SUZANNE'S GREAT, GREAT ANCESTOR WAS A "SOCK-KNITTER," AND SO IS SHE! I'M FROM A LINE OF TINKERS!

The McAndrew Sisters – The Muskoka Men of Song – Audrey Collens-Smith

Perform at Gravenhurst Seniors Activity Centre   -   Saturday, November 9^th – 7:30 p.m. 

The Gravenhurst Seniors Activity club is pleased to present an evening of great entertainment featuring The McAndrew Sisters, The Muskoka Men of Song and Audrey Collens-Smith and The Royal Canadian Legion – Gravenhurst Branch 302 – Colour Party on Saturday, November 9^th commencing at 7:30 p.m.   Tickets are $10.00 and available in advance at the Seniors Activity Centre located at 480 First Street, North, Gravenhurst or at the Door on the night of the show.

The “McAndrew” Sisters is a trio created 15 years ago as an arm of Jayco Productions, a theatre company whose sole purpose is to bring laughter and music to their audiences.

The “McAndrew Sisters” feature a combination of familiar songs performed by both the McGuire and the Andrew Sisters is under the direction of Janet Thorpe, Artistic Director, Chorographer, singer, dance and owner of Jayco Productions. 

The second half of the evening will feature the highly entertaining Audrey Collens-Smith, who joined a volunteer entertainment troupe called “Victory Entertainers” in 1941. They were a dedicated group of 35 musicians, singers, dancers and various other entertainers who would climb aboard a bus and head off to Canadian Forces Training Bases to entertain the men and women training on Canadian Forces Bases all across Ontario.

Also featured during the second half of the evening will be the popular Muskoka Men of Song, a choral group centered in southern Muskoka.  Founded in l984, Muskoka Men of Song is an open, men’s choral group who share a love of music, a desire to perform to the best of their ability and a dream of helping others realize their own musical potential.  They are pleased to share their love of music throughout the communities in Muskoka.

The Muskoka Men of Song will be performing such musical favourites as There is Nothin’ Like a Dame, For the Fallen, Why We Sing and Shenandoah to name a few.

The program for the evening will commence with the Marching on of the Colours by The Royal Canadian Legion – Gravenhurst Branch 302 Colour Party. 

Tickets can be purchased at the Gravenhurst Seniors Activity Centre located at 480 First Street, North, Gravenhurst for the reasonable price of $10.00 or will be available at the door on the evening of the performance.

WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT ANCESTRY ANYWAY? IT'S HISTORY AND HISTORY IS BORING!!! RIGHT?

FINDING YOUR KIN FOLK MAY BE THE TICKET TO A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH HISTORY


     "I DON'T LIKE MY RELATIVES," ONE OF MY FRIENDS REMARKED TO ME, WHEN I TRIED TO SELL HIM ON THE IDEA, OF CHECKING OUT HIS FAMILY TREE. "I PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE LIKED THEM EITHER," HE LAUGHED. I KNEW WHAT HE MEANT. WE HAVE SOME DISCONNECT IN OUR OWN FAMILY, SO I DON'T THINK IT'S ALL THAT UNUSUAL. BUT I DO BELIEVE IT'S WORTH GIVING ANCESTORS, SAY FROM SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS AGO, THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE REALLY LIKED THESE FOLKS. THEN AGAIN.....I SUPPOSE YOU HAVE TO TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. FOR SUZANNE AND I, WE'RE NEVER GOING TO GET TO HAVE A SIT DOWN DINNER WITH OUR FAMILY ELDERS, BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL DECEASED....SOME, CENTURIES MORE SO THAN OTHERS. BUT WE DO HAVE THEM LISTED IN OUR FAMILY HISTORY BOOK, AND HAVE IT CLOSE TO THE DINNER TABLE, JUST SO WE CAN SAY, "WE HAD THE CLAN OVER FOR DINNER....AND WE ALL GOT ALONG."
     YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO KNOW, I WAS LIKE YOU, SITTING THERE IN HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY CLASS, IN THAT HALF-SLUMBER, BUT NOT QUITE COMOTOSE-STATE, OF UNSUSPTECTED SUSPENDED ANIMATION, DURING DISCUSSION OF THE RIEL REBELLION. IT WAS NEVER THE CASE THAT HISTORY DIDN'T INTEREST ME, BUT THE FACT THAT MY INSTRUCTORS LACKED MUCH IN THE WAY OF ENTHUSIASM, ALWAYS TURNED-DOWN WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN ELECTRIC ENVIRONMENT. A SUCCESSION OF HISTORY TEACHERS, EXCEPT ONE, THROUGH MY WHOLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, WERE AS LETHARGIC AS WE WERE, ON THE RECEIVING END. THEY DRONED ON AND ON ABOUT WORLD HISTORY, AND CANADA'S PAST, WITHOUT EVEN A SMIDGEON OF ENTHUSIASM. HONESTLY, IT'S PART OF THE REASON HISTORY, FOR MOST PEOPLE, "IS SOMETHING YOU LEAVE AT SCHOOL WHEN YOU GRADUATE," LIKE YOU OLD GYM SHOES AND SHORTS.
     GARY DENNISS, ONE OF MUSKOKA'S MOST PROMINENT AND LONG-SERVING HISTORIANS, WAS, BY MY GOOD FORTUNE, A HISTORY TEACHER AT BRACEBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL, BACK IN THE 1960'S. HE GAVE US HISTORY LESSONS THAT WERE ALIVE WITH EMOTION, BECAUSE HE SIMPLY COULDN'T CONTAIN HIS OWN ZEAL FOR HISTORICAL ADVENTURES. GARY WAS THE CHAP I CREDIT, FOR OPENING THE DOOR TO MUSKOKA HISTORY. HE KNEW THERE WAS A LOT OF GOOD STUFF BURIED IN THE PAST, THAT A BORED KID LIKE ME, COULD FIND ADVENTUROUS UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES. I BECAME ENTHUSED ABOUT HIS CLASS, BECAUSE, WELL, HE WAS ENTHUSED! AND IT RUBBED OFF. THAT'S WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. RIGHT UP TO THE PRESENT, GARY AND I STILL CHAT NOW AND AGAIN ABOUT MATTERS OF LOCAL HISTORY, AND I WIND-UP CONGRATULATING HIM ON YET ANOTHER BOOK HE'S JUST PUBLISHED. HE'S WRITTEN A LOT AND HIS BOOKS ARE IN THE MUSKOKA COLLECTIONS OF ALL OUR REGIONAL LIBRARIES, AND INCLUDE REFERENCE TEXTS ON CHURCHES (FREE METHODIST HILL AMONGST OTHERS), PIONEER SCHOOLS, DISTRICT GOVERNMENT, THE HISTORY OF BRACEBRIDGE'S SPRINGDALE PARK, AND MOST RECENTLY, THE RELEASE OF A LONG TERM PROJECT, REGARDING THE NAMING OF TOWN STREETS IN BRACEBRIDGE. I THINK I GOT A MENTION IN THIS BOOK, AS I HAVE BEEN A SORT OF ANECDOTAL HISTORIAN OF ALICE STREET, WHERE I RESIDED IN THE WEBER APARTMENTS BACK IN THE 1960'S AND 70'S. ALL HIS BOOKS SELL-OUT BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OUR MUSKOKA COMMUNITIES; HOW THEY BEGAN, AND HOW AND WHY THEY GREW.
     GARY MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO KNOW, THAT THE ONLY OTHER INSTRUCTOR, TO INSPIRE ME THE WAY HE DID, WAS A WESTERN CANADIAN HISTORIAN, I HAD AS A PROFESSOR, AT YORK UNIVERSITY, BACK IN THE 1970'S, BY THE NAME HARTWELL BOSFIELD. HE WAS AN EXPERT ON THE LIFE  AND TRIALS OF LOUIS RIEL AND THE METIS, AND MANITOBA SPECIFICALLY, AND HE BROUGHT AN ELECTRIC EXCITEMENT TO THE CLASSROOM. HE CHALLENGED US, AS STUDENTS, TO REFUTE HISTORY, BY USING THE CRITICAL APPROACH, TO TEAR APART ILL-INFORMED AND OUTDATED HISTORICAL THEORIES; MUCH THE SAME AS WAS KNOWN OF WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR,  A CANADIAN HISTORIAN OF CONSIDERABLE ACCLAIM. (YES HE IS THE SAME CHAP WHO NAMED THE TOWNS OF GRAVENHURST AND BRACEBRIDGE) IT WAS LESUEUR WHO PROVED THAT THE REBELLION IN UPPER CANADA, WOULD HAVE HAPPENED WITH OR WITHOUT THE FIREBRAND, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE, THE GRANDFATHER OF PRIME MINISTER, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING. UNLIKE ALL OTHER CANADIAN HISTORIANS TO THAT POINT, WHO TREATED MACKENZIE AS IF HE HAD BEEN THE PIVOTAL LEADER OF THE REBELLION, FOR RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT, LESUEUR STRONGLY AND WITH AMPLE EVIDENCE, REFUTED THOSE CLAIMS. IN FACT, MACKENZIE WAS ERRATIC AND A POOR LEADER, AND CAUSED MORE MAYHEM FOR EVERYONE ELSE. WHEN LESUEUR CAME OUT WITH HIS BOOK, ON THE GREAT SCOTT, HIS GRANDSON WAS SO ANGRY, THAT HE PULLED RANK AND THEN SOME, TO HAVE THE TEXT WITHDRAWN BY THE PUBLISHER. IT TOOK UNTIL THE 1960'S, FOR THE PROTRACTED LITIGATION TO BE LIFTED, SO THE FORTY YEAR OLD BIOGRAPHY COULD BE RELEASED FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION. AS IT TURNED OUT, THE CRITICAL THOUGHT WAS WHAT OTHER CANADIAN HISTORIANS WANTED, BY THIS POINT, REGARDLESS IF IT PAINTED A MUCH LESS BRIGHTLY COLORED PORTRAIT OF MACKENZIE, THAN HIS GRANDSON PREFERRED FOR HISTORICAL RECORD. HART BOSFIELD WAS GREAT AT ISSUING CHALLENGES TO HIS STUDENTS, TO EXERCISE CRITICAL THINKING, WHEN RE-EXAMINING HISTORICAL RECORDS, AND ESPECIALLY TIRED OLD OPINIONS. SO BETWEEN GARY DENNISS AND HART BOSFIELD, MY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE CERTAINLY WASN'T WASTED.....IN REGARDS TO MY OWN DESIRE TO BE A FRONT-LINE HISTORIAN. NOW I'M CRITICAL OF EVERYTHING AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES ME SO DARN POPULAR. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! THE LAST TIME I SAW AN INVITATION ARRIVE HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, WITH MY NAME ATTACHED, IT WAS FOR A SPECIAL SHOWING OF NEW CARS AT A LOCAL DEALERSHIP. WE HAD JUST BOUGHT ONE.....SO I DECIDED NOT TO GO. BUT THAT WAS IT. HISTORIANS MAKE DULL PARTY GUESTS UNLESS I HAPPEN TO BE IN A PARTICULARLY JOYOUS FRAME OF MIND....AND THERE'S LOTS OF BOOZE.
     THE PROBLEM OF UNINSPIRED HISTORY TEACHERS, THEN AND NOW, AND RECOLLECTION OF THOSE PAINFUL MINUTES OF BORING CLASSES, HAS, AND CONTINUES TO DISCOURAGES MANY ADULTS FROM HAVING ANYTHING TO DO WITH HISTORY. I UNDERSTAND THIS DISCONNECT. I FELT THE SAME ABOUT MATH AND SCIENCE. MY OWN GOOD FORTUNE, EVEN AS A YOUNGSTER, WITH HISTORY LOVING PARENTS, WAS THAT I GOT TO ATTEND MANY OF ONTARIO'S OLD FORTS AND BATTLEFIELDS, ON OUR TRADITIONAL SUNDAY MOTOR TRIPS AND PICNICS. EVEN IF WE WENT TO FLORIDA FOR PART OF THE WINTER SEASON, MY DAD MADE SURE TO STOP AT EVERY HISTORICAL SITE ALONG THE WAY, AND ANYTHING NEAR WHERE WE HAPPENED TO BE LODGING.  IN LATER LIFE, I ENJOYED SO MANY LIFE ADVENTURES, THAT WERE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO MY WORK IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND WRITING, THAT THERE WAS NO TIME TO GET BORED. SUZANNE WILL PROBABLY AGREE WITH THIS, BUT COMPLAIN A WEE BIT ABOUT THE HOURS SPENT IN CANOES AND ON  TRAILS, ESPECIALLY IN ALGONQUIN PARK, WHEN WE WERE WORKING ON TOM THOMSON RESEARCH. I'VE BEEN INSPIRED BY SO MANY ACCOMPLISHED HISTORIANS, LIKE MY OLD FRIEND HUGH MACMILLAN, ONE OF CANADA'S LEGENDS, IN THE FIELD OF NATIONAL ARCHIVES ACQUISITION, AS A FREE LANCE ARCHIVIST. WE HAVE A MUCH ENHANCED ARCHIVES COLLECTION, IN THIS COUNTRY, BECAUSE OF INTREPID ADVENTURERS LIKE HUGH MACMILLAN. DAVE BROWN, AN OUTDOOR EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR, FROM HAMILTON, WAS ANOTHER HISTORICALLY-TUNED CHARACTER, WHO SO GREATLY ENHANCED AND BROADENED MY KNOWLEDGE OF HERITAGE SITE SLEUTHING AND COLLECTING. THESE WELCOME INTRUSIONS FROM MY TUTORS AND COLLEAGUES, GAVE ME A COMPLETLY DIFFERENT OUTLOOK ON WHAT HAD BORED ME TO TEARS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL, OVER SO MANY YEARS. IT WAS LIKE DIVING DOWN TO THE TITANIC, OR QUESTING THE SEVEN SEAS FOR SUNKEN SCHOONERS, WITH CHESTS ON TOP OF CHESTS; LOST TREASURES. I WAS AWAKENED TO SOMETHING I COULDN'T HAVE ANTICIPATED, RECALLING THOSE MANY DAYS, CHIN IN HAND, ELBOW ON DESK, DAYDREAMING ABOUT BEING ANYWHERE ELSE. THANK GOODNESS FOR THOSE INSTRUCTORS WHO WERE HISTORIANS FIRST....TEACHERS SECOND.
     SO NOW THAT I'VE BORED YOU TO TEARS, WITH THIS LONG SLICE OF BIOGRAPHY, WHAT'S THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANCESTRY, AND THE INTEREST IN LOOKING INTO YOUR FAMILY HISTORY? WELL, IT'S ONE SURE AND PROVEN WAY, OF GETTING THOSE FOLKS WHO HATED HIGH SCHOOL INSTRUCTION, BACK INTO THE HERITAGE FOLD. I'VE WATCHED THIS METAMORPHISIS OCCUR WITH MANY FOLKS WE HAVE KNOWN, WHEN THEY'VE MADE THEIR FIRST SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERIES ABOUT THEIR BIOLOGICAL PAST. WHAT HAD BEEN ASSUMED, BY THESE PEOPLE, WAS THAT WHAT THEY ALREADY KNEW FROM THEIR OWN PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS, WAS ALL THE GENEOLOGICAL DATA REQUIRED TO FEEL COMFORTABLY CONNECTED TO THE PAST. BY AND BY, MAYBE THEY'D EXPRESS AN INTEREST IN KNOWING WHAT THEIR KIN DID DURING THE WAR YEARS. THEN DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN WHAT THEIR RELATIVES HAD EXPERIENCED IN THE WAR EFFORT; AND WHERE THEY WERE STATIONED; WHERE THEY SAW ACTION; AND IF PILOTS OR MEMBERS OF AIR CREWS, WHERE THEY FLEW ON BOMBING MISSIONS. ONE DISCOVERY AFTER ANOTHER, AND THESE HOBBY HISTORIANS HAD BEEN HOOKED ON....YUP, HISTORY. THEIR HISTORY, INTIMATE TO THEIR FAMILIES. AS HAPPENED FOR ME BACK IN GRADE SIX, THANKS TO GARY DENNISS, WAS HAPPENING FOR OUR FRIENDS WHO HAD ALSO BEEN TURNED ONTO THE ENDLESS ADVENTURES OF GOING BACK IN TIME. AND IF YOU ALSO HAPPEN TO BE GOOD AT IT, THERE'S NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN RESEARCH, TO INFILL WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN 1400'S ENGLAND. I'LL EXPLAIN THIS IN THE NEXT SEVERAL BLOGS. A LOT OF FAMILY HISTORIANS, WANT TO CREATE A MUCH MORE ELABORATE PROFILE OF WHAT THEIR ANCESTORS WORKED AT, AND WHERE AND HOW THEY LIVED MANY CENTURIES AGO. THAT LEADS INTO A WIDE ARRAY OF SIDE-RESEARCH, AND IT'S AMAZING WHAT COLOR YOU CAN PUT ONTO THE BLACK AND WHITES OF HISTORY.....WHICH IS OF COURSE, THE BARE, FACTUAL MATERIALS OF THE FAMILY TREE.
     SUZANNE AND I WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS THE OTHER NIGHT. SHE HAS BEEN METICULOUSLY RECORDING, IN THE FAMILY HISTORY, THE PROFESSIONS AND OTHERWISE OCCUPATIONS OF OUR RESPECTIVE FAMILY BRANCHES. SUZANNE HAS A DISTANT RELATIVE WHO WAS LISTED IN THE CENSUS OF THE DAY, AS BEING A "SOCK-KNITTER." I HAD SEVERAL ANCESTORS WHO WERE KNOWN AS "TINSMITHS," OR "TINKERS." SUZANNE'S GRANDFATHER, SAM STRIPP, WAS A HOUSE AND COTTAGE PAINTER, HERE IN MUSKOKA, AS WELL AS A WOODWORKER SPECIALIZING IN OLD BOATS, AS WAS HIS SON, (HER FATHER NORM), WHO AS WELL AS PAINTING, RESTORED MUSKOKA VINTAGE WATERCRAFT, SUCH AS DITCHBURN BOATS. MY GRANDMOTHER WAS A HOUSEKEEPER, WHO HAD GROWN UP AS A FARM LABOURER ON THE FAMILY HOLDINGS, IN TRENTON, ONTARIO, AND MY GRANDFATHER WAS A CONTRACTOR, WHO EVEN HAS A STREET IN TORONTO NAMED AFTER HIM......BEING "JACKSON AVENUE." HE EVEN BUILT A TORONTO AREA CHURCH, DURING THE DEPRESSION, AND GOT STIFFED BY THE CONGREGATION, DECIDING THEY WOULDN'T PAY FOR WORK RENDERED. I ALSO HAD A JACKSON CLAN MEMBER WHO WAS A MINISTER AT A SMALL CHURCH NEAR LIVERPOOL. ANOTHER JACKSON FAMILY MEMBER WAS AN IMPORTER WHO SPENT A LOT OF TIME SAILING TO EXOTIC PLACES, ON A VARIETY OF SCHOONERS, TO PURCHASE BULK WARES, AND OF ALL MY ANCESTORS, WHO HAD THEIR SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO HISTORY, HE FASCINATES ME THE MOST. WE'RE STILL WORKING ON HIS BIOGRAPHY. CHANCES ARE, LIKE ME, HE WAS A WEE BIT OF ROGUE WHO LIKED HIS FLASH OF RUM, AND HIS ARMS FULL OF BEAUTIFUL LADIES. OF COURSE, I FOOTNOTE THIS, ADVISING THAT I ONLY HAVE ONE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN MY ARMS THESE DAYS.....WHO IS ALSO OUR FAMILY HISTORIAN.
     SUZANNE JUST TAPPED MY SHOULDER, TO REMIND ME, NOT TO FORGET A MENTION, ABOUT THE SLEUTHING PROWESS SHE PERFORMED RECENTLY, TO FIND OUT THE STUNNING NEWS, THAT BY GOLLY,  IT WAS OUR FAMILY WHO  PULLED THE FIRST REAL ESTATE SCAM, IN FLEDGLING AMERICA, CLAIMING LAND PREVIOUSLY OCCUPIED BY THE NATIVE INHABITANTS OF MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, IN ITS PIONEER DAYS; COMING THUSLY TO OWN MOST OF THE LAND IN THE IMMEDIATE REGION.....AND THAT OUR FAMILY BROUGHT FORTH THE FIRST WHITE BABY BORN IN THE COLONIES. THAT WOULD BE THE VANDERVOORTS (SOMETIMES SPELLED VANDERVOORTE). FUNNY THING ABOUT THIS ANCESTRAL FACT, WAS THAT MY GRANDMOTHER'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY WASN'T GIVEN A LICK  OF RESEARCH, UNTIL SUZANNE DECIDED TO CHECK IT OUT. TO THAT POINT, ALL WE HAD WAS A FAMILY TREE OF JACKSONS, AND THAT TOOK US TO ENGLAND AND BACK TO CANADA IN THE LATE 18OO'S. IT WAS A DESCRIPTION OF MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER, ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE, THAT GOT SUZANNE WONDERING ABOUT THE DUTCH AND GERMAN CONNECTION. MY OTHER MERLE, USED TO TALK ABOUT HER GREAT GRANDMOTHER SITTING IN A ROCKING CHAIR, ON THE VERANDAH OF THE FAMILY FARM IN TRENTON, IN HER TRADITIONAL DUTCH ATTIRE, SMOKING A CLAY PIPE. HER DAUGHTER, MY GRANDMOTHER, WAS BLANCHE SANDERCOCK. MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, OF THE SANDERCOCK CLAN, MARRIED INTO THE VANDERVOORT FAMILY. THIS IS A HONKING BIG FAMILY, AND THEY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE COLLECTION, TO HELP FAMILIES UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS WITHIN THIS DUTCH LEGACY. I WENT FROM HAVING NEXT TO KNOW KNOWLEDGE OF ANYONE BEYOND THE KNOWN JACKSON TREE, THAT I'D PRETTY MUCH DECIDED EVERYTHING HAD BEEN RESEARCHED, THAT COULD BE RESEARCHED THANKS TO THE WORK OF MY COUSIN RAYMOND. THEN SUZANNE STARTED TO SELF-INSPIRE, FIND BY FIND, UNTIL I, BY GOLLY, SUDDENLY BECAME FIRMLY ENTRENCHED IN THE HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA. WELL, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF NICE TO KNOW ALL THIS INFORMATION......AND THINKING, JUST POSSIBLY, OF ONE DAY BEING INVITED TO THE VANDERVOORT FAMILY PICNIC IN NEW YORK. APPARENTLY IT WOULD NEED MORE THAN A COUPLE OF FOOTBALL STADIUMS TO HOUSE US ALL. BUT THAT'S OKAY. I'M GOOD WITH LARGE CROWDS.
     A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO EMBARK ON PRELIMINARY RESEARCH, IN FAMILY HISTORY, ARE TURNED-ON BY THESE SOMEWHAT MORE EXCITING FINDS, OF ANCESTORS WHO WERE THEMSELVES, ADVENTURE SEEKERS, KNOWN ARTISTS, EXPLORERS, NAVIGATORS AROUND THE GLOBE, SCIENTISTS, BOTANISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, THESPIANS, CHAMPIONS OF MEDICAL DISCOVERIES, AND REVERED AUTHORS. THEY ARE EXCITED TO KNOW THEIR KIN-FOLK HAD BEEN SOLDIERS OR NURSES, IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, THE WAR OF 1812, THE NAPOLEONIC WAR, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, EVEN THE BRITISH WAR OF THE ROSES. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY, IF IT WAS UNCOVERED, THAT ONE OF YOUR ANCESTORS, HAD BEEN ONE OF THE CREW MEMBERS, ON THE SHIP,  UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF ADMIRAL NELSON? OR ONE WHO  HAD BEEN IN THE FIELD OF BATTLE ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM, IN THE BATTLE FOR QUEBEC? SUZANNE HAS BEEN RESEARCHING ONE OF HER FAMILY MEMBERS, WHO HAD MARRIED INTO THE MILITARY "FRASER" FAMILY, IN QUEBEC, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE BRITISH VICTORY IN QUEBEC.THIS MAY TAKE US TO VISIT THE OLD HAUNTS, YOU MIGHT SAY, TO RELIVE SOME OF THE HISTORY OF THAT TUMULTOUS TIME, OF THE 1750'S, BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH, COMMANDERS WOLFE AND MONTCALM. HISTORY IS DULL IF YOU NEVER TAKE THE TIME TO EXPLORE IT! WE'VE GOT A LOT OF EXPLORING YET TO DO. SUZANNE LOVES ANY OPPORTUNITY TO UNCOVER THESE ANCESTRAL GEMS, AND HAS IN THE PROCESS, REFUTED THE WORK OF NUMEROUS FAMILY HISTORIANS, WHO GOT IT WRONG IN THE PAST......WHICH HAD BEEN CORRUPTING THE WHOLE FAMILY TREE. ONE ERROR CAN DO THIS. FOR EXAMPLE, IT WAS NOTED BY ONE FAMILY HISTORIAN, THAT THE FRASER OF WHICH I REFER, WAS ACTUALLY AN AUNT TO WELL KNOWN BRITISH EXPLORER, SIMON FRASER. AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WERE MANY OTHER SIMON FRASERS TO BE RELATED TO, IN RESPECTIVE FAMILIES, NOT JUST THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE LOT. HUGH MACMILLAN ONCE TOLD ME, THAT IN CANADA, SIMON FRASER SEEMS TO BE RELATED TO EVERYONE......BUT NOT THE SIMON FRASER MOST NOTED IN NATIONAL HISTORY TEXTS.
     IS IT POSSIBLE YOU HAD A DISTANT COUSIN ON THE TITANIC, OR THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND, WHEN THOSE BOATS SANK, AS A RESULT OF COLLISIONS? HOW WOULD YOU REACT, IF YOU DID FIND OUT, THAT YOU WERE RELATED TO EITHER OF THESE DISASTERS? SOME WOULD FEEL PROFOUNDLY IMPACTED. OTHERS MIGHT FIND IT MILDLY INTERESTING, BUT WORTH INVESTIGATING. NOW TELL ME HONESTLY!  WOULD WATCHING THE MOVIE "TITANIC",  EVER BE "JUST A MOVIE,"  IF YOU HAD FOUND OUT, PRIOR TO VIEWING, THAT A RELATIVE WAS ONBOARD, AT THE TIME OF THE DISASTER? THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE OLD ICEBERG, YOU MIGHT SAY, TO WHAT EXISTS OUT THERE, THAT YOU DON'T PRESENTLY KNOW.....BUT MIGHT WANT TO.  EVEN AS A GIFT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS WHO WILL WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR PAST.....AND BEYOND. IT'S WHAT KEEPS US FASCINATED. AND THE FACT THAT THE RESEARCH WILL NEVER BE FULLY INFILLED, IN OUR LIFETIMES, MEANS THAT WE'LL NEVER FIND OURSELVES GETTING COMPLACENT, WHEN YET ANOTHER MISSING LINK, LIES UNDETECTED SOMEWHERE OUT THERE.
     WHEN SOMEONE I MEET, FINDS OUT THAT I'M AN HISTORIAN, I DON'T GET MUCH MORE IN RESPONSE, OTHER THAN "THAT'S NICE." I KNOW THEY'RE THINKING TO THEMSELVES, "GEEZ, THIS GUY'S A WEINER." I CERTAINLY DON'T GET INVITED TO PARTIES BECAUSE I'M HISTORICALLY INCLINED, AND I'VE GIVEN UP ON ANY MISSION OF PUBLIC POPULARITY, AS RELATES TO MY CAREER PATH. BUT AS I DIDN'T GET INTO THE HISTORY GAME, FOR ANY ISSUE OF STATUS OR STANDING IN THE COMMUNITY, OR TO GAIN GREAT WEATLH IN ITS PURSUIT, I CAN HONESTLY SAY I'M JUST AS KEEN, AS WHEN I EMBARKED IN THE FIELD, BACK IN THE AUTUMN OF 1977; THE YEAR WHEN I HELPED FOUND THE BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND LATER, WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM. A LOT OF WATER HAS PASSED UNDER THE PROVERBIAL BRIDGE, BUT I'M STILL HAVING A LOT OF FUN IN THIS PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE, DESPITE WHAT MY FRIENDS BELIEVE IS THE MOST "BORING PROFESSION EVER". I DON'T THINK IT'S POSSIBLE TO MAKE HISTORY SEXY; OR THAT IT CAN INSPIRE MODERN DAY STUDENTS, ON ITS OWN CUTTING EDGE, TO ABANDON MORE POPULAR, JOB READY FIELDS LIKE ENGINEERING, MEDICINE AND TECHNOLOGY; TO TAKE UP CAREERS IN HISTORY. BUT THERE IS A SIDE TO HISTORY, THAT WHEN EXPLORED EVEN PART WAY UP THE "TREE," CAN MAKE EVEN THE PART-TIME, HOBBY-ONLY, FAMILY HISTORIAN, RELEVANT TO THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD; AND THE MAJOR EVENTS THAT HAVE SHAPED OUR SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC HERITAGE. WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRY SOME TIME.....TO SEE IF THE ELECTRICITY TURNS ON, OR TURNS OFF. MAYBE YOU'RE RELATED TO THE JACKSONS, THE SANDERCOCKS, THE VANDERVOORTS, THE SHEAS OR THE VEITCHES.  GOSH, THEN WE'D BE KIN FOLK, AND COULD HAVE OUR OWN FAMILY PICNIC.
     I'LL HAVE MORE ON ANCESTRY, AND MORE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS, THAT MAKE UP YOUR OWN FAMILY TREE. IF YOU SHOULD EVER HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING FAMILY RESEARCH, SUZANNE WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO GIVE YOU SOME POINTERS. YOU CAN CONTACT HER THROUGH THIS BLOG. SHE IS CONSIDERING TURNING PRO SOMETIME IN THE NEW YEAR. THAT'S IF SHE GETS ALL THE SOCKS KNIT, SHE ALREADY HAS ON ORDER THROUGH OUR GRAVENHURST SHOP. HOW IRONIC IS IT, THAT ONE OF HER ANCESTORS WAS LISTED ON THE CENSUS, IN ENGLAND, AS BEING "A SOCK KNITTER." WHAT A NOBLE PROFESSION.  SEE YOU AGAIN SOON. THANKS FOR DROPPING BY FOR A VISIT.