A Visit to Pier 21

We recently traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia and visited Pier 21 – Canada”s Immigration Museum.
Between 1928 and 1971  1.5 million immigrants  – war brides, displaced people, evacuee children and Canadian military personnel who passed through Pier 21 , among them my father in law on his first visit to Canada in the early 50’s.
For those that consider visiting pier 21, I would highly suggest the guided tour. It is very informative and it takes you through all the stages that the immigrants to Canada would have gone through. Don’t forget to take in the movie – it is very well done and it portrays all the different immigrant groups that came through this immigration port. If You have ancestors or family members that came to Canada via Pier 21 you might want to do some research at the Scotiabank Research Centre. Additional information on topics of migration, nautical history, waves of immigration to Canada, ethnic groups and genealogy can be found. Now a thriving and growing collection, the centre first opened with a handful of donated books and a few stories, artifacts and pictures. Since 1999 they have been collecting books, immigration and WWII stories, photographs, immigration-related documentation, ship memorabilia and oral history interviews.
The Passport (which needs to be stamped at different stations in the museum) is a great activity for the kids. Just make sure that they take part in the tour and watch the movie first. That way they will not just be focused on getting the stamps.
To me the giftshop was somewhat disappointing. I was hoping to find some genealogy charts, genealogy books, and family history kits for kids to encourage the next generation to find out about their history and their ancestors. It was just another Maritime gift shop – which included books about Anne of Green Gables and Anne memorabilia (which is really great – I love the books – but here on Prince Edward Island we certainly get enough of that already
But all in all Pier 21 was well worth the visit.

I did contact Pier 21 regarding the gift shop. This is the message I received back from them, which made a lot of sense to me.
————————————————————————

Good Morning Ms. Niewhof,

Your message regarding your visit to Pier 21 has been forwarded to me. As Manager of the Pier 21 Museum Gift Shop I am sorry you were disappointed in what you found here. Our Gift Shop has two mandates – one is to represent products from the many countries who have contributed immigrants to Canada. As such, at any given time we have products from up to 40 countries from around the world. Though we have limited space, we also have a varied book selection which includes a series called People of the Maritimes, which includes approximately 10 different books outlining the immigrant experience of people from countries including the UK, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, etc. We also carry a number of books specific to searching genealogy from a variety of countries (example: Searching your Scottish roots). We stock such books as they are brought to our attention – they are not always easy to find. We carry three full book shelves of assorted books related to the topic of Canadian immigration and the immigrant experience. We also carry approximately 15 products which are specifically “branded” with the Pier 21 logo, as requested by our museum visitors.
Our second mandate is to raise funds for the continued operation and growth of the Pier 21 Museum. As such, we do carry a wide variety of “souvenir” products which are requested by our customers – both museum guests and tourists, including the 200,000 cruise passengers who land on our doorstep each year.
We continue to strive to improve our product selection, and appreciate you taking the time to let us know how you feel we could improve our Gift Shop.

Thank you for your interest,
Mary E. Stewart

Heritage is Part of You

I was recently talking to my sister who lives in Germany. They had just returned from a visit to Israel. She was telling me about the places and landmarks that had made the biggest impression on her. She described to me the The Church of the Pater Noster – (translated from Latin it means “Our Father”)It stands on the traditional site in Jerusalem where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. Constantine built a church over a cave here in 4th century, and this has been partially reconstructed. Plaques in the cloister bear the Lord’s Prayer in 62 different languages (the history behind it may be questionable)
My sister told me, as she was walking through this church the came upon The lord’s Prayer in English, German and Dutch. But what made the greatest impact on her, was when she found the Lord’s Prayer in Friesian (Frisian, Frison), our mother tongue. She said: “As I stood there, reading these precious words in the language I grew up with, I was overcome with the feeling of a deep homesickness, a nostalgic feeling and I started to cry right there”. Even though we always spoke Frisian when we grew up, my father always said the Lord’s prayer in Dutch.
I guess our roots run deeper than we think, our heritage is part of us and defines who we are.

Jesus taught us all how to pray, and what a great comfort it is, to know that He understands every language.
Click HERE to hear some the Frisian language, as well as the Lord’s prayer spoken in the Frisian and the Dutch language.

Leaving it Behind

Arrival Of Immigrants – Ellis Island 1906
Depicts scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island.

This is the scene of thousands of Europeans immigrating into America at Ellis Island in 1906. All these people left behind their home, their country and often family.
In those days that was quite a big step, a time when there were no phones, no e-mail, no air travel. Once you left, you left for good, leaving everything – with the hope for a better future.
What really struck me, when I was watching this short video clip, is the size suitcase or bag everyone was carrying.
One small suitcase, or a little bundle with all of their belongings.
I was thinking about myself, if I had to travel like that, leave everything behind, what would I take.
If I look at all our stuff, our overabundance of material wealth and things we claim ownership to, how hard would it be to leave all that behind.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

So the question is, if you had just that one little suitcase, what would you take ?

Finding Treasures on the World Wide Web

While doing research on the branches of my family tree, sometimes I come across a little bit of
“treasure”. Not a real treasure, but some interesting information or sometimes even a picture.
Recently I was doing some searching on a Klaas Jansen Heixan (my mothers great – great- great – great – great -great grandfather) and came upon the following
This particular branch of the family tree were Silversmiths.
Klaas Jansen Heixan was born on August 11, 1678 in Dokkum, Friesland, and like his father also became a silversmith. Every silversmith in those days had his own sign, or seal, to mark his work.
I found his sign, the KH monogram, at
Meestertekens van Friese goud- en zilversmeden, werkzaam in de periode van ca. 1700 tot 1812
(Masterseals from Friesian gold- and silversmiths that were working between 1700 to1812)
Not only did I find his ‘signature’, a sign that he placed on every piece of silverware he created, I also found a picture of a piece he made.
At the following site,
Botma Genealogy
I found the family crest of a family Botma, at the bottom of a seal, which is part of a pipe stamper and other helpful tools.
The initials G.G.B, are that of the owner. Upon closer inspection you can see the silver mark of the maker.
On this website you can read the following: “Gezien het zilvermerk is het werktuig gemaakt door de Dokkumer Klaas Heixan. Deze stond ingeschreven in het gildeboek van 1704 tot 1738′.

So, to think that one of my ancestors (even though it was long ago), created this piece from silver, somewhere in the 1700’s. It is like finding a little piece of my history.
When looking for my ancestors, sometimes I rely on the research some others have done on that same branch.
Just ‘google’ the name you are looking for and add a bit of information while you are surfing, like;
‘Heixan, Klaas ,silversmith ‘
that is how I found this picture and some more information to help me on my search.
Do not forget to credit the site where you got your information.