Michael T Tracy

Robert Douglas Buist (1869-1956) Michael T Tracy

A month after a 19 year-old, Robert Douglas Buist arrived in Chicago, Illinois, a letter came from Chesterville, Ontario, Canada from his father. The letter was dated Wednesday, 18 April 1888 and his father wrote: "Dear Douglas, I was glad to hear you had got work and that you are well. I would advise you to stick to the place you are in and you will not gain anything by running around for bigger wages. Try and get master of the trade by steady work and not spend your means foolishly. Try and save a little in case of sickness or want of employment, times are unstable and no permanent outlook. Mind you are amidst strangers and every inducement to lead you away into all kinds of vice and wickedness, without knowledge and the fear of God... It is by a continuance in well doing to the end we can look for eternal life in the Kingdom of God, seek first the Kingdom of God." The restless Robert Douglas Buist would travel around in many places in Canada and the United States in his youth. He would find the trade of carpentry, marry and have a large family. Robert Douglas Buist would reside in Chicago, Illinois and Kalamazoo, Michigan for many years. He loved fishing and would become an old man, surviving his beloved wife of 57 years and lived to see his 28 grandchildren and 54 great grandchildren. This then is a tribute to the remarkable life of my great grandfather, Robert Douglas Buist.