Handing it over
(r) Edwin Thomson - Civil War “ Have I got something for you!” My mom exclaimed as my dad carried in the big, heavy cardboard crate. Lifting each item and holding it out to me, recollecting all they knew about it, or simply wondering about its origin. My dad has always been the historian in our family. He has spent over 40 years researching his family from Christchurch, England to Botwood, NF. He dragged us to archives and cemeteries, trying to draw out in us a love for all things family- the histories and the mysteries. I recall sitting in the archives in St. John’s, NF when he discovered the Slade Ledgers - and showed me how the items Richard Elliott had purchased “on his account” in October of 1820 proved that he had a child! 6 yards of black cotton, 2 yards of ribbon, and swanskin! He was some excited. I’d love to say I got bit by the ancestry bug during those summer vacations. But no. It took him handing over that crate. Handing over the keys, if you will. He entrusted me wit...
