This week’s photo is a picture of my great-grandmother Arabella Jane (Mitchell) Mills. She was born October 4, 1871 in Oyster Pond, Halifax County, Nova Scotia – the daughter of Colin Mitchell and Nancy Hurley.
In 1892, she married Isaac Gaetz Greenough. They had two children, including a daughter who died in childhood. Isaac died in 1896 at the age of 24. In 1902, she married Thomas Edward Mills (my great grandfather). The family lived in Gays River, Colchester County.
Thomas was killed in the First World War, and she moved the family back to her home in Oyster Pond. She died on Christmas Day, 1942.
I don’t know who the baby is in this picture. I’m assuming it is a grandchild.
Hallett and Alice (Mills) Beach with their son Leeland. Alice was my Grandad’s sister.
Sometimes, I really enjoy researching periphery families in the family tree. After all, you can only get so far with direct ancestors. Plus, the ancestors (and their descendants) on the periphery often provide you with clues to knock down a brick wall and go further back with your direct line.
Delving into the periphery families introduces you to newfound cousins who have their own stories to tell and old photographs to share. Likewise, you can share what you have with them. Win-win.
So, who are Alice Mills and Hallett Beach? Alice is an older sister of my grandad (Alan Mills). I didn’t know much about her other than the fact she lived in the Kentville area of Nova Scotia and eventually moved to Ontario. She died before I was born so I never met her. In fact, my mom had only met her Aunt Alice a few times (they had no car back in the day so no way to get to Kentville from Oyster Pond).
Alice Alexandra Mills was born on April 5, 1906 in Gays River, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, the second child of Thomas Mills and Arabella Mitchell. She was named after her paternal grandmother Alice from Liverpool, England. I suspect her middle name was given as a tribute to her uncle (Arabella’s brother) Alexander Mitchell, who died in an accident only a week before she was born.
Alice was just ten years old when her father was killed in the First World War. No doubt this would have had a big impact on her life. Not only did she lose her father, but as the oldest daughter she would have been burdened with the added responsibility of helping to raise her younger siblings – even though she was but a child herself.
Eventually, she married Hallett Beach, a farmer and lumberman, from South Alton, Nova Scotia. They raised six children: Maxine, Christina, Florence, Gertrude, Etta, and Leland. There was also a stillborn girl. Christina was the only one I met as she lived in Hamilton.
When I first got back into genealogy a couple years ago I made contact with Alice’s daughter-in-law (Leland’s wife) Helen. She has been a wealth of information and has shared pictures of the Beach family; she’s also helped me to identify photos I had of the family.
I have also connected with some of Alice and Hallett’s grandchildren – my second cousins. So, I’ve made a few new friends, too.
For anybody working on their family tree, I strongly recommend spending time on your grandparents’ (and great-grandparents’ and great-great-grandparents’….
This is one of my favourite pictures in my collection. I love the two horses and the old cabin in the background. It was in my great grandmother Arabella (Mitchell) Mills’ photo album. Like too many old photographs, the people or location aren’t identified.
The man on the far right could be my great grandfather Thomas Edward Mills, but I’m not certain. If it is him, perhaps the photo was taken in the lumberwood near Meagher’s Grant, Nova Scotia, where he worked as a cook.
The picture above was actually digitally restored and colourized from the original below.
I thought I would start sharing the many photos I have gathered or that have been shared with me. The goal is to post a picture a week. So, here goes.
This week’s Photo of the Week was sent to me by my cousin Todd. I had never seen this picture before.
Here is a photo of my Grandma, Hazel Vansickle (on the left), and her siblings: Dorothy, Jean, and George. I’m guessing this photo was taken early 1920s.
