Old Family Photos

Elizabeth Peers Brown

This photo, the oldest in my collection, is of Elizabeth Peers, granddaughter of Alexander Peers and Mary Bolding, our United Empire Loyalist ancestors.  She lived in Wallace Bay, Nova Scotia from 1793 - 1866.  At a young age, Elizabeth married her adopted brother, Abraham Brown.  His mother died in childbirth and his father and sister were killed by a lightening strike.  Abraham went to live with Elizabeth's family.  Elizabeth and Abraham had 11 children and made their living farming on the north side of Wallace Bay.

Early descriptions of the Peers family stated they were all tall, lanky with strong hawk-like noses.  Elizabeth certainly fits that description well.  After Abraham's death, in 1866, Elizabeth went to the US to live with one of her sons.  She died and is buried there, but we have not learned either the date of death or the place of burial.

Mary Dolan
Harrigan

Although of poor quality, this photo shows Mary Dolan Harrigan, wife of Daniel David Harrigan my 2nd great grandfather.  Mary was born in 1816 in County Cork, Ireland and came to Canada with her parents, Thomas Dolan and Mary Quinn, who settled in Caledon, Ontario.  The family were neighbours of the vast Harrigan clan and Mary and Daniel married there in 1840.  The couple had 8 children, including our great grandfather, David Paul.  After Daniel's death in 1889, Mary remained on the Harrigan homestead with her son, William.  Family legend says she smoked a corn cob pipe and ruled the family until her death in 1903.  Both she and Daniel are buried in the beautiful St. Patrick's Cemetery in Kinkora, Ontario.

This photo, which resides on the wall of my cousin, John Bragg's office in Oxford, Nova Scotia is of my great grandfather, Charles Bragg's General Store in Collingwood Corner.  Charlie was born in 1844 to John and Jane Rogers Bragg at Windham Hill, near Collingwood.  In 1864, he married a young widow, Matilda Swallow and they went on to have 8 children, including our grandfather, John Thomas Bragg.  Matilda is the one individual who links all of us to our United Empire Loyalist ancestors.  After her death in 1896, Charlie married another widow, Louisa Murray.
In his older days, Charlie took to taking naps on the counter of his store while commerce took place over his recumbent body.  At the age of 89, Charlie's body gave way to Pneumonia and Old Age and he was buried with Matilda in the Bragg Cemetery in Oxford Junction.

John Bragg, sitting centre, John William Gamble to his left,\
Julia West Gamble and sister Bella in doorway.

I was thrilled to find this photo in the Heritage Centre at Bass River, Nova Scotia.  I cropped it from the photo on the right which shows the miners at the Silica Mine in Castlereagh ca. 1903.  I had always heard the tale of how Grandpa Bragg worked at the mine and met Grandma while she was working as cook at the mine's boarding house.  This photo brings the tale to life.  John Bragg appears in the centre front of the photo and sitting to his right is his future father-in-law, John William Gamble.  The two women framed in the doorway are my grandmother, Julia West Gamble and her sister, Bella.

John Thomas
Bragg

The story goes that one evening John and Julia went off to pick blueberries and when they returned, they were engaged to be married.  Shortly afterwards, John headed back to Alberta to work with his older brother, Warren.  Julia followed him, arriving at Gleichen.  Apparently, John and his friends were busy celebrating the upcoming nuptials and missed the train - leaving Julia sitting on her pile of luggage in the middle of the vast prairie.    However, they were married in September 1907 and went on to have 4 sons, including my Dad, Rusty.

From time to time in the future, I'll share more of my treasured photos with you so stay tuned.

Our Fathers of Confederation

Sir Charles Tupper

Sir. Charles Tupper was born on July 2, 1821 in Amherst, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia to Reverand Charles Tupper DD and Miriam Lockhart.  His mother's brother, Timothy Lockhart was married to Elizabeth Teed, daughter of our Loyalist ancestor, Daniel Teed.  Tupper trained as a doctor but spent most of his life in the political sphere.  Prior to Confederation, in 1867 he was Prime Minister of Nova Scotia and went on to become a minister in Sir John A. MacDonald's cabinet.  Over his career, he served as Minister of Inland Revenue, Customs, Public Works, Railways and Canals. He oversaw the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.  He served as High Commissioner to Great Britain and finally served a short term as Prime Minister in 1896.  He was created a baronet in 1888. He retired to Bexley, Heath, County Kent where he died in 1915.  He is buried in Saint John's Cemetery, Halifax.  Interestingly enough, it was Sir Charles Tupper who appointed our great great grandfather as Justice of the Peace in Cumberland County.  It would be in another generation before the family connection would be established.

Sir Leonard Tilley

Sir. Samuel Leonard Tilley was born on May 18, 1818 in Gagetown, New Brunswick.  His nephew, Samuel Leonard Tilley was married to the widow of William Ellis Bragg our great uncle who was the son of Charles Bragg and Matilda Swallow.  Leonard Tilley was an affluent New Brunswick apothecary and temperance advocate who became premier and led his province into confederation. In fact, it was Tilley, inspired by reading Psalm 72, who suggested the title Dominion of Canada. When the British North America Act came into force by royal proclamation on July 1, 1867, MacDonald was the first to lay his hand upon a Bible and be sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, followed by George-Étienne Cartier. Tilley was next, and he became the minister of customs in Canada's inaugural federal government.

Tilley's impeccable character and reputation remained intact even when others around him fell. When charges of corruption were brought against MacDonald's government in connection with the Canadian Pacific Railway, Tilley was not among the guilty. Prior to that government's resignation in 1873, the fifty-five-year-old Tilley was thus appointed the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. He became a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George under the reign of Queen Victoria.

In 1896, Sir Leonard, contracted blood poisoning as the result of a minor cut, an died at the age of 78.

Sir Adams Archibald

Sir Adams George Archibald was born in Truro, Nova Scotia on March 3, 1814.  He was the first cousin  of Ruth Fisher, wife of Matthew Johnson, son of James Johnson and Elizabeth Patterson, our Cobequid Planter ancestors.  Sir Adams Archibald studied science and medicine for a few years, subsequently articled in law, and was called to the Nova Scotia bar in January 1839. He held a number of local offices over the next decade, and was appointed a probate judge in 1848. Archibald was elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 1851 as a supporter of Joseph Howe's governing Reformers, topping the poll in the two-member riding of Colchester County.  When Nova Scotia joined the new nation of Canada on July 1, 1867, Archibald was appointed Secretary of State for the Provinces in the cabinet of John A. Macdonald. Nova Scotia's political system was transformed by the debate on Confederation, and its concurrent provincial and federal elections in September 1867 were fought by Confederation and anti-Confederation parties, rather than by Liberals and Conservatives. The Confederation Party suffered a massive defeat, and Archibald (despite spending a very large sum of money) was defeated by Archibald McLellan in the riding of Colchester.


Archibald was by this time a Liberal-Conservative, and continued to support the Macdonald government in parliament (though he was not re-appointed to cabinet). In 1870, Archibald gave a speech in favour of conciliation towards the leaders of the Red River Rebellion in Manitoba. This was noticed by George-Étienne Cartier, who was the de facto leader of the Canadian government while Macdonald was recovering from a serious illness.

Cartier asked Archibald to become the first Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Although he had little interest in the region, he agreed on condition that he be appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia after serving a single term.   He died back in Nova Scotia in 1888.

The Bragg Family Walk of Fame

Recognize this face?  Yup!  That's 60's heart throb Ricky Nelson and he is one of us!  Born Eric Hilliard Nelson on the 8th of May, 1940 in Teaneck, New Jersey, he joined many of us weekly in the 50s on the Ozzie and Harriet Show with his brother, David.

Peggy Louise Snyder (Harriet Nelson)

 Ricky's mother, Harriet Hilliard was born Peggy Louise Snyder in 1909 in Des Moines, Iowa.  Her 4th Great Grandparents were our common ancestors, James Johnson and Elizabeth Patterson who settled in the Truro area of Nova Scotia in 1761.  James and Elizabeth were the grandparents of Jane Rogers who married the original John Bragg.

Harriet became a vaudeville performer and screen actress before her marriage to Ozzie (Oswald George) Nelson in 1935.  The two continued performing and in 1944,  The Adventure of Ozzie and Harriet became a favourite radio program.  The show moved to television in 1952 and continued until 1972.  The show featured the four Nelsons and their zany life at home.

As a young man, Ricky married Kristen Harmon, sister of NCIS star, Mark Harmon and became the father of actress, Tracy Nelson and rock stars, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson.

Gunnar Nelson and his brother Matthew are identical twins born in Santa Monica, California in 1967 and the two formed the band, Nelson,  When "Love and Affection" reached the #1 position on the charts, the Nelsons landed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only family to have #1 records in three successive generations (their grandfather, Ozzie Nelson, had a #1 hit with "And Then Some" in 1934, and their father, Ricky Nelson, had #1 hits with "Poor Little Fool" in 1960 and "Travelin' Man" in 1962).

Tracy Nelson

Sister, Tracy Nelson was born in 1963 in Santa Monica and is a well recognized TV Performer.  Nelson is perhaps best known for playing the role of Sister Stephanie ("Steve"), the sidekick of Father Dowling in the television series The Father Dowling Mysteries. She started her career early, playing one of Henry Fonda's daughters in Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) when she was five years old. In 1982 she played Jennifer DeNuccio on the television series Square Pegs, and in 1984 she had a regular role in Aaron Spelling's short-lived television series Glitter.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she made guest appearances on popular television series including Family Ties, St. Elsewhere, Murphy Brown, the Australian series The Man from Snowy River, Melrose Place, Will and Grace, and Seinfeld. She was on Broadway as Rizzo in Grease in 1995. She has also appeared in several movies including the #1 hit Down and Out in Beverly Hills. She has starred in several Lifetime movies including The Perfect Nanny in 2000, The Perfect Husband, Kate's Secret,The Fight for Jesse, and various others.

A very talented family, and happily, one of our own.