Puzey Family on Vacation 1918

 


Puzey Family on vacation

Originally uploaded by whistlepunch

 

This is my new FAVOURITE picture from the Puzey family side.
Mom got a copy from Uncle David and I've made a copy to display in my house because it is fabulous! It just makes sense as my favourite picture with my grandfather ( the young lad in the cart) is me as a youngster with him and some elephants. The two pictures belong together on my wall.

Here's the info:
It is likely that this was taken on a family vacation to California in 1918 after the farm did well that summer. This is Frederick and Emily Puzey with their son, Frederick Elmer. from Alberta. Checking similar pictures online - it appears to be taken at the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm, which was located near the entrance to Lincoln (Eastlake) Park, 3609 Mission Road, Los Angeles, California. Visitors could pose for a photo here that would be printed up as a postcard as a souvenir.

The website shares the promotion:

"Competent guides conduct all visitors and opportunity is given to see the entire industry from the eggs up to mature birds, 39 years old.

Take Yellow car marked "Lincoln Park" and get off at the farm. Fare 5 cents. Opposite entrance to Lincoln (Eastlake) Park.

TAKE A STROLL THROUGH THE FARM WHERE YOU MAY SEE
Over One Hundred of these Giant Birds on Exhibition
Five of them being the Largest in the United States, and one of them the Tallest in the World."

The site is now a residential treatment center for those battling chemical dependency.

Ancient Dig - Tbnewswatch.com

I spotlighted a video of my nephew Tanner singing and this time, my other nephew Sam is working on an archeological dig that was on the Thunder Bay news. He is seen a couple of time - in a yellow hat if that helps. (once in a panning shot and once in the background shot.)

Ancient Dig - Tbnewswatch.com (link no longer working)

The Suitcase Letters

US Mail
Originally uploaded by Steve 2.0

I have started ANOTHER wiki. I really intend to look more into other website creating tools but since I know wikis and can do what I need to with them, it is good for now.

This one is to document the progress on preserving and sharing a suitcase full of old letters and documents from the Toone, Mulholland and Hunter families. A big project but you never know what kinds of gems you may find. Lots of letters from missions from Leo, Avard and Jean, as well as letters from Hannah (my grandmother) after her marriage. But these goes further back than that generation and that is what I'm most excited about. I love how you can find surprises in the way people write and what they think is important to share.

The first letter I transcribed is from David Mulholland to his brother Tom. He signs off as "Dave". I NEVER thought of him as a 'Dave' before. He talks about the bees "singing around" and how the potatoes are "first class". And he gives his brother some advice "Keep all our business to ourselves as it does not do to open our mouths too wide".

Check it out and follow the progress on

http://thesuitcaseletters.wikispaces.com/

Family Reunions

It is summer and all around me, I hear of people going to family reunions.  I look forward to our Rhodes (Roots and Ruggles always invited/included) Reunion every summer and wish I had more opportunities to gather with family and share stories and time outside of the hustle bustle of regular life.

Family Reunions I would like to attend:

The Toone Reunion - I just heard a rumour that one is happening... I'm not sure I can swing it at short notice but I need to get myself on a contact list for knowing about this one.

A Webb Reunion - Is there one?  I just love learning more about this family and would like to make contact with this side - although it does overlap with the Toone Reunion - I'm curious about Hannah's family.

A Muirhead Reunion - Love to meet and know more about these Irish relatives!! I hope I can plan a trip to Ireland in the future.  The more I learn about Sam and Jenny, the more curious I am to learn more!

A Puzey Reunion - My grandpa Fred was an only child and now that I am looking at all his photos, I wonder about all the others in this family.   Only Henry and Henry William crossed to America - so the rest were in England.  I would love to know more about the family that were left behind and the new family established on this side of the ocean.

A Neilson Reunion - Swedish relatives!  This is the side of family is the mystery to me - I don't know much about the culture or traditions - I feel a connection every time I shop in IKEA... is that it? Need to know more!

I don't want to leave out other family lines but these are the ones on my radar at the moment.  If you are out there and know about a reunion for one of these lines, please share!!

Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day
Originally uploaded by David B.

In honour of July 24, Pioneer Day.

I have made a wiki with the names of those ancestors on the Toone and Puzey lines that crossed the plains to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley. Mostly a list and links now but hopefully this will continue to be a place to make their stories come to life.
http://ourpioneerheritage.wikispaces.com/

An End - Tanner Hopkins - Original Video Song

Gift exchange going strong after 34 years (Calgary Herald, 20 May 2010, Page N7)

An article about my mom - a nice way to recognize her 70th birthday (sorry mom - was that a secret?)

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Gift exchange going strong after 34 years
sheila rhodes
Calgary Herald
20 May 2010
In 1976, I was a Grade One teacher at Silver Springs School. I discovered a little blond haired boy named Jason Roberge in my class who shared his birthday on the same day as his teacher. That year we exchanged a gift. I gave Jason his favourite...read more...

Tech Tags: Calgary Herald newspaper NEIGHBOURS

Racavan, County Antrim

and then I saw a bright light (ir)
Originally uploaded by skiwiman

The home of Sam the Butcher and Big Jenny. (Muirhead) This lane is the path to go to the graveyard... beginning to celebrate my Irish roots and must plan the trip there soon (2011??)

Corfe Castle and the Pollard Family

Mind the Gap
Originally uploaded by StubbyFingers

Odd how things happen. Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time looking up photos and sources for the Pollard line of my family tree - (on the Puzey side). I've been thinking about how to get to know some of the lines that aren't the BIG FOUR - the Rhodes/Root and Puzey/Toone surnames but instead those surnames that branch off those lines.

Then, today at lunch I listened to a podcast that advised me to get to know the cities, towns, villages, famous buildings etc in the places your ancestors came from. I absolutely agree that it adds so much more to researching a line when you have some familiarity with the location.

Ever since visiting Derbyshire and some of the locations there, it is great to find a record and know that Norton is that place where I drove around looking for Backmoor and that Bolsover has an amazing castle.

And speaking of castles, one name that had always stuck in my head since the first time I wrote it on a pedigree chart was Corfe Castle. I didn't have any recollection of who was connected to this location but that has now changed. Ancestry.com is offline for maintenance tonight so determined to not indulge my research compulsion tonight in some other way but to just do one last thing and turn off the computer, I clicked over to Flickr and checked out a group that I watch. There was a stunning photo of the ruins of a castle and the group "game" is to post a photo to follow that has a matching tag. So I scroll down to the tags for this scene and surprise! It is Corfe Castle. This photo isn't the one I saw first but since that was from quite a distance, I browsed around and liked this tighter shot. Home of the Pollard Family. Okay they didn't live IN the castle but this is a castle that they would have seen, known, and now I finally have a picture to go with the name.

Now just to find out how to pronounce it....

"The Voyage of the Amazon" - Hannah Webb's Passage to America

I was looking for an image of the ship that Hannah Webb traveled to America on, knowing that Charles Dickens had visited the ship before it left England and wrote about his impressions. Instead of the image, I found this Ensign article and Hannah Webb is mentioned as being part of the company of Elijah Larkin's family as the passengers organized into families and wards. Hannah is the mother of George Ernest Toone and my own grandmother Hannah is named after her.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Voyage of the iAmazon:/i A Close View of One Immigrant Company