Mary Elizabeth Crowe (ne: Morrell)

My great great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Crowe (ne: Morrell), was born in Greenville, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia on October 11, 1871.

In 1889, Mary, 19, married Thomas Crowe, 20, in Acadia Mines, Colchester County and soon started a family- Annie E, 1893, Udvilla, 1894, George H, 1895, Thomas, 1896 and Gertrude M, 1898.

Then in the late 1890s, Mary and Thomas left Nova Scotia for BC.

The 1901 census shows Mary and Thomas living in Rossland, BC with the rest of their family: Mary E, 29, Thomas, 30, Annie E, 7, Udvillie, 6, George H, 5, Thomas C, 4, Gertrude M, 2, and Henry Morrell, 54 (Annie’s grandfather).

The 1921 census shows Mary...

Mary and Thomas's children stayed in B.C.

Records show that in 1931, Mary crossed the border from Canada to the US through Northport, Washington. Her departure contact was Annie White. Her arrival contact was Susan Crowe.

This picture of Mary is probably taken in Nelson in the 1940s.

Mary died in Nelson in January 1948 at the age of 77.

Records show that Clarence Thomas Crowe died in California in 1945 at the age of 75.

Annie Eliza Crowe

My great grandmother, Annie Eliza Crowe, was born on July 31, 1893 in Torbrooke, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. In the late 1890s, Annie moved with her family to Rossland and then Nelson, BC where her father, Thomas Clarence Crowe, worked in hardrock mining.

The 1901 census shows Annie E, 7, living in Rossland with the rest of her family.

The 1911 census shows Annie Crowe, 17, living on her own in Silverton, near Nelson.

Annie Eliza married Richard White in December 13, 1911 in New Denver, BC (see Richard James White below).

The 1921 census shows Annie White, 28, living her family in Silverton, BC: Richard, 33, Dorothy, 9, Leonard, 4, and Albert, 35.

This photo of Annie was likely taken in Nelson in the 1930s.

Annie’s siblings remained in BC.

After Richard's death in 1958, Annie moved to Vancouver where she lived in the West End. She died in March 1975 in West Vancouver.

Richard James White

My great grandfather, Richard James White, was born in St. Austell in Cornwall, England on May 3, 1888 and came to Canada as a young man in the early 1900s.

Richard was one of three children born to Richard White and Mary Ann Avery. The 1891 census shows Richard, 3, Albert, 1, Mary A, 27 and Richard White, 27, Tin Miner living in Tregrehan Mills, St. Austell.

The 1901 census shows Richard, 12, Albert J, 10, Orlando, 8, and Mary Ann, 37 living in Trenowah, Cornwall. When Richard left Cornwall and came to Canada, he initially worked in Richmond, BC on a farm and then later moved to Rossland and then New Denver, near Nelson, to work in the mines.

He married Annie Eliza (ne: Crowe) on December 13, 1911 in New Denver. Richard worked in nearby Silverton where he worked in the mines. He and Annie had two children in Silverton: Gertrude Dorothy Anne White (b. 1912), and Leonard George (b. 1917). In about 1932, the family moved to Bralorne, BC when a new mine opened.

This photo is likely taken in Bralorne in the 1930s. In mid 1940's, Richard retired and moved to Nelson and in September 1958 died there. Richard’s brothers, Albert and Orlando, also left Cornwall but settled in Butte, Montana.

Frank Joseph Elsener

Here’s a pic taken of my grandfather, Frank Joseph Elsener (ne: Franz Josef) who was born in a small village called Sattel near Zurich in Switzerland in 1905.

This photo is taken in 1926 on his way over to Canada. He ended up in Bralorne where he worked in the gold mines and met my grandmother, Dorothy. The photo was taken on the Ship Antonia from Southampton to Halifax. Apparently, he had $50 with him!

Frank came from a family of 9 children. All the children stayed in Switzerland except for Frank and his brother Karl who lived in the Cariboo near 100 Mile House and in Kamloops. Frank worked on various power/dam projects in BC, Iran and Turkey as he was an electrical supervisor/engineer.

Frank and Dorothy had four children: Frank, Jim, Pat and my mother, Marge who has stayed in touch with some of the family in Switzerland and in BC.

My other three grandparents were all born in British Columbia: Stephen Norwood Carre in Vancouver, Margaret Joy Carre (ne: Campbell) born in Cranbrook and Gertrude Dorothy Anne Elsener (ne: White) in Silverton near New Denver and Nelson.