January
1, 2026
“Composition for Guitar upon the
Breakdown of the Church Organ”
“These were their
settlements. And they kept good family records.”[i]
Don’t forget to
look for the title which is embedded in the chronicle.
FAMILY ALBUM
Scroll down to see the names.
And I Quote:
Oops. I deleted some emails by
mistake. Thank you for your emails of encouragement and thanks.
I appreciate every one.
1924 to 1928
Those are the years that our Holmes ancestors 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
There
were some recent gatherings, and I have enjoyed scrolling by and seeing how
your family has grown since last year. The gathering in the family album was
for Thanksgiving, and includes descendants of the Ella Holmes Underhill clan.
Thanks, Emily.
Rafael Ramirez, Dana Fogg, Brett
Nolte, Phyllis (Fogg) Hanson, Sarah Vernd (wife of Dana), Angela Ramirez, Chip
Brock, Brian Hanson, Elise Hanson (in front). In the other photo, Jean Fogg
Brock is standing next to Rafael.
At
the beginning of every year, I make some goals. At the end of the year, I
wonder what they were, and if I fulfilled any of them. I think, this week, I
will write a word or two about them and tape the list onto my computer desk.
It’s not long, and I deliberately tried to keep it simple this time. Four
things:
1.
Learn “Silent Night” on the violin. I
have been asked to join our three violinist/choir members for next Candlelight.
Given my lack of playing since my late teens, this is a bigger challenge than
you might think. First, I need to learn how to hole the violin and the bow;
then, to practice some scales and little ditties like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little
star” and “Three Blind Mice.” Then, on to Joseph Mohr’s Christmas composition
for guitar upon the breakdown of the church organ. On my list, I can write
“Silent Night,” and remember what it means.
2.
Submit two articles to the editor of
“Generations,” before year end. Both are works in progress: One is about Uncle
Billy and Aunt Maggie; the other, Fenwick and Maud. If you’ve been following
along with the chronicles, you know who they are.
3.
Scour the probates of my New Brunswick
ancestors and people of interest, as soon as they are published on our New
Brunswick Genealogy Society, which should be any day now. They are not all
indexed yet, so it might be a wait and see before I find the people I am
looking for. First on the list: Charles R Holmes. Note that they must have died
and been probated in New Brunswick. Those of you whose ancestors went elsewhere
will have had their probates done, if applicable, in their province or state.
4.
Do not let number 3 interfere with
number 2. But, allow myself a peek.
That’s
it. Silent Night. Two articles. Probates. No rabbit trails. Got it, at least
for now.
A
few of you may recall, two years ago, that I was going to do something special
for the five years of reunions of the children and grandchildren of Daniel and
Charlotte Holmes. Year three is coming up. I’d like to think of an easy,
special focus for this third year. Any ideas? Focus on the easy.
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
I
hated to put the Fenwick Holmes article for “Generations” off any longer. It
has been my intent to do a longer article for the family, and an abbreviated
one for the journal. I decided to start the article – which involved copying
and pasting it to a new Word document. My first job was to cut cut cut. Then,
put in timeline order. For the time being . . . here is a portion of the life
of Uncle Fenwick and Aunt Maud which involved mining. In 2005, when they came
home to New Brunswick, he did approach the powers that be about starting up a
coal mine in New Brunswick. As far as I know, nothing came of it. As most of
this is beyond the scope of my imagination, I have written it in quotations
from various sources.
Mining
There are gaps in Fenwick and Maud’s story,
and one of them is the date of purchase of the Bad Mine. At least, I have not
found it. Mining was important in the Rainy River district of Manitoba, which
included Rat Portage, and it appears that he and/or Maud bought a mine. M. M.
Holmes, I read, was part owner. For this portion of their story, I will quote
the information I have found.
“. . . about ten years
[1883] ago in the Lake of the Woods region, discoveries of gold, working of
mines and milling of ores had encouraged the hope that Ontario might become a
gold producing country. But for one cause or another, after much money and labor
had been expended upon properties and works, the conclusion appeared to be
reached that the right conditions did not exist or if they did that the
energies of those who ventured upon the enterprise were either inadequate or
were misguided and misapplied. Past experience however has not persuaded the
men of our day that there is not gold in our Province in workable quantities
not hitherto explored, nor even that in fields where operations were formerly
carried on without success better methods and appliances may not yield profits
to those who have the courage to undertake their development with more capital,
modern equipment and new modes of treatment.”[1] “Whether it will be
profitable in Ontario or not at this third effort to establish it, remains to
be proven.”[2] “There
are many other gold locations in the Lake of the Woods district, on some of
which a little prospecting work has been done; but most of them are held for a
speculative object. Bad mine, 349P, consisting of 40 acres, is three-quarters
of a mile south of Rossland; M. M. Holmes of Rat Portage, is part owner. Test
pits sunk upon the vein on this property have yielded very promising samples of
ore, nearly all of them showing native gold.”[3] “The
Bad Mine Sold. Mr. H. F. Holmes, of Rat Portage, has just completed the sale of
the Bad Mine, the consideration being $55,000. The property is situated about
six miles east of Rat Portage, near the Scramble, Sweden, Treasure and other
mines that have lately attracted so much attention. The new owners will put a
force of miners to work immediately and develop their property and possibly put
in a mill plant before winter sets in.”[4] “The Bad mine, whose only bad characteristic is its name,
has been disposed of after many vicissitudes, for a good figure by H. F. Holmes
and his associates. It is gratifying that Mr. Holmes has at last been
successful in disposing of this mine to a company which will at once operate
it. Mr. Holmes has been here a number of years and has done his best to further
the mining interests of the country. He has invested his hard-earned cash in
development and put forth every effort to show up the property as far as his
means would afford and has had a great deal to contend with. He has sold the
mine at a fair price, although his expenses have been large in connection with
putting the deal through. But, although he has sold the Bad mine he has other
properties in the immediate vicinity which give promise under development of
proving equally valuable, and he will now center his energies upon the latter.
The Bad mine has a shaft down something over 100 feet, and has produced in
bullion to date considerable over $10,000. The ore values average high, and
practical tests have demonstrated the mine to be exceedingly good. – Rat
Portage Miner. Mr. Holmes’ wife was formerly Miss Maud English of Woodstock,
daughter of Mr. Charles English.”[5] Although
in 1899, H F and M M Holmes no longer had a financial interest in the Bad Mine,
it did continue to operate. A description of further operations of this mine is
in a Bureau of Mines Report.[6] I do
not believe Fenwick was through with mining, or his interest in mining. On
September 16, 1899, Maude Marion Holmes purchased a one undivided third
interest in Mining Location K104, in the District of Rainy River, near Rat
Portage, from Charles A Moore of Rat Portage, for fifty dollars lawful money of
Canada.[7] Look for a sale of same. An article
in the Daily Sun, in January, 1905, leads me to believe that, although he no
longer had a financial interest in a mine, he remained involved in the
industry. My great-grandfather told Mum that
he had lost an arm; she did not know how. Perhaps it was in a mining incident. “H.
F. Holmes of Rat Portage arrived in the city [Saint John, New Brunswick]
yesterday, and is staying at the Royal. Mr. Holmes resided at Andover in his
early life, but went west about twenty-seven years ago . . . For
the past few years Mr. Holmes has been interested in mining enterprises, and it
is in this connection that he is visiting New Brunswick at this time. Mr.
Holmes told the Sun that his plans were not sufficiently projected to give
details for publication, but he said that the deal in which he was interested
in this province was in connection with coal mines, and would be one of the
largest of the kind ever consummated in New Brunswick . . .”[8] To the best of my knowledge,
nothing came of this attempted venture. He returned to Rat Portage in 1907.
Albeit with pessimism, I do wish you a happy, blessed new year. Perhaps
peaceful would be a better wish.
Uncle Peg,
Signing off for 2025 and logging back on for 2026.
[1] Google Books. “Third Report of the Bureau
of Mines.” Chapter II: The Gold Fields of Ontario.” 1893. Page 11. Printed by
Order of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Toronto: Warwick Bros. &
Rutter, Printers. 1894. Accessed October 27, 2025. https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Annual_Report_on_Mineral_Industry_Operat/Mjo5AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Rat+Portage++Bad+Mine&pg=PP7&printsec=frontcover
[2] Ibid. Page 13.
[3] Ibid. Page 30, 31.
[4] Google Books. Qu’Appelle Progress,
Qu’Appelle Station, N.W.T. “The Bad Mine Sold.” October 8, 1896. Page 4.
Accessed October 27, 2025.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=9Z46AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=Rat+Portage+Holmes&article_id=2846,14697061&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBkqKnnJqQAxX6tYkEHXF0PV4Q6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=Rat%20Portage%20Holmes&f=false
[5] The Dispatch 6, no.
38, February 21, 1900: [8]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project, accessed
October 27, 2025. https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/119/issues/19011/pages/142320.
[6] “Report of the Ontario Dept. of Mines,
Bureau of Mines Report. 1899. Page 56. Accessed October 27, 2025.
https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Report_of_the_Bureau_of_Mines/MqZOAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Rat+Portage++Bad+Mine&pg=PA56&printsec=frontcover
[7] "Kenora,
Ontario, Canada records," images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS54-B97C-9?view=explore :
Dec 24, 2025), image 216 and 217of 281. Image Group Number: 008265593
[8] Google Newspaper Archives. Daily Sun.
January 18, 1905. Page 8. Accessed December 26, 2025.
