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Authority record
Akins (family)
MG 1 Vols. 2-6 · Family · 1702-1959

Thomas Akin (1702-1775) and his son Stephen (1739-1827) of New England were grantees at the founding of the Township of Falmouth, N.S. in 1760. Stephen married Elizabeth King in New Jersey in 1761 and returned to Falmouth where their five children were born. Their eldest son Thomas (1762-1832) married Margaret Ott Beamish (d. 1809) and changed his surname to Akins after moving to Liverpool where he was an insurance broker and merchant. Their only child, Thomas Beamish (1809-1891), became a barrister and was appointed commissioner of public records for Nova Scotia in 1857. Captain John Stephen Akins (1796-1867), son of John (1766-1859) and Rebecca (1771-1826) and grandson of Stephen and Elizabeth, married Margaret Wilson in 1832. Their son Charles Edward (1833-1914), a farmer and orchardist, was married to Elizabeth Armstrong and had eight children. Charles' son Thomas Bernard Akins (1871-1959) participated in the organization of the Avon River Power Company Ltd. in 1923.

Alexander MacRae
Family · 1910-1984

Alex MacRae was born about 1910 at Antigonish, the only child of John MacRae formerly of Margaree Harbour and his wife Sarah / Hannah MacDonald of Glen Roy, St Andrews district of Antigonish County. The family residence was located on College Street. Alex MacRae did not marry. Alex MacRae served as the Registrar of Deeds for Antigonish until the time of his retirement. Following his death in 1984, his remains were buried alongside his parents at the St Andrews Cemetery.

Almon (family)
Family

William James Almon (1754-1817), son of James and Ruth (Hollywood) Almon, was born at Providence, R.I. and apprenticed as a physician and surgeon in New York prior to arriving in Halifax as a Loyalist. In 1785 he was appointed surgeon to the Halifax Alms House. In the same year he married Rebecca Byles, daughter of Rev. Dr. Mather Byles. Almon was later appointed surgeon-general of the military forces at Halifax and established a private practice as a physician and apothecary. His son W.B. (William Bruce) (1787-1840) graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1809 and succeeded him as physican and surgeon of the poor house. He also had a private practice as a physician and apothecary, served as medical health officer for Halifax, and was a founding member of the province's first medical board. He married Laleah Johnston (1789-186-?). Their son William Johnston (W.J.) (1816-1901) also entered the medical profession and became a member of the House of Commons in 1872 and senator in 1879. He married Elizabeth Lichenstein Ritchie (d. 1886) of Annapolis in 1840. Their son Thomas Ritchie (1843-1901) was the fourth generation Almon to practice as a physician in Halifax. He and his wife Frances Egan (1845-1942) of Quebec had a daughter and two sons. Their son Cotton Mather (1846-1883), married Ellie Dodd (d. 1906) in 1873; they had three children, William Bruce ("Bruce") M.D. (1875-1940), Susanna (d. 1958), and Caroline. William Bruce, (1875-1961), second son of Thomas and Frances, was a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Canadian Artillery and private secretary to the lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. He married Mary Hill Dickey in 1908 and had four children.

Amberman family
Family

Paul Amberman was born of Dutch origin in the colony of New York in 1745. In 1771 he married Mary Ditmires (born 3 February 1746), the daughter of Douwe Ditmires. The Amberman family came to Annapolis Royal in June 1783 as Loyalists. Their family included three children: Mary (born 1773, married George Vrome in 1803), Paul Amberman, Jr. (born 1775), and Douwe (born 1779, married Rebecca Gilliatt). Mary Amberman, wife of Paul Sr., died in 1805 and was buried in St. Edward's cemetery in Clementsport. Paul Amberman died in 1811. From all accounts he must have been a wealthy man when he came to Granville, as he purchased several lots of land from Robert and Jane Young, formerly of New York. One of his acquisitions was land originally granted to Benjamin Rumsey in 1764, which Amberman purchased from Peter Ryerson in 1784. This property stayed in the Amberman family until 1964, when it was purchased by Robert Pallen Patterson who renamed it “North Hills.” Upon his death in 1974 the property was bequeathed to the Province of Nova Scotia and is now part of the Nova Scotia Museum complex.

Anderson family
Family · ca. 1800s-1900s

The Andersons were a prominent business family in the Sherbrooke, Guysborough County area in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Alexander William "Sandy" Anderson was born ca. 1840 in West River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, where his family ran the Anderson Hotel at West River Station. It is believed that the family lived in the Halifax area, possibly Hammonds Plains, prior to moving to Pictou County in the 1830s. The youngest son of Robert and Elizabeth Anderson, by 1866 Alexander had moved to the Wine Harbour gold diggings in Guysborough County, where he worked in a store. In Wine Harbour he met his future wife, Caroline MacKeen, who was the local school teacher. When she returned home to Sherbrooke to teach at the newly constructed school house, Alexander moved to Goldenville, which was closer to Sherbrooke. He married Caroline MacKeen on 4 November 1867 and shortly after their marriage they opened a boarding house in Goldenville. At some point during the 1870s, Alexander started the firm A. Anderson & Sons (also at times known as A. Anderson & Son), general merchants, later located at Rock Hall on Main St. in Sherbrooke. Alexander also maintained interests in timber and shipping, and acquired a large amount of property. Alexander and Caroline Anderson had five children: Clarence Wentworth (1871-1944); Robert Henry (1874-1907); Mabel Elizabeth (1877-1918); John Alexander (1879-1937); and Ethel Hattie (1881-1971). Caroline MacKeen Anderson died in 1910 and Alexander Anderson died in 1918.

Robert worked in mining operations in the United States and British Columbia. He died in Spokane, Washington in 1907. After working for a time in mining with his brother in B.C., John worked for the rest of his life in the A. Anderson & Sons general store and did not marry. Ethel and Mabel studied at the Halifax Ladies College. Ethel married Dr. James Ellis and Mabel "May" married Alexander Gunn of East River St. Mary's.

A shrewd businessman and a prominent figure in the political life of Nova Scotia, Clarence Wentworth Anderson, known as "C.W.," furthered the Anderson family business interests in the Sherbrooke area in the early decades of the 20th century. C.W. worked for J. B. Gass in Antigonish for a couple of years before beginning his studies at Pictou Academy in 1887. He then returned to Sherbrooke to work in his father's general store. In addition to running his father's store at Rock Hall with his brother John, C.W. founded the Scotia Lumber and Shipping Company with his brother-in-law Alexander Gunn of East River St. Mary's, who had married Mabel. C.W. Anderson was elected to the provincial legislature in 1920 on the Liberal ticket, and was re-elected in 1928 and 1933. Beginning in 1908, he served as the Warden of the Municipality of St. Mary's, a position he held for 12 years. He was married twice, first to Annie Baker of Marie Joseph in 1895, with whom he had eight children: Alexander (1896-1926); Robert (1897-1973); Mary (1899-1968); Annie (1901-1988); Helen (1903-1920); John (1905-1906); Margaret (1907-1911); Caroline (1911-1925). He then married Katherine Clifford MacLennan in 1941, before he died in 1944.

C.W. Anderson's descendants also went on to have successful business careers in the Sherbrooke area. C.W.'s grandson, Jack, took over A. Anderson & Sons general store after C.W.'s death in 1944. He operated the store until 1990, when it was subsequently sold.

Annand Cooley family
Family

Mary Elizabeth (Annand) Cooley (1928-2017), political campaign manager and long-time volunteer with the J.W. Logan Chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.), married Donald Leonard Cooley (1926-2008) in Halifax circa 1949. “Mary Lib” was born in 1928, the daughter of Frederick W. Annand Jr. (1891-1957) and his second wife Mary A. Dickinson (b. ca1897), who could trace their ancestry back to William Annand (1808-1887) and his second wife Martha Tupper, publisher of newspapers the Novascotian and the Morning Chronicle, premier of Nova Scotia from 1867 to 1875, Agent General for Canada in London 1875-1879 and Agent General for Nova Scotia in London 1885 until his death in 1887. William’s son Charles Annand (b. ca1841) also earned his living as a publisher, was appointed Queen’s Printer for Nova Scotia in 1875. He petitioned the Government for crown land in 1885 and leased a gold mine in Queens County in 1886. Charles Annand married and had a son Frederick William (b. ca1864) who married Charlotte S. Dickie (b. ca1866) in August 1887 in Kings County and earned his living as a farmer. Their son Frederick William Annand Jr., became an insurance broker and married Mary A. Dickinson on September 18, 1926.

Donald Leonard Cooley (1926-2008), a watchmaker and jeweler, was born in 1926 to Charles Leonard Cooley (1887-1960) and Winnifred M. Nicoll (1885-1961). He began his career in 1946 working in his father’s and uncle’s business, Cooley Brothers Jewelers Ltd. of Halifax, NS. He later worked for Webster China and Gifts, and Cooley Jewelers. With his wife, Mary Elizabeth Annand, they raised 5 children. Donald’s father, Charles L. Cooley, was born in London, United Kingdom and apprenticed in the watch, clock and jewelry business from 1903 to 1906, then immigrated to Canada in 1912. When Charles’ younger brother Robert W. Cooley (1890-1964) arrived in Halifax ca1914, they formed Cooley Brothers Jewelers Ltd.

Archibald (family)
Family

Samuel George William Archibald (1777-1846) of Truro, N.S. was a lawyer, politician, and judge. He was admitted to the Nova Scotia bar in 1805 and served as solicitor general, 1826-1831, attorney general, 1831-1838, advocate general in the Court of Vice-Admiralty, 1831-1841, and master of the rolls and judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, 1841-1846. He was also a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1806-1841. Archibald married his first wife Elizabeth (Dickson) in 1802. They had fifteen children, nine of whom survived to adulthood: Charles Dickson (1802-1868), John Duncan (1804-1830), Edward Mortimer (1810-1884), Mary (1814-1838), Thomas Dickson (1817-1875), Samson Salter Blowers (1819-1893), Peter Suther (b. 1820), William George (b. 1822), and Robert Dickson (b. 1828). Four of the sons entered the legal profession: Charles was a barrister, businessman, and MLA, 1826-1830, and later moved to England as a magistrate; Edward was attorney-general of Newfoundland, ca. 1842-1855, and later British consul-general at New York, knighted in 1882; Thomas practiced law in England until his appointment to the Queen's bench in 1873; and Peter Suther was a barrister and colonel in the militia. Samson was a businessman in Sydney. Their mother Elizabeth died in 1830 and S.G.W. married widow Joanna Brodley in 1832.

Family · fl. 1840-1904

Captain Thomas H. Armstrong (d. October 26, 1852) was one of the many children of Thomas Armstrong of Newport Landing, Hants Co., NS. Around 1840, he married Melinda Mosher (c.1823-1884), the eldest daughter of Nancy Malcom and shipbuilder Nicholas Mosher, Esq., M.P.P. They had two children: Annie Elizabeth (1842-1928) and Elevia (c. 1847-1877).

Avon D. Saxon, 1857-1909
Family · 1857-1909

Avon D. Saxon was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1857. He appeared in New York and Boston with the Boston Ideal Opera Company in January and February of 1888. He made his London Stage debut as the original Friar Tuck in Arthur Sullivan's opera "Ivanhoe" at the Royal English Opera House, which ran from January to June 1891, and appeared in the same role again when the opera was revived for six performances in November of that same year. He later played Ben Brace in the comic opera "Wapping Old Stairs" (Vaudeville Theatre, February to April 1894), and in July and August 1894 he had his only engagement with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, appearing at the Savoy as Francal in the first production of Messager's "Mirette". His last appearance on the London Stage was in September 1894, where he played Major Victor Pulvereitzer in the opera "The Queen of the Brilliants". He returned to Nova Scotia around 1895, and toured throughout the province. He died in Berwick on 24 March 1909, aged 52.

Aylward (family)
Family

Walter J. Aylward (1859-1940), son of Captain Thomas and Adelaide (Winn) Aylward, was born in Liverpool, England. Following his mother's death in 1860, he lived in Falmouth, N.S., with his grandmother, Mary Aylward. Walter was a farmer, an authority on dyke construction, and held various local government positions including town clerk of Falmouth, 1904-1910. On 15 October 1883, he married Mary Louise Akins (1861-1957), daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Akins of Falmouth. Walter and Mary Louise had nine children: Thomas, Lurana, Adelaide, Charles, Annie, Marguerite, Walter, Catherine, and Isabell.