Middle Child ~ Max Pellack AKA Clyde Robertson

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 26 (MIDDLE)

                    

I grew up knowing my grandfather was born in San Francisco. By the time he met my grandmother in 1939 his parents were deceased. Being an only child he had no living relatives. 

My grandparents
Clyde & Mary
1940

My grandfather taught me how to play rummy, and served me ring slices of watermelon on a plate to eat with a spoon. He was a very crafty guy who made lamps, and let me choose a shade for the one he gifted me one summer I visited. Grandpa was an accountant which seemed boring to me. I thought I knew who my grandfather was.

Dad, Me, Grandpa

Grandpa, Me, Grandma, Dad

My grandparents
Clyde & Mary

It was many years after he died that I discovered I may have known who he wanted to be, but I didn't know who he started out to be.

The story of how Max Pellack became Clyde Robertson remains unknown. I have written about the search in other blog posts. What is known is that he was not an only child, and his parents were both still alive in 1940 when he met Grandma. 

Grandpa was the middle child of 7 living children born to Alexander & Mary (nee Maximiw) Pellack. He was the first child born in Canada. His older 3 siblings were born in Ukraine. His younger 3 siblings born at home - just like he was.


The family homestead was located in northern Saskatchewan - a small hamlet called Gronlid. 

A community I had never heard of, in a province I had never visited. 

My grandfather's part of the family tree went from 3 to 90 plus the children of the next generation.

Watching your tree grow as the generations are added!

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

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

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

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge

https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

Unexpected ~ Not Related To My Husband

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 25 (UNEXPECTED)


Many years ago I first heard the tale of the Meharg's in my husband's side of the Bramble Bush.



As the tale goes this line of the family had been sheep thieves. When they made the decision to leave their sheep thieving days behind they reversed the spelling of their name for a fresh start. Graham became Meharg.


My husband's X2 great grandmother was a Meharg
Rosa Lulu Meharg
BIRTH 12 JUL 1882 • Glen Meyer, Ontario
DEATH 23 DEC 1962 • Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada


My mother's maiden name was Graham.


There was little doubt in my mind that my husband and I were related via Clan Graham.


Flash forward many years, and we receive our Ancestry DNA results which show we are not related.


BUT wait -- what if it's too small a match to flag for Ancestry.
Off to GedMatch for final confirmation

Nothing in my family tree was as unexpected as finding out my husband and I had no in common DNA segments via the Graham family line.


I went in search of the story we had heard. There are many records of exact and similar stories out there which may suggest there is some truth to the tale about a fresh start after a life of thievery.  


There are also many sources that Meharg is an Irish name that had nothing to do with the Grahams of Scotland.

This very unusual Irish name is believed to originate from Galloway in Scotland where it was originally spelt as Mac Giolla Chairge - 'the son of the servant of Carraigh' - a personal name meaning 'the rock'. There are number of alternative modern spellings including MacIlhagga, McIlharga, MacElhargy, Maharg and Maharg, these alternatives being found generally in counties Antrim and Derry. The abreviation of 'Mac' to 'Ma' or 'Me' is common in Ulster for reasons of dialect. The name also appears in The Famine Record for 1845-46 as Mahagin (son of the son of 'Harg') and Michael Maha, as well Joan Maharg of Liverpool, described as a lady who eimgrated to America in 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mac Giolla Chairge which was dated 1659 the All Ireland Census during the reign of Richard Cromwell, The Lord Protector 1658-1659 Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. 1

My husband's X3 great grandfather arrived from Ulster, Ireland
John Franklin Meharg 
BIRTH 24 JUN 1832 • Rathfriland, Ulster, County Down, Ireland
DEATH 7 JUN 1909 • Norfolk, Haldimand, Ontario, Canada

John Franklin & Mary Etta (nee Longstaff) Meharg, and their children
source: Ancestry 

my great grandfather arrived from Scotland
Robert (Bob/Bobby) Graham
BIRTH 3 MAY 1906 • Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 10 AUG 1960 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

My great grandfather Robert (Bob) (Bobby) Graham is not in this photo
his son (John Robert (Jack) and ex wife Nellie (nee Cannon) are
along with his mother and siblings and their families
source: family photo

The Meharg line of our Bramble Bush is from Ireland, and the Graham line from Scotland. 



The roots of this Bramble Bush are not intertwined!

This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





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
















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






Footnotes:

1 Last name: Meharg, Surname Database, The Internet Surname Database, Retrieved June 20th 2020 from 
https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Meharg



Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

For The Love of Hand-Me-Downs ~ 100+ Year Old Bible

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 24 (HANDED DOWN)

Maybe if I was the youngest child in a large family I would have hated hand-me-downs, but I was the oldest in my family of origin. My mom was the oldest of 6 kids, and I am only 15 months younger than her youngest brother. The hand-me-downs I received were from my very cool young aunties and uncles. 


One of my fondest memories of my high school years was telling my 10 years older auntie that I loved the jeans she was wearing and I wished I could wear them to the dance that night. She dropped those jeans right there in our living room, handed them to me, and said she would need a pair of pants to wear home to avoid being arrested. 


I still love getting hand-me-downs from my family & friends, and even colleagues. Several years ago I worked with a colleague who had great taste in clothes. She offered me a bag of hand-me-downs after commenting that we had similar taste. I was so excited to receive them that day. Every now and then a surprise package arrives from her even though we no longer work together. 


I really do love hand-me-downs.

The oldest hand-me-down I have received is my great grandmother's bible. 

I realized that my great grandmother Elizabeth Young (nee Slicer) Thomson received this bible before her marriage on December 31st 1908 because the monogrammed initials are her maiden name - E.S.

I opened the bible to search for the copyright date, and spent a few moments sorting my emotions as I viewed my great grandmother's handwriting for the first time. 

This page gave me some clues to date the bible. The Oxford Press began doing business in New York in 1896. Henry Frowde was publisher for Oxford Press from 1880 to 1913. 

Horace Hart was the printer for Oxford University Press from 1883 to 1915. 


I will never be able to determine exactly when or why great grandmother Elizabeth received this bible. Using the available information at this point the published date is between 1896 and 1908. 


I found a copy listed on the WorldCat site (sourced below) that estimates publishing about 1900. Although the book looks similar there is one difference. The WorldCat notes Diamond 32mo on the title page, great grandma's is Emerald 16mo. It is in very good shape. All of the silk sewn binding is intact. There is very little staining.
It is humbling to hold a bible that is is 112-124 years old. 

There were two bookmarks in the bible when I received it. I don't know if anyone used the bible besides Great Grandma Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) who died in 1958. Her daughter (my grandmother) cared for it until she died in 2005, and then my dad looked after it until giving it to me this year.


I'm not sure if these bookmarks were initially placed by my great grandmother

I noticed there are some differences in current day bibles to this bible.

The pages below assist with navigation.

The page below is one of many for special occasion prayers. I found this one for travelers interesting.

I have never seen an indexed atlas to the Holy Bible

The maps are very detailed.  Just a few of the 12 maps below

The last page of the bible is a picture of the TEMPLE REBUILT BY HEROD which left me pondering how far we have come since ancient times.

Found inside the bible was this envelope

Inside the envelope I found quotes that my grandmother felt important enough to cut out and save. I also found a handwritten inspirational writing, and what may have been bookmarks. 

Trying to date what I found in the envelope proved difficult until I turned the newspaper clippings over. 

I found results of the horse races, but my searching didn't turn up a date. Cliff Johnson was killed in a logging accident in Port Alberni on November 3rd, but my searching the records on Ancestry and online didn't turn up a year. I was unsuccessful in narrowing down a year that Bob Long was re-elected as President for the Vancouver South Lawn Bowling Club. The article about the Chrysler Eight gave me the best guess since it was sold from 1931-1933.


I'm sure these enveloped treasures are from various times. Some of the clippings look older than the car article, but the paper type is different.


I loved getting a chance to meet my great grandmother, and hear what she thought was important. 



Passing things down through the family!





This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





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

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

Sources:

Chrysler cars, 1924-1966, Allpar, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler/chrysler-cars.html

CHRYSLER Imperial 8- 1931-1933, AutoEvolution, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler/chrysler-cars.html

The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments : translated out of the original tongues; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special command. Appointed to be read in churches., WorldCat, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://www.worldcat.org/title/holy-bible-containing-the-old-and-new-testaments-translated-out-of-the-original-tongues-and-with-the-former-translations-diligently-compared-and-revised-by-his-majestys-special-command-appointed-to-be-read-in-churches/oclc/926985410

A Short History of Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://global.oup.com/about/oup_history/?cc=ca

Sutcliffe, Peter (1978). The Oxford University Press: An Informal History. Oxford: Clarendon Press. List of Illustrations, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversity0000sutc/page/n17/mode/2up?q=frowde



Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

June Wedding ~ Jonathan & Martha (nee Mills) Wolfenden

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 23 (WEDDING)

June is a very common month for weddings. My husband and I were married in June. Jonathan & Martha (nee Mills) Wolfenden were as well. Conveniently they belong to this week's planned Bramble Bush Branch. 

I found the perfect couple to focus on with my husband's 4th great grandparents:

Jonathan Wolfenden
BIRTH ABT 1792 • Spotland, Rochdale, Lancashire, England
DEATH 27 DEC 1853 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England
and 
Martha Mills
BIRTH ABT 1799 • Rochdale; Spotland, Lancashire, England
DEATH 9 JUL 1853 • Spotland, Further Side, Rochdale, Lancashire, England


They were married on June 10th 1816 at the church below.
Martha was 17 and Jonathan was 24.

Church of St Chad, in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England   1 

I include this clip noting that neither Jonathan or Martha was literate on their wedding day. The registry is signed with their mark. There is much to learn by looking at the actual record instead of only the transcribed records. 

Marriage Banns Registry, Clipped from Ancestry

I have found records for the birth of 7 children who were all baptized in the same church their parents were married in. 





Family members who stayed put making them easy to track!







This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





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
















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









Footnotes:

1 Church of St Chad, in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. Attribution: Kram4 (Mark Henderson) / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), Retrieved June 3rd 2020 from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Chad%27s_church,_Rochdale.JPG






Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________