Christmas at Windham Hill

The year is 1880 and my name is Lucy Jane Bragg Taylor. I live with my husband Andrew in Williamsdale, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.  I'm 35 years old, having just had a birthday on December 19th.  Andrew and I have been married for 7 years and this year, we are going to spend Christmas at my old family home at Windham Hill - about 14 kilometres from here.  We're taking the children, Rose, Elizabeth Ann and John Woodland who will enjoy playing with all their Bragg cousins.


My father, John Bragg is a farmer but he also acts as Justice of the Peace in River Philip.  He was appointed by Sir Charles Tupper, one of the Fathers of Confederation and a distant relative.  He presides over the monthly "sessions" that settle civil disputes and petty crimes.  Father came from Somerset, England and still has an English accent.  He was an apprentice blacksmith in his homeland and was taught to read and write by his Master in the dust on the shop's anvil.  When he was about 20, he found a job aboard a ship bound for Canada.  On arriving at Pugwash, he left the ship and followed the River Philip, through the woods and up to Windham Hill.  He cleared the land to make a large farm and his buildings were among the best in the area.  Father was a strong supporter of education, so when we were children, he hired a teacher who lived with us and gave us our lessons.   A few years after arriving here, my father met my mother who was visiting her sister - a neighbour of his.

My mother was born Jane Rogers in Lutes Mountain, near Moncton.  Her sister, Sarah had married Thomas Dobson Taylor who lived at Windham Hill.  Sarah is my Andrew's mother which makes us first cousins.  Mother and Father married in 1838 and went on to have 7 children, Lizzie, Amy Ann, Charlie, Robert, Willie and me.  


Lizzie died about 10 years ago from consumption, and her little boy followed her soon after.  


Amy married Harding Carter and they had six children but has lost three of them, John Bragg, aged 3; Ada Belle, aged 17 and Arthur, aged 23. 


 Charlie married Matilda Swallow Vincent, a widow with a daughter Eldora.  Matilda came from an old Loyalist family in Wentworth and they have 6 children.  Matilda is expecting next month and they are hoping for a boy who will be named John Thomas, after Father.  Charlie runs a general store in Collingwood Corner and also sells lumber.


Robert is not married but is seeing Angelina Ryan, so I'm sure there will be another family wedding soon.  


Willie is married to Mary Crossman and they live in Shepody, New Brunswick. 


 John is married to Cecelia King and they are planning to move to Duchess County in New York to open a bakery.  


So there will be a lot of us up on Windham Hill for Christmas.  Father and the boys will go out into the woodlot to pick the very best tree while Mother and us girls will pop popcorn to string.  There will be berries and crab apples and nuts to string, too.  We have dozens of little white candles to mount on the branches and we are making little snow balls from lamb's wool.

Tomorrow morning we will all pile into our sleighs for the trip to church.  The little church at Oxford Junction.  The church was built by my brother-in-law, Harding Carter in time for his wedding to Amy Ann 13 years ago. The lumber came from Father's woodlot.   


I can picture it now - lit by hundreds of candles and smelling of pine boughs.  There will be singing of carols and a spot of warm apple cider spiced with cinnamon before we start our trek home.


The children will play with their new toys from Father Christmas while we prepare the goose and trimmings for the family dinner later in the afternoon.  The table will be laid with Mother's best linens and overflowing with delicious delicacies.  Father will tell stories of his young life in Chaffacombe, Somerset and the boys spar over clever wordplay - a long running Bragg family trait.  The ladies will catch up on all the family news and we will all go to bed fat, happy and full of gratitude for the wonderful Christmas at Windham Hill.


(Author's note:  All the people and events in this story are real but I've used my imagination to fill out some of the details.  To all my family Bragg or otherwise - I hope your Christmas will be just as nice as the one I've imagined for our ancestors)