Canada Day

[Sharon]

Interested in your history in Canada.

My ggggggrandfather was a member of the German Hessian Army. That army joined up with Britain to fight in the American Revolution in 1776. When the war was lost, the Hessians and Loyalists headed north to Canada- Montreal. They were given land for their loyalty and my grandfather was given land on South Bay in Prince Edward County. Of course the route from Montreal to Prince Edward County was very difficult. Once there , the land had to be cleared. Without the help of the First Nations people, the Hessians would never have made it through that first winter. Name was Denert (German) but changed to Dainard as the Germans weren't too popular.

I still visit their land when touring in Prince Edward County.

What's your story?

[Fox]

My mothers side came from Germany in the 1870s, Ireland is the 1850s, Dads side from Germany in the 1850s. The all showed up in Canada poor, no matter what they had in the old world. They worked as farmers, stone masons, tool makers, moon shiners, boat builders and dealt with their fair share of hardships. Farm house burned to the ground in the Depression, murdered for breaking up a bar brawl, loss of entire family due to the Spanish flu but they kept going and kept trying.

[severn don]

My fathers side landed in new France now Quebec in 1659 married a Ojibwa lady then as the relations started moving west my grand father delivered mail by canoe and dog sled north of Timmons. Opened a outfitters camp with his brother then moved to Sudbury. Ended up in Thunder bay were my brother married another first nations Ojibwa lady and lives on the reserve at lacsoul.

[mosquito]

Alot of my history on my mother's side is sort of dead ends, my great grandmother was an orphan that bragged about serving tea to Queen Victoria when she was still in the orphanage in England before coming to Canada. Nothing too exciting beyond that BUT I got my grandmother to write alot of what she remembered down before she died and if anyone has grandparents or great grandparents still alive it would be good to spend some time with them and get them to record, write or dictate (even if you are recording it in secret) what they remember. My Dad's side they have traced back to part of what is now Poland and my son's middle name has been in the family for 5 generations now (since 1899), I am 4th. There some stories that got me to do an ancestry dna test and I found out my cousin had done one too and we decided to have my uncle take it too (because of stories that look now to be false).... coincidentally just 3 weeks before he died.

I do have a few odd relations though, because my parents met a the wedding of my aunt and uncle, my aunt and uncle on my Dad's side are also cousins if I trace it on my Mother's side... but other than hard working there isn't much of note.

You can't roll back time so like I said it would be a good time to get stories wrote down, do some ancestry work or even a DNA test depending on your available resources (great grandparents, grandparents, parents .... none of the above??? maybe a DNA test if you know little or nothing).

For example I didn't know my uncle had this kind of background until I read his obituary.

" Attached to the 482nd Bomb Group, he became a radar specialist with a B-17 Pathfinder bomber crew conducting missions out of RAF Alconbury Air Field in England, using the H2X radar which he helped design. In the final months of the war he served at ground-based radar stations in France and Germany near the front lines. During the Battle of the Bulge, a turning point of the war, His radar unit accurately directed bombers to important enemy targets and greatly aided the defeat of Hitler’s Nazi forces."

What they failed to mention there was one of the very few stories he did tell .... the reason they could direct the bombers so well was that they were on the top of a high hill on the wrong side of the lines. They didn't know it until the supplies failed to show up and someone went to look and luckily no German's came up the hill. He did love his deer hunting and the 8mm Mauser (and Colt 45 (wonder where the German got that)) he took off a German sent many a deer to the dinner table.

Anyway .... my actual DNA results... so go learn something today (had to work late, had caffeine to finish so it already is the 1st as I write this).
https://www.oodmag.com/community/att...0&d=1498887453

Hope everyone has a great Canada day and gets time with family and friends.

[JoePa]

My mother and father both came from Germany in the late 20s - my father came first with 2 brothers - all got jobs in the coal mines in northeast Pa. - both brothers eventually got killed in two separate mine accidents - my father didn't go back to the mines after the second brother got killed - he worked construction part time and in a brewery but work wasn't steady - another brother was killed on the Russian front during the war - my father died when he was only 53 - things were pretty tough when I was growing up but somehow we made it - I got married after I came out of the army - eventually got degrees in engineering and raised 5 kids - wife died over 20 years ago - now at 83 I'm still hanging in there - ok - what does this have to do with Canada Day - I go fishing a lot in Canada that's what - just got back the other day from fishing and got soaked

[Sharon]

Fascinating stories. Thank you gentlemen.

[Bushmoose]

On my paternal side, my 6th Gr. Grandfather was Rene Cuillerier who arrived in this land around 1650 from France. He settled on the shores of the St. Lawrence at Lachine as a farmer, but I understand he also was involved with the fur trade with the Northwest Fur Company. Another GGrandfather was an employee with the Northwest Company as a Voyageur and then later with the Hudson's Bay Company when they took over the fur trade. In fact several of my ancestors are documented as having been Voyageurs. during the time period.
On the maternal side, research is still being done, but my GGrandparents came from the Gaspe region. It is believed the familys came up from east coast region of the U.S. in late 1700's to early 1800's.