KeweenawKernewek - 14th Gathering - Schedule

Keweenaw Kernewek Copper Country Cornish Cousins



The 14th Gathering of Cornish Cousins

List of Presentors, Presentations and Bios

Presentations:  Descriptions and bios

Rosalie  Eastlake Armstrong

  1. Cornwall to Calumet/Kernow to Keweenaw

Follow specific families of Cornish American Heritage Society members as they left Kernow and came to Keweenaw, mainly in the 19th century.  Meet these people whose oral histories show their journey from Cornwall through Canada to Calumet.

 

Biography

Rosalie Eastlake grew up in Cornwall.  Her first-hand knowledge of emigrating combines her background as a geographer with thirty years of Cornish research.  Rosalie has been involved with promoting Cornish interests in North America for fifteen years.  She served as President of the Cornish American Heritage Society for six years.  The Cornish Gorsedd recognized her work by making her a Bard (Myrgh Langoroc) in 2004.

 

Yvonne Bowers

  1. Cornish Genealogy on the Internet

Your ancestors may run but they can't hide!  Learn about applying the basic computer skills you already have to find and use on-line data bases (Ancestry.com, Online Parish Clerk network and Lookup Libraries).  Discover what to expect from internet mailing lists.  Yvonne will help with resources on the Net.

 

Biography

Yvonne Oliver Bowers' Cornish grandfather, Adrian Pearce Oliver, stirred her interest in genealogy.  Her early involvement with on line research led her to start Cornish and Cornish-Gen mailing lists that are now on Rootsweb.  Surname and California lists, companion Lookup Libraries, and NORCAL (Northern California) have benefitted from her energy.  She says that old-fashioned research is still the most fun but the resources on  the Net are truly awesome. 

 

Vivianne Trevithick Bradley

3.   At The Crossroads For Research Within North America. 

In 1999, the Curnow Competition began involving young people in researching and documenting the assimilation of emigrant Cornish and their contributions to communities throughout North America.  CAHS continues to search new avenues for this project, revamping the competition in 2005-6.  Explore exciting possibilities for research and documentation allowing greater involvement of  an even wider group of participants.

 

Biography

Vivianne is the current President of the Cornish American Heritage Society and the past editor of its newsletter, Tam Kernewek.   Her efforts include founding Cornish Cousins of the South East, editing its newsletter, and co-chairing the 13th Gathering.  Along with other CAHS members, she is working to encourage interest in researching Cornish immigrants and settlements in North America. 

 

 

Bill Curnow

4.      Cornish History 101

A  brief survey of nearly 3000 years from Celtic origins to the 21st century builds a timeline of Cornish history and organizes what you already know with what you hope to learn.  Special attention to dramatic turning points that shaped Cornwall and our ancestors provides a foundation for understanding the Cornish American experience. 

 

Biography

Bill's great-grandparents, Peter Curnow and Jane Trevaskis, came from western Cornwall to Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region in 1868.  Bill first visited Cornwall in 1976, returning often in hot pursuit of roots. This avid family historian leads the global Curnow Family Tree Project, assembling a database of over 250,000 records.  His articles on Cornwall have appeared in Cornish World and CFHS Journal.  Bill (Towednack) is a Bard of Gorseth Kernow and a past CAHS officer.

 

Howard Curnow

5.      From Emigrant to Immigrant — Could You Do It?

19th century conditions forced 1/3 million Cornish to leave their Homeland. How did the socio-economic & political situation at home compare with the New World?  Now, in the 21st century, what is the future for the Cornish, both at home and overseas?

 

Biography

Raised on a West Cornwall farm, Howard's forebears were farmers and miners. Retiring from the classroom in 1991, he scoured North America for the Cornish, helping launch 21 Societies. In Cornwall, he helped hundreds of visiting Cornish descendants find their roots. He's a Gorseth Council member, Bardic name, Kernow, & Chairman of Cornwall Wildlife Trust. He fights for many Cornish causes, including the local hospital. He sings with the Marazion Apollo Male Voice Choir and Cadgwith Singers.

 

Ian Curnow

  1. An Introduction to the Cornish Language.

Ian will give a brief history of the Cornish Language and its importance today.  The major part of the session  will focus on helping those present go away with some basic Cornish phrases and greetings. 

 

Biography

Ian Curnow is a Cornishman born and bred and is very proud of it.   A member of the Holman-Climax Male Voice Choir and the Camborne Twinning Committee, he has been teaching Cornish to adults and in schools for four years. 

 

Jean Medlyn Ellis

7.      Portrait of a Work Force:  The Calumet and Hecla Personnel Records

The Calumet and Hecla Records contain information on 15,109 workers, including 700+ who were Cornish.  The presentation looks at ethnic mix, immigration patterns, gender roles, jobs and positions.  It examines widely accepted ideas about mortality in the mines, positions of ethnic groups, safety nets and employment of young workers.  

 

Biography

Jean Ellis and Jan Medlyn, at Dick and June Ross's suggestion, worked on preserving this part of the C&H collection.  Tom Ellis joined their effort to put the information on a sortable, searchable spread sheet.  A retired educator, Jean was Keweenaw Kernewek's charter president, serving again as president from 2004 to 2006.  Jean chaired  both the 8th Gathering and 14th Gathering.  In 2006, she became Kernewes an Keweenaw, as a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth. 

 

Lon Emerick

8.      Walking Back to Central

Join us for a two-mile walk back to Central.  We follow an old wagon road with one fairly steep climb, the route of Cornish miners after landing at Eagle Harbor—through dense woods to the old historic Central church.  Enjoy an ethnic treat and arrive in time for the Pasty Picnic. 

 

Biography

Lon says he will employ all his Cornish charm leading the walk.  Author of the books, Going Back to Central, and You Wouldn't Like It Here, Lon is a former university teacher who has led many walks outdoors.  He says he will carry the St. Piran's flag and do the dance of the Wild Cucumber as well as talk about Cornish ancestors who made this trek in the 1860's.  Lon also plans to provide hevva cake!

 

James Hibbard

9.      Cornish Mining:  The Connection between the Copper Country and the Lead Region

This presentation will address Cornish immigration to and settlement of the Midwest. Various genealogical/local history sources will highlight the links between the Copper Country Cornish and the Cornish of the Lead Region of the Upper Mississippi Valley.  James will also discuss the CAHS Library in the University of  Wisconsin-Platteville Southwest Wisconsin Room. 

 

Biography

James Hibbard lives in Lancaster in southwestern Wisconsin with his wife Dori and toddling daughter, Violet Rose.  As University Archivist at UW-Platteville, he oversees operations of UW-P's Southwest Wisconsin Room where university's archives, genealogical/local history and the Wisconsin Historical Society's Area Research Center for SW Wisconsin are housed.  James' publications include articles in Everton's Genealogical Helper magazine and Platteville, a pictorial history.  He has given several presentations on Cornish immigration and settlement at the Mineral Point Cornish Festival. 

 

Ann Hicks

10.  Carved in Words of Stone

Recording and photographing almost 40,000 monuments in Cornwall has contributed more than names on headstones.  This Power Point presentation focuses on the recording of Monument Inscriptions and the importance of information in burial books.  Ann will relate some amusing anecdotes along the way.

 

11.  The Cornwall Family History Society (CFHS) Database

Have you hit the legendary brick wall while trying to find great-great grandma?  The CFHS data base has almost 5,000,000 entries.  Ann will help you search the database in a way that may help with difficult-to-find relatives or provide you with some more pieces of the proverbial jigsaw.

 

Biography

Ann Hicks is Chairman of the Cornwall Family History Society, Chair  of Projects and Monumental Inscriptions Co-ordinator.  She loves Cornwall and being able to walk where her ancestors walked, seeing the same things they saw.  Her husband, Mike, is a US citizen whose  family emigrated to Canada and then Michigan in the 1850s.  Her appreciation for things she took for granted in her homeland grew while they travelled the US and when they returned they both dedicated themselves to

communicating their knowledge and enthusiasm to members.

 

Marion Howard

12.  Let's Have a Sing-Along

Prepare for a night at the pub, Women's Institute, or local Old Cornwall Society meeting.  Learn basic folk songs heard wherever Cornish gather around the world as well as some songs popular in various areas of US Cornish settlements.  Come prepared to sing.  Guitars and other folk instruments are welcome.

 

Biography

Marion Paynter Howard's great-grandparents, William and Matilda (Francis) Painter, came to Lafayette County, WI in 1853.  Marion's love of music shows in church choir, workshops on Cornish music, and her Bardic name, Eos an Howlsedhas, “Nightingale of the West”.  Her penchant for family and local history leads to membership in historical and Cornish societies.  Marion's boundless energy benefitted the Planning Committee for the Mineral Point Cornish Festival, Southwest Wisconsin Cornish Society (past President) and 11th Gathering (general chairman). 

 

Albert Jenkin

13.  Cornish Country Dancing

Try your hands—excuse me, your feet– at a few fairly simple traditional Cornish Troyl dances.  These are country dances or barn dances and will be danced to traditional and modern Cornish music.  Familiarity with old-timey square dance will help but is not required.  All ages and skill levels welcome. 

 

Biography

Born in Massachusetts and drifted west, Albert joined the Navy to escape Nevada copper mines.  He learned American Square Dance as a boy.  With California Renaissance Faire, he did English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh country, and Morris dances before discovering there WAS any Cornish Country Dance.  The first overseas member of the Cornish Dance Society, Albert performed with Dawnsywr Y Tract Cymreig in Delaware and Gafr Goch in California.  He's a member of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. 

 

The Rev. Ray Jenkins

14.  Our Celtic Christian Heritage

Heritage from the early Christian Celts, despite centuries passing and aggressive actions to promote competing theologies, is still influential today.  These values have implications for Cornish people and society in general.  Celtic Christianity provides another model as it emphasizes and embraces concepts not generally promoted by mainstream Christianity over the centuries. 

 

 

Biography

Michigan born, Ray worked for the Detroit City Plan Commission after graduating from Michigan State.  In 1970, he and family moved to Sarnia, working there and in London, ON in Planning and Economic Development.  Ray was ordained in 1996 and has worked toward familiarity with Celtic Christian heritage, using Celtic based liturgies.  Semi-retired,  he officiates at one Celtic service each month at St. Paul's Cathedral in London and one Taizé service at St. George's Anglican Church in Sarnia. 

 

Brad Landon/Holly Landon Hinkel

15.  Cornish Cookery—the Pennsylvania Connection

Writing a cookbook became more of a journey than a compilation of recipes.  Holly and Brad will share the process of producing the cookbook and the experiences of the journeys—their own and glimpses of the journey of Cornish immigrants to Pennsylvania as they assimilated into the American melting pot. 

 

Biography

Penkernewek members and siblings Brad and Holly grew up just two houses from their grandparents, Alfred and Bessie Lobb, in East Bangor, a tiny Pennsylvania town where a majority had Cornish roots.  Alfred's mother was born in Delabole; his father's family came from there in 1881.  Penkernewek's Board felt that a cookbook would help document the Cornish presence.  Holly and Brad were helped by Carolyn Parsons Bray and Mark Bray in this multi-year task that included stories, recipes, and photographs.

 

Gage McKinney

16.  The Diffusion Theory of Cornish Culture

Who told you you were Cornish? Who explained your heritage?  What has influenced understanding of  Cornish culture  and what influences it today? This seminar will employ concepts from cultural anthropology to trace the nearly untraceable. It will help us understand how our culture has been transmitted and how our Cornish identity has been shaped.

 

Biography

Gage McKinney, award-winning essayist and poet, is past president of the California Cornish Cousins.  He's the author of three books on the Cornish at New Almaden and in Grass Valley, California. He has produced a double-CD set of recordings by the Grass Valley Male Voice Choir and Cornish Carol Choir.  Gage lives on the San Francisco Peninsula with his wife, Ilka Weber.  Gage's Bardic name is Pow Owrek. 

 

Jeremiah Mason

17.  Keweenaw National Historical Park and the Ross Genealogical Collection

Jeremiah Mason will present a brief illustrated history of the Keweenaw, and an overview of Keweenaw National Historical Park and its museum and archival collections.  The Ross Genealogical Collection, documenting Cornish immigration to the Keweenaw, will be highlighted.  Researchers may

sign up to use the collection after the presentation.

 

 
Biography

A native of the Copper Country, and perhaps a trifle Cornish himself, Jeremiah Mason is the archivist at Keweenaw National Historical Park.  Long interested in the history of the Keweenaw, his grasp of local history extends well beyond his years.  Jeremiah received his MS in Information from the University of Michigan in 2006, specializing in Archives and Records Management.  He started volunteering for Keweenaw NHP in 2001, and has worked in the park archives since 2004.

 

Lynne Mayers/Shirley Morrish

18.  Bal Maidens:  The Women and Girls of the Cornish Mines

At least 60,000 women and girls worked at the mines and associated Cornwall industries between 1720 and 1920.  A considerable unknown number was employed before that.  This intoduction to the diverse and skilled nature of their work gives insight into work conditions and tells selected stories of bal maidens who emigrated to the Americas. 

 

Biographies

Lynne Mayers was trained in tropical agriculture but was later ordained as Methodist minister.  After early retirement, she discovered that the females in her family  had worked at the tin, copper and lead mines of Perranzabuloe, and she continues to study the lives of women and girls working in the mines of the South West.  Her award-winning book Bal Maidens was published in 2004.

 

Because Lynne is unable to travel, Shirley Morrish will be delivering the presentation.  Shirley was born and raised in Cornwall and currently lives in Redruth. A member of the organizing committee for the first Dehwelans, she is active with the hospital in Truro and has amazing organizational and mechanical skills. 

 

Jeanne Medlyn

19.  Duffy and the Devil

Review Cornish fiber production from the time of the folk tale through late 19th century immigration and into fiber production today in Cornwall and Keweenaw.   Look at changes immigrant women dealt with in their new environment.  Be inspired to reach into family archives and attics to find remnants of their efforts and enjoy those today.

 

20.  Introduction to the Drop Spindle

Hand spinning goes beyond Biblical times and across many cultures.    It was the only way to make yarn until the development of the spinning wheel in the 1500s.  This hands-on look at an ancient craft practiced in the Copper Country and worldwide offers the non-experienced person a look at fiber production.

 

21.  New Mittens

A class to introduce youth to the concept that large chain stores that offer mass-produced clothing were not always around.  It starts with the need for mittens and walks through fleece produced by a sheep, cleaning that fleece and spinning it.  Young people leave with a presentation sheet filled with samples of what they have learned. 

 

 

Biography

Jeanne is a spinner with an interest in fiber production from fleece to  dye pot and on to the spinning wheel.  She knits, crochets and weaves with her state and local level award-winning homespun yarns.  Jeanne studied at the Layton School for the Arts in Milwaukee; University of Wisconsin; and Severs School of Fiber Arts, Washington Island, WI.  She's a member of the Lake Superior Spinners and Buellwood Weavers and shares her knowledge in many presentations.

 

Larry Molloy

22.  Michigan's Copper Country:  Then and Now

Drive through the copper country now and it's hard to imagine that 100,000 people once lived here.  This presentation will take a tour from Copper Harbor to the Porcupine Mountains using historic photographs to contrast what used to exist in various locations and towns with a current view.

 

23.  Life of a Keweenaw Miner

Life was hard for immigrants who called the Keweenaw home and mining their career.  This presentation will focus on the history of copper mining in the Keweenaw from 6,000 B.C. to 1997.  Images used show what it was like to work below and above ground and the many aspects of social and family life. 

 

24.  Keweenaw County History:  It's More than Mines

Without copper mines and those who worked in them, there would not have been the mass of immigrants from Cornwall and other areas.  But there is more to the history of Keweenaw County than mining.  This session will examine shipping, lumbering, farming and communities that made the Keweenaw what it is today. 

 

Biography

Larry Molloy is a professor of Computer Science at Oakland Community College, Royal Oak.  His preferred career is that of author, tour guide and historian of the Copper Country.   In his talks, he gives information on several aspects of life on the Keweenaw.  Larry continually adds many new images from his ongoing research to each of his presentations.

 

Peg Niedholdt

25.  Digging Up Bones:  Cemetery Research and Family History

Searching cemeteries, reading monuments and recording the information can help you fill in your family trees.  You may find great-aunt Lily in one of the Copper Country cemeteries.  Peg will help you learn about the cemeteries and the roles the Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogical Society has played in researching them. 

 

26.  Ancestry Plus

Use this popular genealogical website to get started climbing your family tree.  The Ancestry Plus system is a free website available in most public libraries and research centers.  Peg will review how to begin your family tree and identify how Ancestry Plus will help you.

 

 

Biography

Peg Neidholdt has been active in genealogical research for over 30 years.  For the past five years, she has been a genealogical researcher registered with the Michigan Technological University Archives and Finlandia Heritage Center helping other genealogists with their family trees.  Peg is Vice President of the Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogy Society and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. 

 

Erik Nordberg

27.  Genealogical Records at the Michigan Tech Archives; the Keweenaw Digital Archives and Interior Ellis Island web sites

The MTU Archives holds many records for genealogical research, including mining employment records, city directories, newspapers and census.  This depository for the state archives also holds civil court cases, property information and naturalization records.  Erik's overview of the collections, operations and services will include information of the Keweenaw Digital Archives, which provides access to thousands of historical photographs.  You will also learn about the Interior Ellis Island site that profiles local ethic groups, their immigrant experiences and celebrates the keweenaw as an entry point to American life.

 

Biography

Erik Nordberg is University Archivist at the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.  He earned a masters degree in library science and graduate certificate in archival administration from Wayne State University.  Erik has a keen interest in mining history and has made presentations across the USA and in the UK.  He and his wife, Jane, are working to restore an historic mining company house once inhabited by Cornishman Richard Edwards. 

 

David Oates

28.  Cornish Dialect

David offers a session of dialect and the allied subject of accent, identifying sources and meanings of dialect expression.  He'll present a number of best known dialect stories which also embody that peculiar, and dry Cornish humour, drawing particularly on the work of Herbie Lean, a Camborne man who was master of his craft. 

 

Biography

David Oates is a bard (Kerdher Gonyow) of the Cornish Gorseth with a lifelong interest in Cornwall's history and culture.  He has published several histories of local places and a small volume of poems on Cornish themes along with several unpublished pieces in preparation.  David grew up speaking dialect and is concerned that it is now all but extinct in Cornwall, leading him to read and absorb the available research and cascade that to a wider audience. 

 

 

 

 

Flora “Tommi” O'Hagan

29.  Exploring Cornish History and Traditions with the West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser

Tommi uses an assortment of articles and advertisements from the old West Briton to illustrate living conditions, historic events, traditional and recreational activities, etc., from 1839 and 1887.  Learn how to obtain microfilm of the  West Briton for your research.  Microfilm of the paper will be available at the Gathering.

 

Biography

Since 1998, Tommi worked on Minnesota's St. Piran's Society project of purchasing old West Briton microfilms, a resource for studying life in Cornwall during migration periods.  Tommi coordinated efforts to index birth, marriages and deaths and did some indexing herself.  A former teacher, in retirement Tommi became involved in family research and “all things Cornish”.  She chaired the 9th Gathering in Ely and is the granddaughter of Reuben Knight Toms who began his mining career in the Upper Peninsula. 

 

,Lorri Oikarinen

  1. From Rags to Rugs: A Braided Rug Demonstration

Braided rugs, created by immigrants out of necessity, ingenuity and thrift, are now considered to be works of art.  Lorri will demonstrate the steps iinvolved in creating an heirloom braided rug from start to finish.  Participants can try their hands at 3, 5, and 7  strand braiding. 

 

31.  Textile Traditions on the Keweenaw Peninsula

This trunk show of old and new rag rugs, quilts and garments celebrate the heritage and textile traditions of the Keweenaw Peninsula's immigrants. Learn about programs that encourage and support the preservation of traditional arts and textiles.  Handouts include information on care, preservation, display and storage of new and heirloom textiles.  

 

Biography

Lorri Oikarinen has been teaching traditional fiber arts in the Keweenaw for 22 years.  A graduate of Michigan State University in Clothing and Txtiles, Lorri teaches quiltmaking, spinning, rag rug weaving, rug braiding and other traditional fiber arts through a variety of local programs.  Lorri has participated in the Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Porgram as a master Artist, teaching multiple strand rag rug braiding, and rag rug weaving.  She demonstrates at state and national festivals. 

 

LaVonna Partridge

32.  Following the Footsteps of a Cornish Miner

LaVonna invites:  Come with me.  We'll walk in the footsteps of a Cornish miner as he leaves his homeland on the adventure of entering a new country and way of life. 

 

Biography

LaVonna Gay Partridge of Salt Lake City, UT is a granddaughter of William Thornton Gay, a Cornish tin miner who came first to Leadville, CO and later to Eureka, UT.  Since 1980, LaVonna has been working with her sister, Connie Gay Saundners, retracing their grandfather's steps to discover their family tree.  Their search has included several trips to Cornwall with extensive reading and studying about Cornish miners. 

 

Sue Pellowe

  1. Cousin Jacks Recruited as Methodist Ministers in Michigan:  Their Stories and the UP.

Between1900 to 1930, nearly 90 young men were recruited from Cornwall—because the first few were terrific!  Their dedication influenced Methodism in Michigan. Hilarious, touching, scary stories—the full range of experiences of ministers and their Cousin Jennie wives who emigrated to face a new country and why many felt the UP to be ‘ome.

 

Biography

In 1908, Susan Pellowe's dad came from Cornwall at 19 to become a Methodist minister. Her mother, born in Laurium, had a Cornish background. A Methodist, Methodist historian, and performer, Sue delights audiences portraying Susannah Wesley.  She spent a year collecting stories of Cornish Methodist Ministers in Michigan from the United Methodist Church archives. Coordinator of Visual Arts at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Director of Fourth Acts theatre ensemble, and freelance writer, Sue is Cornish Bard, Myrgh Pellowe.

 

The Rev. Dr. Dan Rosemergy

34.  Lodes of Copper, Loads of Faith: Stories of Methodism in the Copper Country

The story of Methodism in the UP stretches from mid 1860's to present. Small gatherings and churches developed in the Copper Country.  Some still exist.  Dan shares stories of Cornish men, woman and children—bringing Wesleyan Methodism to found these congregations.  Family/faith; struggle/hardship; community/celebrations; dedication/commitment—human stories, part of our heritage, influence us to this day.

 

Biography

Dan Rosemergy is a Copper Country native who was raised in the Laurium Methodist Church, earned his Local Preacher's License at 17, and  preached in Copper Country Methodist churches while still in high school  This rare background gives him a wonderful perspective on Methodism in the Keweenaw. Dan is an ordained minister and has served in ministry in Nashville, TN since 1983; and is in his 20th year as the Minister of the Central Mine Methodist Church Reunion Services.

 

 John Rosemurgy

35.  Local Preservation at Work:  Design Guidelines and Review in Calumet's Downtown

Are you interested in architectural preservation in your community? The Village of Calumet is an inspiring  example of local heritage preservation at work.  To protect Calumet's historic downtown and ensure compatible new construction, in 2002 the Village Council passed a local ordinance creating the Civic and Commercial Historical District.  This established a five member commission to review proposed changes within Calumet's Downtown area.   To help convey preservation and design objectives to property owners, the commission recently published design guidelines.  John Rosemurgy, architectural advisor to the commission, will share guideline highlights and examples of successful rehabilitation in downtown Calumet.

 

Biography

John Rosemurgy has served as the historical architect for Keweenaw National Historical Park since 2000.  As park historical architect, he is responsible for advancing the rehabilitation of park structures as well as providing technical preservation and design assistance to park partners. 

 

Connie Saunders

36.  Family Legends—Fact or Fiction?

As we grow up we learn from our relatives bits and pieces about family generations gone by.  This class will show ways, through examples, you can sort through and prove what is fact and what is fiction. 

 

37.  Scrapbooking Our Family History

Connie will offer ideas on a different approach to putting a family history book together and how to get started.

 

Biography

Connie's grandfather, William Thornton GAY, a Cornish miner, immigrated to Leadville, CO in 1896 then moved to Eureka, UT in 1901.  He married and settled in Payson, UT where Connie has lived for 60 years.  She spent the past 20 years researching  her Cornish family and found living and deceased family members in Cornwall.  A long-time member of CAHS and CFHs, her love for Cornwall has led to 12 years of taking groups on sightseeing and researching tours there.

 

Moira Tangye

38.  Letters ‘Ome:  First-Person Tales of Coping with a New Land

Moira's studies of education in Victorian Cornwall, particularly in rural schools, leads her to conclude that literate letter writers were the exception.  But letters, not offcial writers, tell us how the Cornish coped with conditions in their new land.  Hear what they tell us in their “Letters ‘Ome”.

 

Biography

Moira Tangye has been active in genealogical and local history research for thirty years.  She chaired the Cornwall Heritage Trust for three years, was made a Cornish Bard  (Kevrenores Kernow hag Ameryky) in 1993, and recently published The Book of St. Ervan, the story of a Rural Parish in North Cornwall.  Moira has collected letters from emigrants, looking for and analyzing writers' reasons for leaving Cornwall.  Now she concentrates on how they coped in the new country. 

 

Dave Thomas (William D.)

  1. The Roots of Cornish Character (Some participation may take place)

Cornish  differ from the English, though they share the same island.  Cornwall, like its granite, has been a hard land.  Adversity Cornish people have faced over the centuries has given them many personal assets that helped them adapt to and become successful in new lands.  Appreciate their Cornish ancestors and have more pride in them and yourself.

 

  1. Cornish Smuggling (or “Free Trade”)

From Elizabeth I or earlier, revenue of England came from Customs Duties.  These worked real hardships on poor Cornish people who were able to bring goods into Cornwall from Brittany and France more cheaply.  Illegal trade that developed lasted about 300 years.  See how important this trade was to the Cornish and how it affected their values and outlook. 

 

Biography

All Dave Thomas' ancestors were Cornish.  His parents came to Canada in 1929 and struggled with drought and Depression of the 1930s.  Their Cornish resourcefulness and willingness to “carry on” through difficulties enabled them to succeed.  Dave became a teacher, then a school psychologist.  Now retired, he spends a lot of time with family history projects that give him a great interest in Cornish history and culture. 

 

Patti Townsend, Laura Wake Wiesner

  1. Christmas in July 

Stop in to visit the Central Mine M.E. Church and experience how the copper miners and their families celebrated the Christmas holiday 100 years ago.  See the decorated tree, meet Santa Claus, listen to stories handed down for generations, play old fashioned games and bring home a vintage Christmas gift.  Children encouraged!

 

Biographies

Patti Townsend is the great grandaughter of Edward Bryant, who worked as an underground miner at Central in the 1880s. Her great grandmother, Jane Ivey Bryant ran a candy and millinery shop in the house next to the church. Patti's a psychologist by trade and a story teller at heart.  She tells and performs family stories to keep them alive for the upcoming generations. Patti has fond memories of the Copper Country and visiting her grandfather Fred Bryant, who practiced dentistry in Calumet for nearly 70 years.  She was baptized at Central Church in 1945.

 

Laura Wake Wiesner is Fred and Laura Bryant's great grandaughter and Patti's niece.  As a child she spent many summer days with her grandmother Margaret Bryant Wake at the family cottage on the shores of Lake Medora a few miles north of Central.  Her love of history and its preservation led her to work as a director at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  This weekend, her daughter, Samantha Mae Wiesner, will be the fifth generation of Bryants to be baptized at Central.

 

Brian and Joan Wake

42.  History of the Central Mine M. E. Church (General Session on Friday)

Much of the sustained interest in Central Mine Location grew from the annual Reunions of the Central Church, long a focal point for the community.  Each year, descendants of the families who lived at Central join in celebrating that community and many of the traditions brought from Cornwall.  Brian and Joan Wake will present the history of the Central Church; the perspective of a real family who immigrated to Central in the 1870's and their continuing direct connections to Central. 

 

Biographies

Dr.  Brian D. Wake

Brian Wake is the President of the Board of the Central Mine M. E. Church.  He has been a member of that Board since 1986.  Brian retired from his career as a radiologist in 2004, having practiced primarily in Door County, WI.  His interest in the Keweenaw was piqued by his grandfather who was of 100% Cornish blood.  Brian's family has long-time ties to Central, ties that have been renewed  at the Annual Central Reunions. 

 

Dr. Joan P. Wake

Joan Wake retired recently from a 31-year career as a physician.  She describes herself as a lifelong visitor to the Keweenaw, part-time summer resident, and a Board member of the Central Church.  She has attended 40 of past Reunions.  She and Brian have five children, two of whom were baptized in the Central Church.  With Brian, she has devoted time to sustaining the church and its traditions, especially during the coordination of the hundredth reunion in 2006. 

 

Becky Weeks

  1. Hatmaking at Central (Saturday)

Becky's great grand-parents were Jane Bryant's neighbors.  Becky states,  “We're lucky to have historic background on Jane, a milliner at Central.“ Some hat blanks from Central, a brief demonstration of adorning those blanks as if to sell and a history of hat styles through the days of Central Mine will round out this program.

 

Biography

Becky Weeks' paternal roots go back to Penzance.  She counts WEEKS, RICHARDS (from Central Mine), OSBORN and MATHEWS among her families.  She began to seriously create historical and ehtnic costumes, hats and bonnets in 1985 when she was a costumed interpreter and performing folk dancer in Illinois. A recent graduate of Finlandia University in fiber and fashion design, Becky concentrated on historical designs and studied millinery in Finland as an exchange student.