Uncle Peg’s
Chronicles
January 15, 2026
“It’s Not Always About the Ancestors”
“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
Kristin and Trish Yee, sisters and family of the William
Holmes line.
Brady, Trish’s son, children of Brady and Aubrey, Kristin
Holmes and Patricia Yee
New Years in Nuremberg
And I Quote:
“Thank you, Peg, for maintaining our genealogy.” Julia
“Thanks again for all you do.” Marvin
“So happy to know you have continued ancestry projects.” –
Celia
“I
feel sorry for Maud somehow.” - Jeanni
Thank you, as well, to those who sent updates and photos of
your families.
1925 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.
2025 to 2028
I went into a tailspin
last week, and spent some time pondering whether or not to continue writing
Uncle Peg’s Chronicles. I do enjoy writing them, and I have decided to keep
going. I spent very little time with my history lesson this week. My mind
couldn’t concentrate too much on Fenwick and Maud. I thought that, early in the
new year, I’d share some history.
I started writing
newsletters years ago, for my siblings, my cousins, and the Noltes. As I
researched other family lines, I found some of you, and I am now in touch with
not only the descendants of Daniel and Charlotte – but also descendants of
Samuel Jr and Phoebe Holstead and Elizabeth McElmon, Samuel Sr and Elizabeth
Fountain, Loyalists who came to Nova Scotia in 1783, and a few others outside
the box. As I wrote my book, “A Homestead on the Old Post Road,” I told you
family stories and information about Daniel and Charlotte’s descendants, down
to my mother’s generation.
My intent has been and
is to find family members and/or share our history with you. If you are a
fellow genealogist who shares an interest in our family, you have been an
awesome help over the years. If you show an aptitude for genealogy, I try to
encourage you. If you share your family history with me, I appreciate it. If you
just like to know stuff, but not to do the work, I’m pleased. I will always be
grateful to those of you who edit for me, share your knowledge and questions
with me, etcetera. I think most people have patiently stuck with me, and I
thank you.
Genealogists are
advised to keep a research journal. My chronicles now serve two purposes: to
record my findings, which I do refer to occasionally, and for your family
historical knowledge, updates, interest, and keeping in touch.
I always receive one
or several replies. I don’t include them all in the quotes, but I am certainly
grateful for them. Some of you write frequently, and some surprise me from time
to time. Those who send me something for the chronicle encourage me and make
the letter more interesting.
Some chronicles are
not as interesting as others, and I apologize for that. There will always be people
who don’t know who I am talking about. Do know that I talk about our direct and
collateral Holmes folks and our family history most of the time. I have focused
on Fenwick and Maud for many months, and if you are hoping I’ll be done with
them soon, I am working on two things – a revision, and the land records, which
will take some time. That work is not easy.
I am going to share
with you a few of my interactions with “cousins”. I will give no names or
details that I consider to be private. You might see yourself, but know that
the details remain just between us. This is why I am not going to quit writing
chronicles while I still can. I like to think that I have helped some of you
along the way. Sometimes, it is genealogical and/or family historical help, and
sometimes I just “chat” and empathize with you. Over the years, I have had some
long discussions that have never and will never go into a chronicle. If I
shared them, I’d have no integrity whatsoever.
One person gifted me a
critique, and has never written to me again, even though I still send the
Christmas chronicles. That critique changed “A Homestead on the Old Post Road”
dramatically for the better. Even when I receive a critique or a criticism, I
eventually appreciate it and learn from it.
One person requested
proof of my claim. I opened up a can of worms to a family that I thought must
have known the history, but they did not. I sent the links, and never heard
from them again. I learned a valuable lesson.
I have listened to
stories about a parent who caused many hurts.
I have listened, in
emails and sometimes in person, to the heartbreaking loss of loved ones of all
ages, and includes death by natural causes, suicides, still births, and other
tragedies. You may have read their obituaries that I include in “News from
Holmes,” but sometimes there’s more to it than that. I try to be careful with the
personal details that I share.
After many hours of
searching, I located, if not the actual person (who I can’t say for certain),
the family of an unknown ancestor, thanks to DNA. I think I included that in a
chronicle. The search is not a secret, but I’ll leave it at that.
I have worked with a
few of you on your specific ancestors.
These abstracts of the
stories I shared, and the ones I didn’t share, are enough for me to know that I
need to keep going. It’s not always about the ancestors.
News
from Holmes
Grace March and I had
a virtual chat and catch up. The genealogy is up to date. She and Brook are
honorary great-grandparents to two little girls, Lily, born in 2024, and
Lavender, in 2025. They had a wonderful Christmas and family gathering of ten.
With their parents’ permission, I am sharing photos of the little girls, two
little cuties. Grace is in the James Hoyt Holmes line.
Some of you know or
know of Sandra Thorne. She is a very distant relative, and a genealogist. She
has been very helpful to me as a mentor and fellow researcher in my early days
in genealogy, and up to about three years ago, we visited once in a while with
a couple of other genealogists. Richard died not too long after our last visit.
I sent my condolences and the Christmas chronicles, but never heard from her. I
was quite puzzled.
“I am sorry to tell you that Sandi is now living in a long-term care
facility in Quispamsis, due to a rapid decline in her cognitive abilities and a
complete inability to function independently. Any effort to have a conversation
with her is difficult and becomes pretty much a monologue on the visitor’s
behalf. I am sorry to give you such poor news but I am sure that, if she could,
Sandi would wish you every joy in 2026.
Geoff”
John, Sandra, Richard, Peg, and Cliff, New Brunswick
genealogists.
Celia Anklesaria sent
me family updates. She and her husband, Hoshi Anklesaria, of the Charles R
Holmes line, have one son, Philip. Philip and his wife, Maika, have been in
Okinawa for several years, with the Marine Corps. He is a pilot and flies an
Osprey. They will return to the US this summer, to settle in Arizona.
She sent two photos.
One is of Philip and Maika. The other is Philip, just after he was recently
pinned Major. Congratulations, Philip.
Philip is a grandson
of our matriarch, Janet Nolte. They are in the Charles R Holmes line.
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
For this history
lesson, I ask for your help. It is not mandatory at all, but I’d like you to
read a section of my article about fires in Rat Portage. The portions in black are
three newspaper clippings that I have transcribed. The portion in red is my
rendition, which is much shorter. Hopefully, this section is new to you; if
not, I apologize.
Please tell me which
one you would prefer to read in an article – the black or the red. It will
be one or t’other. The three articles will of course be footnoted. Actual
clippings are in italics.
Fires in Rat Portage
As in many locations, fires destroyed portions of
early towns. Although I do not see a record of a fire that destroyed Fenwick
and Maud’s home or business, they were probably affected by loss of clientele.
Many neighbours and clients lost their homes and livelihoods. For more information on fires in Rat Portage
and Kenora, Ontario, see an article in the Facebook group, “Kenora Through the
Years,” March 19, 2022, by Bob Stewart. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2001136476646115/posts/4942730289153371/
A fire occurred
in November, 1883. A newspaper clipping states: Work of the Flames:
Buildings Blown Up with Gunpower to Check the Fire. Winnipeg, Man., Nov. 28. A
large portion of the town of Rat Portage, 100 miles east of here [Winnipeg],
was burned yesterday. Ten business houses were destroyed. Buildings were blown
up with gunpowder to check the flames. The loss has not yet been ascertained.[1]
The November
fire was barely extinguished when another fire on December 16 added to the
devastation. This report includes the name of H. T. (sic) Holmes.
OR
A fire occurred on November 28, 1883, burning a large portion
of Rat Portage. Ten businesses were destroyed by fire or gunpowder, which they
used to blow them up to check the flames. Footnote.
IN ASHES,
Rat Portage Visited by
a Most Disasterous Fire
Loss Estimated at
$100, 000 – An Appeal for Help,
WINNIPEG, Dec, 17. – The most disastrous conflagration that
has yet visited Rat Portage occurred
there last night. About 11:30 o’clock a fire broke out in the general store of
Baker & Co. The flames were fought heroically, but the wind from the south
very quickly blew them into the adjoining building, and althought exery
exertion was made by the people they saw that the side of the street up as far
as Second street must go. The following are the buildings burned, commencing on
the south end of the west side of Main street: Chadwick & McLellan,
hardware; registry office occupied by James Weldman, immediately overhead;
James Green, fruit store; Baker and Co., general store; Nicholson, tailor;
McKinnon Bros., general store; Myers & Lillie, Woodbine Hotel; Kobold Bros.,
Butchers; McDougall, shoes; Thompson & Palmer, butchers; Masonic Hall
building; McCarthy’s new building on the corner of Second street, and J. K.
Brydon’s law office in the Masonic Hall building upstairs. The total loss will
foot up to $100,000 or more. The goods, furniture, and fixings in the different
shops which were got out have been terribly damaged. The flames subsided about
3 o’clock this mornig. This is the fourth extensive conflagration that has
occurred in this town within as many months. The gap made by the fire last
night extends nearly 200 yards, being the portion of the town most thickly and
compactly built upon and occupied by the principal business establishments.
Probably 75 people will be rendered homeless. It is rarely, indeed, that a
community of 600 or 700 is visited with such a calamity, and this is surely one
in which an appeal for assistance to our sister towns and villages in both
Ontario and Manitoba can with justice be
made. The sufferers herre have nothing to fall back upon – no resources
whatever further than the business they were each each depending upon. With the
fire they have lost everything. The origin of the fire is attributed to the
explosion of a lamp in the baker’s shop.
To the people of the Dominion:
Rat Portage has again been visited by fire. Owing to the
dispute between Ontario and Manitoba as to the Provincial rights, during the
last few months business men have materially suffered. Now some are entirely
ruined, others seriously involved.What the public has done for St. John and
other fire-visited places we ask for our town. The people are hardworking and
deserving. We want fire protection, but owing to losses incurred we are not
able to purchase fire engines and other appliances. We ask you and the Mayors
of Montreal, Quebec, Kingston, Belleville, Hamilton, St. Catherines, Brantford,
London, Ottawa, Sarnia, Guelph, St. John, Halifax and any others to help us.
WALTER
OLIVER, Mayor,
H.
T. Holmes.[2]
OR
Eighteen days later, on December 16th, the
explosion of a lamp in Baker and Company’s General Store started the most
disasterous conflagration in Rat Portage’s history. The wind from the south
fueled the flames, and the community of approximately seven hundred people lost
the most occupied portion of the town.
Gone were one hardware store (not Fenwick’s), a fruit store,
two general stores, two butcher shops, a shoe store, a tailor’s shop, the
registry office, a hotel, a law office, the masonic hall, and one new building.
The estimate of the damage was at least $100,000. The fire left about
seventy-five people homeless.
In an appeal for help to various
Canadian cities, they mentioned that they “want fire protection, but owing to
losses incurred, are not able to purchase fire engines and other appliances.”
This appeal went to the mayors of “Montreal, Quebec, Kingston, Belleville, Hamilton, St.
Catherines, Brantford, London, Ottawa, Sarnia, Guelph, St. John (sic), Halifax
and any others.” It was signed by the
mayor of Rat Portage, Walter Oliver, and H. T. (sic) Holmes.
Tragedy struck again in 1898, when fire destroyed much
of Rat Portage. Did this directly affect Fenwick and Maud?
Rat Portage in Flames. RAT PORTAGE, Ont., May 20. - [1898].
Shortly after the dispersion of the audience which attended the Farley Opera
Company’s performance of “She” in the Hilliard Opera House last night, the
building was discovered to be in flames, the fire bursting forth from the
theatre auditorium. Those having rooms in the front of the building barely
escaped with their lives, losing all their effects. The opera company lost all
their baggage and costumes. The fire extended to the building occupied by D. H.
Currie, insurance and town tax collector; also to Gardiner & Co.’s and Geo.
Dewey’s warehouses, Rogers & Ray’s dry goods and other stores, completely
destroying some of the best blocks in town, including Dewey’s handsome brick
buildings. The Rat Portage High School was also completely destroyed. The loss
will be very heavy. It is reported that one of the boarders in the opera house
building has been buried in the ruins.[3]
OR
In 1898, following a
performance of the Farley Opera Company, “She,” in the Hilliard Opera House,
the building went up in flames which burst from the auditorium. Most people in
the building escaped the flames, but lost all their belongings. The opera company
lost all their baggage and costumes. The fire destroyed several other buildings
as well, including the High School. Some of the boarders who lived in the opera
house lost their lives.
This ends week three of our
centennial virtual celebration of 1926 – 2026.
[1] Daily True American, Trenton, N. J.
November 29, 1883. No page number. Accessed October 15, 2025.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=rDtFAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=Rat+Portage+Hardware+Store&article_id=3890,4768426&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5_Meb9KOQAxWYk4kEHe8pBIgQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=Rat%20Portage%20Hardware%20Store&f=false
[2]The London Advertiser, December, 1883. No page
number. Accessed October 15, 2025.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=_WI7AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Rat+Portage+Hardware+Store&article_id=2641,27338440&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0wJT2-qOQAxUfkIkEHXH-Lu44FBDoAXoECAgQAw#v=onepage&q=Rat%20Portage%20Hardware%20Store&f=false
[3] Queens
County Gazette 2,
no. 17, June 01, 1898: [6]. New Brunswick Historical Newspapers Project,
accessed October 14,
2025. https://newspapers.lib.unb.ca/serials/127/issues/23216/pages/172923.
No comments:
Post a Comment