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Note: -----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth Preston [mailto:stelljay@telus.net] Sent: August 10, 2007 17:28 To: Donna Alden-Bugden Cc: Robbie Alexander Subject: Re: Hello again
Thanks, Donna. I will correspond with you more and will mail my addendum that I mentioned in my last e-mail as to dates,etc. Auntie "Bert" christened Roberta was Horsie's closest sister in age and my Aunt. She married (Canadian)"Ernie" Redmond/ Bowman. He was a Bookmaker involved with betmaking, etc. and was trying to keep ahead of the Canadian police so they moved to the U.S. Lizzie Preston (Roberta, Helen and Horsie's Mother) was very unhappy with Bert's marriage and the fact they could never come home again. Horsie said they lived in Seattle (where they once came up to the border and said hello to Lizzie), San Francisco and lastly in Chicago in a Boarding House down by the Great Lakes (Lake Superior?) where it was very cold in the winter. Kay, Horsie and I wrote to Bert often and we phoned her regularly until her death when I was 10 or 11 years old. Ernie worked for the U.S. Post Office, lost his eyesight and died in 1981. The U.S.authorities went through the cards and letters at his apartment and then contacted Robbie (Birdie?) when Ernie died and then we were contacted. Bert did get U.S. Citizenship when there was an amnesty period allowing children of Americans to get U.S. Citizenship. As R.W.E. P. (Eugene) Preston was born in the U.S. (actually his Mom was expecting when they went South to North Carolina by oxcart (per Horsie), Bert was able to claim U.S. Citizenship. Interestingly enough when I was in Grade 8 (age 13 in 1968), I interviewed Auntie Helen (Keane) about our United Empire Loyalist Ancestors and did a big report for my Social Studies class. This also included much info. about the North Carolina and Nebraska relatives. I threw out my rough notes as they were messy (and I did not have a tape recorder) and submitted the 30 or so page Report to my Socials 8 Teacher. When we were to have the reports returned, the Teacher left them for us to glance at by the door and said he would hand them out next day. When the next day came, my Report that I had seen marked the previous day was missing. I also had now no rough copy as all the Research, family tree work, map work and diagrams that had been put in that Report. (I think someone who disliked me consistently getting the highest Socials mark, took my Report). Copiers were not as common then and I had typed all the pages of the Report myself. I never had time to re-interview Auntie Helen and/or Horsie and/or write out the Report from memory... The Moral is NEVER THROW OUT rough copies and originals of ANYTHING VALUABLE AS IT CAN'T BE REPLACED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do have "Bert's" last address in Chicago. Take care, love, Elizabeth Preston
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