The power of Social Media is well documented. We have all seen it in action at a local level, and even on a world wide scale. This time I was able to witness it first hand, and benefit directly from it's awesomeness!
As we have have had our property in the Cariboo since 2001, I often enjoy looking at some of the old pictures from way back in the day. I stumbled onto a FB page that has many pictures dating back to the mid 1800's. On a whim, I posted a picture of my grandfather's signature to the site. It is quite unique - he incorporated a squiggle of his profile into it. (See below). Although my grandfather ran a general store in Burdett, Alberta, we knew he also spent a lot of time in the Cariboo, specifically in Wells and Barkerville, visiting a friend or relative. (We were unsure which). I had also heard that a sample of his signature was framed and displayed in a store in Wells, because the owner was so intrigued by it. My thought was; maybe someone has heard of this, or has seen the display, and we'd gain a clue as to the identity of this person in Wells. It was a long shot, for sure, and I almost didn't bother! Below is a copy of the receipt for sale of his store in Burdett, before moving to Vancouver.
Several people "liked" or commented on my post, but nothing more developed initially. Then this surprising response came out of nowhere:
Lorna Townsend: "Your grandfather was married in 1916 to Mabel Sing, the daughter of a very well known Quesnel Chinese ranch owner, Nam Sing. Mabel's brother Him Sing owned the KH Sing store in Wells from 1936-1949.... so it is very likely that Louie (my grandfather) went to visit Him (aka Kelly) and his family." A copy of the marriage certificate followed courtesy of Lorna, and it was verified.
The pieces fell into place: My grandfather was no doubt visiting his in-laws in Wells, Barkerville and Quesnel. We knew there was a previous marriage (which left my mother with a half-brother growing up), but didn't know anything about her or where she came from. Mabel died not too long after her marriage to my grandfather, of pneumonia in Alberta, and my grandfather soon re-married. It was from this second marriage that my mother was born, and it seemed as though our family history began there; all the other details got lost due to failing memories and the fog of time.
Still more information was to come; "The Nam Sing family played a significant role in Cariboo history, as he was likely the first Chinese person in the area (circa 1860) and a very successful rancher and freighter, supplying produce and beef to Quesnel and Barkerville for many decades. The large tract of land he owned is now occupied by the Quesnel airport."
Marriage certificate, my grandfather Louie and Mabel Sing 1916
Below: Article from The Cariboo Observer, Quesnel, BC. Saturday, October 2, 1948 re: Kong Sing
"Nam Sing's sons, Kong Sing and Him Sing, were both incredible horsemen, the best and last freighters (with horses) in the Cariboo, and it wasn't until horse freighting died out that Him's business evolved to the general store in Wells."
It's been fun to learn these new details, and our connection with this Cariboo pioneer family through my grandfather. And to think it came to light all because of his funny signature....!
As a final note and exclamation point, the Province of British Columbia has just completed a Heritage Project (Jan 2016) to select 21 historically important places in BC to be preserved based upon various criteria. The Nam Sing Ranch was selected as one of these sites, having played a very significant role in building the Province through its many enterprises while being run by the Nam Sing family.
Nam Sing Ranch
Cariboo District Lots 85 and 502, 6 km north of Quesnel, B.C. c. 1860s Historic Place
The property known historically as Nam Sing Ranch is now in part hay fields on land owned by the City of Quesnel as part of the Quesnel airport, and partly the Mufford Valley Ranch. The Ranch property is located approximately 6 kilometres north of Quesnel, and consists of Cariboo District Lots 85 and 502.
Values: The Nam Sing Ranch has historical, aesthetic, scientific, cultural and social value through its association with the important story of the miner, pioneer settler, farmer, rancher, entrepreneur and family patriarch Chew Nam Sing. The Nam Sing Ranch is valued for its association with the very early settlement in the Cariboo region during the 1860s Cariboo Gold Rush, and with Chew Nam Sing, who was among the very first and most successful Chinese gold miners in the Cariboo. The Ranch also represents an early and successful agricultural enterprise, developed by one of the province’s first Chinese Canadian families. Supplying produce for the booming populations of Quesnel and Barkerville, the historic Ranch is valued as one of the earliest examples of commercial market gardening in the province, an agricultural industry developed throughout the province with particular skill and entrepreneurial astuteness by Chinese immigrants.
Evidence of Chew Nam Sing’s industry and success is seen in his mining, ranching and market gardening enterprises, but also in his freight business, which hauled produce to booming Quesnel and to the family’s store in Barkerville during the Gold Rush and later. This enterprise constituted a significant contribution to the development of B.C. making the Nam Sing Ranch significant to the Chinese Canadian community across the province. The spatial relationship between the Ranch lands and Barlow Creek, which flows out of 10-Mile Lake, provides a larger geographical context for the Ranch. The presence of the creek also made possible the creation of significant stretches of hand-dug irrigation ditches, seen today in remnants of the irrigation system devised by Chew Nam Sing through the diversion of Barlow Creek. The remaining built and landscape features, including a residence, other buildings and structures related to the Nam Sing family, agricultural fields and remnants of the irrigation system are physical reminders of the Nam Sing Ranch and the people who lived and worked there. Also important is the continued use of the land for haymaking, which maintains the visual aesthetics of a working agricultural landscape.
The Ranch is culturally and socially significant for being in continuous use as a family-run ranch since Chew Nam Sing cleared the property for agricultural use. It continued to be run by Chew Nam Sing’s family after his death in 1911 until it was sold to the present owners, the Mufford family, in 1948.
Sources Cariboo Treasures: Perspectives on a Cariboo Civilization. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/ sgc-cms/histoires_de_chez_nous-community_memories/ Chinese Historic Places Recognition Project nomination form, Nam Sing Ranch. Nam Sing Ranch. Quesnel and District Museum and Archives. “The Travellers.” New Pathways to Gold Society. http://www.newpathwaystogold.ca/ geocache/travellers.aspx
