Favourite Find

 

You may think it’s a simple thing to pick your favourite this or your favourite that, but that’s not always the case. I’ve discovered many things in my research, and I am fascinated by anything new I learn about my family. So, depending on what I’m focussing on or what new discovery I’ve made I have a variety of favourites.

For this weeks’ 52 Ancestors challenge, I’ve decided to write about my first find that was beyond names, dates, and places.

It involved my grandfather, Arthur James Davis who lived in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Although it is a difficult story it does fall into my favourites because it taught me new methods of research and to look for interesting stories in the family history.

My grandfather was born on December 2, 1894, Jordan Falls, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. He died September 24, 1945, when my dad was only 11 years old. In August 1915, Arthur was involved in an altercation that resulted in the death of the Station Master in Shelburne. I honestly can’t remember what “breadcrumb” sent me along this trail, but I believe I had seen something at the Shelburne Genealogical Society. I then searched various sources and located a newspaper article dated August 19^th, 1915, in The Shelburne Gazette and Coast Guard.  I borrowed the microfiche through our public library so I could read the article. I have a very poor copy of it in my grandfathers file (a good thing...when I started, I wasn't great about citing my sources so I could easily find things again). I also have a transcript of another article in gazette from August 13^th, 1915, of the testimony of one of the witnesses.

As I re-read the two articles in preparation for this post I quickly realized I only have part of the story. This is because the Preliminary Examination, which was the topic of the August 19^th news article, was to determine if there were grounds for a trial. It is all about witness testimony from that day of what they saw. It doesn’t get into the nuances of what occurred from both sides.  It speaks to the fact that there was something happening between Arthur and the Station Master that resulted in his death after a shove caused a fall and trauma to the head. I don’t know what the outcome was beyond the knowledge given in the final sentence of the article which reads “The accused was committed for trial before the Supreme court next month.”

I didn’t investigate any further when I hit roadblocks back then. I want to know what both sides of the story were, what the charges were, and the verdict. You know…the rest of the story.

I can confirm that Arthur does appear on the 1921 Census for the area and that he married in 1923. If he had been guilty, would he not have been in prison? What was the charge? Was he was found not guilty? I need to find out.

A new reason why this is part of my favourite finds? It will now be a challenge to find out the rest of the story!

 

A portion of the August 19, 1915 new article