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From: "Betty" <>
Subject: Re: Care given, plus reasons for emigrating to Canada
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2006 14:55:38 -0500
References: <00a801c6134d$9709f6e0$a232b8a1@Gene>


Hi Connie,

I agree that you should never apologize for the length of a "story about
your father." Even if you didn't need to write about the problems for
genealogy reasons, every once in a while you need to "vent."

I have spent 3 days this week posting "long" queries about my grandmother in
Boston, MA, on the List for Killingly, CT. And, each time I write, people
write back and ask me to "tell them more !" (She was not a BHC, but
she did have a troubled childhood. A foundling in 1889, adopted in 1892,
re-orphaned in 1899, and spent until about 1908 in 2 orphanages.)*

To get back to your father, I was wondering if you had posted to the Lists
in England lately ! I belong to several Lists for Great Britain, in
general, and they have been saying how much more information is just
becoming available on-line ! And, a lot of it is "free to the public."
And, if it isn't, there's only a small fee. As with this List, the
people on other Lists need to be reminded of your father's story !

There is also a GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES List .. which might like the
challenge !

My theory is the more postings you make - the better chance you have of
someone important "finding" your posting -- even if it is 2 or 3 or 4 years
later !

I found a "distant cousin" in CT who was very important to my (above)
grandmother's story by responding to a query she had posted 3 years before I
found it !
And, since I have been participating on the Lists for 5+ years, I have a
whole lot of queries posted on a whole lot of Lists !
:o)

Happy New Year, to you !

Betty (near Lowell, MA, USA)


*By the way, at a family get-together last Monday my sister brought me a
copy of a letter my grandmother's Adoptive nephew wrote to her in 1925.
It provided several new pieces of information which I did not have. One
important comment he made was that his mother told him that she did not
know -- that her own parents had formally adopted a little girl ! This
woman was the only daughter of the Adoptive couple and she continued to live
in CT with her husband and only son. The Adoptive parents had moved to
Boston, MA, in 1886, 2+ years before my grandmother was born. Now the
daughter visited in Boston and the parents visited in CT - up until the
Adoptive mother's death in 1899. This was 7 years after they had formally
adopted my grandmother, and yet "it was not spoken of" ???

(Also, by the way, my "hypothesis" is that the married daughter ended up
with "an unwanted pregnancy" and her parents took the girl to raise her
themselves.)
(It would take me 3 hours to provide the entire story.)






----- Original Message -----
From: "jcfalk" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 12:45 AM
Subject: Re: Care given, plus reasons for emigrating to Canada


> Connie wrote,
> Firsr of all, Happy New year to one and all. Best wishes on your searches
> in the coming year. Hope most of you have better luck than I have had so
> far.
> After reading the responses about the care given at some of the farms our
> ancestors were sent to, I have to add my two bits. My father was sent to a
> few farms in southern Ontario, I have the documnets from the agency that
> sent him, which includes letters written by the farmer about my father,
> and some my father wrote. My father hated the farm, he did his best but
> he was not a farmer.
> He tried his best and was a good worker. In one letter my father wrote,
> he asked the agency for more money so he could buy a warmer winter coat,
> the response to that letter was "no." They told him to be more diligent
> with his spending, and maybe the farmer's wife could mend his coat. I
> often wonder were on earth they thought he had spent his money. He ate
> and slept mostly in the barn; especialy when the family had company. His
> memories of those days were only bitter memories.
> One letter he wrote that tore at my heart strings was one he wrote back to
> the orphange he was first sent to at the age of three. He asked them if
> they knew the name of his mother, and if they did, could they please tell
> him. They was no letter sent back. This is what my search is all about,
> to find the name of either his mother or father . He never owned a birth
> certificate nor was his birth registered.
> My next response is about were Barnardo's sent the children. My father
> didn't talk very much about his childhood but one day he told one of his
> old friends that they were all lined up and told about the wonderful
> opportunities life held for them in Canada, New South Wales, and
> Australia. Than they were asked which one they wanted to be sent to. Well
> none of them knew were New South Wales was and thought it must be around
> the coast from were they lived. Sad indeed.
> So he was one that choose Canada.
> Sorry for the length of this .
> ---------Connie------daughter of BHC, William James Lemmon /
> Lemon---------
>
> ______________________________


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