52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - The Old Homestead

This is the farmhouse at the Deanholme Farm in North Hatley, Quebec. Six generations of our family have lived here. I believe that this photo was taken sometime in the 1930s¹.

John Dean²

John Dean, my 2nd great-grandfather, purchased the 162-acre farm on May 1, 1868³. According to a history of the area, the dwelling house at that time was a log cabin of unknown dimensions⁴. That October John married Elizabeth Nimmo and her mother, Elizabeth Louden, came to live at the farm as well. In 1870 John and Bessie welcomed their first child, my great-grandfather, James Louden and by 1877 their fifth child, Anna Mina, was born⁵. Even without knowing the dimensions of the log house, I have to imagine that the new farmhouse was eagerly anticipated when it was finally built in 1884.  Sadly, John would only live in the home for four years before dying of pneumonia at age 49 in 1888⁶.

Until this past weekend, I knew very little about the workings of the farm in those days. In fact, just a few months ago I was heartbroken to read that the non-population schedules of the Canadian censuses were not preserved. All of my maternal grandmother's ancestors were farmers! There would have been so much information in those agricultural schedules that would give me some insight into their daily lives. The good news is, I misread something, the bad news is, MOST of these returns were destroyed. But for 1871, when four of my direct male ancestors, including John Dean, were farmers, the non-population schedules are available! (And some of the 1851 census as well, but not for any of my ancestors, so far.)

Here are some of the highlights for John Dean's farm⁷:

163 acres
20 acres improved
8 acres in-pasture

1/4 acre of wheat producing 10 bushels of spring wheat
200 bushels of oats
6 bushels of peas
50 bushels of buckwheat

1 acre of potatoes producing 200 bushels

200 lbs. of maple sugar!

2 horses over 3 years old
5 milk cows
6 other horned cattle (?)
7 sheep
1 swine

225 cords of firewood

And this may be my favorite thing:
300 lbs. of butter
43 lbs. of wool
19 yards of homemade cloth & flannel

Elizabeth Nimmo⁸

I did not expect that the agricultural schedules would tell me about my female ancestors but I don't think John was churning a pound of butter every day or making cloth. And while this is just a peek into the lives of my 2nd and 3rd great-grandmothers, these schedules are a find that had me on a high all weekend!

In the fourth book of L.M Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, Anne's House of Dreams, Marilla Cuthbert says that she heard a minister say once that a house is not a home until it has been consecrated by a birth, a wedding, and a death⁹. The first death in the new farmhouse would have been John Dean in 1888. I don't know if there were any weddings in the house, but a wedding dinner was held for my 2nd grand-aunt, Anna Mina and her new husband Rev. Paul Pergau after their wedding in 1898¹⁰.

In 1902 Louden married my great-grandmother, Eva Maud Bean and soon the house was consecrated by its first birth; that of my grandmother, Marjorie Elizabeth in 1904¹¹.

Marjorie Elizabeth Dean¹²

Four more children followed before Eva's death in 1916 and then three more were born in the home after Louden remarried in 1923 to Lena Emma Hodge¹³.

In 1926, the farmhouse was lucky to escape serious damage when a rare tornado touched down on the property, destroying the barn and stable and mortally wounding a horse. The thick glass in the front door of the house had also been shattered and there was some minor damage inside the home, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Just as the community had come to my family's aid in 1912 after Louden's tragic accident (see my last post), their neighbors were helping to erect a temporary shelter for the farm animals before the day was out and they returned when it was time to build permanent replacements as well¹⁴. There are actually a few photos of the aftermath. They are firmly cemented in a magnetic album at the farm, but I hope to scan them with my Flip-Pal on our next visit!

EDIT: I scanned the photos, to see them, please check out my 52 Ancestors - On The Farm - post.

The very little I know about Louden's farming production comes from oral history and some newspaper articles I found this summer, listing winners at the county fair in the 1920s. Louden won prizes for his maple sugar and his barley, but I don't know anything else about his crops, his buildings, his machinery or what animals he kept. I can't wait to get to some archives and historical societies in the area to find out if there are any other records available that would give me this information¹⁵.

After Louden's death in 1935, eldest son Kenneth Emery, who had been working the farm with this father, took over. That summer, my grandparents married at the nearby Minton church and then held their reception at the farm¹⁶.

Smith-Dean Wedding Reception¹⁷

In 1943, Uncle Ken and his wife Adah Bailey (the couple at left above) welcomed a daughter. She is pictured below in the wagon with her father. His half-brother Clifford Howard is also pictured.

Three Deans at work on the Deanholm Farm¹⁸.

My mother and grandmother spent a lot of time at the farm during WWII while my grandfather was overseas. They visited often and even lived there for a time. By then the farm was, as it is now, primarily a dairy farm, but Uncle Ken and Aunt Adah did also raise chickens and sell the surplus eggs in town. My mum remembers candling the eggs in the evenings, a process by which you hold eggs up to a candle in the dark to check for fertilization. There were workhorses at the farm also, barn cats and usually an unnamed dog.

Undated photo of Dean siblings and nieces¹⁹.

Although we're not sure exactly when electricity was installed in the farmhouse, my mother remembers that there was a generator for night milking and two hours of light in the kitchen during the war.

Marjorie Dean and Janet Smith collecting sap, sometime during WWII²⁰.

Uncle Ken was very proud of the family farm and the way the ancestral home drew Dean descendants like a magnet, as it does to this day. In August 1967, to celebrate the centennial year of the farm, he organized a reunion. As you can see, by then he had enclosed the front porch, making it more useful year-round in this sometimes harsh climate.

Dean Reunion 1967²¹.

Among the attendees were two of Louden's siblings; Robert Irwin, seated in the dark suit and Anna Mina, to his left.

Growing up in the suburbs, this was about the only farm country I visited as a child. Anytime I smell manure to this day, even in the form of garden fertilizer, it brings memories of trips to North Hatley. Driving up from the border, or even over from my grandparent's home in a rural mining area, you always knew when you were getting close!

By this time, Uncle Ken had purchased a small property adjacent to his and built a home for his daughter and her family and that is where we stayed when we visited overnight, but we always spent some time in the farmhouse during our visits. By then, the milking was done by machine, although I'm sure I remember Uncle Ken showing me how it was done in the "old days." I was a bit intimidated by the cows back then, and really only visited the barn to look for kittens.

At least once during my childhood, we visited during sugaring; the time when the weather warms just enough for the sap to start running in the maple trees to be collected and boiled down into syrup. Sugaring season is a busy time, trying to make the most of the harvest before the trees run dry for another year calls for all-hands-on-deck, even members of the family who have day jobs off the farm are recruited to help with these vital tasks.

Sugarhouse at the Deanholme Farm ca. 1960²²

Anna Matthews at the Deanholme Farm²³ 

Uncle Ken died in 1996 but one of his grandsons had been doing the day-to-day work with Clifford for years. Soon after, my cousin formally purchased the farm from his mother and became the latest proprietor of the Deanholme Farm. When he married in 1998 it was practically a family scandal that his wife wanted to replace the old wood stove in the farmhouse kitchen with a modern appliance. While the family historian in me can understand the impulse to want everything to stay as it was, I can't believe anyone actually wanted her to cook on that thing in 1998! She won that battle but did end up changing her mind about replacing the kitchen cabinets once it was explained to her that they were crafted by our 2nd great-grandfather with wood from the property. One of the cabinets was built specifically to hold a 50-lb. bag of flour. The cabinets are still there today.

My cousin has worked very hard over the past twenty years to grow, improve and modernize the farm. Milking is still done by machine and robots feed the cows, programmed to give each one their custom diet and supplements. More shelters have been built for all the equipment and the barn has a new ventilation system as of a few years ago. They are even doing something with the waste from the cows that I may not have understood when it was explained to me a few years ago and don't remember now.

Farm buildings at the Deanholme Farm 2014²⁴.

A robotic feeder at the Deanholme Farm 2014²⁵.

Barn cats at the Deanholme Farm 2014^26.

The Deanholm Farm is still primarily a dairy farm, the only crops grown there today are feed for the cows. But they still have the sugar bush. If they haven't done so already, my cousins will soon be tapping the trees in the maple grove and hanging the buckets to collect the sap for another year's supply of delicious maple syrup.

Last summer another reunion was held 50 years after the last. It is still a source of pride for the family that so many of us are drawn to the farm.

The Sherbrooke Record²⁷

Sadly we learned during that visit that the old homestead that has seen so much over the past 134 years may not stand much longer. It needs a lot of work and it may make more sense to start over than to try to renovate again. I hope I am able to visit, to stand in the home where my grandmother was born one more time before that happens.

The Deanholme Farm from a distance, date unknown²⁸.

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1. Deanholme Farm. Date unknown. Privately held by a cousin [NAME AND ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Canton de Hatley, Que. J0B 2C0

2. Dean, John. Date unknown. Privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570

3. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records 1637-1935, Repertoire et index de notaires>Sainthttp://www.ancestry.com : accessed April 5, 2018) Sale dated May 1, 1868, from Gilbert Emery to John Dean. I haven't ordered the contract but these details match oral family history.

4. Reg Conner, The Vine and the Branches (North Hatley, Quebec, 1989), 99.

5. For Dean-Nimmo marriage, Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. M>Montreal>Presbyterian Crescent>1868>Folio Thirty-nine (second side), Marriage, John Dean. For baptisms of the children, Registres de l'état civil du Québec des origines à 1915, Par pariosse>Sta a Z>Waterville Congregational Church, for James 1870>janvier-décembre> Page5B, Baptism, James Louden, for Maggie, 1872>janvier-décembre>Page 2B, Baptism, Maggie, daughter of John Dean, for Elizabeth, 1873>janvier-décembre>Page 4A, Baptism, Elizabeth, daughter of John Dean, for Robert, 1875>janvier-décembre>Page 7A, Baptism, Robert Irwin, for Anna, 1877>janvier-décembre>Page 11A, Baptism, Anna Mina, digital images, Bibliotèque et Archives Nationales du Québec, (http://www.banq.qc.ca: accessed April 5, 2018).

6. " Deaths, DEAN," The Sherbrooke Weekly Examiner, 9 March 1888, p. 3, col. 5; image copy, Google News Archives (http://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 29 May 2017).

7. 1851 Census (Canada), Stanstead County, Province of Quebec, Tableau No. 3 Etablissements Publics, Propriété Foncières, Voitures et Instruments d'Agriculture [Return of Public Institutions, real & personal estate], District 141, Sub-district Div. No. 1 Hatley, p. 10 (handwritten), line 10; image, Library & Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed April 6, 2018), microfilm publication c-10089, page 571 of 670. Also, Tableau No. 4 - Terres cultivées, Produits des Champs, Plantes et Fruits [Return of cultivated land and products], District 141, Sub-district Div. No. 1 Hatley, p. 10 (handwritten), line 10; image, Library & Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed April 6, 2018), microfilm publication c-10089, page 577 of 670. Also, Tableau No. 5 Animaux vivants, Produits animaux, Etoffes de Ménage et Fourrerres [Livestock, animal products, home-made fabrics and furs,] District 141, Sub-district Div. No. 1 Hately, p. 10 (handwritten), line 10; image, Library & Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed April 6, 2018), microfilm publication c-10089, image 583 of 670. Also, Tableau No. 7 Produits de Forëts [Return of products of the forest,] District 141, sub-district Div. No. 1 Hatley, p. 10 (handwritten), line 10; image, Library & Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx : accessed April 6, 2018), microfilm publication c-10089, page 591 of 670.

8. Nimmo, Elizabeth. Date unknown. Privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

9. Montgomery, L.M., Anne's House of Dreams, (Publication information missing), Beginning of Chapter Two.

10. "PERGAU-DEAN," The Sherbrooke Examiner, 16 September 1898, p. 4, col. 3; digital images, Google News Archives (http://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 26 May 2017.)

11. Registres de l'état civil du Québec des origines à 1915, For Dean-Bean marriage, Par paroisse>Sta a Z>Waterville Congregational Church>1902>janvier-décembre, Page 10A, Marriage, James Louden Dean, digital images, Bibliotèque et Archives Nationales du Québec, (http://www.banq.qc.ca: accessed April 5, 2018). For Marjorie Dean's birth, Par paroisse >G a L>Lennoxville Methodist Church>1904>janvier a decembre, Page 12B

12. Dean, Marjorie Elizabeth. Photograph taken ca. 1905. Privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

13. For Eva Bean's children,  Registres de l'état civil du Québec des origines à 1915, Par poroisse>M a Sac>Minton Methodist Church> for Kenneth Emery, 1906>janvier-decembre>Page 9A, for Dorothy Irene and John Louden, 1911>janvier-decembre> Pages 3-4, for Lawrence Nimmo, 1912>Page 12A, Baptism, digital images, Bibliotèque et Archives Nationales du Québec, (http://www.banq.qc.ca: accessed April 5, 2018). For Eva Bean burial, Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. L>Lennoxville>Methodist Church>1916 p. 4, Third leaf. Digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed February 16, 2018, citing Statistics Canada Fonds, Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556. For Dean-Hodge marriage, Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. L>Lennoxville>Methodist Church>1923 Sixth leaf, Digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed April 6, 2018) citing Statistics Canada Fonds, Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556. For Lena's children, Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. L>Lennoxville>Methodist Church, for Clifford Howard, 1924, Eighteenth leaf, for Helen Alberta and Margaret Evelyn, 1928, Third leaf, both sides. Digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed February 16, 2018, citing Statistics Canada Fonds, Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556.


14. Reg Conner, The Vine and the Branches (North Hatley, Quebec, 1989), 247-248.

15. "Hatley Township," The Stanstead Journal, September 3, 1925, p. 2, col. 4; digital images, Google News Archives (http://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed June 8 2017.)

16. Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. L>Lennoxville>United Church>1935, Thirteenth leaf, backside, Marriage Smith-Dean, digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed February 16, 2018, citing Statistics Canada Fonds, Microfilm reels: T-6428 to T-6556.

17. Smith-Dean Wedding Reception, photograph taken August 10, 1935. Privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

18. Dean, Kenneth, daughter, and Dean, Clifford photograph ca. 1945; digital image 2017, privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570. The original is in the possession of the cousin who is the young girl in the photo who allowed me to scan it in August of 2017.

19. Dean, Helen, Dean, Margaret, and their niece's photograph ca. 1940s; privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

20. Dean, Marjorie, Smith Janet photograph ca. 1940s; privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570

21. Dean Reunion photograph taken in 1967. Privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570

22. The Sugarhouse at the Deanholme farm photograph ca. 1960; privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

23. Matthews, Anna photograph taken ca. 1980; privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

24. Work structures at the Deanholme Farm photograph taken November 28, 2014; held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

25. Robotic feeder and cows at the Deanholme Farm photograph taken November 28, 2014; held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

26. Barn cats at the Deanholme Farm photograph taken November 28, 2014; held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

27. "Deanholme farm celebrates 150 years," The Record, August 7, 2017, cover story.

28. The Deanholme Farm undated photograph; digital image 2017, privately held by Anna Matthews [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Rockville Centre, NY 11570. The original is in the possession of the cousin whose father owned the farm when it was taken.