Beatrice May (Bessie) Salter & Raymond Flynn

Beatrice May Salter and Raymond Flynn as they were wife and husband. 

Bessie Salter Flynn c. 1965

Bessie, as she was known, was my grandmother's young cousin and was born in Forteau, Labrador. One of the most amusing ancestors I have known, Bessie was the complete personality opposite to my grandmother Poole. While my grandmother was what we would term very lady-like, Bessie was more of the tomboy type. Don't get me wrong, she had manners but she was rough and tumble and was very outspoken.

Ray Flynn c. 1970

She married Ray Flynn also of Forteau who like most of the men in the area was a fisherman. The most interesting story I remember about Ray was the time he was caught in a Strait of Belle Isle storm that had come from nowhere. It hadn't been forwarned and caught many off guard. I can't remember if it was the spring or the fall of the year but I know he was alone in his small boat where the freezing cold water of the Straits is unforgiving. When he did not return to the community wharf, Bessie and the other residents became very worried. I believe the storm continued overnight but broke the next morning. Searchers from the communities along the Straits set out to find him. Still alive but suffering from hypothermia, Ray was found holding onto his capsized boat literally hanging onto life. He was brought back to Forteau hospital where he recovered fully. It was only then did he relay his ordeal; that the boat had capsized very early in the raging storm and he had spent the entire time in the water. He was one very lucky man indeed.

Bessie Salter Flynn at Forteau Nursing Station 1940's

Back to cousin Bessie: I was told this story by my mom's first cousin, Loretta Poole of Brooklyn, New York. My grandmother Poole had been the postmistress of Forteau post office for many years. When my mom, her parents and grandmother moved to Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Bessie was appointed the new postmistress of Forteau. While most people picked up their mail, some of it was to be delivered. This was no problem for Bessie as she was quite happy to do so. However, she was told that she could only deliver to a certain area along the coast. Well, Bessie wasn't much for being told what she could or couldn't do expecially if she believed it was unfair to others. Once it was found out that she was going beyond her area, the head of the postal offices decided to place a post (yes, an acutal post) to indicate that Bessie was not to go beyond that point, or was the case, that post! And so she didn't. Every time Bessie set out for her deliveries, she uprooted the post and placed it to where she wanted to go and then returned it to its original spot at the end of the day. Well, she didn't go beyond the post now did she? And that was Bessie Salter Flynn.

In the '70's, Bessie was stricken with breast cancer and was recuperating from the life-saving operation. I think she was at the St. Anthony hospital when Ray came for one of his frequent visits. He excused himself for a few minutes to go to the washroom but he didn't return. After considerable, Bessie asked one of the nurses to look for him. Sadly, Ray was not going to return to Bessie's bedside as he had suffered a massive heart attack and had died.

As did my grandmother, Bessie went on to gather the oral history of the Straits. For this and other efforts, she received the Order of Canada.

From the Governor General of Canada's website:

A former postmistress, she has long been devoted to her Labrador community, helping to detect enemy aircraft during wartime and working for many years as a volunteer with charitable, church and youth associations. Through her storytelling, in collecting books and papers, and by supporting, encouraging and teaching traditional craft techniques, she has helped safeguard the heritage of the Labrador Straits region.

Sadly, Bessie died before her investiture into the Order. She passed away on June 1, 1994 but not before learning of the honour.

Florence Lavinia Salter - The Lure of the Big City

 As part of the 52 Ancestors project, it was suggested that this month we write about a few of the women in our family tree who we felt were fearless. I looked through my tree and suddenly realized I have so many from which to choose. Let's face it; if you lived in Newfoundland and Labrador during the 1800's you deserved a medal. It wasn't an easy life especially if you lived in the rural areas of the land. The turn of the 20th century was not much better.

Those women worked hard and persevered through extreme conditions. Whether it was Bridget Sisk from Ferryland who went to Riviere St-Paul, Basse-Cote-Nord, Quebec, Lavinia Roberts from Brigus who met up with her brother Issac in the Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador or Mary Ann Vane Courtenay of Devon, England who was shipwrecked on the shores of Brador, each and everyone of them deserves to be admired for their determination to create a life for themselves and their families.

Rather than focus on a female ancestor who moved to or stayed in the province, I have decided to focus on one of the women who left her homeland behind to find a "better" life.

Flossie Salter, cousin Howard
& sister Maud, 1914 

My grandmother Poole's sister, Florence Lavinia Salter, married my grandfather Poole's brother Harold in 1927. To make it clear - two sisters married two brothers. Shortly after, Flossie and Harold were New York City bound. Harold was hired as an ironworker, building the high rises in the massive city. Starting in the early 20th century, there was an exodus of Newfoundlanders who had left to make money in the bustling American economy. Whether it is New York City or Boston, you will find many families with Newfoundland roots. The men became legendary for their ability to walk the narrow iron above the busy streets below. Many of the young wives, if they hadn't started a family, worked as domestics to help settle into this new normal.

Flossie & Harold
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NYC late 1920's

Flossie and Harold moved to the borough of Brooklyn as did many of their compatriots. However the 1929 stockmarket crash, as we all know, drove the country into economic depression.  Ironwork continued for a short while but like everything else, was scaled back. Flossie and Harold remained in Brooklyn until 1930/31 but soon after packed their belongings and moved back to Hant's Harbour, Newfoundland where they built a house.  Much of Harold's family still lived in Hant's Harbour; all of them trying to ride out the depression storm. It wasn't the fast paced life of the big city but there they had a roof over their heads and plenty of food.



Towards the end of the decade, the economy began to improve and the city beckoned. Flossie was not much for the outport life in Newfoundland and wanted to get back to New York and the lifestyle she so desired. The construction industry started to boom and more ironworkers were needed. By 1940, Harold and Flossie had settled back in Brooklyn leaving their old lives behind.

Harold died in 1980 at the age of 77 while Flossie lived to the age of 94. She passed away in 1994 in her beloved Brooklyn.

Lavinia Roberts - A Family Found

There is often a discussion as to the value of sites such as ancestry.ca or My Heritage. For me, I have found some valuable records on Ancestry but most of the records were located through research at my provincial archives now housed at The Rooms here in St. John's, Newfoundland or through familysearch.org. Where web services such as Ancestry really stand out is the connections that you can make. Below is an example of how I found the family of Lavinia Roberts.

I have spent considerable time searching for the birth record of my gr. gr. grandmother Lavinia to no avail. I do know she was born in Brigus, Newfoundland around 1845. She married John Salter on October 10, 1870 in Forteau, Labrador. They had two sons, George and John Jr.

The information I have came from two documents; her death record which stated she was 82 in 1927 and her marriage record which stated she was born in Brigus. Unfortunately it did not list her parents names. That was most common for the time.

My grandmother had told me that Lavinia was a third cousin to Captain Robert Bartlett, the famous 20th century explorer who had accompanied Peary in his search to reach the North Pole. She had also mentioned a sister Emma and brother William. Armed with this information I set out to the provincial archives to find Lavinia's birth record. Boy was I disappointed. I got zilch. It seemed I had nowhere to turn. That was more than 20 years ago.

It wasn't until this year that I came across a fellow family historian who had made a connection with my Chevalier relatives. Upon further investigation, I discovered that she had many Roberts relatives in her tree. This family of Roberts also came from Brigus and settled in Forteau as well. Many of their birth records too were missing but not their death records which recorded their place of birth and their ages. Some of the offspring moved to the other side of the border to the Canadian Labrador - Cote Nord, Quebec. I had found, finally, Lavinia's family. Listed with her relatives were her sister Emma, brother William and four other siblings. Her father was Esau (Evan) and her mother was Ann Medkiff. The information led me to find the dates of birth and death for Lavinia's ancestors back to the 1700's. And yes, just as my grandmother had told me, Captain Bob was indeed her third cousin.

And that is how I found Lavinia Roberts's family - through connections.

Thank you Irene Roberts Richard.

Lavinia Roberts Salter

Trapped in the Frozen Labrador

This past week has been one of the coldest I have seen in years. Our entire winter has been like that except for our typical January thaw which lasted all of a few days. This past weekend has been filled with high winds, low windchills, snow, freezing rain and ice pellets. There was no getting away from it. However, it did remind me of how fortunate we are in 2014 that we can protect ourselves from the elements. It is the reason I have chosen John Salter Sr. for this post.

One of the most unforgiving lands is that of Labrador. Summer is deep in black flies while winter spreads her snowy freeze. Yet there is something so very seductive about the beauty of it all. The Labrador side of the Strait of Belle Isle is dotted with names that pay homage to the french past; L'Anse Amour, L'Anse au Loup, West St. Modeste and Forteau are examples.

The early 1700's saw merchant companies coming to the Straits, as it commonly known, to fish and return to Europe with their catch. Eventually others from the Channel Islands, Newfoundland and Quebec arrived and continued this exploitation. The merchants did not treat these fishers well and many left and settled along the various small communities. One of these livyers was my gr. gr. grandfather, John Salter. While I have been unable to determine his original birthplace, I believe he was one of the Jerseymen that came to fish and trap in the second half of the 1800's.

John met and married Lavinia Roberts on October 10,1870 in Forteau. They had two sons; the oldest, my gr. grandfather George and his younger brother John Jr. John Sr. supported his family as did most of the men on the Straits by selling his fish to various merchants and the furs he trapped to the Hudson Bay Company. It was the latter that would bring John to his untimely death.

The date is February 1881 and the time of year when trappers were eager to get furs for the Hudson Bay Company. A good fur was invaluable to a family. It would help in ensuring a good winter. John went out to set his traps and to check others he set on his last venture out to the land. The day's weather was fine and looked promising but the harsh Labrador environment can have a sudden change at any time. Such was the case for John as a blizzard ensued. Unable to see for the white out conditions he searched for shelter to shield himself from the elements. When he didn't return, a search party set out to find him. Near death, John was brought back to Forteau where he succumbed to exposure. As inscribed in a bible given to Lavinia by Mr. Thomas Wright, a family friend, John Salter passed away at 5 minutes past 3 o'clock in the morning on February 12, 1881.

John Salter Sr. - pioneer, livyer, husband, father - died at the age of 41.

John Salter Death Record Family Bible

Memorial Day

Esau Roberts 

(Photo courtesy of Leon Hancock
 via Irene Richard)

As a little girl, my grandmother Poole would pick forget-me-nots and pin them on my top.  It is one of those special moments you never forget; looking in the mirror at the tiny, blue flowers while she dabbed her perfume in my hair.

That was every July 1st, Newfoundland's Memorial Day; the day in which we honour those who fell in the Great War.  It was that date in 1916 which saw the young men of Newfoundland up against the Germans in Beaumont - Hamel, France.  It turned out to be one of the darkest days in the nations's history and it was all over in just 30 minutes.  Only 68 men of the 801 answered the roll call the next day.

As did many of her generation, my grandmother saw friends come home from that war broken and wounded and knew of some who did not return at all.  It was a heart breaking time.

One of her cousins, Esau Roberts of Seal Islands, Labrador, was a Royal Naval Reservist (1935X) during World War I.  I discovered the following clip from the Daily News Events of the Year 1917:

R. N. R. HEROES RETURN

By the express yesterday, twenty one Royal Naval Reservists, who have been on duty for two years and over, returned on furlough. The men are: John BUTTON, C.A. ROSE, Josiah PORTER, Thomas J. RAHAL, Esau ROBERTS, George BRAKE, Albert PORTER, W. H. BARTLETT, Enos RYAN, E. DUNN, J. HIBBS, Harvey TORRAVILLE, William RYAN, J.E. ELLIS, Peter BUTT, W. H. HARDING, A. COCHRANE, H. GEORGE, B. BRACE, W. BRADBURY, S. DAVIS. At the station they were met by the Ladies Reception Committee, detachments from the Volunteers and Royal Naval Reserve and the Acting Premier, Hon. J. R. Bennett. The men were addressed by Hon. Mr. Bennett, and later on driven to Government House.

Having been gone for so long it must have felt so nice to have such attention paid to them.  After all, it was the Premier no less!  They deserved all that attention and so much more.  It is such a shame that so many were not as fortunate.

He entered the Royal Reserve in 1915 and was discharged on February 28, 1918 due to deteriorating eyesight.

Esau went on to marry Victoria Flynn where they and their children lived in Forteau, Labrador.  He died in 1971 at the age of 79.

Below is the birthday greeting post card that was given to my grandmother Maud Salter from Esau in January of 1918.  As a joke he added that it was sent "in remembrance of his birthday".  He was "now 26 and getting old haha".

After all he had been through he was still quite a kidder.

To Dearest Cousin Miss Maud Salter,

With best wishes and gladest thoughts, 

From Esau 

Alice Maud Salter Poole

Alice Maud Salter Poole

This site is dedicated to my grandmother, Alice Maud Salter Poole.  She was the oral historian in my life.  Had it not been for her, most of my family history on my maternal side would not have been passed along.

As so many who are searching for their ancestors in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the Lower North Shore of Quebec have discovered, recorded evidence is sometimes difficult to come by.  If there is only one piece of advice I can give anyone discovering their family history it is make sure you get every story from your elders that you can AND write them down.  That is the one important lesson I have learned through my 30+ year journey and I know it will continue to be valuable to me onward.

Thank you Grammie for all your wonderful stories.  I love you, I miss you and I'll be forever indebted to you.  X/O