The following is a map of places related to my Charlton, Green, Nixon, White and Nesbitt ancestors of Durham County, England. Click on a marker to view the reference.
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Dear Renae: When you ask me if I remember things about the Good family you must remember that I am old enough to be losing my memory, but I do remember most of them quite well. When I attended high school in Fillmore I lived with Grandpa and Grandma the first year and was a real experience. You have to remember that this was right after the great depression so they were living on a meager pension. Grandpa smoked a pipe so he limited himself to a half pound of the worst smelling tobacco each month. Each morning the routine was that Grandpa would take the ashes out to the back yard and then when he came back Grandma would be ready to hand him the commode pail {there was no sewer or water} and he take it out to the outhouse. Well one morning while he was out with the ashes the telephone repairman came to the door and Grandma, not seeing to well, handed the pail to him. They were a great couple and I regretted not being able to stay with them in my last year but Grandpa took sick and passed away and Grandma moved to farm to live with Uncle Ira and Aunt Mable. Uncle Ira was a very quiet man but Aunt Mable made up for him. We usual spent Chriistmas with them also Uncle Cliff and Aunt Mildred. Now when those two women got together with my mother Gretta nobody else had much chance. Uncle Ira was my barber for all my boyhood years and he was very good at it. I visited them on other occasions as they had two boys, Ed and George, who were a bit older. Ed is now deceased and George lives in Ontario. Uncle Cliff was an easy going guy that took a lot to excite. His marriage to Aunt Mildred was a memorable occasion in more ways than one. To start off the car I was in going to Regina [where they were married] rolled south of the city. Nobody was seriously hurt but with a bunch of bumps and bruises we were not really an asset to the wedding. To top the day off when they were leaving on their honeymoon that evening they took their suitcase out and set it beside the car and went in to get another bag. Being that it was Halloween night somebody ran off with the suitcase. I only met aunt Ethel once so I don’t really remember much about her. She was very kind to our family during the great depression as she always sent us a big Christmas parcel including nuts, candy and dulce. In case you don’t know what dulce is it is a sea weed, purple in color and rich in iodine. Mother of course had been brought up on it so we soon learned to eat it too. Aunt Gertrude Rainey reminded me of my mother Gretta. I vaguely remember her visiting us in Sask. I was in Ontario one year to pick up a new truck at Oshawa so I stayed with Aunt Gert in Cannington for a few days. All I remember about Elbridge is that he was killed by bull in Manitoba, and nothing about Helen. - Uncle Ernest See also Part 2 of this remembrance Hi! this is Renae’s mother, Donnett Elder. I do remember my mother in law, Gretta Ruth (Good) Elder talking about her younger sister, Helen. She always spoke so fondly of her, her marriage and with sadness of her early death in England. I could tell she felt a very deep loss there. My brother in law, Ernest Elder will be able to tell you many more stories about these times with his Mother and Father. So I will have Renae forward some of this to him and he can relate some stories for you. The Good family came to Saskatchewan in April, 1905 and Saskatchewan became a Province that year, September 1, 1905. Their arrival at that time made them pioneers and when Saskatchewan celebrated its 75th birthday, 1980, Gretta, her two brothers, Clifford and Ira all received plaques honoring them as pioneers in Saskatchewan. I thought that was the coolest thing that my mother in law was a pioneer. They were all still living then, of course, but Gretta died in 1981. Howard Elder died in May, 1976. My Mother in law, Gretta Elder, was a great cook with many of her recipes coming from New Brunswick such as the one dish I particularly liked, fish chowder. Ymmm ! Another was brunt sugar chiffon cake but not sure if this was an eastern recipe. She made it with perfection. Her hospitality was always great with wonderful food, all of it home made. She canned everything and all was good. There were four Good daughters, Ethel married a Deakin and lived down east in New Brunswick, Gertrude married a Rainey and lived in Ontario, Gretta married Howard Elder and lived in Saskatchewan, and Helen married to a Charlton. Nice visiting with you, Thanks Renae for sending me these.
Photo and text submitted by Renae (Elder) Grubb
Yesterday, for the second time, this blog accomplished something quite remarkable. It reconnected family across generations. In this case, the Good family. I have often wondered what happened to Lois Scott’s research papers on the Good family. Her letters to me outlining the New Brunswick connection were lost along with a number of other important papers many years ago. I had heard only vaguely that these papers were submitted to an archive somewhere in New Brunswick. Then this yesterday from Renae (Elder) Grubb.
Thank You Renae. I’m sure Lois would have marvelled at the way information is now being shared. Who would have thought back in the early eighties that publishing would become so easy and that relatives with little more to go on than common ancestral names between them could find each other anywhere in the world. |
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