LCGS News

Submitted by Brenda Krauter

I recently purchased a Cemetery Transcription publication originally produced in 1989.

I have noticed that there seems to be a general feeling that cemetery transcription publications are now more or less obsolete since the advent of the internet and more and more cemeteries and tombstone photos being available online.

While I agree that being able to view the cemetery information and tombstone photos online is a wonderful asset for research, there are also drawbacks which make the “old fashioned paper” cemetery transcription publications invaluable.  Numerous tombstone photos online are difficult to read as the tombstones have eroded over time and many cemeteries have unfortunately been subjected to vandalism.  As well, it is almost impossible to tell from the online tombstone photos if the tombstones are part of a family plot. 

A large number of cemetery transcription publications were produced many years ago when the tombstones were still very readable and the information was usually compiled according to cemetery plot numbers, making identification of family plots an easier task for research.  Also, I have noticed that some of the cemetery transcription publications also identify plots (and occupants) where no tombstone exists.  Unmarked graves are usually not identified with online cemetery information.  A photo of a tombstone that does not exist cannot be included with photos of the tombstones that do exist.

The fact that most cemetery transcription publications were produced many years ago is a bonus to research, not a negative, as most people doing genealogy research are not looking for recent graves.

Contrary to what the media would have us believe, all the information genealogists seek in doing research is not available online; a lot of information is still only available on paper and microfilm, leaving genealogy enthusiasts with still many avenues to explore.

It was in the 1750s that a group of sailing Spaniards returned back home to Europe, bringing with them a delicious tuber plant from South America. The tuber we know as a “potato” eventually reached Norway in the mid-18th century and became a regular part of Norse cuisine.  Before the arrival of potatoes (1750s) communities had problems with crop failures, occasional famines and hard times.

All was well for a few decades and then things changed. Once again “Hard times” took its toll on Ireland. Cased by fungus-like organism blight spreading rapidly amongst the potato farmers, The Great Famine also known as the Potato Famine or the Great Hunger, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1849. The worst year of the period was 1847, known as “Black ’47”. The most severely affected areas in the west and south of Ireland.

Before it ended in 1852, the Potato Famine resulted in the death of roughly one million Irish from starvation and related causes, with at least another million forced to leave their homeland as refugees. Between 1845 and 1855, at least 2.1 million people left Ireland, primarily on packet ships but also steamboats and barque sailing vessel —one of the greatest exoduses from a single island in history.

The famine was a defining moment in the history of Ireland. Its effects permanently changed the island’s demographic, political, and cultural landscape, producing an estimated two million refugees and spurring a century-long population decline.

At the height of the Famine the English were shipping as many Irish as they could to Australia or Canada, with most going to Canada. Because they were considered social refuse and traveling at government expense, the Famine Irish often came over in conditions worse than those experienced by blacks transported to America as slaves; blacks, at least, were worth money. The destitute Irish were a financial burden to the English as long as they were on their land. Their objective was to be rid of them; it didn’t really matter if they arrived in Canada dead or alive. The 6,000 Irish buried on Grosse Ile near Quebec City is testament to that.

While many Irish-American families are descendants of Famine survivors, Are you a descendant of Famine emigrants?

Irish surnames Lanark County « arlene stafford wilson (wordpress.com)

https://irishfaminestories.ca/en/remembering_family_stories#ottawa_valley_legacies

Irish immigrants to Lanark County « arlene stafford wilson (wordpress.com)

Chapter Three: Bathurst Township, Lanark County, Ontario | McInerny Genealogy (wordpress.com)

The hamlet of Althorpe officially came into existence when a post office was established in 1877 in the home of A. H. Norris. The post office and store served the farmers around Farren Lake, who were subsistent and added food to their kitchen table from their fishing and hunting abilities, and from their gardens, and the wild edibles in season.

As the hamlet progressed, Althorpe was served by a cheese factory, which does not exist anymore. We know that education became important to families through the existence of four other one-room schoolhouses in the area, at various times. The history of the Tysick School probably starts in 1916; as that is the date of our earliest administrative record when we see Ida & R.W. Tysick deeding a part of the lot to the School Board’.

Nicholas Lennon built the school, and as you can see here on the right, he has signed one of the planks in the building. He wrote: Nicholas Lennon, November 30^th, 1916.

This may have been the day he installed that board or the date he finished the schoolhouse.^{1, 2}

This next picture is what the schoolhouse looks like today.³

The following article appeared in the Perth Courier dated September 23, 1921: “The trustees of S. S. No. 6 have lately invested in a new flagpole, thirty feet high, and a flag which makes quite an additional improvement to the appearance of the schoolyard. Mr. R. Tysick who erected the flagpole has also been given the contract for the building of a new woodshed this fall, all of which is progress for No. 6.”  Mrs. Horrocks was the teacher.

Since local schools were sometimes the only public building in the area, they were used for more than just education.  On November 28, 1921, the Honourable J. A. Stewart was holding a public meeting at this schoolhouse. It appears he was campaigning for an election that would occur the following week. His advertisement reads “A cordial invitation is extended to every elector including the ladies. God save the King. ⁴

In 1922 the school class consisted of seven children from three different families: Tysick, Fournier, and Dowdell. The teacher was Mrs. Horrocks.

The summer of 1922 saw the cleaning of the schoolhouse and its woodshed which included a coat of paint; the work completed by Mr. S. Renaud. Mrs. Horricks passed her examination in an agricultural course that she took during the summer, and returned to this school with new aspirations.  School resumed on September 15.^{. 5}

The school was suspended during week 2 March in 1923 because poor Mrs. Horrocks slipped and fell on the schoolhouse steps and sprained her ankle. Luckily, the steps were of wood.  Had they been of stone on cement, she may have hurt herself further. However, a railing might have broken her fall! W.F. Michell was the school inspector for the County, and building inspectors for townships were not popular until later on⁶ Right: A blurry picture of Mrs. Horrocks.

In 1953 the school had children from only four families in attendance: Tysick’s, Fournier’s, Noonan’s, and Norris. The teacher was Betty Miller. In this picture, you can see the Tysick barn in the background.⁷

The school was no longer used as a school beginning in 1956.⁸   It remained in the possession of the School Board until 1968 when it was sold to Joseph Thomson.

Nov 10, 2020 – Presentation Day – In this photo, we see the present owners Mr. & Mrs. Crawford holding their Tay Valley Heritage Properties plaque and certificate.

The Crawfords are eager to preserve our cultural heritage.  Photo by David Zimmerly.

Writer of this article: Karen Prytula

Source
1 Photo by Randy & Tammy Crawford
2 David Taylor research, land abstract
3. Google Maps
4, 5, 6 Perth Courier
7, 8 South Sherbrook School Book

© Lanark County Genealogical Society 2022

During Beckwith Heritage Day on June 8th, 2019, a special and exciting event took place. Beckwith Township now has a replica of a Lanark County One-Room Schoolhouse.

Robert McDonald, a well-known photographer from Carleton Place followed this heritage event throughout the various stages of construction.  LCGS opens our video highlighting this event with two of Robert’s photos that capture the schoolhouse in various stages of construction.

A special thank you to our President, for producing this video of memories.

Brent Eades, created the first version of what is now the Almonte.com site back in 1995, a time when few people had home Internet.
One of the most popular parts of the site – going back over 20 years now – has been the ‘historic photo archive’.
Now numbering over 700 these photos of Almonte and the area start in the mid 19th century and were collected over years by Michael Dunn. They make up a visual history that few towns our size can boast, and I find them endlessly fascinating.

The Millstone is a community newspaper for the Municipality of Mississippi Mills

https://millstonenews.com
The Millstone is a volunteer-run newspaper for the Mississippi Mills area. Publisher: Edith Cody-Rice; Proprietors: Edith Cody-Rice, Brent Eades shares a number of genealogy and history research resources.

Shared by the Millstone News, 2022, for genealogists and historians alike.

Comba-Family-1914-1918

Soldiers sitting and standing

When many of us older folk went to school, we began to learn cursive writing in Grade 3. Every day we learned a newly written letter of the alphabet and then we practiced combinations of letters to improve this skill. The teacher wrote many assignments on the blackboard and we knew how to read cursive writing and copy our notes into our scribblers. The local fairs had printing and writing competitions for the best handwriting of a poem.

Those who attended teacher’s college in the 1950s were expected to complete assignments in large printing, small printing and in cursive writing for our English master. We had to obtain 5/5 for three weeks in a row or continue to practice until our instructor was satisfied.

The sentence that was used was:

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” See sample

I never received more than 4/5 for my cursive writing as my instructor did not like the way I wrote – “br”.

This sentence contains all the letters of the alphabet and for cursive writing it contains some of the more difficult joining combinations such as “qu”, “br”, “ox” , “ov” and “zy”.

As a teacher, I had to learn to write on the blackboard and make sure our lines of writing were straight across the board. We often spent many hours lining all our blackboards with straight lines done with white pencil crayons.

A scientific study reported in “Frontiers in Psychology (Dec. 2020) looked at brain scans of young adults and 12-year-olds and found that cursive writing and drawing used brain areas that ”provide the brain with optimal conditions for learning”. This was not found when the subjects were typing. Other research studies have shown that cursive writing stimulates the brain. It encourages left to right movement, helps build neural pathways and increases mental effectiveness. This skill development aids the left to right progression needed for reading and fine motor skills. These are all important skills for children to learn. (New American Cursive, Iris Hatfield, 2007-2011, Memoria Press)

I taught my grandchildren to do cursive writing. When the company that my granddaughter was working for discovered her beautiful cursive writing, they paid her to sign and address over 300 Christmas cards. Both grandchildren have the ability to read old documents in cursive writing.

We have copies of several letters that were exchanged between John Gemmill (1774 – 1847) and Ann Weir (1781-1848) who settled on Lot 13, Concession 8, Lanark Township, Lanark County. These letters are dated from 1822 to 1832.

Here’s a sample of a letter John sent to his wife, who was still in Scotland, giving her instructions as to what to bring and telling her to get signed up with an immigration society.

Our family also has several original letters written to James S. Paterson (1793-1866) and his wife Mary Dumbreck Morrison (1794 – 1879) who emigrated from Scotland to Ramsay Township, Lanark County in 1821. Some of the letters were sent from Scotland and others originated from other places in Canada.

Note: Copies of these Gemmill letters and their transcriptions have been donated to the Middleville Museum. Copies of the Paterson letters and their transcriptions will soon be donated to the North Lanark Museum.

Will individuals of the next generation be able to transcript these old documents or will they have to hire someone else to do this work?

:: submitted by Frances Cooper