Spences in Springhill

It is strange to think that Springhill did not even warrant a name on a map before the 1880s, when coal mines and railroads combined to create an economic boom and farmers arrived from all over to become miners. In 1881, the Spences were still farmers in Halfway River, but had moved to Springhill by 1886, when the oldest son, Uncle Sam, married Aunt Mary Ann Shields, who also lived there.

on this 1831 map of Cumberland County, I don't see any towns between Amherst and River Philip

By the 1890s all our people were mining families in Springhill -

Grannie Phoebe and Grampa Bill (Grannie and Grampa English)
2 of Phoebe's 4 sisters (Aunt Abby and Aunt Mini)
1 of her 3 brothers (Stephen)
all 5 of Bill's brothers (Uncle Sam, Uncle Palmer, Uncle Wes, Uncle Murd, and Uncle Ains)
his sister (Aunt Ellen)
and his parents (John W. and Almira)
2 of Bill's 4 uncles (Samuel and George Francis)
and all 3 aunts (Mary Ellen, Hannah, and Ella)

In 1891, Canada was very concerned about literacy, so it asked who could read or write on the census. Based on the sheets I looked at for Springhill, about 90% of miners and 85% of their wives could read and write. Bill and his brothers could. Aunt Abby could, but her husband, Patrick Shields, couldn't. He was the son of Irish immigrants; maybe there was no opportunity to go to school. About 3/4 of boys up to age 13 were in school. Aunt Angeline's son was earning wages in the mine at age 12, but his father, George Francis Spence, was dead and they needed the money. Angeline was a Rector and the Rectors didn't put a high value on literacy; none of the Rectors in the county could read or write, parents or children.

Here we have the Almira and John Spence family in 1891. John, 47, is the head, and Ann (Almira), 44, is his wife. Palmer, 21, William, 18, John (Wesley), 13, Murdoch, 12, and Ainsley, 8, are all sons. John, Palmer, and William are all coal laborers earning wages. The family is Methodist and can all read and write.

Next door is the family of John's sister Hannah Merriam, who has died. Her husband James Rector is 45, and her sons are Samuel, 11, James W., 9, and Fred, 5. James is not working, not sure why, the family is Baptist, and no one can read or write. Jim and Fred will remain with their Spence cousins for the rest of their childhoods.

Almira and John's oldest two children, Sam and Ellen, are married with their own homes. I can't find Sam, but Ellen, 23, lives across town with her husband John Whitewood, age 26. Their children are Joanna, age 2, and John W., 1/12, (one month old). John, of course, works in the coal mines. They are Presbyterian and they are both literate.

Close by are John and Hannah's sister Mary Ellen and her husband Joseph Rector. Mary Ellen and Joseph have 6 children: Reuben, 15, Annie, 12, Margaret, 10, Angeline, 7, Lavinia, 5, and Ellen, 3. Joseph and Reuben are wage earners; Joseph is a coal laborer and Reuben works in the coal mines. Only the youngest children can read and write. They are all Baptists. Next door is Samuel Spence, 39, brother to John and Mary Ellen. He is married to Mary Matilda, 38, and their children are Samuel B., 16, Reuben F., 14, John W., 12, Violet L., 10, Laura, 7, and George C., age 2. Samuel was a coal laborer and all the boys worked in the mines except the baby. Samuel and the kids belonged to the Church of England, but Mary was a Baptist. Samuel the father could read and write but Mary could not (she was a Rector). Samuel the son, who was 16, and and Violet, who was 10, could read but not write. I wonder how Samuel had a chance to go to school but his brothers did not. Writing was very hard back then; you had to dip your pen in the inkwell after every couple of words, you had to exert smooth control so that your ink wouldn't spill all over the page, and you also had to learn penmanship.

Next to Samuel is the family of George Francis, brother to John and Samuel. George Francis has died and his widow Angeline, 46, is raising their children: Samuel, 22, Margaret, 18, Joseph, 16, George, 12, Frank, 10, and Harriet, 6. The oldest 3 boys earned wages in the coal mines. No one could read or write (Angeline was a Rector).

Not too far away is John and George Francis's sister Ella, who is married to David Rector. (this is a case of sisters marrying brothers. Ella's husband David is the brother of Mary Ellen's husband Joseph). The mother of this close-knit family, Ellen Spence, also lives with her daughter Ella. David, the head of household, is 44, a coal laborer. Ella his wife is 31. Their children are Samuel, 14, George, 13, Elenor, 10, Allison, 6, John, 4, and Leonard, 1. Sons Samuel and George both work in the coal mines. Ella and David are literate and the whole family is Methodist.

Ellen Spence, who is 70, is a widow and belongs to the Church of England. It says her father was born in Holland and her mother in England. Probably her son-in-law gave the information, because neither fact is true. Ellen's father is our original Rector, the first one in Nova Scotia. He was born in Germany, but back then they called Germans Dutchmen, so that is why his birthplace is mistaken here as Holland. Ellen's mother was really born in Nova Scotia, but this gives us a clue that her family hasn't been in Canada that long. (see Spence Pedigree Chart)

Do you notice how these names repeat? We have 6 Ella/Ellenor/Ellens, 6 Johns, 5 Samuels, 3 Georges, and 2 Reubens. On the one hand, this makes things very confusing - every family has a Samuel! On the other hand, it simplifies things - if your name is Ellen, George, or Reuben, I know you have a Rector somewhere among your ancestors. If your name is Sam, you are a Spence. Not sure about John - it's such a common name.

But if everyone has the same name, not so with religion -- every family follows a different denomination!

From the time they married until about 1900, Phoebe and Bill lived at 53 Junction Road, where Aunt Anna and Uncle Bill lived for decades later on. At least their first 4 children were born there. By 1901, the Spences have coalesced around the Almira-John family and may have moved to Aberdeen Street. In the 1901 census, we have, in a row,

Uncle Patrick Shields with Aunt Abby* and kids, Patrick's mother Mary Shields,
Uncle Sam and Aunt Mary Ann Spence with kids** and their boarders Uncle Ains, Uncle Wes, and Jim and Fred Rector,
Uncle Palmer and Aunt Maggie Spence and kids,
Uncle George Berry with Aunt Mini and baby,
Grampa Bill and Grannie Phoebe with servant Annie Rushton and Phoebe's mom Susan Rushton^
2 other families,
then Aunt Ellen and her new husband George Rector, and patriarch John W. Spence, a widower, living with Aunt Ellen.

In 1901, the Canadian government was interested in social change: the move from country to city, literacy and school attendance, occupations, whether work was done in a factory or home, unemployment rates, and income. Complete birth dates for everyone are given, but be careful: people knew when to celebrate their birthday, but not necessarily how old they were, and you have to wonder if the head of house knew that much detail about, say, their boarders. So months and days are usually accurate, but not always years. None of our people worked in a factory, of course, because they worked in a mine, and none had been unemployed that year. School attendance had increased to include 13-year-olds, and was usually 9 months of the year, although Bessie had gone for 10. Everyone was literate except Jim Rector and the Shields family - Uncle Patrick, sister Aunt Mary Ann Spence, and their mother. All the adults had been born in a rural area, but the children were all born in an urban location - Springhill, if you can imagine calling a town of 4813 people urban. It does give us more evidence that the Spences etc. arrived between 1882, when Ains was born in a rural area, and 1886, when Aunt Abby's twins were born in an urban setting. Everyone was of English descent except for the Shieldses, who were Irish.

More interesting, I think, are the salaries. The best paid was Uncle Patrick, a coal miner making $500 a year. Uncle Sam, a watchman, Uncle Wes, a section man, Uncle Palmer, a day laborer, and Grampa Bill, a chain runner, all made $400. Fred Rector, a day laborer, and Thomas Shields, a pusher, both 15, earned $150 that year. Poor Uncle Ains, age 18, made $50 as a day laborer, almost the same as Annie Rushton, who earned $48 as a house servant, and she got room and board too. A dollar a week. *Aunt Abby, Phoebe's older sister, was married to Patrick Shields, whose sister Mary Ann was married to Bill's oldest brother Sam. You can see that they live next door to each other.

**Uncle Sam and Aunt Mary Ann's daughter Kate went to Maine at age 13 with her cousin Bessie, 14, Bill and Phoebe's daughter, to work as maids in families.

^ Phoebe's father Thomas Rushton lived with them too, until his death in February that year at age 91.

Brothers Sam, Palmer, and Bill live almost next to each other in this 1921 census

Excerpts from "The History of Springhill" at the Anne Murray Centre -

[The town of Springhill owes its origins to the United Empire Loyalists. Three Loyalists from Virginia first settled here in 1790. The original land grants, "The Cradle of Springhill," were near where the Springhill Institution is now located. The first settlers farmed the land in the early part of the 1800s. In 1825 the 625-foot hilltop was laid out in land grants. Coal was discovered 3 years later, in 1828.

The history of Springhill has been two-fold: the development, decline, and resurgence of the mines, and the story of its people. The town's history has been a dramatic one, marked by both proud accomplishments and by great tragedy.

In the mine disasters of 1891, 1956, and 1958, 239 men and boys died. Over the course of years, a seemingly never-ending series of "bumps," falls, and mine accidents have killed or injured hundreds of others. Strikes have taken their toll, as well, with the most bitter confrontation lasting 22 months from 1909 to 1911. As if such disasters were not enough, the Main Street business section has been levelled four times by fire.

When the mines closed in 1958, the fate of this one-industry town seemed doomed as hundreds of people moved away to seek other employment. Despite this major setback, a renewed spirit began to emerge, a spirit that has always made Springhill different. With the resolve that "there will always be a Springhill," the town forged ahead. A small mine was opened, two federal institutions were built, and other industry moved in, providing relief for the town's ailing economy.]

Excerpts from the historical pavilion in the center of town:

From its beginnings in 1790 until the large coal mines opened in 1873, Springhill was a completely rural area. The earliest attempt at urbanizing was made at Miller Corner, a mile west of the present town, where an inn, school, church, and store were in place by 1853. Prior to 1873, the location of the present town consisted of only five houses...

....Religious services were held in the school and private homes until 1863, when the Methodist Church was built. ... In 1882 the church was moved to Main Street. It was later torn down to make room for the present Wesley Church that was opened in 1914....

...Picnics were often held in the park back of Bent's farm, which was at the top of the town, and at the Garden of Eden in Leamington where there was a camp and a swimming hole. It was here the Piscotopeau Club, which is believed to be a fishing club, was formed in the early part of the 1900s. The annual miners' picnic was held in Parrsboro for many years with many miners and their families traveling there and back by special train.

Grandma's Granny's Family Album

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Spences in Springhill

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