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| John Thomas Bragg 1881 - 1943 |
Relationship to me:
1. John Thomas Bragg & Julia West Gamble
2. Russell Mackie Bragg & Dorothy Madeleine Harrigan
3. Me
John Thomas Bragg was the youngest son of Charles and Matilda Swallow Bragg of Collingwood, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He was born January 31, 1881, one of seven children. He was a handsome child, full of fun and grew to be a distinguished looking man. He had a ready laugh and was known to most of his friends as "Jack". When John was about two years of age, his only sister, Mary Jane, died at the age of 8. In 1896, when John was 15, his beloved mother, Matilda died and his father quickly remarried to Louisa Blair Murray. Family legend has it that the boys did not like their new stepmother and so the following year, John and his eldest brother, Warren headed west to homestead.
From Bragg Creek Web site:
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| Childhood home of John Thomas Bragg |
Marilyn Bragg Symons submitted this personal anecdote in Sept. 1999 . . . Bragg Creek was named for my great uncle Albert Warren Bragg AND my grandfather John Thomas Bragg. What has never been told was that Grandpa John was only 16 in 1897. I think that makes the story much more interesting - a kind of Canadian Tom and Huck adventure. The boys had apparently left their home in Collingwood, Nova Scotia over a disagreement with their new step-mother. They had made application to prove a homestead - they were not squatters. As their first spring arrived the boys discovered just how much of their land was muskeg and so abandoned their homestead. However, during their winter in the area at the foot of Moose Mountain, the Dominion Land Surveyors came through the area and stayed with the young Braggs for a while. It was many years later they learned that the little creek beside their cabin had been named for them. In 1898, Uncle Warren headed to BC to work for one of the big cattle outfits and John took the train home to Nova Scotia. Both boys soon returned to Alberta and ranched, Uncle Warren at Rosebud and Grandpa John at Rockyford. The sight of the old homestead at Bragg Creek is just north of the main road that runs through Saddle & Sirloin Ranch, on the east bank of the Creek.
In a letter Feb 1978 from Louise Roppel: (One of my Dad's old girlfriends)
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| Bragg farm at Rockyford Right to left: Norman, Russell Edwin and Raymond Bragg |
From a letter from Leonard Nelson quoting his mother, Aunt Ruth Gamble Nelson:
"John Bragg was born in Collingwood, N.S., and as you said in your letter, he went west when he was 16 years old. He returned to Castlereagh one summer to work at the silica plant. It seems that Hattie, Julia and Ruth helped at the cookhouse where the men had their meals. One summer evening after supper, John asked Julia to go pick blueberries. When they returned Julia was very happy and told her sisters that John had asked her to marry him. John returned to Rockyford that Fall, I believe and later Julia (who had never travelled) went out West, met by John and they were married there"
Several years later Uncle Warren returned to Alberta was one of the first homesteaders in the Rosebud area. After a brief courtship and a promise of marriage , John headed west and got a job at the Pacific Cold Storage Ranch at Rockyford. Julia took the train from Nova Scotia to Gleichen and got off to discover she was right in the middle of the Indian Reservation. Grandpa, and his friends were toasting the bride and groom at the Gleichen hotel and lost track of time. When Julia found herself alone on the platform with a bunch of very unfamiliar types she very nearly called off the wedding and returned home. Grandpa, however used his charm and they were married on September 11th, 1907 at Gleichen, Alberta.
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| Julia Gamble Bragg with Raymond Russell and Norman - and expecting Edwin |
I remember the place vaguely - most clearly I remember the artisian well which stood in the yard spilling over with fresh, icy water. The well water in that area was very alkaline and tasted terrible, so it was always a treat to go to the farm and get the delicious spring water. Grandpa and Grandma farmed and ranched there through the horrific blizzard of 1906, through the depression and into World War II. Grandma was a staunch Methodist and very active in the church in Rockyford. She was a great cat person and there were always a dozen or so cats waiting for her at the kitchen door. Grandpa loved to curl and was a founding member of the United Farmers of Alberta.
During the rough years, John and others made up a team of contract harvesters who worked their way from the southern states back up to Alberta.
After Grandpa's death, Grandma retired into a little house in Rockyford where we used to go and visit. She used to give us a nickel to go to the store for Lifesavers. And she had the first egg separator I'd ever seen. They had the four boys, Raymond who took up farming, Norman who was a teacher, Rusty who taught school for a short while and then joined the RCAF and Edwin who did a little of everything - school teaching, RCAF and then became an oil scout.
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| John Thomas Bragg - obituary January 1943 |
News 60 Years Ago
Thursday, February 25, 1943.
Died at Rockyford, Alberta, on January 16, John Thomas BRAGG, age 62, the
son of the late Charles and Matilda Swallow BRAGG of Collingwood.
Oxford Journal 1943
Census Listings:
In 1901, John 21 is living in River Philip, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada with his brother Walter and his wife.
In 1911, John T. 31 and Julia 28 are living in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada with Charles R. 1.
In 1916, John 36 and Julia 33 are living in Bow River, Alberta, Canada with Raymond 6, Norman 4 and Russel 2.
"On January 16, 1943, there is a funeral entry for John Thomas Bragg age 62 years 11 months, Buried in Calgary January 20, 1943" Alberta Conference Archives United Church letter 1978
John Thomas Bragg and his brother, Warren were to be the founders of the Western branch of the Bragg Family. Look how well we've all bloomed where we were planted!
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