The Old Cemetery at Oxford Junction

Bragg family cemetery
Oxford Junction, Nova Scotia

As you drive west from Oxford, Nova Scotia through the green rolling land, the River Philip to your right ambles along beside you.  A few miles after you pass under the TransCanada Highway and before you get to the railway bridge, you will see a tiny blue and white church on a little hill on your left.  Flanked by ancient evergreens and surrounded by tombstones of all sizes and shapes, you will have arrived at the former St. James Anglican Church and Cemetery, the last resting place for over a hundred and thirty years, of our Bragg ancestors and their families.  Let's take a little tour.

Inside the Church

The Church itself  was built by Theodore Harding Carter in 1867 in preparation for his marriage to Amy Ann Bragg, daughter of John and Jane Rogers Bragg.  The lumber came from John Bragg's wood lot at Windham Hill, just a short distance away.

It is a very simple building with a high peaked roof.  Painted a crisp blue with white trim, it is in remarkably good condition.  The front step is a large rectangular rock, worn smooth by the footsteps of the Braggs and their neighbours as they passed in to worship, celebrate their marriages, christen their babies and bury their dead.  Inside three Gothic windows tower over the simple little alter.  Neat rows of wooden pews lead off a small central aisle and the original pipe organ sits to the left near the front.  In your mind's eye you can see the congregation and the atmosphere is one of quiet and peace.

Outside, as you approach the cemetery, the name Bragg is visible in every direction and right in the centre you come to a pair of white stones, smooth and moss covered, that mark the resting place of  John Bragg and Jane Rogers Bragg, his wife.  It looks like they have gathered their family around them.

Grave of John Bragg, Esq.

John was born in Chaffecombe, Somerset, England in 1810 and came to Nova Scotia in the early 1830s.  He met  Jane Rogers and the two married in 1838.  Jane (born in 1809)  was from Lutes Mountain, New Brunswick and was the sister of one of John's neighbours.  Her mother's family were part of the Cobiquid Planter group who settled in the Truro area in 1761.

John and Jane had 7 children, Lizzie, Amy Ann, Charles, Jane, Robert Peel, William and John Medley.


John's epitaph reads:

In Memory Of

John Bragg Esq.

Died April,1st. 1884

Aged 73 Yrs.

Our beloved father is gone.

He lays beneath the sod.

Dear parent though we miss you much.

We know you rest with God.

Jane's stone simply says: "At Rest"

Grave of Jane Rogers Bragg

Grave of Charles Bragg, his wife
Matilda Swallow Bragg and
Louisa Blair Murray Bragg

Just near the feet of John and Jane lies their son, Charles and his two wives.  Charles Bragg was born January 11, 1844 at Windham Hill.  Throughout his life, he was a lumber merchant, the district Post Master and the owner of the local General Store.  On the 15th of July, 1864, he married Matilda Swallow of Wentworth.  Matilda was born in 1839, daughter of Thomas Swallow and Hannah Teed.  She was the widow of George Vincent, son of another Loyalist Family who died at a very young age leaving her with an infant daughter, Eldora.  Matilda died in 1896 when her youngest son, John was 16 and Charles went on to marry Louisa Blair Murray less than a year later.  Charles lived to the age of 91 and the cause of his death was listed "old age".  The story is told, that in his later years he would often take a nap on the counter of his general store which was being run by his son, Walter.

Grave of Mary Jane
Bragg, aged 8.

Charles and Matilda had 6 boys, Harvey Woodland, Albert Warren, William Ellis, Walter Leslie, Charles Edward and John Thomas (My grandfather).  The eldest girl in the family was Mary Jane, who died at age 8 and the youngest child was Flora Mabel.

Nestled under a tall pine tree is an obelisk belonging to the Carter Family.  Amy Ann Bragg, daughter of John and Jane married Theodore Harding Carter and they are buried here with their tiny children, John Bragg Carter, Charles R, and an infant son who was unnamed.

Along the front row rest Walter Leslie Bragg and his wife Augusta Metcalfe, their son, Charles Elmer Bragg and his wife Tweet,  Douglas Bragg, their grandson, Kay Sherman Bragg, their granddaughter and Ross Bragg, their great grandson.  Ross was the former Minister of Industry for Nova Scotia in the 1990s.

Along the side, are the two small stones of Hance Bragg, who died at age 10 from appendicitis and Charles R. Bragg, who died at age 20 of consumption.

View from the Church down the
River Philip

A number of years ago, the Anglican Church deconsecrated St James Church and the land, including the church and cemetery was purchased and is lovingly maintained by the Bragg Family of Collingwood  - to them - we should all be grateful.

I believe that this little patch of ground with its church and its graves is the spiritual heart of our Bragg family and that deep within each of us there is a little homing device that eventually leads us to visit the site.