Funeral Card Friday & Great Grandpa Ouellette

      This is the funeral Card for Great Grandpa Ouellette, that I have posted about before. Although I didn't get to go to the funeral, I was given the card by my mother. It is in french (obviously). It also list his predeceased wife (my Great Grandmother) Aldea (nee Gervais). He died at the age of 86 having been born on Dec. 25, 1900.  I am glad I knew him, and wish I could have known him better. Really wish I would have had the insight to ask about and record the family history he could have told me about.  Unfortunately I was still young and not into genealogical research yet.  I will always fondly think of him and 'Remember When....'

Treasure Chest Thursday - A Pocket Survey Devise of Grandpa Lafleur

    As the families genealogist and keeper of the family history, my mother handed down to me a few things from my grand parents.  I have family photo's that I have scanned and some even repaired (and redistributed to extended family). I also have documents, such as birth certificates and death certificates. I also have a pocket survey devise known as a Brunton's Pocket Transit. It was made by Wm. Ainsworth & Son's of Denver, Colorado. He was a painter by trade and also did other work in construction. Hence the Pocket Transit. I researched it a little on line and it is an interesting little devise. Wish I had my grand father here to explain how it worked. It does bring back thought's of him and the past family functions  though. I always Remember When...

Military Monday - GGrandpa Dennie's Recruitment Paper and Where it Lead Me *Updated Dec 12, 2016*

    This Discharge Certificate was in my grandmother's papers when she died. I found them with the family photo's she had. It is of her father William George Dennie. From this form however I was able to in later years go on line and find that his Particulars of Recruit, draft paper was available on the National Archives web site along with this page. Which I down loaded to round out my files more. As I have said earlier, family history tells us that he lied about his age to join and I have found him in the 1901 Canadian Census only months old at the time, which would confirm that the June 1899 birthday listed on this form is false.     *As I have already noted on these previous blogs I have since found proof that he was born in 1899 and that his mother was Maria Chappell and not Sarah Walker as I previously believed. Updated Dec 12, 2016 by the author of the blog - John Goodwin*

    While on line at the Archives I learned that you could also order the complete military record for the Soldiers listed. So within the year I had gotten a credit card and ordered the package. It arrived and in a large manila envelope and I was eager to open it. Inside was a number of documents; all about my Great Grandfather and his service. It contains records of service, pay and health. It is all very interesting, I even found info. on the ship he returned to Canada on and looked it up on line, finding a picture of it. Below is the copy of the record. I would encourage anyone who had a relative that served to look into obtaining a copy of the record for themselves.

The proceedings of discharge paper. It list the reason for discharge as "demobilization", the war was over. Confirmation stamped Nov. 5, 1919. at the top right it reads that he embarked at South Hampton on Nov. 8, 1919 aboard the R.M.S. Royal George. 

The picture reads at the bottom 'Conard "R.M.S. Royal George" at Avonmouth, Bristol.'

Form R122 above.

Casualty Form list him as Rank - 'Dapper' and qualified as a driver & Electrical Engineer.

Back portion of the Casualty Form above.

The Medical history Form of Great Grandpa Dennie. A physical description to round out the black & white photo's I have.

Dental form for Demobilization.

The Dental History Sheet.

    This is more then half the paperwork from the file. I will upload the rest of the file on another Military Monday coming soon. For now though this should be enough to help start the juices flowing and to 'Remember When...'

Remember When ... Christmas Morning...

    Well it is a 'Wonderful Christmas Morning' and I am writing this morning's blog from the sound booth of my Church (Banwell Community Church in Windsor, Ontario). I am here bright and early as I am every Sunday morning preparing the sanctuary and booth for the morning service. Friends of my Daughter and son have arrived to begin music practice for service. He on drums and she is fiddling with the piano, though her instrument of choice is her Violin. Kelsey is a gifted artist with the Violin and I love to hear her play.
    Anyway it is Christmas and I await the arrival of my 2 youngest children for the service. They spent the night at their grandparents in Essex with their mother. They are coming in for service and then I will drive them back out to spend the day with her. I will have them tomorrow for Boxing Day, as we go to my mother's place to celebrate our Christmas together, and my mother's birthday.
     I 'Remember When' I was a kid and morning's just always seemed a little bit magical. Waking up to a new day and the fresh wonders of it all. Weekends were even more so as you got up to watch cartoons on Saturday morning and old movie's on Sundays. They use to cycle through the old 'Abbot & Costello, Dagwood & Blondie, Shirely Temple, and other old cereal shows. But the most magical was Christmas morning. Waking up to presents under the tree and waiting, not knowing if it was to early to wake mom and dad or not. Then the excitement of them coming out and the mad dash to open gifts. Only to repeat the scene many times over the rest of the day or two at grandparents and other relatives homes. Of course the feast of food and many other goodies cannot be forgotten. Now the shoe is on the other foot more or less, and I enjoy the giving more so then the receiving. I love to see the faces of my children as they open and receive that certain something I know they will love to have.
    I imagine that is something of what the Lord feels about us. Waiting to see the expression on our faces as we come to the realization of who he is and our need for him. That first prayer or cry out to him, for that prayer of salvation. The budding new member to the eternal life in Christ. I don't know your life situation, but if you don't know God (and I hope you do); take a look into the truth of who he is. Open the Bible and let it speak to you through the Holy Spirit of God and or talk to someone you trust who is a Christian today. God would Love to meet with you anytime you are available.
     Whatever your situation, I pray you have a great Christmas day with family and friends. May the peace of God be with you and yours today. Love always in Christ my Lord.

SURNAME Saturday - "DENNIE"

    My fathers' mother was Elva Irene Dennie. She was born the eldest child (to Survive) to William George Dennie and Gladys Irene Forwell on August 27, 1923 in Dundas (Hamilton), Ontario.  The first child was a son William, who they conceived out of wedlock and then eloped to have. However he died at 3 days of age. they later remarried at St. James Anglican Church in Dundas. They had 5 daughters total and one son (Ordell - who's long form birth certificate I have posted earlier).  Great Grandpa Dennie I have also posted about previously. He enlisted at the age of 16 (although he said he was 18) in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces of WWI. Great Grandpa Dennie after the war got involved in promoting (Matchmaking) boxing in the Dundas area and kept a scrap book of newspaper clippings (15 pages) about them from 1930 - 32 roughly. My Great Aunt Gladys (Elva's sister) had possession of it and she made a copy of it for me. Since I never got to meet or know Great Grandpa personally, it was nice to have this to fill out the character of the man. The First page of the Scrapbook was an article by James Rice the coach of Columbia University Rowing crews. It is about the virtues of Boxing and the importance of them to the developing of young men, and his believe that boxing should be a compulsory course in Schools. I believe it must have struck a cord with my Great Grandpa since it is on the first page (I have included it here for you to read).  The articles progress through as Great Grandpa who is listed as a member of the Executive Council for the Hamilton Amateur Boxing Association in one article and then as the matchmaker for proceeding ones. As it progresses he gains respect as a matchmaker and is referred to with comments such as "Will Dennie, of the Pastime club, has promoted a joint show with the Wentworth regiment, and if his card is as good as the last one he put on there, the customers will not have any room to grumble.". The scrapbook has clippings about local boxers and some of the greats of his time ending with the announcement of Joe Louis resignation as the world's heavyweight boxing champion.
     All the pieces of information as I have gathered them, help fill out the picture of the man 'William George Dennie", and to help us all in the family to "Remember When..."

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories

    Christmas is a time to be with family. In my house it is also a time to remember the true reason for the season. Christ. As christian's we are thankful for the gift of Christ and the work he did for the Father. 

     As for family, since the divorce the kids spend Christmas day with their mother and then we get together for our Christmas with my mother on Boxing day. Boxing day is my mother's birthday. Her name is Noella Aldea Lafleur. She was named after her mothers parents (my great grand parents) Isreal Noel Ouellette and his wife Aldea Gervais. Isreal Noel was born on December 25, 1900 and Aldea on December 27, 1900.  They were great people. French Canadian's born and raised in the Nipissing region of Ontario. Not only did they live in the area all their lives but I found them in the Canadian Census of 1901 on the same page of the census. Aldea and one older sister were on the top of the page (the rest of the family on the previous page, the enumerator ran out of room and continued on the next page) and then two families down from  Aldea was the Ouellette family with Isreal as the youngest member. Born 2 days apart, they grew up, married and had numerous children together. I remember them fondly at Christmas and think of the good times I had as a kid visiting them at their home in Warren, Ontario. I suppose I am really lucky to have known so many of my great grand parents as I did, I know a lot of people don't get to know theirs. Including my brother who is nearly 10 years younger then I am and never got to meet them.  The first picture is of them taken on their property in the early 1970's and the one next to it is of me with them and their dog Lassie in the summer of 1970.  The next is of their tombstone in the Warren Cemetery. Lastly the Birth index with Isreal on line three.  

      In the winter/spring of 1986 I got to visit with Great Grandpa Noel at his new home (his son had a new house build on the land behind the original house/shack) in Warren. I got to sit and visit and play Cribbage with him. It one of the best memories I have. Just me and him and a crib board. I will always 'Remember When...'

 

Tuesdays Tip - Grads and Dads

    It was that time of year again. Graduations and Fathers Day all mixed together. My father had come down from North Bay where he retired to live with his wife Ivy. They came down for the week to attend my middle child (Miranda)'s Grade 8 Graduation ceremony. It was at the Fogular Furlan Club with a family dinner, then ceremony and then the kids stayed to have a dance afterward. It was a great evening for her. Her mother and her mothers mom & common-law husband where there. My Mother came and my Father with his wife, and my youngest Liam. The oldest Victoria couldn't make it as she was home studying for her exam the next morning. She  was Graduating High School the next Week. Grandpa and Grandma also came down to give her, her gift for graduating; however they couldn't stay for it, as they also had Grandma Ivy's grand daughter graduating the day after Victoria's Graduation, back up in North Bay. My Father had a stroke just over a year before, and while he was doing really good with the driving and recovery in general; it was a long drive for him. While he was here visiting with all of us, we went through some of the old photo's. I had photo's from when he was in school and newspaper clippings that my grandmother (his mother had kept). There were pictures of old freinds of his that he hasn't seen since the 1960's and so we didn't need to keep those and the clippings it turns out where friends of his mothers and nothing to do with our family. However it turned out that one picture was a freind of his that also stood in his original wedding to my mother and was paired in the wedding party with my mothers sister Florence. He was Walter W. and he and Florence it turns out became an item for a while. An item that produced my cousin Sherri. I hadn't known that. So I put together these photos and copied them to give to her. She is in contact with him having never known him until about the time she graduated High school I think.  I gave them to her this past summer when we where at our cousin Rob's wedding, as well as other pictures I had copied from distant cousins I re-met on Facebook. Her father was really happy to see the pictures too. It was his class picture and I had the names of most of the kids on the back of it. So three graduations in our family that month, a visit from my father (who I haven't seen since last fathers day) and finding my cousins father in my photo collection. It was quite the June. The Tip is, don't dismiss old photo's that you are sure are just old friends of the parents or grandparents. At least until you go through them with someone who knows the history of them first. In this case I would have thrown them out as not related or of consequence; when in fact this one was a branch that lead to my cousin. Checked and re-checked; saved!