Yesterday I went to the genealogy center, when I go there I feel so much at home, compared to the first day I went there. Way back in 1976 I didn't know anything about genealogy but I was very curious on finding my roots, it was thanks to my son who started it as a school project. Anyway the first time I went there, didn't have a clue where to go, because to get to the center downstairs, we have to go in through the library upstairs then go downstairs. I found my way eventually, arriving in that room, didn't have a clue on where things were, what I was allowed to look through. There were drawers and drawers of files, there were books, it was a gold mine. I began slowly, and I received lots of help from a former employer. Then I started getting to know my way around. Censuses, microfilms, newspapers, parish register, you name it I found it. I go there and I relax and I am lost to the outside world. I am at a first name basis with many of the employees, when I stay away for a while, they all say well where have you been?
Sometimes when I am researching there, some people come in to do research and I give them ideas where to look.
One time I was looking at the french evangeline paper, for a death of one of my ancestors, and lo and behold I saw my baptism listed in the newspaper, so that got me on another roll, I then found baptisms of other siblings, tidbits about my grandparents. My books are so thick right now it is unbelievable, it is not in order but it has everything I find in it. I have a book on my mothers side, one on my fathers side, and one on my late husband's side, the last one I gave to my son because his Dad passed away and I found it fitting to give it to him, he really appreciates it. I feel good about doing these books, and sharing what I find with my loved ones.
Have a great day

To begin I must share with you something I received in an email from a friend, apparently he looked out his window and saw this large crow in his back yard, and the crow had something that looked like a snake, but he looked again and no it wasnt a snake it was a fish, then the crow picked up the fish , tried to fly away with it and dropped it, my friend went out to look and guess what it was? It was a large trout, he said that even tho he never went fishing elsewhere ,he was quite a fisherman at home haha, I replied that I heard the saying of it's raining cats n dogs, but never of its raining fish .
Well I thought I had found my elusive Delhuntys, received an email saying there was a David Delhunty burried in Liverpool born 1819 , he would have had been sixteen when my David was born, so nope not him. Checked Cumberland County birth records no names even close.
Tried the McAlpine directory for Cumberland co, not there, they had to have been in Nova Scotia between 1861 and 1867 , their kids were suppose to have been born there. Nova Scotia is a big place , so they must have been there somewhere. Hope it doesnt take me as long as it did to find the year my great grandfather died , been looking since 1976, found him about six months ago. I know there are many of you out there who are also looking for them for me, one day I shall find this elusive family.
Have a Great day.

Well today I would like to mention something in case I have lots of folks reading this blog, I know all you people who are or have done genealogy, family trees, your roots know how sometimes it is very hard to trace your ancestors. Many of our ancestors left canada for the usa in search of work in the late 1800s and early 1900. I know my grandparents married in Massachussetts.
There is a bill preparing to pass in the legislation with plans on closing the vital records in Massachussetts to the public, that means that if it passes we wont be able to find our ancestors, and sometimes there are reasons we need to find them, for instance if we or our kids have some kind of heriditary disease and the doctor would want to know if our people had the same sickness or diseases.
I for one hope that the bill doesnt pass , the bill is H 3642 and H3644, so phone your member of parliament or senate or whoever and oppose the bill, the more that contacts them, the more they will see how important it is to keep the records open to the public.

On another note, next saturday is July first and I have decided to go visit my late husband's grave, it will be seven years the 27 th of July that I lost him to Alzheimers, if anyone is reading this and have loved ones with this dreaded disease, and if you are a caregiver, I have been there and all I would like to say, is no matter what your love ones says to you, or accuses you of, just remember that it is not your love one talking , it is the disease. Enjoy every moment you can with your loved one, I treasure every moment I was with my husband, I feel so good that I spent the last four years with him, day in and day out, I feel good about making him smile, giving him his favorite food as long as he could eat, he used to love his beer and at the end I gave him that non alcoholic beer he never knew the difference, and I gave him his cigarettes until he could not inhale anymore, I know the cigarette is bad for you , I don't smoke, but he was terminally ill and I feel good that I never refused him anything.
So cherish every moment you can with them, I know it is hard, at the end I was all burned out, but between you and me? I would do it all over again.
Have a nice day.

Well now that I know you are all reading these blogs I feel more like sharing with you.
Today I went to a special birthday party for a special girl who turned twelve, yep it is my granddaughter. Boy is she ever growing.
My brother made her a chocolate birthday cake filled with whipped cream and strawberries, talk about good. My daughter in law made hot dogs, with pop and chips.
My granddaughter received nice gifts, she got money and clothes, and a computer game. I gave her a birthday girl china doll with her number 12, She has had one every year since she was born from me. I bought all the dolls with brown hair.
And I gave something to her today that I treasured very much for her to keep. First of all I gave her a image I got when I was in grade seven since now she is taking grade seven, I wrote in the back saying so. Next I gave her a letter i wrote to my mother when I was ten years old and in camp. My granddaughter goes to camp with the girl guides every summer, she read my letter and laughed, I know she will treasure it , it was dated july 1952... I am so glad I could give it to her in person and explain what it was.
Now getting to genealogy, I received some info a few days ago that made a connection on one of my lines. My great great grandmother was a Martin and I found out the connection i was looking for, and for the record I was told that this lady was killed by a bear , she was walking along the road and she saw something move in the ditch, she picked up a branch and hit it thinking it was a dog, but it was a bear and I was told the bear chewed all one side of her. Wish I could find record of that in the newspaper but I looked found nothing.
Have a great day.

Well after many years of tracing my family tree, I am still getting more information. My book sure is getting to be some thick. When I began doing my family tree, I had no computer, so I did it all from checking records, writing to churches, looking at old newspapers, in other words just plain digging. Now I have a photo of my great grandfather's brother taken in the early 1900's with his wife and children. Today thanks to one of my members at my acadianroots club in yahoo, I finally received the names of all of the kids, I wont be able to match the names with the faces, but I will know that they are one on the photo. When I find or receive information on my ancestors it brightens my day. As many of you have brick walls, I have two brick walls, one I dont think I will ever solve, but I have another line, and I have them traced to Deptford England in the late 1790s, where they came from I dont know, they were Abraham Chate married to Ann
they had three children, Abraham born 1795 or 1797 , a Charles and a daughter . I wish I had access to the records at Deptford but unfortanately I don't so I have to rely on hopes that someone will find them in Deptford. Abraham the son came to Canada, used the name Abraham Chase but I found him as Abraham Chate in a land grant in Richiboucto . What a find it would be if I could trace the Chate line in England . I am still looking for a clue as to where David Delhunty and his wife Eliza Butler had their children in Nova Scotia. That is research I am doing for a sick lady that I know, I think I have posted in every county of Nova Scotia, but no results so far. The Delhunty surname has to be spelled differently, I tried so many different soundex, but to no avail so far.
Have a great day.

Well today was father's day here in Canada, and I decided to go to the cemetery to visit my father, the day was lovely, it was really hot and a little breeze so earlier there were less mosquitos. I went to a craft store and picked up a bouquet of blue daisies, they were made of plastic, so they should last quite a while. I placed the flowers in the ground and said to my father, Dad just to let you know I haven't forgotten you....
Next I went to visit my son and his family, wished my son a happy fathers day and had a conversation with my grand daughter, I asked her if I had given her a letter I had written to my mother when I was ten years old and attending camp, she said no, I replied well I have it in my trunk and it will be yours, she then asked me how long I was at the camp and what did I do when I attended . I told her we made stuff from plaster paris, I had made a little bulldog's head, painted it brown, I still have it, and I went swimming and we had sing songs. She just returned from a camping trip today and I asked her what she did , she replied well my favorite thing was making smores. I said what are smores? She replied, well you take two crackers, fill them with chocolate and marshmallows and slap them together and eat them, she said they are my favorites.
She continued to tell me she loved taking pictures, I said you must take after memere which is me, and I said take as many pictures as you can, because when you are big, you will be able to look at them and know that you took pictures of your mom and dad and brother and friends. She smiled.
have a great day.

well yesterday I did something I love doing, I went to do a little research at the centre d'etude acadienne for a few of my club members, I had posted that I would be going soon but on the spurt of the moment , I had to go to the city, so I decided to drop in and look up some information. I hadn't gone there for quite some time , and when I arrived some of the workers said hi, where have you been? It felt good. I found a few things for my acadian group. Then I had a chat with Steve White, who is a fantastic man, he has a memory that is unbelievable. I began talking about some family names who I thought were from Quebec, and then he went on to guide me . I always enjoy my chats with Steve.
Time flies by so fast when I go there. I remember after my husband passed away, I would go there at eight thirty am when it opened, stay until four thirty when it closed, and the day would go by so fast. You sort of get addicted to genealogy, once you start. But it is a good addiction , a great hobby, and it educates you sometimes on the lives of your ancestors.
I learned that my ggrandfather used to travel in search of work, he first went to Nova Scotia, to the USA and back to NB. He would travel around twenty five miles to the city to buy his groceries once a month, he paid fifteen cents for a can of lobster, can you imagine? Yes that is what I enjoy finding most of all.
Have a great day.

Today I would like to talk about something different, to begin with as you know I have been gathering stories told to me by my mother.
Well my mother has had a friend that spanned over 65 years, she met her friend alice when she was fourteen years old, they remained close friends through all their married lives, through the births of all their children, they comforted each other, when they needed to, they never forgot each others birthdays or special occasion, last year my mother's best friend passed away.
They say that sometimes we pass things to our descendents, well could it be true in this case? My grand daughter who just turned twelve has her very special best friend. They have been best friends for over four years now. My grand daughter goes to her friends place most of the time, and sleeps over, they play games, watch television. In school she is by her friends side. One day at the auditorium the principle called my grand daughter to the stage, and congratulated her for being such a loyal and thoughtful friend. My grand daughter replied I play with her because she is my best friend that is all. I am so proud of her because it so
happens that her best friend has ms, and cannot walk , nor run and play, but to my grand daugher it is no big deal, they are best friends.
have a great day.

Today I saw my first bluejay, it came to my bird feeder, but my feeder is small ,so he had a hard time to stay on the perch. The field is full of robins, I have never seen so many robins as I do now. I am going to get another bird feeder for the little finches, I love them, they are so pretty.
I added another page to my grandaughters book that I created for her on the adventures of my mother when she was little. My mom's name is Florence so I called her story book Flossie's adventures. I am so happy my mother could share her stories with me, she had a hard time , her father was away working most of the time, so my mother had to take care of her siblings while her mother worked, plus she had to go to school and do the chores, I have walked where she walked when she was a young girl, and my grandaughter is enjoying every little story I add in her book. I wish I could have written a book about my father, but his memory wasnt good, so not much I could have put about his youth. I have made a little book for my grandaughter also called memere's memories, she enjoyed it also. For my grandson I made him a book on his grandfather Papa, who passed away 7 years ago. I am so glad my husband shared his memories with me also.
When we are young we don't think of stuff like that, we are too busy having fun, but as we grow older , we want to know where we came from, what our grandparents were like and so on. I am always searching, for myself and for others, when I find something relating to my family , it is such a great feeling,
please do not lose your memories, ? share them with your loved ones.
have a great day.

Where oh where has the Delhunty's gone? Well I have been searching for over three years for an illusive family of Delhuntys. Can you believe it ? Three years.
They can not be aliens, they must have been born, but I will not give up. So if any of you out there are reading my blogs, and if any of you stumble across any birth records of the following people, please enter a comment, now I have found all these folks in New Brunswick, so don't go there, I need to find them either in Nova Scotia or PEI. Now Delhunty may have been spelled differently , but the first names will be the same. Here goes
David Delhunty born about 1834, his death records say born in Wallace NS, cannot find him there so far, his father suppose to have been born in Ireland, mother born in NS. David married Eliza Butler 1856 Bostford parish ,Westmorland Co. NB, they had five kids suppose to have been born in Nova Scotia. Maryann or Marion born abt 1859, Joseph 1861, Richard 1866, twins Nancy and Sarah born 1864. also a son John born in NB.
There has to be birth records of these kids with parents david and eliza or liza somewhere.
A lady told me she has been told that there were Penobscot blood in the Delhunty line, could the father of David have married a native american? Maybe that is why I cannot find him..
So as you can see I really am into genealogy and I never give up, somewhere out there , there is an answer, I only need the clues.
have a great day.

What a beautiful day , the sun was shining, woke up to the birds singing.
Went to the library today, I ordered a book called Notre Dame De Grace, Georgetown, Parkton, Moncton. It was a historic book on the parish, which is the parish that I grew up in. I was a bit dissappointed with some parts of it, since none of my relatives were listed in it. It listed some of the first families who settled there, and some who came later, but not my relatives who were among these people. I guess the author wasn't told that my grandfather and his two brothers settled there. The book in itself was good, it brought back memories for me, of the picnic they used to have, the book said the picnics were held to collect money to pay for the new church. Now there was a photo of a group going into the church that I got married in, and I noticed the old buildings in the back ground that are not there today, so I copied one of the photos , will add it to my personal book.I also was pleased to see a photo of one of my teachers in the book.
I enjoy reading about the past, I love looking through old newspapers , especially when I find little tidbits about my relatives or ancestors. Good or bad stuff, it is all the truth, and if any of you are doing your family tree, you have to put in the truth, if they were horse thieves , put that in, if they were doctors, or judges or whatever put that in too. I know I have.
Have a great day.

Went to a service today at a local cemetery, it was raining but the funeral parlor directors handed me an umbrella to shield me from the rain. As I walked though the cemetery to our location, I couldn't help but notice all these stones, all these names on them, I thought to myself, who were these people buried there? Did they have lots of children? What kind of work did they do? Will they all be forgotten? Someone told me a few days ago, I cannot be bothered knowing about my ancestors, I am more interested in what I am doing right now, I want to live in the future, I replied well what I am doing is trying to preserve our future so when we are gone and in the past , our children, grandchildren, or relatives will know that we lived, that we had heartaches, that we were alive once just like they are.That we are not just a name on a tombstone. And that is the reason I have a love for genealogy, I want to leave something behind of myself when I leave this earth, something that will make someone happy in the future and that I had a part in doing such. I want my grandchildren to tell their grandchildren about their memere and papa, how they loved them , and stories memere shared with them...... Think about it? Would you not love to be able to share some of your memories with your loved ones? Now is the time to sit down ,write notes, or a diary, even if you are young and just starting out your lives, five years from now you wont remember little daily things, like the day you got married, who was there? The birth of your baby , how much did it weigh? Funny things that happened in your family, all that may be interesting for others to read, some tragedy that happened, lotteries you won? Contests you entered , I could go on and on, but the end result is still the same....... Share your memories, I am so happy my husband shared a lot of his memories with me, that I have passed down to my grandson about his papa, because my husband got Alzheimers and lost all his precious memories before he passed away..... It can happen so suddenly, share your memories before it is too late.
Have a great day.

Today I went to an old Acadian place called Bouctouche in New Brunswick Canada. Many Acadians can trace one or more of their ancestors from that area. I have been going to Bouctouche since I was newly married, my father in law's people came from there. What I love about Bouctouche is its seashores, its friendly people. It is not a big place. Driving along the main street, you will see a service station, a tim horton coffee shop, a big Kent store, a shopping mall, a place to get good lobster, plus restaurants, and that is where I went today. The restaurant caters to some of my favorite food, poutine rappee, crepe rappee and rappee pie, I took the rappie pie, loaded it with white sugar and ate till my heart was contented. Rappee pie is made by grating potatoes, adding pork , to it, some use flour others use mashed cooked potatoes to their mixture and it is baked in the oven, with a golden crust. mmmmmm. I make mine a bit different but they all are very tasty. So if ever you come down to New Brunswick , be sure to try some of our acadian dishes.
If you follow the shore line and go towards Bouctouche Bay, you will come across the Dunes, now when I first used to go there , it was just a long sandbar, we used to cross over via row boat to dig bar clams, now they have converted it to a tourist attraction, made a long boardwalk, it is nice, and there is a lovely beach there also. Before that they made it into a tourist place , my late husband and I would drive there , stop at a take out and order some fried clams, park the car facing the water and watch the boats and the birds, and sometimes the swimmers, it was a relaxing and lovely way to pass the day. Ah Memories , something to cherish, and to pass along.
have a great day.