Grandma Whidden

I love this picture of Rebecca Gray.  What I love is how cute she looks and the scene around her – it evokes images of the old homesteads one sees in movies!

"Grandma" Rebecca Whidden nee Gray (photo courtesy of Anne Marie Cormier)

She must have been loveable because she was affectionately referred to as “Grandma Whidden” even in the newspapers of the area!

Rebecca Gray married David Whidden.  David was the son of Samuel Whidden and Sophia Vincent.  Both Rebecca and David were born in Colchester Co, Nova Scotia.

I stumbled across David’s obituary which outlined how the two were married in Nova Scotia and how he went west to Alberta in 1907.  He settled in Batts, just north of Jarrow, and the family came out in 1908.

David Whidden was one of the first pioneers of the area and his family witnessed the growing of the community – the railroad, the schools, the churches etc.

They had seven children, all born in Nova Scotia: Harold Alwyn; Rebecca; William Aubrey; Valentina Vincent aka Tina; Karl Douglas; and twins Ruby and Ruth.

Ruby and Ruth married brothers Percy and Howard Robinson; Ruby remained in Alberta while Ruth went to the boys’ home state of Minnesota.  And both girls lived to be over 100 years of age!  Almost like a contest – Ruby died at 101 years of age while Ruth outlived her by 5 more years!!  It’s a shame I couldn’t find any newspaper articles for them.

Jarrow Cemetery, Jarrow, Alberta (photo courtesy of Bob Oswald) 

If momma Rebecca was this adorable, I can only imagine what the rest of her clan was like – cute as buttons to be sure!
 
David's Obit