| Number 19 | February 1, 2002 |
LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST ORPHANAGE
A lawsuit has been filed against the operators of the former Protestant orphanage in Mount Herbert, P.E.I. Fourteen former residents allege various forms of abuse, including assault, forced confinement and deprivation of affection. The statement of claim accuses the Prince Edward Island Protestant Children's Trust, formerly known as the P.E.I. Protestant Children's Home, of “systemic negligence in the operation of the home.”
When The Guardian wanted to learn more about conditions at the Home, it turned to Dr. Malcom Beck, (1.4.3B7.3.) the Island's first child psychiatrist who worked with children at the orphanage for more than 20 years. Mac said that while conditions at the facility were deplorable, he never saw any evidence of physical or sexual abuse.
He made an in-depth review of the Home for the board of trustees in 1967 and wrote a 21-page report, describing it as severely underfunded and understaffed. He wrote that there were not enough staff members “to provide the warm personal attention which all children require.” Mac described the situation as “deplorable,” adding, “Our Christian conscience should not allow this state of affairs to continue.”
He made 15 recommendations for improvements including hiring more staff, reducing the workload and increasing wages to attract better-qualified people. However, Mac said that if children were being abused, he saw no evidence of it. "If there was (evidence) I would have brought it up in my report because I was looking for ammunition to try to get some change," he told Wayne Thibodeau of The Guardian.
The Board never acted on any of Mac's recommendations and the Home was closed in 1975.
The Trust is moving to wind up its affairs and distribute its assets of about $1.1 million to other organizations.
MAJOR PROJECT FOR THE MONTAGUE WATERFRONT
Plans have been approved for the renovation of the old Poole & Thompson warehouse on the south side of the Montague River. The building once served schooner traffic on the harbour, but has sat idle for many years. Now the owners, Stewart and Beck Ltd., plan to spend $450,000 modernizing the three-storey structure.
The proprietors, George, Barry and Richard Beck, will operate the business as Beck's Home Furniture, Gifts and Interiors. The new business will occupy two of the three floors in the renovated warehouse.
The Beck proposal was one of two projects approved by Montague Town Council in late January. It also approved a land transfer that will see vacant properties behind Doc Johnston's Eatery on Main Street become part of a larger parcel owned by J and A Leasing and Holdings. It's thought that this could lead to an expansion of the restaurant on water frontage beside the new store.
The north side of the river has seen a lot of development in the past three years, but the south side has been overlooked. Observers think these two projects could lead to further construction on the south side of the river. The Guardian quoted Deputy Mayor Jock Beck as saying, "These two proposals are very exciting developments for the town and we couldn't be happier.''
STAMP DESIGN WINS NATIONAL COMPETITION
Nine-year-old Stephanie Munn (1.4.2.2,2.2.1.1) won a national contest in November with her design of a commemorative stamp. The Canadian Postal Museum sponsors the competition for Canadian school children. The stamps can honour a person such as a friend or family member; the place where you live or have visited, a special event, such as a birthday, or an important issue.
Stephanie, who is never happier than when she is drawing, decided to emphasize the plight of the African elephant. She drew a picture of an elephant on her entry form and in an accompanying article expressed her concern for the threat from poachers who slaughter the animals for their ivory tusks. The museum picks one winner each month from all the entries received from across Canada.
Stephanie's entry was selected as the best for the month of November. She won a stamp collecting kit and her entry was placed on display at the Canadian Postal Museum in Ottawa for one month, from Dec. 17 to Jan. 14th. Her Stamp Quest Starter Kit consisted of a zipper binder with everything required for stamp collecting, including an assortment of Canadian and international stamps. She also won a two-year subscription to Stamp Quest, which provides an on-going supply of stamp collecting material.
NEW HOME PAGE FOR THE LETTER
The Beck Bulletin is moving home to Prince Edward Island. After bouncing from pillar to post for the past few months we've found a new home. Our problems began in the early fall when our long time host, 50Megs.com, decided to end its offer of free space and pulled the rug out from under us with no warning. Their advertising revenue wasn't enough to pay the bills and they wanted us to pay for our space. Since other companies are still providing free hosting, I hastily moved the Beck Bulletin to Tripod.com.
Shortly after this I received a message from Roy Beck in Charlottetown telling me that he might be able to offer us free web space in the future. Late last month Roy sent me an e-mail saying that he had worked out the technical details and was ready to host the newsletter.
Roy explained the situation this way. "I'm a Network Technician by trade so I always have at least one server running at all times for development, testing, and learning purposes. I've decided to put one up on a permanent basis. This is a Windows
2000 server running Internet Information Services 5.0. I have a permanent cable connection with Eastlink as well as an ADSL connection with ITAS, so downtime should be minimal. Should you decide to use this space you can rest assured it will be stable."
I quickly accepted Roy's generous offer and now the Beck Bulletin is not only hosted at home in Prince Edward Island, but fittingly by a Beck. We have the added bonus that we are not plagued by advertising any more!
It will be a few weeks before all the files are transferred to the site.
FAMILY COOKBOOK PLANNED
One of the features of our next reunion could be a cookbook highlighting Beck family recipes. Sarah Jackson of Beach Point (1.4.6.8.3,) has announced plans to produce the book, her third in the past few years. Sarah is inviting submissions from all her Beck relatives and the field is wide open.
"I need recipes for every part of the book," she says. "Breads, pickles, cakes, cookies, and desserts. There will also be a special section for recipes handed down from relatives who have passed away."
She needs the contributions by August at the latest so she can get them organized and ready for the publisher. Credit for the recipes will be given in the book.
Sarah's first book, "A Collection of Favorite Recipes," was published in October 1999. It has sold out and is now in second printing.
To submit recipes or order a copy of the original book, you can reach Sarah at hsnjackson@pei.sympatico.ca
MURRAY RIVER LAND MARK TORN DOWN
One of the oldest buildings on the main street of Murray River, P.E.I. has been demolished. Commonly known as Fred Johnston's store, the structure has been empty and unused for the past 15 or 20 years. Located at the northeast corner of the Murray River Bridge, it served as a general store for more than 60 years.
The original owners of the store and warehouse were John (1.4.2.3.) and Hube (1.4.2.4) Beck who operated the business under the name of Beck Brothers. Their father, Ben Beck, built the store almost 100 years ago, in the early 1900s. He walked from White Sands each morning and back home in the evening. They sold groceries, dry goods, feed, lumber and farm equipment. They had their own wharf where schooners could tie up to load and unload cargo. They also had their own schooners and both John and Hube were sea captains. Syd Munn (1.4.2.2,2.) remembered when Beck Bros. operated the store and said John owned a horse named "Barney" which they used to haul goods to and from the vessels that came to their wharf. They went out of business about 1915 and sold the store to D. A. McLeod, known locally as "Yellow Dan" because of his complexion. This picture, from the history section of the Murray River Community Web Page, shows the business when he owned it.
Hube moved to New Glasgow, and John took up farming on his property about two miles from Murray River on the road to Montague.
Fred Johnston took over the business from McLeod. After Fred retired it was bought by Parker Hamilton who used it as a funeral home for a few years. It's been owned by the Millars for the past few years. It's not known what they plan to do with the property.
VITAL STATISTICS
BORN
Lazaric, Juliette Margaret. Born to Dr.Daniel Lazaric and his wife, Lisa MacNeill (1.4.9,2,6.1.1). Juliette arrived on January 15, 2002, and weighed 6 lbs, 10 ounces. Danny and Lisa live in the Annapolis Valley area of Nova Scotia.
MARRIED
Roy Alexander Beck (1.4.3A.3.6.5.) to Kimberly Catherine Margaret Chisholm, both of Charlottetown.
Roy is the son of Edwin and Anne Beck of Montague and Kimberly is the daughter of Ronald and Charlene Chisholm of Charlottetown.
The service was held on December 28 at the Kirk of Saint James Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown with the Reverend Harry Currie presiding.
About 40 close family members and friends attended with the reception at Smitty's Restaurant afterwards
DIED
HARRIS, Norma Phyllis - The death occurred on December 20, 2001, at the Riverview Manor, Montague, of Norma Harris, age 69 years, formerly of Murray Harbour. She was predeceased by her husband, John Fletcher Harris (1.4.6.5,7.) She is survived by a daughter, Laverne; and sons, Rex and Louis; and grandson, Rex Jr. The funeral was held on Saturday, December 22, 2001, at 2 p.m. at the Murray Harbour Baptist Church with interment in the Murray Harbour Cemetery.
BIOGRAPHY
Hubert Watson Beck (1.4.2.3.4) was born Oct. 6, 1907, probably in White Sands, P.E.I.
He was the son of John Beck and Annie Campbell and grew up in Murray River and attended the Murray River school. In the 1922 school register, he is shown as being in the "Third Reader" as the schools did not have grades in those days. His first cousin, Sibyl (Munn) Beaton (1.4.2.2,5,) remembers Hube as a quiet industrious student. She said he did little to draw attention to himself in school. Hube and his brothers and sisters had a long walk to and from classes as the family lived about 2 miles from the school and in winter there would be nothing but a horse track through the snow.
Hube married Florence Billard from Murray Harbour and they made their home in Murray River. They didn't have any children, but Florence's nephew, Ralph Billard, was very close to them and remembered many of the highlights of their lives. He said that one of Hube's first jobs was running a lobster smack for one of the lobster packers, probably McGee's in Pictou. A smack was a small boat equipped with holding tanks. Lobsters were bought from the fishermen and delivered live to the canning factories. Later Hube got a job on a coast guard vessel and served aboard it during the Second World War.
Hube and Florence enjoyed music and they both played instruments. Ralph said Hube was a good fiddle player and Florence played the guitar and the piano and they'd occasionally perform at local gatherings when they were young. Ralph still has Hube's fiddle.
Hube grew up on a farm and was a good carpenter, but he never worked at either job. After he got married he built his own home in Murray River. Ralph said that like most men in that day he was always puttering around and making improvements to the place in his spare time. Ralph said that when Luther Herring of Murray Harbour decided to build a house he asked Hube to figure out how much lumber he'd need. Hube agreed and did such a good job that when the house was finished they only had two 2x4s left over.
Hube and Florence moved to the United States in 1945 and settled in Cambridge, Mass. Florence got a job as a housekeeper for a university professor and Hube served as the family handyman in his spare time. During the 24 years they spent in Cambridge Hube worked at a variety of jobs, mostly in machine shops.
They returned to P.E.I. in 1969 and settled in White Sands. Ralph said Hube spent his time puttering around the house and tending his garden. They lived there until about 1975 when they moved to Murray River.
Ralph said Hube was a very talented man and there wasn't much he couldn't do if given some time to figure it out. He enjoyed crossword puzzles and tackled the toughest ones he could find.
Ralph liked to tease and he'd start an argument with Hube just to get him going. After they'd reach a deadlock, Ralph would say, "Hube, you must be the most stubborn man on Prince Edward Island."
"No I'm not," Hube would reply, "but I know a thing or two about stubbornness. After all I'm married to a Billard."
Other times when the argument was heating up, Florence might jump in on Ralph's side. Hube would say, "Florence, if you can't say anything constructive, don't say anything at all."
Hube died in 1993 and is buried in the Murray Harbour Cemetery.
BELL ON THE DISABLED LIST
Thatcher Bell (1.4.6.5,3.6,3) is marking time as he tries to recover from a stubborn back injury. The 19-year-old hockey player is suffering from a herniated disc that has kept him out of the lineup of the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since early December. The problem has persisted for the past 18 months. “It's frustrating, but you have to stay positive about the whole thing,” he says.
Thatcher is at home in Guernsey Cove these days as he tries to recover. He'll head back to Rimouski in about a week to resume workouts to see if he is ready to resume play. He told Don Morrison of The Guardian that “If it's still sore and I'm still having trouble then I'll probably stop for the rest of the season.”
The timing of the injury leaves Thatcher in an awkward position. A draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, the team must offer him a contract by June first or its back into the draft.
"It's going to be difficult to get a contract if I can't play for the rest of the year.” But Thatcher says his main concern right now is to get his back in shape. “I'm not going to be able to do anything at all if I have this bad back.”
BUDDING YOUNG WRITERS
The Eastern Graphic devotes one section of its Christmas edition to seasonal stories each year. Readers are invited to submit Christmas stories and they can be actual events or fiction. Forty-seven stories were published this year and two of the authors were young Beck descendants.
Nine-year-old Jenny Beck, (1.4.3A.3.4.4.3) a student at Southern Kings Consolidated School, wrote a story about a visit from Santa. It was Christmas Eve and she and her sister Emily were having trouble getting to sleep when they heard the soft pitter-patter of hoofs on the roof. They sneaked downstairs and went out on the lawn where they spotted reindeer hoof prints in the snow on the roof. When she opened her presents from Santa the next morning they held special meaning for her because of her midnight adventure.
Ten-year-old Jessica Hicken, (1.5,2.2B.5.1,3.2) also a student at Southern Kings Consolidated, wrote about a sleep over at her friend, Ashlyn's home, a couple of nights before Christmas. There were five girls in the party. They played games and had a chocolate birthday cake for two of the girls who had just celebrated their birthdays. Then they made up their beds in the living room and watched a movie on the Big Screen TV. They enjoyed pancakes for breakfast and then had skidoo rides in the snow until their parents came for them in the afternoon.
MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES PAST
Some of Jessie Norton Beck's (1.4.3A.2A.1.) earliest memories of Christmas are described in the December issue of the Island Senior's magazine. Hilary Prince talked with Jessie about those days and wrote the article.
Jessie was born in 1911 and her family lived in Brudenell. "The roads weren't plowed; there were no cars. The only telephone was three miles away in Cardigan."
The family always went to church in Montague on Christmas morning, a long cold ride by horse and sleigh. "We had heated bricks at our feet and huge buffalo robes over our knees," Jessie said. "The horses were housed in a big horse shed at the church … fed oats, and covered warmly with rugs. They patiently waited for more than two hours until services were over."
There was always a big Christmas dinner. "We ate goose or turkey with all the trimmings, of course, and Mother did a lot of baking. She made white and dark fruit cake, Scotch cakes and Lady Baltimore white layer cake with dark fruit filling and spice. After dinner everyone, and there were a lot of us, had to do something to entertain. Even the little ones had to sing, dance, recite a poem, or read a piece of scripture."
Presents were not as lavish as today. There would always be an orange in the stocking along with other small presents. "One Christmas my main gift was a set of pink dishes with a floral design on each piece. I picked them out very carefully from the stocking. What excitement, what a dream come true!"
She also remembers presents her brothers received. For example, one brother received a toy monkey on a three-foot cord that could be moved up and down as if by magic. "Of course, we rushed to show our presents to Mother and Dad, and they expressed great surprise at our good fortune, just as my husband and I did with our own children many years later."
But while the children experienced the excitement of receiving presents, Jessie remembers that there was much more emphasis on the spiritual side of Christmas. Most people attended Christmas church services; there were musical concerts in the churches, needy people were invited for Christmas dinners, the entire community pitched in to prepare boxes for the less fortunate, and the church community went out and sang carols for the sick or shut-ins. For Jessie, it all pointed up the message of Christmas: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
The Vere Beck Family 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
imunn@accesswave.ca