Maliseet & Micmac Vital Statistics
from
New Brunswick Church Records
Pans rattling in the old back pantry and Dad's grumbling signaled that things weren't going well this morning. Dad had broken his axe handle while splitting wood! As he strode into the kitchen, he carried the lard pail and an old baking pan that cradled the injured chopping tool. I watched as he smeared lard over the axe. He then placed the pan in the hot oven of the kitchen stove. The lard and heat would cause the wood to shrink, and Dad would be able to remove the broken piece of the handle.
Dad looked at Ken and said, "If you see Laughing Louie walking down the road, run out and tell him to come in. I need a couple of axe handles."
Laughing Louie was a native, who was well known for his craftsmanship in making axe handles from the ash tree. He probably whittled away many a winter hour with the draw knife making handles. Business would be good in the spring due to the wear and tear of all the chopping and splitting during the winter.
Sure enough, within a day or two, I saw this big man approaching our house with a knapsack full of handles slung over his back. He dropped the sack to the ground and after careful examination, Dad chose two of them.
Laughing Louie peddled his axe handles over a large territory of Kings County and, one might say, he made his home wherever he hung his hat. When I was a kid, he lived for a time in a cabin near the Back Settlement Road. My husband remembers him occasionally attending mass at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Upham.
I was never quite certain if the name "Laughing Louie" was due to his boisterous laugh or if it came from his possible surname Laugherty.
In 1998, the Micmac-Maliseet Institute of the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, published "Maliseet & Micmac Vital Statistics from New Brunswick Church Records."
This 346-page book has brought together church records from many parishes and has made genealogical research in this field much easier. This volume contains records of baptisms, marriages and deaths of Maliseet and Micmac people living in New Brunswick. It includes records dating from the 1700s up to 1919.
This publication can be viewed at the Provincial Archives in Fredericton or purchased from Micmac-Maliseet Institute, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B., Canada, E3B 6E3.
- Query 98-395
Crock: My great-grandfather, Henry Crock, was born in Saint John, N.B., in either 1826 or 1836. His parents were Henry Synge Crock and Mary (surname unknown). He was probably a sawyer as he came to Australia in 1850s or 1860s and continued an association with saw-milling here. I am seeking information of his background and ancestry and I can provide his history after arrival in this country.
Desmond Crock, 4/106 Alexander Rd., Rivervale, Western Australia, 6103. Phone 61(Australia) - 8 - 9478 3362 or E-mail to descrock@cygnus.uwa.edu.au.
- Query 98-396
McHugh - Carlin - O'Connor - Gillespie - Scannell: Joseph McHugh was married to Bridget Carlin. They had three children: Joseph married Anne O'Connor and they had no children; Theresa never married; John married Margaret Anne Gillespie from Calais Me., and they had two children one died at birth and the other, Robert, would be my grandfather. He married Irene Scannell from Boston, Mass., and they had 12 children. He died at a very young age and his wife nine years later. The children were brought up by my grandmother's sister. Joseph McHugh supposedly owned a sardine canning factory in Saint John. If you have any information about this McHugh family, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
Sharon McHugh Crull, 2408 Swailles Dr #4, Orlando, Fl, 32837. E-mail to shakeith@bellsouth.net.
- Query 98-397
Donaldson - MacLean - Adams: I am searching for information on Elizabeth (Donaldson) MacLean, sister of Margaret Donaldson, who married James Adams and removed to Yarmouth, N.S. From the will of her sister, we understand that Elizabeth (Donaldson) Mac- Lean lived at the corner of Union and Crown streets in Saint John, and was still living there in 1905. I would like to know who her parents were and who the Mr. MacLean she married was. Did they have any children?
Randy Adams, Box 188, South Ohio, Yarmouth Co., N.S., B0W 3E0. Or E-mail to randy.adams@ns.sympatico.ca. Website http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/randy.adams/.
- Query 98-398
Fader - Davies: Salome Bryzelius Fader died at the home of C. Davies, her son-in-law, on Germain Street, Saint John, N.B. Her daughter, Elizabeth Fader, was born on Oct. 6, 1837, and married C. Davies. Salome was Anglican and originally from Lunenburg, N.S. Where was Salome Fader buried? Who were the children of C. Davies and Elizabeth Fader? Any other information on this family would be appreciated.
-Jean Tavanaee, P.O. Box 243, Bridgetown, N.S, B0S 1C0. Or E-mail to ctavanaee@hotmail.com.
Ruby Cusack is a genealogy buff living in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Readers are invited to send their New Brunswick genealogical queries to Ruby at rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca. When E-Mailing please put Yesteryear Families in the Subject line. Please include in the query, your name and postal address as someone reading the newspaper, may have information to share with you but not have access to E-mail. Queries should be no more than 45 words in length.
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