ABOUT US

 Giles Corey was a prosperous farmer and full member of the church in early colonial America who died under judicial torture during the Salem witch trials. Corey refused to enter a plea, a1692nd was crushed to death by stone weights in an attempt to force him to do so.

 In April 1692, he was accused of witchcraft by Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, and Abigail Williams.  The records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, September 9, 1692, contain a deposition by one of the girls who accused Giles of witchcraft. Mercy Lewis v. Giles Corey: Corey refused to plead. According to the law at the time, a person who refused to plead could not be tried. To avoid persons cheating justice, the legal remedy for refusing to plead was "peine forte et dure". As a result of his refusal to plead, on September 17, Sheriff George Corwin led Corey to a pit in the open field beside the jail and in accordance with the above process, before the Court and witnesses, stripped Giles of his clothing, laid him on the ground in the pit, and placed boards on his chest. Six men then lifted heavy stones, placing them one by one, on his stomach and chest. Giles Corey did not cry out, let alone make a plea. After two days, Giles was asked three times to plead innocent or guilty to witchcraft. Each time he replied, "More weight." More and more rocks were piled on him, and the Sheriff from time to time would stand on the boulders staring down at Corey's bulging eyes. Three mouthfuls of bread and water were fed to the old man during his many hours of pain. Finally, Giles Corey cried out "More weight!" and died.
The pressing of Giles Corey is unique in New England.
He is a character in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, in which he is portrayed as a hot-tempered but honorable man, giving evidence critical to the witch trials. His wife Martha (executed on September 22, 1692) was one of the nineteen people hanged during the hysteria.

  The full story of James Fletcher Davis  my grand uncle , will remain mystery for now. A short piece of information about an episode with a horse, a train and a brother. What we do know is that James was a pioneer of the first order, settling in what eventually became Saskatchewan two centuries ago, truly the horse and buggy era. In the wild Canadian West at the same time as Louis Riel.
As the story goes, he and his brother Frank Davis, grand uncle, were making the trip from Ontario where they were born and raised. Their father and step mother would follow in a few years and settle with them in Grenfell, Saskatchewan.
James and Frank travelled light with only their personal belongings in kit bags and a their horse. Well travelling the new Canadian Pacific Railway on a number of occasions the steam powered train had to stop for either refueling or replenish their water supply.
At one point the Davis boys decided to let their horse out for a stroll and a bit of free grass. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the engineer and as the train slowly pulled away from the siding, the boys panicked and in trying to get their horse back into the box car, it balked and took off like a bat out of hell.
What happened next we will have to leave to the imagination but apparantly it was a long walk to the next railway station. 

Dad was in the Army for almost 25 years, first in the militia and then joining the Army after Canada declared war on Germany in 1939.

One posting far from home, Dad and his buddies were out on the town on Saturday evening hosting a few with the locals and in walk a few MP(Military Police). They are looking for men who are off base without permission. Well Dad being one of them, he knew he would be in trouble if he was caught. 

Into the mens washroom and out the window he went. Unfortunately for Dad it was almost a two story drop to the rocky shore below. Thank goodness the tide was in was all I remember hearing before doubling over in laughter.

Dad learned to fish at a young age and it soon became a life long hobby.

 Moving in day after Marie and Frank got married  in 1937 they had help from a few of Franks friends. My mother said she will never forget one of the men riding her new vacuum cleaner down Haro Steet from their apartment at the Stanley Park Manor. 

She said she learned quickly that it was best to only allow alcohol in the house when all the work was done. And we all know how that worked out.