I often wonder about life in Rear Beaver Cove, Cape Breton at the time my grandfather was born and during the first 20 years of his life. The pioneers who came into that wilderness from Scotland had arrived in the late 1830s. They were the ones who cleared the forests to build the cabin homes and to plow ground for planting. By the time Patrick Nicholson was born in 1887, there was a good size community of about 40 families in the rear.
In April of 1891, the Census of Canada was conducted across the country. At this time, my grandfather was 3 years old, living with his parents, John and Maggie Nicholson and his 2 brothers, Alex J. (8), and Daniel (1), his 2 sisters, Jessie A. (5) and Mary C. (1 month) as well as his grandparents, Alexander (88) and Catherine (78). The census reveals that both John and his father Alexander were farmers. Only Patrick's parents, John and Maggie could read and write at the time of the census.
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| 1891 Census of Canada for Boisdale, Cape Breton and area |
John Nicholson's brother, Hector, and his family lived "next door" according to these census forms. Hector, who was about 7 years older than his brother John, was married to Bridget (nee Johnston). Like John he was a farmer. He had two children, Roderick and Katie Anne. Roddie, as he was known throughout his life, was a couple years older than my grandfather, Patrick. Katie Anne was just one year older. In A.J. MacMillan's genealogy of the region, To the Hills of Boisdale, we learn that Hector and Bridget had 4 children older than Roddie, but they perished in childhood as a result of diptheria. What a sad time that must have been.
Ten years later, when the census was taken again, John Nicholson and his family were still living in Boisdale (actually Rear Beaver Cove). However, neither of his parents were present in the record, so it appears their deaths occurred during the intervening years. Little sister Mary C. was also absent from the census. Did she survive her first year of life? No death record has been found for her or for her grandparents. We can only surmise that they passed away before 1901.
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| 1901 Census of Canada for Boisdale area (Rear Beaver Cove) |
As children growing up in Massachusetts, some of us knew our Uncle Dan and his wife, Aunt Annie (or Annie Uncle Dan, as our mother called her). Uncle Dan was just a couple years younger than our grandfather. They lived in Gardner, MA then, and we knew some of their children as well. But there were a couple facts about Dan Nicholson that I never knew. One was that his "real" name was Donald John. I now realize that the name Daniel was often interchanged with Donald in Cape Breton families. Not sure why that is. He was apparently named after his maternal grandfather, Donald MacEachern. Secondly, he had a twin brother named John Augustine. Not present on the census of 1901, apparently little John did not survive infancy.
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| Baptism register for Donald (Daniel) Nicolson and twin brother John Augustine |
My grandfather's other siblings grew up and eventually married and raised families. They were not known to me. I've been trying to learn as much as I can about these great aunts, great uncle and distant cousins through internet resources such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. The first born son and my grandfather's oldest brother was Alexander Joseph Nicholson. Born in 1883, Alexander was the namesake of his paternal grandfather. When the family left Rear Beaver Cove in 1907 for the coal mining city of Glace Bay, Alex instead moved to Hamilton, Ontario where he became a painter. Still single at the time of the 1911 census, he lived with a family as a lodger. In May of 1912, Alexander married Margaret Theresa Macdonnell, from Port Hood, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of the Hon. Samuel Macdonnell, and the couple was married in Hamilton.
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| Marriage register for Alexander Nicholson and Margaret Macdonnell |
They had three children: Anna M. (1914-?), Ronald T. (1917-2005) and Hugh W. (1920-?). I'm not aware of whether or not these cousins married and had children. I'm hoping to find out through DNA matching on 23andme.com or Ancestry.com. I have "met" many cousins through this new technology.
In 1925, at the age of 42, Alexander moved to Miami, FL where he went to work as a painter. His immigration document states that he is going to find work with his "brother", Roderick. Of course, he did not have a brother named Roderick, but he did have cousins named Roderick.
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| Immigration papers for Alexander Nicholson, 1925 |
This particular cousin was the son of George Nicholson, and his name was Roderick Allen Nicholson. He went by Rory Allen and was a building contractor. Why Alexander stated that he was going to Miami with his brother, I can't say. Perhaps it was just an error in recording their relationship or maybe it was easier for him to gain admittance when joining a brother as compared to a cousin. As far as I can tell, his wife and children did not accompany him. I don't think he was there too long. I've learned through communications with one of Rory's grandchildren that they had to leave Miami after a hurricane came through and took the roof off their house. Apparently this happened in the later 1920s. Then the depression came along, which probably spelled the end of any hopes of making it in a Miami construction boom.
The family settled in Windsor, Ontario where Alexander's wife, Margaret, died of leukemia in 1935 at the age of 52, when her youngest son was just 15 years old. Alexander lived until 1957, and the couple is buried in Holy Rest Cemetary, Windsor. I am not aware of any time Alexander visited his brothers in Massachusetts after Patrick and Daniel had settled there. If anyone can comment on that, I'd love to know.
There was one more sibling of Alexander, Patrick and Daniel; a sister named Jessie Anne. She was born in 1885, two years before my grandfather. When the family left Rear Beaver Cove and moved to Glace Bay in 1907, Jessie relocated with them.
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| Excerpt from 1911 Census of Canada, Glace Bay, NS |
In 1911, the Canadian Census showed a family of six people including father John, mother Margaret, sons Patrick and Daniel, daughter Jessie and 3 year old adopted daughter, Lily. We will save the stories of Jessie Anne and Lily for another post.
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