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Authority record
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.

Cameron, Ian
Person · 1943-

Dr. Ian Cameron was born and raised in Truro, N.S., the son of Graham Fraser Cameron and Margaret Geneviève Arthur. After completing his education at Mount Allison University and Dalhousie Medical School, he was a professor of Family Medicine at Dalhousie. After he retired from teaching, he practiced family medicine in Sherbrooke for five years before settling into retirement there. A fourth-generation Cameron family member in Sherbrooke, Dr. Cameron has a keen interest in the history of the area. He is the author of "Quarantine, What is Old is New," a history of the quarantine station on Lawlor's Island in Halifax Harbour.

Corporate body

In the years leading up to 1983, a group of descendants of the Country Harbour Loyalist settlers met to plan a re-enactment of the landing of these Loyalists to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the event. They gathered what historical materials they could, and set about planning an event to recall this pivotal arrival of Loyalist settlers to Guysborough Country. Sarah Mason-Wilson and Dalton Hudson were two of the dedicated community volunteers who made the July 1983 event a reality. In 2001, another generation of Loyalist descendants incorporated to officially form the County Harbour Loyalist Society, and to lobby the Municipality of Guysborough to establish a Municipal Park and Walking Trail with interpretive panels at Stormont, Country Harbour, to commemorate this important migration. The park was officially opened on 15 July 2006.

Crows Nest Mining Co.
Corporate body · ca. 1897-1902

The Crows Nest Mining Company mined for gold in the Crows Nest area of the St. Mary's River, near Melrose and Glenelg, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Crows Nest was part of the Cochrane Hill Gold Mining District. Little is known about the company, but property title searches reveal that the Crows Nest Mining Co. was incorporated in Maine in 1897 and located in Kittery. On 18 May 1897, Walter C. Cogswell of Newton, Massachusetts deeded property to this company (St. Mary's District Deeds Book J, p. 522-24). On 26 May 1902, the Crows Nest Mining Co. gave a quit claim deed to the property to Marland L. Pratt of Boston (St. Mary's District Deed Book 11, p. 117-19).

Cumminger Bros.
Corporate body · ca. 1860s - 1892

Cumminger Bros. was a prominent firm in Sherbrooke, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia from ca. 1860s to the end of the 19th century. John Cumminger (born 1827 in Sherbrooke, died 1892) was the senior partner, and at least three of his brothers, Ebenezer, Isaac, and Samuel were involved in the firm. The firm owned Cumminger Bros. general store on Main or First St., Sherbrooke, where they imported and sold British and other foreign merchandise. Adjacent to the store was the shipyard, and John Cumminger also held interests in sawmilling and goldmining. The Cumminger Bros. general store building was restored in 1970 as part of Sherbrooke Village Restoration.

Corporate body · before 1864 -1910

Eldorado Lodge No. 32 A.F. & A.M. was a masonic lodge in Wine Harbour/Port Hilford, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia that was established under a Scottish warrant shortly before Queen's Lodge No. 34 A.F. & A.M. was established in Sherbrooke in 1864. In the movement for the formation of the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia in 1866, Eldorado Lodge took an active role and was represented by W. Bro. A. McLean at the Convention of Representatives from the Scottish Lodges in the Province, held at Halifax, 16 January 1866. In March of 1866 the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia was formally organized and new warrants were issued. Eldorado was assigned No. 7, but was eventually renamed No. 32.

In 1910, Eldorado Lodge affiliated with Queen's Lodge and a number of Masons from Eldorado transferred membership to Queen's Lodge.

Ellsworth, Margaret
Person · 1912-1998

Margaret Cameron (nee Giffin) Ellsworth was born 16 July 1912 in Medford, Massachusetts, the only child of Alber Belle Savilla Fraser of Waternish, Guysborough County, and Eldon James Giffin of Isaac's Harbour, Guysborough County. Her parents met while living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. Margaret was raised in the United States, but returned frequently to Guysborough County to visit extended family and friends, often spending summers at the Fraser family home in Waternish (now demolished). Interested in local and family history, she amassed an extensive collection of photographs, genealogies, and other materials relating to the Fraser and MacIntosh families of St. Mary's, and the Giffin family of Isaac's Harbour. She married Henry Ellsworth of Greenfield, NY in 1959 and lived and worked in Illinois as a nursing professor. She died in 1998.

Faulkner, Paula
Person · 1964-

Paula (nee Horton) Faulkner is the daughter of John Horton and Margaret Carroll Sears. She was raised in the Municipality of the District of St. Mary's and attended school at St. Mary's Rural High.

Frank W. Jordan
Person · 1916-2012

Frank Wendall Jordan was born 17 November, 1916 in Sherbrooke, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, to John Abner Jordan and Blanche Augusta MacDonald Jordan. While training with the Royal Canadian Air Force, he met Joan Francis Barrington Armstrong in Sydney, Nova Scotia. They married, and returned to Sherbrooke, where they raised two daughters.

In addition to the RCAF, Frank worked in mines in Ontario, operated a general store on Main Street in Sherbrooke, then followed his sister Jennie Cruickshank into the role of Postmaster, later serving as President of the Nova Scotia Postmasters Association for District # 5. He was a devoted gardener who kept a beautiful home. Frank volunteered for many local associations, notably serving as Chair of the Sherbrooke Village Commission and President of the St. Mary’s Historical Society in the 1970s. His passion for regional history resulted in a rich fonds of material relating to life in the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s. Frank Jordan passed away on 31 May, 2012, at the age of 95.