Minnie Follette - A Supreme Sacrifice

I’m thinking this month of the young nurses who were on the HMHS Llandovery Castle, a Canadian hospital ship serving during World War 1.  It was torpedoes in 1918 by the German navy U-86 which then surfaced and machine-gunned the survivors in the water in hopes of destroying evidence of this act against international law.  Of the 234 doctors, nurses and crew, one was Minnie Follette of Port Greville, Cumberland County.  Minnie enlisted in the Army Corps in 1911 and served in Quebec until she was sent overseas in 1914.  She was hospitalized for exhaustion and bronchitis in 1917 and then returned being posted to the HMS Letita in 1917 and later to the Llandovery Castle.  She was 33 years old when she drowned.
Canadians considered the event one of the war's worst atrocities and the event was presented at the Leipzig trials.

What's in a box? Ern Thompson et al.

Some time ago, my mother gave me a box of old negatives presumably from a group of family photos. At that time it was difficult to have prints made from them. I was recently able to arrange prints, and low and behold, a number of family photos appeared that I had never before seen. One in particular intrigues me. It includes my grandfather, (second from right). I think it is possible that his father is sitting to the left of him. But I have to say that I love the woman with the glass of beer and cigarette strongly held to her mouth. My grandfather Ern Thompson, we called him Bubby, was a descendant of Richard Thompson, first settler of Oxford Nova Scotia. Ern was raised in a small homestead in a place called South Victoria, Cumberland County Nova Scotia. I remember him playing checkers with my brother and coloring with me. He was color blind and so would often color the cows purple, much to my despair. He once played the fiddle as a young man and would often hum a tune with his fingers tapping along. I only wish I knew who else was in the photograph. A mystery waiting to be solved.

Memorial

November 11 always makes me think of my father and his friends and neighbours, all gone now.  A neighbour who enlisted when 16 and drove tanks in Italy, a neighbour who lost his leg stepping on a land mine (we used to love tapping the prothesis), and my father who was only 18 when he was sent to England.  I have not yet taken the time to get his wartime record but hope to do so soon.  Then there is my uncle who trained pilots, and my great uncle who died preparing as a pilot for war.  When I looked at his online record, I was struck by his resemblance to my nephew, those genes do continue.  So young and so many lost stories and experiences, it will take effort to sustain those stories to the next generation. 

I am going to make a more concerted effort to add more local stories to this blog, I have been neglecting it.

Margaret Jackson, Local Nurse Arrested

Although this episode in Amherst history may still be in living memory, I hazard to repeat it here.  I came across the misadventures of Margaret Jackson while looking for information in the Oxford Journal about my great aunt. This is an incident that I had never heard before in my research of Amherst stories.

Margaret Jackson, local nurse, was taken into custody in 1932 charged with the murder of an infant child born to Mr. and Mrs. James Corbett.  It seems that Mrs. Corbett and her three week old baby Margaret Alice were being nursed by Jackson who prepared the baby’s bottles.  When the infant became ill, Nurse Jackson called Dr. Drury to attend who discovered Lysol in the milk.  Baby Margaret died the morning of May 10.  Miss Jackson and the evidence were immediately taken into custody.  During court proceedings, it was attested to by witnesses that Lysol was not used either by the neighbouring dairy supplying the milk to the Maccan family nor by the family’s maid Ruth Briggs.  Following court proceedings and a review by the Attorney General, charges against Margaret Jackson were dropped.  The local paper reported that the well known and popular nurse was congratulated by her many friends upon her release, “all of whom stood by her in the recent crisis that she was forced to face”.  In fact the newspaper editor wrote an editorial on August 31 about the steel character of Miss Jackson stating that “she conducted herself with a womanliness and a quiet dignity that could only come from a consciousness of innocence”.

Margaret Jackson herself wrote the paper following her release explaining that she was writing only because the Crown had dropped the charges before she had an opportunity to explain herself.  In her letter she stated that there was indeed Lysol in the Corbett home and Creolin (a substance that also could have been the culprit) in the neighbouring dairy. 

Jackson moved to Fredericton living there for 10 years where she working in her nursing profession.  She died in 1951 at the age of 67.  She had two brothers and five sisters and was buried in Amherst. 

The infant Margaret had three surviving sisters.  Their father James Corbett was a mechanical engineer at the Canada Electric Company in Maccan.

All concerned must have been deeply wounded by this sad story.  If you know more, I look forward to hearing from you.

I recently did an overview of some of my ancestors for a nephew and thought that I would share it here.

   

 This is the information on the attached photo collage:

Top Row:
Donald Herbert Atwater Thompson and Laurene Rosalyn Paul Thompson, (my parents). Don Thompson was a veteran of World War II at the age of 18, he received his certificate in accounting from Mount Allison University and worked for D. A. Casey Limited for 20 years before his death by fishing accident at the age of 41. Surviving were his wife Laurene and 6 children. Laurene Paul Thompson trained as a nurse at Springhill, Nova Scotia and practiced for a number of years. Soon after her husband’s death she established Thompson’s Answering Service which she ran as sole proprietor for 21 years.

Duncan Ross (my father's maternal grandfather) was the grandson of Alexander Ross who immigrated to Nova Scotia from Scotland in 1833. Duncan farmed the original land grant at South Victoria, growing food for shipping. His apples from his apple orchard were sold to Britain and the family grew flax which was woven into linen for local use. Duncan had 1 son and 6 daughters.

Maude Roberta Ross (1862-1955) outlived three husbands.  She was married to second husband John Ross cousin to Duncan Ross.  John died at the age of 38 leaving her 3 children.  She married Duncan who had 7 children and helped him with the raising of those children.

Ellen Laura Bell Furlong Paul (1895-1977) was married to Earl B. Paul. She was the daughter of Joseph Howe Furlong of Southampton, a descendant of Henry Furlong, a Yorkshire settler of 1755 to Southampton, Cumberland County. Henry Furlong established one of the first hotels in Cumberland County during the stagecoach era. Ellen and Earl had 10 children.

Francis Lavinia Shields married Elisha Budd Paul (father of Earl Barrington) and bore him 8 children. Lavinia was the descendant of Irish immigrants to Nova Scotia.

Elisha Budd Paul, (1858 – 1936) (father of Earl Paul) began working at the age of 12 and became a mine coal cutter by the age of 18. He was a councillor and Deputy Mayor for the Town of Springhill, Grand Master of the Provincial Workmen's Association and appeared before a Royal Commission reporting on the work of boy miners in 1889. He was a miner during the 1891 explosion and worked hard to introduce the United Mine Workers to Springhill. In 1904 he was elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature and served for two terms. In 1911 he served as registry of deeds and was made Deputy Inspector of Mines in 1912 serving until 1926.

Middle Row:
Ross Girls: Elsbeth, stepmother Maude, Elizabeth, Annie, Esther and Margaret. Margaret was the mother of Donald Thompson. Elspeth and Elizabeth moved to California at the age of 18, Elspeth becoming the secretary to a Supreme Court Judge and Elizabeth a school teacher. Annie purchased the family farm from her sisters and continued the farm until her death. Esther died at a young age.

Ern Thompson Family. My father Donald Thompson is the small boy on the left, Don’s brother Ken on the right. Don and Ken's mother was Margaret Isabel Ross Thompson (1893-1977) graduated from Empire Business College in 1914, with an average of 84. She did all of the business management of her husband’s butcher business in Springhill. Far right is Ernest Herbert Thompson. Ern and Margaret were raised in South Victoria, Cumberland County and made their home in Springhill.

Ern Thompson as a young man.  "Bubby" always was ready to play checkers and color pictures with his grandchildren. You can see in the photograph the bow to his fiddle which he played at local dances as a young man.

Bottom Row:
Earl Barrington Paul (1895-1984) was the son and grandson of Springhill coal miners. He was self taught as a machinest and rose in career to mining inspector, superintendant and finally General Manager of the Springhill and Glace Bay coal mines for Dominion Coal and Steel Company. Earl Paul was president of the Machinests Union, Councillor for Town of Springhill, Deputy Minister of Labour for Nova Scotia and Director of All Saints Hospital. 

My maternal grandparents were Ellen and Earl Paul.  Ellen Furlong Paul and Earl Barrington Paul at their cottage at spruce haven, West Pugwash.

Ernest Herbert Thompson (1877-1959) left school after grade 3 to work in the lumber mills of Cumberland County to help support his parents large family. Because he was too small to fell lumber, he was sent out to trap, hunt and fish game for the cookhouse. From those skills he developed a profitable and popular butcher shop for Springhill. Ern Thompson was one of 12 children. He is fifth from the left in this photo, a rare photo of most of the siblings, taken on the day of their mother’s funeral.

 Moore Simpson Thompson and Sarah Elizabeth Roblee Thompson. Moore and Sarah were
Ern Thompson’s parents. Moore was forth generation descendant of the first settler to Oxford, Nova Scotia. Richard Thompson arrived from Yorkshire on the ship “Two Friends” in 1774. He purchased land and established the town of Oxford. Richard built the first timber house in the area, ran a saw mill, became surveyor of highways, and gave land for the establishment of Oxford’s cemetery and Methodist Church. Sarah Roblee’s mother Abigail was well known as midwife to the area, helping with the sick in her local community.

I am so pleased that "Haunted Girl" has made the short list for the Atlantic Book Awards. Keep your fingers crossed until Thursday May 16 for the results. Either way it is wonderful to have Esther recognized. A rose between two thorns.

Christie bathers

When I worked on Amherst's Centennial celebration in 1989, the late Janet Christie gave me some photos to use.  This one of Christie girls digging for clams at Tidnish Beach is my favorite.  Imagine wearing those hosery on a hot day.