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HISTORY OF NOVA SCOTIA
Vol III, 1916
A.W. Bowen & Co. Halifax
|
Biographical Sketches
of Representative Citizens
and Genealogical Records of the Old Families |
Edward Jeffers, M.D.
One of Cumberland County's well known professional men is Dr. Edward Jeffers of Parrsboro He is a good doctor, a safe and competent advisor in consultation and has a constantly growing practice, to which he applies himself with faithful and conscientious zeal
Dr. Jeffers was born in the above named town and county, July 7, 1860. He is a son of John Joseph Jeffers and Mary Fitzgibbons (Rector) Jeffers, both also born at Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, the father on May 10, 1831 and the mother on July 6, 1838. John Jeffers, the Doctor's great-great-grandfather, was a Loyalist from Massachusetts. Traveling on foot through Maine with six companions he finally arrived in Parrsboro, where he built and operated the first saw-mill at the foot of Jeffers Lake. With the lumber he built the first frame house in the eastern part of Cumberland County. It was sheathed with pine boards, three feet wide, which he sawed from the giant trees of the primeval forests. In this house, many years later, was born, May 10, 1831, his grandson, John Joseph Jesse Jeffers, the father of the subject of this sketch; also six grand-daughters, three of whom were the first female school teachers in this part of the country. In 1860 Dr. Edward Jeffers was born in this same old house, which is still in good repair, although minus its old-time chimney-eight feet square, with four great fire-places opening into as many rooms. The Doctor's father was a captain in the militia during the Fenian Raids in 1866 and 1867. Mary Fitzgibbons Rector, mother of our subject, was the grand-daughter of George Francis Rector, a German soldier of the British army, who was wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill, 1775. In 1776 he was invalided to Parrsboro , Nova Scotia where he was given grants of land. He married Elizabeth Sparks, a Quakeress of River Hebert. Their son, George Francis Rector, was born in 1800. He married Mary Fitzgibbons, daughter of Colonel Fitzgibbons, in 1830. In 1813 Colonel ( at that time Lieutenant) Fitzgibbons, was sent by Colonel Vincent with thirty British regulars and thirty Mohawk Indians to re-occupy the dangerous post of Beaver Dam, under Colonel Boescher, with five hundred men made secret preparations to surprise and capture this small force. Laura Secord, after a walk of twenty miles, during which she underwent frightful experiences, arrived ahead of the American force, and warned Lieutenant Fitzgibbons and his men, who were ready for the invaders, and, after a short battle the whole American force surrendered. Later Colonel Fitzgibbons was stationed in Halifax. Fort Lawrence was included in his military supervision after his transfer, and he frequently traveled from this port by way of the old French road, on horseback, to Parrsboro, then known as Mill Village, and took the packet for Windsor en route to Halifax. The Doctor's mother was born in 1838. Her father died in 1898, when nearly one hundred years old, having lived during the reign of four British sovereigns.
Dr. Edward Jeffers grew to manhood in his native community and received his early education in the public schools of Parrsboro and later was a student in Mt. Allison College at Sackville, after which he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, from which he graduated, subsequently taking a post-graduate course in Harvard Medical College, Boston, Massachusetts. Returning to Parrsboro he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession and his name has become a household word in Cumberland County. He was health officer for a number of years, and served a term as mayor of Parrsboro in 1912. He has extensive lumber interests and is an active half owner of the Jeffers Manufacturing Company.
Dr. Jeffers was married in May, 1896, to Laura Adelaide Bigney, a daughter of Rev. John G. and Catherine Elizabeth (Seaboyer) Bigney, of Hantsport, Nova Scotia. One son has been born to our subject and wife - Joseph d'Aubigne Jeffers, whose birth occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1898. He is the sixth generation to be in possession of lands granted the Loyalist, John Jeffers. Although only seventeen years old, he has for several years been captain of the Parrsboro Cadet Corps, which is composed of sixty members.
Politically, the Doctor is a Conservative. He holds the office of port physician. He belongs to the Methodist Church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he belongs to the Canadian Club, the Cumberland County Medical Society, the Nova Scotia Medical Society, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Canadian Protective Association.