AcadiensisSpring to city kids means new roller blades and organized baseball games at the playing fields.
To Cliff and me, Spring was the time to roam the banks of the Brook as well as the fields in search of the first flowers. The coltsfoot, which we called the baby dandelion, would magically appear on the side of the road just as soon as the snow disappeared. As the days became warmer, we would stop on the way home from school to look under the elm tree by the covered bridge to find the bloodroots. If we picked them, our hands became stained red.
Although I loved the Dutchman's breeches that were almost hidden in the underbrush, my favourite flower was the long-stemmed adder's tongue. They grew in a sunny spot on the bank of the brook. We would gather a bouquet for Mum and she made us feel as if we had brought her home a dozen red roses.
The purple trillium grew under the shade of bushes and occasionally we found a few of the painted ones.
The alder swamp was the ideal place to find gold threads or white violets. It certainly was a great spot to go over the top of the rubber boots. I would lean on Cliff for support as I dumped the water from them and wrung out my sock.
The years have slipped away since Cliff and I searched for those harbingers of warm days to come. Spring has taken on a new meaning to me in my senior years. It is now the season for flea markets and yard sales to blossom along the road sides and in church halls and basements.
I search diligently, always hoping to find scrapbooks, city directories or genealogical publications.
As we were leaving a yard sale, Harold handed me a dark maroon-covered book that he had bought. He remarked it had a picture of Queen Square before the Champlain Monument had been erected there.
As Dad would say, "You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," but I could not understand his reasoning for buying me this book. The title was "Acadiensis" I could not read French.
I decided to have a look at this book with the French title. I was surprised to find it was written in English: "A quarterly journal devoted to the interests of the Maritime Provinces of Canada." It had been published in January of 1905 by David R. Jack. This was one of a series that had been published from 1901 until 1908.
That book was the beginning of another love affair for me and a continuous quest to try to find all 32 volumes. I have been successful in finding 11 of them but I am always looking into boxes of books and hoping!
Some of my favourite articles in "Acadiensis" are: Proposed Champlain Memorial; Epitaphs of the Church of England Graveyard, Kingston; The Sharp Family of Woodstock; an excellent article on St. Andrews. It even includes the names of the 72 people who partook of the Lord's Supper at the first communion service in the Greenock Presbyterian Church on June 26, 1825; Epitaphs from the Old Burying Grounds in St. Andrews; queries and quite often the answer; and the History of Miscou.
The volumes of "Acadiensis" are at the Saint John Free Public Library and the Library and Archives of the New Brunswick Museum, Legislative Library in Fredericton. There is an index to the volumes 1901 to 1908. A second set of "Acadiensis" began to be published in 1971 and an index has been compiled up to 1991.
An online index to Acadiensis starting in 1971 http://www.hil.unb.ca/Texts/Acadiensis/bin/get.cgi?/&filename=Indexes.htm
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Query 98-406
Mersereau - Tuck - Maxwell - Knudsen: Inez Maude Mersereau was born in 1872 and married James Samuel Tuck. They lived in Oak Bay, near St. Stephen in Charlotte County. She died in 1910. Family tradition states she was related to the Maxwell family of Maxwell's Crossing and to the Knudsens of Minnesota. Any information on these families would be appreciated.
- Monica Barreto, 1801 Clydesdale Pl, NW, 212 Washington, DC, 20009. Or E-mail to mlb623@juno.com.
Query 98-407
Connick: I am looking for information related to the Connick family. Possibly Samuel Connick (1819-1850s). I would appreciate any help.
- Brian Connick, 508 S. Jerome, Algona, IA, 50511. Or E-mail to bconnick@edmail.com.
Query 98-408
Saunders - Boyer: My great-grandmother, Nancy Saunders, first married Dr. William Edmund Saunders of Florenceville in 1862 and they had two children, Whitney and Edmund. She married her second husband, Andrew Boyer of Hampton, in 1871 and had the following children: George, Adda, Dow, Hanford and Helen Lea. I would like to find any of the descendants.
- Doris Saunders Higgins, 4612-52 Avenue, Taber, Alta, T1G 1G5.
Query 98-409
Hewitt - Martin - White: Nellie Ellen Martin (Bristol, England) married Alfred Randall Hewitt (Lincolnshire, England), emigrated to Canada to work at the Glebhurst Farm, Sand Cove Road, Lancaster, Saint John West. At that time, the farm was owned by the Manchester family of the MRA Co. Store on King Street and was later owned by George Chittick of the Chittick Construction Co. Glebehurst is now a very beautiful oceanside heritage inn called Inn on the Cove operated by Willa and Ross Mavis. Two sons were born to Nellie and Alfred Hewitt, my father, Henry Arnsby Hewitt, born Oct. 6, 1906 at Duck Cove, Lancaster, and his older brother, Stanley Martin Hewitt. After the death of her husband, Alfred Hewitt, Nellie married dairy farmer, Frederick White of Lakewood (near Blindman's Lake), Parish of Simonds. The children of my grandmother's second marriage were: Anise, Benny, Winnie and Glady. Fred and Nellie White are buried in Fernhill Cemetery. It is my understanding that my uncle, Stanley Martin Hewitt, had written many memories and interesting family facts in a notebook and had collected several newspaper clippings. I am very interested in locating this information as well as information on the above mentioned families.
- Barbara Hewitt-Dupere, 70 Kings- hurst Rd., Rothesay, N.B., E2H 1T4. Phone (506) 847-3409. Or E-mail to franroon@nbnet.nb.ca.
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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