Digging Down East: Hamilton Peter Suther

Sunday, September 6, 2015

My Canadian Branches ~ Bella MacKay Hamilton and the Moose Chair

Peter Suther "PS" Hamilton and Isabella "Bella" MacKay Hamilton, my 2nd great grandparents, lived in Burnside, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, their whole married lives. They raised nine children, one of whom was my great grandmother, Melvina Jane "Vina" Hamilton Bustin, from whom I inherited a wonderful treasure trove of photographs.

I came across two pictures that piqued my interest. The first shows my great grandmother's mother, Bella, in front of the "old home" in Burnside, posing beside what appears to be a wooden sculpture of some kind. It looks like antlers to me.

The second, more yellowing, photo provides another clue. It was a chair, made out of, presumedly, moose antlers. The handwriting on the front is my great grandmother's, and the back states the same, The Moose Chair, in Bella's handwriting.

Was this some kind of trophy chair made from antlers of hunted moose, or was it a household curio, with no particular connection to family lore?

I have learned that my great grand uncle and aunt, unmarried brother and sister Bert and Stella Hamilton, were the last two family members to live at the old place, so I have to wonder whatever became of the "Moose Chair."

Monday, December 15, 2014

Peter Suther Hamilton, my second great grandfather, was born on this date in 1852 in Burnside, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, the sixth of eight children born to Hants Hamilton and first cousin Mary Hamilton, and their fifth son.

His grandfather, John Hamilton, had traveled with his family, as a two-year-old, from Armagh, in what is now Northern Ireland, to Nova Scotia, in 1771.

The Hamiltons were farming folks, and it can be assumed that the young Peter was raised with his share of chores.

The Hamilton Farm
"The Old Home"

At the age of 25, Peter married 18-year-old Isabella Fulton MacKay, from Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Her father had emigrated from Scotland.

Together, Peter (or PS, as he was most often called) and Bella (as she was known) raised nine children:

George Bradford, b. 1878

Mary Ellen, b. 1880

Alexander Archibald, b. 1883

Melvina Jane, b. 1886 (my great grandmother)

Agnes Rachel, b. 1889

Catherine Margaret, b. 1892

Albert Thorburn, b. 1895

Stella Rowan, b. 1899

Daniel Gordon, b. 1901

Of their nine children, only George Bradford, known as Brad, and Albert Thorburn, known as Bert, remained "down east." The rest of their children eventually immigrated to the States. Bert was the last of his generation to reside in the old farmhouse.

Here are two pictures of PS and Bella, from my great grandmother's collection:

Peter Suther Hamilton passed away on October 9, 1929, in the same farmhouse he was born in 76 years before. He and Bella were married for just over 50 years, the occasion having been marked by this family photograph:

He is buried in Pembroke Cemetery, in Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.

Photo Credit:

Peter Suther Hamilton Grave Stone. The Sprague Project, Albert Arnold Sprague, IV, webmaster (http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/showmedia.php?mediaID=1498&medialinkID=2687)

Sources:

1864-1914 MARRIAGE RECORDS; on-line records at Colchester Historical Society Museum Archives, Colchester Historical Society Museum Archives, (http://colchesterhistoreum.ca/).

"Canada Census, 1871," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M4D3-F66 : accessed 24 Jun 2014), Hans Hamilton, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 40, line 10; Library and Archives Canada film number C-10559, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2229147.

"Canada Census, 1881," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MVX9-QVD : accessed 24 Jun 2014), Hans Hamilton, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 7; Library and Archives Canada film number C-13175, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 1375811.

"Canada Census, 1891," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWKR-TLG : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter S Hamilton, Upper Stewiacke East, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; Library and Archives Canada film number 30953_148113.

"Canada Census, 1901," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHK2-TGC : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter S Hamilton, U, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 12, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

"Canada, Marriages, 1661-1949," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F229-TSN : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter Luther Hamilton and Isabella Fulton Mckay, 16 Nov 1878; citing Up. Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, reference p 147 cn 127; FHL microfilm 1,298,865.

Nova Scotia. Historical Vital Statistics. Registration Year 1878, Book 1806, Page 147, Number 147. Peter Suther Hamilton and Isabella Fulton MacKay. (https://novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1806-147&Event=marriage&ID=17924 : accessed and downloaded 6/30/20113.

Nova Scotia. Historical Vital Statistics. Registration Year 1929, Book 119, Page 941. Peter Suther Hamilton. https://novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=119-941&Event=death&ID=202865 : accessed and downloaded 6/30/2013.

"Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KMLX-GCR : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter S. Hamilton and Isabella F. Mckay, 1878, Marriage; citing p. 147, volume 1806, , Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.

"Nova Scotia Vital Records, 1763-1957," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KML6-XRG : accessed 13 December 2014), Peter Suther Hamilton, 1929, Death; citing p. 941, volume 119, Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax.

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This is the 49th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at

No Story Too Small.

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ P.S Hamilton and His First Grandchild

This series of oval pictures depicts my second great grandfather, Peter Suther Hamilton (1852-1929), with his first grandchild, Anna Bella Noyes (1906-1986). The back of the cardboard panel is stamped with the barely legible name of a photographer on Congress Street in Portland, Maine.

Although I know that P.S.'s wife, Isabelle "Bella," came to Portland more than once, this is the first evidence I have found that P.S. came to the States. Perhaps it was reason enough to celebrate the birth of this little blonde-haired beauty to make the journey from Burnside, Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.