A CHRISTMAS CHRONICLE
December 21, 2023
“Sleeping in Heavenly Peace”
The Jerome and Alma
Holmes Christmas tree, taken in the 1960s. With a family of nine children,
there were lots of
stockings and presents. Thanks to Glenn Holmes for the photo.
~
A LETTER FROM LOUISE
STEEVES TO HER FOLKS
I didn’t forget that
this letter should be about Christmas, the time to be born again,
to eat and drink, to
laugh and dance,
and especially to
enjoy the fruits of our labor and the gift of each other!
Let us celebrate and
be glad!
This is an excerpt
from a Christmas letter sent from Louise (Patriarca) Steeves to “folks.” In it,
she told her recipients, “In this time [Christmas 2008], the gifts of Frank and
me to each other, capped by sixty years of marriage, can never be denied. Most
of you know that Frank struggled with an aggressive lymphoma . . . for three
years prior to his death on August 15th . . . in memory of Frank, I
need to conclude with these lines from a Quaker prayer.
And life is eternal
and love is immortal.
And death is only a
horizon.
And a horizon is
nothing more than a limit to our sight.”
Frank Leslie Steeves
(1921 – 2008) – Frank Leslie and Annie Gladys (McCormack) Steeves – C Alfred
and Caroline Maria (Holmes) Steeves – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes
SEASONS GREETINGS
Cousin “Uncle Peg” Vasseur
Wishing you, your
family, and all your readers a Merry Christmas. Marvin
Davis
Wishing
all of our cousins from far and wide very Happy Holidays. The
Byron and Annmarie Holmes family from Berkley, Massachusetts.
Wishing all
recipients of The Chronicle a very merry Christmas and may 2024 be a
joyous year filled with laughter, family and good health! Julia Nolte, Janet Nolte, and family
We
wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year from our family to
yours. Cindy and
Greg Steeves
Very
best wishes for a joyous Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year. Liz Steeves
Thank
you, Peggy, for all your work pulling this together. Merry Christmas, all. Jolynda Tresner
FEN’S PEN
2010
Dear Peggy and family,
I don’t know whether this is my ultimate
or penultimate Christmas Greeting, but here goes.
The years go on, but many of my dearest
and oldest friends have not lasted quite as long. At the age of 92, I guess I
have a right to feel lonely at times, but the counterirritant is keeping busy .
. .
Now is the time to get in tune with the
Christmas spirit, an undertaking involving tidings of great joy. So, I am
wishing you the very best of holidays and the joys of families and friends . .
.
May this be the best of new years for
you and yours,
Fen Holmes
“Penultimate,” according to
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: next to last. Fen went on to have seven more
Christmases.
Fenwicke W Holmes – Jerome C and Jennie
H (Edwards) Holmes – William N and Anna C (Heath) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte
(Hoyt) Holmes.
Especially for Eleanor Holmes Wilson
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=422007&picture=christmas-vintage-song
GRATITUDE
Those of you who follow along Uncle Peg’s chronicles know that I try
to include an item of gratitude every week. Usually, but not always, my
gratitude is to one of you. Occasionally, it is to someone in the New Brunswick
Genealogy Society Facebook group, of which I am one of the administrators. Your replies,
whether I publish them or treasure them privately, fill me with joy, shake away
my doubts, and make what I do seem worthwhile to me. Some genealogists hold
tight to their discoveries and secrets. Although I hold a few secrets, in
general, I want to share what I learn. I won’t be around forever, and I don’t
want what I’ve found to be lost. In this Christmas chronicle, I wish to thank
Brian Holmes for his annual gift of music. Brian composes music for old poetry,
and the title of this one amused me. His greeting heartened me. With Brian’s
permission, I share with you “A Hymn of Spinks and Ouzels” from 2021.
Every year since 1983, I have written a new carol (or in this case,
a hymn) . . . This year, the poem is by the English poet Christopher Smart
(1722 – 1771) . . . I enjoy it because it gave me the rare opportunity to
compose for the splendid words “spinks” and “ouzels.” Part of the charm of this
poem is that the birds, plants, and weather are far more vivid than the savior
the birds sing about . . . “Boreas” is the Greek god of the north wind, and
“Mosaic thorn” is explained in Exodus 3:2.
ENJOYABLE CONCERT AT PORTAGE VALE
One of the
best concerts held in this place for a number of years took place last Thursday
night in the school house, under the direction of Miss Holmes, who for the past
year has been teacher. The concert from start to finish was a success. Every
part showed the effect of training. The school house was tastefully trimmed and
the Christmas tree looked very pretty. Saint John Standard,
December 24, 1913
Miss Holmes, I know from other family history, was Bertha Margaret
(Holmes) Maxfield (1887 – 1969). She was, at the time, the Portage Vale school
marm. She eventually married the widower, Rev. Buell Wade Maxfield (1897 –
1969). They lived in the Boston area, where Buell pastored several churches.
Buell and his late wife, Beulah (Sherman) Maxfield, had two children, Keigwin
and Alta. Bertha raised the children as her own, but she and Buell had no
children. Bertha
Holmes was the fifth child of Charles R and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes and the
granddaughter of Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes. She probably boarded with
her Uncle Billy and Aunt Maggie while she taught in Portage Vale. This photo is
of an older Bertha (Holmes) Maxfield.
Bertha Margaret (Holmes) Maxfield (1887
– 1969) – Charles and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt)
Holmes.
THE TWELVE CHILDREN OF DANIEL AND
CHARLOTTE HOLMES
To aid in your understanding of who people are, here is a list of the
names of Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes’ twelve children. Four of these:
Maggie, George, Bessie and Fenwick did not have any children, but the other eight gave Daniel and
Charlotte plenty of grandchildren. For descendants of others, I’ll add the information
individually.
Daniel Holmes (c. 1813 – 1883)
married Charlotte Hoyt (1813 – 1872)
Frances Ann ‘Fanny’ (1837 – 1902)
married James W Ballantyne, cousin of Robert Ballantyne
Margaret Eliza ‘Maggie’ (1838 – 1916)
married William Oliver Snider
Sarah Louise ‘Louisa’ (1840 – 1906)
married Robert R Ballantyne, cousin of James Ballantyne
Harriet Olivia ‘Hattie’ (1842 – 1885)
married Abner Jones, cousin of Alf Steeves
James Hoyt (1844 – 1927) married Augusta
Corey
George H (1844 – 1847), twin of James,
died young
William Nelson (1846 – 1931) married
Anna Columbia Heath
Caroline Maria ‘Carrie’ (1848 – 1936)
married Charles Alfred ‘Alf’ Steeves, cousin of Abner Jones
Peter Ketchum (1850 – 1928) married
Hannah Isabel Burpee
Charles Robert (1852 – 1945) married
Phoebe Jane McMonagle
Charlotte Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ (1854 –
1878) married Elias Kinnear and died six weeks later
Howard ‘Fenwick’ (1857 – 1917) married
Maude Marion English
CHRISTMAS IN 2013
A Trip from Portage Vale to Boston
The many
friends of W. O. Snyder regret to know that he is not well. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder
were intending to go to Boston to spend Christmas with Mrs. Snyder’s sister,
but unless Mr. Snyder is much improved, the trip will not be made. (Did he recover in time?)
Saint John Standard, December 10, 1913
(He did!)
Mr. and Mrs. W. O. Snyder leave today for Boston where they will spend
Christmas with Mrs. Snyder’s sister, Mrs. Alfred Steeves of that place. Mr.
& Mrs. Snyder’s many friends wish them a very pleasant and happy trip. Saint John
Standard, April 9, 1914
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Snyder, who have been spending
the winter in Boston, have returned home a few days ago. Saint John Standard, April
9, 1914
Margaret Eliza (Holmes) Snider (wife of William Oliver Snider – Daniel and
Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes.
Caroline Maria (Holmes) Snider (wife of Charles Alfred Steeves) – Daniel
and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes.
This familiar photo was taken much later than 1913, when Uncle Billy and
Aunt Maggie went to stay with Uncle Alf and Aunt Carrie. Left
to right: Edith and Peter MacCallum, Shirley MacCallum, Warren Steeves, Carrie (Holmes)
Steeves. Carrie died in 1936.
Shirley (center) is the daughter of Edith and Peter MacCallum (left) and
the granddaughter of Carrie Steeves (right). Edith is the daughter of Carrie.
Warren (beside Carrie) is the son of Walter W Steeves and the grandson of
Carrie. Carrie, by this time, was the widow of C Alfred Steeves and the
daughter of Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes.
AROUND THE WITHERIL TABLE
Thanks to Jane (Barber) Williams for this photo of three generations of
Witherils sitting around their table. Jane is the great-great granddaughter of
Henry E and Minerva through their son, Clair. Was this a Christmas dinner? I’m
not sure, but it looks well laden. The little girl in the centre is Minerva,
who was born in 1903; therefore, I will date this photo c. 1906. Henry E is the
son of Henry G Witheril and his wife, Betsy ‘Marinda’ (Holmes) Witheril. Betsy
Marinda is the daughter of Samuel Holmes Jr. and his second wife, Elizabeth
McElmon, and the half-sister of Daniel Holmes.
Starting with the girl in the front on the left, and going clockwise, the
people are Rozina Witheril (born 1911), Florence Witheril, Lee Witheril,
Minerva Witheril, Martha Witheril, Charles Witheril, and Henry Witheril (with
the moustache).
Rozina is the daughter of Lee and Florence. Little Minerva is the daughter
of Charles and Martha. Charles and Lee are the sons of Henry and Minerva.
Minerva (the elder) is not in the photograph.
.jpg)
Rozina – Lee and Florence (Johnson) Witheril – Henry
E and Minerva (Johnson) Witheril – Henry G and Betsy ‘Marinda‘ (Holmes)
Witheril - Samuel Jr and Elizabeth (McElmon) Holmes
Minerva – Charles and Martha (Schneider) Witheril – Henry
E and Minerva (Johnson) Witheril – Henry G and Betsy ‘Marinda’
(Holmes) Witheril – Samuel Jr and Elizabeth (McElmon) Holmes
LETTER FROM MY GRAM TO MY MUM
I have
always loved this letter from my Gram, Minnie (Colpitts) Holmes, to my mother,
who she called Midget. It is not dated, but since she talked about Bobby as a
youngster, I’m going to estimate it c. 1946. No mention of her brother Jim, who
would have been at Acadia University at that time – a long ways from his home
in Hill Grove. As he worked three jobs at a time while going to university,
perhaps he couldn’t come home. Her hand writing is a bit of a challenge to
read, so I’ll only include a few lines and transcribe it for you. I assume Gram
had asked Mum to buy some items for Christmas; others would have come from
catalogue sales. In this letter, it sounds just like she was talking to Mum.
Going to Hill Grove was not as easy then as it is now. Walk to the station,
take the train to Petitcodiac, meet and drive to the country in the truck with
Gramp (an adventure in itself.) It’s all in one paragraph; I broke it up for
ease in reading.
Saturday Night, 9.30
Dear Midget,
Got your letter last night and
was glad to know you were getting along so well with all the shopping. (Thanks
a million.) Every body but Bob and I have gone to town. [Gramp used to drive his
“kids” as well as cousins and friends in the area in to Petitcodiac to see a
movie on Saturday nights.]
Nan came in yesterday, but went out for the evening and is coming back
with Pop. I am looking for Bryce, and his new Pontiac tonight, he didn’t get in
last week end. Look
dearie I think it would be wiser to open our gifts here because it may be
terrible stormy and we can’t get out at all, see, don’t you? And how could we
live with Bobs if there were nothing from Santa. We got his little rain coat
its cute and got Nancy a jacket a substitute, but I guess I’ll keep it as Floyd
says he’s tired of carrying things back and forth. I’m awfully glad you could
get her skates. I haven’t heard from yours [package from Eatons, I assume] since
I wrote to say, and if I don’t hear pretty soon, I’ll, I don’t know what, but
guess just write again. (I cooled off see). About
Geraldine, I got note paper, but have soap (its nice) if that would be better
and Floyd thought he might get her a box of chocolates from Billy Lockhart so
don’t you bother with that, I’ll do it. [I wonder who Geraldine was.]
You have plenty candy dear I think I will make a bit of fudge. I have nuts, and
with what we can get here we will be o.k. I don’t know of anything in the shape
of cats. I just had a cup of coffee and a dough nut. Had
Bill in today, said he had a good time. I
was mighty glad to see Nan, I scrubbed since they went away, also made a cake,
mended some of Nan’s things. [Phew, she makes me tired just reading this.] Bob’s
throat is still sore, but is coming a bit. He is getting terribly anxious. Did
he ever love Nan, just hugged and kissed her nearly to death. Well Bye dear and
goodnight, I won’t seal this there may be a bit of gossip to add when Floyd
gets home. Mum
Mum aka Margaret Holmes Moore – Floyd and Minnie (Colpitts) Holmes aka the
writer – Charles R and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt)
Holmes.
Christmas at the
Duncans
This photo is of some of the Holmes, Colpitts,
Duncan and Middleton families enjoying a Christmas dinner around the table.
Ethel is the daughter of Charles R and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes. Cecil is the
son of Charles and Phoebe. Phoebe and her sister, Cassie (not in photo) are the
daughters of Ethel and her husband, Robert Colpitts. Neil is the son of Phoebe,
and Treva is the daughter of Cassie. My family used to visit them on Boxing Day.
Ethel (Holmes)
Colpitts, probably Cecil Holmes tucked in behind, Margaret (Higby) Holmes,
Phoebe (Colpitts) Duncan, Neil Duncan, and Treva Middleton.
A Letter from Margaret to her Uncle Cecil
(From Hill Grove to Boston)
This is a letter my mother wrote to her Uncle Cecil on a December 28th.
Everybody loved Uncle Cecil. She did not thank him for a gift; maybe she
forgot, or maybe she just wanted to send him a letter. She loved receiving
them: especially, I think, when they included the $1 bill. Jim was born in
1926, and it appears he was old enough to receive some books and toys. Nancy is
not mentioned, so the letter was written between 1926 and 1932. Uncle Cecil
used to send funny papers to them throughout the year, and wrapped in each one
would be a $1 bill. Bryce and Marg (Mum) would take turns getting the $1 bill,
but I think there must have been some guidance as to what they purchased. For
instance, she mentioned in her memoirs using the money to buy fabric for a
dress. Cecil lived in the Boston area with the Minellas – where he met and
married Miss Margaret Higby. He worked for Angelo aka Mac Minella in the
plumbing business for several years.
Marge
is my mother; Bryce and Jim were my uncles. Cecil Charles Holmes was the son of
Charles R Holmes, and the brother of Floyd Holmes. He married Margaret
Elizabeth Higby, but they had no children. Marg, Bryce, and Jim were the
children of Floyd Holmes and grandchildren of Charles R Holmes. Mac Minella
married Lil Underhill, another granddaughter of Charles R Holmes.
CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
Byron Holmes remembers:
A couple of things stand out for Christmas. One
was that my parents, Clifton Holmes and Viola Freeman were married on the
following day in 1941. It might seem odd for a marriage date, but at the time
my dad was in the service and was about to leave for Europe and the war. They
got married while he was home for the last time in several years. My brother
Orin was born while he was away, and father and son did not actually meet until
the war was almost over. Another
memory is that my maternal grandfather, Joseph Freeman, was a dairy farmer and
later raised poultry. The cows worked Christmas as they did every other day,
and he had to be home to tend to them. So, we used to have a family Christmas
on Christmas Eve at our home, a two-century old farmhouse that is still
standing here in Berkley, Massachusetts. It is no longer in the family, but we
all recall Christmas Eve during our younger years.
Byron Holmes is the son of Clifton Heath and
Viola Evelyn (Freeman) Holmes and the grandson of Charles and Elizabeth
(Kimball) Holmes, and is in the fifth generation from Daniel and Charlotte. He
is in the William N Holmes line. He married Annmarie Driscoll.
Mary (Holmes) Davis remembers:
My Christmas memories include a very tall tree. Our parents covered our
French doors with a blanket so that when we came downstairs, my brother
Richard and I could not immediately see what Santa left under the tree. There
were dozens of homemade cookies, fruitcake, a fudge, and my mother’s homemade
Danish rolls for breakfast. We exchanged food gifts with neighbors. We enjoyed
the Holmes family homemade lemon-orange sherbet, and a big turkey dinner with
friends. There was an air of expectation
throughout the season and special times at church during Advent.
Mary (Holmes) Davis is the daughter of Richard Weatherbee Holmes and
Dorothy Louise Lynk, and the granddaughter of Walter Wendell and Mary Lucinda
(Weatherbee) Holmes. She is in the William Nelson Holmes line. She married
Richard Davis.
Glenn Holmes remembers:
Look at all the stockings on the fireplace
mantle! (And one tired little boy sleeping in heavenly peace.)
Glenn is the son of
Jerome Knowlton and Alma (Vincent) Holmes and the grandson of Jerome Crane and
Jennie Hazel (Edwards) Holmes. He is in the William Nelson Holmes line, and the
great-great grandson of Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes. He married Mitzi
Hickman.
Eleanor (Holmes) Wilson remembers:
I
live in the house where we celebrated many Christmases. My Holmes grandparents
did have a favorite tradition on Christmas Eve. The kids went up the stairs to
bed with candles, singing “Silent Night.” I did not know this until I was in my
early 20s, after my grandmother died. At her memorial service, my grandfather
told us this story, and asked that we all sing “Silent Night” together. Aunt
Janet played the piano while we all sang. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I
still get emotional when I hear the carol.
Eleanor is the little
girl on the left.
Around the table
clockwise are Marion Dunnells Holmes, Peter Holmes, Eleanor Holmes Wilson, Mary
Sultzer Holmes (pregnant with Janet Holmes Griffith), Cecil T Holmes, Janet
Holmes Carper, Julian Holmes, and Nancy Holmes (wife of Peter). Julian, Peter
(twin of David, not in picture), and Janet are the children of Cecil T and
Marion Holmes. Eleanor is the daughter of Julian Holmes and Mary Sultzer,
granddaughter of Cecil and Marion (Dunnells) Holmes, and a fifth generation Holmes
through the Peter Ketchum line. She is married to Kennon Wilson.
Cecil T Holmes –
Peter K and Hannah (Burpee) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes
Floyd O Holmes –
Charles R and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes
Cecil and Marion (Dunnells) Holmes and Floyd and Minnie (Colpitts) Holmes exchanged Christmas letters. I have copies of several. Cecil and Floyd, first cousins, were born the same year: Cecil in Maine, and Floyd in New Brunswick. In the photo are Cecil’s daughter, Janet, and her husband, Tom Carper, in France.
Grace
Holmes March
remembers:
Since
I can’t remember my parents talking about their Christmases when they were
young, I’ll tell you about mine. If you asked my granddaughter, Sophie,
about her grandparents’ Christmases, you would get the same answer.
Since
I was born in the late 40s, my recollections are from the 1950’s in North
Haven, Connecticut. We’d take our car, which always was a Studebaker
because that’s the car dealership my Uncle Lester owned (Uncle Lester was my
mother’s brother). We’d go mid-December to a local live Christmas tree sales
lot. We might go to two or three, looking for just the right tree at a
reasonable price. I remember my father grabbing each tree under
consideration by the top and firmly thumping it on the ground so the branches
would spread out and we could evaluate if the branches were uniform. I’d stand
waaaay back, or get snow or water on me. Since we located our tree in a
corner of our living room, we had a distinct economic advantage. We could
get a better deal on a tree that had fewer branches on one side, a tree other
people might not want, but was perfect for us. I remember my mother negotiating
those deals, gently as she was not a wheeler-dealer, but still managing to get
a discount. The tree would be about 5-6 feet tall and my father would cut
off the bottom when we it home, tied on top of the car with rope he always
carried “for emergencies” in the trunk. My mother and father would take
some time getting the tree to stand straight and secure in the stand and then
water was added. My mother was very insistent about keeping the tree watered so
it would last until the needles became dry. That was the sign that it had to be
“taken down”. My job was to crawl under the tree and water it without getting
any water on the floor. I was so scared I’d make a water mark on the hardwood
floor that I think I succeeded in my watering duties. I remember fresh trees
“drinking” a lot of water at first, and then, as they got drier, less and
less.
Some
of the Christmas ornaments were older; I don’t know where they came from, and
each year we’d buy a few new ones. I still have some of the ornaments
from my parents. My mother did not like tinsel, but I did. I don’t know
how my father weighed in on that issue. My mother bought me a little
tinsel as I got older and probably more annoying in my requests.
At
home, just the three of us on Christmas morning, we’d have stockings that Santa
would fill. My mother’s stocking was a long silk stocking, my father’s a sock,
and mine, a sock. We placed our stockings carefully on the covered key section of
the spinet piano, and found them
full in the morning. We always got oranges and nuts (with the shells on), some
small wrapped candies, and a few little stocking gifts. My father was very fond
of chocolate covered cherries, so he’d always get those. My present to him
might be more of the same. My mother loved ribbon candy and peanut
brittle.
Our
gifts were quite practical except, as a child, I got a special toy each year,
perhaps a doll, or one year a bicycle with training wheels. We didn’t
have a lot of money, so things tended to be practical and apparel was common.
And, that was just fine.
The
other decoration we had was a wreathe for the door. It was usually simple:
green with a red bow, either an evergreen wreathe we’d buy or one we’d make by
collecting a creeping evergreen vine that grew in the woods.
I
don’t know when my parents stopped having a tree. We always had a real tree; an
artificial tree was simply not done. Did they discontinue the tree after I got
married at age 19 (young nowadays but not so young back then)? I think
they continued until my father didn’t feel well enough to help with the tree.
With his emphysema he didn’t have a lot of strength for quite a few years.
I think my mother did give in and buy a very small artificial tree after
that for the table, one she could handle well by herself.
After
my father passed away, my mother traveled by train to Maine to celebrate
Christmas here. She liked that but I’m sure she had times she’d recollect the
Christmases past, hopefully fondly.
I
wonder what my father was thinking about during Christmastime when I was young.
How I wish I could ask him.
Grace is
married to Brook March.
Grace S Holmes
March – Harry S and Olive Grace (Gavette) Holmes – Harry S and Marion
(Glocksen) Holmes – James H and Augusta (Corey) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte
(Hoyt) Holmes
~
This is Charles Robert ‘Bobby’ Minella, named
for his grandfather, Charles Robert Holmes. Bobby is enjoying his sled in the
nice new snow. He is Janet’s older brother.
So far, in my research, Bobby is the only descendant
of Daniel and Charlotte I have found who was killed in the second world war.
Lest we forget.
Charles Robert ‘Bob’ Minella – Angelo ‘Mac’ and
Lillian (Underhill) Minella – Carl F and Ella Mae (Holmes) Underhill – Charles
R and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt) Holmes.
Julia Nolte
and Janet Nolte, her mother, remembered together; in Julia’s words.
Regrettably,
we don't have any pictures of Lil or Mac as children celebrating Christmas and
Mom (Janet) couldn't even think of them sharing any stories of their childhood Christmases.
I can remember grandmother, Lillian Minella, telling me that she would go ice
skating in winter on a pond, but that is the only winter related memory I have
of her childhood stories.
Minella
Christmas 1967, around the table
Lil
in the left corner with her back to photographer, unknown, Brett, Julia,
unknown, Celia, Mac at the end. On the right is Janet talking to Emily and Sis.
I think, between Sis and Lil (centre front) might be a friend from church.
The house on Brookdale was finished just as Janet
left for college. The black and white picture with Janet in 1952 was the
oldest that we could find. The picture from 1957 with Brett (on the left) shows how my
grandparents decorated their home. The items on the shelves above the
fireplace seemed to change each year as did the number of stockings. Lil
loved to decorate her home on holidays and at Christmas she always had a clear
plastic tree set out with clear, green and red gum drops. Each color of
gum drop tasted different which isn't the case these days. I have her
plastic tree, but don't set it out because I haven't found
Much
loved recipe of Lillian (Underhill) Minella
Lillian
– Carl and Ella (Holmes) Underhill – Charles and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes
Next time you come to
New Brunswick, Noltes, please look for Ganong gumdrops.
Cindy (Lutes) Steeves remembers:
As
I do our family Christmas baking, I realize just how many of my childhood
memories are attached to food! Every year I go through my recipe box and that
of my Grandmother Minnie’s and pull out the recipes that have become the
favourites in my family. The
top favorite is Gram’s Gingersnaps. I remember having them at the farm and
making them at home with Gram and Mom as well. Gramp would judge how good they
were by pretending to bend them. If they snapped they were good, but if they
bent- devastation! My husband still does this with his first cookie every year.
I have to say, Gram’s always snapped but mine still bend sometimes. My
recipes are all from family and close friends. My mother-in-law’s gum drop cake,
Auntie Marg’s drizzle squares. Honorary Aunt Hazel’s short bread cookies and
Effie’s sugar cookies. Effie was a neighbour of Gram and Gramp (Minnie and
Floyd). Mom’s cherry balls
have a very special memory as one year my sister, Susan, and I made them
together and ate them all. We did not want Mom to know, so we had to make
another batch which was not fun. We were very sick and to this day, although I
make them because our oldest loves them, I cannot eat them and hate the smell
of maraschino cherries. (I could probably do a whole paragraph on things that
Susan and I got in trouble for with food, but I digress.) The final important
recipe is my grandson’s birthday cake, which I make six days before Christmas.
This very important cake is a white cake made from Aunt Phyllis’ cake recipe,
lemon filling and boiled icing. As we sit around our table, it
is comforting to see that even though these family members are no longer with
us, they are represented through recipes that have been passed down from
generation to generation and made with love every year.
Cherry Balls
Drain one
bottle of maraschino cherries.
½ cup butter
1 ½ cup icing
sugar
1 tbsp milk
(optional)
Mix and add 1
½ cup fine coconut.
Wrap around
each cherry.
Roll in
crushed graham wafers.
Do not eat all at once.
Cindy
(Lutes) Steeves – Ralph and Nancy (Holmes) Lutes – Floyd and Minnie (Colpitts)
Holmes – Charles and Phoebe (McMonagle) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt)
Holmes. She married Greg Steeves.
[I need to add
to Aunt Phyllis’ cake recipe story. We were sitting around, somewhere, a few
years back, when I mentioned “Aunt Phyl’s white cake.” Aunt Phyl just happened
to be sitting there with us. If you knew her, you can see her eyes snap when I
said this. What white cake recipe is that? she asked. I have several.
To us, our family white cake recipe was always called “Aunt Phyl’s white
cake.” That is what I liked about Cindy’s and the other recipe stories – so
many of our old recipes start with the name of the person who shared them with
us.]
Stoney and Jeanni (Lloyd) Worster remember in Jeanni’s words:
What
Stoney remembers from his Christmases in Lincoln, Maine, is the Julekake (and
we can't find any Swedish ancestors in his line so far, so we attribute this to
a good friend with a great recipe). One thing that is still constant is the
group of 12 little porcelain bell tree ornaments. Half are bell-shaped
and half have equal but curved sides that remind me of cowbells. They are
beautifully hand-painted and sound pretty, too.
(Pickle
ornament photo taken from a royalty-free website.)
Charles aka Stoney
Worster – Berle and Bertha (Holmes) Worster – Charles H and Elizabeth (Kimball)
Holmes – William N and Anna C (Heath) Holmes – Daniel and Charlotte (Hoyt)
Holmes. He married Jean Lloyd.
Jean aka Jeanni (Lloyd)
Worster – S Alton and Anna (Christman) Lloyd
Christmas
in Hill Grove
By
Mum, Margaret (Holmes) Moore
(Edited
slightly by Peg Vasseur)
Christmas was a very happy time at our home in Hill Grove. There
sere school and Sunday School concerts to prepare for and presents to our
families. We enjoyed visiting with friends and buying gifts on a trip to town
with a couple of dollars. Mum
made mince meat in November and of course, a dark fruit cake. It took ages to
make and it was huge. She covered it and steamed it for several hours, then
finished it in the oven. She cooked it in a large boiler with a rock to keep
the cake out of the water in the bottom. She placed wax paper over the top so
the water wouldn’t get on the top of the cake, and bricks and irons on the
cover so the steam wouldn’t escape. My Dad chose a Christmas tree
earlier in the year when he cut the wood for winter, but he didn’t bring it
home until just before Christmas. We had a stand: a wheel from some piece of
machinery. It had to be rolled into the dining room after we scrubbed and waxed
the floor. We stood it in the corner away from the stove, and didn’t put it up
until the day before Christmas. We hung our stockings on the wood box. We wrote
notes to Santa and then we burned them with help from Dad, as we weren’t
allowed to open the stove door. We decorated the tree on the afternoon before
Christmas. We didn’t have electric lights until 1928 or ’29, so we used
candles. Little holders held the candles and we could only watch while Dad
lighted them just for a short time. We had some lovely ornaments that the
Minellas brought us from Texas. We still have some of them. We loaned them to
the school first, to decorate the tree for the Christmas concert. After we got
electricity, we had electric lights for the tree. We
didn’t get a lot of gifts, mostly clothes that we needed. I remember one
Christmas I received a dress. The top part was red flannel trimmed with the
plaid that made the skirt. The plaid was from a pleated skirt that Mum made
before, the fabric of which I bought with $1 that Uncle Cecil sent me in a roll
of funny papers from Boston. When Aunt Tress (her mother’s sister) and Mum
measured the dress on me and cut around my neckline, I knew I would get a dress
for Christmas. I still wore it when I went to High School. I remember getting
overshoes, and we always had one toy. One year I received a special doll. One
year I got a jacket and ski pants; I thought I had “arrived.” We enjoyed lots
of candy and nuts, and we always got an orange in the toe of our stocking,
probably the only one of the year. There was always a bottle of olives for
Grandmother (Phoebe McMonagle Holmes) and a pair of overalls for Grampy
(Charles R Holmes). They didn’t have a tree, but came over to open their gifts
with us. One year, Grandfather took the horse bells that went over the horses’
backs, and rang them under the bedroom window before we were up, and we were so
sure we were going to see Santa. I think he had a close call! Another
special Christmas, Lil, Mac, Bob and Sister (Lillian) Minella came for
Christmas – oh the fun, and all the gifts and treats. I wonder where we all
slept. Lil helped Mum with the preparations and cooking. She was so good to us. As we grew up and left Hill
Grove, it was still special to take family home, and friends, too. During the
war, we were encouraged to take the military boys home. [They came from England
for flight training in Moncton.] Marian and Elmer McConnell, friends of our
family, joined us on Christmas night. We all enjoyed clam chowder, cold turkey,
home made bread, fruit cocktail, and sweets for our evening meal.
Uncle Peg remembers:
(I do not remember the clam chowder, but I’m sure I enjoyed it.)
Dad and Mum made Christmas so special for us – totally uncommercial
and economical. In preparation for the season, Mum baked, and baked, and baked.
She baked for us, she baked for others. After we went to bed, she sewed doll
clothes and new clothes for Paul, Pat, and me as well. My cousin, Nancy, on my
Moore side of the family, told me recently how much she and her sister,
Cynthia, enjoyed the doll clothes that they received from us (unbeknownst to
me, as she was also making them secretly for Pat and I). She still has her
Betsy-Wetsy doll, and still dresses her in the old clothes. Like Mum, we had school concerts
and Sunday School concerts to go to, and caroling the Saturday before Christmas
with the youth group. It gave me great pleasure when carolers from her church
came to sing to her and the other residents of the special care home. She
mentioned going home for Christmas. My memories are fuzzy, but they too include
family joining us in Hill Grove. One year, Uncle Jim, Aunt Phyl, and their four
arrived on the train. I have photos of
my cousin Bob Holmes, his first wife Tanya, and their son Ronnie arriving at
the airport on a winter day – was that for Christmas? It was winter, anyway. I
have watched their arrivals on the old movies Dad used to take. My Lutes
cousins, Sue and Cindy, along with Uncle Ralph and Aunt Nan, joined us after eating
a Christmas breakfast of bacon, eggs, turkey livers, and Uncle Ralph’s famous
fruit salad. Cindy thought the turkey livers were gross, but I loved them. That
evening meal, beside the wood stove, or, more likely, the adults sat by the
wood stove and we kids, at tv trays in the dining room, left us replete.
Perhaps that word is too polite. We were stuffed. Sometimes, when the snow was
great for sledding, we headed out back of the house and sailed all the way down
the hill to Charlie Blakeney’s farm on
our cardboard box sleds. After
we opened the gifts, we placed them back under the tree for a couple of days.
We could wear the new clothes and play with the toys, but when not in use, they
stayed under the tree for display when Dad and Mum’s friends and our cousins
came to visit. That included the Duncans – Ormand and Phoebe (Colpitts) Duncan,
and their sons, Neil and Bruce. Phoebe and Mum were double cousins, as their
parents married Colpitts siblings. (Charles R Holmes line.) They came to our
house, and we went to their house. We reacquainted with the reunions from 2008
to 2014. My
takeaway from those warm Christmas memories was the Christmas stockings, which
hung by the fireplace. We were allowed to creep quietly downstairs at about
seven, and see what Santa brought us, unwrapped and placed beneath our three
stockings. We could open them without parents – they were filled with simple
things: small toys, books, candy, socks, and for Paul, his own bottle of
olives. He liked them that much. When my girls came along, I made a big deal of
stockings which became quite expensive as they grew; I also made and stuffed
stockings for Dad, Mum, and Mom Vasseur. Before we opened gifts together, Dad
would read Luke 2. If you aren’t familiar with that chapter, know that it is
very long. Julie
is carrying on the stocking tradition for her children. They each got an
ornament for Christmas as well, and it is my privilege to buy Winston and
Eleanor their Hallmark ornament. This year, Winston’s ornament is a Tonka truck
and Ellie’s, a rattle. Shhhh . . . don’t tell. Unlike my childhood, we all
opened stockings together. Nowadays,
the presents are down on the priority list, but, for me, high are the carols I
sing in the choir, making gifts, the surprise gift I give someone who doesn’t
know who it came from, the food, having Erin home, my grandmother’s fine china
on the table, and buying for Winston and Ellie. Nice thing is, I can see them
open their gifts on Facetime. Well, I will see Winston open his gifts; sweet Ellie
is too little yet, but she will make bubbles and baby noises for me.
“God
bless us every one.”
~
Tiny Tim
NEW
YEAR 2024
January
1st, 1924 starts our centenary five-year virtual reunion of the
children
and grandchildren of Daniel and Charlotte Holmes.
I
will, as I am able, make these five years as memorable as possible.
I
welcome your help and participation in this adventure -
descendants
of Samuel Jr and his first wife, Phoebe, and his second wife, Elizabeth,
and of their parents, Samuel Sr and Elizabeth,
and
our extended family and friends.
The
Christmas chronicle was compiled by Peg Vasseur with help from several cousins.
I
thank you for your stories.
Together,
let us continue to preserve our past.
~ Uncle
Peg
I
wish every one of you a joyful New Year in your own little corner of the world.
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