To Whom Do You Belong: A Family Historian’s Tale

By Colin D. Waye

These days, genealogy seems to be enjoying a massive outbreak in popularity. When I started, such was not the case. It was a lonely ordeal. I try to describe more in my book how I felt and the emotions I went through. This book is not about birth dates, death dates, or boring stuff but about talking to ninety-year-old people in nursing homes and hearing their stories, their lives—that’s what impressed me. This research required turning over many stones and peering beneath to uncover stories long forgotten. I do go into biographical detail about my grandfather, Forman Way, mainly because I had researched so much information on his life and the historic times he lived through in the Cape Breton labor movement. My other grandfather, who I never knew, Captain John Jarvis, was also a constant inspiration as I tried to do my best to uncover his story, his life, and his death and the fate of a crew of twenty-two men who perished at sea.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982213626

Colin D. Waye

Colin Douglas Waye, lives in the former steel-making city of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, born into a large family of ten children. He became a third generation steelworker, working at the local mill until it finally shut down. Being unemployed he followed many of his fellow Cape Bretoners to the oil fields of Alberta. Physically active throughout his life, being a minor hockey coach for over 20 years, a 4th Degree Black Belt in Kodokan Judo and an avid runner. These days he is involved in the local Buddhist community and spends his time instructing meditation groups and teaching yoga. He is presently involved with the local Correctional Facility, where he instructs inmates in meditation and yoga. He picked up the genealogy bug shortly after his father died and has been obsessed with it ever since. This book being a reflection on that study of family history. Colin and his wife Mary have four boys and three grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2018 Colin D. Waye.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-1363-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1362-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018911775

Balboa Press rev. date:  10/24/2018

CONTENTS

Prologue

Beginnings

Sydney Mines And Its’ People

Life In A Small Coal Mining Town

Forman Gets Organized

Scotch Presbyterians From The Hebrides

The Early Way Clan

The Northern Irish Connection

Here Come The French And How Did A Frenchman End Up Fighting For The English

A Ship Lost In The Night

Epilogue

PROLOGUE

Writing wasn’t natural to me. I wasn’t the type who would be constantly composing articles or thinking about writing a novel. My genealogy research had left me with a lot of material about my grand father and so after all the collecting and organizing, what to do with it. My drive was to preserve it somewhere.

He was a historical figure in the 1920s Labor movement in Cape Breton, but I felt and came to know that his name was largely forgotten.

There was no collection on him anywhere. Sure there was a story here, an article there, this type of thing, found only if you dug deep enough; but no collection that one could reference. I figured I might as well be the person to do this because otherwise it wouldn’t get done.

When I had compiled everything I could find I presented a copy to The Beaton Institute at the College of Cape Breton, for their archives. But would anyone actually find it. I wanted to do more with it. It was still way too short for a book. Then I thought that if I could combine it with my other grandfather’s story, maybe that would be enough. I thought my two grandpas, that would be kind of neat. However I still came up short.

I had been researching family history for 35 years and was in possession of a lot of material. So in the end I decided to actually just tell the whole story of how I got started in this search for family history and what I ran into along the way. I could then add both my grandfathers histories as chapters. In short, a story of everything I was doing.

The resulting product is the true story of the lives of some of my family members. It does not go into great detail about them except for my grandfather, because of all the material I had about him.

It is a tale of how I came to put this all together but at the same time, it takes you back to those historical times these people lived through. Maybe it will give you a feel of some forgotten times in history. Our ancestors are long gone now, that was yesterday you might say, don’t live in the past. Did their lives matter and how did they affect our lives?

While it might be hard for us to actually put ourselves back in those times, by at least recognizing our ancestors, at least we give them rebirth even for a short time.

I do not detail you to death with endless family lines, just a few notes on the direct family history back to Scotland, Ireland and England and of course Newfoundland.

I owe my Newfoundland born grandmother a great deal, for her courage and perseverance. When her husband was lost at sea and she was left with five children and no source of income. She opened her house to boarders and one was a gentleman she ended up marrying and making the move to Cape Breton. Also her daughter, my mother, born in Newfoundland and came over as a child, married a steelworker in Sydney and raised 10 children in very hard times and circumstances.

These people are not covered too much in my story but they were indeed people of strong character, who both held families together as best they could. This is for them.

BEGINNINGS

I was a bit surprised at all the people who came in. I can’t really recall my expectations, but I think that I was prepared for a small family affair. However there were all these people. I know they came to pay their respects to the family and certainly most everyone has gone through this ritual at some time in their lives, early or late. And there we were - my mom and all my brothers and sisters, standing in a line, ready to greet all these visitors. It just seemed strange at the time that people always wait till a person dies to pay a visit. We certainly did appreciate the heartfelt wishes of those who came and were warmed by their presence. My ma had a host of friends, as she belonged to so many organizations and had leadership roles