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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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FRASER, HUGH JAMES (1875-1963)

FRASER, HUGH JAMES, Presbyterian minister, Loggieville, 1905-11; b. Watervale, Pictou Co., N.S., 20 Feb 1875, s/o John Fraser and Barbara McLean; m. 1st, 1896, Eva Miller; 2nd, 1905, Isabel S. Gillis (later divorced), and 3rd, 1933, Beryl Kent, of Truro, N.S.; d. Truro, 3 Jan 1963.

After attending Pictou Academy, Hugh James Fraser apprenticed as a blacksmith at Alma, N.S., and went to Boston to work in a foundry. He enrolled in courses at a junior college there but soon returned to Nova Scotia and pursued full-time studies at Dalhousie University (1900-03) and the Presbyterian College (grad. 1905, BD 1909).

Ordained in 1905, Fraser had his first charge at Loggieville. It was said that in manner he was "retiring rather than aggressive," and in thought, "broad minded and liberal." His personality and outlook evidently appealed to the congregation of Knox Church, which retained him as pastor for nearly six years.

In 1911 Fraser was called to Summerside, and he ministered there until 1915. In the fall of that year he suffered a "breakdown" and spent part of a leave of absence enjoying "the quiet and rest which a camp fire in the Miramichi woods affords." In 1916 he was appointed minister of St Andrew's Church in Truro.

Fraser withdrew from the ministry in 1923. From 1924 until his retirement in 1950 he taught English at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, where he also served as registrar and librarian. He was much admired and respected at the college, as he had been in the pulpit. In 1970 a men's residence on campus was named "Fraser Hall" in his memory.

Fraser's first wife, Eva Miller, died soon after giving birth to a son in 1896. Two sons were also born of the troubled second marriage, which ended in divorce. The elder of the two was killed in a laboratory accident while he was a student at Dalhousie University, and the younger became a physician in California. The third marriage was childless.

Sources

[b/m] Fraser family data [d] Times 4 Jan 1963 / Advocate 15 Mar 1911; Walkington; World 23 Oct 1915


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