Mabel (Jeffery) Barnett, 90 today

     Today is my Aunt Mabel's 90th birthday.  Mabel Ethel was born in Lauretta, the 4th children of Louis and Annie Jane (Cannon) Jeffery.  Mabel married William *Bill* Barnett on November 13, 1946.  They had two children: Carol (b. 1949) and Myles (b. 1957).  For many years Mabel worked at Griffin's Warehouse in Elmsdale.  Mabel and Bill lived at Elmsdale Corner beside the train tracks - following Bill's death Mabel and Carol moved to Alberton where they live today.

Jeffery Siblings Above: Eileen Greene; Wilbert; and Mabel Barnett.

Photo taken by Carol Barnett at Jeffery Picnic, Alma, August 2010

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Lauretta Summer 1941 - Louis & Annie Jeffery's children:

Back Row: Mabel Kinch (neighbour) Mabel, Stirling and Wilbert

Front Row: Eileen, Gladys and Preston

Missing are older brothers Gordon and Harold

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     In the summer of 1930 when Mabel was 5-1/2 years old she remembers Spurgeon Jeffery's house moving down the road to it's new location to Alma across from Jimmy Dunbar at the top of the hill on the Centerline Road.   The house had been built in 1912 on the corner of Centerline Road and Klondike (now McLellan Rd) Road in Lauretta.
     Below is a model built by Kerras Jeffery depicting the moving process - the model can be seen at Alberton Museum. 

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     On the night of December 25th, 1947 Mabel saved the lives of two Matthews children in Elmsdale.  Below is the story as told in the newspaper and an excerpt from the book about Elmsdale, Goin to the Corner.    

Alma Children at Alma School - Summer 1965

     Here's a few great photos taken by Donna (Barbour) MacPhee on the Alma School grounds in the summer of 1965 - they're amazing!!  We're fortunate she had the foresight to document everyday goings-on in our little community!

Above: Alma Children

Back: Judy & Verna Smallman, Mary McNeill, Debbie Bowness and Gwenda Barbour.

Front: Kevin Kelly, ? McAssey, Carter Jeffery, Gordon & Margaret McAssey, ? Shields.

In the background you can see Alvie Mountain's Homestead at Alma Corner.

Above:  ? Girl with Ralphie Clark peaking around from behind.

Note the buildings in the background -

Will & Sadie Mountains house on the far left; and rear view of Rennie's Store & sheds.

Above: Anne Marie Murphy, daughter of Wilbert & Geraldine (Gavin) Murphy.
Behind Anne the boys are playing with Blanche Crocket's dog, Laddie (far left).
In the background on the left is 'Con' Cornelius & Jennie O'Brien Homestead
at the corner of the Western and Centerline Roads.  On the right is Art Rennie's house.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Alma

     The little white Anglican Church at the top of the hill on the Western Road in Alma has always been closely connected with the families of Alma.  Construction of the church commenced in 1888 and was consecrated on October 20, 1890.  

     The following is a list of the founding families - Barnett, Bearisto, Boyle, Cannon, Currie, Jeffery, McLellan, McNeill, Murphy, Simmonds, Smith and Vincent.  The region served by the church also included the following communities: Elmsdale, Lauretta, Montrose, St. Lawrence, Woodvale, etc.

 These are the earliest known photos of the church - taken possibly just before WWI.

     Stephen E. Jeffery was the first Warden of Holy Trinity Alma.  Over the years the family has been closely connected to the church with Stephen's descendants also serving as Wardens - ie.  his son Spurgeon Jeffery; grandsons George Jeffery and Stanford McNeill; great-grandson Wilbert Jeffery and today his great-great-grandson Carter W. Jeffery.

     Below is an article which appeared in the West Prince Graphic on September 1, 2004 telling of a similar story.

     In 2007 Holy Trinity Church and the Cemetery were entered into the P.E.I. Rural Beautification Contest and won prizes for improvements carried out the previous two years.

     The Cemetery was established in 1887 with the first burial of the infant daughter (Elizabeth) of Spurgeon & Dorcas (Collicutt) Jeffery followed not long after by the second burial of Elizabeth (Vincent) Smith, wife of William Smith (second warden of Holy Trinity).

     The 1-1/2 acre parcel of land the church sits on was bought from the John Currie family next door for twenty dollars.  Below is a document outlining the transaction dated the 26th of March 1887.  ( This document cf. Diocese of NS & PEI Archives, Halifax, NS )

Changes in 2013

     In 2013 three life-long residents of Alma, elders of the community, moved to nearby towns = Willie & Wanda Dunbar; Wilbert & Verna Jeffery; and Barbara Rayner.

     Willie was born, raised (with three brothers) and spent most of his life on the family farm on the Dunbar Road - living there for more than 70 years.  Willie farmed here along with driving the school bus.  Willie and Wanda sold the house and barns in the summer of 2013 and moved to O'Leary.

     Wilbert was brought up in Lauretta on a family farm with seven siblings.  Shortly after marrying Verna they bought David & Bessie Jeffery's farm the summer of 1963 following David's death.  It's at the corner of Centerline and Dunbar Roads.  Wilbert and Verna lived here 50 years raising seven children. They moved to Alberton in May 2013 - now renting the farm as a Holiday House.  

     Barbara was born, raised and spent her life here on the family farm at Alma corner - having lived there for more than 70 years.  She was an only child.  Barbara and John farmed as well, Barbara taught school and John drove the school bus - they raised three children.  Following John's death she moved to Alberton, having tenants in the house for the winter.

Abigail Jeffery

     Abigail Jeffery was born on August 6, 1898, baptized on September 11, 1898.  She died on October 3, 1911 probably of pneumonia or meningitis - she was buried the following day at Holy Trinity Alma cemetery.
     Abilgail was the daughter of Spurgeon Jeffery and Dorcas Collicutt.  There is little known about Abigail, other than she was a child living with her parents, a brother and two sisters - they lived at the corner of Centerline Road and Klondike Road (today known as MacLellan Road) in Lauretta.  Amoung the papers found in her family's home, following the death of her sister Eva in 1982, was the hand-written short story below, likely a class assignment at Lauretta School.  The story was possibly told to her about her grandfather Stephen E. Jeffery who was a blacksmith down the Centerline Road less than a mile away in Alma - Stephen died two months after Abigail.  Abigail's uncle Albert was a blacksmith at Alma Corner and her uncle Robert was blacksmith in Elmsdale.

     Abigail was likely named after her grand aunt Abigail (Jeffery) Burns, sister of her grandfather Stephen E. Jeffery of Alma.  Aunt Abigail (1826-1913) lived in Sherbrooke, PEI.

     Spurgeon and Dorcas lost three children at a young age – Elizabeth died at 7 days old on June 9 1887 (first to be buried at Holy Trinity Alma Cemetery); and a daughter Hannah died at the age of 7 years old on May 1898.

Rennie's Store, Alma Corner

     Alma Corner was always a busy place for the goings on of the community.  At the corner there were once stores, blacksmith shops, the post office, the school, a cooper, etc. - today there's nothing there at all except for homes.
     The location of Rennie's Store, on the southeast corner, was originally the home of Albert Jeffery (1857-1905) of the Centerline Road, son of blacksmith Stephen E. Jeffery.  Albert married Roannah Riley (1862-1929) - they had one adopted daughter, Pearl.

Below:  Blanche (Rennie) Crockett home, former Albert Jeffery home.

Below:  Blanche (Rennie) Crockett.  Photo taken in the summer of 2002.

 Below: The 2nd Rennie's Store, southeast view.

 Below: Rennie's Store, northeast corner.  Demolished in the summer of 2007.

     Below: the northeast corner at Alma Corner - the Mountain homestead where Alvie Mountain operated a blacksmith shop.

      Below: an old barn that the Mountains traded land for with Ellis Smallman - this old barn came out from the Centerline Rd. in Lauretta.  It was demolished in the summer of 2007.

      Below:  the Mountain Homestead - the home of Alvie and Millie Mountain.  Alvie was a blacksmith.   Their three children: Leslie, Margaret and Frank always lived here - they never married.  The house had been abandoned and was demolished in the summer of 2007 when Route 2 highway and the intersection was rebuilt.

      Below:  a page from the book, Alberton & Area: A Pictorial Experience Through Time showing the first Rennie's Store which burned in 1921.

Below:  cf. page 104 of the Alberton & Area book showing Fred Rennie's Egg Waggon.

     The new books about the History of Elmsdale tells much about the history of the Rennie's and the origins of the family with their forefather Luigi Riani (anglicised to Louis Rennie) coming from Tuscany, Italy with his a friend Mr. Platts around the turn of the nineteenth century.  Louis' son Fred built and operated stores at Elmsdale and Alma corners.

A Cabin in the Woods on the Centerline Road

     I came across the following note that Eva Jeffery had written-out to a cousin on July 12,
1977 to tell her family's history about coming to Alma.
     "My grandfather's name was Stephen Jeffery - his family came from England many years ago.  He set out from Bedeque for the western part of the Island, so i am told, and landed in Alma (1860) and built a little log cabin in the wilderness.  It was nothing but a forest at that time.  They must have endured great hardship to make a living for himself and his family in the wilderness with no cleared land.  I would liked to have written a History of the Jeffery family but did not think of it when my father and mother were alive as they had alot about the family - they are both dead now..."

Image cf. http://tonguekissesandtyranny.blogspot.ca/2010/09/little-about-me.html

     Settlement in the Alma area began early in the mid 1800's with settlers along the Western Road where they had easy access to the road - there was little settlement in the backwoods.  Older residents of the Centerline Road recall their forefathers saying that the Stephen Jeffery home was the oldest on the road.  

      Above: Stephen Emmanuel Jeffery (1830-1911) and his third wife Jane Collicutt (1842-1814) - they were married in 1868.  Stephen had 5 children by his first marriage to Maria Fields; no children from his second wife Mary Ann Lewis and 8 children with his third wife Jane Collicutt.  In total there were 12 children raised in this home - 10 sons: William, Albert, Spurgeon, George, Abram, Richard, Stephen, David, Joseph, Robert and 2 daughters: Elizabeth, Jane and Rebeccah who died at birth.

     Above: sketch by Carter Jeffery depicting the Jeffery homestead around 1890.  The house was built in the late 1860's.  See it today in image below - Jeffery homestead.

Alma Folk

     Here are some photos from the Donna (Barbour) MacPhee collection of a few people around Alma and Laruetta.

 Above: Daisy (Rix) Barbour and Raigh Currie.

 Above: 25th Wedding Anniversary of Isaac and Edna (Herlihy) Dunbar.

    Above: Jean (Barbour) Oliver; Wanda (Barbour) Matthews; way in the back, Daisy (Rix) Barbour; Eva Jeffery; Geralda (Shields) Arsenault and Velda (Dunn) MacRae.  The date on the photos is 1962 - fifty years ago.

 Above: Mrs. Allan Clark; Blanche (Gordon) Clark and Scott Clark.

     Above:  Taking a break from planting potatoes - Leslie Mountain; Blanche (Mountain) Bowness; Sid Vincent: Lila Mountain; Geralda Shields; ? ; Preston Murphy.

Off to Malagash Salt Mine

     In 1939 Stephen Kinch, son of Martin & Theresa (Walsh) Kinch of Alma, and Harold Jeffery, son of Louis & Annie Jane (Cannon) Jeffery of Lauretta, left their homes on their bicycles, off to find work in the Malagash Salt Mine in Malagash, Nova Scotia - they traveled the whole distance on their bikes.  According to MapQuest, on today's roads, that's a distance of 262 miles from Alma to Malagash. 
     Harold was 18-years-old in June 1939 that year - he worked in the mines for 2-1/2 years.  Expecting to be called to serve in WWII, he left Malagash and came back to Lauretta to wait for the call.  He was in the army for 3-1/2 years - training in western Canada and did not serve overseas. 
     Martin also went on to fight in WWII.

Above: a bicycle similar to those sold in the 1930's

cf. Google Images.
http://www.autogallery.org.ru/adler.htm

     The Malagash Salt Mine was the first rock salt mine in Canada.  It opened in 1918 and closed in 1959.

Above: Malagash Salt Mine c.1930s

cf. http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/histoires_de_chez_nous-community_memories/pm_v2.php?lg=English&ex=00000308&fl=0&id=exhibit_home

Alma School - Winter 1972

     This photo was given to my brother Kerras the other day by Norma Barbour - she was a Substitute Teacher and taught at Alma School on two occasions that winter, January 4th and February 7th, 1972 - the following photos were taken on either of those days.

 Above: Norma (Locke) Barbour at the head of the class.

     Above: Wayne McNeill in front left.  I think that's me, Carter Jeffery, by the window, 2nd back in blue sweater - I was in Grade 4 with Kevin Kelly and Jean Murphy.  I can't identify the rest of the students.  This is the east side of the school, facing the Western Road and schoolyard.

Mrs. Donald's Invitation to Tea - 1922

     The following letter was found amount the papers of Eva Jeffery.  An invitation from Mrs. Leander Donald to her mother Dorcas.  Mrs. David (Bessie) Jeffery moved to Alma in January 1919 following her marriage to David.

World War I - Roll of Honour

     At Holy Trinity Alma Anglican Church there's a framed honour roll at the front of the Church.  Below is a photo of it inscribed with the names of local men who went off to the First World War of whom one was killed in action. 

Below is the Roll of Honour list transcribed:

Corpl. Samuel Bearisto (killed)

Corp. Perley Vincent

Pte. Robert Lester Vincent

Pte. Charles Earl McNeil

Pte. David Vincent

Pte. Levi Jeffery

Pte. Clifford Evans Vincent

Pte. Ambrose Edmund Boyles

Pte. William Herbert Boyles

Pte. John Archibald Vincent

     Below: looking towards the Altar in Holy Trinity Alma Anglican Church - the Roll of Honour is to the left of the Altar.

     Below: the only photo I have of the above mentioned names is that of Levi Jeffery, veteran of WWI. He was the son of Abram and Mary Jane (Smith) Jeffery of Lauretta. Born in 1895 and died in 1940. He married Sadie Gallant - they had 13 children: Mary, Hannah, Florence, Leo, Jack, Rose, Eileen, Sophie, Alberta, Roy, Billy, Leonard, Levi Jr.

Post Script.  The men named on the Roll of Honour at Holy Trinity belonged to this congregation - there are more veterans from the community which, through my research, will be found and placed in a more comprehensive list of Veterans of WWI and WWII from Alma and Lauretta.