16 How'Dear To My Heart

famous “green Englishmen.” Uncle Billy’s birth certiﬁcate lists his father as a master butcher by trade. Someone else has said that William left England because his family wanted him to be a cler- gyman. but these two statements do not seem to go together. I do not know how suCcassful he was as a farmer. but he may have come to Canada with money. Mrs. Douglas Chevrier (nee Herdis Best) says that the Palmer home was better than most rural homes at that time. They had a chemical toilet in the days when most people need outhouses. Also. they had brought with them quite a lot of lovely things from England. These included Rockingham china flower pots, siIVerware'in the Saxon patt , and antique ‘eandleh‘olders. Dad had a dozen pure silver christening spoons. one of which I still have. The Palmcrs also had a.VictroJa with a horn, and a supply-of patriotic records. Mrs. Chevrler. who visited at the Palmer home when she was a small child. remembers “Rule Britannia” and “The Maple. Leaf Forever."

Whatever their ﬁnancial situation was. Mother remarked that she never saw Grandpa so happy as when he was all dressed up. and getting into the buggy to go to Dominion City to arrange for a loan from the bank!

Mrs. Chevrier remembers the Palmers as a hard-working fam— ily. Grandma used to have a special way of dressing chickens which impressed Eaton’s so much that they wanted her to set up their display for them. She had away of tucking in the wing-tips'so that the breasts plumper! up. it was this connection with Rama’s in the sale of poultry and eggs that brought the Painters and the McCombs together. The McCombs. according to Mrs. Chevr'ier, whose mother was a McComb, had come to Winnipeg from Ireland seeking their fortunes. or at least seeking jobs. The Palmers hospitany opened their home to them, and these lonely young women visited at the Palmer home from time to time. Mrs. Chevrier's mother was Mar—

garet Elizabeth McComb, and her aunts were named Norah and Winnie.

Another example of the warmth of the Painter hospitality was their reception of William‘s nephew, Robert John Pullman. Robert came to stay with the Palmers in 1896, and stayed a year or two. He later moved to other places, but his daughter, Muriel (my second cousin). who is Mrs. George Wedge of Roland. does not know a great deal about his moves in thoseearly years. Robert was the son of .l ulia Sophia Pullman (nee Palmer), Grandpa‘s sister.

Mrs. Chevrier says the Palmers had two riding horses. named

a" uby and Fly. These wore also used to pull the buggy. The family soowned aModel A car. which usuallyMary drove. _

' H Mother told me that it was Grandpa who made the porridge tn it 2 morning. He would stand at the stove stirring-and} the saline 'z'} i would call the children in a slow. drawling voree: 10—0-4:Ma n. mittens. Will-yum." Perhaps Grandma was not well even th l2. lbrendpa dropped dead in the yard from a heart attack Mare h ,

no. and Grandma died on May 20th. 1917. Mother remembers t e

tdoetor forbidding Grandma to drink tea. It seemed too had‘ to

deprive her of the tea that meant so much to her when she had on y a

: fatten time to live in any case.

i' - ‘ Robert and A es rather vagueﬁ Grandpa Miller came to Canada rift: icoonty Antrim, Northern Ireland wit h his brother John. H; wot:I c ‘with the survey for a time. It was recorded somewhere l atd gee vhohelors ol' the Greenﬁdge district. Mr. Miller. Mr. Golda-an ak r. Devison were all married on the same day by a travelltng Qu e; -' 'inister in l879. Robert Miller married Agnes. the daughter Hearse and Agnes Burrell. who lived in the same distrtct. er t-wnt ' to Charles Brown. . "m ﬂmdso much abom Grandpa Miller. almost none of tt 3:10? ’ other quoted him as saying that it was, a poor hen who cg; n t "crotch for herself. As for "scratching". n would lb. Te); . randmother. Agnes Miller, was busy enough haying a stone doing anything else. From 18-81 to rain she had eight cm lol' whom lived. Mother was exactly eight years younger than er hhter Agnes. who was the oldest child. Mother sand that tt was Aunt L ~ es who cared for her, combed her hair and all the rest. sad V W Grandpa may or may not have been a hard worker. Mother u f to say that he liked to chop wood on Sunday Just to shock tirdrzst t; his family! And he saw to it that the rest ol‘ the family wor b a: c; .- even when they were small. On one occasion some of the milsh at iheen sent to search for the cows. When they later returned w t (lint the cows. Grandpa beat them with a rope. These are thugs: th: people do, not forget. Aunt Agnes remembered that when t e c t - tlren were Small her father had them pick the weeds out of the crop. . promising them so much shag. Then :e “gonad unit] the weeds were " would all go into one ag dry ﬁdeliitéhegge ternembered that the Miller cows were so gr- descript that the boys were'ashamed to be seen chasing them ‘ y _e. Healso remembers that when it was time to put up the stove-pipes tn