We lost a sweet family member today. She was Elias Danroth’s granddaughter, Irene Margaret (née Danroth) Franceschini Thorpe.
Her Grandson has been sharing so much of his Grandmother’s life that I feel like I know her. He has posted videos and pictures quite regularly on Facebook and Instagram. I will post more later on. I wish I could’ve met her…
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My Grandfather Carl Danroth had been a Gold Miners helper at Sheritt Gordon Gold Mines in Sherridon Manitoba before he enlisted just days before Christmas, 1942. On his attestation papers it states that he was above average in learning ability and mechanical aptitude. He was taking bookkeeping in his final year of schooling in rural Saskatchewan in grade 10 and had farmed for a time after that, apparently he also had some saw mill experience. I think my favorite part are his interests…he stated that he reads quite a bit, chiefly detective stories. I love a good sleuthing from time to time.
Carl had served a total of 38 months in the Army, with 27 months in the U.K., France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was discharged on February 25th. 1946. My Grandparents were married in The Parish of Christ Church Woking in the County of Surrey on May 24th. 1945. My Grandmother Phyllis followed Carl to Canada on August 11th. 1946 with my Uncle Cliff as a WarBride on the Queen Mary. Originally she was supposed to be aboard the Maloja with Captain K A H Cummins as Master, but after further research I found that Cliff and herself were on the Queen Mary. The Maloja was scheduled to leave on the 12th. of August for East Africa, but the 12th. was scribbled out and the 11th. was penned in and bound for Durban. So obviously she didn’t board the S.S. Maloja. When they landed in Canada at Pier 21, they were put in quarantine for ten days, then they were aboard a train for ten days to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where Carl, Eddy and Lilly Danroth met up with them to take them home to Demaine. I can’t Thank Phyllis enough for making sure the Danroth bloodline continued on through to my Grandchildren. I’m sure they would’ve made my Grandparents proud…I know they make me proud everyday.
Sometimes a song will be released that speaks volumes…this is one of them. Now And Then
The Beatles Written By: John Lennon I know it's true It's all because of you And if I make it through It's all because of you And now and then If we must start again Well, we will know for sure That I will love you Now and then I miss you Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me Always to return to me I know it's true It's all because of you And if you go away I know you'll never stay Now and then I miss you Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me I know it's true It's all because of you And if I make it through It's all because of you This weekend is the Danroth Family Reunion in Prince George, British Columbia and unfortunately I am unable to attend. I’m sure there will be lots of memories made and many stories to tell and hopefully I can report back here with some fun tales.
124 years ago my Great Great Grandparents were married in Scandinavia, Clanwilliam, Manitoba by the Rev B. O. Berg.
From some of the information I’ve gathered the Bethlehem Congregation was organized in May 1891 with fifty names entered as charter members. Some of these names were Lars Oman, F. Hillstrand, F. G. Hill, P. Johnson, G. Anderson, Lundgren, Booths, Hemmingsons, and Sundmarks. They built a log church at Scandinavia in 1893 and students served as ministers until a parsonage was built and in 1898 Rev. O. Berg became the first resident minister. I’ve only just figured out my DNA connection to Anna’s branch so I’m sure I’ll have more stories to share, but for now, let’s be grateful that my Great, Great Grandparents got married so that the Danroth Family name could be continued. When I first started on this journey I remember researching MyHeritage's website and checking out as many family trees as I possibly could that had the Danroth name within. It just so happened that my Great Grandmother was an Arneson (that married a Danroth) and I came across a tree of my Mother's cousin. She in turn found me on Facebook and we have had the pleasure of sharing stories and meeting in person.
During one of our chats she brought up that she remembered the old Danroth house on the farm in Demaine Saskatchewan when she was a child. The house was actually still standing when I was brought out to Saskatchewan when I was a child...but unfortunately I was adopted and knew nothing of this family history. She remembers sleeping out on the front porch in the summertime, which I'm sure a lot of kids did back in the day out on the Prairies when there was no such thing as air conditioning. I myself would sleep outside under the stars but we weren't swarmed by mosquitoes like they are on the Prairies. It's nice to be able to put an actual picture to these stories that I am privileged to hear about now. My hope is that I can get more Danroth's to share their memories with future generations...the good ones, and the bad ones. In my research of Elias and Anna, it seemed to me that whenever Anna would leave Elias he would follow close behind. Her Obituary listed her home as 355 Boyne street in 1950, but it seems as though Elias may’ve been in Demaine, SK. I’m still researching his whereabouts though. Her son Ivan is listed as living at 355 Boyne Street and her other son Herbert was listed as living at 354 Boyne Street in 1949 on the Voter’s list. In the 1940 Voters List Anna is living at 331 1/2 Boyne Street while Elias was at 440 Boyne Street. When I research the address 440 Boyne street I am directed to a yard that is actually multiple addresses. In the 1940 and 1945 Voting Lists, Elias is shown as living at 440 and 450 Boyne Street. His son Charles, Charles’ wife Agnes and his Granddaughter Irene are also on the same property.
I know there is so much more to this piece of history and I know there are more documents and newspaper clippings to be found. Wish me luck. Everyday in the real world I run across more information about the Danroth family that I stew over because I never know what’s real and what’s not real. Fortunately I have the time and patience to keep mucking my way through…and my subscriptions to multiple websites helps immensely.
Some of my favorite websites are actually free…Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google of course. I don’t think people realize how much info can be found just by doing a simple Google search. These sites are practically mandatory methods for anyone that’s connected to Adoption in anyway, if an adoptee wants info for their descendants, the internet is usually all they have. Even people that don’t know they have a connection to Adoption will usually learn later in life that they do, and if they really care about the history of their family they will help anyone that reaches out to them for answers. For Elias to come to Canada he would've had to leave his hometown in Sweden and travel to Trondheim, Norway to purchase a ticket to board a steamship. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a ticket pertaining to exactly which steamship they were on. It's interesting to see that the Allan Line Handbook of Information and Advice booklet has a calendar available...it's as though they really wanted to help in any and every way possible. One thing I found interesting about the Emmigation paperwork I was able to find. showed that there was an Anna Johanson who was 16 years of age. It lists his age as 26 and that they were both from Sweden. Some of the handwriting makes it hard to read but the gist of it is that it seems as though this would be my Great, Great Grandmother travelling with my Great, Great Grandfather. Anna and Elias were aboard an Allan Royal Mail Steamer on June 8, 1898, possibly departing from Liverpool, United Kingdom. More than likely it would've taken 7 days to land on Canadian soil.
Elias' Emmigration paperwork states that he was heading to Winnipeg, Manitoba and Anna's states Quebec. It's been a bit of work to get this far but at the end of the day we know that my Great Great Grandparents got married on July 8th. 1899 in the Bethlehem log church in Clanwilliam, Scandinavia, Manitoba by the Reverend B. O. Berg |