We're sharing this well-researched (and sometimes humorous) story about two cousins who came west for the gold rush and further adventures. They began new lives in what would become British Columbia. Jeff Brown of Ottawa wrote the story. "I am a descendant of a William Burnette Maxwell and Jane McMillan, who settled in Wakefield, Quebec, north of Ottawa, in 1832. William's siblings also settled in Canada, all but one of them within a few kilometres of one another. Two of his nephews, James Reid (son of his sister, Ann, and her husband James) and John Maxwell (son of his brother, Thomas, and his wife Catherine McVeigh) ultimately settled in British Columbia. James settled in Quesnel (and later Vancouver), where he became a prominent business person, Member of Parliament and Senator. John settled in Langley, where he was one of the settlers to petition for its incorporation and served as Reeve. [...]