Margaret L. Clarke, Editor #29, Evanson Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Thanks to Dr. Bird, a family friend, fur trade genealogist and Canada Tree subscriber, we have some new McKay information and a new subscriber, who not coinicidently is "on the tree." This brings the number of subscribers who can trace their descent to the same ancestor to five. For the rest of you, this is not the purpose of this publication. The John Richards McKay tree which I am using as the logo of this publication is where I began my interest and research, but it is by no means where it ends. To me, the tree represents the fascinating interconnections between families from New France, the Great Lakes, Orkney, Scotland, England, and of course the various aboriginal groups who were the original inhabitants of this land.
The tree itself is an interesting document. It was drawn on linen with black ink. The bottom of my copy reads "Copied July 15, 1944 from original dated January 21 1884." My mother, Bertha Clarke, remembers her mother, Etta Bray, recieving a copy in the mail in 1944. Someone in the family apparently did a mass mailing at that time. Anyone who knows more about this tree or similar family records, I would love to hear about it.
Now, as to those five descendants. I have marked us on the tree by our appropriate twig. I am a descendant of JHG Bray and Jemima McKay, daughter of Edward. Harriet Mckay is a descendant of Jemima's brother, William Edward or Billie. Eleanor Anderson writes that her husband John is a descendant of Letitia, who married Peter Anderson. Our newest reader is from Portland, Oregon, and tells me that she is a descendant of John Richards' youngest brother Charles who moved to Oregon. She solved a family mystery for me. Charles McKay was born on February 8, 1808. Mary, the youngest child, was born May 19, 1810. Her mother, Mary Favell McKay, died in childbirth. The mystery is "Who cared for these two babies?" Their father, John Mckay, died July 5, 1810. Laura McGoldrick reported that family legend said that John Richards, the eldest brother, raised them. He would have been 18 when his parents died.
by John F. LaRoche
I'm sure that there has never been a 6 year old, at least a farm boy, who wanted to give up his freedom and start school. I was no exception. the year 1937 was exceptional, in fact it was (they tell me) the peak of the dust bowl. No crops period!
School was a strange thing. There was an occasional late afternoon spent visiting there, sitting in a desk, or maybe driving by with my folks when the kids were at recess. It was enough to make you wonder. This looked like fun.
I'm not speaking of a town school. I'm talking about a one room country school with a teacherage (the place the teacher lived). The school's name was 'Grey'. It was located three miles north of our farm in the Poplar School District.[ John writes from Scobey, Montana.] This first year, it had an enrollment of fourteen kids in eight grades. Miss Richwine was the teacher. Our curriculum was no different than the town school. I'm sure the students at Grey went on equal to any other. But fourteen kids would be a trial anywhere. Some of these were very active (Hyper these days). Miss Richwine earned her pay.
Before we go any further, I've got to bring up one more thing: "Transportation!" Some walked, some came by car, LaRoche's came by horseback. Ernie was on Baldy; me on Dolly. I can assure you, we didn't spend any more time on the road than we had to. Ernie (being in the eighth grade) had the experience and drive to keep a horse at top speed. Baldy came from a long line of work horses, these being part mustang. Although Baldy was no race horse, his speed was pretty fair. My horse, Dolly, was a solid black Shetland pony that probably weighed 200 pounds. With its choppy gait, it could keep up. Country schools in those days had barns. Teacher and parents did draw the line. There was no riding around during school hours.
Fall with its nice weather was one thing. Colder? Oh, boy, lots of this! Then Dad would bring us to school in the car. Later on, when the snow got deep, there was horse and sled. This was fun. If things were right, we got to ride in back on our coaster sled or on skis. Our skis, being the toy type, did not lend themselves to much playing around. It wasn't always a drudgery to go to a country school.
During my first grade, I had Ernie to help, but in second grade I was alone. I was possibly the smallest male to ever attend school at Grey. If I remember, I was about forty pounds in first grade and very short. I think I was the last person to ride to school, at least in our area. There was a family who came by buggy. Milo Fossen, being in the third grade, was the driver. The old horse was very faithful. I think Milo stood on an apple box to harness. We were a select twosome, at least for a while. Their dad drove them, when it was cold or snowy.
Getting back to horseback. Dolly was a full blooded Shetland and was probably the stubbornest four-legged animal that I've had contact with. With Ernie around, it was different. (Incidently, my folks bought this horse from 'Joe Red' Morin.) You could always catch Dolly with a handful of grain. It didn't mind being saddled, and me getting on, and leaving the yard. Then things got interesting. Dolly might turn around and run back, it might lay down, and (actually on most days) it would trot off to school. Coming home, I'm sure it would think of ground feed and went full speed ahead.
Grey School in the fall of 1938 was somewhat different: eight students (6 boys and 2 girls). This ratio seemed to follow me around for quite a while. We also had a first year teacher, Miss Mary Jane Darland. Thinking back, Miss Darland did a good job.
A part of life, in that age, was getting the mail. Our mail box was at the school. Mail day was Tuesday and Saturday. To kind of keep things in order, my mother made a bag out of a piece of canvas. It had a drawstring of leather that would fit over my shoulder. There was room for my books, lunch and the mail.
Schol lunch consisted of a sandwich and maybe cookies. In the winter the teacher might make Ovalteen furnished by the parents. We might bake a potato in the coals of the heating stove.
I guess this could have continued, but in our community it ended with the consolidation of three rural schools. Then we had a bus pick us up at the door and deliver us home in the evening. This was the end of an era.
[Thank you for such an evocative piece on the end of an era. The Editor]
John LaRoche also wanted the following included.
On June 23, 24, 25, 1995, we are hosting here in Scobey, Montana, the Morin family reunion. The descendants of Etienne (dit Comtois) Morin or Paul (Darrason) Lafrance are all invited. (They were once from the Winnipeg area). We only ask that you write or call ahead.
John F. LaRoche
Box 986,
Scobey, Montana 59263 USA
1-406-487-2456.
The Morins (his mother's line) are recorded in St. Norbert, and St. Boniface. The Lafrances (also his mom's line) left Bae St. Paul in the 1880s for North Dakota, in ox carts.
His branch of the LaRoches came to Canada in 1721. His grandfather left Quebec to come to North Dakota in 1878, and to Montana in 1909.
A letter from Dr. Dickason shows she's been doing some digging. Her mother's sister Laura Cote, born 22 October, 1890, was married to Onesime Cote who was born in 1879. She also found information on her great grandparents. They had a farm near Benson, Minnesota. Any information that can fill in the gaps would be appreciated.
Over the Christmas holidays, I had the opportunity to browse through a recent community history book. Many Trails to Manitow - Wapah documents the community between Lake Manitoba and Riding Mountain National Park. My apologies to the community. My Manitoba geography is still a little shaky. The book, copyrighted 1993, is the work of the Manitoba Village History Committee, Box 155, Alonsa Manitoba, R0H 0A0. Robert Bishop is listed as the principle researcher.
Taken as a whole, the book is very meaty, full of interesting detail, and providing the kinds of connections we all love, the kind that give reasons for the demographic events our work deals with. As well, it suggests a connection between modern rural communities and the fur trade posts in the same area. On page 167, discussing Alexander Campbell, it reports that he was associated with Francois Richard in 1804-05. "Both Francois and Jean Baptiste Richard subsequently transferred to the HBC after . . . 1821 and served on Lake Manitoba. Around 1833 Alexander Jr. married Louise Richard, daughter of Francois, so there is an obvious connection." The story goes on to recount the family history of family still in the area. If you like that sort of connections, the book is absolutely rich.
I found it frustrating. As an academic, I am accustomed to the rules of proper citation and am disappointed when I find a quote of a historical document giving information I'm interested in, and then no way to check the source, because the writer does not properly cite or document his source.
However, there are ways around that problem, especially when the information in so rich. For instance, on pages 352 to 356, the book gives detail on the families of William Hemmings Cook and his son Joseph.
William Hemmings Cook - born 1768 London
1. Joseph b. 1792 d. 1848 m. Catherine Sinclair
2. Jeremiah b. 1800 d. ____ m. Ellen Spence
3. Samuel b. 1804 d. ____ m. Susannah Short m. Isabella Geddy
4. Charles b. 1815 d. ____ m. Mary Lyons m . Catherine Anderson
5. William b. ___ d. ___1844
6. Nancy m. James Sutherland m. William Garrioch
7. Sally 8. Sophia 9. Jenny 10. Letitia 11. Lydia
[Details on his wives can be found in Raymond Beaumont's article in Prairie Forum , Fall 1992, on Henry Budd.]
Joseph Cook 1792 - 1848
1. Sarah b. 1835 d.___ m. James Settee
2. Henry b. 1822 d. ___ m. Harriet Garrioch
3. Thomas b. 1826 d.1891 m. Catherine McKenzie
4. Mary b. 1824 d.___ m. William McKay
5. James b. 1836 d.___ m. Mary Bruce
6. Matthew b. 1840 d.___ m. Mathilda McKenzie
7. Catherine[Caroline] b.____ d.___ m. Edward McKay
I did find one error. In the story of John Richards Mckay, the editors inserted the marriage certificate of his daughter Harriet and her husband John Dougal Mckay, son of William Mckay and Julie Chalifoux, who was the son of Mad Donald McKay and a daughter of James Sutherland.
While doing some research on Cuthbert Grant recently, I had occasion to search through the Margaret MacLeod collection in the University of Manitoba Libraries Archives. The collected notes from The Letters of Letitia Hargrave make very interesting reading, especially if you are looking for individuals in the mid-nineteenth century at York Factory or Red River. While the notes have not been transcribed, they make such interesting reading that the effort is worthwhile.
For instance, in one place she lists men who are buried at St. Johns. The list includes:
"James Sutherland buried October 20, 1844, aged 68.
Colin Campbell buried November 12, 1853, aged 68.
Thomas Bunn buried July 19, 1852, aged 87 years.
Robert Logan buried May 28, 1866, aged 91 years.
John P. Pruden buried May 30, 1868, aged 90 years."
An example of problems with parish records, census and scrip affadavits is easy to find, using the Denney Papers. An interesting case is Hugh Linklater who married Jane, a native woman on Nov. 17, 1828 by Rev. David Jones at St. Johns. Four of their sons, James, Hugh, Richard and Peter were baptised on July 15, 1828 at St. Johns. An 1876 scrip application and a 1849 Red River census both give Hugh Jr. as born in 1815. He was the fourth child in the family.