Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
February 29, 2024
“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.
“Sam and Pete ruffled my feathers”
FAMILY ALBUM
This picture of Lauren Yee made me smile.
I snatched Lauren’s photo from her father’s Facebook this month. Lauren
is the daughter of Jeff and Jennifer Yee of the William Holmes line.
I read this quote in Kate Quinn’s “The Diamond Eye” while I was in
Guelph. It’s out of context, but I think it applies to genealogical research –
perhaps not a must. Page 25.
. . . you must gain the whole picture through the tiniest of details.
1924 – 2024 CENTENNIAL WEEK NINE
What
a fortnight of memory making I had this month with my family in Guelph. Winston
now knows me and calls me Grammy, and likes it when I get on the floor with him
to play smash and crash with his hot wheels, monster trucks, and magnetic
blocks. He is ever so gentle, though, with Sister – the name I mostly heard him
give baby Eleanor. When she cries, he often brings her a toy or a “baby suck”
pacifier. Might not always be clean, but his intentions are good. Eleanor alternated between snuggles and naps
on my lap to lying on the floor playing the four key piano with her feet and
batting at the bobbles overhead, babbling and cooing her stories as she played.
Our
families may live close by or they may be far away. I think of our ancestors,
who left their homes and family to sail to North America; who fought on
opposing sides during the Revolutionary and Civil wars; Samuel Holmes, who left
Daniel behind as a youngster; the seven of twelve children of Daniel and
Charlotte who moved away from home; our grandparents and great-grandparents who
left home to fight for our freedom in two world wars. Now, it’s almost the
norm. When
we left our parents’ places, we could talk to them by telephone. Now, we can
chat with them on our devices. We can watch them as they grow. We can know
instantly when something big or small, happy or sad, happens to them. And,
we can get on a plane or a train or into a car to visit them. It isn’t easy,
but it’s much easier than it was in the past to make real live memories. Kudos to those ancestors of ours
who got together in the 1920s. Many thanks to Kingsley Ballantyne, historian,
and those who contributed to our first historical and genealogical compilation.
GRATITUDE
In my genealogy society Facebook group,
we often chat about different sites you can use to store and grow your family
tree. Discussions can get heated. The
thing is, it doesn’t matter. It is whatever you prefer. There are several sites
to choose from – check them all out if you like. The two biggest and the two
that get argued about the most are Ancestry and FamilySearch. They have two
major differences. Ancestry is a pay site and FamilySearch is free. At
Ancestry, you have your own tree; at FamilySearch you work on a collaborative
tree. There’s that word that gets the angst up. It doesn’t need to. If you wish
to work on a collaborative tree, go for it. I do not. I don’t want people to
change my work – not even my mistakes. If you see a mistake in my tree, by all
means, tell me about it and I’ll look into it.
Does
this mean I don’t collaborate with people to try and grow our knowledge?
Absolutely not. I do that willingly. I wouldn’t be where I am today in my
genealogical journey without the help of others – some of you who are reading
this and some who are not. Does that mean I tell every secret I uncover? No. It
depends on what I know. It might be something better left unsaid because it is
too personal or a violation of privacy.
It might be something that I plan to put in a book someday.
If I
started listing all the people I have collaborated with over the years, I’d be
sure to leave someone out. I’ll express my gratitude in this chronicle to the
person I am currently sharing knowledge with – Ralph Wagner, our Holsted/Holstead
cousin. Thanks, Cousin Ralph. I’m not sure if you transcribed the petitions or
not. I worked on the 1819 three-page document, and include it here for you and
anyone who wants it.
A Tiny Detail – for Ralph’s consideration
A while back, I noticed something. Ralph had removed
Elizabeth MNU as the wife of Samuel Holsted, in his tree. I asked him why.
Because, he told me and I paraphrase, he had discovered that Samuel had
remarried late in life to a lady named Elizabeth, and she was probably the
Elizabeth referenced in Holsted’s will. True enough. So, I checked out the new
albeit short-lived marriage as he died a few months later, and removed
Elizabeth MNU from my tree. Back to the not-knowing.
Although my article about Daniel only includes a short
blurb about the Holsteds, I decided to review what Ralph had found lately. Lots
of interesting records there, but one tiny detail caught my eye. Most petitions
and land grants, etc, contain both the husband and wife’s name, but Samuel’s
wife’s name was consistently missing. Except for this[1]
(and there I stopped for the time being):
Ask me if you want a transcription. The detail that is
important to me for the time being is on the bottom right – the names of Samuel
and Elizabeth (her mark) Holsted. Witnessed and sealed. Samuel was married to a
woman called Elizabeth in the year 1794, and by that time, probably had at
least two children, Smith and Phoebe. If you descend from Daniel Holmes, you
descend from Samuel and Elizabeth MNU (perhaps Smith but no proof) Holsted
through their daughter, Phoebe.
MY GENEALOGY GOALS
- Chronicle
several times, and publish on Thursday morning.
- Keep
writing my next article for Generations, which is about the will of
Daniel Holmes.
- Spend
a bit of time on Moore family research: “Three Peas in a Moore Pod.”
- In
the evening, after chores are done, edit the William and Anna Holmes
family genealogy. No rush on that.
- Index
old newspapers for NBGS. On hold.
- Index
Riverbank Visitors for NBGS. Put old newspapers on hold while I do this.
While I was away, I spent the research time I
had working on the article for Daniel Holmes. After all these years, you might
think there would be nothing more to learn. Not true.
52
ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a
challenge by Amy Johnson Crow to write about ancestors or other people who interest
us, using a weekly prompt. This week’s topic is changing names.
I got a bit behind in this project,
but this particular topic is important in my genealogical journey, as it is the
first brick wall I ever smashed, and it’s important in Melanie (Holmes) Bowes
and Mark Holmes’ genealogical journeys. I’ve told it before, but it was years
ago.
It didn’t happen properly, like he
went down to the records office and said, “I’d like to change my name, s’il
vous plait. No, it happened over a period of time; decades, perhaps.
Jean-Marie
arrived in Nova Scotia in 1804. His itinerary was probably home, in Bayonne,
France, to Santo Domingo, to south-west Nova Scotia, where several French
families had settled. After he dropped his load of rum or molasses or whatever,
he decided to stay, found a spot, and settled. Years
later, a novice genealogist (me) went looking for him. My goal is to go back to
immigrant ancestors. Jean-Marie was no where to be found, but I knew of his
descendants and I wanted to find that mystery immigrant who begat the Murree
family of my cousin. I knew he was not a Scottish Murray. I knew that the
emphasis was on the ‘ee’ rather than on the ‘Murr.’ Like ‘Marie,’ with a French
accent. But, French?
Did cousin Bob have French ancestry? ‘Could it be,’ goes the mantra of ‘The
Curse of Oak Island?’ Cousin Bob, of the Charles R Holmes line, was the son of
Bryce Holmes and Pauline Murree. I found her parents easily enough: Clifford
Murree of Nova Scotia and Bessie Ferguson of New Brunswick. French and
Scottish, but I didn’t know that at the time. George Murree, Clifford’s father,
was the son of Frederick Murree and Frances White. I located his death record
in Nova Scotia Births, Marriages, and Deaths. “George Maree; male; died August
20, 1909, 56 years of age; residence, Poor Asylum Residence, Arcadia; widowed;
born Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; cause of death locomotor ataxis for a period of
nine years; Protestant; mulatto.” That record is packed with details, but I
stick to the name change. Frederick
was called Maree on the 1881 and 1891 censuses. There, the trail went cold. No
more Murrees or Marees or any other variation of the name. At the time, not
even on Ancestry. I
have a 2” binder full of information on this family, and many records, but I
will skip ahead to the story of the Murrees that I found in a series of
newspaper articles written by Fr. Clarence D’Entremont for the Yarmouth Vangard
in August, 2009. Story #37. Jean Marie BLANCHARD dit Murray (sic):
“Jean-Marie
Blanchard was born in Bayonne, France. Having hired himself as a sailor, we
find him in Santo Domingo, from where he reached southern Nova Scotia in 1804.
In 1806, he was married at Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau to Claire Mius, daughter of
Charles-Amand. He first settled in West Pubnico, in the Abbot’s Harbour region.
His first name being Jean-Marie, he will be known oftentimes as John Mary or
Murray (sic). The Blanchard family is still found in Quinan.”
John
Mary. Put a bit of a French accent on that and voila, ‘John Marie.’ The name
morphed through the years until it became Murree, a dit name, and eventually,
an official ‘Murree.’
Melanie
and Mark Holmes - Robert Holmes - Pauline Murree of New Brunswick – Clifford
Murree of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick – George Blanchard dit Murree of Nova
Scotia – Frederick Blanchard dit Murree of Nova Scotia – Jean-Marie Blanchard
of France and Nova Scotia.
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 reacquainted and rediscovered their family ties. And then, one by
one, they died, and many of those ties died with them.
2024 to 2028
What did I learn recently about our ancestors? You might think from my writings that I have warm fuzzies for everybody in our family tree. I cannot say that. But, I do form an emotional attachment with some of them whose lives I’ve dug deep into. For the majority of them, it’s more neutral, a list of names and dates and places. I’ll never have time to research everyone in detail. My respect for Samuel Holsted grew as I research Daniel’s early years in his home. My respect level for Daniel Holmes’ father, Samuel Holmes, Jr, fell down another notch. My respect for Peter McElmon, which was neutral before this, also lessened. Some of you know who these people are, and I hope you don’t get upset at me for saying this. I do try to stay objective – just tell – and that is what I will do when I finally compile this history. But Sam and Pete ruffled my feathers this week. They ganged up on poor Sam Holsted. Most of what I learned won’t go into my “Generations” article as it is not relevant, but I think you should know about it. This is a slow work in progress and there is not much indexing; turn page after page of the digitized book. It is also hard on the eyes. Will I ever learn my lesson to paste the links into my tree as I go. I’m getting better.
THE “WHERE
THERE’S A WILL” ARTICLE ABOUT DANIEL HOLMES
This is a
tentative story in my article and is unrevised. I decided to take an approach
where I tell a true story (or a story that I need to investigate) about Daniel.
I will follow it up with the facts, and then move on. Story – facts – story –
facts . . . This approach could change.
STORY
“They abandoned
Daniel as a baby,” Mum told me. That’s all she knew about him. I pictured the
proverbial wet, hungry, crying infant in the basket, note pinned to his
blanket, lying on a doorstep. It wasn’t quite like that, but life gave a
traumatic start for this toddler. Daniel’s mother, Phoebe Holsted Holmes, was
dead, and his father had married Betty McElmon. Samuel and Betty set out for
the United States, leaving Daniel and his sibling with his maternal
grandparents, Samuel and Elizabeth Holsted, in Amherst, Nova Scotia. His
sibling died. He spent his childhood in his grandparents’ home, receiving an
education along with his uncles and aunts, some of whom were not much older
than him. When he was eleven, his widowed and remarried grandfather died. Who
raised young Daniel and his minor uncles through their teens, I do not know;
likely an older sibling. His grandfather left financial provision for them in
his will. Daniel was in his late teens when he left Nova Scotia and his
inherited portion of land behind, entering a partnership with John Burnham to
run a sawmill in Petitcodiac, and eventually building a home on the Post Road,
where he brought his new wife, Charlotte Hoyt of Portage Vale.
FACTS
A work in
progress.
OUR FAMILY
HISTORY LESSON
Thanks
to Ralph Wagner who shared this document on Ancestry. I know I have seen it
before, but for the life of me, I couldn’t find it. It is located in a box at
RG 20 Series A, Volume 75 – 77, 1819, and is not on the website. It is good for
us, though, to put the little paragraph into the context of the big picture.
(Recently found, and lost again, at FamilySearch). There
are words I cannot read. I sometimes use lines and sometimes ellipses. If I
think the word is correct but I am not sure, I put it in [square brackets.] The
spelling of the names Holsted and Holstead, as well as McElman and McElmon, are
used interchangeably. I’m not sure which is actually correct. John Boss married Deborah
Holmes, sister of Samuel Jr. Holmes. Benjamin McElmon, brother of Betty
(McElmon) Holmes, was the son of Peter and Margaret (Fillmore) McElmon. Samuel
Jr. and Betty (McElmon) Holmes named one of their sons Benjamin McElmon Holmes,
after his uncle. What is in bold is what I will use for the article. Copies
of the document follow the transcription. Sorry, I don’t have the link at my
fingertips. Forgot to copy and paste – oops.
Samuel Holsted
Petition to the Surveyor General [some words missing]
“From
the character of this Petitioner is as a Man of truth & persevering in . .
. to this Petition – he appears to merit the favourable consideration of His
Excellency the Governor in Chief and as he has . . . family of 13
Children & was . . . - I think he will improve such Land as may be allowed
of him but cannot . . . to receive the
land on which McElman and John Boss have both settled under the authority of
Government . . . Respectfully
Submitted Charles
[Morris] To
His Excellency the Right Honorable the Earl of Dalhousie [Captain] General and
Governor in Chief in and over the Province of the Canadas Nova Scotia. The
Petition of Samuel Holsted of the Town of Amherst, in the county of Cumberland,
Farmer, humbly Sheweth, Your
Petitioner having understood that an application had been made by Peter McElman of Bay Vert, in the
county of Cumberland, to prevent your Petitioner from obtaining a Grant of four
hundred acres of Wilderness Land in the said Township of Amherst, which Grant
was ordered . . . Your Petitioner further understood that it had been
represented to your Lordship, that the said land had been previously sold by
your Petitioner to the said McElman and that the said McElman has paid your
Petitioner the sum of forty pounds and that your Petitioner gave a Bond for a
Deed. Your
Petitioner feeling himself injured in such representation approaches your
Lordship, with a well founded hope of receiving justice after making known the
particulars of his case. Your
Petitioner is one of the American Loyalists who came to this Province at the
Close of the Revolutionary War in America and since then has resided herein,
[purchased] a Lot of Wilderness Land in the Township of Amherst, and thereon
has cut down cleared of upwards of One hundred Acres of the same, has a wife
and thirteen Children Had to encounter on his first settling many hardships and
difficulties not known or experienced at this day - but by the blessing of
Providence has made himself and family by hard labour and industry Comfortable. In
the year 1815 Your Petitioner applied to Government, during the Administration
of Sir George Prevost for Land, having never drawn any land, and obtained an
Order of Survey for four hundred acres. One Samuel Holmes of the Township of
Amherst having married a daughter of your Petitioner and not having Land
suitable to settle on, it was agreed that the said Samuel Holmes the son in Law
of your Petitioner should lay out the said quantity of Land specified in said
order at Bay Vert, which was accordingly done but before the said . . . the
same tract and parcel of Land was laid [off to] John Boss, and Benjamin
McElman, on which said land the said persons have settled: The daughter of your Petitioner and the wife of the
said Holmes having deceased leaving two children, and Holmes the Father moving
out of the Country leaving no support for his Children; at your Petitioners
charge have they been supported, and lately one of the Children departed this
life, and the other is with your Petitioner to be brought up and supported,
without any means of the said Holmes left for that purpose: -
Your Petitioner finding that the said Land had been [reassigned] and taken up
by the aforesaid persons during last Winter He got the [original] order renewed and . . . Surveyor
to lay out the quantity of Land in the order for your Petitioner at the upper
end of the Township of Amherst, for which He now applies for the Grant. Your petitioner further states
that immediately after he had so laid out his order of Survey at the place last
aforesaid. Mr. John Roach Surveyor, he is informed and believed does extend
other warrants of Survey on the same tract of Land, among which there was one
belonging to a Mr. James Holbrook who was not a resident of this Province, at
the time, or at any time since, but resides in the Capacity of a School Master
at Dorchester Province of New Brunswick; and your Petitioner is further
informed that Mr. J Roach has [purchased] the order of Mr. Holbrook provided a
Grant can be obtained for the same. Your
Petitioner further states he neither sold or bargained to sell the Land to the
said Peter McElman nor to one Jonathan Tindall, neither did he receive any
money or consideration for the purchase of said land or warrant of Survey from
either of them. Your
Petitioner, therefore, prays your Lordship will please to take into your
Gracious consideration and allow the Grant of the said four hundred acres of
Land so surveyed to him, to pass in your Petitioners favor, as he is desirous
of proceeding to improve thereon during the [winter], And your Petitioner as in
duty bound will ever pray. Samuel
Holsted
Amherst
Dec 26th 1819. Personally
appeared Samuel Holsted the within Petitioner and made Oath to the foregoing
facts before Charles Baker, J.P. 11th
Feb’y 1820.
We
the undersigned Magistrates for the County of Cumberland certify that we are
well acquainted with Mr. Samuel Holsted the within Petitioner, and know him to
be an industrious and respectable Farmer of said County, and we firmly believe
the facts stated in the foregoing Petition to be true. We further state we are
acquainted with Mr. James Holbrook, and know that he resides at Dorchester in
the Province of New Brunswick, in the Capacity of a School Master, and is an
unmarried Man, - hereby do recommend Mr. Holsted the Petitioner to the
favorable consideration of your Lordship as to a character deserving and . .
. said prayer of his Petition from the
circumstances that have passed under our knowledge. Charles
Baker, J.P. [Wm.
White], J.P. Henry
Purdy, J.P.
The
facts contained in the foregoing Petition from every information I am in
possession of, I believe to be truly correct. I am intimately acquainted with
Mr. Holsted the Petitioner & know him to be a very industrious and truly
deserving Man, meriting the encouragement of Government. I am acquainted with
Mr. Holbrook and know that He resides in the Province of New Brunswick – as
stated in the foregoing Petition. J?R
This ends
week nine of our centennial virtual celebration.
[1] FamilySearch film # 008130558, Image 714. Deed Book D, page 265.
Sale of land grant from Samuel Holsted to Alexander McNabb, 14 June 1794.
