Description Alexander and Simon Roderick Fraser - Dan Gillies Logging Men, Grays Harbor County, Washington, U.S.A., circa 1900

Identification of some of the people in the photograph:

Dan Gillies, originally from Nova Scotia, and who emigrated to the USA at age 15 in 1869, is seated in the first row, far left, in the dark short and hat; It is believed that the children seated in the center of the first row are the two eldest children of Dan Gillies, Louise (L) and Clifford (R) Gillies. Alexander "Alex" Fraser is standing behind Louise, in the center of the middle row, in the white shirt. He is the logging camp foreman for Dan Gillies; Alex's brother, Simon Fraser, is seated in the first row, third from the right. The Fraser brothers are the sons of James and Nancy (McRae) Fraser of Toney River. Alex emigrated to the USA in 1892 and his brother Simon and family followed him out to Aberdeen, Grays Harbor County, Washington in July 1898. This photo was likely taken during the summer of between 1899 and 1901. 

The Story:

Alexander "Alex" Fraser and Simon Roderick Fraser are the sons of James Fraser and Nancy Ann McRae of Toney River and formerly of West River, Pictou County. Alexander was born in 1856 and Simon was born in 1860 at Toney River. 

Alexander departed Pictou County, Nova Scotia circa 1892. He went to Elma, Chehalis County, Washington, U.S.A. (now, Grays Harbor County) and took up the profession of logging. Perhaps he had some experience logging trees in Pictou County...but certainly none the size he found in the Pacific Northwest!

On April 15, 1891, Alex's brother Simon Fraser married Jessie Ann MacKenzie of Toney River. On February 9, 1893, their mother, Nancy Ann (McRae) Fraser, died. She was predeceased by her husband, James Fraser, who died on November 3, 1880. On February 16, 1893, Alexander was listed on a deed transferring a parcel of land from his mother's estate to his sister Isabella. He was residing at Elma, Chehalis County, Washington at that time. I believe that after the death of Nancy Fraser, whatever remained of the family home and farm at Toney River was sold. Alex and Simon had already received 75 acres each just prior to their father's death in November 1880 and both sold their land in 1885 to Alex and Duncan Henderson. Simon and Jessie Fraser were living in Stellarton by January 1894 where Jessie gave birth to a daughter, Margaret Matilda Fraser, my grandmother. 

In 1896, at Chehalis, Washington, Alexander Fraser became a citizen of the United States of America. 

At some point after the birth of Margaret Matilda Fraser at Stellarton in 1894, Alexander must have written to Simon and encouraged him to head westward to Aberdeen, Washington. He was by that time working as a logging camp foreman for Dan Gillies Logging. He probably offered Simon employment when he arrived. In the summer of 1898, Simon, Jessie and little four-year-old Margaret departed for Washington State. They took the transcontinental Canadian Railroad and arrived at Aberdeen in early July. 

The interesting story of their departure is that the family sold-off all of their household goods before departing Stellarton, including a child's rocking chair with a padded needlepoint seat. As the family made their way down the road in a carriage to catch the transcontinental railroad westward, Margaret Matilda would not stop crying from the loss of her prized rocking chair. Soon, the decision was made to turn back and buy back the rocking chair from the purchaser. That rocking chair was a cherished possession of my grandmother and was passed to the eldest son in our family. It is still in near perfect condition today. 

The 1893 deed record for the transfer of a piece or parcel of land from the Nancy (McRae) Fraser estate, provided by Teresa MacKenzie, was the key piece of evidence regarding Alexander Fraser. Prior to this our family knew nothing about our great-grandfather's brother - or that he even had a brother. It was the first time our family discovered that Simon Fraser's brother Alex had been living and working at Grays Harbor County long before Simon Fraser and his family arrived in 1898. It is certainly strange that this was never mentioned. I can't help but think there might have been some problem that came-up between these two brothers that caused a severe and permanent break in their kin relationship. Perhaps working for his brother wasn't such a great idea after all! Within a few years after this photo was taken, Simon was working for the Wilson Bro's. Lumber Company as a "teamster" driving a team of Clydesdale horses and moving and hauling wagon loads of lumber. At that time, Wilson Bro's Lumber yard along the Whiskah River in Aberdeen was considered to be the largest lumber yard in the world. 

As far as I know, no one in my family, including my mother (now deceased), the daughter of Margaret Matilda (Fraser) Bailey, knew about Alexander Fraser being the impetus for our great-grandfather to leave Nova Scotia and come across the North American continent to Aberdeen, Washington. I always wondered why the heck Simon Fraser would choose to travel so far to go to Aberdeen, Washington. At that time, the population of Aberdeen was around 1,000 souls.I wondered why he would go there and how he even heard about Aberdeen. While I found Alex listed on various census reports for Cape John, Pictou County, Nova Scotia with the rest of the family, I could not determine what had become of him until I came across the deed record provided by Teresa MacKenzie that listed his whereabouts. 

This photograph, found in the home of my grandmother, which she inherited from her parents, is the the only known photograph of Alexander "Alex" Fraser. We obviously recognized our great-grandfather, Simon Fraser, in the photo...but before August 2020 we had no idea that his brother Alex was also in the photograph. Alex is undoubtably the man standing in the middle of the second row. He closely resembles his brother in appearance. They both have similar nose and cheekbone structure. He also appears to be dignified, confident and "in-charge" of this somewhat motley-looking logging crew - my great-grandfather Simon Fraser notwithstanding. Simon Fraser is seated, third from the right. 

The photograph of "D. Gillies Logging Men" taken by E.A. Smith must have been taken in the summer sometime between 1899 and 1901. Simon probably needed to get his family settled after he arrived in mid-July 1898 and before he could begin working...and this probably took him until fall. According to newspaper reports, Alex Fraser resigned from Dan Gillies Logging Company in the spring of 1902 and took a camp foreman position with another logging company in the summer of 1902...therefore the photograph was likely taken in the summer of 1899, 1900, or 1901. 

I have not determined what ever happened to Alex Fraser or why his name was not brought-up in our family. There were numerous mentions of him in the Aberdeen Herald newspaper between 1902 and 1904. The last account of him was from the fall of 1904. The report mentioned that he was logging near South Bend, Washington and had recently broken his arm and had been in the hospital but had made a trip to Aberdeen and was returning to South Bend. He was working for "N.W.L. Co." which stands for Northwest Lumber Company of Hoquiam, Washington. Alex would have been 48 years old in 1904. But no report of his death, burial record or headstone has been found. 

Thank you for reading the story of this photograph and the account of Alexander Fraser and his successful emigration to the United States from Toney River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia and his successful logging career in the difficult and dangerous work of harvesting trees in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century.