Tag: Steves

52W Mark III – Week 26: Family Gathering

Save the date – July 25, 2026 – for the Steeves Family Reunion in Steveston, British Columbia!

If you’re a “Steeves” in North America, odds are you’re a direct descendant of Heinrich Stief and Regina Stahleker. In 1749, they emigrated from Münsingen in the Duchy of Württemberg (now southwest Germany) and settled in Pennsylvania. There they had seven sons. 250 years ago, in 1766, under land grants arranged by Benjamin Franklin and others, they moved to what is now New Brunswick and were amongst the original settlers of Moncton. The family later settled in Hillsborough, New Brunswick and there they started multiplying.

Apparently there are over 200,000 direct descendants of Heinrich and Regina. Our kids are two of them! At a family reunion in New Brunswick in 2016, there was an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for largest gathering of individuals with the same last name. Unfortunately, the attempt fell short.

Notable Steeves descendants include the Hon. William H. Steeves (one of the “Fathers of Confederation” of Canada), Jack Layton (late Leader of the Opposition in Canada’s parliament), Laurence J. Peter (author of The Peter Principle), and Janette Oke (author). A few years ago, I gave a presentation on “Law and Genealogy”, using my sons’ Steeves connection as a research example. Through sheer serendipity, the presenter who spoke before me was also a Steeves descendant, John Steeves, a now-retired Justice of the B.C. Supreme Court. Right before the program started, I leaned over and quietly asked him if it was okay to incorporate him into my presentation.

Coincidentally enough, our Steeves connection does not end there. Several years ago we moved to Steveston, a fishing village that is now part of  Richmond, B.C. The village was founded by Manoah Steeves, who left New Brunswick with his wife Martha Taylor, dropped an “e” from his surname, bought land in the southwestern corner of Lulu Island in 1877, and established a dairy farm.

Manoah and Martha Steves

Nearly all of Lulu Island is now part of Richmond. In 1880, Manoah’s son William Herbert obtained a crown grant of the land that became the townsite of Steveston.

The streets in our neighbourhood share the names of Steeves relatives and places in New Brunswick. Manoah’s descendants still operate a farm on the land he originally purchased.

One of the houses on the property was built in 1917. Harold Steves, Manoah’s great grandson, lives there. Harold served one term as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and many terms as a Richmond city councillor. He is also a life-long farmer and an active conservationist – he was a driving force behind the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve in British Columbia.

Harold has turned part of the house into a private museum. In addition to artifacts reflecting all aspects of his and the Steves family history of farming, politics, and conservation activism, Harold has turned part of the home into a recreation of the Hong Wo Store, a general store that had been established in 1895. Beside the Hong Wo store, Harold has recreated the canteen his parents operated during World War II, serving the soldiers stationed at a base beside the farm.

Manoah Steeves Elementary School.

Harold opened up his museum to the general public earlier this year as part of “Doors Open Richmond”, a city-wide festival of culture and community operated by the Richmond Museum. Needless to say, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I could have spent days in there. His bookshelves alone could keep me occupied for weeks. Plus it was a chance for the boys to meet their fourth cousin three times removed! 😉

Steveston, B.C., or as you might recognize it from television, Storybrooke, Maine.

52 Weeks – Week 29: Fun Fact

When I noticed that the theme for this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge was “Fun Fact”, rather than assume what people might consider to be a fun fact, I asked each of my boys, “what’s a fun fact about our family tree?” The 11-year-old answered, “that we have ancestors from the Bailiwick of Jersey!” The 7-year-old said, “that we’re related to someone who has a school named after them!”

 Manoah Steeves Elementary School.
Manoah and my sons are first cousins six times removed.

Pity. Great ideas, but I’ve covered both those topics. It’s as if they both deliberately conspired to suggest my Week 5 post, in which I wrote about both those things.

I gave it a few days and asked again.

“What about having Mayflower ancestors?” Great idea, but that doesn’t actually really interest me or strike me as a fun fact. When I discovered a connection to a Mayflower passenger, I was actually rather disappointed because it’s such a genealogical trope.

“What about that we’re related to three U.S. Presidents?” Three for them, only one for me. Again, that’s as interesting to me as finding a Mayflower ancestor. To me, that’s another well-worn genealogical topic.

The death warrant for Rebecca Nurse

That said, there is one group I can trace my line to that is a popular genealogical goal, which for some reason I have found somewhat interesting. My Gx10 grandmother was Rebecca Nurse, who was one of the women of Salem Village executed on the false accusation of being a witch. I had avoided reading The Crucible until I made the discovery, because I had no previous interest in that historical event. However, this doesn’t strike my fancy as a “fun fact”.

“What about the fact that we were the missing branch of the family?” That’s a brilliant suggestion. Unfortunately, it’s another thing I’ve already written about!

Despite their enthusiastic responses that all fit the query, I had pretty much written about all the fun facts they suggested. Rather than dampen their excitement, I let them know that they had some brilliant and interesting ideas.

So what’s a fun fact I haven’t already written about?

After sleeping on it, I realized that while I stated on day one that my focus in this blog was on my side of the family, I also noted that from time to time I might delve into my wife’s side of the family “because there are some fairly interesting stories there.”

So, finally. Fun fact: my wife’s 4xG grandfather, William Norris Venning, was a silversmith in Saint John, New Brunswick.

William Norris Venning (1795-1877)
Attributed to  Joseph Brown Comingo
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

William was born sometime about December 1796, likely in Devonshire, England. I don’t know when he came to North America, or if he came on his own or with his parents. It was sometime before he was 19, the time by which he had begun his work in Saint John.

William’s silversmith mark.

William was active as a silversmith from 1815 to 1871, although one source has him also doing some watchmaking early in his career. Some of William’s work is in the National Gallery of Canada, while the Royal Ontario Museum has a teaspoon he created.

A silver teaspoon by William Norris Venning