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Category: Mitchell Family

  • Four Members of the Mitchell Family Lost in Halifax Explosion

    Four Members of the Mitchell Family Lost in Halifax Explosion

    December the Sixth is a sombre anniversary. On December 6, 1917, almost 1,800 people were killed and another 9,000 were injured in the Halifax Explosion. The catastrophic accident occured when two ships – the Mont-Blanc and the Imo – collided in the Halifax Harbour. The Mont-Blanc, carrying TNT on board, caught fire and ultimately exploded. The devastating blast was felt as far away as Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island.

    Among the dead were four members of the Mitchell family of Oyster Pond Jeddore. Lost were Mary “Minnie” (Dooks) Mitchell, wife of Colin Peter Mitchell, and three of their children: Reginald, Aletha, and Mary. They were living in Halifax at the time. In the days following the disaster Halifax newspapers ran lists of the victims as they were identified and buried. The Mitchell family appears on the list below (towards the bottom). They were buried at the St John’s Anglican Cemetery in Oyster Pond.

    Source: The Halifax Evening Mail, 24 December 1917, page 8.

    My Mom would always remind me of the Halifax Explosion on the anniversary of the disaster. She knew the story well. Let us remember all those who lost their lives on that fateful day many years ago.

  • Photo Post #32 | Peter Samuel Mitchell (1835-1929)

    Photo Post #32 | Peter Samuel Mitchell (1835-1929)

    The above photo (taken on August 10, 1927 as written on the back) was sent to me by Christine Mitchell, a distant cousin. Here is Peter Samuel Mitchell (my great-great-great uncle). Peter Mitchell was born in 1835 in Oyster Pond Jeddore, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. His parents were Alexander Mitchell and Elizabeth Hurley.

    He died July 18, 1929 at the home of my great grandmother Arabella (Mitchell) Mills, the same house my grandparents lived in and where my mother was born. He was 94 at the time of his death, which is quite remarkable for the time period and considering the general conditions on the Eastern Shore throughout his lifetime.

    Like many ancestors in Jeddore, he was a mariner.

  • Marriage of Colin Mitchell and Agnes “Nancy” Hurley

    Marriage of Colin Mitchell and Agnes “Nancy” Hurley

    My 2nd great grandparents Colin Mitchell and Nancy Hurley were married on September 13, 1863 at Jeddore by Rev. Robert Jamieson. Above is a photo of the marriage bond filed by Colin and his father Alexander Mitchell.

    Wikipedia has a good article on marriage bonds and their use. Basically, they were a means for the man to legally affirm his intention to marry a particular woman and confirm there was no legal impediment to the marriage. If the marriage didn’t go through, he and the co-signer were on the hook for the amount listed on the bond (£100 in this case).

    Fun fact. Colin and Nancy were not only husband and wife; they were also first cousins – not an uncommon occurrence on the isolated Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia

  • Photo Post #15 | Alan Mills and Sam Mitchell

    Photo Post #15 | Alan Mills and Sam Mitchell

    Here is a picture of my Grandad Alan Mills (left) and his friend Sam Mitchell. Sam lived up the road from my Grandad in Oyster Pond, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. Not only were they lifelong friends, they were actually distant (third) cousins.

    Alan Victor Morash Mills was born 11 September 1915 in Gays River, NS. He died on 20 January 1995 after a brief battle with lung cancer. Samuel William Harvey Mitchell, son of Archibald Daniel Mitchell and Emma Cox, died on 31 January 1995 – only days after attending my grandfather’s funeral.

  • My Grandad’s House in Oyster Pond

    My Grandad’s House in Oyster Pond

    Here is a photo of my grandad Alan Mills’ house on East Jeddore Road in Oyster Pond, Nova Scotia. The land where this house once stood was originally part of a parcel purchased in 1885 by Colin Mitchell (my 2nd great grandfather), Henry Mitchell, and Provost Jennex.

    The house remained in the Mitchell family after Colin’s death in 1896. I believe this was Colin’s homestead that he left to his youngest son James. James died young with no children, and there is then a break in the chain of title.

    My great grandmother Arabella (Mitchell) Mills (Colin’s daughter) resided in the house following the death of her husband Thomas Edward Mills in the First World War. They had been living in Gays River.

    My grandparents Alan Mills and Rose Power moved in with Arabella in the late 1930s. Arabella died in 1942. In 1948, Alan Mills (Arabella’s son) is listed as the owner of the property.

    My mother was born in this house in 1949. Three of the five girls in the family were born here.

    When I was a child, we visited my grandad every summer and stayed at this house. I remember the pitch darkness at night and either the sound of frogs or of dead silence. Much different than our home in Hamilton.

    Other memories include hiking in the woods with my grandad’s dog Duke; hanging out on “the rock” by the house; watching VHS wrestling tapes with my grandad; playing with my brother and sister while my parents played crib with Grandad and his companion Mabel Myers; visiting the chickens, pigs, goats, or pony (Lady) in the barn; foraging for wild blue berries; and, of course, seeing the many peculiar individuals (and, believe me, there were many!) who would pop in for a visit.

    After my grandad died in 1995, the house was sold and eventually torn down. Some years later, I went back to the property and walked around a bit – reminiscing of years gone by. I picked up a piece of siding off the ground, the last evidence of the old house that stood many years.

    An unidentified couple dancing in the dining area/kitchen in my grandad’s house. This photo was in one of my Nan’s (Rose Power) photo albums.
  • Photo Post #3: Arabella Jane (Mitchell) Mills

    Photo Post #3: Arabella Jane (Mitchell) Mills

    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.