This letter is from Ann Fraser (Kaine), John Kaine's sister, who we last heard from in 1861 in a post I did a year ago. She had been looking for a man and was soon happily married to James Fraser. I love the lighthearted chatty style of her letters. Very different from the more serious…
It has been a year and a half since I embarked on this project of sharing family letters. I am at letter 18 out of 33 and never imagined that this task would take so long to complete. However, I have enjoyed every minute of learning about the history of my pioneer relatives and the…
Charles Kaine was certainly eager to see his sister, Bess but it seems like he was living in the play by Samuel Beckett, "Waiting for Godot"! The play consists of conversations between Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting for the arrival of the mysterious Godot, who continually sends word that he will appear but who…
The last letter from John Kaine in December 1863 indicated that Aunt Bess was "missing in action". I was relieved to discover that she was alive and had never left Ireland after all. Aunt Bess was still contemplating emigrating to Canada as evidenced the information provided by John to her on what to do on…
Three and a half months have passed since John Kaine wrote the letter to Aunt Bess in which he provided her with detailed information on how to travel to Canada and what to bring to set up her new life. It appears that Aunt Bess made the momentous decision to emigrate and let the family…
Every home needs a cuckoo clock and fine china! In my research I discovered that cuckoo clocks made in Germany were all the rage in Europe in the 1850's. Spode was a type of china that was very popular as well. John wrote to Aunt Bess that if she came to Upper Canada, "My Father…
This letter is written by Charles Kaine (Kane) ( 1806) the patriarch of the family to his sister Elizabeth (Aunt Bess). Charles certainly was blunt when he wrote to her, "We felt uneasy not hearing from you for so long a time so we thought we would write to you once more to see if…
As he mentioned in letter #10 in my post on October 18, Charles Kane was planning to leave Brooklyn to take a job in "Perue". Obviously, he made the journey as this letter was written from Callao, stamped in transit in Panama and arrived in Freshford on August 28, 1863. It must have been thrilling…
The undertaking of transcribing and sharing the Kaine letters over the last ten months has taken me on many interesting journeys into the past and brought to life the history of Canada in a way that I could not have imagined. All of the letters have piqued my curiosity about the lives of my pioneer…
No, I have not lost count! My last post was Letter #9 and I am sharing Letter #11 out of sequence as Letter #10 contains some material that may be disturbing for contemporary readers. I am delaying the post until I have consulted with others and decided how to present it in a sensitive manner.…
