Many of you will remember my column about Jessie Green from Dec. 17, 2023, in BradfordToday’s Postcard Memories.
Green had lived on the southeast corner of Hurd and Church streets since 1932. Prior to that, she lived one house south on Church Street. It was her wedding gift from her husband. When George died, she moved to his parents’ home as it was too painful for her to be in the house without George.
Green was a member of Bradford United Church. Music was her profession and, at times, she played the organ, directed the choir and sang in the choir. She was piano teacher for many years, with students from Bradford and surrounding communities.
About three weeks ago, I had a call from her only grandchild, Scott Duncan, who resides in London, Ont. Moving to Bradford in 1965, we lived across the road from Green. One summer, her grandson was coming to visit her and we became good friends. I met Scott on numerous visits to Bradford and I visited him a couple of times when in London.
The nature of the call was to see if I might be interested in accepting a tea service that belonged to his great-grandparents who had lived in Oshawa until their deaths.
I was delighted and accepted the gift. Within the week, he had it wrapped and shipped to me here in Prince Edward Island. I had polished it many times when I helped Green in her elder years, so I knew it well. It graced her formal dining room for many years. Polished and shining, it now sits on the silver cabinet in my formal dining room.
I was then wondering about her father, Dr. Francis Rae. I knew he was the first doctor in Oshawa. When Green was moving, she sent his portrait to the Oshawa Medical Centre. I spoke to his great-grandson, Scott, and he gave me a picture of Rae’s life.
He was born to parents James and Jane Rae. They moved to Canada in the 1820s, settling in New Brunswick. Here, their son was born in 1833.
Moving to Ontario with his family, he worked with his father as a farm hand and, in winter, he went to school. Getting his school credits, he then went to ‘normal school’ in Toronto and, because of a short supply of teachers, he went to teach near Niagara, and then two years in Stouffville. He then went back to normal school and received his full teacher’s certificate.
He decided to go back to school, and he graduated as Dr. Rae in 1865. That year, he married Elizabeth Currie. Together, they raised four boys and a girl (Jessie Green). Besides being a well-known doctor, he went into municipal affairs and was, for 10 years, mayor of the town. He left that post in 1886.
In 1887, he tried his hand again with politics and was on the ballot as the Liberal candidate in southern Ontario but lost to William Smith. When the provincial board of health was started, he became a member and remained active until his death.
He was a member of both the Masonic Lodge and the Lebanon Lodge. (I have the tea service the Lebanon Lodge gave him.) Rae had many irons in the fire, being a member of United Workmen, a charter member of Sons of Scotland, the physician for the R.S. Williams Mutual Benefit Association, and a member of the board of education. He certainly spread himself thinly with all of his appointments and being a husband, and a father of five.
Rae died in 1896, the same year my house was built.
