Journey Through The Past

Grenier Hill, originally uploaded by Light Collector.

From my brother, Bob Charlton aka Light Collector. The Flickr page (click on photo above) shows what happened to the Charlton House in Shawinigan.

Across the street from my grandfather’s house in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec was Grenier Hill. I can remember as a boy, sitting on the grass at the top of the hill and watching the trains in the yard at the bottom of the hill. For many years, I could not be sure that the memory was real or not, and today I came across this photo in an old album which clearly shows the tracks and a three bay engine house, middle left. The trains were steam then, but unfortunately, there are no trains in the picture.

This photo was scanned from the photo album and includes the caption in white ink, written by my father. It appears to have been taken during the winter of 1937.

William Henry Richards died July 30th 1923 at 1:30 am at the age of 59 years. A life long resident of Bell’s Corners. He was the eldest son of the late Richard Richards and his wife Eliza Hinton. 40 years ago united in marriage to Lucy, third daughter of the late Reuben Peer, of Bell. He is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Delbert Connell, Newbliss; three sons, Roy of Prescott, Howard of Roebuck, and Harold on the homestead; one sister, Mrs. James Garvin, Almonte and one brother, Edward, Rockspring. The funeral was held at Shiloh Methodist Church with the burial taking place at Weir’s Cemetery.

Found amongst the private papers of his grandson, Gerald Connell

View a photo of William & Lucy.

April 1959 - Newspaper clipping, publisher unknown

Golden Wedding Marked - Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Connell, of Kemptville, are pictured during the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary recently. They were married at Jellyby on April 21, 1909, but have been living in the Kemptville area for some time. Mrs. Connell is the former Ethel Richards, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Richards, of Jellyby. They have two daughters, one son and five grandchildren. For the occaision they had with them their three children, Edith, Mrs. W. J. MacPherson, Port Daniel Centre, Que., Gerald, of Ottawa, and Della, Mrs. W. B. Charlton, of Montreal. Others present from a distance were: Mr. and Mrs. Roy Richards, Prescott, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Richards, Spencerville, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Richards, Athens, Clifford Connell, Watertown, N.Y., Wesley Connell, Smith Falls, Mr. and Mrs. Melville Corbett, Ogdensburg, N.Y., Mr. and Mrs. Orville Bigford, Jellyby, and W. B. Charlton and three sons, Bob, Jim and John of Montreal.

(photo below) Delbert Orvel & Ethel May Connell - 1909

My relation to Mary Dyer (and Anne Marbury Hutchinson) are as follows:
1. Mary (Barrett) Dyer
2. Samuel Dyer (Samuel is Mary Dyer’s son who married Anne Marbury Hutchinson’s grand daughter Anne Hutchinson)
3. Anne Dyer
4. Elisha Clark I
5. Elisha Clark II
6. Elisha Clark III
7. Hannah Clark
8. Edward Weyman McLeod
9. Agnes Bassett McLeod
10. Helen Lottie Good
11. William Browell Charlton
12. John Delbert Charlton

Read about Mary Dyer:

Amazon Online Reader: To Try The Bloody Law, The Story Of Mary Dyer by Robert S. Burgess

MayflowerFamilies.com The Colonial Gazette: Mary Dyer: A Quaker Martyr

She Died Twice, A play by Brian Jarvis

Mary Dwyer, Quaker Martyr

Wikipedia Entry: Mary Dyer

My memory of the Good family is a bit limited as I do not remember Uncle Elbridge at all and very little of Aunt Ethel Deakin.

Aunt Gertrude Raney visited us in Saskatchewan a few times but I really got to know her when I stayed with her a few days while I was in Ontario. She was a lot like my mother Gretta and by that I mean she liked to talk. When the Good women got together I do not know how they knew what was being said as they all seemed to talk at once.

My mother Gretta was a remarkable woman having raised three kids during the dirty thirties. Somehow she could make a great meal out ingredients like dried salted haddock fish that was shipped in from the Maritimes. Most people did not know how to prepare it but of course mother was a Bluenose. She was always busy in her vegetable garden but especially her flower garden.

Uncle Ira Good was an easy going, soft spoken man who loved his farm. His wife Mabel was a wonderful cook who was really offended if you did not take seconds, consequently you learned to not take to much the first time. Uncle Ira was our family barber and was for several families in the district. I visited there whenever possible as they had two sons Ed and George.

Uncle Cliff Good was a slower, more deliberate man. He and his wife Mildred lived at Creelman so we did not see as much of them. I will never forget their weddingfor the following reasons. Firstly my uncle Milburn Elder had a 1929 Pontiac car that he took my Elder grandparents. My parents Howard and Gretta,my Aunt Jane Elder and myself—wasn’t crowded was it? Just south of Regina we hit a slippery spot and we ended upside down in the ditch. After getting the car upright we continued to the wedding—-some all bruised up, some with cuts and me with a bump in the middle of my forehead. The wedding went fine but when they left for their honeymoon Uncle Cliff took a suitcase out to the car and set it on the sidewalk while he went bak to the house to get the second one. It being Oct.31 there were lots of trick or treaters out so when he returned to the car the first suitcase was gone.

later…

I forgot to mention Grandpa James and Grandma Agnes Good. I spent one winter with them while attending high school in Fillmore. I remember grandpa spending a lot of time in his big rocking chair smoking his pipe and either listening to the radio or reading the paper. It always amused me that he would buy a half pound box of tobacco and write the date on it and even if he ran out he never bought another box until the month was up. They were very easy going people so I enjoyed staying with them as I came and went as I pleased.

Ernest Elder
August 29 & 30, 2008

See also Part 1 of this remembrance

Della Charlton (nee Connell),

Passed away peacefully on Wednesday August 13, 2008 at Sunset Manor, Collingwood, Ontario in her 93rd year. Della, beloved wife of the late William Charlton and the late Wendell Phipps. Dear mother of Bob and his wife Agnes of Stayner, Ontario, Jim and his wife Louise of Kirkland, Quebec and John and his wife Ruth of Warkworth, Ontario. Grandmother of Julie and Robert. Della dedicated many years to the UCW of St. Lambert United Church. Visitation at Collins Clarke MacGillvary White funeral home, 307 Riverside Drive, St. Lambert, Quebec on Thursday, August 21, 2008 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., and Friday, August 22 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Funeral Service to be held at St. Lambert United Church, 85 Desaulniers Blvd, St. Lambert, Quebec at 11:00 a.m., Friday, August 22, 2008. If desired, donations in Della’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
Read the rest of this entry »

Yet another death notice I received through the kind folks at the Durham Clayport Reference and Local Studies Dept, this one gives local perspective to the death of my Grandmother, Helen Lottie Good in 1920.

Death of Mrs. R. Charlton

The death occurred under painfully sudden circumstances on Monday afternoon at 26 Western Hill, Durham, the residence of Mr W. B. Charlton of Mrs Robert Charlton. The deceased lady, who was the wife of the Rev. Robt. Charlton, only son of the respected agent of the Durham Colliery Enginemen, Boilermakers’ and Firemen’s Association, had complained of minor ailments… but though she had been confined to the house a few days her state of health did not cause any anxiety. On the morning of her death she appeared to be in fairly good health, though as the day progressed a change was noticed. Medical advice was sought, but before the arrival of Dr. V***, Mrs Charlton had slept peacefully away, heart failure being the cause of her demise. To her husband and the two young children who are left, our sympathy goes out. Mrs Charlton, who was in her thirtieth year was born in Canada. She was a daughter of Mr and Mrs James E Good of Sask. and her marriage to the Rev. R. Charlton took place on August 7th, 1912. The Rev. and Mrs Charlton and their children came on a visit to England last July and recently the rev gentleman had been doing work at a mission in Newcastle. He was anticipating an early relief so as to take his wife to Scotland and London before returning to their Canadian home.

Related Article: Helen Lottie Good

I was fortunate this week to put my hands on a copy of an obituary from The Durham Chronicle dated June 11, 1920 for my Great Grandmother, Mary Charlton. This provides the first and only account we have of her. The account below indicates she was severely afflicted by rheumatism and was confined to her home except for the use of a bath chair.

An article in the New York Times may have caught the moment referred to below of her encounter with Queen Mary. The only reason I think the article may refer to another lady in a bath chair is that John Wilson, MP would have known Mary Charlton personally and more likely would have introduced her to the Queen by name. Likely, the encounter with the Queen took place beyond the gaze of the press that same day. W. B. Charlton was intimately involved in the establishment of the Aged Miners Homes and would have no doubt been part of the receiving line that welcomed Queen Mary to the homes at Ushaw Moor and Shincliffe.

Durham Chronicle - June 11, 1920

Death of Mrs. W. B. Charlton

It is with sincere regret that we have to record the death, which took place at her residence, 26 Western Hill, Durham on Thursday evening of Mrs Charlton, wife of Mr W. B. Charlton, secretary of the Durham County Colliery Enginemen, Boiler Maker’s and Firemen’s Association. During the 14 years she lived in this city, Mrs Charlton was affected with rheumatism, and was not outside her house except in a bath chair. Despite that physical handicap, Mrs. Charlton continued to get a good deal of sunshine out of life. She was cheerfulness personified, and not even her most intimate friends ever heard her complain of her affliction. And it was that quality which gained the admiration of her friends. To some it might appear that death came as a happy relief from her sufferings, but those who had the privilege of her acquaintance know that she never spent an idle moment. She was a clever needlewoman and though her infirmity prevented her from carrying out houshold duties, yet her advice was invaluable and to her family she was a devoted mother. About a fortnight ago Mrs Charlton caught a chill and after a week’s illness she passed away.

Mr and Mrs Charlton were married at Brancepeth and there is one son, the Rev. Robert Charlton, recently appointed to the pastorate of Tyne Dock Congregational Church, and two daughters, Mrs M. Waller and Miss Isabell Charlton. The late Mrs Charlton often recalled with pleasure the visit of Queen Mary to the aged miners’ homes in 1914, when she was presented in her bath chair to her Majesty. She also prized the gifts from the Colliery Enginemen’s Association and the National Federation. The deceased lady was 64 years of age.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Cursing Stone, originally uploaded by SXV74.

Designed by Andy Altman of Why Not Associates the ‘Cursing Stone’ is a collaboration with sculptor Gordon Young and it’s a 7.5 ton granite boulder situated in Carlisle, England inscribed with a curse which was issued by the Archbishop of Glasgow Gavin Dubar in 1525. The pavement features the names of the families on whom the curse was directed. The curse is quite disturbing to read, here’s an excerpt from it:

“I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse their face, their brain (innermost thoughts), their mouth, their nose, their tongue, their teeth, their forehead, their shoulders, their breast, their heart, their stomach, their back, their womb, their arms, their leggs, their hands, their feet, and every part of their body, from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, before and behind, within and without.”

the curse, originally uploaded by GWcumbria.

The curse of 1525 was aimed at Reiver families known for terrorising the region. The curse was read out by priests in every parish, in an attempt to curb the illegal activities. Dunbar’s curse was a sort of mass produced excommunication designed to frighten the lawless people of the Anglo-Scottish borders generally. It makes no specific reference to Carlisle; the only place name references being to various ‘dales’ of the Scottish side of the border. It was made nearly 500 years ago, for general proclamation from churches. It excommunicates the ‘common traitors, Reivers and thieves’ dwelling in ‘Teviotdale, Eskdale, Liddisdale, Ewesdale, Nithsdale and Annandale’ that is the Scottish Middle and West Marches of the Anglo-Scottish Border. The curse was to apply until such times as they ‘forbear their sins and make satisfaction and penance’. It is written in a southern Scottish dialect. The curse is one of the longest on record and runs to over 1500 words. The text used on the stone is 383 words long - The ‘Archbishop’s stone’

Here is what the 14 ton stone says:

to be hang syne revin and ruggit with doggis, swyne, and utheris wyld beists, abhominable to all the warld. I denounce, proclamis, and declaris all and sindry the committaris of the said saikles murthris, slauchteris, brinying, heirchippes, reiffis, thiftis and spulezeis, oppinly apon day licht and under silence of nicht, alswele within temporale landis as kirklandis; togither with thair part takaris assistaris, supplearis, wittandlie resettaris of thair personis, the gudes reft and stollen be thaim, art or part thereof, and their counsalouris and defendouris, of thair evil dedis generalie CURSIT, waryit, aggregeite, and reaggregeite, with the GREIT CURSING. I curse their heid and all the haris of thair heid; I curse thair face, thair ene, thair mouth, thair neise, thairg toung, thair teith, thair crag, thair schulderis, thair breist, thair hert, thair stomok, thair bak, thair wame, their armes, thair leggis, thair handis, thair feit, and everilk part of thair body, frae the top of their heid to the soill of thair feit, befoir and behind, within and without. I curse thaim gangand and I curse thaim rydand; I curse thaim standand, and I curse thaim sittand; I curse thaim etand, I curse thaim drinkand; I curse thaim walkand, I curse thaim sleepand ; I curse thaim rysand, I curse thaim lyand; I curse thaim at hame, I curse thaim fra hame; I curse thaim within the house, I curse thaim without the house; I curse thair wiffis, thair barnis, and thair servandis participand with thaim in their deides. I wary thair cornys, thair catales, thair woll, thair scheip, thair horse, thair swyne, thair geise, thair hennys, and all thair quyk gude. I wary their hallis, thair chalmeris, thair kechingis, thair stanillis, thair barnys, thair biris, thair bernyardis, thair cailyardis, thair plewis, thair harrowis, and the gudis and housis that is necessair for thair sustentatioun and weilfair. All the malesouns and waresouns that ever gat warldlie creatur sen the begynnyng of the warlde to this hour mot licht apon thaim. The maledictioun of God, that lichtit apon Lucifer and all his fallowis, that strak thaim frae the hie hevin to the deip hell, mot licht apon thaim. The fire and the swerd that stoppit Adam far the yettis of Paradise, mot stop thaim frae the gloir of Hevin, quhill thai bere and mak.