Amassing knowledge on a family history
Genealogy is not everyone's cup of tea. I get that. If the topic is raised in conversation, it either ignites a discussion or causes eyes to glaze over.
I've been researching family history for most of my adult life, so I'm the type to jump into the discussion.
Both of my parents had a keen interest in genealogy and passed that on to me. As I got older, I wanted to organize and document the information. I decided that the time was right just after I graduated from university.
My mother's family, the Edstroms, were from Birch Grove. Both of her grandparents' families moved there in the early 1900s to seek work in the mines. They came from Sydney Mines, Bridgeport, England, and Newfoundland.
My father's side had deep roots in Port Morien. With numerous relatives close by, I thought this side would be a good place to start.
With pen and paper, I posed some family history questions to my grandmother Bertha (Phalen). She told me what she knew a few generations back about her family. That spurred me on to seek more.
Then I sent a letter to Dr. Bruce Fergusson. The Port Morien native was the Nova Scotia provincial archivist and he knew my family well. His personal reply detailed archival information he had researched.
He told me that Patrick, the original Phalen in Cow Bay, first came from Newfoundland to Sydney. He was a soldier in the British army and was stationed there in the late 1700s. Upon discharge, he applied for and was granted 300 acres of land in Cow Bay.
I later found out that my grandfather Gussie's grandparents, Sandy and Ann McDonald, arrived before 1871 in Cow Bay via Broad Cove and Newfoundland. Sandy secured work in the coal mine in South Head.
This was the beginning of a long journey for me. Years of research, collecting information and detective work would lead me down many paths.
Research sources have changed considerably since the 1970s. The Beaton Institute housed maps, as well as church, land, and census records. I made many trips there. Other sources included interviews in person, by letter and by telephone. Headstone information was very helpful.
Today's technology makes research much easier. There are countless websites that offer information. Communication with other researchers is facilitated. Sometimes family information has already been researched; maybe even a family tree has already been created.
DNA analysis can provide new genealogical information as well as verify old. It can also indicate genetic susceptibility to certain health conditions. Some researchers discover previously unknown relatives.
So where am I now, after almost 50 years?
My Edstrom cousin Kim did extensive research on our family. My mother and I have uncovered some valuable information on the Heyes family, our British relatives. We've also gathered information on our Sydney Mines and Bridgeport relatives.
I've met some wonderful people over the years. They spoke of the triumphs and tragedies in their lives. Most have successful backgrounds and come from all walks of life.
I found out that my children can trace their ancestry to four unrelated McDonald families. Our family nickname, to distinguish us from other McDonalds, was the “Framers.” I even found out that Jeopardy! Star Mattea Roach has Morien roots and is a distant Phalen cousin.
There were troubled times. The Phalens lost much of their land in a questionable deal back in the 1850s but retrieved some of it forty years later. My home is on part of it.
I corresponded with a father who lamented the loss of his son in Vietnam and I learned of a family of four who perished in a fire.
Over the years, I've amassed a family history collection that includes vital statistics, personal anecdotes and recollections, photos, and personal items owned by my ancestors.
Of course, there are the disappointments. The most frustrating is that I haven't been able to trace either my MacDonald or Phalen families back to Europe.
Who knows what the future holds? As one researcher once told me, “The more answers we find, the more questions we have.” Truer words were never spoken.