52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 25 (GROUPS)
British Columbia, Canada is in the middle of a heat wave that is shattering long held records. This week our community is set to break the record for hottest day ever, and yet officially summer has barely begun.
We live on the WEsT COAST - we get a lot of rain here. When we have a hot dry spell areas normally kept wet year round experience the hatching of a bizzillion mosquitoes. Those eggs have been just waiting and waiting and waiting for this type of drying to finally hatch & begin their search for blood.
Standing in our yard you can see GROUPS and groups of swarming mosquitoes the moment a living thing arrives.
My husband and I take turns going out to water the hanging baskets. If only one of us went daily during this hot spell we might be in need of a blood transfusion before the weather turns back to our normal cooler temperatures.
The photo above is a close up of the shirt that I gave my dad many years ago. He's retired Canadian Military, and lived in Manitoba at the time. The Canadian Prairies are well known for their large mosquitoes.
This is one of the treasures we have found while helping my dad declutter & downsize for his move to a smaller place.
I also found this Homestead record which I didn't know about when I ordered copies of my own from the Saskatchewan Archives several years ago. I opened an envelope, and realized I could have seen the homestead grant years before I paid to get a copy.
Back to my theme of groups of mosquitoes. When my great grandparents arrived to Canada in June of 1909 from Ukraine they were introduced to mosquitoes while traveling by oxen & wagon with all their worldly goods from Star City to brother Mikita's homestead in Gronlid where the family would eventually obtain the nearby homestead above.
The family of 5 (Alexander, Mary, 11 year old Johanna, 6 year old Harry, 3 year old Stephania) traveled on the ship Willehad. They left the Port of Bremen on June 2nd 1909, and arrived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on June 19th 1909.
I can't be sure they didn't already know mosquitoes because my searching suggest Ukraine does have mosquitoes even though the memoirs I read of the Ukrainian immigrant experience suggested they didn't. Maybe it was just the size of the Canadian mosquitoes that were different.
"... The family departed by train from Skoroki to the port of Bremen, There, a wait of several days ensued while sufficient cargo of livestock and people were assembled to make the voyage profitable. Livestock were placed in the bottom and people were placed in the middle deck. Sometime in May, 1909, the leaky ship set out to sea With numerous stops for additional cargo and delays caused by traffic and icebergs, the voyage took some sixteen days. Quebec felt cold. From the large gathering hall which was the dispersal point for all immigrants, the family was shuffled onto a train bound for Winnipeg and eventually to Star City. Alexander's brother, Makita who immigrated to Canada two years earlier, met them at the train with a cart and oxen which he had hired from a neighbour. It was a long trip from Star City to the homestead east of Gronlid. Imagine bumping down cut lines, over stumps through sloughs. It was an unforgettable experience, a dark rainy night, with their first encounter with mosquitoes! ..." 1
"When the women saw their little log cabin, which was to be their home for a while, they wept, and almost ganged up on their husbands, and if they had ropes, I believe they would have lynched every last one of them. We are going right back they said, we are not remaining here to be eaten alive by these big elephants, which you call mosquitoes ..." 2
112 years & 1 week after their arrival in Canada I write this blog.
I am Canadian because my great grandparents left all they knew behind to call Canada home. All that I have, and all that I am, I owe to their desire to make a new life.
I am Canadian because my great grandparents left all they knew behind to call Canada home. All that I have, and all that I am, I owe to their desire to make a new life.
Keeping the stories of our ancestors alive!!!
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
This is why I search -
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Footnotes:
1 "Our Courageous Pioneers : History of Gronlid and Surrounding Districts of Argus, Athol, Edenbridge, Freedom, Maryville, Murphy Creek, Sandhill Creek, Taelman, Taras, Teddington,." (Melfort Saskatchewan: Phillips Publishers , 1991), 188
2 Rosenberg, Norman. "Edenbridge: The Memory Lives On." (Melfort, Saskatchewan: Phillips Publishing, 1980) 62
Links:
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/
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