A Birthday Book - Day 14 - 21 Day Family Connections Experiment

Today is Day 14 of my 21 Day Family Connections Experiment.

Today I'm looking at our Irwin-Carmichael Birthday Book. 

This Birth-Day Forget-me-not book is what I consider a real Family Treasure. It was given to my maternal great grandmother, Janet Carmichael, in 1881 before she and her husband William Irwin, and their little daughter, 'Minnie', left Islay, Fenelon Township, Victoria County, Ontario, Canada to live in the Northwest (Newdale, Manitoba). Family and friends signed their names on their birthday pages. Some of those people Janet never saw again, but a few later joined the migration to Manitoba or moved or retired to the Coast (Vancouver, British Columbia). 

She kept up the book throughout her life, and my maternal grandmother, Janet's daughter, Amy Estella, inherited it. She kept it up, adding birthday dates and some of the marriages and deaths of friends and family. And clippings, mostly funeral notices. My brother and I were the last names Na entered. After that the book was put away. By that time, it was too fragile to be held. 

When I first became 'serious' about doing genealogy, Mum let me index all the names, dates and messages in the book. She kept a watchful eye while I transcribed everything written in the book and it gave us a chance to discuss what she knew about the people. 

William and Janet Irwin (née Carmichael) and baby Minnie - Mary Jane, born 1879.  Carte de visite, Scott and Andrus Artists and Photographers, Cor. Kent & Williams Sts, Lindsay, [James A. Scott and Mortimer I. Andrus, Ontario, Canada.]

The Preface to the Book, page 1-2

An example of a page: August 16 - Maud Oliver; Mrs. Tom McIntosh; 

August 17 - James Murchison; August 18 - James Carmichael.

If you see a name you think is 'yours', contact me and I will send you a scan of the page. 

BIRTHDAY PAGES
ROSE	Alice M.
CARMICHAEL	Alexander
MURCHISON	Janet
BROWN	Mr. R
GILCHRIST	Maggie
GRAHAM	Alexander
MURCHISON	John
BATES	Edward
MACALLISTER	John
SCOTT	Samuel
GRAHAM	Lindsay
GILCHRIST	Lizzie
DOUBEK?	Sadie
SCOTT	Janet Muriel, Capt.
ROGERS	George William, Major
WALLACE	Walter O
CARMICHAEL	Maggie
SCOTT	Janet Muriel
LAWRENCE	Agnes (Mrs. A. J.)
IRWIN	Esther
SCOTT	Janet
GRAHAM	Peter
MCTAVISH	John Donald Charles
ROGERS	George William
CARMICHAEL	Margret
GILCHRIST	John
GILCHRIST	?
SCOTT	Hattie
IRWIN	Etta S.
CAMPBELL	Chas. G.
DRUMMOND	Lawrence Steele
BRIMACOMBE	Richard
IRWIN	Doris Genevieve
CARMICHAEL	J. A.
MCCALLUM	C.W.
MCNABB	Diana
CARMICHAEL	Lila
CARMICHAEL	Mary
MUIR	Mary
IRWIN	C.E.
CAMPBELL	H. S.
SMITH	Gregory Alan
MCNABB	Annie
ZURCHOW	Elsei Louise
IRWIN	Janet
BRIDE	Ronald Wayne
MCNABB	Colin
IRWIN	Geraldine Clarica
DRUMMOND	William Ernest
KINGDON	Leslie Gayle
IRWIN	Margaret (Margret)
CONKEY	Mary Ann
[IRWIN]	Minnie
CARMICHAEL	Dannie
GRAYSTON	Mary A
TRIPP	Margaret M
CARMICHAEL	Johnny
BROWN	F. R.
SCOTT	Mamie Stella
IRWIN	Maggie J.
IRWIN	William Howard
DRUMMOND	Donald A.
BRIDE	Sally Ann
GREEN	Robt L?
[IRWIN]	Willie James
IRWIN	John
PACE	Jean Bates
CONGDON	Margaret Isabelle
GILCHRIST	Lizzie
YOUNG	Maggie
YOUNG	Janet
BATES	Kenneth
IRWIN	Patricia Jean
MCLEAN	Maggie
IRWIN	William Howard
PARNELL	Robert
BROWN	Wm.
KAATZ	Wendy
BROWN	Edgar
MURCHISON	Christina
CARMICHAEL	Duncan
IRWIN	Nellie G.
GRAHAM	Duncan
GRAHAM	Jennie
IRWIN	Beverley Grace
MARK	John
IRWIN	Wm. M.
IRWIN	William James
MCDOUGALL	Flora
DRUMMOND	Allan Scott
MCTAVISH	Myrtle
HARPER	Mamie Stella
SCOTT	Samuel Bates
ASSELSTINE	Matthew W.
IRWIN	M.A.A.
DRUMMOND	A.S.
COUTTS	A.B.
GOWENLOCK	R.
IRWIN	Janet Grace
BURLINGTON	J.C. Mrs.
BROWN	Joseph F?
IRWIN	Willie H.
CONGDON	Robert Edward
PACE	PHILIP E.
MCTAVISH	Aileen
IRWIN	Frances M.
PACE	John L.
SCOTT	J. Walter
PATTISON	Eva
LAVERY	Mr. & Mrs.
ELLIS?	George
CAMPBELL	Nettie
IRWIN	Jacqueline Louise
BROWN	Eliza? Mrs.
ZURCHER	Edward Wallace
GREEN	Bella M.
CONGDON	William Lawrence
CONGDON	Sadie Hunter
CASSADY	Mrs. John
DRUMMOND	Lizzie
BROWN	Thos. A.
CONGDON	Ch
PATTISON	Elizabeth
MURCHISON	Mrs. Mary
WILSON	Maggie J.
BATES	Kenneth Scott
STEWART	Mary
PARNELL	Mary E.
SAUNDERSON	Wallace
CARMICHEAL	Daisy
BROWN	Minnie Ellie
OLIVER	Maud
MCINTOSH	Mrs. Tom
MURCHISON	James
CARMICHAEL	James
KINGDON	Margaret Ann
ROSE	Ethel
LAVERY	Agnes Mae
BRADLEY	Annie
KAATZ	Judith Vinetta
GILCHRIST	Duncan
GILCHRIST	James
CARMICHAEL	Donald
PATTISON	George Henry
ROSE	Kate
CONGDON	Freddie
PARKER	John J.
STORMS	W. P.
IRWIN	James
IRWIN	Mrs. Mary J.
GRAHAM	William
DRUMMOND	Janet Mary
DRUMMOND	Margaret Agnes
CARMICHAEL	Jessie
CASSADY	John
DRUMMOND	Alex
[IRWIN]	Maggie Annie Alexina
[IRWIN]	Baby
IRWIN	Mary Jane
IRWIN	William Charles
IRWIN	Robert Charles
MURCHISON	Annie
MCALLISTER	Ann Jane
IRWIN	Mary Jane
IRWIN	James
ZURCHER	John Donald Charles
MURCHISON	Neil
MURCHISON	William
IRWIN	Robert Brian
MURCHISON	Malcolm
SMITH	Dean Alexander
MARK	Maggie
MURCHISON	Christie
IRWIN	Clarence Campbell
IRWIN	Amy E
SCOTT	J. W.
SAUNDERSON	Sadie
BATES	Mary Lou
PARNELL	Hannah``
IRWIN	twins
IRWIN	James Jr.
LAVERY	Morris
ANDREW	Agnes
ZURCHER	Ronnie
ROSE	Rachel
WALKEY	Maude
IRWIN	Amy Estella
MCGREGOR	Lena
SCOTT	Annie P.
ZURCHER	Beatrice Bates
BATES	Marshall E.
BATES	Marshall
IRWIN	Maggie F?
MURCHISON	Ella
LAND	Emma
GRAHAM	Margaret
ROGERS	Diane
MCDOUGALL	Maggie
RICHES	Russell
MCTAVISH	Robert Edward Douglas
IRWIN	David
ROGERS	David Scott
CLULOW	Joseph
PACE	Donald Preston
GORDON	Samuel S.
IRWIN	Mrs. James Jr.
PACE	John Edward
GILCHRIST	Annie
CURRINS	J. D.
ROSE	Margaret Edith

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS (loose - in front of book)
CRAIK	Mabel Henrietta
KENNEDY	Sarah	KENNEDY
COOPER	Eileen Honorah	WILLIAMSON?
SHEPPARD	William A.
BENNETT	Evangeline Bertha
CHANDLER	Mrs. Dorothy
IRWIN	Jacquline Louise
ALLEN	Randall
DONALDSON	Rev. David
MACCORKINDALE	Alice S.	GROSS?
MCDIARMID	Lotty	DOUGHTY
BENNETT	Catherine
DAVIS	Dorothy Marguerite
ORR	Ella Maude	GROPP?
STOCKDALE	Catherine Mae	GARRISON
MCGILL	Margaret Helen
STEWART	Muriel Scott	STEWART

For more about the 21 Day Family Connections Experiment, see my first Experiment article here.