Off to the west to make their fortune

This is a picture of my three Great Uncles: Robert MacFarlane "Farley"(DOB 1878), Alexander Stewart "Stewart" (DOB 1883) and Alphonse George Inglis (DOB 1881). They were among the many, many young men who left their homes in Nova Scotia and went west in the early 1900s to find their fortune. Their destination, Greenwood, British Columbia.

In Greenwood: The Early Years of Canada's Smallest City and other West Boundary Towns,  Reed Turocotte notes that "in 1896, Greenwood went from almost nothing to a small mining camp in a matter of months. In 1897 it went from a mining camp to a real live town. Throughout the year the sound of hammers and saws were heard throughout the Boundary Creek Valley with houses and businesses being built at a feverish pace." Finds of cooper, iron, coal and gold drove the economy and by 1901, the population had risen to over 1,300 people.

When brothers, Farlie, Stewart and Alphonse Inglis arrived in Greenwood, they found a thriving city with numerous hotels, two newspapers, a hospital, a school and many other amenities. In spite of the fact that they were all in their twenties, family legend suggests that their mother, Annie, went out west with her boys and stayed to cook and clean until they got settled. I am always amazed to think that she made that long trip, leaving behind four younger children, including my grandfather Charles, to be cared for, no doubt, by her one older daughter, Katherine.

In the early 1900s, mining was a dangerous occupation and deaths were a common occurrence. I knew from my Great Uncle Alphonse's grave stone that he died on May 27, 1906 at the Sunset Mine in Greenwood but only recently found information on exactly what happened. Apparently a fuse failed to ignite after Alphonse dropped it into the drill hole and after a few minutes, he went back to check on it. Unfortunately for him, the fuse was only delayed and exploded as he looked into the hole. He died within a few minutes.

This link provides a transcript of the inquest Fatality at Sunset Mine excerpt from The Ledge, Thursday May 31, 1906

A second mention is made of Alphonse in the June 7th, 1906 edition of The Ledge

Resolution of Condolence: The following resolutions of condolence were adopted by the Greenwood Miners Union, No 22, W.F.M. touching the death of our departed brother, Alphonse G. Inglis, who was killed at the Sunset Mine on the morning of May 27th, 1906.

Whereas; the hand of the grim reaper death has gatherd from among us one whom we had all learned to love and who was cut down in the prime of life at the age of 24 years and 8 months, and now his work is done and all that is mortal has been laid to rest in the silent tomb; but the lessons learned from his noble life remain and will encourage others on to heroic deeds, and we realize with deep regret something of the sorrow of the stricken father and mother, sisters and brothers and dear friends, the home with the vacant chair, and the longing for a smile and words of comfort and cheer from one who has been so kind and affectionate, we also realize the fact that this Union and community has lost one who always stood for the uplifting of his fellow man and to better the conditions of all with whom he came in contact.

Farlie and Stewart returned home with Alphonse's body and he was interred in the North Lochaber Cemetery where he could be close to his family.

Hope you are having success digging for your roots.... until next time

A love story - told and retold .......

I love these two pictures of Annie Inglis and her husband, Alexander Campbell Stewart. Annie was my great grandaunt and she was born Oct. 7, 1863 in Lochaber, N.S. Her parents where John Inglis and Cecilia McLaughlin. Alexander was born Nov. 30, 1839 also in Lochaber. His parents were Peter Stewart and Janet Inglis. John and Janet Inglis were siblings which made Annie and Alexander 1st cousins. Annie and Alexander married in Lochaber in 1885. They had a daughter Margaret Cecilia on Feb. 6, 1887. Between their marriage and Margaret's birth, Alexander left Lochaber in search of employment. Annie did not hear from him for many, many years and so eventually moved to Massachusetts. In 1905, Alexander reappeared and they remarried. This story caught the attention of quite a number of newspapers and its retelling emphasizes the need to take what is written by others with a grain of salt.

Here are some of the conflicting/questionable issues that arise from the various articles:

When did Alexander leave for the west: One article reports that Alexander left a week after his wedding to Annie.  As noted above, they had a child born in 1887 so it seems he was around for a bit longer than a week.

How did they meet: One newspaper says Alexander and Annie met for the first time while traveling to Boston on a boat. This is highly unlikely since they were cousins and both lived in Lochaber.

Their families were not happy about the relationship. A number of newspapers mentioned this - a) They were married against the wishes of their parents; b) Annie's family objected to the second marriage and 3) Annie's parents kept her from meeting Alexander in Minnesota. This could possibly be true but I have no other evidence that this was the case. He was considerably older than her but I don't think that was not particularly unusual at the time.

What was Alexander doing for 20 years: One paper suggests that Alexander "rose to become a manger of one of the largest concerns in Minneapolis". According to the information I have found in Town Directories for Minneapolis, Alexander was a laborer, a hostler and at best a foreman with the Boston Ice Co.

Did Alexander look for his wife: One paper says Alexander, after returning from the west, went to the village where he was born (Lochaber), and searched unsuccessfully for many days for Annie. This seems odd to me since the two were related and both their families lived in the same area. Lochaber was not a large place with the 1901 census reporting only about 350 residents.

How did they meet again: One paper's version is that while visiting with his brother in Salem, Alexander accidently bumped into his wife on the street in Salem. Another newspaper says Alexander appeared unannounced at Annie's door in Salem after 20 years away.

The oddity of sharing a name in common: One report said "Another peculiar part of the affairs is that her name was Inglis and his mother bore the same name". This is not particularly odd. As noted above, the two were first cousins.

Regardless of the discrepancies, Alexander and Annie remarried in December 1905. Annie died just three years later at the age of 44 on April 6, 1908 in Salem. Alexander died on June 8, 1911 also in Salem.

I have added the articles. Hope you can read them as they are quite entertaining.