Year: 2017

Some Updates

Gwen Harris Announcements , , ,

We have not foresaken the family history.  Gradually we are making progress through the period 1850 to 1900 during which the Flemings of Derby built up their farms, founded new businesses, and raised their children.  This website will carry shorter versions of the family annals.  Two are available now. If you have more information about the Fleming family please comment on this blog to connect with Ruth Larmour. We thank those who have done so already.

  • Isabella Fleming and Abraham Finch : the family tree (chart) has been updated to fill in some blanks for life dates and children’s names.
  • Janet Fleming – or as she preferred to be called – Jessie, and James Agnew : Jessie’s biography with capsule accounts for the children is now available and the family tree has been updated for new findings.

The Fleming family tree is also being built out in Ancestry.ca and now has some photos.  This is a public tree for easier viewing – the  only challenge is to get the hang of Ancestry’s display.

A full biography of Roy F. Fleming, Charles’s son – a man of many talents and capabilities as artist, historian, and teacher, is also available as a download. This was written for Grey Roots Archives in 2016.

Clan Stewart Camp

Gwen Harris Fleming Lives, Places , , ,

Flemings-Camp-CSC-cropped

During the 1900s the Fleming family formed a deep and abiding love for the Fishing Islands at Oliphant, on the Lake Huron side of the Bruce Peninsula.  Attracted by the rugged nature of the islands, the abundant fishing, and the beautiful blue waters, they established camps in the very early 1900s on Main Station, Little Squaw, Sunset, Frog, and others.  Clan Stewart Camp on Little Squaw continues as a family gathering place. Roy Fleming, Ruth Larmour’s grandfather, and Roy’s Aunt Jennie bought this parcel of land in 1909 on Indian Channel and built a Victorian cottage.  They named their cottage Clan Stewart Camp after Jennie’s mother, Jean Stewart Fleming. The cottage has been modified a few times since, but its porch is still a favourite place for lounging in the afternoon.

The story of the early Fleming campers, their descendants, and of Clan Stewart Camp is told in “The Fleming Family – Early Oliphant Campers'” published in the Yearbook Edition 2017 of the Bruce County Historical Society.  Ruth Larmour is the narrator  with tales of early cottage life, the changing connections of family with the islands, and her own deep attachment.

Read the full article at  Fleming-Oliphant-Version3a-2017.pdf (in Dropbox)

 

Birth, Marriages, and Deaths

Gwen Harris Fleming Lives, Resources , , , , ,

Much can be learned from the announcements in newspapers for births, marriages, and deaths. For  marriages, in addition to the names of married couple, the  location, and name of the presiding minister,  the notice might mention the number of guests and names of attendants.  Birth notices were much less informative – limited in most cases to the father’s name, the date, and the gender.  Obituaries vary widely, from a sparse  statement of  name, date, place, to more effusive ones with a brief biography and names of immediate family.

For the Fleming families of Derby Township and Owen Sound we turn to the papers published in Owen Sound from 1850 onward.  Thankfully, the Bruce and Grey Branch Ontario Genealogy Society has transcribed these announcements to CD ROMs that may be purchased from the branch or may be viewed at the Toronto Public Library, the Owen Sound Public Library, and perhaps others.  [Price list: https://brucegrey.ogs.on.ca/?page_id=62 ] Continue reading →

Derby Township Assessment Rolls

Gwen Harris Fleming Lives, Land Records , , , , , ,

In investigating the lives of our ancestors much can be inferred from the tax assessment rolls.  In researching the Flemings of Derby Township we can see  acquisition of acreage, clearance of forests for pasture and crops, and the growing value in real property. Five of Alexander’s sons (James, John, Alexander II, Donald, and Charles), and his son-in-law (James Agnew)  became established as farmers. William, the sixth son, left his farm and moved to Owen Sound in the early 1880s.

Assessment rolls were completed annually by the township in order to determine taxes payable by its residents.

Assessment rolls are used to record information about a resident’s property in order to determine the amount of taxes payable on real property.  The following information is recorded: land and building value; status as residence or business, religion (for school taxation purposes), age, and occupation of head of household and number of people living on the property.  Other information is collected from time to time reflecting local or provincial requirements. [Source: Finding Municipal Record, Research Guide 209, Archives of Ontario]

Continue reading →

Diary of Young Roy

Gwen Harris Fleming Lives , , ,

Among the Fleming family papers is a diary that Roy F. Fleming, son of Charles and Lyda Warren, kept in 1891 when he was a boy of twelve living on a farm near Kilsyth in Derby Township.  It was a sad and tumultuous year for him and the Fleming family. The greatest tragedy was that his mother died  in March while receiving treatment at the Kellogg Sanatorium in Battle Creek, Michigan. Roy with his two older brothers, Howard and Stuart, and two younger sisters, Ruth and Annie,  carried on working with their father on the farm and in his general store, going to school and to church. Charles’ sister “Aunt Jennie” stepped in to help raise the young children.

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Front page of Roy Fleming’s 1891 Diary

Roy recorded his diary in a journal printed by  C.A. Fleming,  Roy’s cousin, for the Northern Business College, Owen Sound. Continue reading →