 |
|
|
|
Myricks of Tignish
James Howe Myrick
- born in 1824 in Newcastle, Maine. He left home for Boston in 1846, and here he became a
commission merchant. After coming to the Island, he helped to maintain three stores in the
summer: one in the centre of Tignish, one at the Shore and one in Alberton.
These stores carried everything from farming and fishing supplies, hardware and groceries to
building supplies, dry goods and wall paper. They also sold clothing, and even had a store
tailor who made suits. During their summers spent in Tignish, the Myricks lived in what was
known as the Wigwam, which was south of the group of buildings known as Myrick Shore.
James Howe Myrick has been described as a quiet, patient man who was a splendid organizer
and a fine executive. He died June 23, 1911, after contracting a throat infection.
Mary Converse Merrill Myrick
- born in 1832, she married James Howe Myrick in 1854 in Dorchester, Mass. Five children were
born from this union. She is referred to as the Matriarch of the Myrick clan.
Mary was a habitual letter writer who kept in regular contact with her daughters in Boston.
She is described by her family as being a high-spirited woman, vivacious and hot tempered,
but with a warm heart and plenty of energy. She lived until 1927.
Alice Thatcher Myrick
- born in 1855, she was a nurse by trade. She graduated from the Boston City Hospital in January
of 1892, and she continued to live in Dorchester, Massachusetts over the remainder of her life.
She is described by her family as a thrifty woman who would even save used matches;
she was also a marvellous cook, an nature lover, a great letter writer and an ardent follower
of the Church of the Disciples. Alice lived until March 1947.
Edward Merrill Myrick
- born in 1857, he married Bessie Everett Botume on April 15, 1884, in Boston. Edward was
different than his father in that he had a shy, self-conscious disposition. Edward also
assisted in the family business which became known as J.H. Myrick & Company after 1915.
During Edward's era, Hayward's Mill was an active part of the Myrick business. After the
first World War, Myrick's expanded to include seed and table potatoes in their business
ventures. When Edward was bringing up his family, the Myrick enterprise at the Shore had a
settlement of twenty-one buildings with a pier where a rail line ran out so that the lighters
from the ships could bring in and take out goods. Herring was also a big part of the Myrick's
business for many years. Edward Merrill Myrick died on Dec. 29, 1957, a few weeks after his
one hundredth birthday.
Mary Converse Myrick (Mae)
- born in 1862, she was the third child of James and Mary. She loved to sketch and write, and
she often wrote of her travels. She had a deep faith which gave her the strength to deal with her
final illness that eventually claimed her life. Toward the end of her life, she was often
bedridden due to an accident that brought on an onslaught of migraine headaches. Throughout
the ordeal, she was described as having a certain peace, exaltation and influence of spirit
that was an inspiration to those around her. She died peacefully in 1898.
Cornelia Howland Myrick
- born in 1866, she was nicknamed "Tint" by her family. When she was young, she and her family
spent the winters in Dorchester, Massachusetts and their summers in Tignish at the Wigwam.
Tint went to the Massachusetts School of Art, graduating in 1897. She was married to George
Bradford, whom she had known since elementary school, and the wedding transpired on April 18,
1899, the year of the Tignish Centennial. George worked at a bank and at the Union Safe Deposit
Company throughout his life. He was also one of the founders of the NAACP and served as its
first treasurer. Cornelia and George had three daughters: Mae, Alice and Hope. Cornelia is
described by her family as being an inveterate talker, a nature-lover and a great hostess.
She died in 1955.
Hannah Glidden Myrick
- born in 1871, she is described by her family as having been the liveliest of the five
children. She was keen and had a quick mind with a strong ambition to be a doctor. She entered
Johns Hopkins Medical School, and graduated in 1900. Upon completion of her internship, she
practised medicine with another doctor at Upham's Corner. From 1918-1922, she was
superintendent of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, and while here, she
delivered her great-nephew, Roger Merrill Myrick, on Dec. 8, 1913. Along with her achievements
in medicine, Hannah was also an accomplished photographer and an astute business woman.
She died, at the ripe old age of 102, in 1973. 
Bessie Everett Botume Myrick
- born in Massachusetts in 1863, she was brought up in a section of Stoneham called Wyoming.
Bessie married Edward Merrill Myrick in 1884, and there were six children born from this union.
Bessie taught her own children at home and is described by her family as being an excellent
teacher. Merrill and Bessie celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on April 15, 1934, in
Dorchester. Bessie was an avid gardener and an inveterate letter-writer. She died on April 13, 1945.
James Howe Myrick II
- born in 1885, the eldest son of Edward and Bessie, "Jay" lived in Number 3 until 1901, when
the family rented a house in West Newton. Number 3 was appropriately named due to the fact that
before telephones, there were lines running from building to building which meant each place had
a different number of rings. The Myrick homestead had three rings. After Jay finished high
school in 1905, he was anxious to return to P.E.I. Upon his return to the Island, he worked for
his father in Tignish. He married Sibyl Fay Stone in 1911, and the two had one son, Roger
Merrill II. During Jay's era, the Island celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Myrick stores,
those being the Station Shore, the Shore store and the Alberton stores. In 1853, Jay started
the trading post on the North Cape Road. When the railroad came to Tignish, Jay and his partner,
Isaac Clark Hall, bought Pope's store near the trading post and re-located it to Tignish near
the end of the railroad. They later were forced to build a new store when the fire that burned
Tignish claimed the old one in 1896. In 1930, the Myrick Company built the Windigo to haul
lobsters from P.E.I. over to New Brunswick. They later built canning factories on the west side;
that is, they built buildings at the Brae and rented a canning factory at Point du Chene,
New Brunswick. They took the factory crew from Tignish over to can them there.
Jay continued going there until 1935 when the Windigo was sold to John MacIntosh.
During the Thirties, the Myricks sold dried salt cod and wet salt fish, shipped out oats,
potatoes, turnips, agricultural products and livestock to Newfoundland, and shipped oats and
hay to the logging camps in the winter. In the depths of the Depression in 1933, the Myrick
company went into receivership run by the Eastern Trust. Thus, Jay went to work at Myricks
Alberton Ltd. while John Myrick and John MacIntosh ran the business in Tignish under the name
Myrick-MacIntosh. In 1960, James Howe Myrick II sold the Alberton business to the Hardys who
kept the Myrick name until they sold the business in 1978.
John Botume Myrick
- born in 1887, he was the second child of Edward and Bessie. He graduated in 1906 from Newton
High School and went on from there to attend MIT where he graduated in 1910 with a degree in
electrical engineering. He was not involved in the Myrick business until after 1914 when eye
trouble forced him to give up desk work. He married Sibyl Berry in April, 1911, in the
Unitarian Church in West Newton, and the two produced four children. John is largely responsible
for the development of the Irish Moss industry in West Prince. The first shipment of Irish
Moss from P.E.I. was in September 1941 by Myrick-MacIntosh Ltd. to Kraft. The Tignish Station
Store closed in1961 after a decline in fishing along with an overextended credit.
Roger Merrill Myrick
- born in 1889 in Boston, the third son of Merrill and Bessie. He developed diphtheria in
November of 1903, and died within the
month.
Rachel Myrick
- born in 1891. She attended a summer art course at Harvard and six years later took a position
as social services secretary in the Social Service Department of Massachusetts General Hospital.
She later worked in a similar capacity at the Deaconess Hospital. She married John Damon in
1930, and they had one child, Merrill Myrick Damon in 1932. She died of a heart problem in 1951.
Franklin Lord Myrick
- born in 1892, he was the youngest son of Edward and Bessie. He graduated from high school in
1911 and from MIT in 1915. He then went on to work at a bank prior to working as a salesman.
Franklin married Mildred Hartman from Pennsylvania in September of 1925, and there was one
daughter produced from this union. In 1918, Franklin enlisted in the U.S. Army and upon his
return from France in 1919, he went back to his job as salesman at Baker-Dunbar-Allen Company in
Pittsburgh. Franklin took up various positions over his career, but by the end of his career,
he was with the Allen-Sherman-Hoff Company in Hamburg, Pennslyvania where he worked until his
retirement in 1961. Franklin died on March 20, 1987.
Roger Merrill Myrick II - born in December 8, 1913, he came to P.E.I. when he was six weeks old. He would later help his father in the operations of the store in Tignish. Roger started school under the tutelage of his grandmother, Bessie, and he was admitted into Grade 10 in the spring of 1930. He started school in the fall at Newton High School, living with Aunt Ray and Uncle John Damon for three years. During the summers, he returned to Tignish where he played baseball with the Shore team. He graduated from high school in 1933, and he went on to work in the office of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company in Boston. He retired from the company in 1978. Roger is married to Carolyn E. Myrick. |