robertfinch.ca

Author: Robert Finch

  • Abram I Vansickle’s Farm

    Sometimes, genealogy intersects with another favourite subject of mine: geography. For this post, I want to show the land where my fourth great grandfather Abram I Vansickle farmed.

    First, some background. The Vansickles came to Canada from New Jersey in the years following the American Revolution. A good number of them settled in Ancaster Township in Wentworth County in what would eventually become the Province of Ontario. They called their new home “Jerseyville”, obviously named after their previous home.

    In 1831, Abram I Vansickle purchased from the Crown Patentee Robert Hamilton the parcel Lot 15 Concession 3 in Ancaster Township.

    Abram I Vansickle’s farm (outlined in red) at Lot 15 Concession 3 in Ancaster Twp.

    In 1869, he sold one acre to the Baptist Church for a cemetery. This cemetery became the Vansickle Cemetery. His son Abram inherited the farm following Abram Sr’s death in 1878. Abram I Vansickle was buried in the Vansickle Cemetery.

    Below is Google Maps modern day view of the location of Abram I Vansickle’s old farm just west of Jerseyville.

    Source: Mrs. William K. Dunham, “Lot 15 Concession 3,” Ancaster’s Heritage: A History of Ancaster Township (n.p.: Ancaster Township Historical Society, 1973), page 260.

  • Photo Post #11 | Edwin & Elizabeth (Herriman) Vansickle and Daniel and Hannah (Vansickle) Howell

    Photo Post #11 | Edwin & Elizabeth (Herriman) Vansickle and Daniel and Hannah (Vansickle) Howell

    (left to right: Daniel Howell, Hannah (Vansickle) Howell, Elizabeth (Herriman) Vansickle, Edwin Vansickle)

    Here is a photograph of my second great-grandparents Edwin and Elizabeth (Herriman) Vansickle with his sister Hannah and her husband Daniel Howell.

    Edwin Vansickle was born in the early 1860s in Brantford East Township, son of Morris Vansickle and Phoebe Weaver. Elizabeth Herriman was the daughter of James Herriman and Miriam Vansickle. They were married on 29 June 1885 in Waterford, Norfolk County, Ontario.

    The Howells lived in Michigan. Perhaps, this photo was taken during a visit?

    Elizabeth died in 1934 and Edwin in 1945. Both are buried at the Vansickle Cemetery in Jerseyville, Ontario.

  • Phoebe (Weaver) Vansickle

    This morning, i got a notification from FamilySearch, a great free genealogy site that has a collaborative tree as well as tons of birth, marriage, and death records. It turns out today is Phoebe Weaver’s (my third great grandmother) birthday. So, I spent some time learning a little about her.

    Phoebe Weaver was born 18 February 1840 in Ancaster Township in present-day Ontario. She was the daughter of John Weaver and Mary Misner. I can’t find a birth registration; I’m not sure one exists. Her birth information is gathered from her death registration as well as census data.

    Some researchers have her mother Mary as being married to a Richard Dell after John Weaver. This is also reflected on FamilySearch. I’ll have to do some more digging because some of the dates don’t line up.

    A Pheby Dell, aged 11, does appear in the 1851 census living in the household of Richard and Mary Dell.

    In March 1860, she married Morris Vansickle. They lived on a farm in Townsend Township in nearby Norfolk County and had six children: Edwin (my 2nd great grandfather), Hannah, Harvey, Austin, Arthur, and Abram.

    Phoebe Vansickle died on 30 August 1920 at her son Arthur’s house in Brantford. The cause of death is listed as “senile decay” on her death registration. She is buried at Bloomsburg Baptist Church Cemetery in Norfolk County.

    Source: Mrs Morris Vansickle obituary, The Brantford Expositor, Brantford, Ontario, 4 May 1920, page 13.
    Source: “Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1307826: accessed 18 February 2023), death registration 9702, Phoebe Vansickle, died at Brant County, 30 Apr 1920; citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto.
  • Photo Post #10 | Charles Reed & Susannah Napper 60th Anniversary

    Photo Post #10 | Charles Reed & Susannah Napper 60th Anniversary

    This photo was uploaded to Wikitree by Christine Maier, a distant cousin. The couple celebrating their 60th anniversary are Charles and Susannah Reed. I haven’t done much research on the Reed family, but it appears that my 4th great-grandfather Henry Reed was Charles’ uncle. Henry has his own story worthy of a separate post.

    The Reeds came to Canada from Suffolk, England. They settled in Nassagaweya Township, Halton County. Nassagaweya was amalgamated into the Town of Milton in 1974.

    What also piqued my interest is that this photo was taken in 1917 at Burlington Beach, Hamilton, Ontario. Of course, that is the Beach Strip where I grew up. I can’t quite place the house, though.

    Thanks Christine for letting me share this picture. It’s a great photo.

  • Photo Post #9 | Olive (Power) Miller, Rose (Power) Mills, and Edna (Power) Baker

    Photo Post #9 | Olive (Power) Miller, Rose (Power) Mills, and Edna (Power) Baker

    Here are three Power sisters, daughters of Earl Power and Alice Baker, all born in East Jeddore, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. From left to right…Olive, Rose, and Edna.

    Rose is my Nan. She lived up the road from us on the Hamilton Beach Strip, so we were very close. My Aunt Olive lived in Stellarton, NS. She would come up to Hamilton once or twice a year, so I saw her frequently. Aunt Poode – that’s what we called Edna – lived in East Jeddore. We would see her every summer when we went to Nova Scotia. She lived right on the water, and I have fond memories of walking out on the wharf to look at the fishing boats.

    The photo was taken by Aunt Poode’s son Robbie.

  • Photo Post #8 | Allan and Ella (Young) Vansickle

    Photo Post #8 | Allan and Ella (Young) Vansickle

    Here is a photograph of my great grandparents Allan and Ella May (Young) Vansickle. Allan Vansickle was born on December 28th 1885 in Norfolk County, Ontario. He was the son of Edwin Vansickle and Elizabeth Herriman.

    Ella May Young was born on March 24th 1893 in London, Ontario. She was the daughter of George Henry Foster Young and Jane Mary Bell.

    They were married in 1913 in Jerseyville, Ancaster Township, Ontario and had four children: Hazel (my grandmother), Dorothy, George, and Jean.

    I never met either of them, unfortunately, as they both died before I was born. But, I’ve heard some good stories about them. My Dad and my aunts and uncles referred to them as “Pa Sickle” and “Granny.” I can certainly see the resemblance between my grandma and her mother in this picture.

  • Belsnickeling: A Christmas Tradition Like No Other

    Belsnickel as depicted by artist Ralph D. Dunkelberger in Alfred L. Shoemaker, Christmas in Pennsylvania: A Folk-Cultural Study (Kutztown, PA: Pennsylvania Folklore Society, 1959), 75.

    When you think of Christmas, I bet most people think about Santa Claus, the Nativity, family gatherings, tree decorating, carols, big feasts, and exchanging presents. But, what about some guy dressed in fur and antlers who visits your home a week or two before Christmas to check whether you’ve been good or bad?

    That’s the gist of something called Belsnickeling. If you’re a fan of the TV show The Office you might’ve seen an episode where one of the characters dresses up as a Belsnickel for the company Christmas party. Now, I first heard of “the Belsnickels” from my Nan, Rose (Power) Mills.

    She was born and raised in East Jeddore, a small rural fishing community, in Nova Scotia. It seems her family and neighbours partook in Belsnickeling. I don’t know how common Belsnickeling was in the broader Jeddore community or when it ceased to a “thing.” My Mom, who was born in Oyster Pond Jeddore thirty years after my Nan, never heard of it until her mother retold the stories to us. And, what stories they were.

    Apparently, a group of men would knock on the door in the lead up to Christmas. My Nan described them as having antlers and being dressed in furs or pelts. Sometimes, they wore a mask for disguise and carried a stick to tap on the floor. They rang bells that were tied to their waist.

    The Belsnickel would ask the children if they had been good or bad. They often demanded the children perform songs and then asked them for a small gift. This usually involved my Nan and her siblings going to the cellar to fetch a potato for them. Then, they were off…singing merrily on their way to the next house.

    When my Nan told me about the Belsnickels, I thought it was the most bizarre (not to mention petrifying) Christmas tradition that I had ever heard of. Must’ve been a Jeddore thing, I thought. But, after doing some digging, I have learned that Belsnickeling is a very old tradition practised in parts of the world for centuries.

    It’s rooted in German origins. The Baker family of Jeddore came to Nova Scotia from Germany, so I can only assume this is the connection to my Nan’s family. Nan’s mother was a Baker and they lived amongst other members of the Baker family.

    If you want to learn more about the Belsnickel tradition, check out the links below. In the meantime, if you hear a knock on the door in the days before Christmas there might be a man dressed in furs and antlers on the other side of the door. You might be getting a visit from the Belsnickel.

    Additonal Links:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belsnickel

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/what-is-belsnickeling-unpacking-a-holiday-tradition-among-most-nova-scotians-1.4188284

    https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4922290/nova-scotia-belsnickeling-is-real-and-here-s-a-photo-to-prove-it-1.4922302

    https://www.visitpaamericana.com/holidays/what-or-who-is-belsnickel

    https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/mc-xpm-2013-11-29-mc-belsnickel-christmas-pennsylvania-dutch-20131129-story.html

  • Obituary for Ephraim Baker

    Ephraim Baker was my third great grandfather. He was born about 1840 on Tancook Island in Mahone Bay in Nova Scotia. Later, his father Frederick Baker moved the family to East Jeddore in Halifax County.

    Ephraim commanded a fishing boat named the Mary Jane. On December 18th, 1876 a snow storm caused the boat to run on a sandbar near Halifax. He and another crewman drowned.

    The following obituary appeared in the Christian Messenger on January 10th, 1877:

    Christian Messenger – Wednesday, 10 January 1877 – Page 14 –

    Jeddore, Dec. 26th, 1876.

    Mr. Editor, –

    A cloud of gloom is hanging over this harbour, caused by the wreck of a large fishing-boat owned by Mr. Ephraim Baker. She left here on Monday, the 18th inst., for Halifax, loaded with fish. The wind being ahead and moderate, the crew thought it best to run back again rather than stay out over night. But when they came within two or three miles of the harbour, the wind breezed up from the S.E. Though late in the afternoon, they now concluded to run for Halifax. As night came on the wind increased, and brought snow with it. In the snow and darkness they ran on Thrum Cap shoal. Mr. E. Baker and F. Gould left the wreck in a small boat, and were lost in the breakers. The remainder of the crew – five in number, remained on the wreck until she broke up, when the deck, with them on it drifted ashore. The bodies of the two men drowned, were recovered next day, and taken on board the schr. Princess, owned by Mr. Enos C. Baker, brother of the deceased, and brought home on Wednesday. Mr. Ephraim Baker, was in the prime of life, aged 35 years, and an honoured member of the Baptist Church in that place. He leaves a wife and four children to mourn the loss of a kind father and loving husband. He will be greatly missed in the community, as well as in the family and the church. We trust his bereaved partner – also a loved member of the church, will be enabled by faith to pierce the gloom, and behold the bright lining beyond, for oft,

    “God moves in mysterious way,
    His wonders to perform;
    He plants his footsteps in the sea,
    And rides upon the storm.
    Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
    But trust him for his grace;
    Behind a frowning providence
    He hides a smiling face.”

    With what power and eloquence such events proclaim the words: “Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” I hope the event – sad as it is, may prove beneficial to many of the large number present at his funeral on the 24th inst. But impressions made by such events too often prove “like the morning cloud and the early dew.”

    Yours &c.

    Jas. Meadows.

  • Photo Post #7 | Arabella (Mills) Jennex, Colin Mitchell Greenough, and Florence (Mills) Titus

    Photo Post #7 | Arabella (Mills) Jennex, Colin Mitchell Greenough, and Florence (Mills) Titus

    Pictured here are sisters Arabella (Mills) Jennex (on the left) and Florence (Mills) Titus with their half-brother Colin Mitchell Greenough. Colin was my great-grandmother Arabella Mitchell’s son from her first marriage to Isaac Gaetz Greenough. Isaac died in 1896 when Colin was only six months old.

    Arabella aka Belle (in the picture) was born in 1910 and died in 1969. Her husband was Roy Jennex. Florence was born in 1908 and died in 2002. Her husband was Herbert Titus. Colin was born in 1895 and died in 1952. He married Sadie Power.

    This photo was taken in 1950 outside the Camp Hill Hospital in Halifax.

  • Photo Post #6 | Jonathan Wesley Finch and his children

    Photo Post #6 | Jonathan Wesley Finch and his children

    Here is a photo of my great grandfather Jonathan Wesley Finch with his five children (back l-r: Margaret, George / front l-r: Clifford, Cassie, and Nile).

    Jonathan was born on December 10, 1866 in Glanford Township, Wentworth County, Canada West (modern day Ontario). In 1903, he married Nancy Ellen Reed. In the 1910s, they moved their family west to Manitoba. It was here where my grandfather Clifford was born. Sadly, a week after he was born Nancy Ellen died – leaving Jonathan with a newborn and four other children. Soon after, Jonathan would bring the family back to Ontario.

    He was a farmer and apparently was a pretty good baseball player, as well. For some unknown reason, he also went by the name “Nicholas.” Jonathan Wesley Finch died on February 1, 1947 in West Flamborough, Wentworth County and is buried at the North Glanford Cemetery in Glanbrook, Ontario.