A retired Bell Telephone employee has researched his family history and the picturesque town of Weir in Quebec’s Laurentians where his family has lived since the early 19th century.
In an interview last November with the Ottawa Citizen, 83-year-old Norman Davis talked about how the history of Weir, about 100 kilometres northwest of Montreal, is interwined with the history of his family. Mr. Davis’ ancestor, “George McKenzie (1833-1903) received title to the first family property in Weir from the Crown in August 1895.” The Montreal Gazette reprinted the full-page article a couple of days ago in a special feature about seniors.
To research his family history, Mr. Davis combed the municipal archives and discovered both sides of his family were involved in establishing the first school board in Weir.
While Mr. Davis had documented his family history, he felt the story needed visuals. To achieve this, he worked with an artist friend who created a composite painting of the village as it appeared over several decades, from about 1920 to 1940. More than 50 buildings and 30 points of interest appear in the painting.
To see the composite painting and an old photo of Weir, read the article, A Picture Postcard, in the Montreal Gazette.