Meet the Ancestors

“The past lives within the present and our ancestors breathe through our children”

Elif Safak

All of our ancestors are important and a part of us as well as our history. However, some stand out more than others and tend to come to mind when something related to them or the times they lived in are mentioned.

I have two family trees on Ancestry - one is my paternal and maternal roots the other that of the same for my husband.  Yes two trees and about 3,000 names plus; loads of errors and unproven facts. Being a visual person far too many ancestors to remember  each as they are hidden in records but as I mentioned some stand out for a part of their life, the time they lived through or just for who they were.

In an earlier blog post Who was George Drewie ? I introduced you to the man that was later known as Hugh Drury.  He was Richard’s 9^th Great Grandfather and an exciting find especially when I realized he came to the New World around the time the Mayflower pilgrims did.  Research found down the line of his descendants, John Drury married Ann Elizabeth Mitchell Richard’s 2^nd Great Grandparents.  Elizabeth’s roots have yet to be proven but seem to lead back to Experience Mitchell who did come on the Mayflower, his wife Jane Cooke came not long after that but her father Francis Cooke and one of her brothers did come on the Mayflower too. So my husband may have more than one Mayflower ancestor.

Back to John Drury and Ann Elizabeth Mitchell - their son Miles Huff Drury came from Wilton, Franklin Maine, where he was born,  to Montreal Quebec Canada somewhere around 1870 - Montreal is where this Canadian Drury line began and is now five generations  later and growing.

 http://www.cooganresearchgroup.com/familytree/coogan/migrations/griffintown/griftown.htm

Miles was a shoemaker and lived in what is known as Griffintown his shop was there also.  My father-in-law told me his family disowned his grandfather  for marrying a Catholic.  Miles died after falling and hitting his head on the  the stove my father-in-law also told me -  he was a young boy at the time and his grandfather was living with them, assume because his other sons were overseas fighting in WW I.

Griffintown is where many of the Irish settled too and that brings in another interesting piece of Richard’s history.

The woman Miles married, Catherine Callen, was the daughter of Irish immigrant’s, Michael Callen and Isabella Kennedy. They arrived in Montreal in 1849 towards the end of the Great Potato Famine and it said they were from the Letterkenny area of Ireland, both families  came over on  the same ship, the Londonderry,  which I found in a book at our local historical society.

 

Then through an on-line search found a document and in it under “Permanent Deadweight” learned more bit more. It was a list of those to be shipped to Canada and a brief account of why or how they would pay

- both families were on the list to be shipped to Canada although it took some detective work to figure out the Callen family. It gave me a better insight into them though.  Michael Callen was 18 and a tailor so had a trade when he arrived. Isabella was only 14 it said.

Meanwhile in Nouveau France, then Lower Canada and now Quebec, in the early 1600’s a quarter of my parental lines began and  before my 8^th Great Grandfather, Christophe Gerbeault dit Bellegarde, a soldier  arrived around 1661 (date seems to be confused). 

He married Marie Marguerite Lemaitre daughter of Francois Lemaitre and Judith Rigaud, my 8^th Great Grandparents. Francois Lemaitre arrived in Nouveau France in 1651, he too was a soldier.  Judith Rigaud is a very interesting ancestor, will share more about her later.

Going down through the years the Gerbeault dit Bellegarde line had some name changes and by the time my maternal grandmother was born it was Jarvo and they were living in Ontario, which was Upper Canada when my 3^rd Great Grandfather Pierre Gerbeau settled in the eastern part of Upper Canada However, the name became, is found as Jarveau, Jervo and Jarvo for some of the spellings found and different branches of the tree can be found as any one or all of them, a challenge to research for sure. 

 Pierre married Marguerite Riviere, possibly there is native blood in her history and their second son Alexandre married Margaret McMillan another very interesting woman in my roots and where my Scottish roots were found.   It is also in a round about way the name Jarvo surfaced. Their daughter Christine Jarvo married Frederick Ross they were the parents of my maternal grandmother  Viola Ida Ross. My Nanny as we called her, brought a lot of history to our tree yet she was not proud of it and most was buried for years until  a descendant dug it up.

Back to Judith Rigaud my 9^th Great Grandmother.  Her given name stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of French names and soon found, so did she :D

Many have heard of the King’s Daughters, (Le Filler de Roy), King Loiuse XIV of France  sent to Nouveau France between 1666-73 to marry soldiers.  Yet few have heard of the filles à marier

(marriageable woman) who arrive before that - Judith was a filles à marier.

She arrived around 1651 married Francois Lemaitre and two other men. Life was very difficult back then  and they had many children so when a spouse died or was killed another spouse was often found quickly not only for support but also for a man,  a mother for his young children.

Francois and his brother were not only soldiers but fur traders or rather voyagers it seems Judith got involved too and when François was killed she continued the business and possibly that is how Christophe Gerbeault dit Bellegarde who was also involved in the business , came to marry the daughter of  François and Judith , Marie Marguerite Lemaitre.

There is an interesting book on-line the ‘Duhaime Family History’ that has much more detail http://www.duhaime.org/DuhaimeFamilyHistory/Chapter3Iroquois.aspx

There is also a Pelican Girl in our roots via my maternal grandmother.  Also known as Casquette Girls.

A casquette girl, originally known as a fille à la cassette (girl with a cassette) but also known historically as a casket girl or a pelican girl, was one of the women brought from France to the French colonies of Louisiana to marry. The name derives from the small chests, known as casquettes, in which they carried their clothes.

Marie Gabrielle Savery married my 9^th Great-Uncle Jean Baptiste Saucier. They lived in Mobile and if there were any children have yet to find records.    The parents of Jean Baptist  were Claude Saucier and  Charlotte Clairet they are  my 9^th grandparents.

https://www.geni.com/projects/Filles-%25C3%25A0-la-cassette/436

The Sauicer name came into the family via 5^th Great grandparents Basile Gerbault Bellegarde   and     Marie Genevieve Saucier - Marie’s great grandparents were Claude Saucier and Charlotte Clairet (mentioned above)

Once again to understand the history of Nouveau Quebec and ancestors one must read about it, which I suggest for anyone that have British, French, Irish, Native roots or any others that developed early Canada.

 http://www.lookbackward.com/perrault/perr1/newfrance/

http://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/population/immigration/

A perfect example of this, is the next family,  one of the first 35 families to come to Nouveau France, stay and settle - Marin Bouchard and Périnne Mallet  my 10^th great-grandparents.

“The Bouchers were stonemasons and carpenters, skills which were valuable in the early colony. Because of some work done for Samuel de Champlain, the Founder of the colony, Marin Boucher was deeded Champlain's clothes in his will when he died. He was also a witness in a dispute over stolen property in which his relation Gaspard Boucher was the plaintiff.”   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Boucher

There is a plaque in Montmorency Park in Quebec City on the Louis    

Hébert monument with the names of the 35 families, (didn’t see it when we were there for of fiftieth but then again I didn’t know about these roots then).

The Bouchard names came into my roots in a round about way with other names such a Houle and Riviere along the route and surfaces as the mother-in law 

to a woman mentioned much earlier, Margaret McMillan my mother’s great grandmother - she by herself I found fascinating but the McMillans in general and the area they settled in,  is a whole book on it’s own.

Will share  her with you though.

 By the photo I have she looks like a very petite woman yet had ten children - a couple of them died when they were young.  She lived a hard life as the fourth eldest of 20 children that I have found.  Her father married at least three times, possibly four. She is the daughter of the second wife.  The census for the area they lived in are very confusing as they all had large families, with the same given and surnames , sometimes Gaelic was used or nicknames. What I did learn from the census though was her father seemed to have some money by their house and livestock. Peggy as the family called her, spoke Gaelic, French and English, although both she and her father were born in Canada her nationality is down as Scottish.  Before she married it seems she was the head of six living in the family  home, her father had passed away.  She and Alexandre were married for 62 years when he died - Peggy passed away 2 years later at the age of 85., a couple of days after my parents were married.

 

Alexandre Jalbeau, (yet another version of the surname),  and Margaret (Peggy)  McMillan my Great-great Grandparent’s 60 anniversary. Do not know who the children are.

Seven of their surviving children, my Great grandmother Ross is on left in front.

 

Some of the names that I found intriguing and know very little about are Mary Jane Payment my husband’s 4^th cousin 3 X removed and her husband Moses Jasmin. It stood out for me because of where she was born in Charlotteburg County  Stormont in Upper Canada around the same time as  Alexander McMillan father of Peggy McMillan, was born in the same area, thus  my husband and my ancestors possibly knew each other – that is the closest I’ve come to our roots mingling.    

http://www.glengarrycounty.com/mapct.html

A sad part of my roots, my Aunt Elsie Ivy Abbott, my mother’s sister died when she was 4 and a half. Apparently she was kicked in the tummy and died of peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum, typically caused by bacterial infection either via the blood or after rupture of an abdominal organ). She rests with her Abbott grandparents in Ontario. My mother was 9 at the time, old enough to understand.

Then there were the Bridge brothers, James and Joseph, my 5^th great uncles from my father’s roots. They were accused of passing a counterfeit 2 pound note – James was hung and Joseph shipped off the Australia for a hard life of labour. He raised a family then was sent to prison again, for crime he was acquitted of only days before his death, but too late to bring him back from the poor state of health he was in.  

http://www.footstepstowardsfreedom.com.au/history.html 

Before I finish this blog, cannot forget the young men in our roots that went off to WW I. There are other wars heroes too but they will have to wait for now.  In Richard’s tree two of his grand uncles, brothers, William James and Miles Henry Drury signed on and came home. There has been little found about them afterward. My Grand Uncle John Gould Harrison, brother of my paternal grandfather is the only one I know of in my father’s roots - have a photo of him in uniform.  He came back worked in the family nursery and inherited it with one his older brother.  There are also my maternal grandfather’s two brothers his eldest brother Walter Austin, he came home but I have not been able to trace him after the 50’s.  Granddad’s youngest brother Laurence Edgar Abbott or Lorry as his family called him, was killed August 15 1917 at Hill 70 near Lens France, he was only 20. His name is on the Vimy Memorial with many others, that have no grave site – Lorry’s body was never found in the quagmire of the battleground his temporary grave was.  Vimy Ridge happened shortly before the battle for Hill 70.  There is a page dedicated to him thanks to the 21sters (descendants, friends and family of the 21^st Battalion, Kingston, Ontario)

http://21stbattalion.ca/tributeac/abbott_le.html and at this page other places he can be found.     Honour Them http://honourthem.ca/masterDetail.cfm?ID=55206. That is what I plan to do on the anniversary of his death in 2017. Also have his photo hanging in our front hall with information about him so others can get to know him.

 

 

 

Greats uncles Laurence Edgar Abbott and John Gould Harrison – Can definitely see ‘Harrison- in John.

“Each time we plant a seed we become ancestors for the generations to come.”

Kenny Ausubel

Who was George Drewie?

    "I promise that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity reads of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us..."   Spencer W. Kimball 

   

George Franklin                      William Miles Franklin                               Richard Hector Francis

Who was George Drewie?  Let's find out 

George Drewie is better known to his descendants, as Hugh Drury. Richard Hector Francis Drury is a direct descendant of Hugh Drury.

When I first starting working on our trees I had very little to go on  Richard’s roots thus our sons and grandchildren as well - it seemed such an impossible task to create a tree.  At that time we had no idea his paternal line began in 1600’s in the United States. Yes there was some information about a Drury ancestor coming to Canada at some point but I had no dates and not sure there were names either, so much has happened since then it is difficult to remember the timeline of how Richard’s line came together.

However, found that as soon as I started to enter names into his parental line of the DRURY-PAIEMENT ARBRE on Ancestry, hints started popping up. On-line research found a great deal of information to help me fill in history and blanks or confirm facts – the stuff that makes genealogy fun and brings ancestors to life.

One of the helpful people I came across was Michael Drury of Boston Mass.,( he and Richard would be second cousins several times removed).  And it is he I have depended on for the correct facts or the ‘version’ I am willing to back until new information and resources come along. As you have likely figured out doing family genealogy is never ending and some information or facts may change so one needs to approach it with an open mind and be able to make changes when needed.

Let’s get started on Hugh Drury, Richard’s 9^th great grandfather.   To quote from Michael Drury who has been researching the Drury line for at least 15 years.

 "I am a descendant of George Drewrie, who was in fact Hugh Drury of Sudbury, MA and later Boston. I am interested in John Freeman (not related to Edmond) as he traveled with George and is found in Sudbury records with Hugh. Court records show that Hugh's birth date and George's overlap. It was the genealogist C.E. Banks (a Hugh Drury descendant) that stated George Drewrie is from East Grinstead, but now that birth records are available for the parish, it is clear he is not.”

This just gives you a small glimpse into the type of genealogy brick walls one comes up against and when researching thousands of names the brick walls and conflicting facts are numerous, promise me I have them in both the trees I am working on.

And again Michael Drury tries to clear up some misconceptions. Yet they go on and on…

From a post on genealogy.com

September 2009

Seeking parents of OBED DRURY born about 1585 London, Middlesex, England and died there about 1663.His wife is unknown but born to the marriage were at least two children: Lydia born abt 1618 and HUGH, carpenter born about 1616 or 1617. If you know anything about this DRURY family, I would very much like to hear from you. Ruth

Michael responded a week later.

Ruth

I have been researching the family of Hugh Drury of Boston for ten years. There is no solid proof that his father was named Obed. This is a family tradition found in the work of Edwin Drury who did extensive research on the family in the late 1800s.I have searched exhaustively for Hugh's roots but never found any hard evidence. My best guess at this time is that he was living in London near the Tower working as an apprentice carpenter for John Freeman, whose family came from Bocking.  Freeman was on the Abigail with George Drury in 1635 and with Hugh in Sudbury in 1640. Hugh and George are almost certainly the same person.

Hugh did not have a sister Lydia. Rather the Lydia mentioned in his will was a half-sister of his wife Lydia. After Lydia Rice Drury's mother Thomasine Frost Rice died, Edmund Rice remarried to the widow Mary Hurd Brigham and had two children, Lydia and Ruth. It was not uncommon for names to be used twice in the large families of New England in colonial times. By the time the second Lydia Rice was born, the older had married and was known as Lydia Drury. When Edmund died, his widow remarried to William Hunt of Concord. Her new family was immense containing some of her Brigham children, her two Rice girls, and several Hunts from William’s first wife. As Hugh and Lydia had only one son, John, and he was now of apprentice age working for his father, they "adopted" the younger Lydia Rice and raised her. After Hugh's wife died, he raised the younger Lydia until she married John Hawkins, grandson of the midwife/witch Jane Hawkins, Hugh's neighbor in Boston. In his will he refers to Lydia Rice Hawkins as his sister, as indeed she was his half-sister in law.

There is similar confusion about Hugh having only one child, John. This son died before Hugh, and his three children -- Thomas, Mary and John -- were raised by Hugh as his own children. Mary married William Alden the grandson of the Pilgrims, John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. John died at 23 of smallpox. All New England Drurys’ descend from Thomas and his wife Rachel Rice the daughter of Henry Rice and therefore niece of Lydia Rice Drury. Yes, Thomas married his grandmother’s niece who was only four years older than him.

One final area of common confusion in early Hugh genealogy is that his son John married Mary Weare, daughter of Peter Weare of Maine, not Mary Shrimpton. Hugh's second wife Mary Fletcher, the widow of Edward Fletcher, is mentioned as sister in the will of Henry Shrimpton and as aunt in documents from his son. This has led some to speculate that her maiden name was Shrimpton (unlikely) and led to confusion with John's wife also named Mary.

I have extensive records on Hugh's descendants. Please let me know which branch you are in."

I have contacted Michael a couple of times and shared Richard’s line with him after he confirmed that one of brick walls I had was indeed the way it had worked it out. However, Michael had lost track of Richard’s line once they crossed the border. He now has that line and it likely is time I once again will touch base with Michael.

Huge/George came to America on the pilgrim ship the Abigail in 1635. He was 19 at the time.

He boarded the ship as George Drewey or Drury depending on what resource is found. His given name was soon changed to Hugh in America and the surname can be found in many forms.

Hugh is the 'father' to most Eastern NA Drury descendants.

For now I will share a bit more information as well as the direct line from Hugh to Richard followed by some of the surnames found in Richard’s paternal roots from the early years.

 Hugh died July 21 1689 in Boston, Suffolk Massachusetts -  he, his first wife Lydia Rice and their son John are buried in the King’s Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.
 In the fall of 2013 we went to Boston and walked a good part of the Freedom Trail  and found the burial ground then the grave, which has been moved since the orginal burial.   We stopped to visit with Richard’s 9^th Great-grandparents, took some photos and left a small American flag on the badly damaged headstone. Through research I had come across a very old sketch of the grounds and where to look for the grave easily found because of the condition it is in now.   It was a very emotional experience for me to truly see with my own eyes what had only been on-line or paper till then

At this time my genealogy is more or least on hold as I am comfortable with what I have found out about our roots -  there is a lot to share however and that is the goal of blogging.

The Direct line from Hugh to Richard

Hugh Drury and Lydia Rice

John Drury and Mary Weare

Thomas Drury and Rachell Rice (niece to Lydia)

Caleb Drury and Elisabeth Eames

Caleb Drury and Mehitable Maynard

William Drury and Elizabeth Drury (this was where I got hung up)

John Drury and  Ann Elizabeth Mitchell

JOHN Mitchell Drury and Mary Fairlinda Huff

 * Myles Huff Drury and Catherine Callen

George Franklin Drury and Sarah E. Law (Collins)

**William Milles Frankly Drury and Marie Aline Alexandra Paiement

Richard Hector Francis   Drury and Cathern Agnes Harrison    

* The Drury that came to Canada and married the daughter of Irish immigrants – who came to Canada at the towards the end of the Potato Famine)

**How his baptism was registered

There is so much more to share and will over time bringing in other ancestors that come to Richard though marriages

Same of the other surnames found in the early years after Hugh are

Frost, Gooch, Gleason, Learned, Atwood, Perkins, McDaniels, Mitchell, Huff,  ***Kennedy

*** The other half of Richard’s Irish roots.

 One list found for the passengers on the Abigail and a great example of how confusing it can be doing research.                       http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/abigail1635.shtml

17 Junij, 1635

. Theis under written names are to be transported to New England, imbarqued in the Abigall, Robert Hackwell Mr. P'r Cert. From the minister and Justices of Peace of their Conformitie, being no Subsedy men. The have taken the oaths of Alleg: and Supremacy being all Husbandmen:

    Ralph Wallis 40     Ralph Roote 50      Jno. ffreeman 35   Walter Gutsall 34

   Richard Graves 23    Robert Mere 43    Samvell Mere 3   Edmund Maning 40

    Tho: Jones 40         Geo: Drewie 19      Wm Marshall 40   Thomas Knore 33

    John Holliock 28      George Wallis 15   Rebecca Price 14    Marie ffreeman 50

    Elizabeth Mere 30    Jo: ffreeman 9    Sycillie ffreeman 4     Jo: West 11

    Mary Moninges 30    Mary Monninges 9     Anna Monnings 6   Michelaliell Moninges 3

    Elizabeth Ellis 16    Ellis Jones 36      Isacke Jones 8   Hester Jones 6

    Tho: Jones 3     Sara Jones 3mo.    Cesara Covell 15    Joan Wall 19

    Wm Payne 15   Noel Knore 29   Sara Knore 7  Roberts Driver 8    John Mere 3mo.

………………………………………………

Richard roots through his mother go back to Nouveau France and the early to mid-1600’s, they too are extremely interesting and thanks to one of Richard’s second cousins for sharing what he had put together about that side his tree filled in quite quickly, that side too will be shared eventually. 

September 29 1907

  “I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free,

 and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. 

I was born where there were no enclosures,

and where everything drew a free breath."

the Great Comanche war chief, Ten Bears

Written by Cathern Agnes Harrison 

Updated in Oct 2015 and Nov 2016

Was created with imagination and some fiction mingled with facts

(Not the house in the story)

Wilfrid waited outside nervously pacing, for someone to let him know when it was time for him to enter the sod house. He and his wife Mary had only lived in this community for a few months and although folks were friendly and helpful they didn’t really have many people they could count on at times like this, because there just were not many folks around yet.  A kindly neighbor had come and taken young Nellie, their twenty month old daughter back to her home until it was safe to bring the toddler back to her parents.

Wilfrid didn’t like being beholden to anyone as they just didn’t have the resources to pay back good deeds yet but this was not a place for Nellie to be right now.

Wilfrid and his wife Mary, had given up everything in their homeland in the early spring of 1907, to start a new life in this country. It was hard work for two people that had not been prairie farmers back home. They had given up what seems to have been a privileged life to come to the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’, as the recruitment poster called Canada. 

Mary had worked back in England and Wales where she had been born  but it was not as back-breaking work  it was here and being heavy with baby made for very tiring days, on top of having to do everything needed to keep the family fed, clothed and clean as well as really for the upcoming Canadian Prairie winter. Wilfrid also needed her help with the heavy outside chores from time to time.  Plus there was young Jessie that need care as well.  All this with only the few tools and necessities they were able to bring with them in one trunk. And what they bought once they arrived at their destination.

 The trip to get here back in March had been long and difficult by boat, train and an ox drawn wagon. Mary suffered with seasickness on the ship and had been thrown onto the floor of the train when it derailed.  Nellie who had been in her mother’s arms, was found laying in the snow outside the train squalling but otherwise unharmed. They all took it in stride carrying on to their destination with hope.

 Mary however, was not a very strong person to have taken on the voyage let alone what was needed to set down roots here but she was managing, Wilfrid thought. 

The young family had survived their first half year.  What the winter they would soon be expecting, would bring was only to be guessed at he realized.

Wilfrid stopped pacing to listen did he heard what he was waiting outside for?  Yes there it was again, this time much stronger, a baby wailed as if to say “I have arrived!”

 Wilfrid didn’t wait to be called; he hurried into the sod house to Mary’s side to meet his second child.

Standing by the bed, he looked down on Mary and their baby son.

He was the first Harrison to be born in the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’.

 Dad (the young boy) at a neighbor’s house

http://www.danielfrancis.ca/books/selling-canada

A blizzard of posters and pamphlets, portraying the country as a land of milk and honey, persuaded immigrants in the millions to come to Canada’s sparsely populated West and become prairie farmers. What wasn’t mentioned were the sod houses, backbreaking labour, regular droughts and long, killing winters.

That baby, Joseph Henry Harrison, was my father and he was born in Saskatchewan, which had only become part of Canada two years before his birth.

 In 1905 the same year Saskatchewan joined Canada, Wilfrid and Mary were married in England.

 They were lured to Canada by the promises and glory that they could forge their way in a young, vast Saskatchewan.  After plans were made to leave England behind and passage was booked, Mary discovered she was pregnant with their second child.

Before the family moved to Quebec in 1924 five more children were born. The reason the family moved had much to do with losing three years of crops due to windstorms and drought.

Dad remembered his parents being broken heart, tears streaking down his mother’s face as they watched their crops being destroyed by dust and wind for the third time.

During WW I the constant need for grain had destroyed the prairie eco-cultural system  Prairie plants have a very deep root system that holds the soil together, the grain crops had destroyed that so to speak then when cattle and horse were left to roam at will after the war, the soil could not hold up to the abuse.

Dad said his mother was never meant to be a farmer’s wife that she was a lady. AND my grandfather joked about the Land of Milk and Honey where you had to milk the cows to get the milk and fight the bees for their honey…

Today (September 29, 2007), Dad would have been 100.

He died in May 2000 at the age of 92, at the time;

he was the eldest, longest surviving member of the Harrison Clan.

Seventy-five plus members or so have been added to the Mary and Wilfred Harrison Family Tree since they immigrated to this great land of Canada one hundred years ago.

Wilfrid Harrison 30 June 1880 – 7 November 1948

Mary Agnes Morris  21 or 22 November 1880 –   November 21 1971

My Grandparents were married in Bolton Lancashire England 8 March 1905

 Mary Agnes was working nearby as a domestic servant at the Parsonage Nursery in Horwich Lancashire.

The Nursery was owned by the Harrison Family and Wilfrid was a Green Grocer, his father James a Nurseryman.

Grandad is standing behind his father, James.                                                     

 

the Parsonage the Harrison home

Cannot imagine going from this to a sod house. I am extremely grateful to my grandparents for having done that and coming to make a life for all of us in the best country in the world.

Google overhead of the building of the Parsonage Nursery Green grocers a kind person that lives near by sent me after I inquired on Ancestry if anyone could tell me more about the family and the business. The woman went for a walk in the area and spoke to a man that told him is must have been quite a business as he was always digging up pieces of pots in his yard. The buildings are still there but the business is long gone - have tried to trace some of the family but it is one of the brick walls I have yet  to get over. With a common name like HARRISON, it is not an easy task to search records and be sure to have the right people 

Children of Wilfrid and Mary Agnes

Nellie 1906-1990                              Joseph Henry 1907 – 2000            Jessie 1909 - 2005

Jack (John) 1911 – 1983                  Agnes 1914 – 1942                       Edith May 1916 - 2012

Elizabeth Mary1921 –        * two youngest are not in the photo

 In 1924 the family moved from the Kamsack area northeast of Yorkton Saskatchewan, to Ste Anne de Bellevue Quebec.  My grandfather worked at Macdonald College and the children attended Macdonald School where some of the fourth generation children are going to high school now.  Dad and his brother Jack both ended working at the collage too.

Eventually the family spread out around Canada and the States, Dad being the only one to stay in Quebec, it is his great-grandchildren that are now going to the school he attended when the family first arriving in Quebec ninty-two years ago.
The college, school and Ste Anne de Bellevue the town they are in has been in and out of my life now for  over sixty year.


Found at
 https://www.mcgill.ca/about/history/features/macdonald-college