THE BECK BULLETIN



Number 39 June 1, 2005

A SIGNIFICANT FIND

Two old legal documents connected to the Beck family were found in mid-May, 2005. Anne Brooks of Riverview, N.B., found the will of John Beck (1.4) while searching through records in the Provincial Archives in Charlottetown. This is very interesting because John has many more descendants than any other of Vere's children.
Anne says it was not very hard to find. “It is simply a matter of scrolling through the names until you find the surnames you are looking for. Once you find them in the index, then you have to find the appropriate film and look up the will.” A copy costs .50 cents a page, but is not ready until the next day. Anne added that, “any will proved after 1902, even though found on the index, cannot be seen at the archives....you have to go to the court house.”
Although he had nine children, John left everything to two of them. His unmarried daughter, Mary Anne, (1.4.5,) was to have a home on his farm and the necessities of life as long as she remained single. John Penny Beck (1.4.6.) was left the farm and everything on it. This meant that along with the farm he was responsible for providing a home for his sister. He was also the sole executor of the will.
Anne also found the marriage bonds of Ben Beck (1.4.2.) and Mary MacLean. At that time the groom was required to enter into a bond with one or two people who knew him and who were prepared to guarantee to the Crown that no legal impediment to the marriage existed. After obtaining the bond, a licence was issued and the marriage usually took place a few days later.
John signed the will with an “X” indicating he could not write. This is not surprising considering he was born in 1815 and grew up before there were schools in the area. His son Ben, however, signed the marriage bonds in a bold hand in 1873, indicating he must have had access to some schooling.
So when was the first school built in the Guernsey Cove area? Whitman Daly, in his history of the Murray Harbour district, says the first school was not built until 1877. It was located near Cape Bear and served the surrounding area.
However, a history project by Mindy White, a high school student, indicates there was a school in Guernsey Cove much earlier than that. She said the first school in the community opened in 1834, and she listed the names of the teachers from 1834 onward, making a convincing case that the school indeed opened in that year. As for its location, the 1863 Lake Map of Prince Edward Island shows a school at the corner where the Guernsey Cove Road turns towards Murray Harbour.
If you're interested in reading the will and the marriage bonds the documents are available here.

JUST A GAME SHORT

It was a near thing, but they couldn't pull it off. For Danny Stewart (1.4.6.5,1.2A,2.1.) and the Rimouski Oceanic it was a disappointing ending to the hockey season. They had fought their way to within one game of winning the Memorial Cup, emblematic of Junior Hockey Supremacy. They were facing the London, Ont., Knights, touted as perhaps one of the best Junior Teams ever, and even though Rimouski was led by Sidney Crosby, the best Junior player in the country, it wasn’t enough.
They were tired going into the game, having eliminated Ottawa just 20 hours earlier, while London was well rested after three days off. The score was 4-0 and the season was over.
Danny picked up six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 11 playoff games leading up to the Memorial Cup action. At that he missed the last two games of the Quebec League final in which Rimouski swept the Halifax Mooseheads in 4 straight games.
Danny was suspended for spearing Alexandre Picard late in Game Two, after the Halifax defenceman cross-checked him.
“I was too intense and too quick in retaliating,” he said after the game. “The cross-check wasn’t that big, but it hurt.”
Danny turned 20 last month, and after four years with Rimouski he hopes to sign a pro-contract before next season. He’s a fourth-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens.
Now he has all summer to consider his plans for next year.

PERFORMING FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

For the fifth year in a row, the Murray River area has thrown its support behind the drive to raise money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Equipment Fund. The community raised $20,000 this year through a series of weekly ceilidhs from March 12th through April 23rd.
Garnet Buell (1.6B.6.5,2.) is the driving force behind the concerts and he presented the cheque on Sunday, April 24, during the 21-hour money-raising telethon. He started the ceilidhs five years ago, and organizes the entertainment and performs in them. Garnet lines up all the entertainers, and makes the final decision about each event.
Mary MacQueen, one of the volunteers on the committee, told The Eastern Graphic, “this is truly Garnet's baby, so without him I don't think the events would happen, and for sure they wouldn't be as successful as they are now.”
The goal was to raise $75,000 over five years, but they've exceeded that figure by $10,000. This year the telethon raised a total of $445,000 for the new CAT Scan, from all across Prince Edward Island.

BIG DONATION BOOSTS TOTAL

Florence Harris (1.4.6.5,4.1.) of Murray Harbour is an enthusiastic supporter of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. She donated a 51-inch widescreen television to the hospital's recent equipment drive. It was auctioned off during the 21-hour telethon and raised $1,725. for the cause. Florence specified that the proceeds should be given to the Pediatric Unit for a new computer system. “I have three grandchildren,” she told The Eastern Graphic, “and I know how much they like computers. It should make the hospital stay for the children a little more enjoyable.” Florence was accompanied by one of her grandchildren, three-year-old Berry Lexa Genge, when she appeared on the program. The donation didn't cost Florence anything as she won the TV in a contest. She has worked at Northumberland Ferries for more than 30 years and has been entering a contest run by Schneider’s Meat Products. One of her entries turned out to be the grand prize winner.

A NEW GENEALOGICAL NUMBERING SYSTEM

There is no shortage of numbering systems to help budding genealogists keep track of their relatives. There are about a dozen widely recognized methods available and some of them boast two or three modifications by people who weren't quite satisfied with the original.
The "best system" often depends upon your own preferences or perhaps chance exposure to a method you grow familiar with. For instance, most of us are familiar with the Beck listings and the “JVB” numbering system devised by our chief genealogist, James Vere Beck.
When Dr. Angus Beck of Charlottetown got interested in genealogy he decided that none of the available numbering systems were exactly what he wanted. Angus was working on the Darrachs, his mother's people, and decided to devise a system that would be completely to his liking. It's based on the JVB system, but has many differences.
Angus picked a distinctive name for his system. “The name I have chosen is “Genisle”, which uses the prefix “gen” (from the Greek “to be born”), which is found in words like genealogy, generations, generators, genetics, and genesis, etc. Emigrations and immigrations often involve islands, and in the case of the Darrachs, these islands were the “Isle” of Colonsay (Scotland), and Prince Edward “Island.” The format, though, can be used by anyone.”
Angus said that one of his objectives was to keep close relatives in a group, making it easier to keep track of their names and relationship to you. He used various methods to distinguish the different generations, everything from type size to type colours.
Angus explains his system in detail in his web page. I've added a link at the end of this letter, so that those who are interested in learning more about the Genisle system can check it out, get a full explanation and see examples of how it would work.

BIRTHS

BECK: Roy and Kimberly Beck (1.4.3A.3.6.5.) of Charlottetown announce the birth of their son, Alexander Edwin Charles Beck. He was born May 9, 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz. This is their second child. Their daughter, Allison, will be three in July.
The grandparents are Edwin and Anne Beck of Montague, and Ronald and Charlene Chisholm of Charlottetown.

 

MacKay: Kevin and Melissa MacKay of Charlottetown announce the birth of their daughter, Menita Janet MacKay. She was born at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on April 22, 2005, and weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz. Laurie and Ellen MacKay of Beach Point and Barry and Mary Mellish of Owen Sound, Ontario, are the proud grandparents.

 

MacNeill: Michael (1.4.9,2,6.1.2.) and Tanya MacNeill of Gladstone announce the birth of their daughter, Drew Nicole MacNeill. She was born on March 31, 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown and weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz. Drew is their third child. She has two older brothers, Owen and Ty. Proud grandparents are Frank and Marilyn MacNeill, of Beach Point, and Denver and Jean Williams, Shelburne, NS and great-grandmother Ruby MacNeill, Beach Point, PEI.

Wight: Andrew and Sheri (Smith) Wight (1.4.9,10.1,2,3,) of Milltown Cross, P.E.I., announce the birth of their son, Carson Andrew Wight on January 15, 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. Carson weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz. This is their second child. They have a daughter, Maya, who is five years old and just graduated from Kindergarten. The grandparents are Buddy White of British Columbia, and Ruth Wight of Charlottetown and Bob and Peggy Smith of Montague.

DEATHS

MACKAY: Ruby Muriel (White) MacKay (1.12,2.2.1,) died at the Garden Home in Charlottetown on March 31, 2005. She was 90 years old and a native of Murray Harbour. She is survived by a son, Dale (Rhonda) three grandchildren, Jamie MacKay, Melanie London (Darrell) and Adam MacKay and a great-granddaughter, Emma London.
She is a sister of Vivian Graham (Austin) of Summerside, Murray White (Shirley) of Charlottetown and Murray Harbour, and Leeta Whitrow (Ralph) of Saskatchewan. She was predeceased by her husband, James H. MacKay, by her parents, Horace and Florence White and by her sister, Cecelia Carver.
The funeral service was held on April 3rd at the Murray Harbour Church of Christ with interment in the Murray Harbour Cemetery.

Horse Racing in the Blood

Veteran Montague racehorse owner, Ralph Annear, (1.11,6,4.1.) has been named Active Horseman of the Year. He received the award at the PEI Standardbred Horse Owners Association Annual Awards Banquet and Dance held on April 15, 2004. There was a large turnout with more than 300 people in attendance.
A month earlier there was an article in the Harness Racing Review about Ralph and his grandson, 12-year-old Jack Panting. He is very interested in racehorses and spends as much time as he can with his grandfather, learning the finer points of the business.
They are partners in the ownership of Maple Leaf Noble, a two-year-old which they hope to race this summer. Jack feeds the horses when he is at the stable and brushes them and cleans the stalls. He does this in spite of the fact that he has asthma and being around the horses aggravates the condition. He takes his medication and carries on.
“I love the horses,” he says. “And my grandfather has taught me a lot about them. Pretty near anything I need to know.”

BERLIN

By Peter Murdoch and Janice MacPherson Murdoch (1.6A.4,6.1,1.1)

Berlin, the capital of Germany, certainly has a long and varied history: from the first traces of human settlement, dated around 4000 BC, to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this multi-cultural centre offers many interesting sights and stories, as we discovered on a whirlwind Easter visit.
The Brandenburg Gate, one of the world’s most famous landmarks, symbolizes the Western entrance to Berlin. Commissioned by Wilhelmina, mistress of King Frederick William II, it was completed in 1791 as a tribute to Greek culture.
Impressive with turrets and dome, the Berlin Cathedral was built in 1905 to serve Protestant worshippers. Severely damaged in WWII, the East German government rebuilt the Cathedral, and many of its fine details were restored in recent years.
Berlin has several palaces, the most impressive of which is Charlottenburg. It was built in 1695 as a summer residence for Sophie Charlotte and Frederick III. Destroyed by fire in 1944, it was restored to its original grandeur in the late 1950s.
Even though Berlin has very few old buildings, due to heavy damage during WWII, its history is fascinating. Germany was divided into East and West in 1949; the Berlin Wall divided the city from 1961 to 1989. Only a small section of the Wall remains; it is used as a memorial site to educate people about the terrors of war and oppression. A brick path runs throughout the city to immortalize where the Wall stood, reminding us that a mere 16 years ago we could not have travelled freely there……all the more reason to cherish the freedom we have today.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Canada Day activities in Murray Harbour may be cancelled this year unless more interest is shown. The event is put on by the local Drama Club and an organizing meeting held in mid-May attracted only six people. “We usually get 20 or more people,” said Paul White (1.4.6.7,2.5.) “but not one person from the public showed up.” The Drama Club has been putting on the Canada Day program for the past 14 years and it usually brings in $2,000 to $3,000 which is donated to various community causes such as the Northumberland Arena and the Community Centre. Another meeting has been called for June 1 and the response will determine whether to go ahead. Paul said men are needed for the heavy work, such as setting up games and others are needed to run some of the events. He said a cancellation would affect the entire village from existing businesses to the recipients of funds raised. Canada Day activities start around 1pm and wrap up at dusk with fireworks. Those of you who attended the last reunion will remember Paul as the man who organized and supervised the supper for us at the Northumberland Arena.

The Vere Beck Family Home Page

Angus Beck's Genisle Genealogy Numbering System.

The Marfleet Home Page

We're always looking for news of Beck family members. If you know of any interesting 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 August 1, 2005.

Copyright © 2005 The Beck Bulletin