North Cumberland Historical and Genealogy Society, NS
10222 Durham Street B0K 1L0 Pugwash, NS, Canada

Mar. 26, 2021 - Harvey says thanks to all of those who acknowledged his debut on television. We think he did a wonderful job. Alice Dionne brought us a lovely bunch of Linden stuff today. Here is a photo of the original Darragh homestead. The middle building was where Rev. William Stavely Darragh first settled in the 1860's. He was the minister who erected the Renwick Presbyterian Church at Goose River. The buildings are gone now. We are closed next Friday for the holiday.

Hope you all enjoyed the look at the train station by Land and Sea. If you missed it, you can get it on CBC Gem at https://gem.cbc.ca//season-20/episode-2/38e815a-013b789c3be The clock Harvey is examining in the first shot upstairs is from West Pugwash school. It was donated by Dwight Gould who got it from the Woodlocks. Harvey will be signing autographs next Friday! And well done, Ken.

March 19, 2021 - Land and Sea, Sunday, 11:30, Historical Society - Let's hope it plays this time. Today's photo is from Pugwash in August 1939 - I am not sure why this group is gathered, are they a team, did they work together? Anyhow, here are their names. Back - Bert Lord Allen, Hazen Ripley, Fraser Polly, Layton Spence, Bob Lawther, Bert Chess Allen... Front - Ralph Richards, Ivan Spence, Fred Bergman, Lila Demings, Josh Allen, Manford Allen See more

January 29, 2021 - Lots of email requests today. Seems like people are using their at home time to look into their genealogy. As I know, that can pleasurably fill up a lot of time. Here are our Ross brothers again, thanks to a relative, Heather. James P. Ross and Arabella McKay and their two sweet little boys James and John. The second photo is the boys, but slightly older. Because of Louise Cloutier's lovely painting of these men on the train station, which is where our office is, we are feeling quite a proprietorial interest in them.

Jan. 22, 2021 - It is getting back to normal here. We had a visitor in looking at Coulters and Vincents who also brought a document from 1886 appointing Eli Angevine as a minister of Wallace Baptist Church. Also, Rebecca Taylor, new manager of the Cumberland Museum Society dropped by and we discussed ways we could collaborate. Andy Cunningham brought in some papers: obituaries, photos, old deeds, etc. to donate to us. Here signed by our past president is a copy of the certificate which people who had toured the mine got back in 1962. There were two certificates: one to Marion Reid and the other to Katherine Reid.

Jan. 15, 2021 - Someone requested info on the fires of Pugwash. Flames went through the majority of the village in 1877, 1890, 1898, twice in 1901, 1928 and lastly in 1929. There were also many smaller fires. The first big fire in 1890 removed the entire residential district while the one in 1898 burnt down the business district. Pugwash got its first fire engine in 1901, but the fire of 1929 saw 25 buildings burnt. After each fire, the town would be rebuilt. When the 1...929 fire started, a request for help was sent out to Amherst and Pictou. A special train brought firefighters from Amherst and a steamer came in from Pictou. A few houses were saved with wet blankets being put on them. The churches were saved by citizens led by their ministers putting out embers as soon as they lighted. Many were injured; many were rescued in the nick of time. This picture shows Durham Street after the 1898 fire. See more

Jan. 8. 2021 - We are back! We are here Fridays, but please phone or email if you wish to come in. The Huestis and Teed books have been updated by Harvey and are available for sale as flash drives or ecopies. Please see https://ncumbhistorical.wixsite.com/genealogyh/publications for our publications. Many of us who are younger or new to the area have been wondering about Jamie and John, the Ross brothers whose painting is mounted on the library wall. Louise Cloutier, the ...artist, took Vivian and I for a walk on a very cold day to see their graves. She told us her story and we pieced together other stories about them. Please have a read at https://ncumbhistorical.wixsite.com//ross-brothers-of-gulf And if you have anything to add, I would love to include more about them. Just email us with your story. Thanks to Louise for letting us include their image. See more

The Historical community mourns yet another valuable member of our team. Hope was a director of the NCHS for many years. We will miss her. The death of Elizabeth Hope Bridgewater, age 89, occurred on December 26, 2020 in All Saints Springhill Hospital, Palliative Care, following a recent illness. Hope was born in 1931 to Lillian (Tuttle) and Heber Tratt in Wentworth. Hope was predeceased by her parents and by sisters, Gertrude Tratt, Elsie (Alton) Langille, Grace Tratt and... by her brother, Wilfred (Barbara) Tratt. Survivors are Hope’s beloved son, Gregory Bridgewater, Wentworth, sister, Greta Tratt, East Cumberland Lodge, Pugwash; niece, Janet Tratt, Fredericton; sister-in-law, Barbara Tratt, Fredericton. As Co-ordinator of Children’s and Young Adult Services in the former Halifax City Regional Library system, Hope was an outstanding accomplished librarian (B.A., M.A., M.L.S.) and leader, delighting children with story, puppetry, inspirations and knowledge. With her highly valued staff colleagues, Hope was the catalyst for delivering great public library service to parents and children in Halifax. Following retirement, Hope enjoyed a fulfilling and active life in her cherished Wentworth with her son Gregory. There were many contributions to community events and organizations and, with her superior writing skills, many excellent newspaper articles celebrating life in the Wentworth area. With her passion for books and reading, lifelong learning, nature and social justice, Hope enriched the lives of many people. She will be greatly missed. Warm thanks are expressed to Jordan Sprague, Carol Hyslop, Melissa Langille, Barbara Palmer and cousin, Faye Langille, who provided much needed support and friendship to Hope and Gregory at this stressful time. If one desires to donate in Hope’s honour, in lieu of flowers, donations to the Wentworth Community Library & C@Psite (13371 Highway 4, Wentworth, NS, B0M 1Z0), an organization for which Hope was Vice-President for up until the time of her death, are greatly appreciated. Arrangements are entrusted to MacDiarmid's Funeral Home and Crematorium, Oxford. A private service will take place at a later date.

Oct. 9, 2020 - Newly caulked windows - and we can see out as the plastic is gone - thanks to the village for doing this. Today's photo is of Terry Smith enthralling some students with what looks like a good story. Who are these students? Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Oct. 2, 2020 - Today's photo is of the teachers at Wallace Elementary School in March, 1979. We are missing one of the names. From left to right Marilyn Williams, Jean McLean, Shirley Blair, Kathleen McNutt, Bernice Porteous and the last woman whom we think is a Clark? I am sure you can help us complete our records.

Sept. 25, 2020 - Things are getting back to normal here; however, we do ask that you make an appointment if you want to come in. We are here on Fridays 1 - 4. Today's picture is of the first graduating class of PDHS. 1959 was the year. We need to match the people with their photo. The yearbook says the graduates were Waldo DeWolfe, Michael Hollis, Beverly Dingle, Ronald Hartling, Ralston Hollis, Ruth Charman, Gerald Redmond, Marilyn Little, Ellen Giles, Helen Henderson, Jean Stillman, Jean Gillis, Loretta Smith, Jerry Jamieson, Florence Jamieson, Mac Drysdale, Harlow Hollis, Norma Smith and Gilbert Henderson. Can you help us put them in the correct order?

Sept. 11, 2020 - Good to have a few more of us back and working. If you have any requests, you can email them. If you would like to come in and do research, email and we can set up an appointment. Our summer worker, Patrick, has finished a detailed index to our cemetery book which will be very useful for us. This week's photo is from here at the train station. The jitney collected the cream to take to the creamery in Tatamagouche. It is still sadly missed.

Sept. 4, 2020 - A lonely place today as everyone is attending a dedication at the Wallace Museum for Jim Reeves who was maintenance man there for a number of years. Back to school time and here are the keen students of the 1946 class of the Malagash Mine School.

August 28, 2020 - We did find Gerald Murray's parents' obituaries - thanks for the tip. According to their obituaries Gerald had siblings - a sister Doris or Mrs. Ollie Millard of Springhill, mother of Audrey and a brother Ronald Murray of St. John, father of Ian and Linda. Can social media help us find these people and perhaps a photo of Gerald? Today's photo is from Fountain Road, Wallace Bridge. These are Richard, Maria, Rebecca and Robert Woodland. This family was originally from Ireland.

Aug. 21, 2020 - We are trying to catch up with the email requests that have come in while we were away. Here is one that I hope you can help us with. We know where he lived (Pugwash River Road) and who his parents were, but it would be nice if we can flesh him out for these people. Good evening, In the village of Kerkdriel (The Netherlands) a local war memorial has been erected to honour all allied soldiers/airmen who fell (for our freedom) in the Dutch villages of Alem, H...oenzadriel, Kerkdriel and Velddriel during World War II. A photograph of the war memorial is enclosed. One of the names on the memorial is the name of P/O Gerald Weyman Murray, a (former) inhabitant of Pugwash who’s Wellington bomber (R1266) crashed on June 2, 1942 in Kerkdriel. We have started a project to give all the men on the war memorial ‘a face’. Our intention is to compile a book or several booklets. We have already found much information about all men on the memorial, including information about Gerald Weyman Murray (even his service records), but we wondered if you have any further information available about him or his family. Especially photographs of him or where his family lived and genealogical information is very welcome. If you can’t help us, do you know an organization who can help us further? We can provide you with information too, because our research in the Canadian, Dutch and British archives and other sources has given us lot of detailed information about the bomber, its crew, the crash, the war graves etc. Thank you for your response. Kind regards from the Netherlands,

Aug. 14, 2020 - We are not ready to say we are back or open to the public yet, but we did come in today to try to get a handle on things. It has been really too hot to be upstairs in the train station. We are certainly looking forward to getting this place back to normal. Rev. James Munro's monument has been moved from the Gulf Shore to the Knox Cemetery in Wallace Bridge. We have had a student working for us this summer. Patrick Liebman has been compiling an index and s...canning materials. He has been working out of the Wallace Museum while the train station was in lockdown. We thank the Wallace Museum for their wonderful help for us. Today's photo is from Ray Little's Radio Cowboy Show and the performers are Ann, Ray, Champ and Dusty. We found this in our office today and were wondering if any of the people were from Cumberland County.