“Lest We Forget”
Weather very warm thawed all day. In the afternoon we all went to work on a drain. Walton, Cullerne, Arthur, Davis and myself work all afternoon got home at 6:30 feeling very hungry
Monday, March 3, 1913
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Tag Archives: genealogy
Sunday, March 2, 1913
Near Edmonton, Alberta, Lest We Forget Sunday, March 2, 1913
Weather dark and cloudy all day but warm. I was all alone in the car all day. I started to wash about 9 oclock and finished about 3 oclock
After that I work on my album till supper time
After that Arthur and I went to church
And here’s another shot from “The Album”…by the way, this is the first time he mentions the album, which I assume is the photo album that contains the pictures that I’ve been putting up here occasionally.
BU
Between all the drama over the past few weeks, I can look back and say that this was bad timing to start an on-line course in genealogical research. It’s not as easy as it sounds…not that I thought it would be a walk in the park! Here are some concepts I can’t get my head around: A birth certificate is a source, but is it original or derivative? And what about the information it contains? Is it primary or secondary? Then you have evidence. Evidence can be direct or indirect. What about a photocopy of an original birth certificate? Original or derivative? Is the information it contains primary or secondary? Does it constitute evidence? Is so, is it direct or indirect? Are you with me on this?
If you really need to know all that, let me know! In the meantime, the next assignment isn’t due unitl next Wednesday, but I’m also supposed to be an active participant in the “Discussion Groups???
To be honest, my grades have been coming back a bit better than I expected them to be. Especially considering that I just blew through some parts of the assignments. I’ve been doing this a while, but relatively unsctructured…organized, but unstructured…and they insist on certain terminology which, if I’m working in my own little world, isn’t critical. They even have a Glossary! So, BU brings the structure….I just have to adjust to the rigidity of it all
I’ll keep you posted….
February 28, 1913 “Lest We Forget”
Now, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: This diary can be excruciatlingly BORING!! Aside from the nostalgic value to me or maybe it’s the historical value from a family history standpoint, it’s interesting. Interesting enough to take the time to post these blogs, anyway!! Clem died in 1955 at age 67. I was only about 2 1/2 at the time and my memory of him is more from the pictures that I’ve seen of him with my grandmother, or the picture of him holding me outside the house at 32-34 Tyler Street in Springfield, Massahcusetts. (That reminds me, I should track that one down and scan it for the blog) And, of course, this diary which is 100 years old this year! So for me, that’s where he lives…in the photos and this diary. In that respect, this diary is important to me, and I hope that some of the readers can get at least a little something out of it!
“LEST WE FORGET” February 28, 1913
Weather a little colder with a little snow. Cullerne and Steve went to town on the 1:30 AM. Steve left for Seattle.
I stay in the car and over in the office all day.
Carter…6 pounds 4 ounces
Had to share…
Carter Anthony Reid, 6 pounds, 4 ounces, 20 inches. He’s a peanut! I’m accustomed to 9 – 10 pound babies!
Carter Anthony Reid born February 7, 2013
February 8, 2013? 3 feet of snow…. February 8, 1913?
It’s Friday, February 8, 2013 and we’re getting up to 3 feet of snow. What did the weather bring 100 years ago on Saturday, February 8, 1913? As usual, Clem always gives us a brief weather report:
We got up at 6:30 weather very nice a little cold till the sun came up and then it was warmer. Steve and I left Otley for Edson at 8:15 and walked all the way 27 miles arrived at Edson at 5 o”clock a little tired.
Cullerne came in with the outfit on the local from Otley got here about 10:15 then Steve and I went to dreamland.
Edson Joseph Chamberlin, President of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. He took over from Charles Melville Hays who died in the RMS Titanic disaster
Although I can’t find a listing for Otley, there is a description of Edson, Alberta in Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson,_Alberta] once again, mentioning an executive of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway:
The town was originally named Heatherwood, but the name was changed around 1911 in honour of Edson Joseph Chamberlin, vice-president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Local history maintains that Edson (Heatherwood) was built in its current location because it was the first level spot after Wolf Creek. (The land at Wolf Creek was quickly bought up after the announcement of plans to develop a town there, which rendered it uneconomical for the railway.) When Edson was declared the local rail centre, smaller communities such as Rosevear (abandoned), Wolf Creek, Carrot Creek and Niton Junction fell into a decline that continues today. In the 1950s, upgrading of Highway 16 caused a dramatic increase in private, commercial and industrial traffic. Today, the Yellowhead Highway carries some of the heaviest traffic flow in Alberta and has been officially declared the second Trans-Canada Highway.
So it sounds like there were a few areas Like Rosevear that were abandodned. Otley must have been one of them! It was certainly there in 1913…Clem Dickson walked there with Steve!!!
Busy Day for Genealogy!
Busy day for genealogy. The latest class began today in Brimfield, MA. This si the second series I’ve conducted at the Hitchcock Free Academy. Small group but we will still cover all of the material. As a matter of fact, we might even be able to get a little farther as there are fewer lines to research for the participants.
Next…and I should have been aware of this one… I had offered to make a presentation to the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society “this spring”. I should have realized that February was the month that we discussed but I hadn’t put it in my calendar. So, as I was getting ready for Hitchcock on Wednesday (and Yellow House on Thursday AND all the classwork for Boston U) I received an e-mail from WMGS containing their newsletter. The newsletter announced that I would be making a presentation! So, I raced from the class in Brimfield around 5:00 to get to Agawam for a 6:00 meeting. Made it!
Take a look at Old Bones Genealogy and Family Research for what’s going on….but I suppose it would be a good thing for me to make sure it’s up to date!
Genealogy Research Made Simple
There was a cartoon in the paper a while ago that I had to save: “Shoe” by Chris Cassatt & Gary Brookins. The character “The Senator” was being interviewed by the reporter who asks, “What initially inspired you to run for president?” The Senator goes on to explain his interest in tracing his family’s roots, searching through old records, etc. only to discover that it took too much of his time. So he decided to get into politics. “What does all that have to do with a presidential bid” asked the reporter. Holding up the newspaper, the Senator replies, “Now, you boys in the press are doing it for me!”
So the real answer is that there’s nothing simple about genealogy and the research it demands. Armed with the mantra that “Genealogy without research is Mythology”, we delve into areas that we really had no idea ever existed! I’m going to blog about what got me started (it wasn’t a presidential bid!) where its taken me and the challenges I face for my own background and that of the many people who have been attending my classes and asking for my assistance.
Suffice it to say for now that I’ve found many surprises, a few “lost inheritances” (NOT MINE!!!) and many new friends around the country who to whom I just happen to be related. The Moore’s in Alabama, the Robison’s in Missouri, the Robinson’s in Indiana, the Blodgett’s and the Lillie’s in New York and Massachusetts, the Casey’s in California, the Bassett’s in ….well… all over! Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Massachusetts, Texas, Hawaii… the list goes on. These aren’t just names I found in old records; these are people with whom I’ve communicated, listened to their stories and discovered what a small world this really is.
I’m can legitimately count a couple of presidents in my “collateral” lines. William Howard Taft and I share a common ancestor, Deacon Samuel Chapin, one of the founders of the city where I was born, Springfield, Massachusetts. The deacon was also the progenitor of Harry Chapin and Marion Morrison who you would all know as John Wayne. Yes, they’re cousins, albeit distant! I can count pilgrims and Puritans (there’s a difference) from Plymouth Colony including a great grandfather who fell off the Mayflower and had to be rescued, John Howland. Look up his story! And I have no less than 12 direct ancestors who are Revolutionary War Patriots. My 4th Great Grandfather, Hezekiah Robion, was a veteran of the East Tennessee Volunteers in the War of 1812. I have direct ancestors who were Confederates and others who were Yankees.
And the list goes on and on. Stay tuned…
February 5, 1913….A Little Warmer!
There’s a word or two in this post I can’t figure out for a couple of reasons: 1) Clem’s handwriting skill was atrocious and 2) Clem’s spelling skill was atrocious! So, here’s the best transcription I can offer based on the entry for Wednesday, February 5, 1913
The weather is much warmer but a high wind. And a little snow. Cullerne went to Edson this morning so Steve and I had the car to ourselves. Steve worked on nots [?] ahd I read Cradane [?] X all morning. This afternoon I went out and had to hunt for wood.
And Grampa, if you find the remote while your out there, text me!
More “Clem” news on the Grand Trunk Pacific—January 4, 1913
From “Lest We Forget”, here’s my grandfather’s entry in his diary from Tuesday, January 4, 1913:
The weather is about the same 20 [degrees] below. We did not go out to work today because we had run out of coal and Steve and I had to look around for wood. Cullerne went to Carval and told us to get some wood. We asked he sec. man where we could get some and he told us he had some already cut. We went over and got it and told Cullerne that we had a hard time getting the wood.
First, telling his boss he had a hard time getting the wood strikes me as my grandfather’s wry sense of humor. Instead of being tasked with chopping down trees with Steve, they just had to walk a little and pick it up from a pile of wood ready to burn!
Second, I have to tell you that I couldn’t find the HDMI cable to hook up Karen’s laptop to the flat screen. I was a little cranked about that. I finally tracked it down. Someone (me) had wrapped it up and put it in my carrying case to take with me to the next class at the Hitchcock Free Academy in Brimfield, MA. More on that later…I’ll only have 4 or 5 students this go-around… No problem with that, I like small “cozy” classes! But when I read that my grandfather couldn’t work because they didn’t have any coal, it was too cold to work and their boss told them to go out and “get some wood”…kinda put things into perspective for me!
At least I haven’t lost the remote in the past few days…
This old wagon may have been around at the Carvel General Store when Clem was up there 100 years ago!
Here’s a link to the Carvel General Store: http://www.carvelgeneralstore.ca/about-us.html
