#23- Multiple Names - Learning about "dit" names (for the French-Canadians I thought didn't exist)

 Never underestimate the value of visiting a place.

I tend to revisit the same types of places: gravesites, conferences, libraries.
But when I branch out to court houses and to historical societies,  I’m usually pleasantly surprised: I’m illuminated, I’ve got added information, and often the ‘why’s and wherefores’ are explained, mysteries are solved.

Several years ago my husband and I spent a few days in Quebec's Eastern Townships before our ultimate destination of Montreal.

My husband is a very social person and that's handy when traveling to unknown parts. In the Eastern Townships of Quebec we had spent a day in Bromont and Waterloo and then spent some time poking through Lawrenceville, Ely, Shefford, S. Stukey and other little towns.
 

My husband was seeking his grandmother’s family, the Kendalls from this area of Quebec. His father’s mother was born in Quebec. But we didn’t find the Kendalls (for a while). He was getting tired and bored with driving around. 

When we passed a building with a  sign that read: “GENERAL STORE and POST OFFICE” he stopped the car. He went inside to ask about the Kendalls.  He returned a minute later asking for more names. I gave him 2 family names of women who were likely from old families in the area. This time he popped back out to call me inside. 

To abbreviate the ensuing conversation I'll tell you the gist.  I mentioned Joseph Ward Kendall married Samantha Allard as his 2nd wife. The storeowner (who was a genealogist and married to my husband's 2nd cousin) knew the family name.
She said, “Oh! yes, the Allards!” Her  husband Rob said, “They’re an old French-Canadian family.” 

She added, “Right over there is Allard Road.
I was stunned.

This information did not fit with what I believed my husband's family would be. I knew they were Scottish immigrants or English to Canada, a few were disaffected Americans or Americans looking for more land (as in the Kendalls).

 

 Multiple Names and "DIT"

French-Canadian:
I know no French and I dreaded the thought of researching ‘dit’ names, because I was ignorant.
Yet, Samantha Allard’s father’s lineage and her grandmothers, have the typical French-Canadian “dit" names.

Logically if this lineage (the Allard family) had "dit" names, there would be a lot more going back. There was no avoiding "dit" names.

  

For the Allard line alone we need to go back to France--and the first Allard or Alard who arrived in Canada:

My husband's 8th gr grandfather
Pierre Alard II
B Abt 1600 Sainte-Hermine, Vendée, Pays de la Loire, France
D 18 Sep 1703 Beaupré, La Côte-de-Beaupré, Quebec, Canada
Married 1665 Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec, Canada
Marie-Marthe De Lugré
B Nov 1667 Chateau Richer, Quebec, Canada
D 19 Jun 1699 Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada

7th gr grandfather
Joseph Allard (Alard)
B 28 Nov 1694 Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, La Côte-de-Beaupré, Quebec, Canada
D 9 Dec 1767 St. Henri, Mascouche, Les Moulins, Quebec, Canada
à1723 November, a Marriage Contract made with "Cecile Berloin" (Canadian Notarial Record)
Note her 'dit' name:
Cecile Berloin dit Nantel
B 17 Jun 1706 St-Francois-de-Sales, Le Domaine-du-Roy, Quebec, Canada
D 4 Aug 1783 Mascouche, Les Moulins, Quebec, Canada

6th gr-grandfather
Joseph Allard
B 17 Aug 1724 Paroisse St-Charles de Lachenaie, Lachenaie, Québec, Canada
D 20 Apr 1800 Mascouche, L’Assomption-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada
Married 18 Oct 1745 in Lachenaie, Quebec
Marie Anne Chalifoux
B 4 Mar 1728 Lachiene, Quebec, Canada
D 28 Mar 1800 Lachiene, Quebec, Canada

5th great-grandfather
Françoise Allard
B 12 Oct 1769 Paroisse St Henri de Mascouche, Quebec, Canada
D Abt 1807  Quebec, Canada
Married 1789
Magdaleine Tellier [Lafortune]
B 1769 L’Asumption, Quebec, Canada
D 1833 St Roch Le Achigan, Quebec, Canada

4th great-grandfather
Francois Joseph Allard (Alard)
B 31 Mar 1790 Mascouche, L'Assomption, Quebec, Canada
D 1854 St. David d'Yamaska, Québec, Canada
Married- another "dit" name
Suzanne Mercier dit Lajoie
B 2 Sep 1798 Repentigny, L'Assomption, Québec, Canada
D 28 Jun 1877 Quebec, Canada

3rd great-grandfather
Stephen Allard  
B 1815 Quebec, Canada
D After 1881 Quebec, Canada
Married
Sarah (Marston?)
B 1810 Shefford, Quebec, Canada
D Before 1880, Quebec, Canada

Their daughter: 2nd great-grandmother of husband
Samantha Elizabeth Allard
Born 10 Apr 1840 West Ely, Shefford, Quebec, Canada
Died 16 Apr 1913 Waterloo, Shefford, Quebec, Canada
Married 30 May 1860 Lawrenceville (Shefford Methodist Church), Quebec, Canada
Joseph Ward Kendall (B 1820 D 1898) 

Joseph Ward Kendall and 2nd wife Samantha Allard (Luke Hale K is back, left)

 

 

Their children: 

Isaiah Johnston Kendall 1863–1921 

**Luke Hale Kendall 1866–1948 - my husband’s great grandfather 

Gardner Ward Kendall 1871–1935 

Dorothy Vermilia Kendall 1874–1941 

Alpheus Gordon Kendall 1876–1956 

Florence Marion Amanda 1878–1935 

Jennie Grace Kendall 1886–1908 

About those predecessors 

There are at least 2 “dit” names in the family. What is a dit name? I found an easy summary from a source:

 

What Is a Dit Name?

A dit name is essentially an alias, or alternate name, tacked on to a family name or surname. 

Dit (pronounced "dee") is a French form of the word dire, which means "to say," and in the case of dit names is translated loosely as "that is to say," or "called." 

Therefore, the first name is the family's original surname, passed down to them by an ancestor, while the "dit" name is the name the person/family is actually "called" or known as.

Dit names are found primarily in New France (French-Canada, Louisiana, etc.), France, and sometimes Scotland. They are used by families, not specific individuals, and are usually passed down to future generations, either in place of the original surname, or in addition to it. 

After several generations, many families eventually settled on one surname or the other, although it isn't uncommon to see some siblings within the same family using the original surname, while others carried on the dit name. 

The use of dit names slowed dramatically during the mid- to late-1800s, although they could still be found used by some families into the early twentieth century.

Dit names were often adopted by families to distinguish them from another branch of the same family. 

The specific dit name may also have been chosen for many of the same reasons as the original surname - as a nickname based on trade or physical characteristics, or to identify the ancestral place of origin (e.g. Andre Jarret de Beauregard, where Beauregard refers to the ancestral home in the French province of Dauphine). 

The mother's surname, or even the father's first name, may also have been adopted as a dit name.

Interestingly, many dit names derived from military service, where early French military rules required a nom de guerre, or war name, for all regular soldiers. 

This practice was a precursor to identification numbers, allowing soldiers to be identified collectively by their given name, their family name, and their nom de guerre.

 

Example of a Dit Name

Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower, was born Alexandre Gustave Bonickhausen dit Eiffel in Dijon, France, on 15 December 1832. 

He was a descendant of Jean-René Bönickhausen, who emigrated to France from the German town of Marmagen in the early 18th century. The dit name Eiffel was adopted by descendants of Jean-René for the Eifel mountain region of Germany from which he had come. Gustave formally changed his name to Eiffel in 1880.

 

How You Might See Dit Names Recorded

A dit name can be legally used to replace the family's original surname.  

Sometimes the two surnames may be linked as one family name, or you may find families who use the two surnames interchangeably.

Thus, you may find an individual's name recorded with a dit name, or under either just the original surname or just the dit name.

Dit names may also be found reversed with the original surname, or as hyphenated surnames. 

  

How to Record a Dit Name in Your Family Tree 

When recording a dit name in your family tree, it is generally standard practice to record it in its most common form - e.g. Hudon dit Beaulieu. A standardized list of dit names with their common variants can be found in "Rene Jette's Répertoire des Noms de Famille du Québec" des Origines à 1825, and Msgr Cyprien Tanguay's "Dictionnaire genealogique des familles canadiennes (Volume 7)." Another extensive source is The dit Name: French Canadian Surnames, Aliases, Adulterations, and Anglicizations by Robert J. Quentin. The American-French Genealogical Society also has an extensive online list of French-Canadian surnames, including variants, dit names, and Anglicizations. 

When the name is not found in one of the above sources, you can use a phone book (Québec City or Montréal) to find the most common form or, even better, just record it in the form most often used by your ancestors.

SOURCE: Powell, Kimberly. "What Is a Dit Name?" ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/what-is-a-dit-name-3972358. [Accessed 12 July 2020]

#22 - When Obituaries are Newsworthy - Henry J Kendall and Dorothy Parker

Newsworthy Obituaries

Obituaries fall into three categories: good, bad and indifferent. Every family historian loves an obituary (not a recent one, of course). We want the obituary to be full, complete and, most of all, accurate. 

An obituary I held on to for years helped verify my husband's 3rd great-grandparents: Henry J Kendall & Dorothy Parker, and their location.

Searching for this Henry James Kendall, first I combed through Ancestry's records first. Then, I went to Family Search to  search their collections. But Family Search's data on Henry James Kendall was inconclusive. Most of my records were from Ancestry.

Facts: Henry James Kendall was born in the US, but he died in Canada (where he owned property).

Records said he died in Quebec, Canada. And also that his son (Joseph Ward Kendall) was born in Quebec, Canada.

Fact: Henry Kendall's wife's first name was Dorothy. I had reason to believe her last name was Parker. I didn't know where Dorothy was born.

Obstacle: I could not find records of their marriage in Canada.  

I looked for border crossing records but they, or he, or she had immigrated there in the early 1800s.

Of course, this was before border crossing records were kept. It was in the 20th century that the US-Canadian border was continuously manned.

In earlier days, New Englanders shuttled back and forth between their homes in Quebec and Vermont, New Hampshire or Massachusetts (this, I know from my husband's other family members' records). I wondered if perhaps they wed in New England then moved to Quebec.

Additional obstacle: Getting the Right Man/Woman

I need to find Henry James Kendall married to Dorothy (Parker?) and to look either in New England or in Quebec, Canada.  Church records have that information, but volumes of information doesn't mean I have the right man.

 

I found a lot of Kendalls and Parkers in New England at the time. But I didn't find my Henry Kendall. Actually, I did, but I wasn't sure it was the right man. 

And, the Kendalls went in for large families. This meant I found plenty of Henry Kendalls, Dorothy Kendalls, James Kendalls....you get the idea.

I considered looking at the Quebec records once more, but they had been inconclusive.

I found an Obit: But not Online

I found an obituary, but it wasn't "out there" on the internet, or in an institution. I found it here at home, offline.

In search of concrete information on my Henry Kendall, I felt frustrated with information overload. In a fit of pique, I searched (that means I dug through) my resident computer files with one word: "Kendall"

There it was. Buried in my computer, I stumbled on two obituaries I had downloaded years ago and had saved. One was more recent and then there was one the other one which "opened up the door."

I had forgotten that I had saved this obituary to my computer 6 ½ years ago. (Tip: keep your computer indexed!)

No, it wasn't Henry James Kendall's obituary, nor his wife's, but someone else's.  But that was all I needed. So yah, it was a good obituary (even though it wasn't his). 

Here is the information from the obituary:

Obituary Data

The obituary was for Mariah (also spelled Maria) Kendall, their daughter, who was sister to my husband’s ancestor Henry James Kendall.

Daughter of Henry J Kendall & Dorothy Thankful Parker

>>Mariah was the daughter of Henry James Kendall and Dorothy Thankful Parker. On March 17, 1841 in Lawrenceville, Canada she married Lyman Knowlton Phillips, son of Oliver and Hannah W. Phillips, and widower of Florina (Lawrence) Phillips. They had 11 children. At some point she and her son Lafayette moved to the US (he was born in 1862).<<

I knew Joseph Kendall (son of Henry and Dorothy) had a sister Maria(h). This obituary made me guess Mariah was born ca 1820 and likely in Quebec, Canada.

If Mariah was in Canada in 1820, likely her mother was, and perhaps her brother Henry James Kendall.

Next mission: to find out where Henry J Kendall and Dorothy Parker were wed.

Since I had some traction I decided to circumvent the US databases and dig in to the Canadian database.

I "Traveled" To Canada via Ancestry.CA

My husband has deep Canadian roots, so I usually get a Global Ancestry subscription for my birthday gift. This way I can search N. American (Canada) records.

I logged into Ancestry.ca -- the Canadian Ancestry site. Doing this I have found makes searches in Canada more targeted. I get quicker results.

HUZZAH!

It brought me immediately to a: “Henry Rindall” who married a Dorothy Parker in Canada in 1818.

I looked at the image (one always should). 

Signed Henry Kendall Dorothy Parker - Cropped version 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full page with date of register

Henry James Kendall & Dorothy Thankful Parker and family: 

Henry James Kendall (His parents: Nathaniel Kendall who was born 12 Sep 1759 Lancaster, Mass and died aft. 1796 in Troy, Cheshire, New Hampshire and Rebecca Bodge, born 15 Mar 1751 Charlestown, Mass. Died ?) 

Henry J Kendall B. Apr 1794, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA D. 26 Jun 1874 Lawrenceville, Quebec, Canada M. 

Dorothy Thankful Parker (Her parents: Caleb Parker of Massachusetts, and later Quebec and her mother,Thankful Pratt also of New England.) Dorothy T. Parker was born Apr 1800 in the US and died 30 Jul 1870 in Lawrenceville, Quebec, Canada 

Their children: 

Any information that was not from the Kendall family was from public records, specifically from: Ancestry.com or Ancestry.ca

#21 - Immigrants of Early Maritime Provinces

  ONE

One--that's all you need sometimes to send one hint to set you one a genealogical discovery path. It was one middle name "McGee" that got me searching for my husband's ancestors. That one name, McGee was an inheritance of sorts from the Canadian settlers of Nova Scotia and it set me on this path to discovering their genealogy, along with a visit to the town of Pictou.
In another post I wrote of my husband's 5th great grandparents: Barnabas McGee, an Irish (Ballycastle, N. Ireland) immigrant to Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada. He settled Merigomish, "Barney’s River," Nova Scotia, with his wife Nancy Carroll.
And their son Charles McGee [b 1778] married into the Blackie family.
Charles McGee of Merigomish, NS married Charles Blackie & Jannet (Herries)'s daughter named Margaret Blackie. Charles McGee M. Margaret Blackie, they are my husband's 4th gr-grandparents.

What do I know nothing about most of the immigrants? Not much, but there is much out there about immigration woes.

Part of Pictou, NS, Canada  June 2015 -my photo

Here’s a bit of the story of Pictou's settlement by white Europeans. 

• 1767 - 1st permanent white settlers in Pictou County arrived in the ship Betsy on June 10, 1767, making a tiny settlement out of the forest about two miles from the present town of Pictou.  
• 1773 – 2nd The ship Hector arrived with 189 Scottish Highland immigrants on board.  
• The 3rd group of white Scottish settlers had not intended to settle in Pictou. 

“It’s all quite lovely -apart from the mice:” How families were driven out of Prince Edward Island and fled to Pictou, Nova Scotia 

Charles Blackie and Jannet Herries immigrated to Prince Edward Island on the ship the Lovely Nellie in 1773, sailing from Galloway and arriving 23 August 1773. They and their fellow settlers were from the south of Scotland. 

 

They planned to settle on Prince Edward Island. They had chartered their own vessel; sailed from the port of Annan, in Dumfriesshire, and arrived at Georgetown (on Prince Edward Island, Canada) in the spring of 1773. 

Although they arrived well-prepared, a plague of mice destroyed their first season's crop! 

They forged ahead, got see for the spring planting (1774) from Nova Scotia, and re-planted. But this time the mice ate the seed in the ground. 

Then, in the fall of 1774 compounding their problems, the supplies (from Scotland) were stored in the Georgetown Harbor, Prince Edward Island. 

One night, the precious stores were plundered by riotous sailors and fishermen from New England in a drunken orgy on the eve of their departure back to New England. 

Now the newly arrived settlers were almost without food and consequently suffered severely throughout that winter (1774-75). 

 

Prince Edward Island in summer--wasn't kind then either

They suffered so much that they gave up on Prince Edward Island all together. And in the spring of 1775 moved as a group to Pictou, Nova Scotia. 

Canadian Arrival records: Charles Blackie, Janet Herries (Blackie)wife; Sons & daughters: John, James, William, Ann (Margaret was born in Nova Scotia) 

There were thirteen families and a single man in the party, and with one exception, they settled permanently in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada. 

My husband's ancestors, Charles Blaikie (Blackie) and his wife Jannet, settled with six others families at West River (now Durham.

Durham (West River) in relation to Pictou

Remarks 

The settlers brought a valuable element to the early Pictou settlement: since they had come from one of the best agricultural districts in Scotland and had worked the land all their lives. Several of them were sons of landowners while others had been tenant farmers. As a result, most of them prospered from the beginning. This group seemed satisfied with their new home. 

Apparently from their letters back to Scotland, they boasted of their new properties. And, consequently, their relatives and acquaintances in the South of Scotland were began to arrive in Pictou; and continued coming for many years. These settlers imported valuable livestock, seeds and fruit trees from Scotland. 

 

Still at West River are found black cattle of Galloway (Scotland), and there is a breed of horse called Galloway, which is in the vicinity. 

 

[The story of the settlement is from: Pictonians at Home and Abroad, by John Peter MacPhie; Immigration records, Records: Government of Canada; Maps: Google Maps; Photos: ACJohnson collection]

#20 - Unexpected Marriage Contract - Sarah Riddlesdale Heard

My husband's 9th great grandmother's unexpected marriage contract

Children are difficult to raise—especially when you’re trying to put food on the table, then when your husband dies, things go from hard to impossible. The colonial community hoped that the family has made provisions for the children, so they don’t become a public burden (or nuisance).
 
In colonial British America (here, New England), the force of the father’s will, the public need to have children brought up, and the mother’s own desires for her children, as well as her own property. And, generally, English Common Law would apply.

Sarah Riddlesdale Heard, (9th great grandmother) had to make a marriage contract upon her remarriage in order to secure her property (here, she owns land in England, she believes).
If she did not do so, her property would be possessed (or disposed of) by her new husband. Clearly a marriage contract  was a very smart thing for a woman to do.

About the family: Sarah Riddlesdale’s 1st husband was Luke Heard, a linen weaver, who died in Ipswich MA in 1647, and his short will (not shown here) stipulated the first couple of items in the contract regarding the sons’ inheritance. Sarah subsequently married Joseph Bixby and had my husband's 8th gr grandfather, Daniel Bixby, by him.

Her sons by her late husband were John and Edmund Heard. A grandfather is mentioned in her contract, "Wyatt"- apparently he was a John Wyatt and was Sarah Riddlesdale’s stepfather, whose name (presumptively) she took as a girl. [This, I read elsewhere, and presume accurate (though it could be Luke Heard’s mother’s father?)].
Her contract provides for
1) the raising of the sons in apprenticeships, and their schooling,
2) for dividing of money to them, and
3) for Sarah’s land in England--to remain hers.

The contract gave her enormous leverage in case her new husband Joseph Bixby, did not live up to the terms of the contract. Well done! 

 Here is my transcribed version of the marriage contract between Sarah Heard (Riddlesdale) and Joseph Bixby:

 

 Marriage Contract
"The condition of this obligation is such, yt ye above bounden Joseph Bigsby and Sarah Hearde, (in case they proceed together in marriage intended,) if they or either of them shall doe or cause to bee done these things following:
1. That the two children of the said widow, wch were left unto her by her late husband, Luke Hearde, of Ipswich, Linnen weaver, be well brought up and due meanes be used to teach them to read and write well as soone as they are capable.
2. That at the age of thirteen years at the furthest, they be put forth to be apprentices in such trades as Mr. Nathaniel Rogers, their Grandfather Wyat, and Ensigne Howlet, in writing under their hand, or any two of them in like manner shall advise unto, and the children like of.
3. That unto the said children be paid, at the age of one and twenty years, fifteen pounds given them by will of their father, vis: ten pound to the older, at his time of one and twenty yeares, and five pounds to the younger when he shall bee at the like age: also that the bookes bequeathed them by their father be given them by equall division, according to his will.
4. That five pounds more be paid to the children of the said Sarah,(if living,) or either of them at her will and discretion, as she shall see cause to divide it in even or unequall portions to them, or to give the whole to the younger in case the elder be better provided for.
5. That the said Joseph and Sarah shall doe, or admit to bee done, any such further order as the Court of Ipswich shall see meet to require upon the motion of the said advisors, for the securing of the forementioned dues to the children, as well as for the freeing of the said Joseph and Sarah from any entanglements on the children's part, by reason of her exequetrixship, or otherwise from hence arising beside the direct and true meaning and intent of these conditions.
6. That whereas, there is a portion of land in Asington, in Suffolke, in England, wch shall bee the right of the said Sarah after the decease of her mother (the tenor whereof is not certainly known to us,) if the said lands bee not entailed, then the said Joseph shall not claim any title hereunto by virtue of marriage with the said Sarah, but the said Sarah shall have the whole and sole power to dispose of it, both the use and the gift of it, when and to whom she shall thinke meet. That this obligation shall bee void and of none effect, otherwise to stand and bee of force."
Signed Joseph Bigsby, the mark | of Sarah Heard Witnesses-Margaret Rogers, John Rogers 

 (This document is found in Essex County Court files at Salem, MA)

#19- Charles Blackie and Janet Herries-Scotland to Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia

 Uncertain Times When You Immigrate

You're not certain you did the right thing. You made a near-herculean to leave hearth and home, kith and kin, pulling up stakes and setting out across the wide ocean to settle in the Promised Land of Prince Edward Island, only to have a series of setbacks there. You and the group you traveled with may starve to death. You can't go home--it's too late for that. Then the offer is made--move AGAIN, but to the mainland.

Prince Edward Island in late June

 

Nothing is certain, and it wasn't certain they could 'make' it on the mainland either. Yet my husbands' 5th gr grandparents (on his father's side) moved on (once again). Pulling up and moving from the island to the mainland where they finally settled. Pictou, Nova Scotia had fishing, but it also offered more game hunting. 

Pictou, Nova Scotia in late June

My husband’s 5th great grandfather and grandmother, Charles Blackie and Jannet Herries immigrated from Galloway, Scotland first to Prince Edward Island (Canada) on the ship the Lovely Nellie arriving 23 August 1774. (Their daughter married another immigrant son, Charles McGee, whose parents are described elsewhere). 

Charles Blackie 

B 1737 Location: Kirkcudbright, Scotland 

Christened:28 December 1737 at Colvend and Southwick, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland 

D 11 Oct 1807 Greenhill, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada 

and 

Janet Herrise/ Herries 

B 1737 Buittle, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland 

Christened 27 March 1737 Buittle, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland 

D 11 October 1807 West River, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada 

Buried Oct 1807 Durham, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada 

 

Their daughter: ~Margaret Blackie B Pictou, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada D 19 March 1867 Merigomish, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada 

Margaret Blackie married Charles McGee (son of Barnabas McGee and Nancy Carroll) 

~Charles McGee B 24 November 1778 Merigomish, Pictou, Nova Scotia D 28 September 1876 

Charles Blackie

 – Immigrant Charles Blackie (or Blaikie), and his wife Janet were members of a group called “Pioneers of Pictou, Nova Scotia [Canada]. 

They were the final wave of three groups who came from Scotland. 

The initial plan was to settle in Prince Edward Island. However this effort was abandoned after several failed attempts. 

A large group of families then decided to move from Prince Edward Island to Pictou, Nova Scotia. 

In the spring of 1775, they all moved from Prince Edward Island to Pictou, Nova Scotia, all 13 families and 1 single man: all except one settled permanently in Pictou County. Seven of the immigrants settled at West River: Anthony McLellan, William Clark, David Stewart, William Smith, Joseph Richards, John McLean and Charles Blackie. (Four settled on the Middle River, two others went to the East River. And one remained in Pictou before moving later.) 

 --------

Sources: 

Pictonians at Home and Abroad The Pioneers of Pictou (under the subtitle: South of Scotland People, https://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/pictou/pictou1.htm )

A History of the County of Pictou, Nova Scotia. Montreal: Dawson Brothers, 1877, pp. 449-465. Reprinted by Pictou Advocate, Pictou [Nova Scotia], 1916, pp. 281-293.

# -18 Andrew Antilla & Marion L Cook - Alcoholism Invades

 Secrets

There a some secrets I'm privy to that I found out by accident. A few years ago I was scanning photos with my mother. She told me one of my father's uncles had an entire family.

It was a secret because  it was a scandal.One of my grandmother's brothers married and had a large family, then took a mistress, and had a large family with her. He worked to keep both families afloat financially.And of course, now his offspring's DNA is surfacing. 

When Secrets Are not Scandals

With time, some things are re-labeled and become acceptable. My grandfather was a "bastard"-- it used to be a carefully guarded secret but now that it's commonplace to have children without married parents, it's still a secret, but no longer a scandal.

I accept given knowledge usually, but sometimes I reassess the givers bias. For example, my husband's mother brother died from alcoholism. Their father had died from alcoholism as well (Andrew Antilla). She identified her blood relatvies who was an alcoholic. Next to her father, Andrew Antilla, she wrote:  “ALCOHOLIC”   

Let's Revisit This.
Decades had passed since I saw that paper and only late did it dawn on me that all the identified alcoholics were men. Not unusual. 

But what about his wife, Marion Lottie Cook?  I realized that it wasn't just her father who was an “alcoholic,” but her mother was, too. It was not as widely acknowledged that women could suffer from excessive drinking.
Now I wonder did her parents' alcoholism shape their daughter's, (my mother-in-law) youth? 

It must have been so very hard for her: she was the eldest of 5, to not have a sober parent.

The Truth. 

Looking at it from a distance of several years, I'm certain that both of Ruth's parents Andrew Antilla and Marion L Cook Antilla, were alcoholics.  

Andrew Antilla Marion Lottie Cook May 1934, New Hampshire

#17-Thankful Pratt ; wife of Caleb Parker and mother of Dorothy Parker

 BEING THANKFUL
My husband's 4th great grandmother was someone to be thankful for: her name was "Thankful."

THANKFUL PRATT

Thankfull Pratt was born on 6 Oct 1761 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Her father was Elnathan Pratt and was close to 40 when she was born. Her mother Abigail Mixer was 31. Her parents were lifelong Shrewsbury, Massachusetts residents. She appears in her father's will as Thankful Parker.
MARRIAGE

Thankful married Caleb Parker on May 29, 1781 at 20. Caleb Parker was the son of Stephen Parker (originally of Newton, MA) and Abigail Wright (of Woburn, MA), who, at some point ended moving to Brattleboro, Vermont, probably before 1760.

Caleb Parker was born 14 Jul 1760 in Brattleboro, VT and died on 4 Mar 1826 in Stukely-Sud, Memphrémagog, Quebec, Canada.

FAMILY
Thankful (Pratt) and Caleb Parker had three children who survived to adulthood (as far as I could tell).

She gave her daughter Dorothy "Thankful" as a middle name.

Thankful and Caleb and their family moved to the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada some time after 1800.

Thankful (Pratt) Parker died on November 3, 1849, at 88 in Shefford, Quebec, Canada,  and was buried there.

DAUGHTER:
DOROTHY THANKFUL PARKER

My husband's 3rd great grandmother, Dorothy Thankful Parker, was born on April 23, 1800, in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Dorothy married Henry James Kendall on March 30, 1818, in Dunham, Quebec, Canada.

They had nine children in 17 years and one of them was my husband's 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Ward Kendall.

Her husband, Joseph Ward Kendall, was born on 23 Apr 1820 in South Stukely, Shefford County, Quebec, Canadaand died 5 Aug 1898 Waterloo, Shefford County, Quebec, Canada.

Dorothy Thankful (Parker) Kendall died on 30 Jul 1870 in Lawrenceville, Quebec Canada at 70  years old and is buried there.