My Dad and older sister disappeared down the dusty gravel road one summer day in 1967. My nose was a little out of joint, I wasn’t asked along. They hadn’t returned by evening. My cool sheets were a relief from the heat of the day and I slept. I heard my mother’s slippers slap theContinue reading “Hushed Conversations: Bev, Babbs, Beulah”
Author Archives: grannyfox55
Uncle Peter Miller
Peter Miller was brother to my 6th great grandfather Garrett and Jacob Miller the privateer. All fought in the Revolutionary War for the United Empire Loyalists and were awarded land. The following notes on his life were found in a book published 1929, by Tucker W. Bowman. The romance of the Palatine Millers: a taleContinue reading “Uncle Peter Miller”
Sometimes One Just Keeps Searching A New Discovery for Martin Miller
I have chosen this story of the ancestors for my 100th blog. At the time of writing Martin Miller: On Grief and Abandonment blog, I despaired of finding and almost gave up the search. Never give up the search! Garrett Miller my 6th great grandfather had ten children, of whom nine married. Here’s my newContinue reading “Sometimes One Just Keeps Searching A New Discovery for Martin Miller”
Thin Ice
Elizabeth Simcoe travelled to the Bay of Quinte with her husband, the Governor of Ontario. John Graves Simcoe was governor of Upper Canada, 1791-1796. He is known for founding York (Toronto), courts of law, trial by jury, freehold land tenure and abolition of slavery in Canada. In her diary she describes how the people areContinue reading “Thin Ice”
Hay Bay Tragedy
The year is 1819. Close your eyes and hear them singing those old Methodist songs. The sound of the hymns would echo over the Bay. The youngsters in the boat were newly converted. In this long ago time, when my grandfather’s lived in the settlements beside the Bay of Quinte, neighbors were few but theyContinue reading “Hay Bay Tragedy”
Get Me to the Church Before Noon, A Wedding, 1802
47 years ago today, I said I do. My sister was by my side as bridesmaid. My Great Grandmother Rebecca Miller Bush was witness to her brother’s wedding on August 3, 1802. Google tells me it was a Wednesday. I don’t know much about her life, except a google search also tells me she wasContinue reading “Get Me to the Church Before Noon, A Wedding, 1802”
Perplexed With Toothache
Anyone feeling sorry for themselves today? I can usually find someone I would not change places with! From the journal of a 3 rd cousin from January 17, 1772, Benjamin Bangs about 21 years old. “I am exceedingly perplexed with toothache. Had the tooth pulled at 12 times by 8 men. It broke 6 timesContinue reading “Perplexed With Toothache”
Hay Bay Camp Meeting
Old Hay Bay Church was built by the United Empire Loyalists in 1792. It is the oldest Methodist Church in Canada. Camp meetings were innovated by Baptists and Presbyterians and held revivals in the US in the early 1790’s. Reverend Nathan Bangs a circuit rider in the Loyalist settlements along the Bay of Quinte organizedContinue reading “Hay Bay Camp Meeting”
Softened At the Edges with a Spine of Steel
These are the women of my maternal ancestry. Sophia left a slave plantation and husband in North Carolina with six kids and moved to Texas during the Apache Wars. Her daughter Emily married a Civil War Union soldier, watched her husband rush during the Oklahoma Land Rush and homesteaded at Manyberries, Alberta. Emily buried herContinue reading “Softened At the Edges with a Spine of Steel”
Saddle Bag Preacher
The Reverend Nathan Bangs Anticipation! That is what Garrett and Elizabeth Miller and family were feeling this day in 1805. A young Garrett Jr. would rush to take the saddled horse to stable and feed the animal then hurry inside their log home 12 x 16 feet, to watch their mother add more water toContinue reading “Saddle Bag Preacher”
