| THE BECK BULLETIN |
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| Number 79 |
February 1, 2012 |
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| AN INTRODUCTION TO AUNT LYDIA |
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What, you don't remember Aunt Lydia? Well, you're not alone. We're only now learning about Vere Beck's early years through documents sent along to us by Clive Killick. He's the secretary of the Killick Society
and a good friend of the Beck Family. Vere's mother was a Killick and Clive was the keynote speaker at our last reunion in 2008. When some new wills were obtained recently by the Killick group, Clive forwarded
two of them to Jim Beck. These were the wills of Samuel Killick and Lucy (Killick) Beck, Vere's grandfather and his mother.
From them we learn that Lydia was Vere Beck's big sister and the oldest member of John and Lucy (Killick) Beck's four children. They were named in their mother's will this way: Lydia, Vere, John and Charles so
it is safe to assume they were listed from oldest to youngest.
Lydia married Isaac Bull sometime before February 9, 1800, the date of her grandfather's will. Her choice of husband did not appear to be well received by her family.
We get the first hint of this in Samuel Killick's will. He made it very clear that he did not want Isaac to inherit anything from him. He stated that his daughter, Lucy, was to get the rental income from units
number 3 and 4 of his six row houses and after she died the money was to be shared by her heirs. But there was one exception and it was stated this way. "But as my granddaughter, Lydia, is married I do hereby
declare that her husband, Isaac Bull, shall have no part in this bequest." It then went on to say that anything that Lydia received from it should be for her own use and "that the said Isaac Bull was to have no part therein."
Samuel, by naming Isaac twice, was making it as plain as possible that he didn't approve of Lydia's husband.
So what did her parents think of this marriage? Her father, John Beck, was born in 1757 but died young, sometime before 1806 as Lucy was described as a widow when she wrote her will on February 24 of that year.
So we don't know what he thought of the marriage. However it appears that Lucy had concerns about Isaac. At some time before 1806 she loaned Isaac the sum of 200 pounds. Lucy states in her will that this loan "is secured to me by warrant of attorney."
In other words, she didn't feel that his word was good enough, so she hired an attorney and got things on paper.
Lucy left Isaac one hundred pounds to be deducted from his loan, thus forgiving one half of the amount owing.
No matter what she thought of Isaac, Lucy certainly held Lydia in high regard. She named her as one of the executors of her estate ignoring the men in her family. Vere was 23 at this time and John was probably 20 or 21. Charles would
be too young to be considered. While Vere or John could have served as an executor, Lucy bypassed her sons and handed the responsibility to Lydia, their older sister. While Lucy seemed to feel that Lydia showed poor choice in a husband,
she considered her a level headed business woman in an age when women were mainly expected to be nothing more than housewives.
Lydia shared the duties of executor with a man named James Turpin of Upper Tooting in Surrey. For their troubles they were each to receive a ring valued at up to 50 shillings, or about two-and-one half pounds. Lucy also left all her
clothes and "the Double Chest of Drawers late my Fathers" to Lydia. After that all the assets of the estate were to be divided equally among the four children - Lydia, Vere, John and Charles. Judging by the amount Lucy had
inherited from her father two years earlier, each of them probably received a sum equal to $50,000 in today's currency.
It would appear that Lucy made her will on her death bed on February 24, 1806. She was only 50. The will was "proven" by the Probate Court in London on February 28, four days later. There seemed to be little time for mourning
as the executors moved quickly to tackle the task of settling the estate. It may indicate an urgent need for funds to bail out some business venture undertaken by Lydia's husband, Isaac Bull.
Could that business venture have led to more losses? Vere's share of the inheritance apparently disappeared in the years before he left for PEI. Was he persuaded to participate in a losing scheme with Isaac Bull? We'll never
know, but Vere and his family appeared to have little but a few personal possessions when they landed in Guernsey Cove in 1813.
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| A TRIP THROUGH VERE BECK'S ENGLAND
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An Anglican priest from PEI visits some of the communities where Vere lived and sheds some light on conditions in the England of 200 years ago.
By Fr David Harris (1.4.6.5,11.4.)
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As the first descendant of Vere Beck to move back to the "Old Country" I was asked to give some details of what its like being back on Vere's old stomping ground!
My wife Valerie and I and our children (Rachel, Katie, Louis, Bennett, Maddie, James and Johnnie) moved to England in March of 2011. We had been living a mile or so from the old Beck homestead on Prince Edward Island,
and now find ourselves living just a 25 minute train ride from the community where Vere lived just before he left for the New World.
I thought I'd take a "Beck pilgrimage" in order to really get the feel of coming back to Vere's homeland. The pilgrimage led me to what used to be a little town in Kent, just east of London. Sometime in the 11th Century,
a church was built in the small village of Crayford, on the eastern outskirts of what is now part of Greater London. The area has very little left to suggest the small village that would have been the first home of Vere and
his parents. The only things that still stands are a few medieval and Georgian buildings on the High Street, and the Church.
The church in Crayford was dedicated to Paulinus, a Saint who is almost unheard of now, but who was quite popular in the Middle Ages. As I walked up the path through the Churchyard, I thought about how back in 1783, a couple
approached the vicar of the parish - probably walking up this same path - to have their new baby baptized. The couple were John and Martha LUCY Beck. During the service of Baptism, when the child was officially named, or
"christened", the vicar would have required John to answer this simple request: "Name this child." John, in his Kentish accent would have responded, "Vere." Here I was standing in the same place Vere was named and baptized.
Later the family moved to Mitcham just south of London, and were there from at least 1800 to 1806 and perhaps longer. From Mitcham, Vere moved about eight miles to the town of Newington, which is now very close to central London.
Like most genealogical pilgrimages in Europe, the path usually involves trips from church to church - since that is where the only real historical records were kept. And so, from St Paulinus in Crayford, I travelled just
slightly southwest, to another ancient parish.
In 1808, Vere married Elizabeth Sarah Marfleet in the Church of St Mary, in the centre of Newington. The church is still there, a few steps from the Kennington Subway Station.
There are so many buildings still standing that would have been here when Vere and Elizabeth got married - it made me wish I knew which house, room or apartment they lived in. The only thing I know is that they both lived in
the town, since the marriage record indicates that both were "of this parish" (that is, the parish of St Mary, Newington).
After visiting the church, I had a pint of beer in the oldest pub in the area, thinking that perhaps Vere had one there too during his stay in the town!
I returned home on the train, just 25 minutes west, to the town of Reading. England has changed a lot since Vere left two hundred years ago, and the area we live in testifies to that fact. About the same time that the church
Vere was baptized in was being built, so too was one in Reading. It was named in honour of another favourite medieval saint, St Giles.
I came to England almost a year ago to serve at the Parish of St Giles. Reading is a busy town, and the church is in the town centre. History is everywhere - and the strange thing is that it doesn't feel that old! On the
wall of my study hangs a portrait of the vicar who would have been here at the same time that Vere was married to Elizabeth. And he was only a recent Vicar! The list of Vicars goes back to the 1100s, when the priest would
have had only a first name.
Knowing the history of this parish, I can finally understand why Vere and Elizabeth were so anxious to start a new life in Canada. Our own parish records reveal the state of things in England at that time. Extreme poverty,
overcrowding, rampant outbreaks of disease, and crippling unemployment. And England was dirty! The new factories (those "satanic mills" as William Blake called them) were spewing out filthy black smoke that darkened the air,
and everything around them. Streets were dirty and dusty. People's houses were small, cold and expensive. Needless to say, the bright clear air of PEI must have been a refreshing change - even with all the hardships they were to suffer and endure.
We're very happy, but miss the Island and family greatly. As I reflect on what made Vere want to leave England, I can't help thinking that he'd be wondering why I ever came back!
(Editor's note: So are we David. We hope you're going to tell us in the next issue!)
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| A BRONZE MEDAL PLUS PERSONAL HONOURS |
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The best junior hockey players in the world gathered in Alberta over the holiday season in a test of national pride and skill. Canada's third place finish was a disappointment for passionate fans from coast to coast,
but at least one player emerged from the pack as a winner. Brandon Gormley (1.6A.4,6.1,2.3,2.) of Murray River was chosen as the best defenceman in the tournament and was the only Canadian named to the all-star team.
The 19-year-old tallied three goals and three assists in the five game tournament and was seen as a steadying influence on the Canadian bench.
"I thought I played well," Brandon said after the final game. "It's a short tournament and you have to bring your best each game. It's a tremendous honour to get an award like top defenceman at this kind of tournament.
It's very special."
Brandon told Marc VanDier of The Guardian that the personal honours were bitter sweet as Canada did not achieve its ultimate aim of a gold medal.
"It wasn't the game we wanted to play in," he said of the bronze-medal contest against Finland. "But when you sit and look at it, it's still a medal. We wanted to leave with something."
Canada failed to qualify for the gold medal game after losing 6-5 to Russia in a cliff hanger. Sweden defeated Russia for the gold medal.
Commenting on his first and only world junior tournament, Brandon said it was an unbelievable experience. Two years ago, he was a late cut from the team, while a freak knee injury last year prevented him from playing.
Next year he'll be 20 and over the age limit.
Brandon said he received terrific support from Island hockey fans who cheered him all the way. His father, mother and sister travelled to Alberta to support him, and his grandfather, Ralph MacPherson, (1.6A.4,6.1,2.)
painted the tailgate of his pickup in team colours with Brandon's number "3" in the center.
"It's not every day that we have players that can play on the national stage," said Rob Newson, executive director of Hockey P.E.I. "It brings a lot of pride to see a player from Prince Edward Island excelling at a tournament like this.
"Sport is always looking for good role models," Newson added. "Brandon is that. He's a great ambassador for where he comes from."
A draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL, Brandon was playing for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He arrived back in Moncton to find that he had been traded to the Shawinigan
Cataractes for another defenceman and 6 future draft picks. The Cataractes are making a run at the QMJHL championship and see Brandon as a way to strengthen their chance. Moncton is out of contention this year and
will use the draft picks to build for the future.
Brandon said it's worked out well for all involved. "It's good for Moncton, it's good for my hockey career, and it's good for Shawinigan too."
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| JUSTIN IS HOT ENOUGH TO MELT THE ICE |
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After a slow start to the hockey season, Justin Bowers (1.4.6.5,10,1,2.) of the Greenville Road Warriors is burning up the league of late. After an outstanding performance in the month of January, he now finds himself just one point
behind the leader in ECHL scoring statistics. Jason has 57 points, 14 goals and 43 assists, just behind Eric Lampe of the Las Vegas Wranglers.
January was a great month for Justin, and the last week was the icing on the cake. The Road Warriors were in Florida for a three-game series with the Florida Everblades. They won all three contests, and Justin racked up
9 points with a goal and two assists in the first game, three assists in the second, and then 2 goals and an assist in the final contest. The win moved Greenville into the top spot in the League's eastern conference with a record of
26 wins, 16 losses and two ties for the season.
Justin's 57 points leave him tied with Chad Costello of the Colorado Eagles. But Costello is no longer on the active roll of the Eagles and it appears that he has been called up by one of the AHL teams. With the way Justin has
been playing, it would not be surprising to see him called up to the AHL. He had two sessions with the Portland Pirates last season and played nearly 30 games with them.
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| Anniversary
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MUNN: Sheila and Ivan Munn marked their 55th wedding anniversary in January. They were married in Moncton, N.B., Sheila's hometown, on January 4th, 1957.
The anniversary was a low key affair. They had planned to have dinner at their favourite Dartmouth restaurant, but it was very cold and windy that day and the outing was cancelled as a concession to Ivan's health problems.
They opened a bottle of bubbly, and Sheila prepared Shrimp Cocktail, Lobster Newburg, and Lemon pie for the occasion. With a menu like that, who needs a fancy restaurant?
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| DEATHS
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BECK: Vivian Florence Beck (1.4.3A.3.4.) died on Saturday, January 14, 2012, in the Kings County Hospital in Montague, PEI. She was 92. She was the wife of the late Ernest Beck of Alliston. She is survived by her
children Jim (Marion) of Milltown Cross; Dorothy (Leith) MacLean, Charlottetown; Ken, (Debby) Milltown Cross, and John (Ruth) of Alliston, as well as 12 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
Other survivors include sisters-in-law Kaye MacDonald and Ena Beck. She was predeceased by her sisters Daisy Campbell, and Laura Hicken, and by her infant brother, Alfred VanIderstine.
The funeral service was held at the Church of Christ in Montague with interment in the Murray River Cemetery.
HERON: Pansy Isabelle (Brooks) Heron, (1.3,1,3.2.3,) of Pictou, Nova Scotia, died on December 27, 2011, in the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow. She was 90 and a native of Cape Bear, P.E.I.
She is survived by daughters Susan (Tom) Bowman, New Glasgow, Nancy Allen, New Glasgow, Diane Aitchison, New Glasgow; Sandra Barrett, Stellarton, and sons Gary in Hamilton, and Gordon in Pictou. Other survivors
include seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her husband, Roland, and son, Grant.
At her request there was no visitation, and the funeral service was private for family only.
MacKENZIE: William C. MacKenzie (1.4.1,9,3,5.) of Beach Point died on Thursday, December 22, 2011, at the Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague, P.E.I. He was 67. He is survived by his wife, Ida (Collier) and sons
Robert (Shawna) of Gander, NL, and Michael (Kari) of Colorado, and grandchildren, Timothy and Daniel. He is lovingly remembered by special daughter Rosalie Glover. Other survivors include his mother, Ada E. MacKenzie; brothers
and sisters Harold (Adeline), Nellie (Cecil) Rattray, Joyce Gordon, James, and Guy (Gail); brothers-in-law Earle Richards and Grant Buchanan and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his father, Chester, and sister Elizabeth (Bessie) Richards; father & mother-in-law Charlie and Elsie Collier; sisters-in-law Carmen (Bud) MacDonald, and Carolyn Buchanan, and a niece and a nephew.
The funeral service was held at the Church of Christ, Murray Harbour on Tuesday December 27, 2011 at 3 p.m., followed by interment in the Murray Harbour Cemetery.
SCHULTZ: Rayne Dennis "Joe" Schultz (1.2,3.1,8,1.) died in Ottawa on November 11, 2011. It was fitting that this career airman and much decorated war ace should die on Remembrance Day in his 89th year.
He is survived by his daughter, Kathleen (Anthony) Boettger, and his grandchildren Rhiannon (Stuart) Evans, Wolfgang Boettger, and Lacey (Nikita) Batalov. He was predeceased by his wife Mary, his parents, Phyllis
and Albert Schultz, and his brother Glen.
He served 37 years with the RCAF, and went on to fly more than 40 different aircraft during his career, retiring with the rank of Group Captain.
Known as "Mr. Flight Safety" his efforts were recognized internationally by the International Flight Safety Foundation in 1977 and he was elected an honorary member of the USAF Aerospace Safety Hall of Fame.
In Canada he was awarded the Trans Canada McKee trophy in 1978 and was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997. The funeral service was on Thursday November 17th at the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Church in Ottawa.
Rayne was very interested in his Beck roots and attended several reunions in PEI as well the Roberts branch of the Becks reunion in Moose River, N.S. in 1999. He referred to his family as the lost tribe because
they moved to British Columbia. He always arrived with a trunkful of family history documents and left with lots of pictures. Rayne did not have a computer of his own, but arranged to have The Beck
Bulletin notice mailed to his grandson. We hope to outline the highlights of his career in a story in the April edition of this newsletter.
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| A LIFETIME DEVOTED TO GOOD DEEDS |
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A Beach Point woman learned the Golden Rule in church more than 80 years ago and she is still "Doing Onto Others" to this day. Nettie (Baker) Williams (1.4.1,9,5,) has been a force for good in her community throughout her life.
Helping others, says 88-year-old Nettie, has always been a part of my life.
"I think that is what you're put here for is to be nice to others whether they're good to you or not," she told Jim Day of The Guardian who wrote a feature story about her.
Nettie has been an active church members all her life. She started attending the Murray Harbour Church of Christ as a child and is still active in it today. When she grew up she taught Sunday school for more than 20 years,
an activity she says that allowed her to learn a lot about the Bible. She attends church regularly and has been in charge of the church's "In Memoriam" fund since the late 1970s.
Ruth Dempsey says her aunt has always been eager to help.
"If a job needed doing, Aunt Nettie would be quick to volunteer, whether it was teaching Sunday school, cleaning the church, cooking or consoling bereaved families at a funeral."
Nettie joined the Beach Point Women's Institute in 1952, and sixty years later, she's still at it. She's a past president of the organization and still attends the monthly meetings, donates baked goods and acts as an
auctioneer to raise funds to assist people and places in the community. And she has no intention of stopping.
"Why fold up?" she asks. "There's no point in folding up."
Nettie was the fifth-oldest of the nine children of Stanley Baker and Phoebe Penny. She attended a two-room school, but left after grade eight to help with the family income.
She worked for more than 20 years in the local fish plant with a starting wage of $3 a day. She spent most of her time weighing lobsters and splitting tails.
"Tough on your feet standing on cement all day," she recalled.
Nettie married Newton Williams, a fisherman, who died in 1985. She helped by baiting lobster traps for him, and knitting woolen socks for him and other fishermen.
Ruth Dempsey says her aunt has cared for countless family members and friends in time of sickness, staying with many until the time of their death. She adds that the kindness of her aunt has not faded with advancing years.
"Not even a broken hip at age 85, followed by a broken wrist, could dampen Aunt Nettie's spirit of giving. Never one to complain about her own circumstances nor dwell on aches and pains, she was eager to get through the long
recovery phase and resume meeting the needs of others."
Sarah Jackson, (1.4.6.8B.4,) a Beach Point neighbour, points out that the newspaper story failed to mention Nettie's only child, her daughter, Debbie Buell. Sarah says, "Debbie is a wonderful daughter and does an awful lot to help her mother."
Sarah adds that Debbie takes her mother everywhere including shopping and to church. When Nettie broke her hip she stayed with Debbie and her husband, Raymond.
Sarah says they seem more like girlfriends rather than mother and daughter. "You mostly see the both of them out together. It's nice to see a daughter so good to her mother."
Helping others appears to be a family trait.
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| SOUNDING A FAMILIAR CHORD
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There's nothing like some old time music to brighten the day and lift the spirits of a receptive audience. That's something that Murray White (1.12,2.2.5.) and Hubert McIsaac have been delivering to nursing homes
in the Charlottetown area for more than ten years. They started out in 2001 entertaining a group from the Alzheimer Society of P.E.I. and then went on to include other homes in the area. Soon Murray and Hubert invited
their wives, Shirley and Mae, to take part and they called themselves the Joy Makers. In 2003 Murray suggested that Fenton and Nancy MacSwain would be good additions and later he invited Win Bridges to round out their group.
Mary MacKay from The Guardian tagged along when the Joy Makers visited the Beach Grove Home in Charlottetown in December. She said even the seemingly immobile residents got their fingers and toes tapping as the group started
up with a medley of familiar Christmas tunes and old-time songs.
"You've got to interact with people and the more you interact the better they like the program and the more they get involved too," says Hubert. "From the very beginning Murray and I felt that what we would do should be
upbeat ... so you can get them to clap their hands and stomp their feet."
The impact they had on the audience was very obvious right from the start.
"One lady stood up three times to tell us how much she enjoyed the program. Her mind was gone but each time she got up she said the very same words," Murray recalled.
They gradually added one long-term care facility after another as word got out.
They entertain at each of the homes on their itinerary once a month from September until May. All birthdays in any month are all marked on the same day and that's the day the group visits. There may be 10 or
15 birthdays, and Hubert names each individual and offers a humorous remark about them.
Karen Victor, a recreation worker at the Beach Grove, says the people always look forward to the visit. "Music is the universal language and even for our residents who can't sing along or verbally respond they're
still getting something from the music."
The program may vary from month to month, but the Joy Makers always end the same way with Smile Awhile and The More We Get Together, the lyrics of which seem to be embedded in the minds of most of the audiences.
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| A TASTE OF VICTORIAN FARE
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Many Islanders awoke on December 25 to find a reminder of Christmases past under their trees. It was an old cookbook from the 1800s right hot from the press. The Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage
Foundation republished a copy of the first ever locally produced cookbook. It's a reprint of the Jubilee Cookbook: 1837-1897, published to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The book was copied from an
original that had seen a lot of use and had the stains to prove it.
"It's a facsimile in all its glory. This one was a well-loved, well-used book and we didn't want to hide the fact," says Boyde Beck (1.4.3A.3.6.4.), the curator of the Museum. He found the cookbook while doing some research and
decided it would make an interesting publication project.
The question was whether to copy the original book, stains and all, or to clean it up before printing. Boyde got two copies printed, one with stains and one without, and showed them to friends. Opinions were split
about 50-50 so Boyde decided to copy the original, warts and all.
"This is not just someone taking recipes from another book and putting them out, these are almost all women from the Methodist Church here in Charlottetown - Trinity United now - contributing recipes. Some of them
have put in a dozen recipes," Boyde told Mary MacKay of The Guardian newspaper.
The new books were printed on the original printing press once owned by Jas. D. Taylor who produced the original Jubilee Cookbook 114 years ago. It's now owned by Kwik Kopy in Charlottetown.
The original book sold for 25 cents, but the reproduction cost $9.95.
Most of the recipes use only the most basic of ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs and milk. But bananas and gelatin were also involved.
"It's a slice of history," Boyde says, adding that people will probably enjoy baking some of the things that we don't make anymore.
Copies are available at Beaconsfield Historic House in Charlottetown, Eptek Art and Culture Centre in Summerside.
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We're always looking for news of Beck family members. Drop us a line if you know of any interesting events.
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That's it .. please share it with relatives who aren't on line. The next edition will be out on April 1, 2012.
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Copyright © 2012 The Beck Bulletin |