May 28, 2026
“My Giddyup Go Has Come Back”
“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
This is the family of Charles and Anna (Ballantyne)
Goodenough. Anna was the daughter of James and Fanny (Holmes) Ballantyne. Fanny
was the first child of Daniel and Charlotte. Charles and Anna are in the back,
June is on Charles’ lap. Rex is in the center, and Frances is on the right.
And I Quote:
Re
your note on not finding the Census of Agriculture:
On the LAC census pages, you will find the other
schedules after the population pages, parish by parish. Schedule 3 is
Agriculture. However, I could only find the “Western part” of Sussex parish, so
the population data for the Eastern part, which contains what became Cardwell
(and others, I presume), seems to be missing. ~ Cliff
Marks – a friend of the family, and always helpful, especially when it comes to
that area of the province. Thanks, Cliff. I will take Karl at his word.
This is not a quote from the
chronicle, but a quote from Dave, editor of “Generations,” re my article about
H Fenwick Holmes. He’s always sparse with his words, so I appreciate it: Good
article.
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
These past two weeks, I went back in time to 2017 and 2018,
to my binder of blurbs that I wrote to you on a weekly basis. They were called
“Book Update Thursday” and “3 Rs Thursday.” And that is just what they were:
updates of my book. I didn’t reveal many secrets, so the updates were as
ambiguous to me as I suppose they were to you. However, they were invaluable to
me. I
find it weird that I forgot all about the book I was writing at the time. I
didn’t even mention the title; it was always the “grandchildren book.” I did
much work at the time, and then I dropped it. Some of you did some work on the
book as well, especially Paula. I suppose I have a good forgetter. From
June 14, 2018. “Did you ever have a project that you just had to shelve for a
while? Maybe a knitting project, or quilting, or woodworking, or poetry? That’s
my grandchildren book. I have lost the je ne sais quoi that I need to get back
to it. I will. Just not now. My giddyup go just got up and went. It will come
back. Please bear with me.” Well.
My giddyup go has come back. I went to my long list of WORD documents and found
it: “Far From the Old Post Road.” My grandchildren book. There’s a lot of stuff
in there: some, I can no longer find on line. Into my “Westmorland” it goes; I
incorporate, make the changes, and verify the citations. I will leave FFTOPR as
is. This will be a great help to me going forward. My thanks to all of you who
helped me with providing photos, stories, and edits, especially if your
rememberer is better than mine.
MEMORIAL DAY
Trace Holmes posted a tribute to his
dad on the Memorial Day Weekend.
“82 years ago, my dad
was sitting in a barracks in England waiting for Ike to decide when to invade
France. After Normandy, he was seriously injured by shrapnel somewhere in
Belgium and was sent back to England for surgery. By the time his wound was
healed, Germany had surrendered, so they shipped him back to the US to take
part in the invasion of Japan. While on the ship to Boston, Japan surrendered,
so they gave him a purple heart and discharged him. He thumbed home from
Boston, which was the first time I ever saw him because he was in England when
I was born. He
got a job and soon bought a fixer-upper with a VA loan. He modernized the
house, always had a job, and with my mom eventually saw all three of his
offspring graduate from college. Most of his friends who came
home did the same thing. They were a specially breed.
Thinking of you Dad.”
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
It’s always fun to review an ancestor
and find new stuff, but sometimes, the stuff isn’t always fun. I am presently
reviewing the James and Fanny Ballantyne family. Fanny was the first child of
Daniel and Charlotte. She married James W Ballantyne, went off to live with or
near his family in Smith Falls, Ontario, and then off they went to Brooklyn,
Iowa. They are both buried in Brooklyn. Their children left me with more
questions than answers. Paula will
probably remember them, for she dug as deep as I did. You may find this a
tangled web, although I don’t suppose it was their intention to confuse us 120
years later. I’ll try to sort it out logically in the CCC. If
you forget all about these people, have a look at your book or pdf copy – pages
73 to 77. Thanks to FamilySearch’s
rather new Full Text search capability, I have found another mention of the
Bever connection in James’ Last Will and Testament and some of the probate. I
also located the Last Will and Testament and part of the probate of their
daughter, Charlotte. She left the bulk of her estate to her older sister,
Jessie, but also a small amount ($90) to others. $90 stretched further in 1935,
when Charlotte died. The others were her nephews and nieces: Fannie Davis,
Mabel Kimball, June Goodenough, Myrne Goodenough, and Rex Goodenough. James’
probate acknowledged Jessie’s alleged last name, Bever, and confirms her
relationship with William Kilmer. Further research tells of the
potential consequences of adultery back then.
Charlotte’s LW&T gives me
more to work on, but so far, it hasn’t helped with records. That is the list of
the nephews and nieces. Charlotte
leaves money to Mabel Kimball. It says she predeceased the testatrix,
Charlotte. So, I have a wide window of a date of death, and a new last name.
The date of death was between the writing of the will in 1931 and the probate
of 1935. She is called Mabel Kimball. Now, is that an error in spelling of
“Kilmer,” or a new husband? I still cannot find any marriage records or a death
record for Mabel/Mable. Since Mabel
died, her share of the money went to her son, Lyle Ballantyne, also known as
Lyle Bever and Lyle Kilmer by times. Can you see how Paula and I were confused?
I
learned from the probate that Jessie was living in California in 1935. Fannie
was there, and I suspect the rest were as well.
At least, I know for sure that Rex did not commit suicide, and he was in
Los Angeles in 1934. I don’t know his eventual date and cause of death.
In
1935:
Jessie lived at 223 North St. Andrews Place, Los Angeles.
Given the house, I take it she was boarding there, but I don’t know that for a
fact. It currently has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, and is for sale for
$2,395,000. (Probate instructions.) Arthur
and Fanny Davis lived on LaVerne Ave, Los Angeles. (Census of 1940, which also
included addresses for 1935.) June
Goodenough lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Waldo and Myrne Seilor, on
Oakford Drive, Los Angeles. Both LaVerne Ave and Oakford Drive are in
Montebellow Township. (Census of 1940.)
One more thing. I found the obituary of Charles Henry
Goodenoug, husband of Anna Louise. (See the header photo for a picture. That
made my day. I hate saying, “I cannot find . . .,” although I have to.
This ends
week twenty-two of our centennial virtual celebration of 1926 – 2026.
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