Be careful what you
say. This may be something you may hear
in time of war. There are other times
you may hear this, such as, the hearing of a family secret that you don’t want
generally known.
A few years ago, I
have learned that this also applies to family history. I was talking to a friend when we were
travelling back to Petawawa from Ottawa together. We were talking about family history. Some of her background is French Canadian. I told her that I could guarantee that I had
no French Canadian blood.
Boy, was I
wrong. The following week, I felt that I
should do some work on my mother’s line and started entering in some
information on her father’s line. I had
been told that it was my great-grandfather, her grandfather, who came from
Ireland and settled in the Perth area.
Well, that was not true. It was
my 2x great-grandfather, Thomas Farrell, who came to Canada. His son, Francis, married Mary Ann Jackman
from Bathurst Township, Lanark County.
Mary Ann’s grandmother was Eliza Fournier, born in Louiseville, Quebec.
Eliza’s family had
moved to Lanark County, and Eliza married Ottawa Valley Irish as many French
Canadians did. Eliza’s ancestry in
Quebec goes back to the early 1630’s and 1640’s. I have still to do a thorough investigation
of the family ties.
I have spent some
time researching the Perth military settlement and looking for my ancestors who
were affected by this move by the British government at the time. Prior to
starting my research, I had wondered why Eliza’s family moved from Louiseville
to what is now Lanark County. As part of my research, I learned that her
father, Jean Baptiste Fournier, and her brother, Jean Baptiste Fournier, both
had served in the British army for a number of years including the duration of
the War of 1812. This military service earned 100 acres for each of them and
were fortunate enough to each have one half of the same lot.
I mentioned in earlier
that Eliza married an Irishman. His name was John Jackman and emigrated to this
area in 1820. He purchased land from one of the soldiers who fulfilled all of
the requirements for a grant and had his paperwork in order. Their eldest son married Mary Katherine
Farrell who was a granddaughter of Edward Farrell. Edward is an interesting
person. He also served in the British army but instead of fighting in the War
of 1812, he fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
When I first met
Joyce, she was greeting me at church on my first time there as a member of the
congregation. I felt that there was a relationship that went beyond friendship
there, but I didn’t know why I felt that way. I felt the same thing with her
daughter, Denise.
About a year after
the trip to Ottawa, Joyce asked me to help her with her family history. A different friend had helped her by doing a
draft. As I went through the material
that she provided, I saw a familiar name.
I checked it out on my tree and examined her line closely. I found out that we are related. I have been attending church over the past 4
years thinking that Joyce and Denise were friends but not realizing that they
were family!! My seventh cousin twice
removed is related to many on Alumette Island and has relations throughout the
area. It’s quite astonishing to find that you are related, albeit distantly, to
someone who has a heritage in an area where you thought that you had no relatives.
Joyce and I are
close in age and it made a big difference to me to have a family member where I
had never anticipated having one. Joyce and I became closer in our friendship
because of the familial relationship that we found. We never hesitated in
helping each other out. I am hoping that Joyce can visit us here in
Newfoundland.
As I said earlier,
you need to be careful about what you say as you will never know when you may
have to eat those words. And, hopefully, it will be a good reason why you have
to eat them.
