Monuments and Squares
Gram’s album was filled with pictures of the twins dressed alike. Even though they were grown and married, they still kept getting someone to snap their picture wherever they went and they kept giving them to Gram for her album.
One was marked on the back as being taken in King Square in Saint John, by the flower bed in front of the Young monument.
Gram told me this monument was erected in memory of Fred Young, who was about 19 when he lost his life trying to save 10-year-old Freddie Mundee from drowning in Courtenay Bay.
On the day of the funeral, as the procession proceeded along Waterloo Street, the bells of the Cathedral tolled for more than 30 minutes. This was the first time this recognition had been given to a non-Catholic. When it was decided a memorial should be built, the famous architect and woodcarver John Rogerson provided the design.
I wondered how Gram seemed to know so much about this monument but then she told me she was born the same year as Freddie and had heard the story many times when she was a child. I thought it so interesting that Freddie’s classmates were invited to attend the unveiling.
This got me to thinking as to how many "Squares" were there in Saint John, how many monuments would there be, and who attended the unveiling? This thought led me to wonder why did they put up the other monuments in the Squares, as out in the country we only had tombstones in graveyards.
It seems that as the years passed, maybe I wasn’t the only one who may have had this thought as a 1983 Canada Summer Works grant was the gathering of articles and clippings on the Squares in Saint John into a 40-page compilation which provides many interesting facts.
A very large wooden bell tower served as an entrance to King’s Square and it held the fire alarm bell. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1877.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union placed a drinking fountain at the head of King Street and presented it to the City on July 1, 1883 as a memorial to the Loyalist women who came in 1783.
In the 1850's, a fountain was placed in the center of King’s Square. A bandstand, with a coronet on top, was erected here and presented to the city by the City Coronet Band in 1911.
Veterans of three wars are remembered in King’s Square. The boys who were residents near the Public Gardens and lost their lives fighting for Canada are named on the Comfort Monument. Riverview Park has a reminder of the Boer War
Not all monuments are in Squares as William Macara Sears presented the City with the drinking fountain, which stands today at the foot of the steps to City Hall.
I suggest you visit the Saint John Free Public Library, to read “Squares in Saint John” with 42 pages and "Monuments in Saint John" with 120 pages of articles, and clippings which provide very informative material on the Squares and monuments. These publications are in the 971.532 section and can be read on premises or borrowed from the libraries in Saint John East, Kennebecasis and the Saint John Free Public Libray in Market Square.
By the way at 2:00 p.m. on June 5, 2004 a monument will be unveiled in Queen Square West, to commemorate DeMonts’s expedition landing at Saint John West in 1604 and giving the river its name. There will be a brief ceremony, entertainment and a BBQ. The public is welcome.
Query 1168
McCarthy: I would like to make contact with descendants of Michael McCarthy who was born circa 1794 in Ireland and descendants of others who came to Bathurst, New Brunswick in 1828. The first record I can find is baptism of Thomas (John) McCarthy on 18 October 1828 at the St. Famile Roman Catholic church in Bathurst.
Wayne F. McCarthy
30 Cocheco Ave.
E. Rochester, NH
03868-5817, USA
E-mail wmccarthy@metrocast.net
Query 1169
Malone: According to information that I have found, John Malone arrived in Saint John in 1834 on the "Eleanor" from Moville, Ireland. What is his connection to John Malone of Lot 28, Prince Edward Island who is listed in the 1851 census as being from New Brunswick?
Kingsley Walsh
PO Box 13, Albany, PE
Canada, C0B-1A0.
Email to rkwalsh1@netscape.net.
Query 1170
Corey - Ryan - Pickard: I seek information on the date and place of death of Malcom Corey, the husband of Bessie Ryan as well as the date of death for their son Frank, who was born in 1874 and was married to Margaret Pickard.
Paula Corey
31 River Road
Grand View on Hudson
New York, 10960
USA
E-mail paulacorey@att.net
Query 1171
Melanson - Jones: Searching for information on the parents and family of Henry Melanson (1875 - 1928) and his wife Sarah Jones (1882 -1939), whose home was at 279 Chesley Street in Saint John. They had four sons and four daughters.
Sue Homeney
2811 Fredericton Rd.
Salisbury, NB
E4J-2E4, Canada
E-mail shomeney3006@rogers.com
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Ruby M. Cusack is a genealogy buff living in New Brunswick, Canada. Send your New Brunswick genealogical queries to her at: rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca. Include your name and mailing address for the benefit of the readers of the newspaper who do not have access to E-mail but could have information to share with you. Please put "Yesteryear" followed by the surnames in your query. For more information on submitting queries, visit http://www.rubycusack.com/Query-Instructions.html