Remember

My mother-in-law, Sylvia Mercer Smith, 

      Sylvia Mercer Smith

gave her great granddaughters a locket once owned by their great great great grandmother, Clarinda Moulton Mercer.

                          Clarinda Moulton Mercer

Clarinda was from Burgeo, Newfoundland. This locket is an interesting item for several reasons.

Clarinda's father, Thomas Moulton, was the fish merchant in Burgeo.

          Thomas Moulton

The merchants controlled the lives of people in the community. They determined the price of the saltfish that the fishermen worked all season to catch and cure. Then they sold goods to the fishers, who used the value of the catch as payment for goods. For a fishing family to have cash was unusual. Often they owed money to the merchant, who valued the fish and the goods they bought. 

It would be rare for a fisherman's daughter to possess such a locket. Her family would have difficulty to feed and clothe the children, leaving nothing for jewelry or anything that was not essential for survival. Clarinda's family was wealthy for that time.

The gold locket has what looks like initials M M engraved on the front.

On the back of the locket is a clover leaf, in green stones inside a heart of stones.

Within, there are two pictures, one of Clarinda 

and one of her brother, Edgar, a soldier in the Newfoundland Regiment, 

which fought with the British in the First World War. He died November 22, 1917 from wounds inflicted in battle.

Today, ninety-eight years later, Edgar is one of the people we remember on this day. He paid the ultimate sacrifice. His sister remembered him during her life and in the years since her death, her family has taken up the torch.

Today is the two year anniversary of my first blog post. It too was about Remembrance and includes a photo of Edgar.  Here is the link.

Next year will be the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont Hamel, a part of the Battle of the Somme during that terrible war. During that fight, the Newfoundland Regiment, with approximately eight hundred men, went "over the top" of the trenches on July 1st. One hundred and ten survived with only sixty-eight answering roll call the next morning. It was a huge loss to the colony of Newfoundland.

A special commemorative piece called Sing You Home-Remember Them at The Rooms, done for the one hundredth anniversary of the battle, is a beautiful way to remember the Newfoundland Regiment and those who fought for king and country.

The link to Sing You Home is here.

We will remember them and all the brave men and women who fought for our freedom.