Sarah E.
Milner was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1842, the eldest
daughter of Attorney-at- Law, Christopher Milner, and his wife
Elizabeth Morse. She had three younger sisters Ellen, Alice, and Lucy,
and one brother William (W.C. Milner). Her grandfather was Christopher
Milner Sr., an Anglican minister who emigrated from England and served
in the Dorchester area,1818-1836. As a young girl, 1854-56, Sarah
Milner attended Mount Allison Wesleyan Ladies’ Academy in Sackville.
On 21 August
1866, at St. Ann’s and St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Sackville, Sarah
Milner married Henry George Clopper Ketchum, a promising young
engineer. They made their home at Elmcroft in Fredericton.
Over the years, several members of the Milner family made their home
with Sarah and H.G.C. Ketchum. In the 1870s, Sarah’s unmarried sister,
Alice Milner, lived with them until, on 5 May 1879, she married George
Evans Stepford, at Christ Church Cathedral. Later Alice Milner
Stepford’s daughters Ellen, Norah and Florence, were to make their
home with Sarah Ketchum, as did their grandmother, Elizabeth Morse
Milner who lived at Elmcroft until her death in 1904.
Widowed in 1896,
Sarah Ketchum remained very active in charities and community service.
She was a life member of the Red Cross and for many years the Honorary
Regent of the Sir Howard Douglas branch of the I.O.D.E. in Fredericton.
She was also closely identified with Christ Church Cathedral. Well
known for her hospitality, Sarah Ketchum made Elmcroft the scene
of many social events in Fredericton.
When elderly,
Sarah Ketchum moved to Saint John where she died at the Old Ladies Home
on 7 Nov. 1930. Her sister, Lucy, (Mrs. Irwin W. Binney),
passed away one week earlier and this may have hastened Sarah’s death.
She was survived by one sister Alice (Mrs. G.E. Stepford) of Halifax
and her brother, W.C. Milner, of Wolfville.
Sources:
Allisonia. Vol.
I, no. 4 (1904); Vol II no. 1 (1904).
Census Records:
New Brunswick. Westmorland County 1851.
Census Records:
New Brunswick. York County 1871 and 1901.
Johnson, D.F.
Vital Statistics from New
Brunswick Newspapers, 1879.
Obituary: Daily
Gleaner, Nov. 7, 1930, p.5.
Register of
Marriages, 1840-1873, from St. Ann’s and St. Paul’s Anglican Church,
Sackville, N.B.
Document Maintained by:
UNB Archives
Contact Website Administrator
Last Update: 2004/03/31
Sarah E.
Milner was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1842, the eldest
daughter of Attorney-at- Law, Christopher Milner, and his wife
Elizabeth Morse. She had three younger sisters Ellen, Alice, and Lucy,
and one brother William (W.C. Milner). Her grandfather was Christopher
Milner Sr., an Anglican minister who emigrated from England and served
in the Dorchester area,1818-1836. As a young girl, 1854-56, Sarah
Milner attended Mount Allison Wesleyan Ladies’ Academy in Sackville.