I took this photo for the name. Ryckman is a well known name in these parts and there seems to be many of them, but I was also interested in Virtue. Virtue Lavodi Hamill was born in Dundas in 1894 and died in the same town in 1982. She and her husband C. Alfred (the C may have stood for Charles) were married in 1911 and had 19 children. As this stone states, five babies were buried with them and the other 14 survived to adulthood. Twelve children are listed in Geneology.com and searching the links to their names, I am sure family Christmases were busy with at least 51 grandchildren! Alfred and Virtue "would think nothing of walking from their home in Copetown to Stanley Rd Baptist Church every Sunday" which according to google maps is today a 3 hour walk of 10 miles. Alfred also had a Harley which he rode long into his elderly years. This was not a quiet family.
for a Taphophile Tragics in Waterdown Union Cemetery
13 comments:
The Waterdown Union Cemetery is located in the northeast and oldest part of the village (it was annexed to Hamilton as part of a forced amalgamation in 2001). The name derives from a joint venture between the Methodist and Presbyterian churches to share the cost of maintaining a burial ground in the village.
There are about 800 graves, many of the early pioneers of the area but it is also still in use today.
Fifty-one! My god, I'm sure that translates into over 100 great-grand kids. Talk about progeny.
there are A LOT of Ryckmans listed, going way back! I was dumbfounded at the number.
Very interesting post. Quite amazing how big the families used to be in those times.
And they were BAPTISTS! Certainly not wowsers ... the Harley tells me that *grin* ... if only her parents knew how ironic the name 'Virtue' may appear in hindsight.
Enjoyable post.
Fascinating! I thought Ryckman was a Jewish name. But where did you get all this information?
OMG she lived to be almost 100 after having 19 children? They were made of the good stuff!! Maybe that walk gave them good health and vigor!
this line is still having large families - two of their children have 10 or 11 kids of their own.
this family seems to have emigrated from Germany back in the early 1700s. interestingly, I hadn't thought of them as being possibly Jewish.
because the family is so well known here (there is even a neighbourhood named for one of them) it was not hard to find. the bit about the walking and the motorcycle came from, I think, 'find a grave'.
They sound like a very interestung family. So sad to have lost five children.
WOW. so many children! she must have been pregnant constantly. and five to loose it sad...
ryckman is a funny name. ryck seems like old-dutch spelling for "rijk", which means wealthy. so.. wealthyman. im curious if there is some dutch in their family? or belgium? i now see you mention they are german.... hmmm... interesting! (but even though dutch and german language are quite similar, i dont know what 'ryck' in german would be...)
I tend to cringe a little when I hear of a woman bearing so many children (but that may be because I chose not to bear any). Interesting story and comments. And lovely photo.
My family are Dutch descendants. Came from Holland to Albany New York in the mid 1600s. Some came to Canada during the war of independence. Settled in the Hamilton and Milgrove area.
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