52 Ancestors #8: Family Photo

I am fortunate enough to have a lot of family photos to choose from but my mom and I just spend a fun afternoon going through some albums for that one special picture.  I think this one shows an iconic Canadian family!

Taken in 1941 St. Lambert, Quebec, out front of my maternal grandparents home on Notre Dame Street.  Shown in the picture from left to right are: Douglas Jr, Agnes, Douglas Sr, Charles and standing in front, Doreen, aged 5.  

I'm not sure who "Mary" is but it's probably my grandmother's sister who was still living in Scotland.  I just love the boys' jackets and leggings and my grandfather's bowler hat.  

#52ancestors

52 Ancestors #7: Love

For this blog I thought I would share a story that my maternal grandfather (Papa) wrote for me in a collection of stories he gave to me for my birthday in 1976.  He and my Nana used to babysit me and my siblings -  I have a lot of fun memories of spending time with them.  Nana (Agnes Hector Smith) and Papa (Douglas Howard Parker) were married in 1922 and emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1923.


A Singing Sweetheart

This was our first date and not knowing the town I had to rely on my companion to lead the way.
We had coffee and a chocolate biscuit at a restaurant at the town cross, a procedure I was informed, practiced by the young folk of the town.
I suggested a movie, but the showbill in front of the only movie house in town did not look very interesting.
It being a beautiful evening my companion suggested we go for a walk.  On the way I learned that the route we were following was the favourite of the town's young folks on a Sunday afternoon; I also learned a lot about Kerse Parish Church, and especially about the choir which my companion attended.  Some of the incidents related about the choir were amusing, especially the way in which the choir girls decorated their bachelor minister's [bi]cycle while the poor man was in his study preparing his Sunday sermon.
When we reached the last street lamp, and because the road ahead looked dark and uninviting I decided we should turn, however, my companion suggested we stand under the lamp while she sang me a German song she had learned in school.  In a good contralto voice she sang stanza after stanza; I did not understand the German words but when she finished I congratulated her on her voice, her singing and her memory.
Strange as it may seem after all these years I listen to the same haunting melody each evening as Paul Reid concludes his 'Quiet Hour' with the same melody.  It brings back memories of almost fifty years of love, happiness, and a companionship which carried us along together in times of difficulties, of change and of pleasures.
The strains of that haunting melody comes over the radio each evening and fills my heart with gratitude for the life and times we shared together.
Yes! The Singing Sweetheart became - in time - your Nana!

Happy Valentine's Day


Footnote:  Paul Reid was a radio personality at CJAD in Montreal during the 1970s and hosted a program called Paul Reid Wonderful World of Music.
The "town" was Grangemouth, Scotland.  The church still exists today although is now a blended congregation.

Update:  I asked my Mom if she knew anything about the song and it turns out she knew some of the words and a little about what the song was about.  So I did a little research and we found the song.

https://youtu.be/num4zgWyFLU

52 Ancestors #6: Surprise

Mary had a little lamb
It's fleece was white as snow,
Everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.

It's a rhyme and a song that almost every child has heard; a story of a little girl who had a pet lamb who followed her to school.  The truth is sometimes a surprise, and in this case, the truth is that the story is not only true, it's about a little girl who is one of my ancestors.  Or not.

The little girl was Mary Sawyer and she was born in 1806 in the small town of Sterling, Massachusetts.

https://archive.org/details/storyofmaryherli00unse

http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/mary-little-lamb-yes-mary-little-lamb/

The funny thing is I was all excited to be able to post this story but the more research I did the more confused I got when I tried to link Mary Sawyer to my tree.

John Beaman, son of Gamaliel, was born in 1649.  He married Priscilla Thornton.  They had a daughter named Sarah.  Sarah married Joseph Sawyer and they had four children: Abner, Jonathan, Asenath and Mary.   Mary was born in 1715.  But if you look on the ancestry site you'll see all the comments have this Mary as being the Mary in the poem, but it cannot be as THAT Mary was born in 1806.  So it has to be another generation, or two later.  This is why you cannot depend on what is on Ancestry.

I'll keep looking cause I'm sure the family story has some truth to it - but I have to be sure.  Besides, I have two little white poodles who look an awful like sheep and I'd like to think I have some kind of genetic link to a little girl with an afinity for animals. 

52 Ancestors #5: At The Library

"At the Library" is the theme this week and I wasn't sure at first how I was going to make it into a post about an ancestor.  As it turns out, it was quite easy.

In August 2018, my niece and I travelled to Massaschusetts to do some research and one of our stops along the way was the Beaman Memorial Library.  Now I knew about this library through it's Facebook Page and although I wasn't sure what the connection was to my lineage, it was worth a stop just for the photo opportunity.  Turns out we found out a lot more than we bargained for.

Ezra Beaman, for whom the library is named, was born on October 4, 1736 in Lancaster, MA.  He married (1) Persis Keyes and (2) Mary Boylston.   While living in Boylston, a new meeting house was petitioned and there was an argument as to its location.  Several families travelled quite a distance to church meetings and wanted something closer to their homes.  So Ezra funded the construction of a new meeting house at the western edge of Boylston.  The location was so successful that a petition was made to the General Court to create a new precinct to encompass the meeting house, which was finally granted in 1808, and thus West Boylston was born.

West Boylston's library was founded in 1878, but didn't have a permanent home until 1911 when George Calvin Rice, a great - grandson of Ezra Beaman, donated $20,000 towards the construction of a permanent building.

When Rachel and I showed up at the Beaman Memorial Library initially we checked in and were advised that the local historian would be available later that evening.  So we returned, and had the great pleasure of a guided tour, including showing us Ezra's bible, some furniture and gave us lots of information about the town.

Ezra Beaman's Bible

 For more information on Ezra Beaman and West Boylston, and also the Beaman Memorial Library please check the following links.  #52ancestors

www.beamanlibrary.org
www.westboylston-ma.gov

Ezra Beaman's bible

The author out front of the Library Aug 2018