My great grandfather on my mother's side married Elizabeth Baird way back 1880's. I wrote a hard cover photo book of the village history, which is in the National Library in Ottawa. There are several pages devoted to Hollis and his family, and I wanted to share some with you.

His obituary in the paper about ten years ago, said he was from Houlton, Maine. His nephew David, in Pennsylvania, the Baird family historian and myself, have been trying to find proof on paper that he indeed was born on the Canadian side in River de Chute, New Brunswick, Canada, right on the Maine border.

He was born in  1904. His parents, Dan Baird and Ida Semple, owned and operated a general store right next to a mill pond of a sawmill, dam, and later, a covered bridge. They never drove, and my dad use to drive them around as they only had a horse and buggy. Father would not allow electricity to be installed in his store, where he also ran the post office. His wife, the mother of Hollis, was a very progressive woman, doing woodwork, and being very outgoing and a teacher. As I always check things out with several sources before writing up, my mom, remembers her mom, born 1900, telling her Hollis was born on the Canadian side. Hollis was, or was supposed to have been delivered by my great grandmother, the local midwife of the area, as they did not do it in hospitals then. This whole area was as backwoods as you can get...far from the Boston environs he later was known for (Quincy) There was no real reason to take her for a several hour horse ride on bumpy rutted roads in a buggy to Houlton, Maine to be delivered...Mrs. Baird was from there, where her sister lived.