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N

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Nelson

Newcombe

Newson

Nicholson

Nix

Noiles

Northan

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O

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O’Brien

O’Blenis

O'Connor

Ogden

Ogilvie

Oickle

O’Neil

Orchard

O’Rourke

Orr

Osbourne

Osmond

Ouderkirk

Oulton

Oxley

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P

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Page

Palmer

Palmeter

Park

Parker

Parris

Parsons

Patriquin

Patt

Patterson

Patton

Paul

Payne

Payzant

Pearson

Peel

Peers

Perrin

Persin

Peterson

Pettigrew

Phillips

Piers

Pineo

Pipes

Pitt

Porteous

Porter

Powers

Price

Pridham

Pugh

Pulsifers

Purdy

Pushie

Putnam

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Q

​

Quigley

Quinlan

Quinn

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R

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Ralph

Ralston

Raworth

Read

Redmond

Reeves

Reid

Rhindress

Rhude

Richardson

Rideout

Ried

Ripley

Roach

Robb

Robertson

Robinson

Roblee

Rockwell

Rogers

Rogerson

Roscoe

Ross

Row

Roy

Royce

Rushton

Ryan

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S

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Salt

Salter

Salton

Sarson

Sartoris

Sayre

Schultz

Schurman

Scott

Seaman

Sears

Sharp

Shea

Shields

Shipley

Siddall/Siddell

Silliker

Simpson

Sisk

Skidmore

Slack

Smith

Smythe

Somers/Summers

Spencer

Spicer

Spinney

Sprague

Sproule

Staples

Starrett

Steele

Stephens

Stevens

Stevenson

Stewart

Stiles

Stillman

Stonehouse

Storey

Strang

Stromberg

Studivan

Sullivan

Sumara

Sutherland

Swallow

Sweet

Symes

 

T

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Tait

Tattrie

Taverner

Taylor

Teed

Teters

Thomas

Thompson

Thornthwaite

Tidd

Totton

Tower

Traxy

Travis

Treen

Tremaine

Trenholm

Troop/Troup

Trueman

Tucker

Tupper

Turner

Tuttle

Twaddle

Twombly

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V

​

Vale

Van Buskirk

Van Ember

Vickery

Vincent

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W

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Wacome

Wade

Wagg

Walker

Wall

Wallace

Wallis

Walsh

Ward

Warner

Warren

Wasson

Waugh

Weatherbee

Webb

Weeks

Weldon

Wells

Welton

Wethered/Wheathered

Wheaton

Whidden

White/Whyte

Whiting

Whitman

Williams

Willigar

Wilson

Wills

Winters

Wood

Woodbury

Woodland

Woodlock

Woodworth

Worden

Works

Worth

Wrathell/Wrathall

Wright

Wynn

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Y

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Yeoman/Yeaman

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The major part of our archives, and perhaps most useful for genealogical research of North Cumberland, is our vast collection of family files.  Within these files is a variety of information including letters, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and other family documents.  If you see a name that interests you, please contact the society and we will try to provide the answers to your question.  Or drop by on a Friday afternoon and look through our files.  Call ahead, and we can have the file ready for you.

A

 

Ackles

Ackerley (see Akerley)

Acorn

Adams

Adshade

Aitchison

Akerley

Akins

Allan

Allen

Amos

Anderson

Angevine

Angus

Apps

Archibald

Armour

Ash/Ashe

Atchison

Atkins

Atkinson

Atwell

Austin

Ayer

Aylward

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B

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Bailey

Baillie

Baird

Baker

Balkan

Ballantyne

Ballem

Barclay

Barry see Berry

Barton 

Battye

Baxter

Beaton

Beebe

Beharrel

Bell

Bembower

Benjamin

Bennett

Bent

Bentley

Bergman

Bernier

Berridge

Berry

Betts

Bigelow

Bigney

Bird

Black

Blaikie

Blair

Blinkhorn

Bliss

Blue

Blois

Bollong

Bond

Bonnell

Bonyman

Bordon/Borden

Boron

Bowen

Bowlby

Bowser

Boyce

Boyd

Bragg

Brander

Bragley

Brenan

Brenton

Brown

Brownell

Brundage

Bulmers

Bunton

Burke

Burns

Burnside

Butler

Byers

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C

Cairns

Cameron

Campbell

Canfield

Canning

Cantwell

Carberry

Card

Carr

Carter

Carty s.a. McCarthy

Casey

Cavanaugh'

Chambers

Chandler

Chapman

Chappell

Charman

Chase

Chipman

Chisholm

Christie

Church

Clark

Clay

Clyborne

Coates

Coffin

Colborne/Colburn

Cole

Collie/Colley

Congdon

Conn

Conners

Cook

Cooper

Copp

Corbett

Cormack

Cormier

Corrigan

Cosman

Coulter/Colter

Cove

Cox

Craib

Crane

Cranton

Crawford

Creelman

Crockett

Croft

Crosby

Crossman

Crowe

Crowley

Cudhea

Cumming/Cummings

Cumminger

Cunningham

Currie

Curtis

Cutten

D

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Daken/Dakin

Darby

Darragh

Davis

Davison/Davidson

Day

Delaney

DeMay (see Jorgenson)

Demings

Dench

Densmore

Devine

Dewar

Dewolfe/Dewolf

Dick

Dickie/Dickies

Dickinson/Dickison

Dickson s.a. Dixon

Dill

Dimock

Dingle

Dixon s.a. Dickson

Dobson

Doncaster

Donkin

Doorbar

Dorian/Dorion

Dotten

Dow 

Downey

Dunbar

Duncan

Duynisveld

E

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Eagle

Eaton

Eccles

Eddy

Edgett

Effie

Elliott

Embree

Estabrook

Etter

Ettinger

Evans

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F

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Fahey

Fanning

Faulkner

Feeley

Fenton

Ferdinand

Ferguson

Field

Fife

Fillmore see Fulton

Finley

Fisher

Fitzgerald

Finn

Flanagan

Flemming 

Foley

Forrest

Forshner

Foster

Fountain

Fowler

Fraser

Frazer

Freeman

Fullerton

Fulmer

Fulton see Fillmore

Furlong

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G

Gabriel

Gardiner/Gardner​

Garrett

Garvin

Gauvin

Gavin

Geddes

Giles

Gillis

Gilmour

Gilroy

Glenn/Glennie

Good

Goodman

Goodwin

Gordon

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Gould

Gourley

Gow

Gower

Graham

Grant

Greene

Greeno

Grew/Grue

Grey

Griffin

Gullen

Gunn

H

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Hadden

Halliday

Halsey

Halverson

Hamilton

Handley/Henley

Handy

Haney/Haner

Hannah 

Hannon

Hansen 

Hanson

Hare

Harpell

Harper

Harrington/Herrington

Harrison

Hart

Hartling

Hatfield

Hattie 

Hayden

Hayman

Hazleton

Heather

Hebert

Height/Hyatt

Heighton

Henderson

Henwood

Hensbee

Herrett

Hewson

Hickey

Hickman

Hicks

Higgins

Hilchey

Hills

Hiltz

Hingley

Hobbs

Hoeg

Hollis

Holloway

Horne

Horton

Howard

Howe

Hoyt

Hudson

Huestis

Hughes

Hume

Hunsley

Hunt

Hunter

Huntley

Hurd/Heard/Herd

Hurley

Huston

Hyatt

I

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Ibbotson

Irving

Iselin

J

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Jackson

Jamieson

Jarvis

Jeffers

Jenkins

Jenks

Johnson

Jones

Jorgenson

Jost

Joudrey/Joudrie

Jowsey

K

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Kearney

Keating

Keefe/Keif

Keillor

Keirstead

Keiver

Kelly

Kennedy

Kerr

Killawee

Kilcup

King

Kirkpatrick

Kirwin

Knight

Knowles

Koelling

L

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Laing

Laird

Lamb

Langille

Lantz

Lathrop

Latta

Lawrence

Lawrie

Layton

LeBreton

Leadbetter

Leake

Leard

Lefurgey

Legere

Leonard

Leslie

Letcher

Lewis

Light

Lines/Lynds

Little

Livingstone

Lock/Locke

Lockhart

Logan

Long

Longard

Lowden

Lowe

Lowerison

Lowther

Lumley

Lund

Lunn

Lusby

Lyall

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M

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MacAloney

MacAulay/MacAuley

MacDonald

MacDougall

MacEachern

MacFarlane

MacGillvary/MacGillivary

MacIntosh

MacIvor

MacKay/Mackey

MacKeils

MacKenzie

MacKinnon

MacKintosh

MacLean

MacLennan

MacLeod

MacLellan

MacNab

MacNeil/MacNeill

MacNicol

MacPherson

MacQuarrie

Maddison

Mailman

Main

Malman

Malone

Manchester

Manning

Martin

Mason

Matheson

Mattatall

Mattinson

Mazerolle

McBurnie

McCarthy

McCormick

McCullum

McCully

McDonald

McEachern

McElmon

McFarlane

McGee

McIntosh

McIsaac

McKennie/McKinnie

McKim

McKinnon

McLane

McLean

McLellan

McLeod

McMananan

McNab

McNeill

McNutt

McPherson

McRae

McSween

Meekins

Melanson

Meneely

Merry

Messenger

Metcalf/Metcalfe

Meyer

Mickle

Miers/Myers

Milledge

Miller

Milligan

Mills

Milner

Minahan

Mingo

Mitchell

Mockler

Mollins

Montrose

Moody

Moore

Mooring

Morewick

Morrell

Morris

Morrison

Morse

Moses

Moss

Muirhead

Mullins

Mundle

Munroe

Munsie

Murphy

Murray

Myatt

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PUGWASH

 

70 Water Street: The Clarke House

 

The Clarke House is on lot 103 of the original Black plan of Pugwash. A deed, signed by John and Sarah Black, shows that the land was purchased on Jan. 19, 1847 for 30 pounds by Dr. Joseph Clarke, a physician. The lot was on Water Street starting at Victoria Street and running east 85 feet and south 85 feet.

 

Joseph built a house which he named Napoleon’s Cottage. It also served as his office and his dispensary. In 1854, he also bought lot 106 for 80 pounds. That was on the corner of Water and Durham Street. He sold that land in 1873 to William Henry Brown for $364.00, and it eventually became the war memorial.

 

Dr. Joseph Clarke was born in Kilkenny, Ireland. He emigrated as a young physician and dentist to Nova Scotia. This was unusual as many Irish immigrants were coming to the area, but few were educated. He married Olivia King (Mar. 30, 1827 – Feb. 28, 1910), daughter of Lavina Pineo and Oliver King in about 1850. In 1853, their first child, Cyrilla Clarke (1853 – 1938) was born. She was followed three years later by brother William (1856 – 1882). Child 3, Joseph Holmes Clarke (1860 – 1938) followed soon after being born in 1860. Their newly built house was on Water Street, and Joseph was a successful physician with three children. He practiced out of his house, and it served also as his dispensary.

 

In the 1861 census, he was in a household of 8 in Pugwash, 5 males and 3 females. That same year, Dr. Joseph had a schooner built in Wallace, The Janet. Unfortunately, it sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1862. In the 1864 Hutchinson’s Directory, Joseph is listed as a physician and dentist. In the 1871 census, the family of 5 are in Pugwash and living with them are Hiram and Clara Huston. Hiram was an engineer at a steam mill. Servant Maggie Satoris is with them as was a sailor, Joseph Akerly.

 

Daughter Cyrilla married Edgar Augustus Elliott in 1874 in Amherst. Dr. Joseph Clarke was obviously a man of some influence and service to the village. On August 27, 1857, he was appointed coroner for Cumberland County. He held other offices for the village. In 1858, he was an assessor. In 1858 - 60, he served as commissioner of streets. In 1870 and 1875, he was one of three school trustees. In 1871, he was an overseer of the poor. In 1872, he and Dr. Creed participated in the examination of Mr. Macaulay’s 103 students. In 1877, he had a meeting with the premier to change the route of the Northern Light which went to PEI through Pictou. He successfully pressed for it to be changed to going from Pugwash to Victoria instead.

 

The Christian Messenger reported that on Jan. 25, 1880, Dr. Clarke, just before retiring, went into his surgery to get some medicine and made a mistake, taking carbolic acid instead of the preparation he intended to take. Before he had drank the whole dose he discovered his mistake and told his wife that he was poisoned and had only a few minutes to live. Dr. Dakin, who lived just across the street, was at once called and used all possible remedies, but Clarke died in half an hour. The Miramichi Advance added that he had not been well for some time. Dr. Creed and Dr. Mackintosh also arrived but Dr. Clarke was speechless and could only wave his hand to indicate that there was nothing to be done. Reports of his death showed that the deceased had been in practice for a great number of years and had been particularly successful in the treatment of diphtheria. He practiced out of his house, but he also was said to travel into the countryside regardless of weather. He was buried in Palmerston Cemetery.

 

The appraisal of Joseph’s estate showed 3 pieces of real estate – 17 acres of land on Irishtown Road, 1 lot in Pugwash of 80 feet x 80 feet with a house and a barn, and a farm of 150 acres where Thomas Sarson was residing. The lot in Pugwash and the furniture was deeded to Augusta and Cyrilla including the portion owned by son Joseph Holmes. JH relinquished all right to his portion of that land and deeded it to his mother and sister. By the 1881 census, Olivia was a widow. She was living with her daughter Cyrilla Elliott, also a widow, sons William and Joseph Clarke and Cyrilla’s children Daisy and Pearl. In 1891, she was still in her house in Pugwash with Cyrilla, Daisy and Edmund as well as lodgers John Seaman and William Morgan.

 

Olivia was burned out twice. On July 25, 1898, a raging fire struck the Durham Street area. Winds fanned the flames and without a fire department, eighteen families were rendered homeless. Olivia’s house was completely lost along with 17 other properties, including the house and barn of her son, Joseph Holmes Clarke. In 1899, Olivia was rebuilding on the site of her former residence at 70 Water Street. In 1899, Joseph’s daughter Cyrilla married again to Clarence Edward Reed a sea captain in Pictou. Cyrilla’s son Edmund Pearl married Hattie M. Hay that same year in Truro. Her daughter Daisy Elliott married Stephen Percival Wilson also in 1899. Joseph’s brother William had died without having children. In the 1901 census, Olivia is living alone. On Sept. 10, 1901, the Clark house was again damaged by fire resulting from thieves blowing up the safe in Brown’s store which was adjacent. The house caught on fire several times, but was saved by the people. The town had no fire department. Finally, on Nov. 11, 1901, was a large fire that almost wiped out the town of Pugwash. Olivia’s damage was recorded as $1500 for loss of house and furniture. As the winter coal and vegetables had been laid in, the damage was even greater.

 

Olivia had to build again. By January of 1902, they had decided to also build a meat market on the property. This structure was right next door to the house she was also building, the house that is there now. Olivia died on Feb. 28, 1910, of softening of the brain and exhaustion. She is buried in Willow Grove Cemetery. She was C of E. This is interesting because son, Joseph Holmes Clarke and family were RC.

 

In 1911, according to the census, Cyrilla and Edward Reed were living alone in the house.

 

Cyrilla’s brother, Joseph Holmes Clarke (April 8, 1860 – Jan. 13, 1938) was initially employed as a bookkeeper and auctioneer. In 1879, Joseph was a surveyor of lumber. He married Agustia (Gussie) Adilea Walsh (Mar. 17, 1866 -   ) on July 16, 1886 in Pugwash. In 1898, when he was a general merchant, they lived in Pugwash. Their house was burned in 1898, with the loss being assessed at $800 and insurance at $300. In 1901 they were in Pugwash with children Adilea, Joseph and Alexander. They were Roman Catholic. He was a general merchant and also a surveyor of lumber. In 1915, a poem of his was published in Moncton called “Home is home where ere it be”. In 1920 he was a fence viewer. This was a municipal post. He became very active in municipal government, receiving appointment as stripendiary magistrate at Pugwash, acting periodically as returning officer for municipal elections and even running as an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for a seat on County Council in 1922. In 1927, he was a Customs Collector. He also worked for a time as a conductor for the railway out west and as the station agent and telegrapher in Pugwash Junction.

 

In 1911, Joseph, Gussie and the children are all in Pugwash. In 1916, Joseph Holmes is living in a hotel in Cochrane, Ontario working for the railway according to his son’s attestation papers. In 1921 Joseph and Gussie are in Pugwash with son Joseph V. In 1931, they are in Pugwash with Daisy Wilson who is listed as their boarder. She was Joseph’s niece. Joseph was a judge by then. Joseph Holmes and Gussie’s eldest daughter, Adilea Mary Clarke (May 6, 1888 - ) became a teacher. When she retired, she moved into the Clarke house. After Adelia died, the house was empty for some time.

 

JH’s second child, Joseph Valentine Clarke (Feb. 14, 1890 [1901 Census] - ) joined up for WWI in March 1916 from Winnipeg where he was a switchman. He was hit by a bullet on Vimy Ridge, and his right arm was amputated. After his return to Canada, he married Jean Elizabeth Thompson on Sept. 14, 1921. She died, and he married Christina Williams in May of 1928. Chrissy renovated the family house and she and Joseph moved in.

 

He was an insurance agent for 40 years and sold his business in 1969. Jophie and Chrissie’s second child was Joseph. Another child was Marion Clarke who won a beauty contest and from that was offered a contract by the CBC in 1953 to work in television. She gave up her career as host of The Saturday Show in 1957 to marry Darroch MacGillivray. Their third child, Alexander Bernard Clarke (Jan. 31, 1892 – June 13, 1953) also enlisted in 1914. At Ypres, he was wounded and taken prisoner. His leg was amputated. He was returned to Canada in 1917. He married Marie Clarisse Cantin in Calgary and moved to BC. Joseph and Chrissy’s fourth child was James David Clarke. They had grandson Darren Clarke who wrote an article about spending his summers in Pugwash in the Clarke house. According to him, Joseph V. smoked and loved pipes and had a room in his house dedicated to pipes. When Joseph and Chrissie became older, they moved to a smaller house down Water Street. 

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Darren Clarke was a grandson of Joseph and Gussy and son of James David Clarke..  He wrote excerpts from reminiscences for “The Left Field Lark” June 18, 2018 Travel section.

 

Sitting on my grandparents’ sun porch in a rain storm – Pugwash is a tiny little town of 784 that sits on the Northumberland Strait at the mouth of the Pugwash River. My grandparents’ house sat on the corner of the town’s main streets, Water Street and Victoria Street. The sunporch overlooked Water Street and wrapped around half of the length of the house that ran parallel to Victoria. The windows were weathered, vaguely distorting the outside world. If you were sitting in the front of the house, you could look across Water Street and see Pugwash bay, its clay-coloured beach just steps away.

 

Memories of visiting my Grandfather - . . . lounging in lawn chairs beneath the tree in my grandparents’ back yard listening to my grandfather regale me, indeed educate me, with war stories and tales of his time as a magistrate – good decisions, bad decisions, funny decisions, in his endeavour to provide justice, the people he met, the ones that surprised him, the ones he respected, the ones that let him down and beyond that his stories of long lost World War I battlefields, former boxing champions (Tommy Burns) and so much more.

 

My grandfather’s pipes – My dad’s dad had tons of smoking pipes varying from simple corn cob pipes to straightforward wood pipes with plastic ends to crazy cool wood ones, some with improbably intricate metal ends. We loved them. He had an entire room dedicated to his pipes.

 

On the porch -The guns I remember really, rifles which appeared to be circa World War One. There was tons of random stuff there: almanacs, nicnacks, magazines, pins, old metal lighters that didn’t work.

 

The village – memories of collecting bottle caps out front of the same corner store in Pugwash where you bought the little packages of seaweed to eat.

 

70 Water Street was bought by John Caraberis and Bonnie Wood in 1996. They rented it to Dale O’Hara and Erin Horton who turned it into a restaurant known as Walden Pond, named after the book which Dale had been reading. It was a successful business. The current kitchen was the kitchen of the restaurant; there were two rooms which are now the dining room and living room and an outdoor deck on the Victoria Street side. Reception was from Water Street and Dale and Erin lived upstairs. It was next sold to Peter Sietel who used it as a storehouse for antiques.

 

In 2025, it was again bought by John Caraberis and Bonnie Wood. They renovated: municipal water was connected, the foundation was fixed, there was some new wiring and plastering, new heat pumps and a new roof were installed, the sun porch was repaired and a new entrance from Victoria Street was built. , and it is currently being occupied by a family who are new to the area.

 

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