| Number 16 | August 1, 2001 |
THE JORDANS MINGLE IN MURRAY RIVER
Reports indicate that a fine time was had by all at the Jordan family gathering in mid-July.
The three-day event attracted a large crowd, including many Becks because the two families are inter-related. Most activities were held in the Northumberland Arena.
Sandra (MacNeill)MacKay (1.4.9,2,2,1,) supplied information on the highlights.
Things got underway on Friday evening with a variety concert put on by the descendants of Edward Jorden. There was lots of fiddle music and dancing as well as poetry reading and much more. Sandra said it was very enjoyable.
Saturday morning was set aside for sight seeing. There were boat rides for those who were interested and some people spent two hours or more on the water.
The Jordans had a long association with the Cape Bear Lighthouse, and some people spent a lot of time looking around the building, which is now a museum. Still others visited the Jordan Cemetery at Beach Point. Edward Jorden donated the land for the graveyard and he and many of his descendants are buried there.
It was back to the Arena in the afternoon for an opportunity to mingle, discuss genealogy, and trace family trees. There was story telling for the adults, along with craft displays, and there were videos to keep the children occupied. Some travelled long distances to attend with Philip and Elizabeth Lacey coming from England.
There were lots of souvenirs on sale and people could get hats, shirts, sweater and pens as mementos of the occasion. A meal was available at 5 PM with a choice of lobster or chicken on the menu. Sandra described the weekend as, "great."
There was a church service on Sunday morning to wrap up the event.
The speaker was Wallace Jorden, a Baptist minister, from Charlottetown and Beach Point.
The Becks and the Jordans have been connected since 1885 when Luther Jordan and Ada Beck married. Luther's biography is included in this letter.
RORY SHOOTS FOR NATIONAL HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Rory Beck (1.4.3B.7.3.5) has been named director of hockey operations for the Charlottetown Junior Abbies. The announcement was made in mid-July by Kevin Murphy, the president of the team. He said, "Rory has a proven 20-year track record in senior management as deputy minister for the provincial government and currently as vice-president of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Furthermore, he has been involved in hockey, in this community, all his life and we are very pleased to have him join the organization.''
Rory played for the Colonel Gray Colonels in the Island Junior Hockey League. Then he played for UPEI, and was a member of the 1981 Hardy Cup Charlottetown Islanders. He has been involved in coaching for the last 15 years in Charlottetown.
"It is very exciting to join what I consider a first-class organization that is strong on all levels from the executive to the coaches and the players," Rory said. "The next two years are an opportunity for the team and the community to participate in pursuing a national championship. We will be striving to ensure the Abbies are playing in the championship game of the tournament, and bringing the Royal Bank Cup to Charlottetown.''
The cup is for competition at the Junior A level. The finals will be held in Halifax in 2002, and in Charlottetown the year after.
NANCY HAS AN ENTERTAINING SUMMER
One performer - three different shows! It's a busy summer for Nancy Beck (1.4.3B.7.2.5)at Beaconsfield in Charlottetown. She has a new children's show called, Goldilocks and the Beaconsfield Bear, she is continuing with her one-woman play, A Rowboat in the Attic, and she is part of a new singing quintette called Short Stuff.
In the children's play, described as a musical storytelling adventure, Goldilocks takes a vacation on PEI, and she gives the local Bears a hard time. Nothing pleases her and she complains that "That ocean is too big," and "That girl's hair is too red." Nancy wrote and performs the play, which runs Monday and Fridays all summer.
"Rowboat" as we told you in earlier editions of this newsletter is the story of Inkerman House in Charlottetown and its wacky inhabitants. Nancy has put on about 150 performances across PEI since its premiere in the fall of 1999. It's been warmly received by Islanders and visitors alike.
Short Stuff will perform at Beaconsfield's Summer Garden Party on Sunday, August 5. The group includes Nancy, Pamela and Suzanne Campbell, Glenda Landry and Debi Voye. The five talented, but vertically-challenged singers, have a lot of fun belting out all the old favourites. Their repertoire ranges from gospel tunes to comical party pieces from the British music hall. "And, of course," adds Nancy, "we pretty well have to do Five Foot Two."
ELSEWHERE IN THE ENTERTAINMENT FIELD
Josh Weale (1.6A.4,6.2.1,2) is keeping busy on the stage too. First he was the associate producer of Garret, a play about the death of a high school student and how it affects some of his classmates. Written by Mickey Acorn of Charlottetown, it explores the topics of popularity, violence and bullying in a local high school setting.
While the play deals with serious themes, there's plenty of humour. "But they're not the most conventional things that you think are funny," Acorn said.
Josh agrees. "What attracted me to the script was how Mickey wrote high school dialogue. At times it's very dramatic, at other times, it's very comedic, because of the setting," he says.
The cast included Josh's brother, Joey, (1.6A.4,6.2.1,5).
Josh is also involved with another play that is running this summer at the Victoria PlayHouse.
The Maritime Way of Life was a big hit at the Playhouse in 1999, and early reviews say this year's production appears to be even better. According to the billboard, "This is an irreverent, off-beat, side-splitting look at family life with Maritime stereotypes taken to their hilariously absurd limit."
It's about a daughter who comes home from Toronto to find Grandma mumbling "the old language" and Pa, the proud coal miner, going off to work everyday in a mine that's been closed for years. Josh plays Grandma.
STRONG SUPPORT FOR YOUNG HOCKEY STARS
The celebrity fund raiser for the Northumberland Arena in Murray River was an outstanding success. Brad Richards of Murray Harbour, fresh from a sensational rookie year in the National Hockey League, was the main attraction at the dinner. He was flanked by Thatcher Bell (1.4.6.5,3.6,3) of Guernsey Cove, his former teammate from the Rimouski Oceanic, and a number of other star athletes. During the last two days of June, they played a hockey game and held a golf tournament in aid of Camp Getcheff followed by the dinner and auction to raise funds for the rink where Brad and Thatcher played their first organized hockey.
There are indications that another young athlete could be following in their footsteps. Rimouski has already drafted 16-year-old Danny Stewart (1.4.6.5,1.2A,2.1). The Murray Harbour resident was their second pick overall in this year's Quebec major junior draft. The Rimouski management feel Danny has the talent to become a major star and are expecting big things from him.
The activities raised about $20,000. for the Arena, and $5,000. for Camp Getcheff. The Camp on Bellevue Bay is a non profit organization established to provide camping facilities for individuals with disabilities.
REUNION COMMITTEE MEETING
The next planning session for the 2003 Beck Reunion will be held in Prince Edward Island in late August. Now is the time to send in your ideas and suggestions for things you'd like to see included in our next get-together. There's also a need for volunteers from the local area to help make the reunion bigger and better than ever. If you'd like to get involved, or want to make a suggestion, send me an email and I'll pass it along.
It's more than three years since our last reunion in Murray River in July, 1998.
But that wasn't the only gathering of Beck descendants in 1998. We've recently heard of another one that took place about six weeks later. Here's a report:
THE OTHER BECK REUNION OF 1998
by
Heidilynne Schultheist
A reunion of 20 of the 23 descendants of Charles Vere Machon, Jr. (1.6A.2,2.3.) was held in the Boston/Providence area in August/September 1998. They visited Boston, Cape Cod, and Providence, and paid homage at the graves of their Beck/Machon ancestors, including Mary Ann Darby Beck (1.6A.2,), in Springvale Cemetery in Rumford, Rhode Island, and Riverside Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The descendants rented the entire Colonel Blackinton Inn in Attleboro, Massachusetts to celebrate the 80th birthday of John Paul Otto Schultheiss, Jr., the husband of Effie Bernice Machon (1.6A.2,2.3.1,). Unfortunately Effie herself was very ill in a nursing home and could not attend, and she died soon after.
Another reunion of the same group will be held the last week of December
2001 at the winter home of Paul Charles Schultheiss (1.6A.2,2.3.1,1.) in
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on a man-made island called "Abacoa"
(native-American for "friendly village"), near the Jupiter lighthouse.
The descendants all still have a strong affinity for islands, water, ships, and
lighthouses. Although the seventh generation has spread to all
corners of the U.S., most still live near an ocean or lake.
Neil Christopher Schultheiss (1.6A.2,2.3.1,1.3.) of Michigan in his spare time
publishes a quarterly magazine called "Great Laker," and has an
award-winning website, Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping, at www.boatnerd.com.
Although its focus is not specifically PEI, it has carried stories about ships
sunk or wrecked off PEI, vessels built at the Georgetown Shipyard, the opening of the Confederation Bridge, and the fate of the PEI ferries.
Family members still cook and bake using recipes handed down from their PEI ancestors, and at the Florida reunion the younger children will be taught to make plum pudding as well as several types of cookies and candy to carry on the tradition.
BACK ROW: Christopher David Porta, Joshua Christopher Mazzariello, Lisa Porta Mazzariello, Patty Schultheiss Stoffel, William Mazzariello, Lee Michael Schultheiss, Heidilynne Schultheiss, Nancy Grace Soler Schultheiss, Paul Charles Schultheiss, Rose Grandchamp, Erica Grandchamp, John David Schultheiss, Donna Palladino, Joshua Schultheiss, Curt Alan Schultheiss,
FRONT ROW: Eric Schultheiss, Nathan Schultheiss, Alyssa Mazzariello, Mary Ellen Schultheiss Porta, Erin Hunter Gurley, John Paul Otto Schultheiss Jr., Barbara Lynne Schultheiss Gurley, Nicole Reier Gurley, Matthew Zachary Schultheiss, Floresha Miftari, and Neil Christopher Schultheiss.
Vital Statistics
BIRTHS
Born to: Coburn Robinson Beck (1.11.1.6.2.2.) and his wife, Jane Lindley Wellons, a son, Joseph Lindley Beck on Nov. 1, 2000, in Richmond, Virginia.
To: Donald Cameron Beck, Jr. (1.11.1.6.2.1.) and his wife, Eone Gabbert Moore, a son, Cameron Robinson Beck, on Nov. 6, 2000, also in Richmond, Virginia.
The proud grandparents, Don and Susie Beck, live in Williamsburg, Virginia. Don has attended two Beck reunions and Susie has been to one. They are looking forward to the next one in 2003.
MARRIED
Strickland, Ambrose (1.12,6,1.6) of Cape Bear
and Susan Margaret Herring (1.4.2.6,9.4)
of Murray River.
The wedding took place in the Church of Christ,
Murray Harbour, on June 7th.
They will live at Cape Bear.
DEATHS
ANDERSON, John L. "Jack" (1.7.2,6,2,) The death occurred at St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday, June 10, 2001, of Jack Anderson, in his 76th year. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor (Jenkins), formerly of Summerside, P.E.I.; sons, Douglas (Wendy), Jackie, and Gary (Joanna); and four grandchildren: Danielle, Melissa, Carly and Kyle. Jack is also survived by two sisters, Edith and Jean, in Charlottetown; and a brother, Roy, of Princeton, N.J. Jack was born in Midgell, P.E.I., son of Lloyd and Abiona Anderson (both deceased). He served overseas during the Second World War with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. He later moved to Hamilton where he worked with Hamilton Hydro, retiring in 1980. A private funeral was to be held at a time to be determined by the immediate family.
EMERY, Alvina Jane (1.4.4,4.2,) The death occurred at the Kings County Memorial Hospital on Saturday, July 
7, 2001, of Alvina Jane (Ferguson) Emery of Wood Islands, in her 91st year. She was predeceased by her parents, Kenneth H. Ferguson and Agnes Munn and by her husband, James Emery. She was the mother of Kenneth (Saundra), and grandmother of Jayne (Joe) MacAskill, Stewart (Lannie), Gail (Walter) Shaw, Neil and Darren and great-grandmother of Katelyn and Jamealan Shaw, Mattheu and Daniel Emery and Max MacAskill. The funeral service was held from Ferguson's funeral home chapel in Montague on Tuesday, July 10, with interment in the Little Sands Cemetery.
MACFARLANE, Kenneth Bruce (1.6B.5.3,3) The death occurred at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, on Tuesday, July 17, 2001, of Kenneth B. MacFarlane of White Sands, age 68 years. He is survived by a brother, Andrew (Marguerite) MacFarlane, Guernsey Cove; and a sister, Heather (Leon) Buell, of White Sands. He was predeceased by his sister, Margaret Reynolds. The service was held from Ferguson's funeral home chapel on Friday , July 20, at 3:30 p.m., with interment in the Murray Harbour Cemetery.
O'CONNOR, Elmer H. (1.4.2.2,4.1B,) The death occurred at his home on Sunday, July 22, 2001, of Elmer H. O'Connor of Charlottetown, age 78 years. He was the father of Perry (Maria) O'Connor, of Edmonton, Alberta; Theresa (David) Slyzys, of La Salle, Ontario; Cathy (Roch Daigle), Calgary, Alberta; Patricia Weeks, Charlottetown; Maureen (Larry) Cudmore, Brackley; and Gary (Dini) O'Connor, Fergus, Ontario. Other survivors include his grandchildren, Melanie and Shannon O'Connor; Krista and Melissa Cudmore; Sean and Ryan O'Connor; Brittany, Brandon and Bradley Weeks. He was predeceased by an infant son, Ivan. The funeral was held Friday, July 27, at 10 a.m. at Community Baptist Church in Sherwood, with interment in Community Park Cemetery, Montague.
Biography
Martin Luther Jordan (1.4.9,) was born at High Bank, P.E.I., on Oct. 11, 1860. He was the fourth child of Edward Jordan and Ruhamah Sencabaugh. Luther grew up in that community, attended the High Bank school, helped work the family farm and did some fishing as a young man. He married Ada Margaret Beck, his second cousin, from the nearby community of White Sands on Oct. 15, 1884. They raised a family of six boys and four girls.
Luther was active in politics and worked hard for the Liberal Party, to the extent that he named their fifth child, born in 1895, Wilfred Laurier Jordan after the Liberal Party leader, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The Liberals won the federal election in 1896 and it was payoff time for Luther. Tom Munn and his son, John Thomas, had tended the lighthouse at Cape Bear since it was established in 1881. John Thomas was let go in 1898, probably as the new government got around to replacing the former Conservative appointees, and Luther won the job.
The family moved to Cape Bear and lived in the residence that was attached to the lighthouse.They had six children by that time and four more were born while they the lived at the Light. Sylvia (MacNeill) VanIderstine, (1.4.9,2,7B,) a grandchild, said other members of the Jordan family liked the look of the Beach Point - Cape Bear area and moved down too and soon members of the family owned much of the land there.
When he wasn’t busy at the lighthouse, Luther was fishing lobsters and other species in the waters off Cape Bear. In those days the fishermen were paid by the lobster, rather than by weight. Sylvia said the price for a lobster was the same, no matter what its size. Whitman Daly mentions this too in his history of the area and says the price was about one cent for each lobster in the 1890s and later. He said at that time, "lobsters were plentiful and some fishermen hauled their traps two or three times a day." He added that the average daily catch was about 600 lobsters.
Sylvia said that Luther was said to have set a record for a one-day catch, landing 2,600 lobsters. "That would be an awful lot of work," she said. "Row out, row in, no hauler and everything done by hand, and they had to hand-barrow the catch up the bank too." Sylvia’s brother, Gerald, "Bub" MacNeill (1.4.9,2,4.) added that there was no shelter for the boats at the Cape and they had to be hauled out at the end of the day. "They used to haul them right up the bank with a capstan. They built a little slide right up the bank and that made it easier. They were strong men," he said.
Sometimes there were accidents on the water too. Bub said that one time Hiram Hyde was rowing out to a mooring off the lighthouse when he upset his dory. Luther jumped into the water and swam out and pulled him ashore. After Hiram got dried off and warmed up, he reversed the story, making himself the rescuer, saying, "Luther, the old bloater, couldn’t save himself and I had to pull him out."
"Hiram was a great one for telling yarns," Bub said.
With a name like Martin Luther it was only natural that Luther would be a religious man. He was a prominent member of the Baptist Church, and attended church at Beach Point until that building closed and then he went to the church at Murray Harbour. Sylvia said he was quite strait-laced and did not use tobacco or alcohol and frowned on their use by others. She added that he had a strict dress code for men and women, and objected to women wearing short dresses. If the children disobeyed, Luther did not spare the rod. However, he could show leniency too. Bub said that if there was some doubt as to whether they were guilty, "he’d have them put on their overcoat before administering the punishment."
Politics might have played an important role in helping Luther win his job as lighthouse keeper but the appointment came with certain restrictions. People on the government payroll were not supposed to take an active part in party politics. Luther continued to work for the Liberals and that cost him his job. Bub said it was OK to vote himself, but that was all he was supposed to do, but he was driving people to the poll with his horse and wagon. Somebody must have complained about this for Luther lost the job in 1907.
It was around this time that Luther bought the Munn farm from John Thomas Munn so he just moved across the road and into the farm house. He took up farming and continued fishing. It was shortly after this that Wilfred took ill. He was wading in the brook one day and came down with a fever and ended up in bed. He was there so long that his leg muscles atrophied and he wasn’t able to walk again. Could this have been a mild case of Polio? At any rate Wilfred lived at home and needed care for the rest of his life. In addition to losing the use of his legs, he also suffered from asthma.
Luther’s next move was to buy a schooner. Daly, in his history of the area, has a list of schooners and their owners as compiled by Percy White. Luther owned at least four, and three of them are on the list. They were, in alphabetical order, the Carrie M. C., the Genesta, and the North Star. Sylvia and Bub remembered a fourth, the Bonnie Briar Bush. Sylvia said that every summer he’d reserve one day for a family fishing expedition.
"Some of his children moved to the United States," she said, "and when they’d come home in the summer he’d take them all out on fishing excursions." They’d be handlining for cod and things like that and it was a time for everyone to relax and have fun. "That would be a big day," she said.
Luther carried potatoes and other farm produce to New Glasgow on the schooners for sale to the public at the wharf. Sylvia said that even when he was an old man he was still making those trips to New Glasgow. Charlie Beck, (1.6B.5.2.1) remembers those trips. Luther would always go to church on Sunday and the Baptist Church in New Glasgow had a predominantly Black congregation. Charlie said Luther was a great singer, and "they put him right into the choir." Charlie added that they loved to see him coming. "They thought he was really something."
While he never ran for office, Luther had all the instincts of a seasoned politician. He attended most public functions greeting one and all, and he was known far and wide in southeastern Prince Edward Island. Luther never missed a funeral if he could get there. Sylvia said there was a story that one year he attended 200 of them. That seems like an awfully large number for a sparsely populated region. Could that have been during the ‘flu epidemic of 1918-19? "Whenever anyone died," Sylvia said, "he’d always attend the funeral, travelling mostly by horse. He’d travel longer distances by train."
Luther was also a fox rancher. He got into the business when it was first starting to grow and he made a lot of money from foxes. Sylvia said he was in the fox business while the foxes were profitable. "By all standards at that time, he was a reasonably wealthy man."
Sylvia remembers visiting him one time when he was feeding the foxes. He had some canned food and was removing the covers. He opened a can and then threw the cover to one side. Then he opened another and threw that cover in the same direction. "You know," he said, "I believe those two landed in the same place." Sylvia said they walked over and the two covers were together, one exactly on top of the other. Apparently he had been doing that so long that he had the toss grooved.
Luther was very proud of his possessions and didn’t mind doing a little bragging when people dropped in. Bub said he’d show people around the house and then take them to see his foxes and his horses and other things. The last stop would be at the family dump. "Come and see my dump," he’d say. He wanted people to see the kind of things he was throwing away.
There were no dentists in the area at that time and Luther would pull teeth for people who asked him. Sylvia said he had a bunch of instruments and people would come to him when they had a toothache. There was no freezing, people would just sit in a chair in the kitchen and he’d pull the tooth. Charlie Beck remembers going to Luther with an aching tooth. It was about 1930 and he was only about 10 years old. He made the trip from Murray Harbour to the Cape on his bicycle and he was too small to reach the pedals over the crossbar so he had to ride through and under the crossbar. Luther and Ada were there as well as two of the boys, Carl and Will. "Sure, I’ll pull your tooth," said Luther placing a chair in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Charlie said he got out a pair of forceps that looked, to a small boy, like they were for pulling the back teeth of a horse. He put them on the stove to heat and when they were starting to smoke he took them off and waved them around to cool them down. "Now Charlie," said Luther, "you grab them rungs and hang on." Charlie said he yanked it out, "and did it ever hurt." Carl, who was in his late 30s then, said mischievously, "there might be a couple more there you could pull for him, Dad." Charlie said that all he wanted to do was get out the door as fast as he could. There was no charge for having a tooth pulled, as Luther did it as a favour for people.
Luther was a butcher too and he would kill pigs for his neighbours. Charlie had to kill a pig for his grandmother one time and didn’t know how to do it. He asked Luther for advice and got detailed instructions and everything went smoothly.
Luther had heart trouble for the last 20 years of his life. Sylvia said that in 1925 when he was 65 he went to Charlottetown on the train to see a doctor about the problem. After examining him, the doctor said, "Mr. Jordan, the best thing you can do is go home and settle up your business. You have heart trouble and there is nothing more I can do for you." Sylvia said he lived for 21 years after that and he took an aspirin every day. She added that he had a little round bottle that he carried in his watch pocket with aspirin in it. "He was the first person in this part of the Island to take aspirin for heart trouble," she said. This was long before aspirin was promoted as a treatment for heart problems so how did he stumble onto this? Could it be that he was having angina pain and was taking the aspirin for pain relief, and so unwittingly was taking the best treatment available?
Ack Irving (1.11.2,1.3.) remembers an interesting encounter with Luther. It was in the late 1930s and Ack was about 7 or 8 years old and was on his way to school. The snow was deep and Luther was travelling by horse and sleigh. Somehow the horse got off the track and the sleigh slid down into the ditch. As a farmboy, Ack had experience with animals so he helped Luther unhitch the horse, get the sleigh back up on the road and the horse hitched up again.
"Thanks a lot, Young Fellow," shouted Luther as he drove off. "I’ll remember you in my will."
This was a common expression meaning nothing at all. Ack took it literally and thought he was going to come into money, especially since he knew Luther was well off.
Luther’s wife Ada died in 1935. She had been caring for Wilfred at home and now the responsibility fell to Luther. There was a falling out with one of the boys on the farm and Sylvia said Luther and Wilfred moved to Beach Point where her parents lived and stayed in what used to be her Grandfather MacNeill’s home. Wilfred died in February, 1946. Two months later Luther went to Hazelbrook on the train to visit a Jones family, some of his Baptist friends. He stepped through the door and dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 86.
TRYING OUT FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM
Thatcher Bell (1.4.6.5,3.6,3) has been invited to attend the Canadian junior hockey team's development camp. He's one of 44 players invited to take part in the camp, which will be held in Calgary in August. Thatcher is a forward with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and a draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL. The camp is the first step in selecting next year's Canadian world junior team. Those invited were selected by Canadian Hockey Association scouts, who evaluated players in more than 300 games last season. Ten members of last year's team are among those receiving invitations.
GOLF TEAM CHOSEN
Debby Beck (1.6B.5.1.1A.2)of Montague will be a member of the team that represents Prince Edward Island at the Canadian Womens amateur golf championship this year. Debby plays out of the Brudenell Club. Her teammates are Cherie Hansen and Valerie Beer from the Belvedere Club in Charlottetown and Sherry White from the Avondale Club. The competition will be held in Winnipeg in mid-August. Debby is the owner of Montague Computer Technology Solutions.
BECK LIKES BAND
The Montague high school jazz band is winning public praise. The Deputy Mayor, Jock Beck, (1.4.3B.7.2.2.)lauded the group at a Town Council meeting. Jock said their performance was the highlight at the recent opening of the federal Addictions Service Centre in Montague. The jazz band was engaged by Lawrence MacAulay, the federal Solicitor General, to perform during the opening of the Correctional Services Canada building. "To me," Jock said, "the highlight was the school jazz band under the direction of Kirk White. They are a true credit to the community."
The Vere Beck Family Home Page
We're always looking for news of Beck family members. If you know of any significant events drop me a line with the information. imunn@accesswave.ca
imunn@accesswave.ca