Cousins in Unlikely Places: Part 2

Uncle Thomas and I got to visit with the Pumpkin House host, Charlie, at his own newly acquired property just down the road; the property that once belonged to John Earle. 

I have to say, Charlie seemed just as excited as we were to have us this close to our Earle Family history. He was eager to take me on a walk down his beach, to marvel with me at the fact that this was probably the beach my great grandfather, Abe Earle, played on as a child.

The two small red structures near the center of the image are Charlie's stages. The white house on the left is his home on Farmers Arm Road, Durrell, Twillingate, Newfoundland

Charlie was also eager to show Uncle Thomas around his stage. A stage is a kind of shed along the water where fisherman would have unloaded and cleaned the fish they caught.

While Uncle Thomas and Charlie poked around the old structure, I stood outside on the beach chatting with Charlie's friend, Sylvain. Our conversation went a little like this.

"So do you live here year round?"
"No, I live in Montreal."
"Oh, that's where my mom's side is from. My father's side is from here in Twillingate but my mom's side has deep roots in Montreal."
"I have ancestors who were early settlers in Montreal. What's the family name?"
"It would have been Desjardins." 

And he froze. This very blank expression came across his face and he slowly said, "My mother's maiden name is Desjardins."

I stared at him what must have been a whole minute. "Get the fuck out. Are you kidding me?"

Shortly there after the four of us ventured into Charlie's actual house where Sylvain and I scrolled through our phones looking at our respective family trees. Sure enough he and I have my 9th great grandfather in common; Claude Jourdain Desjardins Charbonnier.

I don't know much about Claude except that he was born in France in in 1636 and 30 years later married Marguerite Lardon Cardillon in Montreal. Marguerite was a Filles du roi, one of the "King's Daughters." Not really royalty she had the support of the royalty. She was one of many women sent to the New French settlement between marry and help settle the area.

 I know that AND that I still have a cousins in Montreal.

Cousin Sylvain, me, and Cousin (by Association) Charlie
on Farmers Arm Road, Durrell, Twillingate, Newfoundland
June 21, 2018

Cousins in Unlikely Places: Part 1

This past June I traveled to Newfoundland with my Uncle Thomas. This was his first visit to our ancestral homeland; my second. I had been to the town of Twillingate once before in 2014 with Cousin Kelly and Cousin Peter. Twillingate is the town where my great grandfather, Abram Thomas Earle, was born in January 1891. This location was on Uncle Tom's bucket list and so when I was determining where I wanted to go for my birthday vacation this year and my usual travel companions were unable to accompany me, I invited Uncle Tom to go with me.

Uncle Thomas has a strong affinity for his grandfather, Abe. So much so that he named his boat "Twillingate" after his boatsman grandfather's birthplace.

In Newfoundland there are not many chain hotels in the small towns; not even in the small towns that are touristy. Most people stay in B & Bs. In advance of our travels, I used AirBnB to reserve places for my uncle and I. That's good because we could get multi-bedroom locations for nearly the same price as hotel rooms in which we would have to share a room. 

In my search on AirBnB, I came across a place called The Pumpkin House located on Farmers Arm Road in Twillingate. The funny thing is that according to the birth registration for Great Grandpa Abe, he was born on Farmers Arm; a section of the Durrell side of Twillingate.

Pumpkin House - image taken from AirBnB.com

So there we were in the bright and bonnie abodes of The Pumpkin House owned and operated by Nancy and her son Charlie. Turns out Charlie recently purchased a house of his own just a few doors down from Pumpkin House. On his deed it shows a survey conducted by Thomas Peyton who was once the local magistrate. Thomas Peyton was also the father of Edgar Peyton; the brother-in-law of my great grandfather and thus my uncle's great uncle. Family connections were happening. 

More stunning though was the fact that the property Charlie owns was once owned by John Earle. Yup an Earle! The deed, which can also be viewed in the Peyton Family Papers held in the Special Collection of Memorial University in St. John's Newfoundland, shows the property of both John and Thomas Earle side by side on Farmers Arm; now Farmers Arm Road. The deed indicates the land was once owned by the Late William Earle who, one would assume is the father of John & Thomas, the aforementioned land owners.

Land Survey conducted by Thomas Peyton of land once owned by William, Thomas, and John Earle of Farmers Arm, Durrell, Twillingate, Newfoundland in 1894.

I haven't pieced all the family connections together just yet but my gut tells me that my great grandfather was born on Charlie's land or that of Charlie's neighbor; Daphne Earle who now owns the land that belong to her grandfather-in-law, Thomas Earle. 

Oh but wait, it gets even better...