This is the first letter that we have seen from James Kaine aka Keane (John Kaine's brother) since he wrote to tell his Aunt Bess about his marriage 8 years ago in 1858. Link to post: https://acompellinglifeblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/letter-6-november-16-1858-the-cake-is-in-the-mail/ Since then, James has been working as a store clerk in Clinton and three of the eight children…
This letter from Anne Fraser stated once again with a somewhat dramatic comment that the family was hoping to see Aunt Bess , "we had great hopes of seeing you out here this summer now I am afraid we will never see you when you are putting it off like this, but I hope if…
This letter from John Kaine to Aunt Bess is full of so much information that it sent me to search the internet for a few days. I looked at Victorian hankies, Canadian militia, background of the Fenians and land clearing in the pioneer days to name a few topics. It was so sweet of Aunt…
This letter written by Anne to Aunt Bess gives a glimpse into family life and relationships in the Kaine family in 1865. Anne still hoped in vain for Aunt Bess to arrive in Canada. As many family members expressed, Anne wrote about how she misses her aunt and wants to see her. "I wish I…
The mice got at this letter but left enough for me to transcribe! It is from Mary, the youngest daughter of Charles and Bessie Kaine. Even though she had not seen Aunt Bess for many years, Mary seemed to have real affection for her Aunt. She also has a fondness for her brother Charles who…
The last letter I shared from Ann's husband, James Fraser to Aunt Bess was written in 1862 when he was a newly wed. https://acompellinglifeblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/letter-9-march-30-1862-anns-man-has-no-news As previously, James is brief in his communication but he gets his point across in this letter in his rather formal and flowery way of writing, "we were led to believe…
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…
My Compelling Life 