifax, North Sydney and thence to Boston, so his
holidays will undoubtedly be spent very pleasantly, and especially so when he
carries a camera and banjo with him, for he is skilful in both, and is sure to
make friends everywhere.
Mrs. Elias
Kinnear
has been quite ill of late so that Dr. McDonald is called in frequently.”
~
The Davidsons
are important, for they married into our family – Snider, Holstead, and Holmes.
John and Sarah
(Stultz) Davidson owned Apple Hill farm. They had children Ann, Gilbert, John,
and Henry; possibly more, but Ann and John connect to us as family; Henry, as a
friend.
Ann married
Matthew Holstead, brother of Phoebe (Holstead) Holmes, mother of Daniel Holmes;
they are ancestors of Ralph Wagner – thus, the Holmes connection to
Ralph.
John married Margaret
Snider, older sister of Uncle Billy by eleven years; through their daughter
Catherine (Davidson) MacNaughton – they are ancestors of Cathy Higgins
and Jennifer Bishop; through their son Fred Davidson, they are ancestors
of Sandi (Keirstead) Thorne and Karl, Mike, Doug Holmes and Brenda
(Holmes) Batchelor.
And perhaps other
connections.
~
Cousin Karl wanted to
know about the white cake referred to in the Christmas chronicle, that we call
Phyl’s White Cake. Here is our recipe, Karl.
Phyllis
White Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4
cups sugar
2/3 cup
milk
2 cups
flour (1 cup ordinary flour, 1 cup cake flour, sifted)
2 tsp
baking powder
1 tsp
salt
vanilla
2 eggs,
not beaten, added last
350
degrees, 20 minutes
That
temperature and time is for 2 round cake pans, might take longer for a
rectangular or other pan. We, the Moores and Luteses, use lemon pie filling in
the center, and generally a frosting on the top, or use the lemon pie filling
frugally and put it between and on top. I seem to recall Mum throwing some
coconut on the top as well. That is not included in your mother's recipe or
notes. Best to use Canadian flour, it is of a different consistency than
American flour, I am told.
~
1924 to 2024
Any ideas?
See you in 2024.
This is the view that you see from the top of the hill overlooking
the valley. The Davidson property is along the road in the background, to the
right. I remember taking Fen and stopping for him to take in the view. He
really was awed.
Fred W Davidson is the ancestor of Sandi (Keirstead) Thorne and
Karl, Mike, and Doug Holmes and Brenda (Holmes) Batchelor.
Waterside Villa Farm, on the next page, of c. a century ago –
shared with me but I can’t remember by whom. I assume it was Sandi, John, or
Kelly. Please tell. It is located across the road from the cemetery and now we
know, the old episcopal church. The church is gone, but the cemetery remains,
and is now kept in good repair.
I have new information about the Ketchum/Snider house to share with
you in upcoming chronicles. Where were Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie at this
time? Wait and see.
I googled this to see if I should credit someone, but didn’t find
anything. It must be original to the writer or someone he knows.
George, son of Henry and Emma (Hayward) Davidson; Miss may be
Bertie – these will fall into place next week.
George Holmes was the eldest
son of Charles R and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes.
Gilbert D Davidson (born 1877) is probably the son of Gilbert and
Sarah (Hayward) Davidson, making him the nephew of Fred Davidson. In the 1901
census, his occupation was music teacher.
Mrs. Elias Kinnear was Eulalia (Herrett), and she was Elias’ second
wife. (His first wife was Bessie (Holmes), daughter of Daniel and Charlotte
Holmes; she died six weeks after their marriage.) It appears that Eulalia gave
birth to her eighth child, a daughter, Florence, in February, 1899. She gave
birth in February, 1900, to a son. Some time in 1899, the family moved to
Clinton, Massachusetts. No wonder she was in poor health.
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