What's News:

Famous Connection!

Not that this is why I do this, but I can apparently add somebody famous to the family tree! It's a bit of a stretch, and unconfirmed, but see how Bing Crosby and his granddaughter Denise (aka Tasha Yar, for Star Trek fans), connect to me, on my "Name-dropper's" page...

Just Added!

Some extractions from Miramichi-area church records (See New Brunswick page for details) and a page for unrelated American surname data

NEWSFLASH!!!

Joseph Verge, Sr. was a BIGAMIST!!! ... Or maybe not ... ?

Read on...

Family Update:

On September 8, 2006, my grandmother, Mildred Susan (Underhill) (Kelly) Hogan passed away. I have posted her obituary here. She is greatly missed by all who knew her.

She was not only my much-loved "Nanny" but also a living repository of people, places and events on the Miramichi. At 98, her memory was as sharp as ever, and even to the last she was always ready to talk about old times.

In 2004, Nan was interviewed by Bill Eagan, author of Woven in Time: An Oral History of the Milltown (St. Croix) Cotton Mill; the interview was included in the second edition of this fascinating portrait of mill life in the early 20th century. I have excerpted Nan's interview here, and also include publishing information for anyone who would like to read more - it's excellent! I have also included some of my thoughts on the narrative, and other stories that Nan told me.

My Roots in Genealogy

When I was two years old, my family moved away from the Miramichi in New Brunswick. This was where my mother, and four generations of her family, had lived since immigrating to Canada, mostly from Ireland. In later years, during visits to my family in the area, I realized that I missed not having the roots that my family in New Brunswick had, since most of their friends and family still lived on the Miramichi. Getting interested in genealogy was the logical way to get around this. Since I started looking into the past, I have a greater understanding of who my ancestors were, and how I connect with my family, through culture and traditions, even though I live half a continent away.

In my grand-uncle John Doty's book Pioneer Families of Colonial America, he dedicates the chapter on the Canadian families to "those hardy, adventurous, and pious Irish pioneers who braved the hardships of the frontiers of the colony of New Brunswick and proceeded to develop these areas toward the thriving communities they are today." I feel this is applicable to all our ancestors, and is an ideal we can still strive for.

I hope this compilation of facts can be of interest and use to you. I feel very strongly that many people today have lost their sense of connection with others. As a result, they often have little empathy with, or understanding of, the people in their communities, and especially with the different cultures with which they come into contact. It is my hope that as more people explore their origins, and see the similarities that exist between cultures, they will come to understand that we really are a part of a world community. Only knowledge and understanding can help us face and solve the problems that trouble the world today.

Oh Yeah...

By the way, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Natalie Verge, and for most of my life, I've lived far from Canada's Maritimes, where my roots are. Currently, I'm in the middle of a move from Garson, Ontario (just northeast of Sudbury), to Edmonton, Alberta. It's a long way from the east coast... but I swear it's the furthest west I'll ever live. I'd love to hear from anyone with anything to add to the information I've posted here. I've already heard from quite a few people, from all over the world, who have some connection to the people listed here.

Family Data and Other Information

So what exactly do I have on this site? Mostly data collected from various sources, but I have started to do some original research of my own. Whichever the case, I always try to list sources, so others can double check details pertinent to their own research. At the top left of every page, you will find a menu, including, among other things, five generations of my pedigree chart, a collection of useful maps, as well as a family photo album stretching back almost a century.

Updates?

I keep promising updates, but life, and school, have kept intervening. So I think I should just not promise anything! Currently, I am reading the pages already here, looking for little tweaks to make, and possibly add some more cemetery data and pictures.

What I really want to do is present my data in a better way. I have long been looking for a way to present my information in a standardized format, while taking care to preserve the privacy of living individuals. When you're dealing with thousands of names, all that formatting and screening of data is tedious at best. Concurrently, I have also been wondering if Family Tree Maker is the right program for my needs - so I've been fooling around with different applications to see what their strengths are. Now, while my verdict is still out on the latter problem, I found that one of the absolutely peachy-keenest, freaking-grooviest features of Personal Ancestry File is to create stand-alone websites from your gedcom, that are also not linked to some "Ha-Ha-now-we-own-your-data-because-it's-on-our-website" nonsense. Oh, you all have no IDEA how thrilled I am!!! Well, you do if you're a genealogy/computer geek like me...

Okay, now that I've calmed down, what this means is that I can have PAF privatize data, and set up the files with rudimentary formatting, and with a minimum of tinkering, I can completely customize the HTML code to satisfy my inner obsessive-compulsive web designer impulses for an almost seamless integration with my existing pages. YAY!!

So that's the plan. Implementation is a little further off, but please keep looking!

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