The following is taken from an account "MY RECOLLECTIONS" by James Arthur Watson, a second cousin of my dad. [James Watson junior and Jane Buchanan] Our Grandfather, James Watson, was the son of a Scottish stonecutter, one of a number of Masons who were brought to Canada to do the masonry required in building the canals that made a by-pass to the St. Lawrence River, so that the country would be free of the threat of American trouble along the river.  He was born in 1825  and had several brothers and sisters. I understand that he married, but lost his wife. Then he moved to the ..read more

During the first half of the 20th century, the mixed forests of west-central Alberta were cut down to make room for farms. This produced lumber that was used for building Alberta's future.  New towns sprang up at the sites of the larger sawmills, These towns often included schools, churches, and businesses, as well as homes for local residents. Antross was named after the Anthony and Ross lumber companies, which had sawmills on the site. My mother and her younger sisters attended Antross School, and my aunt Myrtle was married in Antross. and I think that one of my uncles and his brothers ..read more

Bill was 8 years old and Reg was 6. The school bus had dropped us off and we were walking the 2 miles home to our parent's farm. A passing truck stopped to offer us a ride, as it would be passing our house. Reg joined the driver and his assistant in the cab of the truck and Bill rode in the grain box behind the cab.  In the 1940s in our area, trucks often used sleigh trailers to carry logs or lumber to town. These worked fine, unless you needed to stop, since the sleighs had no brakes.   As we were descending the hill to Little Moose creek, a truck with a sleigh trailer loaded ..read more

 Recently we experienced temperatures in the -40s in my area and a reported -50C at Keg River, Alberta. How did our ancestors survive temperatures like these? I grew up on an unmechanized farm, so I may have some valid insights. Prepare a good supply of fuel in advance.  Stay indoors and keep your livestock in the barn during the worst temperatures, Dress warmly when you have to go outdoors, Dad did logging during the wintertime. On his hands he wore leather mitts with knitted wool mitts inside. He used a "Swede saw" (bow saw) to cut down the trees and cut them into logs after removi ..read more

She suggests "I have my memories of Thanksgiving from when I was a kid, when I was a young adult, and then later when I was married, and had small children versus older children. However, my kids have their own memories, and grandparents have their memories too. So, now’s the time to ask about those and write them down. Those memories might have to do with food, material culture, which I’ll define in just a second, or they may have to do with events."  [My comments follow in bold italics.] Food: We have usually had a turkey dinner, sometimes with ham too. We used to always make dressing ..read more

 What Does "Normal" Mean, Grandpa? "It usually means what you are accustomed to; what you are used to." His question made me think about how "normal" has changed for me over the past 80 years. As a small child, my parents farmed 160 acres about 10 km west of Breton, Alberta. The town had a Delco power plant that provided electricity for part of the day, but out on the farm we had no electricity. We lived like farm families a century or two ago. We had no power equipment so we got a lot of exercise. The house was heated by burning wood in a wood stove. Water was drawn by hand from a dug we ..read more

 I received an email from a friend asking if I knew of an Isabella Buchanan who had married a Walter Hunter. This brought back some memories. I remembered visiting "Watt" and "Bella" Hunter in 1962.I had asked my relatives in Alberta for all the family information they had, then I hitch-hiked to Neepawa, Manitoba looking for more relatives. I was helped and blessed all the way.  Someone at the newspaper told me "You should talk to Merv Buchanan who manages the Windsor Salt plant, He is interested in Buchanan family history." Merv immediately invited me to stay with his fa ..read more

"Genealogy is not supposed to be peaceful, it is supposed to be a passion,", or so the thought sometimes goes. In fact it can be both, This past week I received an email from FamilySearch.org That is not unusual, but this one grabbed my attention, when it listed newly added records. France, Haute-Garonne, Parish and Civil Registration, 8,987,942 records I lived in that area, in the city of Toulouse for 10 months as a missionary in 1966-1967 and I have many choice memories of the time I lived there and people I knew. But I was not interested in these records for that reason, but because I hav ..read more

 As I was growing up, my closest friends were Andy Maine and Reg Larsen.  On one occasion, I remember us building a raft out of discarded railroad ties and floating it down Poplar Creek (now called Modeste Creek). As I remember it, there was a railroad line that intersected with the creek and the former townsite of Antross.  We had built the raft and planned on sleeping under the stars, then making the journey downstream to a popular swimming hole just past where the Buck Creek road crossed the creek.  We found a comfortable spot and spread our blankets on the ground in the ..read more

I have often thought about the cars our family have owned over the years. Some were a source of pride and others were a source of misery. Some of them were just daily transportation, and some of them played a major role in someone's life. Some of them had unique features, like the 1951 Morris pick-up truck to which Dad added a plywood shell for transporting the family. My Uncle Ray had a car where a notched board held the gearshift lever in gear. I wonder what memories of cars the younger generations of the family will have, or that we may have in 10 years. Last night there was a red Tesla Mod ..read more