I found this photo in one of the my Nan’s photo albums. The man is her brother Robert Power. He died quite young in his 20s from heart disease. I don’t recall seeing a picture of him before, so it’s nice to put a face to a name.
The girls in the photo are two of my aunts (his neices) – Rose and Beulah Mills. The East Jeddore church is in the background.
Last night I saw a post on a Facebook Group I am a member of looking to connect with any descendants of Thomas Edward Mills. The poster had a letter he wrote to her great-grandfather, a man named Thomas Carroll. Of course, Thomas Edward Mills is my great-grandfather. I wrote a previous post outlining his life.
Below is the letter he wrote to his friend Thomas Carroll. He wrote the letter on December 5, 1915 from the Bramshott Military Camp in England, where thousands of Canadian troops were stationed during the First World War. He includes a Christmas card and a photograph.
Reading this letter written by my great-grandfather gave me goosebumps. The letter provides a fascinating first hand perspective of a soldier arriving in England, adjusting to life in the camp, and readying to go to the frontlines in Europe. Eerily, he foreshadows his own death early in the letter. He was killed in action September 5, 1916.
Thomas was originally from Liverpool, and he mentions visiting his sister (perhaps he stayed with her family over Christmas), having left Liverpool 21 years previous. It makes me happy to know that he at least got to see his sister again before he eventually lost his own life.
I’m very grateful to the lady who shared this with me.
This week’s photo is a picture that was is in an album given to my Dad by my Grandma Hazel (Vansickle) Finch. In what seems to be a rarity when it comes to old family photos, my Grandma nicely wrote the names of these folks on the back of the photograph. Yay!
Here are George Henry Foster Young and his second wife Jane Bell with two of their children, Bruce (on the left) and Francis (on the right).
George H.F. Young is my second great grandfather. He was born in 1864 in Brant County, Canada West (today known as the Province of Ontario). He was an iron moulder and a farmer. Jane Mary Bell was born in Clogher, Ireland, a small village in County Tyrone (which is actually now in Northern Ireland).
They were married in London, Ontario in 1892, where they resided until moving to Ancaster Township in Wentworth County. They had two other children: Ella (my great grandmother) and Charles.
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.
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.
After Hallett died in 1961, Alice sold the family home in Nova Scotia and moved to Ontario, where she worked as a housekeeper. She died in 1972 in Barrie and is buried with her husband at Elm Grove Cemetery in Kings County, NS.
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.
By the time I was born there were only a few people alive that had any memory of my great-grandfather Thomas Mills. Even my own grandfather never met his father. So, he’s always been a bit of a mystery. I knew he was from Liverpool, England and that he died in the First World War. But that was about it. Over the years, though, I’ve been able to learn more about this man. I’m not sure if he is more or less of a mystery now, though.
His story begins in England. He was born on August 1, 1872 in Summer Seat in Liverpool – the son of Frederick and Alice Mills. You will not find a birth record for a Thomas Mills born in Summer Seat to Frederick and Alice, though. It turns out that Thomas was actually born Albert Edward Mills.
The family lived at 17 Summer Seat. There were other siblings, as well as Alice’s mother and brother, living in the household as recorded in the 1871 England Census. Albert appears in the 1881 England Census as a “9 year old scholar” (which is how school aged children were typically enumerated). By this time, the family lived at 85 Arkwright Street. And, mother Alice has died as Frederick the father is listed as a widow.
In 1890, Albert served briefly in Liverpool’s King’s Regiment. He disclosed this military service years later on his First World War attestation. (Again, you will not find any records of a Thomas Mills serving in the King’s Regiment; he is listed under his birthname Albert Mills.)
After being discharged from the British army, Albert left Liverpool for a new life in Nova Scotia. It’s unclear when or why he changed his name, but by the time he was living in Nova Scotia he most certainly went by Thomas. He appears as Thomas Mills in the 1901 Canada Census in Meagher’s Grant – where he is listed as 28 year old “helper” from England – living in the household of James Kerr. His future wife, Arabella, was also living in the Meagher’s Grant area at the time.
Thomas and Arabella were married on July 21, 1902 in Halifax. She was a widowed teacher and had a son (Colin Greenough) with her first husband. Colin’s father had died when he was only a year old so his stepfather Thomas was the only father he knew.
Thomas and Arabella raised their family on a farm in Gays River. He was also a cook in the lumberwood. They had six children in addition to Colin: Harland, Alice, Florence, Belle, Albert, and Alan.
In 1915, Thomas and Colin joined the war effort and enlisted with the 40th Battalion (Nova Scotia) Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was training at the Valcartier military base in Quebec when his youngest child Alan (my grandfather) was born in September of that year.
Thomas arrived in England aboard the S.S. Saxonia on October 28, 2015. He was eventually transferred to the 13th Battalion. On September 5, 1916, Thomas Edward Mills was killed in action in Courcelette, France. He is buried at the Courcelette British Cemetery.
My brother, sister, and I visited our great-grandfather’s grave marker at the Courcelette British Cemetery in 2004. Despite its name, the cemetery is dominated by Canadian soldiers who fell in the Battle of Courcelette. It’s a very well-kept cemetery in a peaceful rural setting. His name is also included on the war memorials in Gays River and Oyster Pond.
Thanks to the Internet, I have been able to connect with third cousins on the Mills side of the family (great grandsons of Thomas’ sister Elizabeth Mills) who still live in or near Liverpool. Ironically, one of these men was an officer for Canadian Pacific Steamships and had been to Halifax many times throughout his career but hadn’t known about the Nova Scotia connection with his family.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial for Private Thomas Edward Mills
Since the baseball all-star game is being played tonight, I thought I’d share a photograph of my great-grandfather Jonathan Wesley Finch. He played baseball in the Glanford area.
Unfortunately, there’s not much documentation for those early baseball teams, according to the Glanbrook Historical Society.
The particular photo was sent to me from Dad’s cousin Verna. A pretty neat picture.
Moving on to my paternal grandparents, here is the birth registration of my Grandma Hazel Aileen Vansickle. She was born in Jerseyville, Ontario – daughter of Allan Vansickle and Ella May Young.
