Hi Fellow Listers ! First, I'd like to give a huge Thank You to Pam Thomson for getting copies of marriage and death certificates of Edwin Harris and birth certificate of Edwin's son Edgar Harris for me ! Since then, I have received information from the orphanage which placed my grandfather, James William Blance, with the Harris Family in 1884. Our family has lost all contact with the Harris Family and I'm anxious to learn anything I can about them in hopes of one day reuniting the descendants of the two families. My latest information from the orphanage told me that Edwin and wife, Harriet Harris, along with my grandfather, James, and his older adopted sister, Ethel moved from St. Thomas, Ontario to Vancouver, BC in early 1889. Mrs. Harris died in May or June of 1889 and Mr. Harris re-married ( I believe he married Elizabeth Doe in Vancouver in 1892 ). I don't know when the family moved from Vancouver to Vernon, but by 1894 they were living there and Ethel had married and become Mrs. John MacIntosh. Ethel and John and their son ( born in late 1893 ) lived on Edward St in Halifax, Nova Scotia at one point and by 1900 were living at 643 Harrison Ave, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. Meanwhile, Edwin and the second Mrs Harris and James were living on Vance St., Vernon, BC. A son, Edgar Harris, was born to Edwin and Elizabeth Harris in 1898. Edwin was described as a builder/contractor. Ethel wrote to the orphanage often and it was clear she cared a great deal for her adopted brother! , James. By 1898 she writes that James is no longer attending school, but is working in a store. She comments that he appears troubled and that he knows nothing about the fact that he was adopted. By 1900, she writes that Mr. Harris told James his true name and that it nearly broke his heart. He had left home, gone to the state of Washington and was nearly destitute. Ethel asked for addresses of James' true brothers and sisters who were living in Ontario. James did travel to Ontario and re-united with his Blance brothers and sisters, but after he married, he returned to British Columbia and worked in the General Store in Peachland, British Columbia approx. 1905-1910. He and his wife, Scillennia, son William James Harris Blance, daughter, Ruth Evalena Blance, and son ( my father ) Harold Edwin Blance lived nearby. Given the names of the children, I always assumed that he re-united with his adopted father, Edwin. My father was born in Penticton ( I think ) July 21, 1908. James developed a progressive paralysis and the family moved back to Ontario to get medical care in Montreal. However, there was no help for him and James died in 1913 at 33 years of age. This is when all contact with the Harris family ended and they may never have known why he never contacted them after this. Any help to re-connect with the descendants of this family or just to learn about their life in BC would be wonderful ! Hoping to learn something new and thanks in advance for any help possible ! Karen Blance Thomas