 Home | Cemeteries | Did You Know? | Find Us | For Sale |
| Holdings | Links | Membership | Monuments | Newsletter |
| Open Hours | Places of worship | Research Lines | Where is This? | Who is This? |
November 1999
The regular meeting will be held on November 15, 1999 in the Society Room of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic at 7:30 PM.
The SSGS office is CLOSED in December.
Membership at SSGS is due December 31, for the year 2000. Please complete the membership form enclosed with your newsletter or go to the Membership Form, print it out and complete. Please indicate your research lines, even though you may have previously included them. Include you email address if you have one.
Single $15.00 - Family $20.00
Workshop to be held at the Lunenburg Fire Hall, 25 Medway Street, Lunenburg, on Friday, November 5, 1999 - 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
This is a "20th Anniversary Project of the South Shore Genealogical Society" and sponsored by the Town of Lunenburg and the NS Department of Tourism & Cultue.
Schedule:
9:00-9:15 Registration & refreshments
9:15-9:30 Welcome & Introductions
9:30-10:55 Deborah Trask
-Principles & Practice
-Cemeteries Protection Act
10:55-11:05 Intermission
11:05-12:00 Workshop continued
12:00-1:30 Lunch on your own
1:30-4:00 Break off to Hillcrest Cemetery for on-site demonstration & instruction by Heather Lawson & Deborah Trask
Deborah Trask has been on the curatorial staff of the NS Museum since 1972. She is now Curator of Buildings, Museum Services. In this capacity she supervises the operations at sites of the Nova Scotia Museum and the Department of Tourism & Culture. Her study of gravestone art has lead her to her current concern for gravestone preservation.
Deborah is the heritage advisor to the Old Burying Ground Foundation of Halifax, and worked with the members on the restoration of the former St. Paul's Cemetery. She is also heritage advisor to the WB Wells Foundation of Cumberland Co. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the international Association for Gravestone Studies from 1981 to 1993 and editor of their Newsletter (1983 - 1993).
Heather Lawson completed a four year apprenticeship with a company from Britain and has become a Certified Restoration Stone Mason. She has worked for Province House and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia stone restoration projects. Heather has recently done gravestone restoration works for Parks Canada at the Garrison Burying Ground at Fort Ann, Annapolis Royal, and is currently working on the restoration of the old section of Robie Street Cemetery in Truro. She brings with her a wealth of training and experience in gravestone restoration.
R.S.V.P.
Sheila Chambers - SSGS
(902) 634-4794 (Ext. 26)
or
E. Patricia MacDonald, Heritage Project
Town of Lunenburg
(902) 634-4410 or
Fax (902) 634-4416
Email: epmacdonald@auracom.com
....continued from May/July
-Surname Index Census 1871, Hfx. Co., by Pat Smith
-St. Lukes Lutheran Church Records, Births/Marriages/Burials
-Records from Dana L. Sweeney Funeral Home, 1979/80, 1981-1985
-The Wamboldt Family by Linda Rafuse
-Consolidated Index of Lun. Co. Probated Wills 1770-1996 by Chris Young
-Consolidated Index of Family Names 1770-1996 by Chris Young
-Settlement & Ethnicity in Lunenburg NS 1753-1800 by Kenneth Paulsen
-Petite Riviere Methodist Church Statements (1902-1910, 1912) submitted by Greta Himmelman
-LaHave United Church Annual Reports 1944-49, 1953, 1955, 1965 submitted by Greta Himmelman
-Desc. of Ulrich Hubley of NS (2 Vol) by Robert Crouthers
-Wentzell Family Material, R. Martin
-Index of Heads of Households by Chris Young
-A History & General Info of the South Shore Langilles by D. Maxine & L. Langille
-Harlow Family, Gen. Comm. of Harlow Assoc.
....Allen Marble, Halifax NS
Was your ancestor sold at a public auction of paupers?
From my discusioons with several people lately, I have concluded that very few seem to be aware of the fact that prior to the establishment of Poor Houses in the various Counties of Nova Scotia in the early 1880s, paupers outside of Halifax were either sold at auction each year or cared for under private contract. Returns provided by the Overseers of the Poor in 47 townships, describing how their poor had been cared for in 1851, appeared in RG-25 Series C, Vol. 3. These were used to prepare an abstract of returns of Paupers and published as Appendix 34 in the Journal of the Assembly for 1852. Every county outside of Halifax was represented in the returns except Pictou and no explanation was given regarding why Pictou returns were not submitted. Eleven of the 47 townships indicated in their returns that they did not have any paupers to support during 1851.
For the 36 Townships which did support paupers that year, a total of 521 paupers were enumerated; however, only 467 are listed by name and age in the returns including 220 males and 247 females. An additional 52 paupers were given anonymously in that some returns were limited to numbers rather than names. Not all of the returns indicated how paupers were 'disposed of'; however, nineteen of the Townships indicated that their paupers were sold to the lowest bidder and the person who made the lowest bid was paid by the Overseers of the Poor to provide food, clothing and lodging for that pauper for one year. The Overseers obtained their money from the Court of General Sessions for the County which raised money to support paupers by assessing and collecting poor rates from the residents of the County.
In addition to the paupers names, the returns gave the names of the those who successfully bid on the paupers or who had entered into a contract to care for a pauper or group of paupers.
For instance, James Delap in Granville bid on 25 paupers and cared for all of them in what could be described as his own private poor house. Likewise, Alexander Buchanan housed 17 paupers at Horton in 1851. Benjamin Cole in Liverpool appears, from the returns for Queens County, to have contracted for 17 paupers including eight 'bastard' children, and then, in turn, boarded most of these paupers with other residents. The amount paid by the Overseers of the Poor to have a pauper cared for during 1851 varied greatly throughout the province, from a low of £ 3.1 in Wilmot Township, Guysborough Co. to a high of £ 14.3 in Yarmouth County, and the provincial average was £ 9 (approximately $36). There is no obvious reason for this large difference.
The following surnames have been taken from the returns but only represent a random sample of the total of 467 paupers' names submitted by the 36 townships. The surnames are: Archibald, Aulenbach, Baker, Beals, Bent, Beveridge, Blair, Cain, Chambers, Colewell, Cook, Craig, Davison, Dodge, Ellis, Ferguson, Foster, Freeman, Frost, Gaskill, Grant, Griffiths, Harris, Higgins, Hudson, Hyde, Hysler, Jenkins, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerby, Langille, Langley, Long, Loomer, Mahoney, Meldrum, Messenger, Mitchell, Moddy, Morrison, McKay, McNeil, McPherson, Newcomb, Nickerson, Parker, Patterson, Prince, Purdy, Ritchie, Rogers, Ruggles, Ryan, Shepherd, Silver, Solomon, Spidle, Stevens, Turple, Wagstaff, Wall, Walsh, Weagle, Wilson and Wright.
There are other names of paupers in the returns as well as the names of many residents who successfully bid for paupers. If you wish to know if your ancestor supplemented his income by keeping paupers, consult RG-25, Series C, Vol. 3.
....continued from September Newsletter
The list of unmarked graves on Tancook Island is not completed as yet. If you have any information on unmarked graves on Tancook Island, please contact Martha Farrar: Her email is marthaf1@netcom.ca
.... By Terrence M. Punch, CG(c)
Angus Baxter, In Search of Your British & Irish Roots, 4th ed.
Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc.,
1001 N. Calvert St., Baltiomore MD 21202
$18.95 + #3.50 Ppd. (US)
Paperback, 320 pp. (ISBN 0-8063-1611-X)
This is much the book I reviewed in its first edition in 1982. As with any writer of guidebooks, Baxter refines, updates and rearranges his material. What is good has been retained. Topics include starting a genealogy, search abroad, adoptions, LDS & Jewish records, five chapters on England and Wales, one apiece on Ireland, Scotland and the lesser isles. Baxter concludes with chapters about preparing a family history and he refers to the genealogical odyssey as being endless.
Baxter writes mainly for the person with little previous research experience. Since many read only one guidebook, an author is obliged to cover all the bases, which cannot be helped if one tries to survey a broad subject within an affordable book.
Baxter's general text serves to introduce each Welsh and English county and identifies its societies, the holdings of the several record offices etc. Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are handled on the nation-wide basis.
The personal touches offer to taste the rewards awaiting the persistent researcher. Baxter's tale of the beam with "JB and ID 1539" carved around a heart is romantic.
As you progress, you may want Herber, Rowlands and Grenham's detailed guides, but the basic family historian may rely on Baxter's work as his primer.
....Bridgewater Bulletin Feb 6, 1917
The following letter has been received from Pte. R. H. Whynacht of Vogler's Cove.
Somewhere in France
December 26, 1916
Dear Father - Just a few lines in answer to your kind and welcome letter.
Yesterday was Christmas. I hope you had an enjoyable one. I know that I enjoyed mine as well as ever I did but in a very funny way and I am going to tell you just how the boys celebrated Christmas. In the morning about ten o'clock some of the boys happened to look out of the trench and saw the Germans standing on the top of their parapet - that is the top of the trench which is built of sandbags, which forms a wall along the trench - waving their hands for us to come over. When we saw them we got on top of our trench and waved our hands for them to come over to us. They would not come, then we got down and started to walk over to them, and when they saw us coming they got down from the parapet and came to meet us. They came right up and shook hands with us. You could see them about a mile along the line, both our boys and the Germans shaking hands with each other. There was an officer and some of his men came right over to our trench. They had cigarettes and cigars. The officer could speak good English and so could some of the men. The officer gave our boys a German paper and it said in the paper that the war would be over by the middle of January. It looked funny to me to see anything like that. Tell mother I received her letter but will write later. I sent her a Christmas present quite a few weeks ago. I suppose she has received it by this tiime, if nothing has happened to it. I suppose Kenneth and Clifford are busy lobster fishing.
Well, father, I will bring my short letter to a close by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I still remain,
Your loving son, Ray
....submitted by Rosemary Rafuse
Congratulations to Sueann Bailey, our Computer Information Manager. On October 16, 1999, Sueann and Wayne Mersey were joined in marriage. Best wishes on behalf of the members of SSGS.
Planters Studies Centre
Once again a SPECIAL THANK YOU to all of the 'Office Sitters' at the SSGS enabling the office to be open daily until October 15th.
A special "thank you" to Richard Archambault for running off the labels. Your Editor's computer monitor quit.
Can you say tonight in parting
When the day that's slipping past
That you helped a single person
Of the many you have passed?
Is a single life rejoicing
Over what you did or said?
Does one whose hopes were fading,
Now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day - or lose it -
Was it well or poorly spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness -
Or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in Slumber,
Do you think that you can say:
"I have made the world much better
For the life I've touched today."
....contributed by Muriel M. Davidson
September 1999 Newsletter
Page 2, Lun-Queens Deaths
Notes from Terry Punch: "If my memory serves me, the last entry refers to a child of the Traunweiser, who accidentally shot a man named MacDonald at or near the Ovens 1862/63."
Keep up to date on the campaign.
http://www.globalgenealogy.com/census/index.htm