Who were the McQueens of Pictou County?
Mostly Sisters
The McQueens lived on a farm in Sutherland's River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia during the second half of the nineteenth century.
The family included two parents, six daughters and one surviving son.
Mostly Teachers
Five of the six McQueen daughters were school teachers and the one son taught school briefly.
Witnesses to History
The McQueens lived through a period of major change in Canada: Confederation, the Industrial Revolution, and the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway all the way across the continent.
Pioneers on the Frontier
In the winter of 1888, Jessie McQueen traveled across Canada by train to join her sister Annie in British Columbia.
They're Interesting Because...
They all had very strong and fascinating personalities, they wrote to each other constantly, and today we can read most of their letters.
I Can't Keep Track Of All These People!
The parents:
Daniel McQueen (1818-1894)
Catherine (Kate) Olding (1823-1916)
The children:
Jane Olding (1850-1934)
Mary Isabel (Mary Bell) (1851-1928)
Elizabeth Davidson (Eliza) (1854-1912)
Susan Dove (1856-1941)
George William (1858-1899)
Margaret Janet (Jessie) (1860-1933)
Daniel Forrester (1864-1864)
Annie Lowden (1865-1941)