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*Newsletters Archive*
| May 15, 2000 | |
|
South Shore Genealogical Society PO Box 901 68 Bluenose Drive Lunenburg NS B0J 2C0 Phone : 1-902-634-4794 Ext. 26 ssgsoc@hotmail.com www.rootsweb.com/~nslssgs Open Hours :Wednesday & Thursday 1:00 to 4:30 pm and 6:30 to 8:30 pm Zellers - Club Z#: 840345301 |
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Meeting Notice
The regular meeting of the SSGS will be held May 15, 2000 in the Society Room of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic at 7:30 pm
SSGS Open Wednesday & Thursday Evenings
2000/2001 Officers
| PRESIDENT: | Sheila Chambers | |
| PAST PRESIDENT: | Paul Jodrey | |
| VICE PRESIDENT: | Murray Jodrie | |
| SECRETARY: | Betty Wentzell | |
| TREASURER: | Mary Saul | |
| NEWSLETTER: | Arlene Bailey (interim) | |
| MEMBERSHIP: | Ed Kinsman | |
| PUBLICITY: | Cherene Naugler | |
| PROGRAM & EDUCATION: | Joan Parks | |
| OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR: | Barbara Spindler | |
| COMPUTER INFORMATION MANAGER: | Sueann Mersey (interim) |
School Records
The school records are now available for viewing. Special care should be used in handling the
records.
Special thanks to Barbara Spindler, Sheila Chambers, Janet Heisler, Rosemary Rafuse, Jeanne
Trimper, Arlene Bailey for sorting and boxing the School Records.
Thank you also to Neil Chambers, Roger Mason and David Bailey who assembled the shelving
for the records.
Special 'thanks' to Sueann & Wayne Mersey for picking up the new desks and placing them in
the office.
This was our 20th Anniversary Year. We had many things to celebrate: the vision of our founding
members; the dedication of our past and present members to get things done and the prospect of
a bright future.
To celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we held an anniversary dinner complete with speaker. We
also worked with the town of Lunenburg and the Provincial Government to put on a workshop
on The Maintenance & Preservation of Cemeteries. Both events were very well received. As
president, I was invited to the Senior High School in Lunenburg to speak to the students about
genealogy and the impact it has on tourism, plus to have an introduction to genealogy night for
the District of the Municipality of Lunenburg. These were well received and very positive
experiences. It was rewarding to allow the public to see us as other than an old persons group
who play with dusty old books!
In 2003, there will be many celebrations in the Town of Lunenburg. With this in mind we have
formed a 250th Celebration Committee within the Society to help with the celebrations. This
should be an exciting time not only for the Town but our Society as well. We are working with
several other groups on a major project to commemorate the significance of the Year 2003.
On behalf of the members of the Society, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Barbara
Spindler, Sueann Mersey and the web page designers and up-daters for all the work they have
done on our behalf. You are the ones who keep us going and present us to the public. Great job!
May the Year 2000 bring you all the best.
......Sheila Chambers, President
| | 1998 | 1999 | ||
| Revenues | $ 17,604.54 | $ 19,313.02 | ||
| Expenses | $ 17,865.38 | $ 15,762.03 | ||
| Year-end balance | $ 9,781.34 | $ 13,332.33 |
......Mary Saul
Membership Report
324 Members - December 31, 1998
358 Members - December 31, 1999
......Arlene Bailey
Report of Office Administrator
Once again the past year has been a very busy and productive one, with more than 1000 visitors signing our register and using our research facilities for their family research. We were
very fortunate to have two very competent and ambitious young ladies in the persons of Karen
Rafuse and Trish Joyce. A large amount of correspondence was answered as well as updating our
data bases and indexing our records. Our inventory was brought up to date and printed out for
sale to researchers.
A new web site was created.
I feel we can look forward to another year of increased activity in the Office and hopefully we
will be able to acquire a grant for staffing, which will help to extend open office hours for looks
to be a very busy summer for the year 2000.
......Barbara B. Spindler
The SSGS held a number of program meetings and educational workshops with a variety of
themes for members and the general public.
In May 1999, a "Show and Tell" meeting was organized where members shared pictures and
family memorabilia, as well as some challenging family research problems.
During the month of July, two program/educational opportunities were held. Greta Himmelman
discussed her recently published book, "Skipper Gabe", which detailed the interesting life of her
father, Gabe Pentz.
On July 17th, an afternoon workshop was held with well known Terry Punch. It was well
attended, drawing people from Halifax and other surrounding areas.
In September, Ralph Getson narrated an excellent slide show on the History of Shipping on the
LaHave River.
The Society's 20th Anniversary was celebrated in October with guest speaker Dr. Ken Paulsen of
Massachusetts presenting the topic of Inheritance Patterns of the Early Foreign Protestant Settlers
with an emphasis on female inheritance.
In November the Society teamed up with the Town of Lunenburg to host a day long workshop on
the restoration and preservation of old cemeteries. Two excellent speakers, Deborah Trask and
Heather Lawson, provided a wealth of information to assist individuals and communities in the
care of their older cemeteries.
Suggested topics for educational sessions for the coming year consisted of Organizing Family
Reunions, Identification and Restoration of old photographs, and Dr. Malcolm Parks on the
History of Petite Riviere. These themes will be followed up in the coming year.
......Joan M. Parks
Janet Heisler, member of the SSGS, discovered the origin of the woodland trench she used to
play in as a child growing up in Northwest. It was something she had been around all her life so
it just looked normal. The trench runs through mostly forested land between Dares and
Canteloupe Lake.
Janet Heisler was doing genealogical research with the Progress Enterprise and discovered an
article from a 1922 issue. It mentioned a miller, Joseph Slauenwhite, who built a deep trench to
bring water to his mill in Northwest Range, the former name of what is now Northwest.
A second source, collected as part of the Langille family genealogy, speaks of Leopold Langille,
a carpenter and joiner, digging a canal to bring water to his house, best known as the Old
Canteloupe place.
While Janet is not sure which article to believe in regard to the trench's origin, she says it is clear
the structure dates back to at least the early 19th century.
Today, while overgrown, it still stands between 8 and 10 ft deep and is also clearly visible on
aerial photographs of the community where it runs over a small portion of the Town of
Lunenburg water reservoir before crossing into private property.
"To think what they must have gone through to build it," says Janet. Losing it would certainly be
a shame.
It was reported in The Halifax Chronicle Herald of March 27, 2000, that 70 stones were damaged at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Halifax. Each stone has to be individually assessed to determine the best method of restoration. Many of the 70 stones damaged might not be repaired. Family members are responsible for ensuring and paying for the maintenance of the stones. Some of the 23,000 graves in the cemetery date back to 1843. The cemetery attracts many tourists because it is next to the Roman Catholic church known as Our Lady of Sorrows, which was built in a day and is featured in several tourist guidebooks. The cemetery is also the resting place of Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, Canada's first Roman Catholic Prime Minister from 1892 to 1894.
A South Shore community was also victim of vandals. The Old Village Cemetery in Caledonia is
a sad looking sight after vandals knocked over 23 headstones.
Seven were seriously damaged when they hit the ground. Police said the destruction happened on
Friday, March 24, 2000.
The SSGS would like to offer condolences to the family of the late Greg DeMone who passed away April 10, 2000. Greg was the owner/operator of DeMone's Monuments Ltd. for 33 years. He was Atlantic Canada District Trustee for the Monument Builders of North America for three terms between 1994 and 2000. Greg was a founding member and Vice President of the Atlantic Canada Monument Builders Assoc.
The Myths of Census submission to the Expert Panel on Release of Historic Census Records,
prepared by Gordon A. Watts:
see the full text of this well researched submission at http://www/waynecook.com/census.html
"The support documentation contains, among other things, extracts from the Debates of the
House of Commons, and of the Senate in 1905 relating to The Census and Statistics Act (Chap.
5), and An Act to amend the Census and Statistics Act (Chap. 6). These two Acts, when taken
together along with a rearrangement of clauses, resulted in the Census and Statistics Act (Chap.
68) in the 1906 Revised Statutes of Canada. I was unable to find any debate in 1906, in either the
House of Commons or the Senate referring to either Census or Statistics. The support
documentation includes similar extracts of debates from 1918 relating to The Statistics Act
(Chap. 43). They include also a number of correspondences between myself and Statistics
Canada, the National Archives, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner Bruce Philips.
I have spent a considerable amount of time researching many aspects relating to Census,
including Proclamations and Orders in Council, publications of the Canada Gazette, all Statutes
relating to Census and Statistics, from CAP XXI - An Act respecting the First Census of Canada
(assented to 12th May 1870), up to the statutes of the present day, and Instructions to
Commissioners and Enumerators for nearly all of the Censuses that have taken place since 1871.
In doing this research I have formed a number of opinions and conclusions in which I hope
members of the Expert Panel will concur. I include these opinions and conclusions in the
attached submission.
...."I am certain that you will come to the conclusion that the release of Historic Census records,
as permitted by clauses in the Privacy Act, does not constitute an unwarranted intrusion into the
privacy of individuals. I am sure you will find also that the present position of Statistics Cnada,
and Privacy Commissioner Bruce Philips, does not represent a reasonable balance between
Access to Information and personal privacy. Total closure of Historic Census records does not
present any kind of balance.
An extensive First World War on-line database exists for personnel who volunteer or were drafted into the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force between1914 - 1918. In some cases the actual documents are available to view on screen:
(click on 'Online Research', then 'Canadian Expeditionary Force - First World War')
Note:
Post-First World War military records are available to next-of-kin from the National Archives in Ottawa subject to conditions laid out in the Privacy Act. Also potentially useful for the Second World War era is information in Merchant Navy Registry, Veterans Affairs Canada, PO Box 7700, Charlottetown PE C1A 8M9.
Burial information for casualties of war buried in military cemeteries is available through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Canadian Agency, 66 Slater Street Suite 1706, Ottawa ON K1A 0P4 - their website is at:
Smile
I climbed my family tree and found it wasn't worth the climb;
and so I scrambled down convinced it was a waste of time.
Some branches of my tree, I found, were rotten to the core;
and all the tree was full of sap, and hung with knots galore!
I used to brag of my kinfolk before I made the climb;
but the truth compels me not to tell of those not worth a dime!
I beg my friends who boast aloud of their ancestors great,
to climb their family tree and learn of those who weren't so straight.
I've learned what family trees are like; that's why I scrambled down.
They're much like 'tater vines because the best are underground!!
.....Submitted by Doug Joudrey
Suggestions for Programs
Please forward suggestions for a program SSGS meeting to Joan Parks:
email: jm.parks@ns.sympatico.ca
2525 Joseph St., Halifax NS B3L 3H3
Research Lines 2000
A number of members were inadvertently overlooked in the Research Lines and are included with this newletter. Please add them to your list.
Thank you to Sueann Mersey for typing and organizing this list.
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