Spurgeon Jeffery - Farmer, Building Hauler, Churchman

     The previous post on this blog was a 1938 article from the Guardian Newspaper about the accidental death of Spurgeon Jeffery.  
     Spurgeon was a well-known farmer and building hauler who lived in Lauretta and Alma.  In 1930 he moved his entire homestead up the Centerline Road to Alma - a distance of less than a mile. He moved the 12-year-old house, barns, and even the orchard.   My brother Kerras built a scaled model depicting the move.  
     Mabel (Jeffery) Barnett recalls the day the house passed by her family home (where Kerras lives today) - it was a memorable scene for a little 5-1/2 years old girl.
     Below are photos of the house and barn. 

Above, L-R:  Mary, George & Eva Jeffery with their mother Dorcas (Collicutt) Jeffery

     Kerras donated his motel to the Alberton Museum - below is a little booklet made-up for the occasion.  (click on the image to enlarge)

Here's photos of the model...

Spurgeon Jeffery killed at St. Louis October 1938

The Summerside Guardian and Prince County Chronicle

October 24, 1938 - Page 7

FATAL ACCIDENT -   A sad accident occurred at St. Louis on Friday afternoon about 5 o’clock resulting in the death of Mr. J. Spurgeon Jeffery of Alma, who was struck by the capstan of the machine used for hauling buildings.  Mr. Jeffery received such severe injuries to his head that he died about 11 o’clock that same evening.  Mr. Jeffery who is known all over the province as a contractor for moving buildings, was on a job at St. Louis moving a dwelling house when something went wrong with the machinery and Mr. Jeffery was struck such a blow on the head with the capsan that he was rendered unconscious.  The men who were working with him called Dr. J.A. Johnson of Tignish; Dr. R.H. Kennedy of Alberton was also called, but it was found that little could be done for him, and he was taken to his home, where he died without regaining consciousness.  The cause of death was a fracture at the base of the skull.  An inquest was not considered necessary.  Mr. Jeffery was a progressive farmer and had one of the best farms in the district of Alma.  He had operated a house moving outfit for many years and had moved many buildings all over the province.  One of the buildings moved by him was the Roman Catholic Church at Souris.  He was a member of the Anglican Church and an excellent citizen, and his death is a distinct loss to the community.  He was 75 years of age and leaves his wife formerly Miss Dorcas Collicutt of Lot 7, one son, George, and one daughter Eva; also a brother Rev. George A. Jeffery of Summerside, to all of whom much sympathy is extended in their sad bereavement.  The funeral took place on Sunday afternoon from his late residence to Holy Trinity Church at Alma, Rev. Wm. J. Phillips officiated at the service.  –S

Info cf. http://islandnewspapers.ca/islandora/object/guardian%3A19381024-007?solr[query]=Jeffery&solr[params][defType]=dismax&solr[params][facet]=true&solr[params][facet.mincount]=0&solr[params][facet.limit]=20&solr[params][facet.field][0]=PARENT_century_s&solr[params][facet.field][1]=PARENT_decade_s&solr[params][facet.field][2]=PARENT_year_s&solr[params][facet.field][3]=PARENT_month_s&solr[params][qt]=standard&solr[params][facet.date][0]=PARENT_dateIssued_dt&solr[params][f.PARENT_dateIssued_dt.facet.date.start]=NOW/YEAR-120YEARS&solr[params][f.PARENT_dateIssued_dt.facet.date.end]=NOW&solr[params][f.PARENT_dateIssued_dt.facet.date.gap]=%2B1YEAR&solr[params][f.PARENT_dateIssued_dt.facet.mincount]=0&solr[params][facet.date.start]=NOW/YEAR-20YEARS&solr[params][facet.date.end]=NOW&solr[params][facet.date.gap]=%2B1YEAR&solr[params][fq][0]=PARENT_decade_s%3A%221930%22&solr[params][qf]=OCR_t%5E10.0