A Gift of Giving II
by F.E. McConvey
Published: 25 November 1987
Do you have a flair for writing? A collection of your childhood memories makes an ideal gift for someone on your list.
Describe the family home. Recount the experiences that you, your parents, brothers, sisters, and chums shared. Draw the word sketches of your life within the family unit.
This brings to mind the tale that aunt Grace related to me several years ago.
She decided, at a tender age, that biting was cute and clever, so she tested her strength of her teeth on anyone not wary enough to avoid her. What she gained in attention, negative though it was, offset her lack of popularity.
Having tormented the older ones, her next victim was defenseless young Ken, just barely a toddling. Jealously, I suppose, prompted her to give him an especially vicious nip that drew blood. His screams also drew her mother and grandmother to the scene.
Oh, Oh, thought Grace to herself, this isn't a good place to be. With that, off she sped with Grandmother Pye (penciled in Bryant) in hot pursuit. Down across the fields they raced, like Roadrunner and Coyote, to the orchard where Grace scampered up the trunk of a sloping apple tree. Within a few minutes, Grandmother huffed and puffed at the base of the tree.
Grace, bolstered by the knowledge that she had outrun this little lady, thought she had outsmarted her as well.
The thumbs went to the ears. The fingers saucily waggled. Her tongue darted in and out, accompanied by rude noises that emitted each breath. For good measure, she threw in the occasional. NA NANA-NA NA NAH, Can't catch ME! chanted in that pert sing-song that children employ.
You can well imagine the shocked expression that appeared on her face when Grandmother very calmly leaned over and bit her on the back of the leg.
Her perch seemed as high as the sky, but she had run up that tree and displayed those antics at just the proper height for Grandmother to repay her for these indignities. Needless to say, it cured Grace of the biting habit.
Every family has traditions and customs that have developed over the years, especially at birthday, anniversaries and Christmas.
One family always opens their Christmas gifts around midnight after the grandparents have arrived. The children roused from their slumbers and the fun begins.
After this is completed, everyone in the group advances to the next family dwelling, where the process is repeated. These visitations continue from house to house until the wee hours of the morning when all the families congregate at the home of the grandparents to participate in their gift opening and enjoy breakfast together.
Attractively bind your stories together into a book and it will become a cherished possession for generations.
Have you learned the beautiful art of penmanship known as calligraphy?
Copy the marriages, births and deaths from the old family Bible in your possession. Reproduce an old marriage or baptismal certificate. If really artistic surround it with ornate artwork. This art form first introduced to North America at the time of William Penn, is know as fractur(fräl-túr- n,. German) writing and was developed from a German typeface in the 1500's. The originators adorned their text with gaily colored borders of unicorns, birds, flowers and geometric designs done in the style we easily recognize today as Pennsylvania Dutch.
A gift of this nature will be highly prizes, not only for its content, but for your workmanship.
Is there a new bride in the family? Buy a recipe box, or better still, make a wooden one. Insert favorite family recipes that have been passed down from mother to daughter. One the reverse, record any little story that is connect with the recipe and its origin.
In my file is one labeled Cecil Hanson's Rolls. It was given to me while in the ninth grade by my mother. That year in Home Ec., we were learning how to make bread rolls. Upon sampling the rolls I had brought from home to her, Mom immediately announced it was as tasteless as sawdust and hurled them into the stove. She then produced this recipe which will never receive such as insult.
Is quilting your thing? Why not make one for the newest addition, depicting the family tree? This is a gift to be lovingly passed down from one generation to the next, with fond memories of the one who created it.
Do some rubbings of old family tombstones and send them to someone working on the family tree and living away from the area.
Another gift for someone is these circumstances is a map. Maps showing the land grants of this area are very useful and interesting, not to mention one of Charlotte County outlining all the parish lines. These, plus others, are available for a nominal sum at the Forestry Office in St. Stephen.
Books are always the old standby. They are valuable, informative tools for both genealogist and historian.
In St. Stephen, there are several titles on local history available. Once of these is Beginnings, The Settlement of the St. Croix Valley by the Rev.I.C. Knowlton. These annals of St. Stephen and Calais were first published in 1875 and have been reprinted by Print n' Press, along with many others of a similar nature. These particular book contains good information on the early families.
The New Brunswick Museum in Saint John has quite a list of publications available. Included are histories of New Brunswick, books on Irish emigration and genealogical renderings --fifteen volumes of vital statistics taken from the province's newspapers for the period of 1784-1856 and census reports (1851) for Charlotte and other counties, for starters. There are several selections on Acadia and its people and accounts on the military for people with that interest.
The prices are moderate, so write requesting a booklist - for yourself, if not for giving.
Thinking about Christmas? Consider a genealogical one. It's no so absurd, is it?
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Genealogy Workshop - Saturday, Dec. 5 from 1 to 5 pm. at the Charlotte County Archives (old Gaol) Frederick St., St, Andrews. Subject-- Sources. Informal gathering. No fee. Bring a problem, a query and a friend. See you there.
QUERIES
Note: In-Laws, Outlaws and Kinfolk articles have been published on this site with the permission of the St. Croix Courier. Special thanks goes to the Courier for allowing me to reprint my mother's articles.9. JAMES F. GREENLAW: From Cherryfield, ME area. b. ca 1824/5. Mar. MARGARET McCLELLAND of Bayside, NB. CH: NAOMI, ADA, ANGELINE, MARTIN, JOHN, AUGUSTUS, HERBERT & JOSEPH. Seek any info on parents, siblings, other relatives.