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Category: Photo Posts

  • Photo Post #37 | Stephen Harold Baker

    Photo Post #37 | Stephen Harold Baker

    Here is a photo of Stephen Harold Baker. He was my mother’s first cousin, the son of Edna Power and Mason Baker. I hadn’t seen a picture of him until my second cousin Joyce sent me this one. Sadly, Stephen died in a motorcycle accident on September 7, 1976. He was only 20 years old.

    It had to have been an incredibly trying time for my great aunt Edna (we called her Aunt Poode). Her father (my great grandfather) Earl Power had died the day earlier on September 6th. Within the span of just four days, she lost and buried both her father and her youngest son.

    Aunt Poode was certainly the most religious of her siblings as far as I can tell and recall. No doubt it was her faith that helped her through this difficult time.

    Stephen H Baker obituary, Halifax Chronicle Herald, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 9 September 1976, page 29.
    The Halifax Chronicle Herald, 8 September 1976, page 3.

  • Photo Post #36 | Thomas Edward Mills

    Photo Post #36 | Thomas Edward Mills

    To commemorate Remembrance Day, this week’s photo is of my great-grandfather Thomas Edward Mills.

    He was born on August 1, 1872 in Liverpool, England (his birth name was actually Albert), the son of Frederick Mills and Alice Lyon. The family lived at 17 Summer Seat.

    In the 1890s he immigrated to Nova Scotia and settled in the Shubenacadie/Gays River area where he met my great-grandmother Arabella (Mitchell) Greenough, who was teaching in the area at the time. They married in 1902 and had six children.

    My grandad Alan Mills was the youngest and was born in September 1915. At the time of his birth, his father was in Valcartier, Quebec having joined the 40th Batallion (Nova Scotia) Canadian Expeditionary Force earlier that year.

    On September 5, 1916, Thomas Edward Mills died in battle in France at the age of 44, having never met my grandad. He is buried at the Courcelette British Cemetery.

  • Photo Post #35 | Vansickle siblings & spouses

    Photo Post #35 | Vansickle siblings & spouses

    (L-R) Gordon & Edna (Vansickle) Wilson, Herbert & Hazel (Vansickle) Fair, Harley & Phyllis (Reed) Vansickle, Harris & Marie (Fonger) Vansickle, and Allan & Ella (Young) Vansickle

    Here is a photo of my great grandfather Allan Vansickle (back row on the right) along with his siblings and their spouses. My great grandmother Ella May Young is sitting in front of him.

    A note on the back of the photo indicates that the picture was taken at a Vansickle family picnic.

  • Photo Post #34 | Doris (Mills) Finch

    Photo Post #34 | Doris (Mills) Finch

    It’s hard to believe, but it’s been one year since Mom left this world for a better one. So, it’s only fitting that I share some photos of her.

    Mom was one of my biggest genealogy fans. She always enjoyed learning new information I discovered. She was also one my my best sources, helping me connect the dots and answer questions about ancestors long gone. I sure do miss her.

  • Photo Post #33 | Florence Elizabeth (Mills) Titus

    Photo Post #33 | Florence Elizabeth (Mills) Titus

    Aunt Florence was the only sibling of my Grandad’s that I met. The others were long gone by the time I was born. Growing up, we would visit her and her husband Herbert Titus (Uncle Herbert) at their home in Dartmouth each summer when we went to Nova Scotia.

    When my Mom was sick with tuberculosis as a child, she had a lengthy stay at the TB Hospital in Halifax. Nan and Grandad, living in Oyster Pond, could visit her only on the weekend when they could borrow a friend’s car. Fortunately for Mom, her Aunt Florence and Aunt Belle visited her through the week, bringing with them various books, magazines, and paper dolls for her to enjoy. Mom would always remark how much those visits meant to her.

    Florence Elizabeth Mills was born June 3, 1908 in Gays River, Colchester County, Nova Scotia. She was the third child of Thomas Edward Mills and Arabella Jane Mitchell. She was likely named after her mother’s sister Florence Mitchell and her father’s sister Elizabeth Mills in Liverpool, England. She was probably the last family member who had any recollection of her father who was killed in the First World War.

    Florence married Herbert Titus in 1931. They had two daughters: Elizabeth and Marjorie. Herbert also had a son from his first marriage. Florence died in 2002. She was the last of the Mills siblings

    Source: The Halifax Mail July 20, 1931 page 11
  • 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.

  • Photo Post #31 | George Henry Foster Young

    Photo Post #31 | George Henry Foster Young

    Here is a photo of my great great grandfather George Henry Foster Young. He was born in 1864 in Northfield Centre, Brant County in present-day Ontario. On May 4, 1892 he married Jane Mary Bell from Ireland. He was a widow; his first wife was Barbara Hesson.

  • Photo Post #30 | Bertha Arabella Mills

    Today is my aunt Bert’s birthday. She would’ve turned 80. Born Arabella Bertha Mills (we always called her “Bert”) she was the third daughter of my grandparents Alan Mills and Rose Power. She was born April 26, 1944 at home in Oyster Pond Jeddore, Nova Scotia.

    When I was growing up, Bert and her first husband and their family lived next door to us on the Beach Strip in Hamilton. I can still remember the days when she would pick me up from school. Those were the best days because she would always take me to Burger King in their orange pick-up truck. I loved that truck – and the trips to Burger King.

    Years later, she and her second husband lived in the house on the other side of us. So, Bert was our neighbour twice. Bert died September 10, 2021.

    Here is a photo of Bert taken when she was two years old. My Nan’s writing is on the reverse of the photograph.

  • Photo Post #29 | Dancing Grandparents

    Photo Post #29 | Dancing Grandparents

    Here are a couple photos of my paternal grandparents Clifford and Hazel (Vansickle) Finch dancing at their 45th wedding anniversary reception in 1982. I love the smiles on their faces. They were clearly having a great time.

    I can only vaguely recollect this event as I was only (almost) 5 years old at the time. I remember everybody getting up and doing the “chicken dance.”

  • Photo Post #28 | Terry Fox

    Photo Post #28 | Terry Fox

    Here is a photo of a Canadian icon: Terry Fox. The photograph was taken by my Grandad Alan Mills during the famous Marathon of Hope in 1980. I’m not exactly sure where the photo was taken, but Terry was on his way to Halifax. My Grandad was very proud to have met Terry Fox and I’m delighted that I have this photo. A bit of Canadian history.

    Of course, Terry Fox died of cancer the following year, but his legacy lives on through the annual Terry Fox Run held in Canada and around the world. My Grandad died of lung cancer in 1995.