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A
BRIEF FAMILY HISTORY
WRITTEN
BY ELIZABETH
A. MACNEIL A BRIEF FAMILY HISTORY For many years I have been planning to put on paper all I have heard
and learned concerning our ancestors. I sincerely hope it will be of some
interest to those who come after me. I will records facts but through the
years many tales have been handed down through past generations. Some of these
tales may have wandered from the exact facts; I cannot vouch for their
accuracy but I will tell them as they were told to me. Beginning
with the Weir side of the family... The
Weirs came from Scotland; in the 1820's. Weir is a very common name in
Scotland and the nearest I can come to placing their point of origin is some
where in the vicinity of Glasgow. Allen Weir and his wife Elizabeth R. (maiden
name unknown) arrived in Pictou County in the early 1820's, along with their
five sons. There is no record of any daughters. Allan may also have had some
brothers who came as the same time as the records list several weirs in this
area at that time. They were miners and live in Albion Mines (now known as
Stellarton). One of the stories I remember hearing was about Allan collecting
the wages of John Weir (the first Weir in Pine Tree) for six months after his
marriage to Agnes Wren. Apparently John was under 21 when he married. Agnes
Wren was the daughter of a mining engineer who was also employed by the coal
mines in Albion Mines. He had come out here first. He later sent for his
family who sold their belongings and set sail for Nova Scotia. On the way they
encountered a severe storm; their ship was so long overdue that all hope was
given up when they finally arrived. Her father died a few years later and the
rest of the Wren family moved to Philadelphia. Agnes stayed behind to marry
John Weir. They eventually moved to Pine Tree. John and Allan purchased two
lots of land, at Pine Tree Gut, from John Forbes and Hugh Fraser, in 1842. I
believe that the first home was at the shore of Pine Tree gut. There was the
remains of an old cellar there which I remember, and also I remember hearing
aunt Kate, a sister of our grandfather, talk of her mother walking to New
Glasgow and carrying a baby to do her shopping. Eventually John built a grist
mill, a saw mill and a woolen mill. John and Agnes had a large family, five
daughters and seven sons. Of these children, three of the sons married and, I
believe only two of the daughters. I am at a disadvantage here because for
some unknown reason, Aunt Kate (previously mentioned) removed the family
records from the Bible. Before I ramble on too far ahead I had better tell what I can of the
other four sons of Allan and Elizabeth. Jonathan settled in Moncton, New
Brunswick, Andrew married and settled in Albion Mines (Stellarton), he left
family and descendants who are still found there. Duncan and James settled in
River John. I have the impression that a brother of Allan may have been
already living there. In 1855 the property at Pine Tree was deeded to John and Agnes with
Allan holding a mortgage. Allan and his wife spent the last years of their
lives living with John at Pine Tree. There are buried in the cemetery at
Churchville, where they had lived before moving to Pine Tree. Allan's will was
probated in 1880. I have no facts on when Allan died but I have the impression
that there could not have been many years between his death and John's. All I really know about John is that he was the first Weir to settle in
Pine Tree and establish Weir's Mills which carried on for a century, through
three generations. He and his wife raised a family of twelve. the eldest son,
William, moved to River John to take over the Grist Mill established by his
uncle. Two more sons, Matthew and Allan, were seamen. Matthew was third
engineer on the Great Eastern, the vessel that laid the first trans-Atlantic
cable. Allan married but had no family. Matthew never married no did another
brother, Wyndham. Wyndham died a violent death in the USA in a card game.
William had one daughter, she married Robing Langille of River John. Her name
was Ethel and she was the only Weir cousin my father's family had. Annie married David Ballantyne of Woodburn. They had six children,
Thomas, Agnes, Janet, Maude, Elizabeth and Wyndham. Thomas moved to the United
States. Agnes taught school, never married. Janet also was a school teacher
and settled in Advocate. Maude also settled in Advocate. Elizabeth married J.R.
Reid of Little Harbour and made her home there. The youngest son Wyndham
remained in Woodburn for his lifetime and we are particularly interested in
his family since he married mamma's sister, Margaret. Another daughter, married a Copeland and they had one daughter. She
married Fisher Smith, they had one daughter. They lived all their married life
in Pictou and their daughter never married. The remainder of the daughters,
with the exception of Katherine died as a result of a severe flu epidemic.
Katherine worked in the United States for many years. She returned to Pine
Tree in the early 1930's and died there in 1933. She never married. John married Adelaide Mitchell of Merigomish, a daughter of Dr. John
Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell was the first medical doctor to take up residence in
Merigomish. He was born in Londonderry Ireland, in 1804. He studied medicine
at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. John, (our grandfather) was a man of
inventive nature and during his life he made some very important improvements
to the milling of grain. He was not, however, an astute business man and never
though to patent his inventions. He trusted his fellow man too much. On one
occasion following the rebuilding of this grist mill, he entertained two
engineers of a famous manufacturing company, which specialized in grist mill
equipment. He gave them a guided tour and explained his improvements. Imagine
his shock when he later discovered that they had copied his machinery and
taken a patent out on it. John and Adelaide had four children. Lavinia,
Frances (Fannie), Charles, and William (who died in early childhood) and Allan
Wyndham (our father). Fannie married J.J. Fraser whose home had been in Sutherland's River.
They lived first in Thorburn and later in New Glasgow, where had a drugstore.
He served as councillor and later as mayor of New Glasgow. Fannie was the
first woman to be appointed to the New Glasgow School Board an caused
considerable furore by coming out strongly in support of public funding for
Catholic School. The resulting row ended both her and her husband's political
careers. She died in 1936. They had four children, Hector, Adelaide, Lincoln
and Mitchell. Hector never married. Adelaide served in the Armed Forces during
World War II. She married a MacIntyre and lived in Ontario. They had one son,
Lincoln. He married and as far as I know is still living in Ontario. He had at
least two children. Lincoln, the youngest of the family, was a talented
musician. He joined the Air Force during the war and was lost over Italy.
Mitchell married Margaret Ferguson of Stellarton and made his home in
Merigomish. They had two sons, John (Jackie) and Clare. Jackie married Marry
Miller of Merigomish and had three children. They settle in the Halifax area.
Clare married a girl from the west but they separated and he died young,
without family. Charles was killed in a construction accident in Winnipeg in
1912. He was not married. Wyndham married Marjorie Mill MacQueen of Kings Head, our mother. Now
let us turn to our Mother's family. Mamma was the eldest daughter of Daniel
and Bessie (Laurie) MacQueen. Daniel was the eldest son of Thomas and Margaret
(Grant) MacQueen of King's Head. Bessie was the daughter of Robert and Rachel
(Fraser) Laurie. Robert was a descendant of the pioneers of Black Point and
Rachel came from pioneers of Chance Harbor. Robert was ships' carpenter.
Bessie was born in New Glasgow but her mother died when she was only five
years old and from then on she made her home with an auth in Black Point. I
believe the aunt's name was Maggie Reid. Bessie was an only child. Daniel was the eldest of his family, he had two sisters and four
brothers. The two sisters married close to home and one brother still lives in
the family home. The other three brothers moved to the United States. They
were John T., Duncan, and Howard. John T. married but had no family. Duncan
and Howard never married. John T.'s wife was very outspoken and one time she
said to our grandmother "Bessie, your drinking water tastes just as if
someone washed their feet it in". The water had a high iron content but
her comment wasn't very well received. Katherine (Aunt Sis) married Jack Grant
of Kings Head. The story I heard was that Jack Grant had competed with Thomas
for Katherine's hand but had lost out, so she promised him her fist daughter.
As I said in the beginning some of these stories may have little foundation
but I am writing what I have heard. Katherine had five children, two girls and three boys; Sadie, Daisy,
Robbie, Howard, and Willie. Sadie married but had no family. Daisy married and
had one daughter. Howard was married and had a family. Howard still owns the
family home at Kings Head. It is on of the Century Farms. Willie died of
diphtheria when he was young. Eliza married Roderick Ballantyne of Woodburn and they had six
children, two girls and four boys; Esther, Queenie, Ralph, Howard, bob and
Roy. Queenie married but had no family. Esther married and had three children,
two boys and a girl. Bob had polio as a child and it left him crippled. Howard
went out West, he never married. Roy married, and had one son who lives in
Woodburn on the home property. Ralph married and had on daughter. Robert
married Jessie Black of River Denis, Cape Breton. They made their home on the
family farm. They had two children, Mary and Tom. Mary married Blair Russell.
Mary and Blair had two children. they lived in the original MacQueen
homestead. Their children and grandchildren still live in Little Harbor Kings
Head. Tom, Bob and Jessies' son still lives in the old home where his father,
and grandfather lived. Tom was married three times and has one daughter. Now we come to our grandfather, Daniel, or Deacon Dan has he was known.
As was previously noted he married Bessie Laurie. They had four children,
Marjorie (our mother), Margaret, Donald and Rachel. When Dan married he bought
a farm next to his parents and he bought his Bride there on New Years Eve
1891. Dan was a carpenter. At the time of his death in 1935, there were few
buildings in the surrounding countryside which did not have some samples of
his skilled work in them. Dan was an honest, hardworking and devout man. He
was an Elder in the Little Harbor Church for many years. Donald, the only
son, went to the United States and married there. At
the time of the Great Depression he returned to Little Harbor with his wife.
He was not a very successful farmer so he went to work at the Car Works in
Trenton and eventually moved there. In the meantime his first wife died and in
a few years he remarried. He died in April 1961. He had no family. Rachel married Carl Fraser. They made their home with Dan and Bessie.
They had three boys. Two of whom married locally and one makes his home in the
Halifax area. Margaret married Wyndham Ballantyne of Woodburn. His mother was Annie
Weir, a sister of our grandfather Weir. Margaret and Wyndham had six children,
David, John, Anne, Marjorie, Alice and Agnes. The boys married and settled in
Woodburn. They raised families, some of whom have also made their homes in
Woodburn. Anne has one daughter, Alice has three girls, Agnes had no family
and Marjorie never married. Aunt Margaret died suddenly at the age of
forty-three. Anne took over the job of being a mother to her younger sisters
and brothers at the age of sixteen. Aunt Margaret had been a teacher. She was
a brilliant scholar and had completed high school by the age of sixteen. Now we come to our mother, Marjorie. Mamma went to high school in
Pictou and New Glasgow. She taught for one year in Meiklefield and trained to
be a nurse. She nursed for some years in the surrounding communities. She was
of a generous and happy disposition. I always felt that she and her siblings
had a very happy childhood. They didn't have an over supply of this worlds
goods but they knew how to take pleasure in everyday things. She used to
regale us by the hour with tales of the amusing things that happened in the
community. Mamma was at the call of all the neighbours, all her life, whenever
anyone was sick they came for her and she never refused to go and do all she
could. Now we come to our immediate family. On December 18th, 1918, Marjorie
Miller MacQueen and Allan Wyndham Weir were married at the bride's home in
King's Head. Following the wedding reception the newlyweds returned to Pine
Tree. A wedding trip was out of the question as the groom's mother, father and
aunt were all in failing health and could not be left alone for any length of
time. The homestead at Pine Tree consisted of a farm, a water powered sawmill
and a water powered grist mill. During the next six years, first grandfather
Weir next Aunt Kate Mitchell, and then grandmother Weir all passed away. Also
four children were born to Marjorie and Wyndham. The mill dam was washed away
in a flood. This was the beginning of a very busy married life for our mother.
In the summer of 1922 a barn was built. All the extra work and expense
(especially all the extra meals for the workmen), combined with the care of
the babies kept Marjorie and Wyndham very busy. 1923 brought another baby and
in October the flood swept the dam away. The mills were dependent upon water
for power therefore it had to be rebuilt. 1924 was hectic and the dam was
built to power the grist mill. Wyndham installed a steam mill for sawing. He
went into lumbering to recoup the losses caused by the flood. This didn't
achieve the results he had hoped for. It seems that he took after his father
in business too trusting and very generous to his fellow man. Both Mamma and
Daddy were very hospitable and our house always had the welcome mat out for
anyone who dropped in. In 1925 another baby arrived, and again in 1930. Our
family now consisted for four girls and two boys. The depression had set in
with vengeance and by this time money was harder and harder to come by. Daddy
never worked away from home so we were dependent upon the grist mill and the
saw mill for our income and most times there was more money on the books than
in Daddy's pocket. He hated to go collecting and only did so when forced, by
circumstances. Mamma boarded the mill crew and usually the teacher. Added to
this, in 1930 Aunt Kate came home to live with us. She died in 1933 after
being bedridden for some time. Caring for her twenty-four hours a day an doing
the regular work was extremely hard on Mamma. She was very exhausted when it
was over. All this when money was as "scarce as hen's teeth". This may sound like a dismal life, but it wasn't. We had lots of good
times and every birthday and Christmas was well celebrated. Mamma was a
natural homemaker and we have so many memories of her that will stay with us
forever. Both she and Daddy were great readers. One of the best memories I
have is of her reading to us. She read all the best books aloud to us. Some of
the events that made an impression on our lives were the change over from
local post offices to Rural Mail delivery. The Post Office was located in our
kitchen from 1897 until 1935. Our grandfather and later our father received
the sum of $25 per quarter for this service, that came to $100 per year. The
mail came three times a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. They also had
the job of mail carrier, which meant that the mail had to be transported to
and from Woodburn Station in all kinds of weather. If often took a team of
horses and a couple of men to break the road during the winter. all this for
the princely sum of $12 per month and the penalty of being fined if they were
late. In 1939 the War started and we saw the first break for our family. John
was in the reserve army so he was in from the start. In 1942 the mill dam was
swept away in a flood. This time it tore the road away and destroyed the grist
mill. the bridge was rebuilt but the grist mill which had operated for nearly
a century was gone forever. In 1944 John was killed in action and later that
same year mamma's mother died. Losing John was a severe blow to all of us. but
it seemed to have the greatest effect on Mamma. When she developed the flu in
the following year she went down hill and died on April 28, 1946. I am bringing this record to a close at this point but I hope that each
family member will pick it up and carry on with a record of their families.
Write down all important events for future generations. Ask questions and
record the answers while you have people to ask. If our history is not
recorded, future generations will never know where they came from. This work would not be complete without mentioning two people who have been invaluable to me in seeing it finally completed. My sincere thanks go out to my sister, Mardie Scott and my granddaughter Hayley Clarke. Thank you, both. E.A.M. |
