Max Pellack ~ I'm Not a Diamond Heiress with a Tiny Flluuuffy Dog in a Sparkly Flllluuufffy Handbag!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 13 (In the Paper)

In 2002 I was contacted by a relative that I had recently managed to find in my fractured family tree.

She told me a geologist had contacted her about trying to find descendants of my grandfather who in 1965 quietly went back to using his assumed name. He continued to use his assumed name until he died in 1986. He was buried with all the details of his assumed name on his headstone. 

This geologist had been unable to locate my grandfather as he was searching by the name he had been born with. 

I was very curious what this geologist might want, and was stunned when he told me of my grandfather's connection to a diamond find in 1961 in northern Saskatchewan. 

Winnipeg Free Press, September 20, 1961

There was a brief time in the 1960s where my grandfather went back to using his birth name.  

Winnipeg Free Press, September 15, 1961

After taking a prospector's course while in prison he went in search of diamonds. He had claims. He let them lapse. He said he had a partner who learned to prospect while in prison. It's my guess he didn't want anyone to know he had been in jail so claimed an unnamed partner. 

The Geologist who found me was researching the mining of industrial diamonds in northern Saskatchewan. He shared with me the details.  De Beers was rumoured to be connected to the company who had assessed the product my grandfather sent for testing. That company said there was no diamonds in the material grandpa sent. De Beers sat and waited until everyone forgot, formed a partnership with a few other companies, and then they quietly set up shop mining diamonds. De Beer's was mining the very same area my grandfather found his diamonds until they sold their shares in 2006. The area is still being mined. 

I  was surprised to find the name of the geologist who contacted me in two articles (1) (2) since he didn't disclose that he was a part of the project when he was talking to me. This discovery has left me even more curious about his intent when he first contacted me. I wasn't able to offer him any information since I didn't know anything more then he provided. I suspect I didn't give him whatever information he was looking for. 

If only my grandfather had maintained his claims ~  a Diamond Heiress I would be. Instead my grandfather squandered away my true destiny as a princess dripping in diamonds. 

AND with that my destiny as the owner of a tiny flluuuffy dog in a sparkly flluuufy handbag was squandered. As you can see she is not able to be sequestered in a tiny sparkly flllluuuuufy handbag. 




Now, don't get me wrong. I love my dog. We saved her from a shelter. We are what is referenced as Foster Failures. She was our foster dog, but very soon after her arrival we knew we couldn't part with her. She is an Irish Terrier crossed with Belgian Shepherd. She's smart, well behaved, sheds like a demon and is rather large. She does not fit into a sparkly fllluuuuufffy handbag.  

I was destined to be a diamond heiress with a tiny miniature dog that I could carry in a handbag. No flllluuuuffffy handbag with a miniature canine and no diamonds - not even one!

My online searching found a lot of information about my grandfather's diamond discovery, but sadly there was no record of it within my own family. There are more IN THE PAPER records for me to explore as listed in the University of Saskatchewan New Index. (3)



Unearthing the lost stories. 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!




DISCLAIMER (for anyone who read the previous entry): this is an updated blog from 2016 

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post*** 

Sources:

(1) The Northern Miner, Volume 81, Number 22, July 31 to August 6 1995, Retrieved March 30, 2019 from https://prosperitysaskatchewan.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/falc-history-from-northern-miner.pdf

(2) Times Colonist, March 19th 1993, Retrieved March 30, 2019 from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28366629/times_colonist_victoria_british/

(3) University Of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan News Index, Search: Pellack, Retried March 30, 2019 from https://library.usask.ca/sni/search.php?query=pellack

    

Other Sources:

Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North America Arctic, Retrieved March 30, 2019 from    https://books.google.ca/books?id=qPhdCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT184&lpg=PT184&dq=max+pellack+diamond&source=bl&ots=Oue5EMtdpE&sig=ACfU3U0IO7LiwdFK2r1cEiFvDTbHvHlEQA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK6fDvqKrhAhXHwFQKHdnVAW4Q6AEwA3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=max%20pellack%20diamond&f=false

History and current status of diamond exploration in Saskatchewan, Retrieved March 30, 2019 from http://publications.gov.sk.ca/documents/310/88677-harvey.pdf

Technical Report, Big River Property, Saskatchewan, Canada Retrieved March 30, 2019 from http://www.goldsourcemines.com/_resources/TECHRPT.pdf

United States, Securities and exchange commission,  Washington, D.C. 20549, Form S-1, Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933, Legend Mining Inc., Retrieved March 30, 2019 from  https://content.edgar-online.com/ExternalLink/EDGAR/0001393905-08-000188.html?hash=4ffcca59754d3f088c2783eb6f557e3fdf65b86aa9eb9eecf69ef5e81b75f2bf&dest=LGND_EX3-2_HTM#LGND_EX3-2_HTM

Winnipeg Free Press, September 15, 1961, retrieved online March 30, 2019

Winnipeg Free Press, September 20, 1961,retrieved online March 30, 2019

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