Uncle Peg’s Chronicles
April 16, 2026
“Eh?”
“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.
FAMILY ALBUM
Left to right: Cecil
Holmes, Minnie Colpitts Holmes (wife of Floyd), Nancy Holmes Lutes (daughter of
Floyd and Minnie Holmes), Floyd Holmes, Lora Underhill Thornton (daughter of
Carl and Ella Underhill), Phyllis Underhill Riley (daughter of Carl and Ella
Underhill), Lillian aka Sis (daughter of Mac and Lillian Holmes Underhill
Minella), Margaret Higby Holmes (wife of Cecil), and Janet Minella Nolte
(daughter of Mac and Lil Holmes Underhill Minella). All in the Charles R Holmes
line. Photo taken in Hill Grove, New Brunswick, in front of the farmhouse of
Charles and Phoebe Holmes.
For
an approximate date of the photo, Nancy (third from left) was born in 1932. I’d
say circa 1950.
And I Quote:
I am
keeping these citizenship application comments anonymous.
The one thing I brought back . . . was
the Canadian pronunciation of the "ou" words. I had been
expecting to come back saying "eh?"
I remember August 1969 like it was
yesterday. Some of us . . . spent the night in the station wagon. There was a
nice frost on the ground. Later in the day, we went swimming in the brook.
Brrr!
I promise to say the "ou"
sound correctly! In fact, I was teased . . . for saying "About . .
." like a Canadian. See, I'm nearly there!
Thanks for all you do. The wonders of
genealogy . . . Thanks but no thanks.
How many of you swam in the brook? I
did, although it was more like played in the brook. There was only one deep
hole where I played.
1926
to 1928
1924 to 1928 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.
2026 to 2028
My work on the Citizenship by Descent
is pretty much done for now – back to the family research I go. I have learned
a lot by researching by the Genealogical Proof Standard method and digging
deep. I also followed A Facebook group and learned some things from them.
One thing to note is – you (Holmes
descendants) now have Canadian citizenship by descent – and a choice. You can
do the work and apply for it, or you can ignore it. It is an option, not an
obligation. You can get it, hang it on the wall, and never set foot in Canada
if you don’t want to. Once you obtain your certificate, you can get a Canadian
passport. Whatever you do or don’t do makes no difference to me. I am here to
help if you want my help. I am a citizen, but I do not have a certificate to
say so, so there’s nothing on my wall about that.
Although it was a learning experience
and perhaps a help to a few of you, what does it mean to me? I learned that the purpose of the amendment
to Bill C-3 was to right a wrong. It puzzles me still. Why wouldn’t a person
generally be the citizen of the country of their birth – with a few exceptions?
What is wrong with that? I don’t have enough time or curiousity to follow
through on my rhetorical question – it is what it is. Welcome, if you wish to
come home, or to get a Canadian passport. However, we don’t have the
infrastructure to immediately accept a gazillion people all at once.
This came up in my citizenship
conversations – who would have thought? We realized that what our ancestors did
over a century ago does or could have implications for their descendants, even
decades or centuries later. Therefore, it stands to reason (at least to me)
that what we do or don’t do can affect our succeeding generations. I’m not just
talking about emigrating – that is just one example. It can be one or many of
the choices we make, and it can be good, bad, or otherwise. Whatever decision
we make, whatever action we take, potentially affects someone else. The threads
weave in and out through the ages.
I am updating some information in the
Westmorland chapter of the “Colossal Collection of Cousins.” I am putting
copies and references of some records, like marriages, adoptions, and
naturalizations for some of our people. See the family history lesson for a
sample.
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
This is one of the new records I found
and inserted into the “Colossal Collection of Cousins,” in the section called
Westmorland. It is the marriage record of Carl F Underhill of Boston,
Massachusetts, and Ella M Holmes of Petitcodiac, New Brunswick. The marriage
took place in Lynn, Massachusetts, on June 27, 1906. I do wonder how they met.
Thanks to Paula for your help in
learning about the Naturalization Act of 1855 to c. 1920. Thanks to that act,
Ella automatically became a naturalized citizen of the US, through her husband
at the time and event of her marriage. She didn’t have to go through the
process of naturalizing, as women who married after 1920 did.
I also spent some time updating the
seven children of Carl and Ella; I have scratched the surface. Their children’s
names are Lillian, Edward, Lora, Adele, Phyllis, Ruth, and William. Going by
the photos and memories of Mum’s stories, I believe Mum met all of them. She
told me that she and her siblings called Lil “Mummy Lil.” At one or some of our
reunions, we have met descendants of Lil, Lora, Adele’s husband, and Ruth.
My wonder is, what was Ella like? Does
her granddaughter, our matriarch, remember anything about her? If so, I’d love
to know. Stories and family lore are much more interesting than the necessary
records.
This ends
week sixteen of our centennial virtual celebration of 1926 – 2026.
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