THE BECK BULLETIN



Number 3 September 1, 1999

Church celebrates 100th anniversary.

A Prince Edward Island church with close ties to the Becks marked its Centennary with special services during the first weekend in August. The Murray Harbour Church of Christ opened its doors for the first time in August, 1899. Weekend celebrations were held August 7, and 8th to mark the milestone. More than 20 church members from Harbour Grace, Nfld, led by their minister, Robert MacKenzie, (1.4.1,9,3,5.1) came over for the occasion, joining with the Murray Harbour congregation. The women of the church were busy in their kitchens and served a lot of meals over the weekend, starting with a Friday evening supper for the Newfoundland visitors. There was a barbecue and picnic supper for everyone Saturday afternoon, a pot luck dinner on Sunday and a noon meal on Monday before the visitors left for home. The Murray Harbour Church helps to support the Harbour Grace work.
Planning for the church got underway in the spring of 1899 with a meeting at the home of Silas Sencabaugh. (1.4.8a,) A building committee was appointed consisting of Mr. Sencabaugh, Will Beck, Phil Strickland, and Hedley Penny, all Beck family members, along with Ed Colbert, David Cohoon, and M. E. Genge, a minister from Charlottetown.
With a donation of land from Wm. Vere Penny (1.4.1,)? and a loan from Capt. Edward Chapman, the committee swung into action and by August the building was finished, "with white washed ceiling, benches, lights and a large stove set up in the centre of the room."
Silas Sencabaugh and Ernest Penny were appointed Elders and Vere White and W. S. Beck were named Deacons. The congregation totalled 13 members. The women played an active role right from the beginning, especially in raising money for the Church. They held bazaars and tea parties to help pay off the debt.
The congregation grew rapidly and by 1907 the church had 51 members. Improvements were being made to the property too. A decision was made in 1912 to build a coal shed and a horse shed. The need for a horse shed was unmisktable because the Church served a wide area in those days. There was still no Church of Christ in Murray River and adherents from that community travelled by wagon or sleigh to attend services. My Aunt Sibyl (Munn) Beaton (1.4.2.2,5,) says she remembers making many uncomfortable trips by sleigh in bitter winter weather.
Others improvements followed over the years:

In the early 1980s it was decided that a larger church was needed. It was built beside the old church and was joined to the educational building. The work was completed in April, 1984, and through careful planning and generous donations the church was debt free. The work was overseen by a 12 member building committee, 8 of them Beck family members: Gordon, Louie, Milton, Silas and Wallace MacKay, David MacNeill, Gavin Bell and Hughie Jackson.
The church now has 142 members, with more young people than seniors in the pews. Those pews were very full on August 8th. Attendance at the morning service was 135. Fred Osborne, a native of Beach Point and now the minister at Cornwall, P.E.I., was the guest speaker. There were 160 people at the evening service. Alan Beck, the minister at the South Lake Church, was the speaker. Brothers Robert and Michael MacKenzie led the communion service.
A very successful weekend, marking the end of a very successful century, and the start of another! (My thanks to Sarah Jackson for providing a copy of the church history as prepared by Brian Ohl.)

BIOGRAPHY

Smith, Charles W. (1.2,6,3.) Charles was born in 1865, the son of John W. Smith and Sarah E. Roberts. He was a farmer at Moose River, near Parrsboro, N.S. Charles married Nancy Jane Faulkner of Economy and they had 11 children.
His grandson, Rhodes Oulton, talked of his grandparents at a presentation he gave at the Roberts-Smith reunion in Moose River in July. Rhodes said his grandfather was a quiet man, and took his orders from Nancy. After his meal he would go outside to light up his pipe because he was not allowed to smoke in the house.
In mid-summer, after the hay was in, Charles would take a day or two to go to the woods to collect spruce gum for sale. Rhodes has fond memories of being invited to go along on one of those trips. When they'd find a large piece of gum, Charles would cut it off the tree with his pocket knife and then carefully trim all the bark and other residue off of it as it had to be perfectly clean to be acceptable to the gum manufacturers.
At noon, the two of them sat under a tree to eat their lunch and afterwards his grandfather took a plug of chewing tobacco from his pocket and carved a bite-size piece from it. Rhodes remembered thinking how "cool" that looked and resolving that when he was older he too would chew tobacco. However, as they resumed the hunt he noticed his grandfather was spitting the tobacco juice out all the time, and he remembered feeling disappointment as he wondered why he would be spitting out something that look so inviting.
After finishing their hunt for gum, they went home and packaged it for shipment to the American manufacturer, who apparently used it for flavouring. Then his grandmother, Nancy, who was the postmistress, weighed the package and affixed the necessary postage before sending it on its way. In due course a cheque arrived addressed to Charles Smith and his grandfather might receive $5.00 for his work, a sizable amount of money at that time in the 1930s.
Rhodes said that even though his Grandfather never said so, he always knew that he really liked him. Charles Smith died in 1936.

LETTERS INVITED

Last month I published a number of letters in which people said they liked the Newsletter. Now it's time to move on to more substantial matters, and I'd like to invite comments about the content for future issues. If there is something you can add to a story, then please pass it along. Perhaps some reference in an item reminded you of something that will shed more light on that particular story. For instance perhaps some of you have some memories of attending the Church at Murray Harbour over the years? If you made a trip to the Island this Summer, perhaps you have a story you could share with us concerning your Beck roots? If you see an item in the newspaper that reminds you of a family story, please pass it along. The next item is an example of that. This is your Newsletter and your contributions are necessary to make it a success.

COOL, CLEAR WATER

Prince Edward Island has some of the best drinking water in Canada. Souris recently placed second at the Canadian Water Resources Association's Municipal Drinking Water Challenge, with Summerside fourth.
Reading that story brought back some memories. My great uncle, Hubert Beck, (1.4.2.4.)often visited us in Murray River when I was a boy. He always took the time to sit and talk with me when he came, and he always treated me as an equal, carrying on long, serious conversations.
One day he was thirsty after working hard and headed for the pump in our pantry to get a cold drink. "You know," he said, "that's some of the best water in Canada. I always thought it was the best, but now I believe the New Glasgow water may be better."
He'd been living in New Glasgow for more than 20 years at that time. He went on to discuss the merits of other water he'd liked or disliked, but he was convinced that New Glasgow would rank first and our well would be second in Canada.
In the testing, entrants from British Columbia and Atlantic Canada swept the top seven spots with Chilliwack, B.C., taking first place.
So now its official. PEI has great drinking water. I always knew that. Uncle Hube told me so 55 years ago!

KOSOVARS BLENDING IN

Our sponsored families are slowly becoming part of the community. The language problem is still the biggest barrier but they understand a lot and can make themselves understood. They still need quite a bit of assistance with routine activities but we've divided the tasks among ourselves -- six CBC retiree families -- so that there is always someone available to help. This month there were several visits to the doctor and hospital for routine tests, as well as trips to the dentist.
Both men -- Nuh Koprani and Enver Halili -- want to work. Nuh's background is in the restaurant field and he has been hired as a bus boy at a local restaurant. He is finding that quite stressful because his English is quite spotty. Enver had worked in furniture construction and would like to find work in that field. He has a promise of a job from a small company waiting for a government grant.
The two school age children, Muharrem and Labi, have been registered and they start classes tomorrow. Special English courses also get underway in September for the adults and the children.

MARRIED

Stacey Michelle Gosbee (1.4.1,10,1A.2.2) and Mark Andrew Levy were married Saturday Aug. 14, 1999 at the Murray River United Church. Stacey is the Daughter of James & Beverley Gosbee.

ITEMS FROM THE GUARDIAN FOR THOSE FAR FROM HOME

Queen Crowned.

The Northumberland Fisheries Festival in Murray River was just ending as the last Newsletter went out. It was the 20th anniversary of the event and it was marked by dory racing, log rolling and fantastic weather, plus the usual excellent lobster dinners.
17-year-old Jennifer Daley of High Bank was chosen Queen of the Pageant, much to her own surprise. "All the girls had picked Savannah (Belsher of Guernsey Cove) to win because she's so talented," Jennifer said.
Jennifer plans to attend Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., this fall to pursue a Science degree and hopes to become a veterinarian. She is the step-daughter of Kent Clements (1.4.1,3.4.2,3b.)

Live Ammunition Washes Ashore.

Reminders of World War Two were found on the beach in Murray Harbour in early August. Tony and Clinton White of Abney went to Machon's Point in search of rocks to build a backyard barbecue and ended up with shells, eight rifle shells from 1944. The RCMP say this happens more often than you'd think.
"It certainly doesn't happen all the time, but it's not unusual for us to get calls about old ammo or having someone come through the door with an old bomb,'' said a spokesman for the Montague detachment.
"I think the military should come down here with a metal detector and search that area,'' said Dany White, the boys'father. "Imagine if you were out clam digging and bit into one. Look at the size of them and imagine our poor fellas getting hit with one of them during the war."

Old Home Week Still Packs Them In.

The weather may not have been the greatest but the attendance was excellent despite that. More than 55,000 people attended the annual fair, which ran from Aug. 6-14th. That would mean a drop of about 5% from last year's gate of 61,000 people. Inclement weather during the last couple of days of the event is blamed for the lower attendance. The rain cut into the gate for the main event, the Gold Cup and Saucer Horse Race. However, indoor events such as the agricultural and horse shows at the Trade Centre were more popular than ever.

PILEUP ON THE BRIDGE

The first serious traffic accident since the Confederation Bridge opened tied up traffic for two hours on Sunday, Aug. 16th. The three-vehicle crash brought everything to a halt, inconveniencing hundreds of weekend travellers. The accident happened about 1:30 in the afternoon at a time when the bridge was quite busy. The cause of the accident was not known. Skies were overcast and the bridge deck was wet at the time after a light rain. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

The Vere Beck Family Home Page

The Marfleet Home Page

Ivan Munn's Home Page

We're always looking for news of Beck family members. If you know of any significant events drop me a line with the information.

imunn@accesswave.ca

That's it for this edition .. please share it with relatives who aren't on line. The next edition will be out on October 1st.