Reverend John James McCaskill – first owner of 5 Alexandra St.

The first owner of 5 Alexandra St, Saint John, NB was Reverend John James McCaskill. 

McCaskill was born to Hugh and Catherine McCaskill in Little Narrows, Nova Scotia on 26 May 1871. His name was registered as John J McAskill and his parents noted as being married 13 Apr 1858 in Middle River, NS.  McCaskill attended the Presbyterian College in Halifax.  By 1905, McCaskill was a Presbyterian minister in Fort Kent, Maine where he authored the book “The Business Man as Hero: Being a Memoir of Duncan Alexander McCaskill written by his nephew, John James McCaskill”.  Rev. McCaskill was with his wealthy uncle when he died in Switzerland – he coordinated the remains being returned to Montreal.  

Reverend J.J. McCaskill became the minister at St. Matthew’s (Presbyterian) on Douglas Ave in 1908.

The church still exists (and some of the windows still have their original storms).

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In a May 1909 newspaper notice, the engagement was announced of Miss Frances Dickey Cunliffe of Fort Kent to Rev. John J. McCaskill of St. John. N. B., with the wedding expected to take place later in June 1909.  McCaskill and the much younger Cunliffe married on 29 Jun 1909 in Christ Church, Fort Kent, Maine.  The wedding notice indicates McCaskill had been in Saint John for seven years at the time of his marriage.  

Prior to marriage, Frances Cunliffe, later McCaskill, attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts from 1903-1905.  No confirmation that Frances graduated which suggests she did not.  A big thanks to the College Archives for their support!

The McCaskills had a son named Frank early in their marriage and no other children have been identified – oddly little has been found about Frank and he is not mentioned in his parents’ obituaries.  Between 1909-1910 McCaskill is noted as living at 31 Bentley St. (building no longer in existence) in Saint John. We see Rev. McCaskill has a number of interests, for instance the 1909 Bulletin of the Archeological Institute of America notes Rev. J. James McCaskill of 31 Bentley Street associated with the Saint John Society as a member.  Rev. McCaskill also considered entering politics and running for the Liberal party.

I particularly like this 11 Jan 1909 review of one of Reverend McCaskill’s sermons in the Evening Times.

McCaskill purchased 5 Alexandra St in December 1910 (according to later court records) and presumably moved in sometime after the 1911 census was taken. The 1910 directory lists McCaskill living at 31 Bentley and at 5 Alexandra (mistakenly recorded as 6 Alexandra) in the 1911 directory. McCaskill and his family were not found in the 1911 Canada census.  On Alexandra in the 1911 in the other homes built by the Fenton Land and Building Company [1,3, 7, 25 occupied with 5 unoccupied] we find the  Baker, Smith, Budd, Watts, and McLean, families. 

Below is a Nov 1910 newspaper notice of the purchase:

The New Brunswick Museum Archives (the staff of which provide incredible research support and direction) has in its collection a wonderful Valentine Tea invite from Mrs. J.J. McCaskill of 5 Alexandra for a party held on 14 Feb 1912 from 3:30-6 pm. From the New Brunswick Museum Archives with permission: Invitation — Valentine tea, Mrs. J.J. McCaskill, 5 Alexandra St., Saint John, New Brunswick — February 14, 1912 — 5.2 x 8.6 cm — Printed Ephemera Collection — PrintedEph-F42-8.

In a 1912 book by James Henry Morgan we find:

The 1913 directory is the first document noting parishioner Alexandrina Haggart Clark living with the McCaskill family at 5 Alexandra.

A few fun finds – Aug 1913 wanted ad looking for general help for a family of two; Dec 1914 notice for fundraising to support Belgium; and a 1915 marriage announcement when Rev. McCaskill married William Henry Fanning and Belle Rachel McAuley in 5 Alexandra St.  

“The Atlantic Provinces in Confederation” edited by Ernest R Forbes and Delphin A. Muise notes that Reverend J. J. McCaskill of Saint John was a regular speaker at recruiting rallies for the war.  Further to his conviction, McCaskill enlisted as army clergy on 15 Jan 1916 [court records indicate J.J. McCaskill joined the Highland Battalion and personnel records indicate 73^rd Battalion of the Royal Highlanders], noting his wife Frances was living in Fort Kent, Maine and he was temporarily lodging at the University Club in Montreal.  He appears to have been very large for the time at 6 feet and 1 inches, and also noted appendicitis in 1913 and typhoid in 1915.

This 5 Oct 1915 newspaper article notes McCaskill leaving Saint John on his way overseas.

Military records from Library and Archives Canada record McCaskill left for Europe from Halifax aboard the RMS Adriatic on 31 March 1916 arriving in Liverpool 9 Apr 1916. McCaskill was wounded on 28 Jun 1917.  He served in England and France including Shorncliffe and on the Essequibo British hospital ship.  McCaskill’s service was interrupted in 1917 when he had a return trip to Canada on “compassionate grounds”.   

Directories record McCaskill at 5 Alexandra between 1911-1915, directories from 1916-1919 note McCaskill “on active service” and then no further mention.   McCaskill’s wife was in Maine while he was in active service.  

In April of 1919 Mrs. HC Brown was looking for a housemaid.  Horace Brown was a master tailor on Germain St and renting the house.  I do wonder if the Browns were connected to the Lewis D. Brown  who bought the 6 buildings on Adelaide subject to a later legal dispute [Austin vs. McCaskill re the estate of Alexandrina Clark]?

Chaplain McCaskill returned to Canada aboard the RMS Regina leaving 15 Jul 1919 and arriving in Halifax on 23 July 1919. and did not appear to spend any time at 5 Alexandra St. after the war.  In fact, five days after landing in Canada,  I found one mention of McCaskill preaching in Montreal in the 28 Jul 1919 newspaper: 

Another blog focuses on the lawsuits over 5 Alexandra between Reverend McCaskill and the estate of Alexandrina Clark between 1920-1922.   McCaskill did sell 5 Alexandra to Florence Elkin Munro, the first wife of Fred Munro ca. Dec 1919.  Future blogs will explain these details.  

Thanks to the help of a wonderful person in Montreal we now know that McCaskill bought a home from James W. Thompson in Montreal sometime between 1920-1921. In the 1921 census, John (called John Jeanne McBarkill) and his wife Frances were living in the Massioneuve district of Montreal. Below is the 1922 assessment roll showing the value of the home.

We know McCaskill was robbed in 1922 when living in Montreal due to a newspaper article.

McCaskill appears in the roll until 1924, when he sold the house to Harper Van Etten Junius, a tea merchant. Oddly, his name reappears in the roll in 1926, when he sold the house to Walter A. Merrill.

Of note, Maisonneuve Presbyterian Church notes Reverend McCaskill serving from 1920-1926. The church burned down on 31 Jan 1925.

In 1926 McCaskill was serving at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian in the little town of Hemmingford, Quebec where he remained until 1929.  A big thanks to the Hemmingford Archives which confirmed information for me and even shared a photograph of the manse where the McCaskill family lived!

After leaving Hemmingford in 1929, I found Reverend McCaskill with his wife Frances living with her father William in Fort Kent, Aroostook, Maine in the United States in the 1930 census.  Frances McCaskill was still living with her father in the 1940 census in Maine.

I am confirming that Reverend McCaskill remained in Maine, as pastor of Church Church in Fort Kent, from 1930 until he died in 1937. 

McCaskill’s wife Frances died in Maine in 1964 and both are buried in Christ Congregational Church Cemetery in Fort Kent, Aroostook County, Maine, USA (where McCaskill’s birth date is incorrectly noted as 1870 not 1871).