Uncle Peg’s
Chronicles
May 14, 2026
“The Grunt Work That I Must Do”
“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.
I moved the family album to the next page for this
chronicle only. I am puttering away at Westmorland in the “Colossal
Collection of Cousins.” WORD offers a few templates to choose from, or of
course, I could design my own. The date will likely change – no way I will
complete this in 2026.
And I Quote:
Hi Peg,
These
newsletters are awesome. So much research and detail, and communicated in a
fun-to-read way. Truly excellent. Thank you for putting them together and
sharing them. – Gretchen Wentzell Lowerison
A
fascinating email, Peggy! I was a young boy and heard stories of grandpa
living in Santa Rosa . . . My interests then leaned more toward riding bikes
outside and dressing up as a cowboy with side guns. I remember very
little of him as a young boy although I am aware that he did live with us for a
while in an apartment behind our home. My first vivid memory of him was
on our first trip to Oahu. Grandma Eva [Jerome’s second wife] and grandpa
Holmes purchased a home in Kailua on Awakea Street. He loved orchids and
the backyard was full of blooming orchids as he led mom and dad to see what he
was growing. It was there in Kailua that he pastored a congregational church.
– Glenn Holmes
I so much appreciate your feedback. Thanks, Gretchen
and Glenn.
FAMILY ALBUM
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
A week ago, I received a gift from
Paula Holmes – three books. She sent them from Florida via a mutual friend. Some
of you may not know where Paula fits into our family, although many have either
met her in person or virtually. She is
one of our wonderful in-laws and I am proud to call her friend. We met in
person in 2014, and after our reunion, she stayed with me for a few days. She
is also an amazing genealogist and editor, and everything I have published has
benefited from her red pen. She
fits into the William Holmes line by marriage to Richard R-W Holmes (1939 –
2002); son of Richard Weatherbee Holmes (1907 – 1966) and Dorothy Lynk; Walter
Wendell Holmes (1876 – 1943) and Mary Weatherbee; and William N Holmes (1846 –
1931) and Anna C Heath; and Daniel and Charlotte Holmes. I give you that
genealogy because one of the books has a gift inscription: “To Walter &
Mary From Mother.” Mother is Anna Columbia Heath Holmes, wife of William. I
already own one of the books: “Ernest Holmes: His Life and Times,” by his
brother Fenwicke L Holmes. The genealogy is not accurate, as Fen W Holmes made
sure I was aware of. The stories are a wonderful addition to bringing the nine
brothers to life. “The
Inner Light: an Informal Portrait of a Philosopher” is a collection of
“parables;” actually, case studies of individuals who have benefited from
Ernest Holmes’ contributions to their lives. “Mind
Remakes Your World” was edited by Ernest Holmes and Maude Allison Lathem. This
is the one with the gift inscription. I have not delved into it yet, but under
the title on the title page, it says, “How to think yourself into better
health, greater happiness, and more success as proved by thirty-six leading
exponents of New Thought, throughout the United States and Canada.” If
you don’t know of Ernest, you can google Dr. Ernest Holmes and find lots of
information about his life and his “Institute of Religious Science.” I have
only scratched the surface, as I have little understanding of his teachings but
more in where he fits into our family. Suffice it to say, he had much influence
on society in his time and place, and still has followers, and several people
in his family line and other lines. As
a family historian, I will place these books on my shelf, along with other
books that some of our ancestors and some of you have written. I do intend to
read or skim them. Thank you so much, Paula. On
the next page is the top shelf of my bookshelf, jam packed with my reference
books.
News from Holmes
Congratulations to John and Makala (Brignone) Russo on the
arrival of their daughter, Sofia Noemi, on April 3rd. She is a baby
sister for Ezra and Giovanni, and a granddaughter for Joseph and Cindy
(Ballantyne) Brignone. Sofia is in the Louisa (Holmes) Ballantyne. Her
middle name, Noemi has been passed down from her great-grandmother, Elsa Noemi
Quiroga Loayza Ballantyne, who passed away in 2025. Her mother also has the
middle name Noemi. Thanks to grandmother Cynthia for
sharing this wonderful news.
Elizabeth Thorunn
Steeves Obituary
LINCOLN -
Elizabeth Thorunn Steeves passed away at Eastern Maine Medical Center on April
15, 2026. She was born in Reyjkavik, Iceland on July 31, 1942, to LT. Col
Jerome Steeves and Bjorg Kristjana Elfar, who met and married there during
WWII. Liz was raised and went to school here in Lincoln after her mother’s
early death, graduating from Mattanawcook Academy in 1960.
She went on to
graduate from Fisher Junior College in 1962, where she received an A.S. degree
in Secretarial Sciences. Several years later she attended Lesley College,
working on finishing her Bachelor’s degree.
She worked in
academia and medicine for many years at Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s
Hospital, M.I.T. and back at Harvard again. Off and on during these years she
also studied Buddhism and practiced long and short meditation retreats at
Insight Meditation Centers. She was active in the Arlington St. Church, singing
in the choir for many years. She was also active in the Lincoln Historical
Society and the Alumni Association. She also helped plant the Little Red School
Grounds Garden.
She was
predeceased by her parents and great aunt and uncle, Ina and Johnny Corro, who
brought her up at their home on East Broadway. She is survived by her sister,
Anna Steeves and Anna’s daughter Asja Steeves and her daughter Ella of San
Francisco; and also by her half-siblings Mike and Bonnie Steeves of Richmond,
VA and Martha and Rob Zavorski of CT and their families. Also surviving are
numerous cousins and other relatives from here and away, including cousins from
her mother’s family in Iceland.
A graveside
service will be conducted at the Lincoln Cemetery on June 1, 2026 at 11 am.
Memorial Gifts
can be sent to Lincoln Historical Society, 29 West Broadway and Penobscot
Valley Humane Society, Lincoln, Maine.
https://www.bowersfuneral.com/obituaries/Elizabeth-Thorunn-Steeves?obId=48324758
FAMILY HISTORY LESSON
For the past few
weeks, I have randomly picked out various people in our family of Daniel Holmes
descendants. You saw some of my results in the last chronicle. I used my 2014
book, “A Homestead on the Old Post Road,” as the basis for CCC – Westmorland section.
You might recognize some of it, but it’s also changed quite a bit. I
am adding, removing, correcting, and changing some information. I
have fixed up the baptisms. All of the children except William were baptized in
Sussex Parish. Portage Vale was part of the parish. If William was baptized, I
have not found a record, nor did Karl, when he looked through the old books. I
mentioned, in my book, that they went to the church in Portage Vale to have the
Sussex rector baptize their children. However, according to Cliff Marks, Rev. H
N Anold, who baptized most of them, held services at a “preaching station.”
“Rev. Thomas McGhee oversaw the building of St. Paul’s Church. The Church and
Cemetery were consecrated in a service at Portage Corner on 29 June, 1861. The
small cemetery with a few stones can still be seen at the Corner.” His source
was from the Provincial Archives. As
Fenwick, the youngest son, was baptized by Rev. Thomas McGhee in 1857, he was
not baptized in St. Paul’s Anglican Church. I unknowingly committed an
anachronism. Now, I know what an anachronism is and I try to avoid making them.
A preaching station would be a building or a home in a particular location, and
the travelling clergyman would make the rounds to various communities.
Depending on how many locations he had to visit, and how close they were, the
residents probably didn’t have a clergyman every week. I
now have access to the Anglican records for Sussex parish at the genealogical
society, and I cited them properly. I
am looking at other footnotes and citation wannabees. Lots of colour in my
manuscript, as I read along and change the black print to red until I correct
it, and I wonder to myself, where did that information come from? One thing I
wondered about was something from Karl: the value of the farm in the 1861
census. That is not mentioned in the 1861 list of people, and I realized that
there must have been an agricultural census taken at that time, but do you
think I can find it on-line? Uh-uh. I finally found out that it was written in
his communication with Cecil T Holmes of the Peter line. I read: “Daniel was
now involved in farming 200 acres with a cash value of 3200 dollars.” I would
like to see section 3, the agricultural section of the Canadian census of 1861,
to insert a citation. I had the wrong date of death for Charlotte Hoyt’s mother, Frances
(Ketchum) Hoyt. I had her buried before she died. Oops. New paragraph:
“Charlotte lost her mother, Frances Hoyt, in May, 1861. Frances was
seventy-seven. I do not know where James and Frances are buried. It could be
the Anglican Cemetery in the triangle, or it could be in the Pioneer Cemetery,
several kilometers down the road. Rev. Thomas McGhee stated that she was buried
in Portage, Sussex parish, on May 24, 1861.” It’s on page 67 in your book, if you wish
to pencil in a correction.
New citation as provided by NBGS: New Brunswick Genealogical Society,
Anglican Registers Project, Register MC223-S15-6C1a, Page 0025 (URL:
https://arp.nbgstwo.ca/records/displayRecord/MC223-S15-6C1a-0025_burial_0050, Retrieved on May 7, 2026.
I
found the date, location, and cause of death of Carrie Steeves. How pleased Liz
would be! We
did know, since I printed the book in 2014, where they rest. Carrie died in
1936, in Bath, Maine, five days after she fell and fractured her left hip. Her
son, Frank, lived in Bath in 1936. (Source: City Directory of Bath, Maine, for
1936.) She must have been visiting or
staying with Frank at the time. Alf and Carrie are buried in the Cedar Grove
Cemetery in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts; their burial dates are Alf on 7
April 1918, and Carrie on 29 July, 1936. (Find a Grave Memorial numbers are 214993768
for Carrie and 214993736 for Alf. I found the information about Carrie’s cause
of death at Find a Grave.) You can pencil in the information about Alfred on
page 134 in your book; about Carrie, on page 135, if you wish.
These are just a few
examples of what I am up to, and it’s not an exciting part of genealogy to tell
you about – more the grunt work that I must do. In the photo – baby fiddleheads
beside and old pot.
This ends
week twenty of our centennial virtual celebration of 1926 – 2026.
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