Showing posts with label Upper Stewiacke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upper Stewiacke. Show all posts

Saturday, December 5, 2015

My Canadian Branches ~ My Clan MacKay and My Shelburne County Roots




Alexander MacKay, my third great grandfather, arrived in Canada from the Scottish Highlands as a young man of 29.  A few years later, when he married Eleanor Brown, he was living in Jordan River, in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. These pictures (made into postcards) have my great grandmother's writing on them.





The young couple, with their first three children, Isabella, Catherine, and John, were living in Ragged Island, by the 1871 Census of Canada. The next 30 years, however, saw the family resettling and living in Upper Stewiacke, in Colchester County. There were six children in all, the first three born in East Jordan, the younger three born in Upper Stewiacke. The oldest, Isabella Fulton MacKay, is my second great grandmother.


       Standing: Hugh Dunlap MacKay, Catherine Margaret MacKay,
 John William MacKay, Isabella Fulton MacKay, George Alexander MacKay.
  Seated: Flora Jane MacKay, Alexander MacKay, Eleanor MacKay (Alexander's wife).


Alexander MacKay (1830-1901)
Eleanor Brown MacKay (1835-1924)

Their Children:

Isabella Fulton MacKay (1861-1945)
Catherine Margaret MacKay (1864-1927)
John William MacKay (1866-1945)
George Alexander MacKay (1872-1955)
Flora Jane MacKay (1874-1941)
Hugh Dunlap MacKay (1878-1934)

Alexander and Eleanor MacKay are buried in the Burnt Hill Cemetery, in Upper Burnside, Nova Scotia. My great grandmother took this picture many years ago:




A recent photo by a findagrave volunteer shows the monument today:





Sources:

1871 Census of Canada; Census Place: Ragged Island, Shelburne, Nova Scotia; Roll: C-10547; Page: 41; Family No: 132. http://ancestry.com

1881 Census of Canada; Census Place: Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia; Roll: C_13175; Page: 4; Family No: 12. http://ancestry.com

1891 Census of Canada; Census Place: Upper Stewiacke East, Colchester, Nova Scotia; Roll: T-6311; Family No: 124.  http://ancestry.com


Colchester Historeum Marriages 1864-1914, http://colchesterhistoreum.ca/search/.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed  4 Dec 2015), memorial page for Alexander MacKay (1823-1901), Find A Grave Memorial no. 124797256, citing Burnt Hill Cemetery, Upper Burnside, Colchester County, Nova Scotia.

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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."




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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

My Canadian Branches ~ The Loss of Charles and Nancy Creelman's Children



Charles Creelman, my first cousin 6x removed, married Agnes "Nancy" Johnson in 1849, and settled on property he inherited from his father in Springside, Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia. From 1850 to 1870, they welcomed four sons and six daughters. But it is not the births of these children that is notable, but a definite pattern in their deaths.

The FTM Timeline Report for Charles, showing family events as well, indicated the span of years, from 1871 to 1892, when these children, at the dawn of their lives, confronted death.



What this report does not reveal, but further research does, is that:

  • Daughter Mary Ann died at age 19, unmarried
  • Son Frederick died at age 22, unmarried
  • Daughter Maggie died at age 19, unmarried
  • Daughter Hannah died at age 29, unmarried
  • Daughter-In-Law Elizabeth "Jane" (Tupper) died at age 24
  • Daughter Ellen died at age 25, unmarried, and
  • Daughter Martha (Creelman) Nickerson died at age 34

All of these young people were buried in Pembroke Cemetery in Upper Stewiacke, where their parents were also laid to rest.




Mary Ann Creelman's Grave
Frederick Creelman's Grave
Maggie Creelman's Grave
Hannah Creelman's Grave
{No photo of Jane Tupper Creelman's Grave available}


Ellen Creelman's Grave
Martha Creelman Nickerson's Grave
Charles and Nancy Creelman's Graves




Who knows what epidemic or pestilence swept through the Stewiacke Valley during this period to take these young lives. There is evidence of an influenza plague that threatened North America during this period. Perhaps that is the explanation. Or, perhaps a genetic medical condition, that was apt to strike down people in their '20's, was the cause. Was it consumption for all? Mary Ann died of it, now known as tuberculosis. How tragic it must have been to watch such young folks pass on.





Photo credits:

I am indebted to 3rd cousin, 1x removed, Richard Graham, for taking the headstone pictures in Pembroke Cemetery for CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project.


Sources:


Cemetery records; Colchester Historical Society Museum Archives, Truro, Nova Scotia (http://colchesterhistoreum.ca/search/)

GeneJane's Roadmap to Colchester Families (www.genejane.com).

Miller, Thomas. Historical and genealogical record of the first settlers of Colchester County, down to the present time, compiled from the most authentic sources. (1873).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1871, Book 1804, Page 574, Number 118. Mary Ann Creelman. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1804-57&Event=death&ID=8356 : accessed 25 March 2015).




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Monday, December 15, 2014

52 Ancestors: #49 Peter Suther Hamilton (1852-1929)



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.

***

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

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Sunday, July 13, 2014

52 Ancestors: #28 Flora Jane MacKay (1874-1941)



Flora Jane MacKay, my 2nd great grand aunt, was born on this date in 1874, in Upper Stewiacke, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, the fifth of six children born to Alexander MacKay and Eleanor Brown, and their third daughter.

She grew up on the farm in the Stewiacke Valley, and at the age of 25, married Robinson Ellis, a young man also born in Upper Stewiacke, in 1899 in Truro.

Together, Jane, as she was called, and Robinson, had five children, all born in the Valley, whether it be Upper Stewiacke, Eastville, or Springside:

Hugh MacKay, b. 1900
Hedley Alexander, b. 1903
Alvin Winter, b. 1905
Florence McDonald, b. 1907
and
Adella May, b. 1909

Tragically, son Hedley died accidentally at the age of 13, from a ruptured blood vessel. 

Jane, Jessie, Maggie, Bella MacKay
The above photograph shows Flora "Jane," cousin Jessie Fulton MacKay, Catherine Margaret "Maggie" MacKay, and Isabella "Bella" Fulton MacKay, down east in Nova Scotia. Bella is my 2nd great grandmother and is the oldest of the foursome.

"Jane" MacKay Ellis passed away on January 2, 1941, in Eastville, Nova Scotia. She is buried in the Eastville Cemetery. Her husband would follow her five years later.

Sources:

1881 Census of Canada; Census Place: Upper Stewiacke, Colchester, Nova Scotia; Roll: C_13175; Page: 4; Family No: 12, Jane Ellis.

1891 Census of Canada; Census Place: Upper Stewiacke East, Colchester, Nova Scotia; Roll: T-6311; Family No: 124, Jane Ellis.

1901 Census of Canada; Census Place: Upper Stewiacke East, Colchester, Nova Scotia; Page: 5; Family No: 49, Flora J. Ellis.

1911 Census of Canada; Census Place:  , Colchester, Nova Scotia; Page: 7; Family No: 71, Flora J Ellis.

1921 Census of Canada; Census Place: Upper Stewiache East, Colchester, Nova Scotia; Page Number: 1, Jane Ellis.

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1899, Book 1807, Page 144, Number 167. Robinson Ellis and Flora J. McKay. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1807-144&Event=marriage&ID=21470)  : accessed 13 July 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1872, Book 1804, Page 133, Number 186. Robinson Ellis. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1804-133&Event=birth&ID=18403)  : accessed 13 July 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1941, Book 196, Page 160. (Mrs.) Flora Jane Ellis. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=196-160&Event=death&ID=288266 )  : accessed 13 July 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1946, Page 4558, Robinson Ellis. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1946-4558&Event=death&ID=320309)  : accessed 13 July 2014).

***

This is the 28th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

52 Ancestors: #24 Emma Jane Deyarmond (1867-1947)



Emma Jane Deyarmond, the wife of my 2d second great grand uncle, was born on this date in 1867, in Upper Stewiacke, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, the fourth of seven children born to George Albert Deyarmond and Mary Johnson, and their third daughter.

At the age of 29, Emma married John William MacKay, on the 2d of September 1896, in Upper Stewiacke. Together, Emma and her husband had 6 children:

Lila and Lois, twin daughters, b. 1899
Eileen Unice, b. 1904
Freeman Orrin, b. 1906, who died at age 10
Marcus Roy, b. 1911
Ena Muriel, b. 1917

"The MacKay Girls"
seated on the steps:
Lila MacKay Purchase, Lois MacKay, and Eileen MacKay MacLellan
taken in 1961 at Ena's house


Emma and her husband lived their entire lives in Upper Stewiacke. They are buried together in Burnt Hill Cemetery, in Upper Burnside.

Emma Jane Deyarmond MacKay's tombstone

Sources:

"Canada Census, 1901," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.2/9MF6-BQW8  : accessed 14 Jun 2014), John W Mackay, U, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 14, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario.

Emma Jane DEYARMOND MACKAY grave marker (http://canadianheadstones.com/ns/view.php?id=15670 : accessed 14 June 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1867, Book 1804, Page 40. Emma Jane Deyarmond. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1804-40&Event=birth&ID=16491  : accessed 14 June 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1896, Book 1807, Page 104. John W. McKay and Emma J. Deyarmond. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1807-104&Event=marriage&ID=20915 : accessed 14 June 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1900, Book 32, Page 17. George Deyarmond. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=32-17&Event=death&ID=112887 : accessed 14 June 2014).

Nova Scotia.  Historical Vital Statistics.  Registration Year 1947, Book 3801. Emma Jane MacKay. (https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1947-3801&Event=death&ID=325629 : accessed 14 June 2014)

***

This is the 24th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

52 Ancestors: #15 Albert Thorburn Hamilton (1895-1979)



Albert Thorburn Hamilton, my great grand uncle, was born on this date in Upper Stewiacke, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, in 1895, the seventh of nine children born to Peter Suther Hamilton and Isabella Fulton MacKay, and their third son.



When he was around 23 years old, in 1919, Bert immigrated to the States, stating that his destination was the home of Mrs. E. K. Noyes, who was his sister Mary, married to E. Kent Noyes and living at 1367 Washington Avenue in Portland, Maine.


In the 1930 U.S. Census, Bert was living with his brother Dan, as well as his mother Isabella, at 67 College Avenue in Portland, and working as a truck driver. By 1940, he was lodging in Hannah Fowler's rooming house at 10 Shepley St., in Portland, with Dan and Dan's wife Lettie.

Bert Hamilton never married. In my youth, I remember his visits to his sister Vina, my great grandmother, in Portland. I was told he had a "club foot," which, naturally, fascinated me, although I never heard the story behind it.

Nana and Uncle Bert During One of  His Visits
Our House in South Portland,
c.1968

By that time, the 1960's, he had moved back down east. He and their unmarried sister Stella lived very near "the old home place," in Nova Scotia, until Stella passed away in 1966.

Bert Hamilton died at the Colchester Hospital, in Truro, Nova Scotia, on January 30, 1975.
His obituary read:

Albert T. Hamilton
UPPER STEWIACKE - Albert T. Thorburn Hamilton, 79, died Thursday at Colchester Hospital, Truro.
Born in Upper Stewiacke, he was a son of the late Peter and Isabel (MacKay) Hamilton. He was a member of Elm Lodge No. 115.
He is survived by a brother, Dan, Portland, Maine.
He was predeceased by two brothers and five sisters.
The body is at the Mattatall Funeral Home, Truro. Funeral and committal service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. in the the Springside United Church, Rev. David Whiston officiating.

Bert Hamilton is buried with his sister Stella in Pembroke Cemetery in Upper Stewiacke.



Sources:

1930 U.S. Census; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 831; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0077; Image: 844.0, Albert T Hamilton.

1940 U.S. Census; Census Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: T627_1475; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 3-69B, Albert T Hamilton.

“Canada Census, 1901," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHK2-TGV : accessed 15 Apr 2014), Albert I Hamilton in household of Peter S Hamilton, U, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada; citing p. 12, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario.

CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project. CanadaGenWeb.org. http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org.

“Albert T. Hamilton,” obituary, The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), 1 Feb 1975, p.40, col 4. Retrieved: Library and Archives Canada, 15 Apr 2014.**

Ancestry.com. Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

** I am particularly grateful to Ken McKinlay in the Nova Scotia Roots Facebook Group, who kindly found Uncle Bert's obit while giving a tour at LAC in Ottawa this afternoon, just in time for this story.

***

This is the 15th in a series, “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks,” coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

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