McLaren Family History........

Mother wrote a brief family history and I'm going to type it here:

McLaren Family History by Margaret O'Brien

Elizabeth McAlpine Millar was born in Musselburgh, Scotland July 13, 1878.  She was the second oldest of a family of twelve - 6 boys and 6 girls.  Being the eldest daughter, her earlier years were spent helping to raise her younger brothers and sisters.  Later she worked as a cook's helper in a hunting lodge.  


Elizabeth migrated to Canada in 1906 with her father and older brother and his family and they settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Her dad bought a large house and then the rest of the family came to Canada.


Joseph McLaren (Mac) was born in Cupar, Fifeshire, Scotland, February 8,1878.  As a young lad he worked on a farm, receiving $75 a year and all the milk, oatmeal and turnips he needed.  All other necessities he had to provide.  He proudly told us that he not only managed to live on his wages but also bought a bicycle.


Joseph migrated to Canada in 1906 and stayed in Winnipeg for a short time.  He didn't care for city living so decided to go to the Crows Nest Country.  He worked in Pincher Creek and Fernie for a while but finally decided to settle in Moyie, BC.  His brother had a small dairy farm a few miles out of Moyie.  (Moyie is in the Kootenay Country a short distance from Cranbrook, BC)


Joseph and Elizabeth came to Canada on the same ship and became engaged before he left Winnipeg.  He bought a small house in Moyie and they were married in Winnipeg July 16, 1909.


Two daughters were born in Moyie:  Fanny on July 10, 1910 and Margaret on November 28, 1913.


The mine closed in 1914 so they moved to Rossland, BC - another mining town.  They stayed there until early 1917.  One more daughter, Sophia, was born there on June 4, 1915.  After a bad fall in the mine, they decided to move.  This time it was to Prince Rupert, BC.  He made one trip on a whaling ship and didn't like it and neither of them liked Prince Rupert so they moved to Terrace June 4, 1917.  We lived in a small bungalow just east of the Skeena Hotel for the first 3 years.  The house is still there.  It was been stuccoed, the windows have been changed and a sundeck added but the roof type is the same.  (added in handwriting, later......'the house has now been torn down and a beer and wine store is in its place')


After the war dad bought 10 acres on Kenney Street.  There were four 10 acre parcels of land, running from Kenney to what is now Monroe.  These parcels of land have all been subdivided and are divided by Davis, Park and Lazelle.  Milt Alger had 20 acres and sold 8 acres to the School Board for the High School.  It is now the Skeena Junior Secondary School.  Mr. Alger also gave 33 feet for road allowance and Walsh and Monroe Streets were built.  My dad cleared some land then he hired a couple of so-called carpenters to frame the house.  He wanted a two-story house like my grandmother's in Winnipeg.  When the walls and roof were on, the 2 x 4s and the partitions were up, we moved in.  We had a great time darting in and out between the 2 x 4s.  I remember coming out to the property and seeing the lumber piled in triangles to dry. 


My dad cleared five acres and we had to pick up rocks and roots.  I still think he bought the rockiest 10 acres in our area as the 10 acres on either side of us hasn't any rocks.  I'm still picking up the rocks.


We moved into our home at 3324 Kenney Street in the summer of 1920.


When dad came to Terrace he logged for George Little.  After the war people moved to Terrace to settle and needed land cleared and wells dug so dad was kept busy. 


In 1924 he was hired by the Kitsumkalum Timber Company to act as watchman for their timber holding at Kalum Lake.  He spent seven months of the year at the Lake.  Everett Dix bought the old hotel from George Cobb and he built a dance hall and a dining hall.  Kalum Lake became a popular place on Saturday night.  Dad often played for these dances.  He also organized the annual boat race.


We spent a lot of time at the Lake in the summer.  We'd pitch our tent and cook our own meals.  We could have stayed with dad but camping was more fun.


In later years my dad worked for the forestry during the spring and summer and dug wells and trapped to keep busy the rest of the year.  He was a 'Jack of all trades' so was never idle.


In the late 1920's dad decided to start a dancing class.  He had taught my sisters and a couple of their friends Highland Dancing but felt that there was a need for the young and not so young to learn the basics of regular dancing.  These classes were held in the GWVA Hall.  There was a 25 cent charge which went to pay the rent. 


I can still see my dad playing the accordion and walking around the dances ready to help anyone who was out of step.  There was always a good crowd and if a few who came were going to do a bit of cutting up, dad soon put them straight.  He was always in complete control and everyone looked forward to the weekly lessons.


My sisters and I went to the four room school, which is now used as the Resource Centre.  Our high school was a converted teacherage with a room added to the side.  The laboratory was in an upstairs bedroom and the other bedroom was the teachers' lounge.  A gully separated the schools, with a sort of elevated sidewalk between.  In the winter we used to sleigh ride down one side and try to make it to the top at the other side.  Those who didn't bring a sleigh sat on a piece of cardboard.  The janitor used to throw the water from the drinking fountains on the steepest part of the hill and it would freeze and get really icy.


After Fanny graduated she went into training for a nurse.  The Prince Rupert General Hospital had a nurses training school at that time.  By the time she was an RN, the depression was on so money was scarce.  She was kept busy in Terrace, often without pay.  There were times when she would get a dollar a day but often she just got heartfelt thanks.  Later she nursed in Hazelton then moved to Trail where she married and had two daughters.  She nursed in the Trail hospital until she retired.


I guess our life would seem dull to the kids of today but we had an uncomplicated and easy-going life style and had lots of fun.  In the early spring we played jacks, marbles, hopscotch and skipped rope.  Later we played ball.


There was a gully behind the old Curly Bailey property next to Captain Bowen-Cothurst's which we made into a swimming pool.  The boys dug a trench from the creek and the gully filled up and it was a dandy place to swim.  A lot of kids learned to swim there.  I don't remember the water being cold but then we used to have hot summers.  We spent hours down there and never took a snack along so we were a dirty, starved bunch of kids when we arrived home - shank's mare (on foot), of course!


In the early fall all the neighbour kids went down to the Thomas property at the bottom of Lanfear's Hill and we'd play kick the can or run sheep run.  There were lots of out buildings so we had plenty of places to hide.  In the winter there was basketball.  We had to walk but we never missed a practice.  The Moore girls had to walk from the top of Miles' Hill.  If the Horse Shoe area flooded there would be skating.  What I enjoyed the most in the winter was the sleigh riding down Moores' Hill.  (It's now called Miles' Hill).  The hill wasn't graded so there was lots of snow.


I went to work for Mrs. Percy Skinner at Usk in 1933.  It was there that I met and married Jim O'Brien.  We were married in the archway of my parents home on Kenney Street, September 9, 1936.  We lived in Usk until 1948.  We had four children; Danny, Linda, Leonard and Sharon.


We moved to Terrace July 5, 1948 and took over my parents' home at 3324 Kenney Street, where I still reside. 


We always enjoyed playing on the stairs and sliding down the banister and our children and grandchildren have also helped to keep the banister polished.  For a few months after we moved to Terrace, Jimmy continued to log for Dick Adams at Usk.  Later he hauled poles for John Hagen, worked for Pohle and logged for Fraiborne Sawmill.  In 1952 he started working for the Department of Highways where he worked for 10 years.  He then bought Giggey's sawmill at Amsbury, BC, which he operated for several years.  He also started Domac Equipment, which he later sold to our son, Danny. 


Three of our children still live in Terrace.  Danny, Leonard and Linda Buller.  Sharon lives in Cranbrook, BC.  There are nine grandchildren; eight granddaughters and one grandson.

My dad joined the Oddfellows Lodge in Rossland, BC and was very active in the Terrace chapter.  He was Deputy Grand Marshall for many years.  My mother joined the Rebekah Lodge in Rossland and was a member of the Terrace chapter for years.

My dad played the accordion and supplied the music for many of the dances with Rolly Beecker playing the drums.

(I don't know exactly when this was written - prior to 1988, though, because mother says in it that she's still living on Kenney Street and she moved to Twin River Estates in 1988, I think it was)

Here is some additional info she added in her handwriting - never made it into the typed version for some reason:

Joseph McLaren (Mac) passed away in January 1948 in his 69th year.
Elizabeth McLaren passed away in December 1972 in her 95th year.

Fanny married Pete Holm of Trail.  They had 2 daughters.  She passed away in July, 1977.  (Beda and Valerie)

Sophia married Charles (Chuck) Royce of Trail.  They had a son and a daughter.  She passed away in July, 1980.  (daughter, Pat Burt of Coleville, Saskatchewan; son, Terry, of Nanaimo)

The house grandpa Millar bought in Winnipeg was always referred to as 540.  They found it wasn't large enough and bought one at 711 Sherbrooke Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba.