I had a pleasant visit with one of my brothers today. It doesn't take long before the topic of conversation changes to family history or local history.
My three brothers still live and farm where we were born so they've lived in one location for long time.
Many , many changes have taken place. The local district was about 4 by four miles. When the original homesteaders arrived early in the last century there were approximately 23 families. So there were 23 farmsteads and families.
Today there are 2 farmsteads in that area where at one time there were 23 farmsteads so we have much to talk about. My nephews live on the 2 farmsteads that are occupied. We're all interested in who lived there.
Local histories have been written but that does not cover all the people who lived in the area. So off we go trying to make some connections and sense of what we know.
One wonders about the people who lived there. Where did they come from? Most people in the area came from Ontario. Hw long did they stay in the area? What made them leave? A walk through the cemetery brings up more questions. Some families lost one member and then moved on . The grave has been left and the memories are gone.
Now we may not discover much new information. We did think about going over some of the old farmyards with a metal detector!
It made for a pleasant visit.
Sounds a lot of good work. We seem to appreciate our history more as we age. Hoping to tap into Aimee's research on our family.
ReplyDeleteLet me know where I can tap in.
DeleteSo, how many dates and visits to the next homestead created marriages and kids for that chunk of land? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteYou couldn't get very far from home at that time.
Deleteit's always interesting to go over these matters with close family and try to get everything in its right place. In my family there has long been a story about an ancestor who did well and set up all his seven sons with their own farms. The "seven sons" bit always sounded a bit suspect to me. But if you looked in the phone directory 50 years ago there were lots of farmers with my surname. Recently my cousin did some research and found it all to be true, including those seven sons.
ReplyDeleteThere is much more info available now so that we can piece things together.
DeleteKay of Musings: It’s so awesome that you have three brothers with whom you can reminisce. It’s fabulous that you could have a lovely visit with one of them. I love talking to my brother too. He remembers a lot more than I do.
ReplyDeleteWhen I as a kid in the 40's many of the old timers were still living. I listened intently to their stories.
DeleteThat must have been a fun conversation. Always great spending time with a sibling, and going over with a metal detector is a splendid idea.
ReplyDeleteI live away from my siblings so I appreciate a visit.
DeleteSounds like you enjoyed the visit.
ReplyDeleteAlways good!
DeleteHubby and I watch a series called Murdoch Mysteries which we like because it weaves historic times, inventions and people into the mystery that takes place in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteI like historical fiction.
DeleteHow many structures are still present in some form or other?
ReplyDeleteOnly one that I know of. I know where most of the old yards were.
DeleteMy sister has most of the old family photos and has been scanning them into the computer so they can be shared. She is creating a family history as she does it to explain who's who. It is a huge project but she is organized and so she will do it well.
ReplyDeleteMany people get hooked on the family history and end up doing a tremendous amount of work. they don't stop.
DeleteWhat a great story!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun.
DeleteYes, an interesting visit indeed. Question: When you say that your 3 brothers live on the 2 farmsteads, does that mean, between the 3 of them, do they have ownership of the land? If not, who owns the land?
ReplyDeleteIt's two nephews that have farmsteads. Other people own land in that district but the family owns land in other districts. With modern equipment they can move machinery quite a distance.
DeleteIt's great that you both enjoyed the visit.
ReplyDeleteGood times.
DeleteThat is fascinating family history. Tell me more, if you know any, since the whole concept of living for such a long time in one place is foreign to me. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen we live on one community we learn much more family history.
DeleteMy parents live on land a mile by a mile and a half in dimension and surrounded by roads. In my youth, I could probably name a dozen or more families that lived on those bordering roads. Now the only house that remains is that of my parent's place. They bought out many of those farms as those families died or moved. It has always been on the back of my mind to someday get a metal detector and walk all those places to see what I might find, especially since I know the general layout of all those long gone farm buildings still in my memory banks.
ReplyDeleteThere's lots of junk left on the abandoned farm yards.
DeleteThat would be an interesting area to do some metal detecting:)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words in your comment on my post. It sounds like you had a fine visit talking over old family history.
ReplyDeleteDear Red can't tell you how happy I felt when you mentioned that your brother visited you. Such moments are priceless and refresh numerous memories :)
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how good you might have felt because of having some family time :)
This is am that your family kept up with the farming when most of people switched.
Now I got the nostalgia behind your newer posts, so natural