Uncle Dave

January 21 was Uncle Dave’s birthday. David Elliott Scott, born in 1899, was the oldest of Grandma and Grandpa Scott’s four children. I remember him as a little rotund man with a twinkle in his eye. And I remember that his wife, Aunt Elsie, called him “Dive.” She was a little rotund woman, and so they made the perfect cheery little pair. And all of Uncle Dave’s pictures – the ones that I have seen – from a young man to a middle aged man, look like I remember him. It always amazes me that he didn’t seem to change. And there’s always that twinkle in his eye.

I’m sure everyone in the family has heard Uncle Dave’s love story. If you haven’t, you must immediately get hold of Edith (she wrote it down), or someone who has the story. We think it would make a good movie. It’s the kind of romance that you read about, but doesn’t often happen to people you know. I think Uncle Dave was a person that things happened to – probably because he did things.

The website of Library and Archives Canada has, online, the attestation, or enlistment, papers of World War I soldiers, so I went looking for Uncle Dave’s papers. You can find them at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02010602_e.html In the search screen, type in Surname: Scott; Given Names: David; when results come up, look for Scott, David Elliott born 21/01/1897. By clicking on the links you can view online, or download the digitized image.

Uncle Dave signed up in February of 1916. You’ll notice that the birth date he gave was 1897 rather than 1899, which would make the enlisting officer think he was19 years old instead of 17. He gave his occupation as “engineer.” The back of the paper gives a description: 5'3" tall, blue eyes, fair hair, “fresh” complexion.

Uncle Dave went to Edmonton to enlist. Do you suppose Grandma knew what he was doing that day? Or did he tell her, when he got home, that he had enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. I wonder how she felt. How would you feel if your 17 year old son enlisted in an active war? (For a short description of what the Canadians in the Expeditionary Force did, you can go to this web site: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWcanada.htm )

I bet Uncle Dave had some interesting stories to tell – from both World Wars. Edith? Gary? Do you have any memories about Uncle Dave? You can post them on this blog. I’d love to hear anything you remember.

Citizen of the United States of America

My front door has never been painted on the inside. It’s still the nice ugly gray of the primer coat that has been on it for years and years. We keep thinking we want to paint it, but when the time comes, I can’t bring myself to do it. It’s been our “measuring door” for as long as we’ve had it; so there’s quite a bit of family history up the one side, showing the growth of my children over the years. Some of the kids – Jo Ellen’s Bruce and my three – were looking at it the other day, and the question came up, “How tall was Grandpa?” I thought probably about six feet, but I couldn’t remember exactly, so I decided to look it up. Here is a description of Daddy as recorded on his Certificate of Naturalization, pictured here:

No. 6634695
CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION
Petition No. 81584
Personal description of holder as of date of naturalization: Age 37 years; sex Male; complexion Ruddy; color of eyes Grey; color of hair Brown; height 5 feet 11 inches; weight 175 pounds; visible distinctive marks Scar; right side of upper lip; Marital status Divorced; former nationality British * * * * * Be it known, that at a term of the District Court of the United States held pursuant to law at San Francisco on September 24th, 1945 the Court having found that George Walter Scott then residing at Canyonville, Oregon intends to reside permanently in the United States . . . was entitled to be admitted to citizenship, thereupon ordered that such person be and he was admitted as a citizen of the United States of America. C. W. Calbreath
Clerk of the U.S. District Court
By L. Baldwin Deputy Clerk