Rae’s winter preparations were brightened by the presence at York Factory of a remarkable lady named Letitia Hargrave, with whom he developed a close friendship. But this time was marred by the news that his older brother William had committed suicide in California. William had worked for the HBC since 1827, but had become mixed up in revolutions after he was made chief trader in California. Problems with his marriage had also contributed to his tragic death.
William’s death hit John hard. After all, William had been the older brother that John admired and whom he had followed to seek his fortune in Canada. But there was little time for mourning. Spring would arrive soon, and John had to be ready to head north.
Letitia Hargrave was the same age as John Rae. In 1840, she married James Hargrave and accompanied him to York Factory. For ten years, she wrote letters home to her mother in Scotland and became one of the very few people to record what life was like in those days for a woman in the wilderness. Letitia noted that the “state of society seems shocking,” but was pleased with her good sized house and piano, “a very fine one and the handsomest I ever saw.”
In 1850, James was transferred to SauIt Ste Marie, where Letitia died suddenly of cholera in 1854.