Cathern's Canada 150 Family Roots Project

My Canada 150 tulips or a look alike :D

Introduction

June 2017

This year there has been a need within me to do something special for Canada during the 150th anniversary of Confederation - yet nothing I thought of appealed until I realized one morning I am sitting on  one of the best gifts I can give to not Canada as much as our descendants, and that  is what is behind  Cathern's Canada 150 Family Roots Project. 

Our wedding August 22 1964

Since 2006 I have been a member of Ancestry on and off  with the goal of building our family trees. However my need to learn more about my roots began before that - not sure when other than asking my mother to give me a gift for my birthday of her life stories somewhere around 1992.  She jokingly asked, “Why do you think I’m going to die?” that made me back off for a while, but then gave it an honest try to get her stories.  Sat down and asked her questions while I wrote out what she said ,that approach loses something in the method. Next tried a tape recorder, (also taped my father and father-in-law), then life took over and it was put aside. 

 Mom passed away in October 1994. I only had little bits and some records that came to us after the death of our parents. There was a tree an aunt had started, a little journal my maternal grandmother had kept  for about 56 years and my memory,  it was enough for a good start on trees. Ancestry was the greatest resource of all. Between our two trees there are now about 3,000 names many never known about of course.  

Having dates and names was not enough for me. I want to know something about our ancestors so go beyond what records and facts tell and look into a person, the history of the time and search other trees and/or the internet  for more about individuals, a time they lived in or why some facts seem to stand out. In other words I wanted to bring life back to them.

While doing research I have met several people that are related to us or also interested in an ancestor in one of our trees. Most are very giving and share photos trees etc. which adds to the joy of being an amateur genealogist. There are also those that are willing to help a person out even if there is no connection via roots or interest. I am very grateful for all the contacts and help. 

 A photo an unknown second cousin shared with me. It is of my Great-Great Grandparents Alexandre Jarveau and Margaret McMillan, parents of Great-Grandmother Christrine Jarvo (different spelling of surname)taken at their 60th wedding anniversary in 1930.

A very kind women that lived in the same area of what was once Lostock Lancashire, sent this Google overhead shot to me, She pinned the buildings of what was once the Parsonage Nursery and Green Grocers Harrison Family business.
 My paternal grandparents Mary Agnes Morris and Wilfrid Harrison were working and living there when they moved to Canada in 1907.
The kind woman also went for a walk in the area and spoke to a man outside working in his yard who told her the nursery must have been quiet a business as he was always digging up bits of clay pots and other gardening material.

Have quite a stash of records, stories, photos that will waste away if they are not shared with the hope someone will eventually pick up the reigns where I leave off as genealogy is never completed - there are always changes, new addition and stories to be added.  However,  that is what is behind the Cathern's Canada 150 Family Roots Project.

It is time to get my act together and start publishing some of what I have worked on. The goal is to have at least one book done by the end of 2017.   In the meantime will also post blogs as the project develops to share with anyone interested but it will also be a method of proof reading before publishing...

As I said there are about 3,000 names in our two trees too many to do in one book if at all thus  I decided to aim at the three  previous generations before my husband and me. That's a total of 28 people give or take.  

Following is the beginning of the project.

Previous three generations before

Cathern Agnes Harrison 

Parents

Joseph Henry Harrison and Mabel Amelia Abbott

Paternal Grandparents

Wilfrid Harrison and Mary Agnes Morris

Maternal Grandparents

Edward George Songhurst Abbott and Ida Viola Ross

Great Grandparents:

Parents of Wilfred:

James Harrison and Elizabeth Gould

Parents of Mary Agnes:

Unknown father - Sarah Morris

Parents of Edward George Songhurst:

Austin Abbott and Emily Amelia Songhurst

Parents of Viola Ida:

                                      Fredrick Alfred Ross and Christina Ann Jarvo

     ---------------------------------------------------

Previous three generations before

Richard Hector Francis Drury

Parents

William Myles FranklinDrury and Aline Alexandra Paiement

Paternal Grandparents

George FranklinDrury and Sarah Collins (Law)

Maternal Grandparents

Joseph Hector Paiement and Appolline Eugenie Zadra

Great Grandparents

Parents of George Franklin Drury

Miles Huff Drury and Catherine Callan

Parents of Sarah Elizabeth

Unknown Father - Bessie Elizabeth Law

Parents of Joseph

Joseph Lucien Albert Payment and

Marguerite Adeline Hébert dit Larose

Parents of Appolline

Jean B Zadra and Marie Boguet

Post One of Sharing Sundays

 “I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”
  John G Diefenbaker 

Merging Roots may seem like the "wrong" blog to post to facts about Canada in - however,  I choose it because between my husband's  and my roots they all came from other counties to settle in Canada so what better place to post than the blog that shares their lives.

Every four weeks I am going to try to share my 150th project in a blog  the facts about Canada I have shared on Sundays with my Facebook friends and Family.

Sharing Sundays - Plan to share7 interesting facts about Canada and 1 of our National Parks  NOT sure if all of the facts are true… but many of them are new to me as well.

 

 Some of the facts and parks have links if you want to learn more about them.

 

January 1 to 7 -

 Canada’s beaver is the second largest rodent in the world, weighing up to 60 pounds. (The largest rodent is the capybara, found in South America and weighing up to 100 pounds.)\

 Fifty percent of the world’s polar bears live in Nunavut.

 

There are 522 airports with paved runways, 931 airports with unpaved runways

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Canada

 Nunavut takes up one fifth of Canada’s total land area.

Three of Canada’s islands make the top ten for size in the world – Baffin, Ellesmere and Victoria

Despite being the second largest country in the world, Canada has the fourth lowest population density in the world, with only three people living per square kilometer!

Almost half of the population in Canada were born in other countries.

NATIONAL PARK Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site Nova Scotia

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ns/kejimkujik/index.aspx

Week 2 Jan 8 to 14

Week 2 Jan 15 

There are 47 National Parks, 4 Marine Conservation Areas and   171 National Historic Site of Canada

First Peoples in Nova Scotia till 1860's: The Mi'kmaq (Me-ga-ma), Vikings, French, Portuguese, Scots, English, Irish, German, Swiss, African

 

New Brunswick has warmest saltwater beaches north of Virginia.

Michias Seal Island (in the Bay of Fundy) is home to 900 pairs of breeding Atlantic puffins

The word “Kebec” is an Algonquin word meaning where the river narrows. (Quebec)

Quebec City is the only walled city north of Mexico. It has 4.6 kilometers of walls.

Montreal is home to the famous Cirque du Soleil.

GROS MORNE NATIONAL PARK

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/activ.aspx

Week 3 Jan 15 to 21

 The three pence beaver stamp was the first of the Province of Canada, issued in 1851 and designed by Sandford Fleming.

 http://blog.arpinphilately.com/canadas-three-pence-beaver-stamp-a-little-jewel/

The province of Prince Edward Island (also referred to as PEI or P.E.I.) includes the main island of the same name, as well as 231 minor islands totaling 2.195 square miles.

PEI is Canada’s only province with no land boundary

Ten of about 150 species of maples grow in Canada: Sugar Maple, Black Maple, Mountain Maple, Bigleaf Maple, Red Maple, Douglas Maple, Vine Maple, Manitoba Maple, Silver Maple, and Striped Maple.

In 1763, Great Britain obtained the Prince Edward Island from France under the terms of the Treaty of Paris

The Common Loon was adopted as Ontario’s official bird on June 23, 1994.

In the Arctic, because the ice traps them, the abundance of microplastics are at least three times more than in other areas in oceans, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/biodegradable-plastics-not-breaking-down-in-ocean-un-report-says-1.3325486

Prince Edward Island National Park of Canada  http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/activ.aspx

Week 4 – Jan 22 to 27

A lot of the plastic that WWF-Canada finds on shorelines is from everyday waste, such as grocery bags, food wrappers and water bottles.

Wasaga Beach on Georgian Bay Ontario is the world’s longest freshwater beach, 8.6 miles / 14 km.

The French originally settled New France, in present-day Quebec and Ontario; and Acadia, in present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, during the early part of the 17th century.

"The Maple Leaf Forever" is a Canadian song written by Alexander Muir (1830–1906) in 1867, the

year of Canada's Confederation.[1] He wrote the work after serving with the Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto in the Battle of Ridgeway against the Fenians in 1866.

Alaska has the longest International border of all the states with Canada

The North American heartland, linked by rivers running from the north, west, and south and flowing eastwards via the St Lawrence River, saw intense fighting during the War of 1812. 

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/war-on-the-lakes-in-the-war-of-1812/

Today, the maple leaf is closely associated with or/as Canada

Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/amnc-nmca/qc/saguenay/activ.aspx

 Canada is probably the most free country in the world where a man still has room to breathe, to spread out, to move forward, to move out, an open country with an open frontier. Canada has created harmony and cooperation among ethnic groups, and it must take this experience to the world because there is yet to be such an example of harmony and cooperation among ethnic groups.

- Valentyn Moroz