Kindred Footprints: April 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ My Fortune Cookie

My husband proposed to me (a long time ago) at a beautiful Chinese restaurant called The Mandarin. He had taken my son and I out for dinner and in between the meal and dessert he pulled a diamond ring out of his pocket and asked me if I would marry him. Of course I said yes and cried and we were all very excited about what had just happened. Eventually we settled down enough (well, I didn't) to continue our dinner with coffee and dessert, followed by the opening of our fortune cookies. On that night, in that place this was the fortune I got...

It's a keeper, just like my husband and will remain in my memory box forever!
(PS - He swears he didn't *rig* this and I believe him)

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ The Case of the Missing Pocket Watch

My husband who is a man of very few material wants or needs decided that he would like to bring something 'special' home for himself as a keepsake of our trip to Ireland. He finally decided on a pocket watch, and after looking at several, he found 'the one' in a little shop in Connemara in the west of Ireland. It was made by Mullingar Pewter in Westmeath Co and is embossed with an image of the Ha' Penny Bridge in Dublin.

We got home and unpacked our bags and then he realized that something was missing. His watch was not there. We searched and searched through our bags until we finally accepted the fact that it just wasn't there. He was so disappointed because this was the one memento he had to remember this trip.

Since we had last seen the watch on the bed in our hotel room in Dublin when we were packing, we decided to email the hotel to see if there was any chance it had been turned in. Much to our amazement, we received a reply that they had checked the room and had actually found it on the floor near the bed. It must have been knocked off when we were packing. About a week later my husband was ecstatic to receive a package in the mail from Ireland containing the missing pocket watch.

It was 'meant' to be his ;-)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hiscott & Vine

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Asphyxiation by Gas

Mary Louise Hiscott (St. Mark's Anglican Cemetery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario)

From the Hamilton Spectator
HISCOTT (Toronto, Ont.) Feb. 19, 1897 - Miss Mary Hiscott, who with her younger sister, Miss Harriett Hiscott, daughters of Major Hiscott, M.L.A. were found on Wednesday morning in their room at the Grosvener house in an apparently lifeless condition from asphyxiation by gas, died this morning about 3:30 o'clock. There is no improvement in the condition of the other Miss Hiscott.

Note: Thankfully the other Miss Hiscott DID recover from this tragedy...
The Misses Hiscott are my 1st cousins 4x removed

Destination: Thorold, ON

Locks 4, 5 & 6 at Thorold, Photo courtesy Welland Public Library

We set out Monday morning for a day trip to Thorold, Ontario where we were meeting a couple of cousins that I recently discovered and connected with. Thorold is the location where our Irish ancestors finally settled after leaving Ireland in the 19th century. It is located atop the Niagara Escarpment between St. Catharines and Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. It is where the ships ''climb the mountain'' on the Welland Canal to travel between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, bypassing Niagara Falls. The cousins I met are the great grandchildren of Francis J. Manley who was the youngest brother of my great grandfather, John J. Manley. I love day trips to the Niagara Peninsula because it is where I was born and raised and all of my family roots on both my mother's and father's sides are there.

Photo courtesy of LSImages on Flickr

We started at Lakeview Cemetery which is divided in two sections, the 'old' and the 'new'. When you drive in the main drive you can see the 'new' sections. If you didn't know about the 'old' section it's not likely you would ever find it. There is a small opening in a fence with what looks like a narrow road going off in the distance and ending at a forest, but if you actually take that road it leads you right into the forest which is really the 'old' cemetery. It sits right along the Welland Canal and is the most beautiful hidden gem you've ever seen. This is where most of my paternal family is. I showed them the grave of our Irish Ancestors, Edward and Margaret Manley and from there we walked around and I pointed out everyone else that is there. There are many and they are all very close together.

From there we headed over to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary RC Church. This is the church that so many of our ancestor's attended. The cornerstone was laid in 1876 but it was not consecrated and ready until 1892 in an effort to avoid debt. My ancestors would have attended this church from it's beginning and the last family funeral that was held there was in 2002 when my Aunt Mary passed. One of the original stained glass windows is dedicated to the memory of our 2x great grandmother Margaret (Dixon) Manley. Even though I didn't attend this church I can remember being there many times throughout my life for weddings, baptisms and funerals.

Church photo's courtesy of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Our next stop was at the Thorold Museum, maintained by the volunteers of the Thorold and Beaverdams Historical Society. The museum isn't open to the public a lot so my new friend Cathy arranged to have Diane from the society meet us there. I've never had a private tour of a museum before. It was awesome. The museum is located in a house called Chestnut Hall that was originally built in 1862 for John McDonagh who had a lumber business. My ancestor Edward Manley worked for Mr. McDonagh for many years according to his obituary in 1903. This building is now a designated 'Heritage' property.

Photo courtesy of the Thorold & Beaverdams Historical Society

The rooms in the house both upstairs and down are filled with local history including household items, linens, quilts, jewelry, tools, license plates and just about every imaginable item you could think of. The walls are covered in photographs and maps. There are books and binders filled with local news articles about people and places and events. It was a family historian's dream come true. I asked if I could move in for a while ;-) We were told that there are a couple of boxes full of beautiful portrait quality photo's in the attic that are unidentified. How I wish we could identify these photos.

We ended the afternoon by gathering at a local watering hole for a drink with Cathy. Since she and my cousins are also cousins, she had some information that she wanted to share with them. It was nice to watch their enthusiasm talking about family history and getting to know each other. It's great to come from an area so rich in history.

Thanks to Cathy, Frank, Marian and Diane for another great road trip!

Ancestor Approved

Another award is making the rounds among the Geneablogging community. Many thanks to Southwest Arkie for passing along the "Ancestor Approved" award to me. I would send it back to you but I know you've already got it. Thanks also to Ancestors Live Here who initiated this award.

My instructions are to list ten things I have learned about any of my ancestors that has surprised, humbled, or enlightened me and to then pass the award along to ten other bloggers whom I feel are doing their ancestors proud so here goes...

1. Surprised to discover that I have a Great Grand Aunt, Mary Flynn who became a Mother Superior (Mother Monica) and founded St. Joseph's Hospital in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

2. Surprised to learn that my paternal surname, Manley was actually Munnelly before my 2x Great Grandparents came to Canada from Ireland.

3. Surprised to uncover the story of my Great Grand Uncle, Hugh Manley who died as a result of injuries he received while performing a heroic act to prevent a boiler explosion in a school full of children and that a High School in Chicago is named in his memory.

4. Humbled to learn that my 2x Great Grandparents were part of the mass exodus from Ireland during the potato famine of the 19th century and the struggles and challenges they faced.

5. Humbled to discover that I have a Great Grand Uncle, Roger Manley/Munnelly who was born and died at the immigration center known as Grosse Ile in Quebec and that his name is listed on the memorial wall with other Irish famine victims.

6. Humbled to have been able to travel to Ireland and visit the ancestral homeland of my 2x Great Grandparents in County Mayo.

7. Enlightened to learn how many Ancestor's I have that arrived in Canada as United Empire Loyalist's (UEL's) during the time of the Revolutionary War and that there might also be Patriot's from the same families.

8. Enlightened to realize that my maternal line, Vine that originated in England is almost all American and that I have cousins all across the United States from this line. Only two out of ten children settled in Canada and of course, I am descended from one of them.

9. Enlightened to learn the occupations of my male ancestors. My paternal ancestors were mainly involved in the construction and dredging projects of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Welland Canal while my maternal ancestors were largely Farmers and Butchers.

10. Enlightened to have discovered the geographic origins of many of my family lines in England. I now have several little English villages to visit spread across the United Kingdom.

I'm passing the ''Ancestor Approved'' Award to these blogs that do a phenomenal job of telling their Ancestors stories...if you're not following them yet, you should be!