North Cumberland Historical Society
John and James Ross of the Gulf Shore
Among the founding families on the Gulf Shore were the Rosses. One branch traces its roots to David Ross and wife Mary Smith, highlanders from the Island of Lewis, Ross, and Cromarty, Scotland who arrived in the early 1800's with their two sons, Donald and Alexander. Alexander born in 1793 married Isabella McKenzie, and they had two sons and a daughter. At some point the family moved to the Lower Gulf Shore to a property next door to what is now Paul Gray's land. One of Alexander's sons, David Ross, born in 1824, married Johanna McLanders who had been born in Scotland. Their son James P. Ross was born in 1861 and married Arabella MacKay. They had two children: James A. Ross in 1900 and two years later John R. Ross.
The Ross boys were apparently good students in school. They were able to read and write and worked the land with their father. James, the father, died when the boys were in their early 20's, leaving the mother and the two young men to carry on.
Neither of them married. James was the more outgoing of the two and took over the role of looking after the affairs of the farm and of John. He was renowned for his great strength. He was known to walk to the Co Op store in Fox Harbour and carry a bag of flour home on his back. John was the more reticent, rarely leaving the farm. He preferred the woods to the company of others. Arabella died of pneumonia when her boys were 40 and 38.
There was no electricity or running water on the property. They had no car. It was a life that many of our early founding families lived; John and James were a bit out of synch with modern day as most had managed to gain a few more luxuries by this time. Gulf Shore was changing rapidly with farms disappearing and summer homes making way to expensive permanent ones. Meanwhile, they were living much as David had, three generations before.
From time to time, neighbours would check in, lend a hand or offer a ride to the village. Visitors would be offered an apple from their orchard. As time went on, their house started to fall into disrepair, and eventually the brothers had to move into the barn. They took on the status of "characters" on the Gulf Shore. Around this time, Grace Mackenzie of the Gulf Shore snapped a photo of them which would be the source of the interest in them today.
James was hard of hearing; he didn't just speak to his brother, he yelled. John would have to yell back, so the neighbours were well aware of the goings on in the house. They had a Massey Harrison and a Ford tractor which neither of them learned to operate. During one attempt, Jamie took off on the tractor. When it refused to stop when he yelled whoa, he jumped off in disgust, and they continued to work the farm themselves.
They seldom prepared a supply of wood ahead of time. When they needed wood, they would walk to the woods (rain, snow or shine) and carry out a dead tree.
For the children of the lower Gulf Shore, this house was a wonderful and fascinating place to visit. Rather than stay at the school, they would troop in during winter noon breaks, while Jamie and John were eating their porridge and corn bread cake for lunch. Jamie would go to the basement and bring up a bucket of apples for the children. Jamie and John had a wonderful orchard with plums, pears, apples and a variety of delicious fruit. The table barely fit in the kitchen and every surface was covered with papers and other stuff that would draw the kids. The brothers insisted the kids call them Jamie and John and not Mr. Ross. And again, Jamie was the one who would do most of the talking – John was shy even with the children. But they are remembered fondly by those children today for their kindness.
There came a time when they could no longer look after themselves. Jamie moved to Alice Keeble's home in Pugwash and then to Beaton's Nursing Home where he died at age 72. John died a year later at 71 – he had gone on a path through the woods to visit Aubrey and Mrs. Stromberg of Fox Harbour. On the way home, he must have felt unwell as he cut a number of branches and made himself a bed of brush beside the path. There he died. The house and barn gradually disappeared. The brothers were buried with their parents and grandparents in the MacKenzie Cemetery on the Gulf Shore.
Years later, Louise Cloutier was a young artist living on the Gulf Shore in the old Robertson farmhouse. She was painting an old house, and to give it an additional layer of meaning, she incorporated two gravestones from the MacKenzie Cemetery into it. They just happened to be next to the Ross graves. Roland Rafuse saw the painting and, knowing she liked old houses, showed her the photograph of James and John Ross. She was immediately taken with it – American Gothic a la Gulf Shore.
The painting was exhibited at the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS) in Halifax. From here it was submitted to the Biennial Exhibition at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dotham, Alabama. It was the first Canadian painting to ever be exhibited there. This brought it some publicity, but Louise had to turn down buyers as her mother had fallen in love with it and wanted to buy it. Louise inherited the painting, and it came back to Cumberland County. Today it is owned by relatives of the Ross brothers.
You cannot help but wonder what James and John would think if they passed the train station today and saw their image so lovingly displayed there.
Thanks to Louise Cloutier, Nellie Van De Wiel, Bert van Vulpen, Mary Hartling and Alex and Janet Jamieson for their information about the Ross Brothers