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.