The history of the Blaikie family in Upper Stewiacke

By Judy Miller
Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia

The first Blaikie to arrive in Upper Stewiacke was Charles - the blacksmith. He married Letitia Deyarmond. They had five daughters. Charles and Letitia lived across the road from where Robert Hennigar now lives.

 
Blackie Brook was named for Charles Blaikie (Blackie). Daughters of Charles and Letitia Blaikie were: Ann, Mary, Janet, Rebecca and Elizabeth. Charles and Letitia are buried in Riverside cemetery. Their stone states that Charles died in 1867, aged 86. Letitia died in 1895 - aged 63. The 1838 Census reports Charles Blackie living alone - obviously he was still a bachelor.

The second Blaikie to arrive in Upper Stewiacke was Charles' brother, John Blaikie. Born circa 1767, he married Barbara MacKay. They lived near the house now owned by Ted and Marion Hart. They had at least one daughter - Janet Blaikie who married (1826) to William Fulton and lived in Pembroke. Harris Morris Blaikie, who later lived in the Great Village area, could be John's son?

The third Blaikie to come to Upper Stewiacke was, another brother (of Charles and John), Harris and wife Sarah. The Stewiacke Centenary book states that they came from Halifax to Upper Stewiacke in 1822. Harris was a native of Pictou. His family consists of: James (b. 1810); Charles; Willaim (b. 1815); Richard: John (B. 1824); Janet (b. 1805); Sarah.

In the 1838 census, James Blaikie - farmer - is listed living in Upper Stewiacke - 2 persons in the household. This is probably Harris' son.

Harris and Sarah Blaikie moved to the head of Burnside and were the first people to settle there. They lived between Lawrence MacKay's and Elmer Johnson's (between Steven MacKay's and Peggy Wright's) They operated a mill there.

Janet, or Jennett Blaikie, daughter of Harris and Sarah, married William Benvie of Musquodoboit. They had 5 children: Christy, Barbara, Mary, Sarah, and James. James married Annie Grant in 1876.

Harris' son, William M. Blaikie, married Olive Johnson (granddaughter of Matthew Johnson) and they lived across the road, and across the brook, from Harris. This would place them along the road into the James (or Alfred ) Johnson place. William and Olive had a family of six. They were: David Morrison, James Harris (Bub), Ida, Charles Adam, Foster William, Sarah.

Eventually, two of William's sons - D. Morrison and James Harris, bought a mill (previously owned by Creelman's then Johnson's), which was situated on Jack's brook - just around the bend from the Burnside Church and School. William Blaikie and family moved to a house located near the mill. This house burned to the ground in 1890, and they re-built. (Fred and Edith Woodworth lived in this house for a period of time, and it was eventually purchased by Mike English). In 1892, the Blaikie's moved again. This time to Red Rocks - where they operated both a grist mill and a saw mill.

Charles Adam Blaikie (1866-1953) married Bessie MacKenzie from Greenfield. Charlie worked for the railroad. They lived in Truro, in a large home on Queen Street.

William Foster Blaikie married Margaret (Maggie) Roode. They lived in Truro, where Foster operated the first Blaikie's garage , on Lorne Street. After Foster's nephew Harry Blaikie (and business partner Wilfred Nichols) took over the garage, Foster and Maggie moverd to USA.

James Harris Blaikie never married, and died in 1938. He suffered all his life from asthma.

David Morrison Blaikie (1856-1909) married Elmira Ogilvie Webster. They had a family of ten children: Roy, Alden, Glenn, Flossie, Edith, Harry, Olive, Leonard, Thomas and Morris. David Morrison Blaikie and brother Harris operated the mill in Burnside until 1907, when they moved to Upper Stewiacke, and set up a mill there.

The 1871 census lists the following Blaikie family, living in Upper Stewiacke:

I would appreciate any information on who this family was. Elmira, in her diaries, refers to "Aunt Eliza", so one would think this might be the Eliza here. But, who was she married to? And where did her family go? I think that Sarah Jane married a D. Hamilton. Going by ages, Luther Blackie was probably Sarah Jane's son, rather than Eliza's. So, where did Bentley Blackie go? 1 Much of this information has been provided by Ross Graves of Upper Stewiacke. Some has also been collected from other sources, including census and church records and head stones. (July 2002) 2 Judy Miller is a daughter of Nina and Muir Patterson; a granddaughter of Glenn and Alice Blaikie and a great granddaughter of Elmira and David Morrison Blaikie, all of Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.
	Nina Patterson
	Judy Miller