Exhibit opening at Government House in Fredericton on December 15, 2012. The photograph was taken by our volunteer Vanessa. Thanks Vanessa!

The Membership Chair will be responsible for providing leadership in the membership activities of the York Sunbury Historical Society and Fredericton Region Museum.

Goals and Outcomes
To maintain, promote and grow York Sunbury Historical Society memberships, based on an annual plan.

Actions to achieve this include:

• Lead a Membership Committee and set a membership target for the year.
• The Chair and Committee will work with the Executive Director (ED) on the annual recruitment drive and on targeted markets and events, such as the Corporate Membership drive and the monthly program.
• Work with the ED to develop or maintain membership recruitment material e.g. brochures and application forms.
• Consider how volunteers and the YSHS Board might be used to recruit members at key locations and community events
• The Chair and Committee may identify initiatives and to raise the profile of membership in the local community e.g. by getting someone to attend community events with membership forms.

Specific Duties
In general, membership chairs are expected to:

• Call Committee meetings.
• Appoint fellow committee members, with the assistance of the President.
• Ensure prompt follow-up for new and renewed members
• Oversee membership development with the assistance of a committee, the Board and museum staff.  (Planning)
• Ensure that Membership Lists are maintained, so that membership reports from the updated membership list statistics (maintained at the office) can be reported to the Board.  Reports are co-written by the ED and Chair.
• Ensure membership forms are available at targeted community and society events, and where possible, have a representative attend to assist the staff or other Society members who are attending the event.

Qualifications:

• A willingness and ability to persuade existing members to renew and new members to join; through correspondence, membership activities, personal contact, and at outside events.
• A positive and respectful manner.
• An appreciation of the community value created by having a history museum, collection and programs.

Assets:  Experience in making presentations and doing an annual work plan.

Term
1-2 years, with option for renewal.

Finances
The Membership Committee has an annual budget to cover the costs of envelopes, paper, stamps, printing and other membership recruitment expenses.

To Apply
Interested persons should contact a member of the York Sunbury Historical Society Board or the Executive Director to express interest.

Reports To
The Membership Chair reports to the Board of Directors.

All evening programs take place at Old Government House (51 Woodstock Road, Fredericton) at 7:30pm. We can park on site and come in the side entrance and programs are free and open to the public!

Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 7:30 at Old Government House Speaker: Dr. Lee Windsor

Dr. Lee Windsor is Deputy Director at The Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick.  He holds a BA from Acadia University, an MA from Wilfrid Laurier and a PhD from the University of New Brunswick. He teaches and studies in the field of Canadian army history in the 20^th Century up to and including current missions abroad.  He regularly guides groups of students, soldiers and the general public on study tours to battlefields in Italy, France, Belgium and Holland.  His publications include Kandahar Tour: Turning Point in Canada’s Afghan Mission,   Steel Cavalry: The 8^th New Brunswick Hussars in the Italian Campaign as well as a number of chapters and articles.  He is currently working on a new project on the Sicily campaign.

I’m trying to identify a knife-like tool that once belonged to a Peter Lesley MacFarlane (son of William MacFarlane and Christina White) from Nashwaaksis or Douglas.

The gentleman that asked me about it (this is not a museum item), said that it belonged to his ancestor, Peter.  The 1911 census lists a Peter MacFarlane in Douglas who was 38 years old.  He was married to Maud (c.1879) and they had a son named Donald who was 7 years old when the census was taken.  The 1901 census lists his birthday as February 10^th, I confirmed with the owner that this was his Grandfather’s birth date.  Coincidently, Peter was born exactly 100 years before I was!

Three arms pull out and each has a sharp blade. Each blade is a different size.

According to a 1903 birth register and an 1899 marriage registrar found on the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick website, Maud’s maiden name was Hill and she was the daughter of Thomas and Jane Hill.  The 1903 birth register is probably for Donald though his name is not on it … odd.  Later, I found a birth register for Roy Leslie MacFarlane, born in 1914 … a little brother for Donald!

Unfortunately, neither online census record mentions Peter’s occupation but the marriage register lists him as “farmer” and the birth registrar lists Peter as a “labourer”.

One arm as Peter's initials scratched on it.

According to the New Brunswick Cemeteries database on the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick website, “Maudie” died in 1926 and was buried at the St. John the Evangelist Anglican graveyard in York County.  The listing does not mention her husband but it does mention her son, Donald Hazen McFarlane.  Another listing reveals that Donald died in 1939 and was buried at the same graveyard.

The graveyard database also revealed that Peter died in 1935.  That is nine years after Maude.  That would explain a 1927 marriage record for Peter MacFarlane and Ella Ellis, a nurse from Somerville, Massachusetts.  He was listed as a widower and Ella was a widow.  In the cemetery records, “Ellen” and Peter are both buried in the Douglas Rural Cemetery in York County.

According to the owner, Peter made this tool. It's not very big, but it's pretty heavy.

Peter was one of the MacFarlane’s from the McFarlane’s Wagon Works family.  Archives Canada has an extensive collection of textual records for their business (1915-1926, No RCIA 159571).  The fond description gives a good summary of the business, as does Ruth Scott’s book “Nashwaaksis; 1765-1973 A History.”  In short, the company was started by Scottish immigrant and blacksmith Peter MacFarlane (1803-1872).  His grandson, William eventually took over the family business and the factory was located on the “MacFarlane Brook” in Nashwaaksis.  I believe that MacFarlane Stream empties into Nashwaaksis Stream.

The Clan MacFarlane and Associated Clans Genealogy website has a lot of Peter’s (1803-1972) genealogy online.

Do you have any ideas of what this object is?  If so, please leave your ideas in the comments below.  Thanks in advance!

I have not explored the following records, but if you are interested in learning more about the MacFarlane family, the York Sunbury Historical Society has these stored at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick:

MC300-MS77 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection Description (page 288)  – Tape Recordings #52 Mr. E. Leslie MacFarlane – Concerning the MacFarlane Wagon Factory in Nashwaaksis, Fred.; Aug. 8

MC300-MS41 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection Description (page 201) – Business Records #14 Ledger of [McFarlane Wagon Company], Nashwaaksis, York County; 1897-1914

MC300-MS41 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection Description (page 201) – Business Records #15 Day book of McFarlane Wagon Company, Nashwaaksis, York County; 1923-1929

MC300-MS28 York-Sunbury Historical Society Collection Description (page 189) – Indentures of Sale #8 Indenture of sale of The New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company to Peter McFarlane, Douglas Parish, for land in Douglas; January 19, 1848

All evening programs take place at Old Government House (51 Woodstock Road, Fredericton) at 7:30pm. We can park on site and come in the side entrance and programs are free and open to the public!

Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 7:30 at Old Government House Speaker: Dr. Gail Campbell

Dr. Gail Campbell (image from University of New Brunswick website)

What can we learn about Sophy Bliss Carman and her more famous family by reading her diary and correspondence? Was she a stereotypical “Victorian lady” who believed that women should be pure, pious and submissive? Or was she more intellectually engaged, independent and assertive in managing her family and household that such a stereotypical characterization would imply?

[January 12, 2012] As part of the ongoing Goose Lane Editions/Fredericton Public Library co-operative series Winter Tales: Writers on Writing, we are proud to announce a night of two authorial heavyweights who will enliven the long Fredericton night with fascinating glimpses of the stories behind their stories, and their individual approaches to their historical and political subjects.

Winter Tales allows people a glimpse into the creative process, going past the pages and into the passion and research. Over three consecutive Wednesday evenings in January, local authors meet to discuss their personal projects, how they go about creating a book, and other themes that every writer must face when they look to publication.

On January 18, 2012, 7 pm at the Fredericton Public Library, the speakers will be:

Jacques Poitras
As CBC journalist and author Jacques Poitras reaches into the shared past of New Brunswick and Maine in his new book Imaginary Line: Life on an Unfinished Border, he also visits the present-day border, revealing a fractious population beset on both sides by political machinations, as well as the new Harper/Obama trade deal. Jacques will discuss aspects of his process, including how technology has changed the research process, why he felt it was important to visit the physical locations, and how to structure a non-fiction narrative when you don’t have a single protagonist.

Lee Windsor
Lee Windsor, Deputy Director of the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society, will be discussing his work on Steel Cavalry: The 8th (New Brunswick) Hussars and the Italian Campaign. With his military background serving with the Hussars, Lee brings a personal relationship to his historical research, and he’ll be touching on how he worked to bring the World War II campaigns of one of New Brunswick’s most famous battalions to the page.

The moderator for this event will be author and Goose Lane publicist Corey Redekop.

This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,700 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

World War I German Letter written in German World War I letter written in Sütterlin (1)

Many people have asked for an update about the World War I German letter that my summer students posted on our blog last August so I’m going to share what we have learned.  The letter was found tucked in the back of a World War I messenger book during our annual exhibit inventory.  The book use to belong to Arthur Cleveland Kelly.

Here is what we have learned so far …

World War I German Letter written in German World War I letter written in Sütterlin (2)

The letter is written in a Sütterlin script and unfortunately, not a lot of people read Sütterlin anymore.  The modern German script that we are familiar with today came into use in 1941.

I posted the letters on Sparked Microvolunteering and was fortunate to have Finn, Sophie Anna, Anna and Julia find the post and offer thier assistance.  Finn commented that, “the problem is not the translation but the transliteration of the text …. But I’ve sent it to a club who hopefully will tralsliterate it for free.”  Yah Finn!

Shortly afterwards, Finn was able to provide a translation of the text from Sütterlin to the modern German text.

“Good news! I’ve got the transcription today!! I’m very excited about it. But I have to say it’s a pretty weird German, because people back then spoke differently. But all I can say at this point that it is a pretty sad letter. It’s a letter of a very worried mother who hopes to see her son again. She tells him that other people/sons from the village died and that they don’t have much food (I think).

One thing about who did this transcription: It’s done by a NGO who works with old people who want to do something for the community. They are using the knowledge of these old people and letting them transcript Sütterlin texts. I think this is a great project!” (Finn)

Afterwards, Finn provided this translation:

 Top-Left: Again, I hope to see you again soon!
Mauth, 29 March 13
Dear Ludwig!

Since I didn’t get a letter from you since 5 days I have to send you a small letter again. I was hoping to receive news today but then I didn’t get anything again. You will still be happy after all, but I can’t sleep again. Why? Because I have to speculate all the time. Dear Ludwig, I also can inform you that I got 4 bags full with potatoes out of the pit yesterday and today and the more I get into it the more they are rotten. The 4 bags are pretty slimy. At home in the pit we have none of them anymore. Many people have none and the potatoes are so sweet that you almost can not eat them. If only I could get the seeds out of them, I wouldn’t say anything then.

Dear Ludwig, Hans Krickl had his wedding on Monday and I can write to you that the old Hans Hackl from Zwolfhäuser died and was last Friday down in Mauth and today in the morning died Hans Lenzer from Anathal. Dear Ludwig,  the day before yesterday even your brother Hans and his wife were down here and he sharpened his axe. I weren’t at home, because I was in church, because it was my confession day. They were also confessing and I should have said something about sharpening the knife, because I have again no blade, but he didn’t grind it. So I have to go up to the Zwölfhäuser again, because there is no one else. Dear Ludwig, I am just curious if you can come. If you just could come over to us, I am worried about it again, but it is good that it is not that far. Dear Ludwig, for today I have to end the writing because I don’t know more. We are all healthy, too and I hope this with all my heart for you, too. To see you soon would be our only wish. I hope to get a letter from my dear Ludwig tomorrow, who is the only pleasure in my life. Only the loving God – if he would help us that this war is ending soon and that you could come happy and healthy but healthy is nobody coming anymore. I hope to see you again soon, your loving and memorable Berta  and her children. Love -  Mother.

Not long after that, Julia provided a translation.

Again, lots of luck and hope to see you soon!
Mauth, 03/29/17
Dear Ludwig!

As I haven‘t had a message from you in 5 days, I again have to send you a little letter, I really waited for a message today and again I got nothing – you probably will still be quite happy so I again cannot sleep tonight, why? Because I have to speculate. Dear Ludwig I also can inform you that I got 4 sacks of potatoes from the pit yesterday and today and the more you get into it, the more they are rotten. The 4 sacks are all mush. Back home in the pit there aren‘t any left and many people don‘t have any at all and so sweet ones that you can barely eat them, if only I could get seeds out of it. I wouldn‘t say anything like that then.

Dear Ludwig, the Krickl Hans had his wedding on Monday and I can also write you that the old Hackl Hanses of Zwolfhäuser has died yesterday though he was down in Mauth last Friday and this morning the Lenzer Hans of Anathal died. Dear Ludwig the day before yesterday even your brother Hans and his wife came down and ground the hatchet, I wasn‘t at home because I was in church because I had my confession day and they were also confessing and then the mother said something about grinding the scythe, because I again don‘t have any cutting edge left, but they didn‘t grind it for me in the end, so I have to take it up to the Zwölfhäuser again, as there isn‘t anybody else. Dear Ludwig, I‘m just curious, if you‘re able to come. If you could only come for circumscribing the land, I am already worried about that, the only good thing is that it isn‘t far. Dear Ludwig, for today I just have to close my letter, as I don‘t know anything more, healthy are all of us, too, which is something I wish for you with all my heart and to see you soon would just be our only wish – hopefully I will get a message from my beloved Ludwig who is my only joy in this world tomorrow. If only God would be on our side and war would be over soon so that you could come home happy and healthy, but then again, nobody returns healthy. To a happy seeing you soon, very cordial regards from your lovely, loyal, unforgettable Berta alongside children,

Greetings Mother.

One of the York Sunbury Historical Society’s board members, Gary, found the letter posted on a Great War Forum and a member provided this information:

“Compared to a lot of Feldpost I’ve seen, the handwriting is actually quite neat and fairly easy to read – if you know what you’re looking at – although the grammar and spelling is rather iffy in places.

After a little rummaging in the Bavarian records on Ancestry, I must say I think they might be wrong to so readily attribute the letter to  Ludwig’s mother. Nowhere does it say “my dear son” or “from your  loving mother”. I think it’s from his wife Berta, who just signs as  “mother” in the same way that parents often call each other mum & dad.

If we can assume this, then I reckon we can tentatively identify Ludwig as Gefreiter Ludwig Gassler of 8. Kompanie, bayrisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr.1. He was born in Mauth, Bezirksamt Wolfstein on 23/10/1887, a woodcutter by trade, married to Berta nee Fuchs, with 3 children. His father Franz is a widower (so if we do assume the letter was written by his wife, we’re committing ourselves rather…).

Other details from the letter that make me think this is the right chap:
1) He appears to be the only Ludwig from Mauth with a wife called Berta.
2) The letter mentions a visit from his brother Hans plus wife.

There’s a record for one Johann Gassler of Mauth with the same widowed father, married to Maria but with no children (only married in 1914), who served with bayr.

Armierungs-Btl Nr.5 and Landsturm-Infanterie-Ersatz-Btl Passau I until discharged in November 1916 (born 1879, so getting on a bit) to work for the Royal Forestry Office at Mauth-West.

As to why Ludwig hadn’t written for several days, there is no immediately apparent reason in the records (Berta’s letter is dated 29/3/17).

The Stammrolle mentions that he was out of the line from 27/12/16 to 18/1/17 with bronchial catarrh, but perhaps that’s not much of a reason to stop writing.

The next entry says that Ludwig was posted missing at Thélus on 9/4/17 (but this is 10 days *after* Berta’s letter, and more than 2 weeks after he stopped writing), and he was later confirmed to be PoW by a letter from his wife dated 29/5/17.

I suppose he was in a front-line trench in March ’17, so maybe he was just too busy to write, or maybe he did write and his letter was delayed/lost for some other reason.

He’s not listed on the war memorial at Mauth:

<http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/2008/mauth_wk1u2_bay.htm>

although there is a Ludwig Gassler there, who must be a relative, who died in WW2.

So let’s all hope that Berta and Ludwig were reunited in 1919 and lived happily ever after.

Just looked up the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Bloody hell! Thélus (where Ludwig Gassler was posted missing on 9/4/17) was right in the path of 6th and 4th Canadian Infantry Brigades on that very day.

Can anyone confirm whether the finder of the letter (Lt Arthur Cleveland Kelly, attested to 12th Bn CEF) was in one of these brigades??

Great photo of A.C. Kelly at

<http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=75503851>”

I wish I knew whom to thank for this information, but I don’t.  I do appreciate their time and energy though.

Arthur Cleveland Kelly (born Feb 9 1886). Image courtesy of Harold Kelly.

The link provided to the information about A. C. Kelly, I believe, is incorrect.  The Arthur Cleveland Kelly who found the letter was from Stanley New Brunswick.  Born on 9 February 1886, Cleve listed “farmer” as his occupation on his Attestation Papers though he did spend 11 years in the 71^st Regiment.  He enlisted in the 12^th Battalion on 28 September 1914 though he served in the 5^th Battalion.  He met his wife while in the hospital in England.  Her name was Mabel Hilda Jarvis and she was a Nurse’s Aid.  According to his son, Harold, he served in the Vimy Ridge area, supposedly on a construction crew.  He attended the Vimy Ridge Memorial Dedication with his family in 1936.

Page from Arthur Cleveland Kelly's (born Feb 9 1886) Messenger (note the bullet hole)

The German letter was tucked into the back of the Kelly’s field messenger book.  The book has a very interesting history.  As the story goes, Kelly was walking to see his men when several bullets ricocheted nearby; not much attention was given to the wandering bullets.  Only when he felt a numbing pain in his hip did Kelly begin to worry.  When he looked himself over, he found that the bullet had pierced his message book, which caused the momentum of the bullet to decrease sharply.  The messenger book therefore probably saved his life.

I found a page in the book that documents the discovery of the German letter (see image).  Unfortunately there is no date on the page.

Transcription of text pertaining to the letter on messenger book page:

“Pt D. La Belle
German letters found in dug out near Bn HQ the night of the attack.  German Officer’s body with #4 on shoulder.”

I was talking to military historian Bob Dallison about the letters and later he sent this in an e-mail to me:

“As we determined today, Lieut Kelly served in the 5th Battalion. That is now the North Saskatchewan Regiment. How he ended up a prairie unit, I can not explain. The 5th Battalion in the Battle of Vimy Ridge was on the extreme right of the Canadian line, opposite to the 1st Bavarian Reserve Regiment.

That fits very nicely with the information you have on Ludwig.”

That is all that I know at this point.  I would love to know more about Ludwig and Berta!  Was Berta Ludwig’s wife?  If so, what became of them?  What about their children?  Do their descendants know about this letter?  If not, I hope they find it on the blog.  That would be amazing!

Thank you to the volunteers who helped me with this project, Sparked Microvolunteering for giving me a platform to find volunteers, Gary, Bob, Vincent, Irmgaard, Finn, Sophie Anna, Anna, Julia and the mystery researcher from the Great War Forum.  Thank you to the media who covered the story and brought new light to it.  CBC Fredericton’s Information Morning, the Daily Gleaner and Andy from CTV’s Live at 5.

If anyone wants to pick up the research from here, please do and share your findings in the comments!

If you have a question or think that you can provide a home for Sue’s antique “New Home” sewing machine then please leave a comment on the blog.  I’m told that the patents dates on the throat plate are from 1871 to 1879 and that it works.

New Home Sewing Machine Company