A New Relative?

It's strange how a casual phone call about a totally different subject turns out to reveal a new relative.

About noon today I received a call from Betty Brownridge, of Milton, who had some pictures of an old Methodist church in Hornby she wondered if I might be interested in. A few minutes later she called back to say that she had forgotten to mention another topic: Did I know of a Myrtle Shearman from Montreal? She also gave me the name of a Kim Field in Georgetown who has a connection with Myrtle Shearman. Then she named a couple of other Shearmans, one a Gordon Shearman who did sound familiar. The name Myrtle didn't ring any bells with me, but I said I would look up our family genealogy and see.

After my afternoon siesta, I did get out the family history, "Twisted Threads," which Jean and Betty published several years ago. Sure enough, there on page 37 is a Myrtle Innes Shearman, third daughter of Henry Thomas Shearman and Catherine Innes. Henry Thomas was the third son of Isaac Shearman and Ellen Tracey. Henry was the brother of
my grandfather, William James Shearman, second son of Isaac Shearman and Ellen Tracey.

The connection with Kim Field is through her mother, Myrtle Shearman who married a
William LeBrun, in Montreal. I called the number Betty B. had given me, but did not reach her since she was still at school where she is a teacher. I shall try again this evening.

7:23 p.m. And so it is all true. Kim Field gave me a run-down on her relationship to my branch of the family. Her father was Keith Henry, son of Myrtle Shearman LeBrun. She is one his four daughters and has an uncle, Graham LeBrun. She and her husband, John Field, are of the generation younger than I. They have have two daughters, Emily Kate, Sarah Audrey and a son, Justin Michael John. One of the surprising bits of evidence is that girls are predominant in that branch of the family. Her son is the only boy in two generations. She also gave me the address and phone number of Audrey Shearman, my father's first cousin who is slightly younger than myself. I shall make contact with her later.