Grandma Davies Makes Hot Cereal

"Sunny Boy" for Carol

There are three girls in my family.  I am the middle sister. When we were little kids we lived in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Our parents had to go somewhere for a number of days so Grandma Davies came to take care of us.

"Oatmeal" for Judy

My only remembrance of that time is that she made a different hot cereal for each of us. I only liked  "Cream of Wheat", my older sister liked "Oatmeal" and didn't  like "Cream of Wheat", and our younger sister only liked "Sunny Boy" a wholegrain cereal.     ( I need to ask my mom for a few more details of the when and why and where the parents were)

"Cream of Wheat" for me

I remember thinking it was so special, we all felt so loved... but now I am a grandma myself I realize it was probably the easiest thing to do to keep the kids happy.   I hope I can be as good to my grand-kids.

McMurray Family Group Sheet

I have in my possession a family group sheet where my grandmother, Caroline McMurray was a child in the family. This family group sheet is especially special because it has pictures of all the people.

I have been looking at it a lot, looking at pictures, looking at dates, and I got to thinking about her siblings.

Caroline McMurray was the second youngest in a family of 10 children.  Her younger sister, Lila Leora McMurray was Aunt Lila-"with the white hair".  I don't think we called her that to her face but my sisters and I always referred to her that way because on my dad's side we had another Aunt Lila and this was a way to differentiate. Her white hair was really beautiful and she was just a lovely and gracious person. Caroline and Lila were the only children in that family who were born after them moved to Canada. the other eight siblings were born in the United States.

I also remember an Aunt Jennie, but I think as a kid I really didn't know how she was my aunt. Now I sit here looking at this picture from long ago- probably her wedding picture for 25 March 1913- I can see her face in that picture. I wish I had paid more attention.

Today, as I am holding this family group sheet in my hands and it caused me to wonder "Why don't I know or remember any of the others?"  The answer: they all died before I was born or when I was very young.

Here is a list of her family:
Father- James Stevenson McMurray   born: 13 July 1863 - died:22 June 1948
Mother- Sarah Ann Orr    born: 20 Dec 1867 - died: 29 Aug 1901
Brother- Joseph McMurray   born: 9 Feb 1887 - died 28 Sept 1958
Brother - Parley McMurray    born: 25 Sept 1888 - died:22 Nov 1940
Sister - Sadie McMurray    born: 8 Sept 1890 - died: 15 Mar 1891 - she was just a baby
Sister -Lottie McMurray    born: 2 Mar 1892 - died: 7 Oct 1916
Sister - Jennie McMurray    born: 17 Dec 1893 - died
Sister - Eva McMurray    born: 27 July 1896 - died: 19 Feb 1920
Brother - Milford McMurray    born: 15 Dec 1897 - died: 12 Sept 1950
Brother - Richard McMurray    born: 12 Oct 1900 - died: 5 Mar 1952

Self - Caroline McMurray    born: 11 March 1902 - died 3 June 1981

Sister- Lila Leora McMurray   born: 7 Apr 1909 - died        

Hauling Water -

Caroline McMurray Davies -  

Water - Easy to Take for Granted

It's Saturday morning, and my firm commitment for family history sleuthing will help me press forward today as I clean my house so latter I can sit unencumbered to work on family information gathering.

I will be thankful for the modern appliances I have that help make my life easier. I just put the linens in the washing machine and turn a few dials. They will be washed (through no effort of my own)and then I can move them to the dryer and in a short time they will be dry and I can  take them upstairs and remake my California King size bed..

My mother told me that while she was growing up, her mother, my Grandmother Davies had to haul all the water she needed everyday into the house,  then she had to haul it all out. They kept a reservoir (steel or tin tub of some kind) on one side of the stove so that they always had some warm/hot water. Imagine for a day that everything you needed water for you had to walk to the well, carrying a bucket, then pump the water or pull it up from the well and carry it inside, then heat for cooking and bathing, and laundry, and for any other needs. Then once the water had been used it all had to be carried outside again.

I have no excuses about getting my laundry done today.  I won't even go into other details of my easy life- that can come later.

Caroline McMurray Davies

I found this short bio on my grandmother- I don't know what it was written for, but it is just a short, concise piece:

Caroline McMurray was the 9th child of James S. McMurray and Sarah Orr. She was born on march 11, 1902 in Orton, Alberta, Canada. Her parents and seven siblings moved from Idaho in march.  It was cold and windy, they had no house, and lived in a tent for a few weeks.  Being very windy in March many times her parents and older brothers would stand outside and hold down the tent poles.

Carrie, as she was called, also had a younger sister named Lila. They were the only ones born in Canada.

When Carrie was nine her mother died of a rare disease. Lila was only four months old. Carrie was very sad and lonesome. Her older sisters helped take care of her and little Lila. Before her mother died, Carrie would stand at her side with a fan to help keep the flies from bothering her.

She attended school to sixth grade. She lived with some of her older siblings to help take care of their children. Late she worked for several different families helping with housework.  While she was doing that kind of work she met George Davies and they were married.

About 18 months after George died in 1957 she attendend Nursing School in Calgary and became a successful Nursing aid and worked at three different hospitals until she retired.

She died June 1, 1981 after being ill with Parkinson's disease.

Caroline -

  - the Garden and the Chickens

Carrie loved helping Mrs. Davies with the garden and with the chickens. She enjoyed weeding the garden early in the morning before it go too hot.  She could be alone outside, and could daydream about George, and how wonderful it was when he kissed her. She daydreamed about the possibility of George and her having a place of their own someday.

She took good care of the chickens and also learned how to chop off the head and pluck the feathers and get that chicken in the pot quickly.

The Davies seemed to all be waiting and watching to see how quickly she learned everything and before you could "shake a stick"   they were getting married; George was 27 and Carrie was 23. They lived in a two room house north east  of Claresholm for a few years until they could buy a farm.

Saturday's Story...

 

Thoughts . . . . Caroline McMurray 

 

Alberta, Canada

Happiness does not just happen; you have to work really hard for it, and still it comes in its own time.

In 1909, when Caroline McMurray was a young girl of seven, she saw her mother die from errasipitus. She remembered fanning her mother to keep the flies off her up in her bedroom in the days before she died.  Her little sister, Lila was 4 months old, so she really missed having a mom, as did the four older brothers and four older sisters.

After a while(1914) her dad married a young girl from England just two years, who was to be the new stepmother. There was lots of work to do marrying into a family with so many children, and she made them all work hard.

She didn't teach, instead just yelled at the kids to get the work done. Carrie would have loved to be taught how to make bread, grow a garden, keep a tidy English home and take care of the chickens, but instead she resented Elizabeth trying to take her mother's place and wanted to get away.

She wasn't very nice to the kids, so Carrie quit school early and went to stay and help out at some of her older brother's homes.  Eventually she felt like she had worn out her welcome and that she needed a new place to go.

 

. . . Carrie McMurray - Working

After staying at her different brother's homes and having the opportunity to see different ways of doing things she was feeling rather grown-up and felt she was ready to be out on her own.

Growing up in southern Alberta there were not  many jobs available for a young girl who wanted to earn some money. Many girls hired themselves out as a helper to a farmer's wife. A hired girl could be the one taking care of the children, or doing the laundry, helping with cooking or even taking care of the animals.  They could usually count on making about one dollar a week.  During this time a dollar of cash money was worth a lot.  It meant they could use the money for the necessities of life instead of going without or using credit. No one ever really wanted to go into debt because there was too much chance that they would not have the money to pay when it came due.

Carrie got a job on the cook wagon for a threshing crew.  She had to provide three meals a day for a bunch of hungry men.  This was really hard work, but she learned a great deal and then was ready for another new adventure.

The next opportunity/adventure came in the chance to work on the Davies farm located east of Claresholm in the Starlight District in southern Alberta. The work on that farm was just as hard as at my own home, but the Davies boys were all so handsome: George, Ivan, Glen, Charlie, and Victor. the older sister, Janie had moved away and little Mary was too young to help.  Mrs. Davies really needed help.  the boys were all big enough to hlep, but they were always our helping with the farm, so she really needed my help.  i certainly never dreamed that one day she would be my mother-in-law.  Maybe she knew, and that was why she was so nice to me. She was kind and patient and made sure I knew how to fix all the family favorites. She taught me many different ways to serve potatoes, and how to make a nice flaky pie crust so I could make a chicken pot pie or a fruit pie.

 . . . more about Carrie & George

When George and Carrie Davies moved to their own farm it was their great adventure. They bought two sections of land - there is 640 acres to a section.  He was going to be a dry-land farmer and grow wheat. (as a dry-land farmer you count on rain to water your crops)

The house was two miles south and five miles west of Carmangay. They said the house faced east, but actually east was the direction they came out of the house because they came out the kitchen door. The house was small, but there was a barn with a fenced corral, and a shed and a chicken coop.

Carrie was very excited about the chicken coop.  George told her that she could sell any eggs over what they needed  and use the money any way she wanted. She would also be able to sell the extra cream and butter.
Another opportunity for Carrie to earn some cash money was to trap and kill gophers, the government paid a penny for each gopher tail.

Looking off her back porch Carrie could see the chicken coop about half a block away - she called the chickens "her girls".

She made plans for a garden down the west side of the house, along the edge of the road.  She was going to plant beans, peas, cucumbers, beets, carrots, corn, dill weed and lots of potatoes. George would dig a potato pit which would to store the potatoes. A potato pit is dug down deep and the pit is then lined with boards and a there is a ladder for climbing down into the pit.  The pit is covered by boards and will store many bags of potatoes to keep them fed through the long, Canadian  winter.

Carrie really enjoyed working in the garden early on the summer days, before it got too hot. After working in the garden for a few hours she would come into the house and make breakfast for George.  His favorite breakfast was a steak, bread and milk gravy; but most times his breakfast was hot cereal, usually oatmeal and hot chocolate.

Learning to Embroider

Family Story...Embroidery

Beginner stitches

Some intermediate stitches

Grandma Caroline McMurray Davies -

My grandma taught me embroidery stitches.  She gave me some fabric, and embroidery hoop, some needles and some embroidery floss. With the exception of the hoop, it all fit into a Whitman chocolate box. She taught me some basic stitches, and then got me started on my first project, a pink toaster cover with a picture to embroider on the side. I did pretty good - I thought, but when I needed to take out a stitch I ended cutting into the fabric, so the little bear on the side had to have a patch job in the middle of his nose.  The rest of the embroidery was quite good for a beginner. Later I learned more stitches, and did embroidery work on some pillow cases, several table clothes, and even some pictures for the wall.
It was really special to learn from my grandma as my mother didn't do much handi-work. She did her creating with her sewing machine.(I am glad my mom taught me to sew with a machine)

Grandma Davies

I Had a Grandma Who Baked

It totally goes without saying that if I am going to research and report about my Grandma Davies I have to tell about her fabulous, famous, Sugar Cookies.  Maybe they were only famous with her grandchildren, but to us they were (and still are) the only true sugar cookie.

She rolled them out on the counter and cut the big round cookies with her cookie cutter...but one time when she was visiting us and she didn't have her cookie cutter with her, she took a can of fruit (we ate the fruit), took the top and bottom off the can and made sure there were no sharp edges and then she used it for her cookie cutter.  She told me that before she got a cookie cutter she had always used a can for cutting out the cookies.

Grandma Davies Sugar Cookies

Recipe for Grandma Davies Sugar Cookies

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup sour cream

Mix the dry ingredients together.  Work in the butter like pie crust (use a pastry cutter or two knives).  Make a well in the center and drop in 1 egg, add 1 cup sour cream. ( may need a little more, but just enough to make a soft dough.  Roll 1/8 inch thick, cut, sprinkle with sugar.
                 
Bake 8 to 10 minutes in 375 degree oven until light straw color. Cool on counter.

Googling Grandma

Today,  I sat down with my laptop and decided to enter my grandmother's name - Caroline McMurray Davies - into the Google search.

Here is what I found: there was a link to her obituary in Calgary paper. It showed her death date as June 3rd, 1981, the obituary ran two days in the paper on June 4th and 5th, 1981.(Where was I at that time? How old was I? I need to know these things to put everything into perspective)

It says she was 79 when she died, I had never bothered to figure that out before.  My mom is 83, and still lives alone and takes care of herself. My grandma had been in a rest home for a number of years (I need to find that out) with Parkinson's disease.



There was also a link to one of grandma's brothers - Milford - it showed several pieces of information about him, but one thing that was wrong was it listed one of his sisters being named Hattie, and her name was really Lottie.

It shows how important to use primary sources and not just take what you find on the internet as true.

Laptop compliments of my son, John. Thanks!         

Tender Tears

It is true --  once you start delving into your family history you start to feel really connected with those relatives or ancestors.

Since I chose to do my first research and story finding about my Grandma Davies I have been thinking about her a lot.  My feelings are so close to the surface and I had tears collecting as I had so many memories about her. She was really an amazing woman and really didn't have an easy life..

Her husband (William George Davies) died on the 18th birthday of her youngest child, Murray Davies. Her two daughters were already married by then, as Murray was 11 years younger than his sister, Glenna (my mom). Glenna Elaine Davies was married to Allan King Fowler, and Shirley Maxine Davies was married to Walter Joseph Griffin.
 
Grandpa Davies was a dry-land farmer in southern Alberta, Canada. What a difficult time that must have been, to be widowed early and to now have to take care of herself and her son. Grandma knew that there was really no way that she could take care of the farm with just herself and her son.  Her decision was to sell the farm, and move into town and learn a skill or a trade. At the time she didn't have much more than a sixth grade education (very typical for those days).She went to school to become a CNA or nurses' aid and she worked that skill for the remainder of her working days.

The watch she wore while going to school and while working as a nurse was one that my mom had bought for her dad- it was the only watch he ever owned- but that is a story for another day.