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Mitchell Family Newsletter

"Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set." Proverbs 22:28

Vol. 23 ISSN 1185-6211 No. 2

Fall 2002

Editorial Crew for this Edition: David Sargent, Pam Mitchell, Grant Ackney

Article contributors for this Edition: Thank You All!

Contents Summary:

Contact us:

Dave ‘s Message (Victoria, B.c.)

What great contributions (again)! Please do not hesitate to send your pictures and stories they are most necessary! The more people that contribute the better and we need your contributions to make this newsletter interesting to as many people in the family as possible.

MITCHELL MOST WANTED LIST

Milk with that tea? - An interesting typo error appeared in the Virden newspaper where an account of the dedication ceremony events was published. The article reported, "that a teat followed the ceremony. Those that did not attend probably wished that they had". It should have read that a tea followed the ceremony. Submitted by Fred Kisil

Pam’s Message – (Nepean, Ontario)

Hello from Eastern Canada! What a summer it has been - very slow to start but when it did we have had nothing but hot weather. Here it is September 8^th and it is 34 C and very humid. The weather channel tells us that El Nino is at work again so we just might be in for another ice storm this winter to rival the one we had in 1998. But, we can’t complain, it seems we are in good company as the rest of the country has been faced with very unusual weather patterns as well.

After some serious immediate family health problems, Ken and I did manage to spend two solid weeks at the cottage for some R&R. We both needed it and the weather certainly was conducive to lazy days swimming, boating and curling up with a good book. Only one day of rain in the whole two weeks which was great for us but not so great for all the farmers yearning for some rain.

I received my very own first printed version of the newsletter with this last issue and I have to say that it was so much fun reading all the interesting articles and seeing all the pictures - Dave, you and John have done a marvellous job and I want to personally say just how appreciated you are for all the work you have done - I am really looking forward to the next issue.

Well, cousins, I have finally found just the right memento for the gift you all gave me at the reunion. I know my instructions were: (1) to get something for my garden, (2) get something that would last and (3) get something that would remind me of the Mitchell family.

Well, my garden is not something I am very proud of - just not enough time spent tending it. I have to admit I certainly don’t have the green thumb that my father had - he would not be very proud of my garden either! One evening a couple of months ago Ken and I were watching a local program called Regional Contact where different artisans are visited in the Ottawa Valley. This particular night they were featuring a steel sculptor from Perth, Ontario - about an hour away. He had done this sculpture - a towel man (picture at left) - just a stick man that you could put beside the pool or at the cottage to hold towels, or in your front vestibule to hang coats, whatever. As soon as I saw him I said to Ken, That’s it!!! We will use him at the cottage at the beach front, which is much better than my garden any day, he will last forever because he is solid steel, and he will bring back lots of wonderful memories of the Mitchell family - AND - as a bonus and the most important thing of all, he will make everyone smile! The artisan also took the plaque that the family had engraved for me and welded it right on to the base so everyone can see it. We just love him and he really does make everyone smile. SO, thank you one and all! I’ll close off for now and leave some room for all the other interesting pieces in this issue. Until next time, keep happy and healthy. Lots of Love Pam (Jones) Mitchell Nepean, Ontario (Kenneth H.R.6, William Noble3, Samuel2)

STAN MITCHELL MEMORIAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

The 5^th annual tournament was held on July 10^th, 2002 at the Pontiac Golf Course in East Aldfield, Quebec. Once again, it was a beautiful day - much more pleasant for a day on the golf course than last year when it was 331C. Sixty golfers played a shotgun tournament and another dozen or so joined us for dinner afterwards. Over and above the major prizes there were tons of door prizes for which we are always extremely grateful. A special thank you to all who donated the door prizes.

As we mentioned in the spring newsletter, it was our intention to start a memorial fund in Stan’s name. The proceeds of this year’s tournament ($327.00) has been set aside in an account that we hope will be added to over the next few years to purchase a fitting tribute at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital in Nepean, Ontario, in the name of Stan and the West End Duffers, the seniors golf group he co-founded several years ago. The Duffers are a group of seniors who golf every week on a rotation basis around 4 or 5 different golf courses. Their membership numbers are well over 60 and on an average Wednesday they have at least 45 golfers on the links. It is a group with wonderful fun, fellowship and especially friendship. Once the golf season is over they head indoors for bowling throughout the winter.

In the picture the winners are flanked on the left by Ken H.R. Mitchell6 of Nepean, Ontario, Betty (Rogers) Mitchell (Stan5) of Ottawa, Ontario, and Donna Mitchell6 of Franktown, Ontario (all William Noble3, Samuel2) on the right.

Gerry Green, Betty Randall, Mitch Phomin, and Chris Landon (Ken P. Mitchell⁵, William Noble³, Samuel²) were the low gross and low net winners of the tournament. Missing from the picture was Ken P. Mitchell⁵, of Westport, Ontario, who was also a winner but was missed because there was a tie and it wasn’t picked up until after the fact. Our apologies to Ken P. for the oversight. Other winners at the tournament for longest putt, closest to the pin and the putting contest were: Tim McCarthy, Barb Janssens, Howard Voigt, Barbara Anne Belomo and Bert Estensen - all members of the Duffers.

Please join us next year for the 6^th annual tournament and a day of great fun and great company. See you next year!

Kenneth H.R.⁶, William Noble³, Samuel²

Tel.: (613) 225-1435 Fax: (613) 225-0130 E-Mail: pgmitch@cyberus.ca

Marriage Gary MacMillan6 (William Noble3, Samuel2) of Gloucester, Ontario and Beverly Creighton were married on August 3rd, 2002 in Ottawa, Ontario. Gary is son of Eileen (Mitchell) MacMillan5 of Nepean, Ontario. Congratulations Gary and Beverly! & Welcome Beverly

Marriage Toreen (Tori) Ann Crosson 7 and Christopher Colin Sherbinin were married outdoors at Fort Steele, B. C. (historical village),with the reception in Cranbrook . Our young couple have made their home in Crescent Valley ,B.C. and love company. Tori is the daughter of Bonnie 6 and Dick Crosson and Granddaughter of Grace Ackney 5 Congratulations Tori and Christopher! & Welcome Christopher

New Mitchells All Hail new Mitchell, Alisabeth7 Nicole Mitchell, born on September 10, 2001 to Kenny6 and Kasie Mitchell, sister to Tayla7 (see our new Matey below), and granddaughter for Karen and Roy5 Mitchell. Karen and Roy5 Mitchell (Isaac 3 Samuel 2)

New Mitchells Kailen Avery Crosson 8, born July 14th, 2002 in Lethbridge Ab., a daughter for Jeffrey 7 and Monica. Granddaughter to Bonnie 6 and Dick Crosson of Grasmere  B.C. and Judy and Cecil Sietz of Cochrane Ab., first Great Grandchild  for Grace Ackney 5 of Castlegar, B.C.     Surrounded by loving and excited family. Submitted by Bonnie6 and Dick Crosson (Alexander 3,Willliam 2)

Welcome Aboard Matey Tayla7 Morgan Dillaha-Mitchell has just found us! She was born on May 31, 1995. Thank you grandparents Karen and Roy for tracking us down and putting us together. Welcome aboard Tayla. Karen and Roy5 Mitchell (Isaac 3 Samuel 2)

Cousins in the News

Mitchell Living History- Fraser ⁴ Mitchell

This was written for another project in 1993 when Fraser was 80 but submitted here today, with Fraser now 89. We find it interesting and are sure you will too. Since it was written Fraser’s wife Margaret has passed away and he now lives in Calgary close to his daughter Janice and family. Here is the Fraser Mitchell Story, so far!

It seems as though life began after the great depression in the 1930’s. It took a lot of courage to consider marriage in such terrible times: nevertheless, Margaret Anderson and I were married in 1939.

These were the early war years and I enlisted in the RCAF as radio operator air gunner in 1941. After training in Winnipeg and Dafoe Saskatchewan the next step was an ocean voyage to England. After more advanced training our squadron of Hudson aircraft flew out to India as part of Coastal Command. All arrived safely in Karachi and proceeded to the Calcutta area; we operated from this region until being transferred to Transport Command. This entailed moving the squadron to an airport outside of New Dehli. This was quite a change; no more bombs or guns. Just like a civilian airline, with very sumptuous living quarters. The summer here was very hot, but winters were really nice.

Karichi at bottom far left on the coast to New Dehli centre to Calcuta bottom right near the coast . Map provided Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

My response to the Indian climate was most favourable and I seemed to thrive on the hot and humid conditions. In contrast, many of the other Canadians suffered from malaria, and many other ailments peculiar to the country. We received a number of inoculations before leaving England to protect us from yellow fever and a few other diseases. One of the major concerns was malaria and we were required to take quinine pills with our tea, from the time we left England on. The made the tea very bitter, and I cheated after the first day, and stopped taking them. Out of our crew of four, I was the only one to escape malaria; so much for an ounce of prevention.

Mitchell Living History- Fraser ⁴ Mitchell

After a year or so, my next transfer was back to England, and was assigned to another squadron, based on Southampton. Much to my surprise, this involved flying between England and India, and it was nice to see the old familiar places again.

After about six months, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, in Japan, and the war was over. My flying days were also over, but I was still involved with aviation, until retirement in the early 70’s. My work with the Ministry of Transport involved many transfers, but my wife and daughter never complained; in fact, they seemed to enjoy moving around. We spent five years at Dafoe, then another five years at North Battleford, followed by a year at Churchill. Saskatoon was the final stop, where I retired in the early 70’s.

After retiring, even though I had a half-acre to maintain, there seemed to be enough time and energy to get involved in some construction activities. Having reached the ripe old age of 80, the time has come to take things a lot easier.

Fraser Mitchell (Isaac ³ Samuel ²)

Calgary Alberta

Submitted by Tom ⁴ and Lucille Mitchell (Isaac ³ Samuel ²)

Brandon, Manitoba

Bill Priestley's 60th Birthday Parties

Bill Priestley, was "royally" entertained at two 60th birthday parties this summer. The first held in Virden, Man. at the Clae Marr Inn was a lot of fun!   Master of Ceremonies, Jack Scott, Bill's brother-in-law had recently discovered while doing some genealogy work on the internet
that his wife Lorrie (Mitchell) Scott and her five sisters have a "royal" connection on their maternal side.

In order to bug Bill about this, all five Mitchell sisters as well as many of the rest of the family arrived wearing tiaras or crowns. In fact sister-in law, "Queen" Shirley Balding who made a toast to Bill, even made her own very realistic looking crown for the event! Sister-in-law,"Princess" Beryl Williams presented Bill with a lady's blouse (at left) with red blobs on it, since he got into many fights as a boy with many a time the shirt being ripped off his back and blood being shed.  Being the good sport that he is, Bill put the blouse on in the restaurant as well as the glow in the dark hoop earrings, blinking necklace and ring that niece "Princess" Sherry Hagman presented him with.

Needless to say the Clae Marr Inn will never be the same again! By the way for any of you travelling through Virden, Man. in 2004 for the Brandon Mitchell reunion, this is the best place in Virden to find gourmet food served in a relaxed atmosphere and it is located right on Hwy. No.1.

Bill also had a second fun party in Maple Ridge, B.C. upon his return home from Manitoba, complete with a talent show, but without all those Mitchells in attendance, it was not nearly as raucous as the Virden party!

Submitted by

Adele (Mitchell) Priestley

(Henry ³ William ²)

Get Ready for Manitoba 2004

In trying to help you plan your trip for the 2004 reunion we have some great stories from and about Manitoba for this edition of the newsletter and hope to have many more for the news letters between now and the reunion in 2004. One of the stories is about something new and special, a magnificent Sundial gifted to the town of Virden Manitoba; and the second is about something old and special, a family farm in Elton Manitoba that has been in a family for five generations and over 100 years.

Virden Sundial Dedication Ceremony

Cleland & Irene Mitchell Memorial

Virden Sundial Dedication Ceremony

for 100 Years of Farming

Manitoba Century Farm Award was presented to the descendents of Isaac H Mitchell ³ Samuel ² to mark the continuous operation of a Manitoba farm at SW34-11-17W (Municipality of Elton – five and one half miles from the village of Douglas Manitoba and twenty miles from the city of Brandon Manitoba) for more than one hundred years commencing in 1898.

Isaac H. Mitchell ³ Samuel ² 1898

Isaac H & May Mitchell 1902

Isaac H & Esther Mitchell 1919

Thomas A. ⁴ (Isaac ³ Samuel ²) & Lucille     Mitchell 1951

Thomas Bradley & Donna Mitchell ⁵ 1998

The story of the Isaac ³Mitchell Family

By Thomas⁴ Allan Mitchell 1982 & 2002

This article was written in 1982 and some new information has been added along with, maps and pictures in 2002. My grandfather Samuel² Mitchell came from Ireland in 1840 and settled in Masham County, in the Gatineau Hills. Quebec. He later married Elizabeth Rice, and they had twelve children.

My Father Isaac⁴ Mitchell, born October 13, 1872, was the youngest of the family. At the age of 23, he came west to Winnipeg and stayed with his sister Rebecca. During the time, he attended night school. The following spring he arrived at Chater and worked for years as a farm helped for the Crawford and Nelson families. In 1897/98 he purchased three hundred and twenty acres including the South West quarter 34-11-77 and moved a house on it and set up farming for himself.

In 1902, my father married Allie May Leslie from Chater. In March 1915 his wife, Allie passed away. She left behind five little boys and a month old baby girl. (She is buried at Madford Cemetery).

The story of the Isaac ³Mitchell Family

Those must have been very difficult times for them. In talking with my older brothers I feel losing their mother at a very young age made a mark on their lives that they will always remember. For Lloyd, second eldest, today at the age of 73 (in 1982) writes:

" I remember my mother’s funeral like it was yesterday. It was a very cold day in March. The black hearse was drawn by horses; and it came from Brandon."

Four years later, my father married Esther Town. She was born in England, and came to Canada at the age of twenty. She now became mother to the six children. There were four children of the second marriage: Alfred, Doris, Thomas (the author), and Maretta.

I remember my mother enjoyed cooking and delighted in preparing good meals. We often had twenty or more to Sunday night suppers. There were also good old family picnics with our cousins from Brandon. A baseball game in the evening made the day complete.

Government of Manitoba Assessment Map Brandon/Elton Area

All my brothers and sisters attended Elton Rural School. After leaving school, my brothers all helped Dad with the farming operations until moving elsewhere.

Stanley⁴ the oldest, was born in 1906-1999. He left in 1928 with brother Irvin for Northmark, Alberta. He returned home a year later, and in 1931 left to homestead at Northmark. He married Bernadette Perras. They have two children and six grand children. Their son Clifford and wife Joyce both teach at Grande Prairie, Alberta. Their daughter, Beverly (Mrs. Robert Scott) and husband live in Nanaimo, BC. Stan and Bernadette retired to Grand Prairie Alberta.

 Lloyd⁴ Harris was born in 1908-1995. In the early thirties, he also went to Northmark to homestead. He worked in lumber camps during winter months. He married Edith Winslow and they have three children Wesley (passed away 2001), Roy and Darlene and seven grandchildren. In 1953, he sold his farm and moved to Long Beach California. They retired to Lake Ellsinore California.

In 1909 –1997 Frederick ⁴Wilmer was born. He also left home in the thirties to homestead at Northmark. He married a Spirit River schoolteacher, Dixie Gray. They both retired to Spirit River Alberta.

Robert⁴ Irvin was born in 1912 –1997. He left for Northmark to homestead. He enlisted in the services in World War II and served overseas with the army until the war ended. Irvin returned to his farm at Spirit River where he remained until his health failed, he lived in a care home in Edmonton Alberta.

Fraser⁴ was born in 1913 (see Fraser’s story on pages 9 and 10 of this issue). He served in the Royal Canadian Air force in World War II. During that time, he married Margaret Anderson from Hamiota. They had one child, Janice (Mrs. Gary Meester) and one grandchild. After the war, until retirement, Fraser was employed with the department of Transport at North Battleford Airport and later Saskatoon Saskatchewan, and retired to Calgary Alberta.

Elsie⁴ May was born Feb 14 1915. She continued her education at Winnipeg College. In 1936, she married Cyril Leslie Balmer. He was employed for many years with Blackwood Beverages in Brandon. They had three daughters Joan, (Mrs. Robert Fines), Joyce (Mrs. Clark Kirkpatrick) deceased at age 36, and Fay (Mrs. Brian Hextall Brandon). They had ten grand children and retired to Kamloops, BC. The 2002 update has Cyril passing away in 1991 and Elsie now residing in Sidney, BC.

Alfred ⁴ was born in 1921, He married Verna Hayward and they have four children; Gary (married Maryls Swanson), Marilyn (R.N.) (married Keith Sherwin), James (married Kate Polnick) and son Guy. Alf employed at Beverage Services. They reside in Brandon.

In May 1923 Doris ⁴ Esther was born. She married Royce Mckinnon and they had three children. Cheryl (her husband of six years passed away at age 30), Greg (deceased at six months) and son Kent, (deceased at age nine). After Royce returned from overseas R.C.A.F. they lived in Brandon until transferred to Calgary where they still live. Royce was administrator for Retail Marketing – Gulf Canada.

Maretta ⁴ Abigal was born October 1930 (deceased September 1979) and was the youngest of the family. She married Albert Gelesthorpe and they had two girls; Jo-Ann (Mrs. Jerry Lombaret) and Brenda (Mrs. Clayton Therrin). There are two grand children. They live in Brandon.

I, Thomas⁴ Allan, was born April 10, 1929. I helped my Dad with the farming operations until his retirement and then I continued on my own. Throughout the years, my parents had purchased the S.E.quarter 34-11-17. They had worked very hard milking cows and long hours on the land. This was all done by horses until the mid forties. I started farming with my father at the age of 14. I recall having to fill the drill with a five-galloon pail, as the bags of grain were too heavy for me to lift. One day as I was filling the drill, something spooked the horses and away went the four of them and the drill. We were in a quarter section of the field and Dad was out cultivating a section ahead of me, in the middle of the quarter with a six-horse team. Now those of you who will know how much room there is in a quarter section field, (it is about 1000 city size house lots, Ed.) but those dumb creatures powered full tilt into the back of dad on the cultivator and away went his six as well. Luckily, the wooden hitch snapped; knocking Dad underneath the cultivator, which remained where it was; or he surely would have been killed. He was not hospitalised but was laid up in bed for two weeks with a badly bruised body.

Now after 58 years, we are still picking up pieces of harness that get hung up on the shanks of our machinery. Those horses after that incident would run away with any chance they could take.

Unlike most people, my admiration for horses is very limited. The good news is we purchased our first tractor the next year. I believe it was about 25 Horsepower, quite a difference from the 280 horsepower one that we farm with today.

My Dad was always proud of the barn built in 1929, and by the way, it is still used on our farm (middle picture on page 19). Dad bought the C.P.R. water tank from Douglas and with the help from my older brothers they tore it down, and used the material to build this barn.

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