Marriage License Book 1871-1881

John McKenzie, B, Lot 67 to

Barbara Corbett, S, New London

Granted 2 Jan 1872, Rev. Alex Campbell

Bondsman, Alex Corbett

Witnesses: Angus McKenzie and Danie McKenzie

Recorded in the Patriot Newspaper, January 11, 1872 (pg. 2)

On December 25, 1914, John MacKenzie, known as “Happy Jack”, and his wife, Barbara Corbett, were killed by a train while returning to their home after visiting their daughter, Catherine Gamester, in Br(e)adalbane. The account of this accident is found in the December 28, 1914 issue of the Charlottetown Guardian (Charlottetown, PEI, Canada) and in the December 30, 1914 issue of the Summerside Journal (Summerside, PEI, Canada). Here are some excerpts from these papers:

Upon returning to their Graham’s Road home in Granville, after spending Christmas day with their daughter, Mrs. Gamester, Mr. & Mrs. John A. MacKenzie were struck by a train while crossing the railroad tracks at Murray’s Crossing, a private crossing on the farm of Mr. Major Murray, near Emerald Junction, about ¾ mile from Br(e)adalbane Station. Mrs. MacKenzie was killed instantly. Mr. MacKenzie was fatally injured in the head and was brought to the Prince County Hospital, but never regained consciousness and died at 11:00 PM.

Mr. Murray’s two sons saw them driving towards the track and at the same time saw the train approaching. The MacKenzies were heavily clad and probably did not hear the oncoming train. The train hands knew nothing of the open gates leading to the track as it was not a public crossing.

An inquest was held in Gr(e)adalbane Hall before Dr. J.D. McGuigan, coroner, and a jury composed of Messrs. Peter F. Hughes, J.A. McDonald, F.P. Murphy, Thomas J. Arbing, Thomas F. Hughes, James Warren and Robert Hyde. The verdict was: “That the deceased came to their deaths in a collision with the uptown train from Charlottetown to Cape Traverse in an attempt to cross the track on a farm crossing; and without any blame or negligence on the part of the train employees.”