Miss Susan Donaldson, Domestic Servant

U.S. # 147, 3 cent Washington on April 1, 1878 international cover from Newark, NJ to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Addressed to Miss Susan Donaldson, care Mr. James Scott, army and navy Depot, Halifax Nova Scotia. Black circle of wedges cancellation with Newark, N.J. APR 1, 6 PM date mark. Backstamp HALIFAX, N.S. APR 4, 78.

Hutchinson's Nova Scotia Directory for 1878 has SCOTT JAMES, groceries ltd liquors, 158 and 160 ( old No. 117 and 118) Granville, h 11 Poplar grove. (See .Advertisement, Scott James, army and navy depot, p. 227)

In the 1871 Halifax census, James Scott, 49, wine merchant, is living with his wife Isabelle, 50, daughter Annie M, 20, son Alexander M, 18, son O.S., 16, daughters Isabelle B, 14, Elizabeth, 13, M.E., 11, and M. McL., 8, and son W.M., 6. There are two female servants, Bridget Cahill, 22, of Irish origin, and Anne Cameron, 21, of Scottish origin, living in the household as well as a clerk, Henry Suckling, 20.

In the 1881 census, James Scott, 59, grocer, is living with his wife, Isabelle, 60, son Seymour, 26, merchant, daughters Elizabeth, 23, Mary S, 21, Mary, 19, and son William, 17. There are two female servants living in the household.

In the 1891 census, the James Scott household includes a "housemaid" and a "cook".

Newark, NJ Directory 1878

It seems likely Miss Susan Donaldson was a domestic servant in the Scott household in 1878 when she received this letter from Newark, NJ. But, where was she from? She could have been a Scottish or Irish immigrant laborer, however that would not explain why she received a letter from Newark, NJ. The Newark, NJ City Directory for 1878 lists six Donaldson households. None of the census data records a Susan Donaldson, so it is not possible to know whether any of these were her family. But why would a young woman from New Jersey not seek employment closer to home? Perhaps some as yet undiscovered source can answer these questions.

James Scott's store was located in a newly-built building on Granville Street. Fire had razed a one block long section of Granville Street north of Duke Street in 1859 and, in 1860, the architectural firm of William Thomas (1800-1860) was engaged to design buildings on the block for prosperous merchants, the first of which was begun in 1860. They were all designed in the Italianate style, most retaining their original styling details to this day.

Halifax in 1872-3