The Carscallen Kids Meet Their Grandmothers

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while...but our hearts forever.
- author unknown

Left to right: Ann Jane (Wilde) Carscallen, Charles Newton "Charlie" Carscallen, Kathleen Ethel "Kay" Carscallen, and Jane Eleanor (Fairhall) Culbert, c1912.

These two Culbert descendant children, Charlie and Kay Carscallen are enjoying a day with both their grandmothers. Up until around the time this photo was taken, these children had never met either of their grandmothers!

Today, children can easily see and talk to their grandmothers via Skype. However, in the early 1900s, Charlie and Kay wouldn't have heard their grandmothers' voices until they met them. And having never met them, the only image of their grandmothers may have come from a black and white photograph, if they'd had one.

Charles Newton "Charlie" Carscallen (1906-2007) and his sister, Kathleen Ethel "Kay" Carscallen (1908-2003) were the children of educational missionaries, Hulda May Culbert and Rev. Charles Rupert Carscallen.

The woman on the right of the photo is Charlie and Kay's maternal grandmother, Jane Eleanor (Fairhall) Culbert (1858-1949) of Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario; wife of Richard Culbert (1853-1932). 

The woman on the left is their paternal grandmother, Ann Jane (Wilde) Carscallen (1839-1925) of Dresden, Ontario; wife of Isaac Newton Carscallen (1828-1912).

The photo looks like it was taken at the Culbert homestead (Poplar Farm) on the Coursey Line near Lucan, Ontario. That's where the children's Culbert grandparents lived, and that's where their mother, Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen was born.

This photo was taken while the Carscallen family were on furlough; a leave of absence given to missionary families in China so that they might visit their families abroad. The Carscallens first furlough was from late 1911 to 1913 so this photo was taken somewhere in that time period.

Little Charlie and his sister, Kay would welcome two more sisters later but for now, they were the sole recipients of their grandmothers' affections. Charlie and Kay were born in China and up until this furlough, they'd spent all their young lives there; this being the first time they'd met their grandmothers.

Charlie and Kay grew up and raised families of their own. Their great-grandchildren have methods of communicating with their grandparents that were unheard of a hundred years ago! Who knows what the future holds for their descendants?