Thomas Bruce Reese
The Families Reese and Livingstone

Lowry with Donna in front of the Shoe Store in Jeannette, Pennsylvania.

Family Tree - (Chart)

The Reese Family Tom's Uncle, Howard Reese made his way down the East Coast of the US from Pennsylvania to become one of the first settlers in Pinellas Park. He designed the Royal Palm Hotel and construction began in 1909, was completed in 1911.

The Livingstone Family Tom's father Lowry, or Larry met and married Donna Livingstone on a trip south to visit his brother. They moved to Jeannette, Pennsylvania, where Thomas Bruce Reese was born in 1919.

Tom mentions the Kane family ancestors being shipwrecked off Newfoundland in the film interview. He told me to check the records of Lloyd’s of London. They have all the records of ship wrecks. After a couple of hours online, I did find some references to a ship with a story that fits the description of the shipwreck.

What is Known about the Kane Family Move to Canada: John and Alice Kane, with 2 year-old Thomas, sailed from Ireland for York(Toronto), Canada in 1829. Their ship wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland. They later got a ride to Maramachi, New Brunswick, where John died. After 16 years, Alice and 18-year-old Thomas made their way to Canada. The Despatch comes closet to fitting the description of the ship they sailed on.

The Despatch was partly owned by William Lancaster of Workington, England. On May 29 1828 she set sail from Derry, Ireland en route to Quebec with eleven crew and 200 passengers, almost all of whom were Irish emigrants hoping to escape the poverty then prevailing in Ireland.

The ship ran aground July 12, 1828 on a small, bare rocky island near Isle aux Morts, or, as it was then called, Dead Island, off the south coast of the Island of Newfoundland. A seventeen year old girl from the area, Ann Harvey, along with her father, her twelve year old brother and a dog, rescued 160 people from the wreck between the twelfth and fifteenth of July. As a result, Ann Harvey became known as the Grace Darling of Newfoundland. The English government later awarded them a medal and a sum of money for their heroic feat. Songs were written in her honor. More on that later.

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