Lost at Sea

One thing nice about immersing oneself in genealogy research is that you meet distant cousins who start to feel like you really know them.  I've had this lovely pleasure by meeting my cousin Shirley (Amirault) Frost who is my 2nd cousin x1 removed.  She has been very generous in sharing stories that she has given me permission to share with you.  Her Uncle Alphe (Amirault), who I'm told had an encyclopedic memory, when he was 93 years old told her this story about his brother and two friends.  Luckily Shirley had the foresight to write this down.  Let me thank Shirley and here is Alphe's story:  

Notes written by Shirley (Amirault) Frost (written about 2007)
As told by Alphe Amirault, aged 93
Retired L’Aurore Credit Union Manager and Co-op Fish Plant

Lost at Sea
“I’ve watched the sun go down. On the very last it travels faster. Sometimes, according to where you are, it’s a dazzling thing, then it hides behind the earth, like a hill on the other side.  One never knows when they’ll reach that other side, you know.” Alphe T. Amirault

April 13, 1926

“I remember that day very well. I was 12 years old. It was just after the winter ice break-up. A northwest wind had breezed up after dinner, but it was fine and cool in the late afternoon.

I was in school. We had Catherine Belliveau (old maid) as the school teacher; she was smart, plain looking, a hard worker, and she had all of us kids under control because she was so strict.  One of the kids was Lawrence Isaar (d’Entremont); he was sitting on the western side of the school where he could look out the window across the harbour to West Pubnico. He saw three boys, Donald (Amirault) (Alphe's brother) and brothers Leslie and Bertie (d’Entremont) climb into a dory, leave the wharf and head across the harbour toward the island about half a mile away. Lawrence had a rather long neck; he was more interested in watching the boys than in his schoolwork.  While watching the boys in the dory, he noticed something was going wrong, he could see something shiny in the water, like a dory bottom up. He said to the teacher;”I think the boat is upset!” She dismissed the class right away. The boys ran to get help. There were three big strong men, Zik, (d’Entremont) Albert and Alfred Bill Paul (Amirault) cutting wood in Bert’s yard. They rushed to the wharf, grabbed a dory and headed out as fast as they could. They could see two people clinging to the boat; but they knew three people had left the wharf. They picked up Leslie and Donald, but there was no sign of Bertie. The water was very cold; the harbour had been frozen all winter. They knew Bertie couldn’t swim...

They brought the two survivors to shore, and helped them walk to Catherine Belliveau’s home to warm them up. Leslie died there, he was so cold, his heart was played out. It was quite a walk up the station road to the house, and they were wet, frozen, could barely walk at all. It was a big shock because Leslie had said, “If I get warm, I’ll be alright.”

Donald must have been in better shape; he survived. They never told him Leslie died. They came and told Mother (Shirley's grandmother Albertine Amirault) the boys got into trouble, that Donald was ok, but Leslie had died. She was in shock and said she supposed Donald would die too. But he was ok.

They got Leslie and Bertie’s father to come to Catherine Belliveau’s home and when he came they told him that Leslie had died. But they didn’t tell him that they couldn’t find Bertie. He went home to tell his wife Annie that Leslie had died but someone else had already told her about Bertie. When he got home he asked her “Ou est Bertie?” (Where is Bertie?”) She replied “Il est au fond de la mer” (He is at the bottom of the harbour).  He was shocked but he had to tell her about Leslie.

It was a very sad time for all of the community. They never found Bertie’s body for two months.  He was found in June on the west side by boys out clam digging. He had been floating in the water for two months. He was buried at the place we call “L’Isle Grave” on the west side of the harbour.”

_________________
Again - Thank you Shirley.  Sharing stories is like keeping our loved ones and ancestors alive in our hearts!

Alphe T. Amirault - b. 1914  d. 2013
Donald A. Amirault - b. 1908  d. 1999

Shirley is still very much alive and lives in Pubnico, NS with her husband Jim.

Location:Pubnico, Nova Scotia

Caroline's Diary

Caroline is my confirmation name and I think I took it because despite the fact we only met when I was but an infant, I believe we would have been kindred souls. Caroline is my paternal grandmother who was lovingly referred to as Nana Nickerson.

Let me back up a tad...a few years ago my cousin Gail bestowed upon me our grandmother's diary.  You would have thought she gave me a diamond ring as this was a great treasure to me.  There was only one diary which was meant to be used in 1935.

Why do I think my grandmother and I would have been kindred souls?  Because she was crafty and everything she wrote about was also what I was interested in as well!  Family, friends, current events, births, deaths, weather, employment, what time her husband arrived home, travels, visitors, types of crafts she made, hair appointments - you name it, there was a line or two in her diary.

This diary is red, slightly tattered with gold lettering and the pages have aged with time.  Every page is not written on and some pages not only have multiple entries, but from multiple years.  What gives it even more charm is that she has written in it in pen and at other times pencil and a small child, maybe Uncle Joe, Uncle Bill or Uncle Charlie or even my dad who she lovingly referred to as "Dickie".  Her cursive is large and slanted not unlike the way my dad writes!

Caroline O'Meara Nickerson's Diary

Let me highlight some of my favorite entries (comments about each diary entry below photo):

She commented when her father, Richard O'Meara died in 1940. I learned through the diary that he had been in a coma prior to dying. Throughout her entries she mentioned him having to stay home to rest because of a heart attack and that he had a stroke.
She often mentioned who had bought a new coat or that she had been out shopping.
Charlie was her oldest child. She often commented on her children which included their military service, when they got married, and she even mentioned when my dad got his first tooth and birth weight!
Caroline often spoke of the weather. Here she mentions the hurricane of 1938. In other entries she had mentioned a snow storm with snow past her knees and the difficulty my grandfather had making his way home. She also mentioned an earthquake in Boston that rattled the house so hard that it awoke them from sleep and knocked over some items.
Who was the artist in this entry? Uncle Bill? Uncle Joe? It will remain a mystery until the end of time.
Caroline often mentioned getting her hair done referring to it as a permanent wave.
Here is where my dad got his first tooth...just under 6 months old.
This entry is a mystery that I'm hoping my dad might remember.
Nana Nickerson (Caroline) crocheted a bed spread and it took a year to complete. I'm sure she was proud because she used it right away!
Caroline often mentioned that my grandfather, Charles Savol Nickerson, donated blood or talked about collecting tin cans. I believe this was her ways of showing her patriotism during WWII.
Sometimes she just wondered. Maybe she was feeling a little lonely here in this entry?

As you can see my grandmother, without knowing it, left me a gift that will last all her family a lifetime. Thank you Nana Nickerson!

Helena A. "Lena" Van Cauwenberge (52 Ancestors - #29)

Helena A. "Lena" Van Cauwenberge was born on the 9th of September, 1889 in Belgium.  In May, 1913 she married Joseph Thomas Stephan.  Helena died at age 29 on December 23rd, 181 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Helena (also "Alina" and "Lena") arrived in America with her mother and siblings in 1904, following her father who had come to Boston in 1903. She was raised in London, where the family lived for a few years after leaving Belgium, and then in Chelsea and South Boston. In May 1913 she married a Massachusetts-born accountant, Joseph Thomas Stephan, before a priest, Fr. R.J. Johnson of the Gate of Heaven Catholic Church in South Boston. Helena's surname was mis-spelled on the marriage record as "Van Corwenberge". (Her mother's maiden name was also given as "LaSalle", while elsewhere it was reported as "Filler".) Joseph's parents were listed on the marriage record as John J. and Katherine (Sexton) Stephan. 

In May 1914 residing on Holworthy St., the couple welcomed a son, John Joseph Stephan. Joseph's 1917 draft card shows Helena's husband living at 117 Almont St. Boston, working as an auditor for the Old Colony Trust Company, and supporting his wife, one child, and his mother. 

According to her son's obituary, John Joseph Stephan was the couple's only child, and Helena died in the flu epidemic of 1918. Helena's death record (MA VR 1918 deaths v. 3, p. 405) shows she died of "lobar pneumonia" after 13 days; the death occurred in her home at 119 Almont St. in Boston. Whoever provided the information for the death certificate

had trouble with spelling Belgian/Dutch names or perhaps just had poor handwriting that was typed up badly: Helena's maiden name was given as "Causenberg", and her mother's maiden name as "Falla").  Helena was buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in West Roxbury by the T.J. Mahoney and Sons Funeral Home. Helena's parents were buried there when they died decades later, perhaps in a family plot. 

The 1920 and 1930 censuses, Helena's son, listed as a boarder, was in the household of her parents, Emiel and Wilhelmina Van Cauwenberge. 

No 1920 census listing for Helena's widower could be located, but around 1924 he married again, to Enid Sampson. Joseph and Enid had several children: Virginia, Muriel, George, Richard, and Robert, all present on Fuller St. in Dorchester at the 1940 census, at which time Joseph was working as a salesman. He could no longer work as an accountant, having been convicted of bank embezzlement in 1926; according to newspaper reports he was sentenced to 3 years in prison (but apparently served less). Helena's widower, Joseph Stephan, died in 1955; his wife Enid died in 1977. The 1914 birth record for her son, John Joseph Stephen, misspelled her maiden name as "Van Convenburg"; that spelling was preserved in his 2004 obituary.

All credit for this story goes to Liz Barnett, my friend and professional genealogist (2013).

Martha Dauwer - The Mother They Never Knew (52 Ancestors - #28)

Growing up motherless must have been tough for two little girls and two little boys whose lives were uprooted by their mother's sudden death.  I often ponder this when I think about my father-in-law and his siblings who lost their mother when she was just 24 years old.  Because they were so young when she died they had little or no memory of her.

The few whisps of stories I have about Martha is that she brought her purse to the hospital, according to my father-in-law, but never left the hospital alive.  

Another brief story I heard was that she was a very loving sister.  Martha made sure that her little sister Alice had a gown for her prom according to Alice's daughter Sandee.

When Martha Dauwer was born on August 24, 1908, in Boston, Massachusetts, her father, Camielle, was 30 and her mother, Marie, was 29. 

Oscar W. Bruynell and Martha married on November 15, 1924, in Boston, Massachusetts. Together they had five children by the time she was 23, one of who died before their first birthdy. Alice sadly died on September 11, 1932, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, at the age of 24.

Martha must have been the love of Oscar's life as he never re-married after her death.  Sadly we have no photos of Martha.

Lillian Amanda Snow (52 Ancestors - #27)

Lillian Amanda Snow was my Canadian paternal great grandmother.  Lillian was born on June 1st, 1867 to Winthrop Snow and Elizabeth Bethel in Port LaTour, Shelburne, Nova Scotia.   Just shy of her 18th birthday, this young spinster met and married fisherman Smith Swain Nickerson who was also from Port LaTour, Nova Scotia.

Lillian and Smith had their first child, a daughter Elizabeth, in December, 1885.  Lillian went on to have an additional eight children.  Her second to last child, Charles "Savol" Nickerson was my grandfather.  

On February 28th, 1934 she passed away from complications due to Diabetes and was buried in Yarmouth Nova Scotia.

Those researching genealogy should keep track of what illnesses or diseases start forming a pattern.  For instance, my dad and my brother both are diabetic however, until my research, we didn't know where in the family the disease originated.  My maternal grandfather, according to his death certificate, died from a form of liver cancer.  Since his death some of his daughters either have or are carriers of hemochromatosis which can be genetic and in some forms can cause liver cancer.  We all wonder if he may have had hemochromatosis and if they knew then what doctors know now maybe his death could have been prevented.  Another interesting pattern that emerged through my research was that all my maternal grandmother's family died of some form of heart disease (ranging from heart attacks to congestive heart failure).  All my maternal grandfather's family died from some form of cancer (except 2 - 1 sibling died from a burst appendix and another lived until 106 and passed naturally).  There is lots of thyroid issues in my mom's family as well, however, my paternal grandmother died from complications to chronic thyroiditis.  My point about this paragraph is that genealogy can help you try to avoid illness.  I've been tested for hemochromatosis (and happy to report I'm not a carrier), my heart is good, no cancer, but I am pre-diabetic right now and thyroid issues continue to run in the family.  So I just have to work harder to try to avoid becoming diabetic.  You might be able to help other family members if you see a pattern of disease develop in looking back at your ancestors.

I'm hoping to see a photo of Lillian someday.  Hopefully someone will have a picture of her!!

Johannes "John" Van CAUWENBERGE (52 Ancestors - #26)

Researching my husband's Belgian ancestors feels like a challenge to me because of the language barrier and my inexperience with researching ancestors from other countries.  Thankfully some of the mystery became a little clearer with the help of professional genealogist and friend, Liz Barnett.  It would be wonderful to be able to find the Belgian records of Johannes and Adelaid.  Here is what we know about my husband's x2 great grandfather.

Johannes "John" Van CAUWENBERGE
 b. at Belgium
+. Adelaide VANDERHOOTEN

His name and that of his wife were given in the death record of their son, Emil Van Cauwenberg of Boston, MA. Emil's son, Frank Vann, reported that "John Vann" and his wife, Adelaide Vanderhooten were born in Belgium. No other written record was found showing Emil's parents or where they lived. Although the relationship to Emil is not proven, data from another Belgian-born cigar-maker who may be his brother sheds some light on the Van Cauwenberges origins: When he married Mary Ann Webb in London in 1897, Camille Van Cauwenberge, born around 1867, also gave the name Johannes as his father. This Camille, like Emil, was in the Hackney section of London at the 1901 census (mis-indexed as "Pamil Van Conwenberge"). Unlike Emil, this Camille stayed in London, where he died in 1936,although he did travel at least once to the US: at the 1911 UK census his wife, Mary Ann (Webb) Van Cauwenberge, reported that he was "in America". Happily, before doing so, she wrote on the census form all his age, occupation, etc., and his place of birth: Grammont, Belgium. Since this is the same place that Emil's son, Frank, later gave as his own place of birth, it seems very likely that Emil and Camille were brothers, and both from Grammont, nowadays more commonly called by its Flemish name, Geraardsbergen, in East Flanders. Gramont (or Grammont ) was a well known center of the cigar-making industry. London saw an immigration of such highly skilled cigar makers from Belgium and the Netherlands; some later moved on to Boston and Manchester, NH.

When he married in 1897, Camille Van Cauwenberge reported his father was deceased. Further research might reveal proof of the connection of both Emil and Camille, and possibly other Van Cauwenberges in the US and UK.

As you can see, Liz gives me great direction on where to concentrate my research, especially clarifying the relationship between Camille and Emil.  It is on my "to do" list!  

Her name was Anty, Anty Boudreau (52 Ancestors - #25)

This family blog would be incomplete if we didn't tell you about Frances Anty Boudreau (1874-1968).  Although I never met Anty I always heard stories of her from the time I was young.  Knowing that my cousin Pat (Sweeney) Cloutier did know her I asked her to write a story for our blog (well she actually offered).  This is Pat's second story in my blog and again she outdid herself and this is what will make this blog a treasure to our future generations.  Thank you so much Pat and here is the story of Anty as told by my cousin:

I begin the tale of my grandmother's sister, Anty, I need to begin with the previous generation. And by the way, Anty is truly her given name, not a play on auntie!

Anty's father was a ship captain, Charles O. Boudreau who resided in Tusket Wedge, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was born in 1843. Sadly, he led a very short life. He died of a brain tumor while he was a patient at a Halifax Hospital in 1886, only 42 and a half years old.

Anty's mother, Johanna, Johanna's brother Robert, and Johanna's father were all emigrating from Ireland when Johanna was only a baby, a matter of months old in about 1857/1858. We do not have  accurate numbers because records were not very specific and nobody was ever very sure about Johanna's age. Johanna's mother died on the way from Ireland to Canada.

This is where Johanna's story gets cloudy. However, since the story was told by Johanna to Anty, Johanna's oldest child, we assume it is fairly accurate. Johanna's father and brother disappeared from the picture. There is conjecture that her brother, Robert, was adopted by a Massachusetts family but we know nothing of the father.  Even a membership to Ancestry.com was unable to find any trace of him.

Since Johanna was just a baby she was placed in the care of nuns at an orphanage. When she turned 16 the custom dictated that she should find work and be able to support herself. She was sent to keep house for the priests in Tusket Wedge.  (Years later the name of the village was changed to Wedgeport.) That is where she met her future husband who was fourteen years older than she.  Together they raised seven children. Besides Anty, there were Mary Alice who became my grandmother and mother of eleven children. There was Jeanne born in 1877 about whom we have no information. It's quite possible that she died in infancy. Next was Henry who died at age 24 while fishing off the coast of Maine. Anty's other sister Emma (Ursula Aimée)  died during the flu epidemic in Virginia where she was a nurse. There were two younger brothers, Robert who lived his entire life in Wedgeport and had nine children, and the baby, Terrence who was born and lived in Wedgeport for many years but eventually moved to Meteghan River, several miles up the coast, to be close to his sister, Anty, and his son, Delisle.

Johanna Sheehan and Charles O. Boudreau were married in January of 1873. St Michael's Church, Wedgeport, NS.  Church records show that she was the daughter of Maurice Sheehan and Mary O'Dea. Charles' middle name was Onesippe which was the name he was known by. (“Onesippe” is pronounced own-a-sip, not one-sippy as it looks!)  Sometimes it was written Onesiphore.

Anty, their first born, had a long, interesting and at times difficult life. Her first marriage was to Capt. (Narcisse) Jeremy Pothier. I'd like to inject here that everyone seems to have used their middle names instead of their first name!  They were married May 26, 1897. He was known as Jeremy. He was the thirty-two year old captain of the brig St. Michel and he and all hands were lost in April 1898 (see Narcisse Jeremy Pothier blog from week #22). They were bringing a cargo of salt from the Islands to Argyle (I take “the islands” to mean the Caribbean). Anty was left with an infant son who was only about 3 months old when he died.

Her second husband was Edward Comeau. They were married August 4, 1902. 

Her third husband was Amedee (nicknamed Eddie), brother of Edward. They were married January 29, 1912. He fought in WW1, was wounded and sent to recuperate at an English estate that became a rehabilitation hospital for the  recovery of the needy soldiers (Does that sound familiar to Downton Abbey fans!?).

Amedee and Anty's Marriage Certificate of 1912

She was very well known in the County of Clare, NS. She was the Innkeeper of the old Riverside Inn in Meteghan River for many years. She did all the cooking and “ran a tight ship.” In the summer she took in some of her sister Alice's children. She was responsible for her niece, Grace, attending College in Halifax.

One of the most interesting stories about Anty was the fact that she became friendly with many of the “rum runners” that stayed with her at the Inn. In Prohibition times, the rum runners were the folks who kept busy illegally transporting liquor, mostly from the French-owned islands of St Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland to the Atlantic coast. The same thing was happening from the islands in the rum trade. The illegal liquor trade began after WW1 in the twenties and continued until 1939, just before the beginning of WW2. They had lots of money to spend and Anty had no compunction about hostessing them! “Rum Runners”, that is another story about Nova Scotia in earlier times. I'll save that for another blog story.

In the late forties and early fifties, I remember Anty coming to the Boston area and NH to visit her nieces and their families. She wanted us to save our mending for her when we knew she was coming. She would contentedly sit and sew, humming as she rocked. She did all of us in my generation a huge favor. We got to know a wonderful ambassador of her generation. She regaled us with tales of the “old days”. In fact, she supplied me with extensive information on past generations. I can still see the two of us, sitting at my kitchen table, while she talked late into the night. I not only listened but questioned and scribbled everything for 5 or 6 generations. Thanks to her our family now “knows”relationships and humorous yarns! 

One more thing, about the same time, she and Uncle Eddie spent their winters in Florida. You would wonder if I was dreaming if you knew how frugal she was. They actually traveled there for many winters but always were employed while there. Anty worked as a seamstress in the famous Burdine's Department store. I have no recall about what Uncle Eddie did.

Anty last visited in Mass and NH when she was about 90 years old. She came by bus! She died in her beloved Meteghan River at the age of 94 and was buried in the next town of Saulnierville in the area of Nova Scotia known as the French Shore.