Tabusintac

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Tabusintac

William F. Ganong wrote an article entitled The History of Tabusintac in 1907, and published it in Acadiensis. I prefer not to quote at length from Acadiensis, because it is still being published today, and have therefore taken parts of the article which most appealed to me and summarized them in my own words as follows.

Sunset View of the Tabusintac River

From Tripadvisor,ca

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The Tabusintac River and the community of that name lie on the eastern shore of New Brunswick, about half way between Miramichi and Tracadie. The river, like others along that coast, is enclosed at its opening to the Gulf by a line of sand islands which protects the lagoon. The river is under the influence of the tide for about fifteen miles.

The livelihood of the area depends chiefly on lumbering and fishing and is well known, for example, for its trout and salmon.

The first occupants of the Tabusintac River were, of course, the Mi’kmaq, who benefited from the canoeable waterway and the abundant fishery. These people have left the area now, but some people can still remember when there were sizable Mi’kmaq villages here. There is also a burial ground, and evidence of several portage routes to other waterways. Mi’kmaq place names abound. The word Tabusintac is a corruption of Taboosimkik, which the French sometimes wrote as Taboujamtèque, which is descriptive of some local geography. Cowassaget is from Coowa or Goowa, meaning pine, and Pisiguit is associated with Nepisiguit, meaning rough water.

There is also a time-honoured tradition that a group of Mohawks once encountered the Mi’kmaq at Tabusintac, where the two chiefs battled. The Mi’kmaq chief won, smashing his opponent’s head against a rock known as Batkwedagunuchk. Ganong believed that this rock still exists at Kirbins Point, at the entrance to the river.

Tabusintac was not one of those places that drew Europeans at an early date. A crude map was made in 1685, but hardly any other mention of the place can be found until 1727 when a surveyor was told by the Mi’kmaq that it was a beautiful place with good woods. There is no indication of any European settlement there during all of that time. The Miramichi and the Nepisiquit and Miscou were more favoured locations for the earliest of settlers.

Early maps of Tabusintac

The first European settlers were Acadians, and it is said that two of these, Victor and Anselme Breaux, came to Neguac after having hunted and trapped in the area for a few winters. These men had lived in Shepody before the Expulsion. Jacques Breaux, a son of one of these men, arrived at Tabusintac from the Miramichi in about 1790. David Savoy also came at about the same time, and they were joined by others from Neguac. Bishop Plessis noted that there was rapid growth of Taboujamtèque by1811. Overall, the settlement was small when compared with others on the Miramichi, and it was concentrated at French Cove.

William F. Ganong was aided in his study of early English arrivals by local people, from whom he learned that Philip Hierlihy, Duncan Robertson, John McLeod and William Tobin came in 1798, and were joined by John Murray, of Loyalist roots, in 1803. It is known that there were other English arrivals, since a map made in 1804 also mentions Turner, Buchanan, Wishart, McRaw (or McRae), Blake, McLeod and Casey.

Tabusintac in 1804

Philip Hierlihy, who had Irish roots, and his wife Charlotte were the first and most important of these early arrivals. Little is known of him, except that he died shortly after he arrived, as evidenced in 1804 when his wife was called “Widow Charlotte Hierlihy.” He had sons, however, and their descendants are leading citizens in the area today.

Widow Charlotte was as important to the history of Tabusintac as was Philip. She was an English woman by the name of Charlotte Taylor who married a Captain Blake at Miramichi. Blake died in 1785, however, whereupon she married William Wishart also of Mirimichi. William also did not live long and Charlotte then married Philip Hierlihy. Charlotte and Philip then moved to Tabusintac with Robert and John Blake and William Wishart — sons by her previous marriages. There were also daughters, and one of these married a McRaw (McGraw), and another married a Stymest, and a third married David Savoy. Another daughter was apparently adopted and she married Duncan Robertson. Ganong therefore called Charlotte “the mother of Tabusintac.”

Several disbanded soldiers of the 42^nd Highlanders arrived at Tabusintac from the Nashwaak River at about the same time as Philip and Charlotte, including Donald Murdoch, John McLeod, Duncan Robertson and Duncan McRaw. All of these also have descendants in the area today.

Other settlers, mostly English speaking, came from various places in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and from Quebec together with many others with identifiable roots which Ganong outlines in some detail. These family names included Ashford, Beattie, Brown, Campbell, Dick, Gay, Grattan, Johnstone, Lee, Leslie, Loggie, Loofbury, McCallum, McClelan, McEachran, McKenzie, McLean, McLeod, Mclnnes, McWilliam, Munro, Murray, Palmer, Petrie, Simpson, Stewart, Urquhart, and Vanadestine.

Thus, Tabusintac is mainly English speaking, due to those early immigrants from Scotland, Loyalist America and elsewhere and, having established a community, attracted others from elsewhere.

One final story involves ‘Tabusintac Valley,’ about 20 miles above tide’s-head, where George Harris built a half-way house on the post road between Chatham and Bathurst, and also had a prosperous farm. The post road and the half-way house became redundant with the opening of the Intercolonial Railway. The land then passed through several owners, but is now (1907) entirely gone except for the old hay fields.