Macdonald Consolidated School, Kingston


The sun beamed through the schoolhouse window as I sat at the little wooden desk waiting for my turn for the teacher to look at my completed arithmetic questions. It seemed some of the older students were getting extra help with the new chapter on measurements.

As I waited, I stared at the wall beside me.  Under the layers of paint, the carved initials “B K” were still faintly visible.  This sent me off on a trip of wondering about the names of the children who had spent their days in years gone by in this very room.

Former students of Macdonald Consolidated School, Kingston, New Brunswick, have been reviewing microfilm of School Return Sheets at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick to discover who had attended the school since it opened in August of 1904.

Lists of the classes will be displayed at this summer’s reunion celebration of “100 Years of Education”. To this date more than 1200 names of individual students have been recorded, and at least 130 class lists prepared.

In the first year of operation, 1904-05, there were 4 teachers and 189 students. Students were conveyed to the school by horse-drawn vans, and there was a “van shed” where the horses were stabled during the day.

The original school was built by the Macdonald Tobacco Company, one of several built in eastern Canada. It is the only one still used as a school. The original building burned in 1909 and the present structure was built in 1910. There have been two major additions, one in the mid-1950s and a larger one in 1981 where many classrooms, a library, a music room, and a museum were added.

The last graduating class was in 1967 when further consolidation of schools had Grades 10 - 12 being bussed to Hampton Consolidated for their high school.

Many of the Kingston Peninsula family names, such Crawford, Flewelling, Gorham,  Holder, Lamb, Northrup, Paddock, Sheldrick, Waddell, and Wetmore are represented in the list of students. In at least one case, there is a family of five generations starting with Thurlow Henderson who attended in 1906 followed by his daughter Charlotte who was a student there in 1932.

The Reunion weekend begins July 30, 2004. Information can be obtained by phoning 763-3435 or 1-888-325-7787, and online at www.mcsreunion.com

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Query 1172  
Edmonds - Seelye: I'm looking for information about Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds, prior to and after she enlisted in the American Civil War as Franklin Thompson and her spouse Linus Seelye, before and after her death in 1898.
Connie Faussett Platt
7028 Ardsley Drive
Canton, MI
48187-3032
U.S.A.
cplatt@provide.net

Query 1173
Gartley - McElwain - Prescott: I am seeking information on David McElwain and his first wife Margaret who died 04 Nov 1865 and his second wife Emily Gartley. John McElwain (born 9 Jun 1868) was their son, and my great-great-grandfather. He married Frances Prescott, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Prescott.  John  McElwain  and Fannie moved from York County, New Brunswick to Caribou Maine in about 1903.
Kate Myers
1222 North Hancock
Colorado Springs, CO 
80903,  USA
E-mail kate.myers@att.net

Query 1174
Allan - Wedderburn: Joseph Allan married Dorothy Wedderburn in Glasgow in 1845. They had at least two children in Scotland, Jane born 1848 and Thomas born 1850 and then disappear. Joseph turns up in the 1881 census as a widower in Ward No. 3, Portland, Saint John, New Brunswick. He was aged 63 and was a carver by trade. Children living with him in 1881 were Mitchell aged 20, Andrew aged 18, Robert aged 14 and Dorothy aged 13 all born in New Brunswick. I would appreciate any information on this family no matter how small.
Gayle Wedderburn
PO Box 12301
Penrose
Auckland
New Zealand 
E-mail genelady@hotmail.com

Query 1175
Murray - Williams: I am seeking information on the family of Mary Veronica Murray, who was born in Dipper Harbour, New Brunswick. She had two brothers, John and Louis, who were both in the United States Army, one being wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. She married Thomas Arthur Williams of Saint John, New Brunswick circa 1926.
Edie Williams
28 Patricia Drive
St. Catharines
Ontario
Canada, L2M 4P4.
E-mail Trixi10565@aol.com


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Ruby M. Cusack is a genealogy buff living in New Brunswick, Canada. Send your New Brunswick genealogical queries to her at:  rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca.  Include your name and mailing address for the benefit of the readers of the newspaper who do not have access to E-mail but could have information to share with you. Please put "Yesteryear" followed by the surnames in your query. For more information on submitting queries, visit http://www.rubycusack.com/Query-Instructions.html
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