Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A love that never died

I would like to share with you, a story of true love. There once was a young girl who lived in the country, when she was around twelve years old, she met a man eight years older than her who lived next door. She did not go out with him, she probably was attracted to him because he was a very handsome young man, so I was told. Now this little girl would walk up to her aunt's place up the road, to get some milk for her mother and when she got there, there was always some people listening to her aunt tell stories. Her aunt was a great storyteller and this young lady would see the handsome man there.
When the young girl was around thirteen and a half, they decided to marry, they would meet on a little wooden bridge and make their plans. But her father had he known would not have approved of his daughter getting married at such a young age.
So they decided they would elope. One night they met and took the train into the city, and got married by a minister, and they were both catholics. After their marriage they returned to the country. But their being together did not last very long. "knock ,knock on the door. So this young woman goes to the door, it was the catholic priest, "oh oh!". Young lady, said the priest you go on home right now, and to the young man he said and you too". So they were separated, but did this stop them? No it didn't , back to the priest they went and they told him they wanted to get married. So the priest wrote to the Bishop for permission, and the bishop agreed that they could get married. The young lady was thirteen and a half, the man 21 and they were married in the catholic faith.
They endured hard times, but they weathered the storm, they had a big family ,but when their family was all grown up, lo and behold they divorced.
Dit that end their relation? No , the man remarried, did that end their relation? NO. Because the young lady was always there for her first love, even when he married another, she took them for their errands, doctors appointments.
She never married again, and when her one true love was on his deathbed, where was she? She was at his bedside. How do I know?
Because she is my Mom, and the young man was my Dad.
Have a great day
Aline

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Why Children are important


I decided to write about the children today,because I have been reading the newspapers and the last few weeks I have been reading about missing children, about a baby being found dead and abandoned on a dirt road, another little baby not even walking left in the woods in only a diaper and shirt overnight, about two children left in a restaurant eating pizza while the parents drove away. That is so sad. There are so many people out there wanting a baby so badly, while others abuse and abandon them.
Why are children so important? I believe they should have a right to grow and have a life, a family and children of their own. They should be given a chance to do so.
If we had no children then there would be no future generations. Then what would happen? No more descendants, nobody to carry down our ancestor's legacys.
Sometimes it is hard to raise children, they need our love and our guidance, to put them on the right paths of life. But do not abandon them, they depend on you. And they love you.
If you feel you cannot cope with the children for whatever reason you have, talk to someone, see a counsilor, your priest, minister, rabbi, doctor, a close friend, sometimes just a few words from them can be a big help to you.
My heart went out to the little boy abandoned by his Dad for whatever reason, (which I don't agree with personally) and the rescuer was running out of the woods with this little bundle of joy in his arms, all wrapped in a blanket to get warm. He would not have survived on a much colder night. There is no need for acts such as these. If they do not want the children, someone else will want them, and give them a good home with a nice future and with lots and lots of love.
Love your children with all your heart, they are our legacy.
Have a great day
Aline

Monday, April 27, 2009

Ancestors on the Move

If you have been into genealogy for a long time, you probably have found that some ancestors moved around a lot. Most of them moved in search of work or of a better life.
Take our first ancestors for instance, some were in Europe and others in the British Island and they left their homeland for a better life. The French from France, English from England, Irish from Ireland,Scots from Scotland, Germans from Germany, Italians from Italy and so on.
Then the next generations moved a bit further from their hometowns, maybe because they met their spouse who came from another area? Maybe because the work was more plentiful elsewhere. If some of your ancestors worked in lumbercamps, they too moved from camp to camp looking for better jobs. Some from Canada went to the USA to work in lumber camps.
Next the Mills from the USA seemed inviting to the Canadians, good pay and a good future so they immigrated to the USA, some returned and some stayed. In the early 1900 a lot of Acadians left the Maritime Provinces for the USA .
Now the Gold mines,Silver mines, and Coal mines also lured people ,the pay was very good so our ancestors relocated.
My greatgrandfather went to Nova Scotia, he went to Danforth Maine,Old Town Maine and Kent County New Brunswick. I found him through different censuses. My grandfather was in St Perpetue Quebec, Danforth Maine, Soldier's Cove Cape Breton, Fredericton,Moncton,Kent County . So as you can see they travelled around a lot. Barthelemy Bergeron dit Damboise was in Quebec, in Nova Scotia, in Campobello Island , and Fredericton New Brunswick.
So if you have elusive ancestors, they could very well have relocated somewhere else. I have an aunt that just passed away and she moved to Manitoba when she was sixteen years old and only came home once for her father's funeral and she died in Manitoba. Making notes of your family or ancestor's locations is important too. Others will not have to research for hours and hours to find this out.
Also jotting down what kind of work they did is important too especially if you do not only want born married and died in your records.
Well thanks for stopping by , do come again.
Have a great day
Aline

Saturday, April 25, 2009

DEATH ON LAND AND AT SEA

From the book The Catholic Irish in New Brunswick by Leo J Hynes.
Famine and disease had gripped all of Ireland after Father Sweeney had been in Chatham New Brunswick for two years. It was then that the great exodus from Ireland began in earnest. Thousands fled and Chatham was to be the receiving port for some of the more tragic arrivals reaching Canada during the saddest years of migration. The vessel Looshtauk out of Dublin, was one of a continuing flotilla of emigrant ships. It had 467 passengers and was two days out of Cork when two boys became ill with the ship's fever. This quickly spread and in seven weeks at sea, 117 passengers died and were buried at sea. this had forced Captain Maine to change his original course for Quebec and seek the nearest available port, which was Chatham on the Miramichi.
On a Thursday afternoon ,June 3 1847, the ship's pilot boat came in at Henderson's wharf where Captain Maine asked to speak with the public authorities, requesting medical assistance and food supplies. On Friday evening the famous shipping pioneer Joseph Cunard, sent his steamer to tow the Looshtauk up from the harbour's mouth to Middle Island where a temporary shed had been hastily erected and, by Monday morning, June 7 the sick were removed from the ship and placed under the care of Dr. Vondy of Chatham.
The brig Richard White had arrived from Cork the day after the Looshtauk tied up and she carried eight passengers and two crewmen who also were sick. they ,too, were quarantined on the island. In the next week the bark Olivar and the brig John Hawkes also sailed into the Mirimichi. The Olivar had attempted to dock on Chatham wharf but, before it could do so, a Dr Key boarded her and found seven of her crew ill with typhus. The ship's passengers had been landed previously in Newfoundland. This boat was also sent immediately to the quarantine station. However, the John Hawkes, out of Limerick, had arrived on Tuesday June 9, with all 120 passengers healthy and they were allowed to disembark at Chatham.
Two weeks after the first sick were quarantined, that is on June 22, Dr. Vondy reported that 37 had died. Three days later he himself became ill and died ten days later on Friday June 2 at 8am. He was only 26 years old. His remains were placed in a double coffin made air tight and conveyed from Middle Island to Coulson's wharf from where it was taken to St Paul's churchyard for burial followed by an immense concourse of grieving people. A newspaper reported " We have seldom witnessed an occurence that cast such a deep gloom over the community. As soon as his death was announced, all the shops closed and business partially suspended throughout the day.
Two other schooners ,diverted from Quebec, the Victoria and the Independence, also came into the Miramichi. The Victoria landed 20 passengers, three with typhus, the Independence 13 with typhus. Of the 457 passengers who had sailed from Liverpool on the Looshtauk, 224 survived with 167 staying in the Chatham area and the remainder going to Quebec. The quarantine station was on Middle Island was closed near the end of the year 1847, a year that had witnessed so much suffering and tragedy endured by the immigrants as well as by those quarantined on Partridge Island near Saint John, at Hospital Island near St Andrews, and on Grosse Isle at the approach to Quebec City.
The people of Chatham erected a monument to commemorate the heroism of Dr Vondy in the St Paul's anglican churchyard in Bushville. In their cemetery the parishioners of St Michael's Catholic parish placed a monument in memory of the victims from the Looshtauk.
So many Irish people left Ireland to look for a new place to settle and ended becoming sick and dying. It must have been a very sad time, losing love ones in a strange new place.
I tought I would do a different blog today, so I chose this book on the Irish people.
I do hope you have enjoyed reading it, I hope I did not make any spelling errors.
Thank you for the visit, do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Friday, April 24, 2009

This is my life


I was born a long long time ago. I was not the first born, nor was I the last born in my family. I was the in between girl.
What a nice day that was, the birds were singing, I could smell the beautiful flowers, well probably they were only tulips and crocus, but it was a nice feeling to feel the wind on my face, to see the light shining down on me. I am sure there were many people happy to see me.I can imagine my Mom looking down at me with so much love and my Dad feeling very proud of his new baby daughter.My brothers and sister running in to have a look at their latest baby sister.
And soon I began to crawl and ga ga and goo goo a lot, and then came the day I decided enough is enough it is time to walk just like everyone else and I did. Now to talk was a little bit harder but I got the hang of it. I didn't like the idea of sitting on that potty tho, I wanted to sit on the real seat so in order to do that I had to hurry and learn how to do it. Yessss finally I was trained so I felt like a big girl by now.
Now I am already five and ready to go to school, yes I did go at five ,in a one room school in a place called Highland View. The teacher was very nice.
Then I began grading every year and soon I was into high school, with lots of girls and good looking boys, but my heart was already taken. I was in love with my Gerry even tho he did not know it. Oh but one day he noticed me and from that day on, I was in heaven. Got married , had a beautiful son of my own who I love so very much, just like Mom did when she had me her beautiful daughter. Next came the grandchildren, another special part of my life, they are loved so very much too. So now i am old and gray, and I remember my life, all the good things that has happened, the sad things too and even tho I am not a baby anymore, I feel so very happy to have been born and had been given a chance to live my life. Today I am one year older, and all I can say is I wouldn't have changed a thing. I am happy to be here . I feel I have been put on earth for a purpose as we all have . Thank you everyone for all the wishes you have sent me.
Have a great day
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Planning a Family Reunion

There is much more to planning a reunion that meets the eye. As you know, we are planning a Bergeron-Damboise Reunion in July in Fredericton New Brunswick. It has been in the planning stages for quite some times. First was deciding the best place to hold the reunion. We decided to hold ours in conjunction with the celebrations to commemorate the anniversary of the Attack on Fredericton (Sainte Anne de Pays ) in 1759 being organized by the Societe Historique de Riviere St Jean. Next came the invitations, so we did advertise on message boards, forums, websites,blogs,word of mouth, and so on. We are pleased with so many who have accepted our invitation. Next we need to decide exactly where to hold the reunion, a park? A hall?
We have decided on both , the park and the hall. Next we needed a plan on what to do and when and where. So those plans have been done. Next ,who will the master of ceremonies be,who will be our guest speakers? That is all arranged. Next the lunch, and yes we have that planned,and what we are doing for our reunion is asking for sponsors or donors willing to donate some food for our lunch with the rest going to a Fredericton Food Bank. Foods such as Coffee, tea, sugar, milk, pop,sweets, pickles, cheeses ,fruit trays, vegetable tray, all these can be given to some needy families by the food bank. Just in case there are some of you nearby willing to donate, let me know . We have a few donors who have offered some food. Now don't get me wrong we have a caterer, making our lunch already, but if we have sponsors or donors, the food goes for a good cause.
Now a band or musicians would be a plus for our reunion to play in the park or at the hall for a couple of hours we shall see.
Next are name tags, yes it is a good idea, remember sometimes at reunion there are people we have never met before and name tags are great for that. We have covered that topic also.
And planning some little secret things, or activities is a great addition to any reunion and we will have some of those too. So if you are planning a family reunion, do not give all your secrets away, that way the people attending will be in for some nice surprises. I know there will be some at our Bergeron-Damboise reunion. If you need to contact me, you can do so by going to my website www.acadian-roots.com click on Chat n Brag it takes you to me.
And if you are a descendant of Barthelemy Bergeron -Damboise and Genevieve Serreau dit St Aubin, you don't have to carry the surname Bergeron just as long as you branch into the line and if you want to join our reunion. contact me for more information.
A few more notes for a reunion, have a nice reunion, do not become rowdy, make it a fun time and enjoy meeting new cousins.
Thanks for stopping by
Have a great day
Aline

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Name Places in Acadie

Trying different Fonts on my blog. This one doesn't seem much different that the one I usually use. Anyway getting on with my blog. How many of you who are doing genealogy have come across names of places that you haven't a clue as to where they are ? I know I have when I first began doing my family tree back in 1976 that was a long while ago. I came across names such as Pisiquit,Cobequit,Pree Ronde and so on. Well I decided to give you an idea on some of these places where they are now or what name they have changed to.
First of Beaubassin, was a village located on the Nova Scotia ,New Brunswick border near Amherst. If you go to the Amherst Tourist Bureau you can see Beaubassin from there.
Ile Saint Jean which I have heard many time, is known today as Prince Edward Island. Port Lajoie is now Charlottetown PEI.
Sainte Anne de Pays bas is now known as Fredericton in New Brunswick.
Ile Royal is now Cape Breton Island, Pisiquit is now Windsor Nova Scotia.
Cobequit is now Truro Nova Scotia. Chezzacook is now Halifax Nova Scotia.
St Charles des Mines is Grand Pre. Pree Ronde is Round Hill Nova Scotia.
Chipoudy is Hopewell Hill Albert County, Nipisiquit is today Bathurst. Pree des Bourgs is now Sackville. Kouchibougouac was the former name of Saint Louis de Kent in New Brunswick. Moncton New Brunswick was known by three names, Le Coude, Terre Rouge and La Chapelle,Babineau Village today is Salisbury. Grosse Ile today is Parsboro NS,Fourche au Crapaud is Turtle Creek Albert County NB. Saint Paul Kent County in New Brunswick was once known as Terre de l'eveque (Bishop's Land). Sainte Marie Kent Co,NB was known as Mont Carmel, there is also a Mont Carmel on PEI.
These are only a few of many Acadian name Places. I noticed Yvon Cyr of Acadian.org and Roy and Boucher have name places on their websites too.
We have two Mont Carmels, (or had) one in New Brunswick and one in PEI,two Sackvilles one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia, two Tracadies, one in New Brunswick and one in Nova Scotia. This is nice to know because if you are told your father was born in Tracadie, in which Tracadie would you look?
I do hope I did not confuse you with all these places but I feel it is good to know.
Now I must go, I am trying to figure out some HTML codes for a page on my website for a future project . I may still be trying to figure it out a year from now. grin.
Anyway I hope you liked my blog and will stop by again because you never know what I will add because I myself don't know smile.
have a great day
Aline

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Identifying photos

Today I received a large brown envelope from a VIP and inside the envelope were some photos that I had asked for. I am doing something for our Bergeron-Damboise Reunion and I needed photos. Anyway, inside the envelope was a group photo with the parents and one son identifed.
So I went looking for the family. I checked the 1891 Census for Quebec and lo and behold there they were, and in the photo were ten children or ten persons plus the head of the family, and I did find ten children in the census. So I jotted their names and dates listed in the census. But that was not good enough for me, so I went to the records and found them all one by one. They had three daughters and on the photo they are all standing in the back row. I could tell who the youngest was and who the oldest was so I believe they are identified. Next came the sons ,seven sons, one was already identified, I noticed one is much younger than the rest so I believe he is the one I found born in 1881. Then there is a man who looks the oldest so it is possible he might be according to the photo. But this has not been verified.If I can correct there is still four more sons to be identified. If you have any children or Exilia Bergeron and Hermine Vigneault in your line contact me, maybe someone can identify the rest or correct me if I am wrong.
It is sad when we come across some old photos without names , or photos with some of our relatives and others on the photo are unknown. I have begun writing who are on my photos, so that my family won't have to guess and will keep the photos.
So now I have done what I set out to do today, and a nice coffee (Tim Hortons) would be a nice reward don't you think?
Thanks for the visit , do stop by again.
Have a great day
Aline

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Little Green Frogs

I want to share the following story with you. First of all, as I have mentioned before, my mother has shared so many stories of when she was young with me. When she was little, she was usually always with her older brother and her younger brother. And the younger brother who I named Deedee in the book that I made for my grandaughter was always getting into mischief . He was cripple and because of it, he always got away with a lot. I gave my grandaughter a book with all kinds of stories passed down by Mom and my grandaughter loves her book. Here is one page of the book.
" Little Frogs: One day Flossie ,Teetee and Deedee were outside playing . And on their land there was a spring that their father had dug deeper in order for their mother to put her milk and butter so that they would not go bad. Their father had warned them not to go near the spring.
Flossie,Teetee and Deedee were running and playing, and were getting closer and closer to the spring.
Deedee said "Oh I see a little frog in the water. Oh! there's another one, and another one." Flossie and Teetee were a little ways away from the spring so they went closer to see. Deedee wanted to get even closer so he walked towards the spring. Little did he know that the ground around the spring was really soft and as he knelt down to see the little frogs, into the spring he fell. Well Flossie and Teetee ran to his rescue, pulling him up by his shirt sleeve, took him home all soaking wet. The moral of this story is "Be careful where you look for frogs".
This is based on a true story told to me by my Mom.
Remember I told you about a poor family and my grandmother helping them? Mom also told me that the oldest of the boys used to go to her place and she would show him how to milk a cow. grin.
Thanks for stopping by ,
Have a great day
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Monday, April 20, 2009

Why did I join Twitter?

I haven't got a clue, and I went there and signed up. Once I signed up, I said to myself "What do I do next?" Do I want to add twitter to my blog? hmmm. Ok, But I did not realize that what I say shows up here grin. So please forgive me I was just experimenting with my one liners.
If any of you readers are on twitters, follow me and let me know who you are so I can follow you, I don't know where we are going tho haha. How do we connect all over, what do they mean by mainstream? sob sob. LOL.
I did not want to miss out on anything so when they said twitters was the way to go, I went, haha.
It is all in fun so I will try it for awhile, and add my one liners. I do hope someone on there will follow me I don't like talking to myself haha.
So I am going to twitter along and try to find out how to reply to someone. I do hope I can communicate somehow with someone somewhere haha.
See you on twitter ,I could not even use my name I had to be alliecor hahaha.
Thanks for the visit ,
Have a great day
Aline

Sunday, April 19, 2009

GRANDPARENTS

Few can bring the warmth
We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love
Than the smile on their face.
They've a supply of precious stories,
Yet they've time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.
I believe that God sent us Grandparents
As our legacy from above
To share the moments of our life
As extra measures of His love.~
Author Unknown ~
Today I went over to visit my Mom. With my cup of tea in hand, (not coffee sob sob), I sat down with Mom and today's topic at first was sewing. She told us that she began sewing at age of nine, she was watching my grandmother sew and my grandmother said do you want to learn? She said here is some material so practice. Mom said my grandmother would get some clothes given to her by her sister in law Emilie from the USA and she would take the clothes apart and make new ones for the children. She would take a used coat for example, turn it inside out and make a new coat for Mom or the other children. Mom has been sewing ever since. She has made our clothes, our children's clothes and even her great grandchildren some clothes. Mom continued talking about when she was little she remembered this very poor family that lived down the road from them, and they were so poor that they did not have any good clothes to go to church, so my grandmother would lend them some of her children's clothes because they were all around the same age and after church the clothes would be returned. That was a very nice thing that my grandmother did. It shows me that she was a very kind hearted lady.Then we began talking about my grandfather. I never knew him, he died before I was born but Mom who has a great memory is sharing them with me. She said her father was a very smart man and he did a lot of fancy woodwork and Mom said to me, I wish I had one of his knives he made. She said he made the handle sort of crooked for an easier grasp and he would use the knife to make some shaving for Grandmother to light her stove with. Mom said he made his saw handles, he also carved a carrying pole for my grandmother to carry her water from the spring. He also believed very strongly in a good education for his family , so he would tutor them at home and read to them. I said to Mom do you remember some books he read from? Mom replied, yes one is paticular was poems by Robert Burns.
Yes grandparents are special. Seeing Mom and all that she does and has done for her grandchildren and great grandchildren makes me realize this. Mom said my grandmother was a happy person and she really loved and enjoyed us while we were growing up.
I could listen to Mom's stories everyday, they are always so interesting. So if you have parents or grandparents, sit down and listen to their stories, you will be amazed at things that they remember. Another thing Mom told me was that my grandmother loved to dance, now I never knew this, and she said they had houseparties and my Dad knew my grandmother loved to dance so he would dance with her, usually square dancing. I would love to have seen that.
I cannot stress enough how important listening to your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles is. Their stories are a part of genealogy, a part of history and a part of you.
Have a great day thanks for the visit.
Aline

Saturday, April 18, 2009

THE DEPORTATION ORDERS

Although Grand Pre has become the symbol of the expulsion of the Acadians, the deportation actually began on Aug.11 1755 at Fort Beausejour . The people in the area were rounded up and imprisoned in the fort prior to being shipped to the British Colonies. One month later the deportation of the Acadians began at Grand Pre the most populated settlement. The male inhabitants were ordered by Colonel John Winslow, to assemble in the church Saint Charles des Mines on Sept. 5 at 3pm. The men of Pisiquit were ordered by Captain Alexander Murray to present themselves at Fort Edward. In both places the assembled Acadians were told that their lands, homes and livestocks would be taken from them and that they and their family would be transported out of the province. Here are the orders read to them by Colonel John Winslow in Grand Pre.
" Gentlemen, I have received from his excellency Governor Lawrence, the King's Commisssion which I have in my hand and by whose orders your are convened together to Manifest to you his Majesty's final resolution to the French inhabitants of this his Province of Nova Scotia who for almost half a century have had more indulgence granted them than any of his subjects in any part of his Dominions. What use you have made of them you yourself best know.
The part of duty I am not upon is what though necessary is very disagreeable to my natural make and temper as I know it must be grevious to you who are of the same specia.
But it is not my business to annimedvert, but to obey such orders as I receive and therefore without hesitation shall deliver you his Majesty's orders and instructions viz.
That your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds and livestock of all sorts are forfitted to the Crown with all other you effects saving your money and household goods and you yourself be removed from this province.
Thus it is preeptorily his Majesty's orders that the whole French inhabitants of these districts ,be removed, and I am through his Majesty's goodness directed to allow you liberty to carry of your money and household goods as many as you can without discommoding the vessels you go in. I shall do everything i my power that all those goods be secured to you and that you are not molested in carrying them and also that whole families shall go in the same vessel and make this remove which I am sensible must give you a great deal of trouble as easy as his Majesty's service will admit and hope that in what every part of the world you may fall you may be faithful subjects, a peaceable and happy people.
I must also inform you that it is his Majesty's pleasure that you remain in security under the inspection and Direction of the troops that I have the Honour to command. (source History of Nova Scotia).
More people were deported from Grand Pre than from any other location because not only was it the most populated area ,it was also the most important Acadian agricultural and commercial center. A total of about 2200 Acadians were thus removed from the greater Grand Pre area between October and December 1755. Within a short time, all their homes and barns were burned.Following orders to burn and lay waste the British troops travelled from village to village burning every building in sight. It is estimated that there were about 6000 Acadians deported from Nova Scotia in 1755. And can you imagine? They were deported in the winter months, October it starts to get cold, November and December it is cold, and on the water it must have been so cold and the oceans so rough for our ancestors who were sent away .
I was reading the Acadians of Nova Scotia by Sally Ross and Alphonse Deveau, it is an interesting book if you have the chance to read it ,do so. Maybe your library may have it or maybe you can order it through your library.
Now to you readers if you come from Britain, this has nothing to do with any of you, I mean what the British did. It was long long ago and it was a terrible thing to do to the Acadians. But it has happened and it is in the past, I am sure that if our ancestors were able to talk to us, they would say, let it go, and show your children that you are a proud people and that they should be proud of who they are, we cannot change the past, we can only make the future a better place.
Thanks for the visit and do stop by again.
Have a great day.
Aline

Thursday, April 16, 2009

New Brunswick Canada Phone Book 1943


About a month ago, we went to a flea market , and I always look for old things, and I came across this phone book of 1943. I wanted to buy it but could not buy it at the time. But around a week ago, my brother went to the same flea market, and he came home with the book. I was very surprised to see he had bought it.
I was only a year old at the time this book was published. Inside the book I found the following article that I want to share with you.
"Save telephone service: We're being asked-being told-to save steel,rubber and other essentials of war. Telephone service, no less. For when a man-or a nation- hurries, it's always by telephone. That's what's happening now. Army, Navy,Industry,Civilian Defence,all hurrying by telephone.
So it's up to the rest of us to lay off. Within reason of course. Don't pester any of these agencies with trivial calls. Don't , at any time, clog the lines with long talks about nothing in paticular. If you have a two or four family line, brevity is particularly needed. In an air raid, don't telephone at all. Leave telephone lines clear for airplane spotters, wardens, firemen,police and other agencies acting at personal risk for your safety and that of your community. Familiarize yourself with local instructions." So this phone book was out during World War two.
Inside the book there are phone numbers for Moncton, Bouctouche,Richiboucto,Hillboro,Campbellton, Chatham,Newcastle,Bathurst,Shediac,Sackville,Dorchester,Port Elgin,Escuminac,Paquetville,Tracadie Sheila,Jacket River,Petitcodiac,Dalhousie.
If you want to look in the phone book to see if some of your relatives are listed,I have added the book on my website at http://www.acadian-roots.com/ Look for the little red phone on the side bar. Click on the writing. Be aware the page take a while to load, there were 100 pages added. I did not add the classifieds but I do hope you find the phone book interesting. Enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by and do drop by again.
Have a great day.
Aline

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Uncle Larry the Bachelor

Today I would like to share with you what I remember about Uncle Larry and what he accomplished in his life. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1893. His father worked in Digby for a while and then they went to Old Town Maine and then back to New Brunswick.
Larry never married but yesterday Mom gave me some of his old letters, and in one of the letters he talks about a girl he once loved. I believe her name was Theresa Mills, she was the love of his life and he did not win her and he never ever got married. Here is what Larry wrote at the age of 92, yes ninety two." There was a maid called Theresa Mills that one I first loved, in Saint Paul on a hill, she was an orphan I was told, but her eyes so blue and her hair shown like gold. This is why I loved her like I do. She got married after I met her but the words she said to me that day caused a pain in my heart I must say. That is all he wrote about her.
Larry lived in his parents home for a long time, he used to breed animals and birds, if you went to visit him, you did not expect a fancy house, he had chickens and roosters running through his house. He had the most beautiful exotic birds, peacocks , pheasants, with feathers of many different and beautiful colors, he had deer he had sent away for. He had white deer and one time one got away, and he never saw her again but later on he saw some white deer or brown and white deer so he figured she mated with the wild deer. He loved horses,and had various calves.
He was well educated and self taught himself on many subjects.
I first contacted him, when I got into genealogy, I had gone to his house when I was a little girl, but anyway when I first contacted me, he was hesitant on giving me information about his family,but he later confided in me. He told me of great aunts and great uncles, where they lived , the names of their children where they were and so on. I am grateful to him for sharing with me.
Anyway among his letters I want to share this one, it was written on July 24 1986 he was 93 years old, and he wrote to Prime Minister Brian Mulrooney in Ottawa. Here is what he wrote:
Dear Sir, I cannot see any harm in praising you in the Daily Times and Transcript of Moncton NB. As I have read some of your statements in that paper stating your great ambition in making efforts to bring this country to a reciprocal alliance with the rest of the world to talk PEACE instead of making efforts to blow up the universe and I hope your efforts will keep you as the man of Chaice for the safety of mankind for ever. Yours truly Larry. He had a note in the margin for whoever was mailing the letter to make a copy for him and one to Brian Mulrooney in Ottawa.
Now he wrote this at the age of 93, he died three years later at the age of 96. I do hope you enjoyed reading today's blog, I wanted to share this with someone,especially my cousin Eve, the memoirs of my great uncle Larry.
Thanks for the visit, and do stop by again.
Have a great day
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Monday, April 13, 2009

Acadians and Metis

Before the Acadians came, there were various tribes of Native Americans, there were the Migmaws, Maliseets,Abenakis. So when the first Europeen men came to Acadie they had no women with them. Many of these men lived with Native American women, some married them others had children with them. These children were called Metis. The following is from A great and Noble Scheme book.
There were as yet no French women in L'Acadie and sexual relations with Mikmaw women greatly faciliatated the assimilation of the Engages(workers or hired men) to native culture. Lescarbot saw no evidence of prostitution among the Mikmaq when he first arrived, but he noted a custom of sexual freedom among young unmarried women that was eagerly exploited by fishermen and traders. The Mikmaq did not consider an illegitimate child a stigma but rather a measure of a young woman's fertility, and bearing a child out of wedlock tended to enhance rather than compromise her chances for marriage. While the girls were free to accept or reject lovers, however the Micmaq had no patience with forced sexual relations. It is dangerous to dally with them wrote Lescarbot. After one French colonist meddled with a Micmaq woman, the men of her family came to Biencourt in a rage, warning him that anyone who attempted to do that again would not stand much of a chance that they would kill him on the spot. Marriage too was a serious business. If a young man with marriage on his mind found his attention encouraged by the girl, he was expected to ask her father for permission to take up residence in the family lodge. the father agreeing , the suitor entered the service of the brides household, hunting and trapping exclusively for them. This could last for a year without the bride and groom to be having relations. They were only allowed to marry once the groom showed he could support a wife.
Despite these strict rules, within a few years most of Biencourt's engages,(workers) were living in Micmaw communities with a native wife and metis children.
Philippe Mius d'Azy son of Philippe and Madeleine Helie married two native americans.He had fourteen children total. Joseph married Marie Amireau , Marie married Francois Viger, Mathieu married Marie Madeleine, Francoise married Jacques Bonnevie dit Beaumont, Pierre married Marguerite La Pierre, Anne Marie dit Nanette married Paul Guedry dit Gravois.

Jean Roy dit La Liberte married Marie Christine Aubois (Dubois) a native american. Not sure what tribe. They had nine children: Anne married Jean Clemenceau, Marie married Joseph Comeau dit Grandjean, and she married Girouard, Jean married Jeanne LeJeune and Francoise Corporon, Francois married Marie Bergeron, Philippe married Cecile Mazerole, Marie Madeleine married Louis Fontaine dit Beaulieu, Marie Francoise married Etienne Trahan, Rene married Marie Josephe Daigle.

Jean Vincent D'Abbadie son of Jean Jacques and Isabeau de Bearn de Bonasse married two daughter (of Madockawando a Abenaki chief )named Matilde and Marie Pediwammiskwa.
With Mathilde he had: Claire married Paul Meunier, daughter who married Philippe Meunier, Anastasie married Alexandre LeBorgne de Belisle, Urseline married Louis D'Amour de Chauffours,with Marie Pediwammiskwa he had a daughter Therese who married Philippe Mius D'Entremont.
These are just a few who married Native Americans, I found that I have Marie Christine Aubois and Mathilde, in my lines so far. So if you have any of the above in your lines you have a bit of Native American blood running through your veins. I am intrigue by the D'Abbadie de St Castin line, and Madockawando, if you do have him in your line, google Madockawando see all the stories out there.
I wonder if that is the reason that I enjoyed cowboy and indian movies long ago. grin.
I do hope you all had a nice Easter ,we had snow, yes we had snow, the ground is all covered in a blanket of the white stuff. But it soon will be gone again.
I do hope you enjoyed todays blog, the reason I wrote this article, was because I went into my software and noticed I had Jean Roy in my maternal line.
Have a great day
Aline

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Dominique Martin 's treasure

In 1938 there was a very bad storm near the home of Dominique Martin of Saint Louis Cape in New Brunswick. Can you imagine the waves washing on the shore and on the rocks? Well anyway, Dominique Martin was walking along the shore and he spotted something on the sand.
As he got closer he noticed a skelton all wrapped in fur and surrounded by bark of a tree. On the skelton was a leather caldron measuring 28 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep. Inside the caldron Dominique found many articles. There was another caldron a bit smaller measuring 7 inches in diameter ,thirteen ancient axes, a sword, a knife, a stileto,pot hooks, glass beads, and a few other articles not identified because of the rust. This discovery caused quite a stir among the villagers and attracted many visitors and local newspapers. They never identified the skelton.
I read this in the History of Saint Louis. I am certain there must be many stories like this one that has not been told, but can you imagine walking along the beach and something belonging to our lost ancestors wash up? Remember, there were many many tragedies at sea. The Duke William with all the Acadians on board, the Violet also among others. Somewhere under the oceans there may be some old time piece or old bowls or jewelry.
I always imagined going into the woods somewhere, where homesteads used to be, and finding an old abandoned home, and finding old photographs, or old dishes. It would be nice if we knew the exact spots where our ancestors lived and have permission to do a dig . I do know one of my ancestors Thomas Cormier lived in Beaubassin, and they have a dig going on there, if they find some carpentry ,could it have been his?
When I go to flea markets and I see an old photograph, I usually look to see if there is a name, just in case it would be an ancestor of mine. These are the treasures that are important to me, not the gold , nor silver, oh but mind you if I did find some I would not throw it away. grin.
But to me, keeping our ancestors memories alive anyway I can is what is most important.
When our ancestors were exiled, could they have buried some of their precious possessions?
Maybe one day someone will discover something else belonging to our ancestors.
But they won't find anything tonight and tomorrow because we are going to have some SNOW, grin. They are calling for 10 cm. of the white stuff. Out comes the boots and mittens and shovels, oh noooo! grin.
Thanks for the visit, do stop by again.
Have a great day
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Thursday, April 09, 2009

Acadians and Foods


If you think this pot is something used by cannibals you are not correct , grin. This pot was used to make maple syrup. It was bought by Jean a Nicolas Babineau in 1770 in Turtle Creek New Brunswick. I want to thank Omer Babineau for allowing me to use his photo.
Acadians began tapping trees very early in history.According to Diereville he says that as early as 1708 Acadians were making maple syrup using similar methods as those today. For many years maple syrup was used instead of sugar.
Sugar back then had to be imported along with molasses from the West Indies.
Now throughout Acadie berries were plentiful, there were wild strawberries, blackberries, blueberries,gooseberries,and cranberries, and berries are full of vitamins which was good for our ancestors. They gathered wild herbs such as Dandelion blossoms used to make wines. Summer savory was a herb that was used a lot as well as wild caraway,hops were picked to make yeast. They ate wild game such as porcupine,beaver, rabbits,even squirrels and all kinds of wild birds, blackbirds, pidgeons,meadowlarks, wild ducks, partridges and so on. They had chickens and pigs,and they would only kill the cows when they had no more use for them. Today many of us would not eat some of the things that our ancestors did, but they had to survive the best way they could. And who knows ? Maybe it was delicious, for instance we love lobster but in countries where there are no lobsters, people would shun at the thought of eating them. Now our Poutine Rappees, they look gooey but they are scrumptious and many folks would not want to even try them. I dread at the thought of being in the woods and having to survive and having to eat whatever I could find.
Now I will share a recipe with you. If you ever come to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and someone says do you want a Pet de Soeur? Say yes!
Pet de Soeur
Dough
2 cups flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk
Mix all together. Until a soft dough is former, if it is too wet add flour on the board. Roll the dough until it is fairly thin maybe a little thicker than a pie crust.
Grease with butter, add brown sugar and sprinkle cinnamon on the top. Roll the dough like a jelly roll and slice into circles around one half thick.
Pour water in a casserole dish. Put the sliced dough in the casserole dish and bake 375 F for about 25 minutes or until the pet de soeurs are golden brown. I sometimes do not even put them in casserole dish with water. I just cook them in muffin tins. mmmmm very tasty.
Thank you for stopping by, do come again.
Have a great day
Aline

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

HURRY LET'S RUN IN THE FOREST

Who was running in the forest? Why? Well if you studied or read about the Dispersion of the Acadians in 1755 you would know that our ancestors had to run away or be made prisoners of war . Some Acadians escaped from the prisons even to also run and hide in the forest to avoid capture by the English.
What hardships they must have endured. Men,women and children,young and old all running through thick woods, depending what time it was, they had to endure insect bites, falls and scrapes, hunger, hot and cold weather.
Some became ill, was it from maybe eating wrong plants? Or wrong berries? Can you imagine them at night time, probably with a fire burning, no lights, pitch black. Hearing the unfamiliar sounds of the night. Coyotes, wolves, owls, bear, moose, wondering what the sounds were and if they were safe. Children crying because they were afraid or they were hungry. The men had to hunt for food and catch whatever they could such as rabbits, raccoons, beavers, deer, small birds. They did not have good tools to work with either, an ax or hatchet, a knife maybe. The brush would be thick at times. They had to go on. Some Acadians walked through the forest for days and days some died along the way.
One group of Acadians led by Michel Bergeron son of Michel Bergeron dit Nantes made their way up to St Gregoire Quebec first stopping in Cacauna with the native americans, and during the winter making their canoes to continue on their way.
What hardships these ancestors must have gone through. When you go for a walk in the woods, think about them, look around now the woods are cleared and you can walk through them but imagine the trees not being cleared, no paths to walk on. Imagine how your feet would hurt, our ancestors must have felt a lot of pain. And winter time,oh my I cannot imagine what they went through on their journeys. Food would be scarce because the snow would be deep, and it would be awful hard to walk . No berries, just a few wild animals if they could catch them. What about water? What did they do? Probably they found some streams or springs, but during the winter, possibly they would maybe melt the snow? But how did they survive the cold nights? How awful it had to have been for them. All because they were fleeing for their lives, to get away and wanting to live.
Well I went to the genealogy center yesterday and I was looking for something and came across the photo above, and said to myself, now that would be nice to put in my blog with a story to go with it. It sort of makes us think about our ancestors and what some of them went through.
I do hope you enjoyed my blog and will stop by again. Thank you for the visit.
Have a great day
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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Saint Louis Kent County New Brunswick

Saint Louis de Kent is an acadian village in Kent County New Brunswick in Canada. I had the good fortune of spending quite a few summers there.
The people are so very friendly. They have a wharf or marina. My brother in law had a sport boat and we used to go out into the ocean to the Dune to dig Bar Clams, we also went to an island that is a bird santuary and went and did some jigging for Cod out in the Ocean. This village has been there for a long long time. Many of the villagers live to a ripe old age. In 1786 Jean Babineau and his son Joseph left Memramcook in search of a new homestead. Jean had some daughters married in Bouctouche,in Richiboucto and at Aldouane. But he continued further north. Arriving at the northern part of the Kouchibougouac River he found three english families living there. They decided to settle in the area attracted mostly by the meadows. But in the month of December Jean Babineau drowned while trying to cross the Petitcodiac River. The following month of May Joseph and his family came at settled at Kouchibougouac what it was known as at the time.And he was the first Acadian Family to settle in Saint Louis. Later other families arrived, the Barriaults, Henri,Poirier,Maillets,Richard,Thebeau,LeClerc,Vautour etc.
Now Lorraine Coulombe my friend has a site on Facebook on Saint Louis and she has posted all these photos of people of Saint Louis and she has given me permission to add some on my photo gallery at http://www.acadian-roots.com/ I would really suggest you look at them, notice their clothing, their age,their large families, I will be adding a few more soon. And if you are on facebook, check out her Saint Louis Group and my Old Photos of New Brunswick group. I am sure you will be impressed. I want to thank Lorraine for sharing her photos with me and with all of you. Some of the photos in my gallery include Auguste dit Audjuste Richard and his wife Pelagie Maillet, their children, Louis Maillet and his second wife Lucille Doucette and the children of Louis.
Thanks for the visit and do stop by again and if you happen to go to the CMA2009 stop in at Saint Louis de Kent for a brief visit.
Have a great day
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Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Witches and Witchcraft

I am reading a book by Donald Lines Jacobus and wanted to share some parts with you.
One of the chief delights of genealogy researchers is the insight it gives us into the motives, the customs,the daily manner of life, of people who lived in a different era. They lived in a different world than us. Think about it, we have washers, and dryers, they had rivers and tree branches to hang the clothes, we have stoves, they had fireplaces,we have lights they had lamps ,we have cars they had horse and wagons and the list goes on.
Those who view cemeteries as a gloomy place to be avoided can never experience the mingling of reverence and exultation felt by the genealogy researcher,when at last he stands in front of the long sought gravestone of an ancestor. And nor can they know the furtive delight of collecting curious epitath. ( I noticed on some graves, photos of hunting cabins, or even a truck that they drove, something that connects to the deceased.)
Now about witches and witchcraft.
Those who take a satisfaction in writing of our witch-burning ancestors would do well to persue their historical studies a little further,for witches were not burned in the American Colonies. The usual method of execution was to turn them off ladders and leaving them hanging. In Europe witches were much more cruelly dealth with than in America.
The explanation of witchcraft craze is simple. Witchcraft existed two or three centuries ago solely because people believed it existed. An angry woman might give a neighbor a hateful glance or utter a half veiled threat. It would be remembered, and misfortunes subsequently occuring would often be connected with it in the mind of a neighbor. Significance would be extracted out of mere coincidences, and entirely natural events would be attributed to the malignant agency of the suspected woman. These suspicions would be bandied about, in whispers or even openly. Oftentimes, imaginative children or neurotic adolescents, overhearing the talk, would discuss the matter between themselves. There was a thrill in it, and they would shudder deliciously when the suspected witch passed by them or spoke to them.
Sometimes the children became obsessed with the idea that the witch was persecuting them. They imagined they seen apparitions of the witch,their parents would then see their previous suspicions confirmed. Formal complaints would be lodged against the witch. Then the witch was brought to trial and so on. The Salem craze reached the dimentions of mob hysteria and many innocent victims suffered. Can you imagine? If you did something a little bit out of the ordinary it was believed that you were a witch??? Very scary situation, I am very happy that I wasn't there during those sad and terrible times.
Well we had two days of snow, yesterday I had to clean my car, and I hadn't cleaned the top of it, while we were driving down a busy street, we stopped for a red light and Poof a pile of snow came tumbling down on the windshield, You should have seen how fast I moved out of the car and cleared the window. grin.
Our Bergeron-Damboise reunion plans are going very well. I have had some folks contact me from various places who would like to attend. That is good. We are getting closer to the date in July. And the CMA2009 also is getting nearer, if you are looking for accomodations I have a friend in Bouctouche who has an old house converted into rooms that she will rent, Bouctouche is not real close to Caraquet but now everywhere you look the motels , hotels ,B&B are all booked solid.
I hope you enjoyed todays blog and will return.
Have a great day
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