Woodstock to Grand Falls in 1891, and Railway Stations Along the Way

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Woodstock to Grand Falls in 1891, and Railway Stations Along the Way

My work sometimes allowed me to drive north of Woodstock, and to enjoy the remarkable country along that stretch of the Saint John River. That was years ago but the memories are still fresh. Charles G.D. Roberts also enjoyed the area, and described it in The Canadian Guide-Book (New York, 1891). Roberts wrote the section about Eastern Canada and Newfoundland which was about half of the book.

The following is edited from the Guide Book, extending, unfortunately, only as far as Grand Falls.

The Broadway Hotel on Broadway Boulevard, Grand Falls

From the Register of Canada’s Historic Places

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The Upper St. John

Leaving Woodstock by rail, we first pass Hartland (13 miles from Woodstock) and Peel (17 miles), and then come to Florenceville station (24 miles). This village lies across the river, and is reached by a ferry. Its situation is remarkably picturesque, on the wind-swept crest of a high ridge.

A few miles south of Florenceville rises Mars Hill, a steep mountain about 1,200 ft. high, which overlooks a vast expanse of forest. This was one of the chief points of controversy during the old border troubles, and its summit was cleared by the commissioners of 1794.

Beyond Florenceville the charm of the landscape deepens. The railway keeps close to the river. From the village of Kent, 3 miles farther, where we cross the Shiktehawk stream, a portage of 15 miles leads to the upper waters of the southwest Miramichi. Guides and canoes for this trip may be engaged in Fredericton. Passing Bath Station, and the Munquauk brook, we come to Muniac, 15 miles from Florenceville, where the Muniac stream, descending through a rocky glen, brawls beneath the track. In this neighbourhood there is a peninsula jutting out from the river shore, around which the channel makes a long detour, while the portage across the isthmus is short and easy. The Malecites say that once upon a time, when an army of their enemies was encamped on the shore opposite the point, preparing to attack the villages below, which had been left defenseless while the braves were off on the war path, a clever ruse was practiced here which saved the villages. Six Malecite warriors, returning down river in their canoes, discovered the invaders’ camp and took in the situation. First one canoe paddled swiftly down, keeping to the safe side of the river. Then at a short interval came the second, and after another brief space the third. Meanwhile the two in the first canoe, as soon as they were well out of sight around the point, landed, carried their craft in haste across the portage, and embarked again to repeat the performance. The other canoes did likewise in their turn; and this was kept up the greater part of the day, till the hostile band, looking on with lively interest from the farther shore. Thety were so impressed with the numbers of the returning Malecite warriors that they discreetly withdrew to seek some easier adventure.

At the little milling village of Perth, 49 miles from Woodstock, the railroad crosses the river to Andover (51 miles), a village of 500 inhabitants, and the Tobique branch runs from here along the river 28 miles to Plaster Rock. This is the headquarters for fishermen who are going to make the Tobique trip. There is a homelike country hotel here, whose the proprietor will furnish information as to guides, etc.

A mile and a half above Andover, on the other shore, comes in the Tobique, an important tributary, about 70 miles in length, famous for its trout and salmon fishing. At its mouth is a large reservation, containing a prosperous Malecite village. Some of these Malecites are capable guides and canoemen, and may be hired at from $1 to $1½ a day. From the head of the Tobique one may port age to the Nepisiguit Lake and descend the Nepisiguit to Bathurst.

Five miles above Andover is Aroostook Junction, whence a branch line runs 34 miles up the fertile Aroostook Valley to the Maine towns of Fort Fairfield (7 miles from the Junction), Caribou (19 miles), and Presque Isle (34 miles). These towns have each from 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants. The district in which they lie is enormously productive, and was the subject of the boundary dispute between New Brunswick and Maine which nearly brought on a war between England and the United States. Indeed, in the year 1830, there was a little outbreak of hostilities between the Province and the State. This skirmish is known to history as the Aroostook War. Troops were called out on both sides, and a band of Americans, who had gone into the disputed territory to arrest alleged trespassers, were captured by a party of New Brunswick lumbermen and their leaders carried captive, on a horse sled, to Fredericton. Maine called out her militia. Sir John Harvey, the Governor of New Brunswick, summoned the provincial troops and the few regulars within reach. Nova Scotia voted all her men and all her revenues to the help of the sister province, and Upper and Lower Canada made haste to send aid. There was excited oratory at Washington, and (seeing that New Brunswick was but a colony) more temperate discussion at London, and finally war was averted by the arrival on the scene of an English commissioner, who with easy generosity yielded to the American commissioner, Mr. Webster, all New Brunswick’s claims; and the Aroostook Valley, largely settled by New Brunswickers, became American territory. In the Aroostook country there is fine bear, deer, moose, caribou, and duck shooting, and excellent fishing in the Aroostook and Presque Isle Rivers and the Scopan Lake. There is also available from this point a good round trip through the Eagle Lakes.

From Aroostook Junction the main line follows the heights overlooking the river St. John to the village of Grand Falls, seated on a high plateau 72 miles above Woodstock. The village, with its cool airs and the really sublime scenery of the Falls and Gorge, has become a popular summer halting place. The Grand Falls Hotel is a good hostelry, and there are also the American House and Glasier’s Hotel. Through the village runs the street ambitiously named Broadway—which is indeed so broad and grassy that it might be mistaken for a meadow. Though the inhabitants are few—not more than 700 or 800—there is stir in the village, caused by the busy geese and pigs. There are several churches; but the chief architectural distinction of the village is the Grand Falls Hotel which, with its pretentious front of tall, white, fluted pillars, suggests at first sight that a Greek temple has captured a whitewashed modern barn and proudly stuck it on behind.

The Grand Falls of the St. John

In magnitude the Grand Falls of the. St. John cannot be compared to Niagara; but in impressiveness of surroundings they will endure the comparison. A little above the cataract the river loiters in a wide basin, where boats from upstream make a landing. Then the shores suddenly contract, and the great stream plunges into the gorge by a perpendicular leap of 73 ft. At the foot of the fall, in its center, rises a sharp cone of black rock on which the descending waters break and pile up magnificently. The scene varies greatly with variations in the height of the river. It is peculiarly awe inspiring when the logs are running through, and one may see mighty timbers shattered into fragments, while others at times shoot high into the air in the fury of their rebound. From the foot of the cataract the river is volleyed off, as it were, with an explosive force that hurls huge white foam masses of water into the air. The bottom of the terrific trough is sometimes bared for a moment as the river sways madly up one or the other of its imprisoning walls. The gorge is about a mile in extent, and walled by contorted cliffs from 100 to 250 feet in height. The rocks are dark Upper Silurian slate, whose strata have been twisted and turned on end, and their seams filled with white interlacing veins of quartz. Throughout the extent of the gorge there are several lesser falls, which are swallowed up in one roaring incline when the river is at freshet. One descends into the gorge by a series of precipitous stairs. On the wild and chaotic floor one may clamber some distance, and visit the Cave, whose jaws remind one of the mouth of a gigantic alligator; one may get a near view of the curious Coffee-Mill, where a strange eddy, occupying a round basin beside the channel, slowly grinds the logs which it succeeds in capturing as they dash past. The Wells are a strange phenomenon, smooth, circular pits several feet in diameter, bored perpendicularly deep into the rock, and leading nowhither. It will take some days to exhaust the attractions of the gorge. At its lower end, reached by a wonderfully picturesque and precipitous road from the village, is the lovely, quiet expanse of the Lower Basin, where logs are caught and made up into rafts for the voyage down to Fredericton. At low water one may be poled in a lumberman’s bateau for a short distance up the gorge to the foot of the towering cliff.

One of the best views of the cataract is obtained from the old mill, which occupies a rocky ledge thrust out into the very face of the fall. Here one is in the midst of the spray and the rainbows. Another good view may be had from the Suspension Bridge, which swings from crag to crag across the gorge a couple of hundred yards below the falls. The spot has been the scene of many a tragedy. Lumbermen have been sucked down, and never a trace of their bodies found thereafter. The first bridge built across the gorge fell into the awful depths with several teams upon it. The most heroic story, however, comes to us from Malecite tradition. An invading army of Mohawks entered the country by the headwaters of the St. John. Their object was to surprise the chief village of the Malecites at Aukpaque, far below Grand Falls. Descending the upper reaches of the river, they took a little village at the mouth of the Madawaska, whose inhabitants they slew with the exception of two women, whom they saved to pilot them down the river. The women guided them safely through some rapids. Toward evening they told their captors that the river was clear of falls and rapids for another day’s journey, after which they would have to make a portage. The Mohawks lashed together their fleet of canoes, placed their captive guides in the middle, and resigned themselves to the current. The falls are buried so deep in the gorge that, as you approach them from upriver their roaring is not heard until one is close upon them. At the first sound of it some of the watchers inquired the cause, but were assured by the captives that it was only a tributary stream falling into the main river. As the fleet swept round the point, and quickened for the plunge, and the full blast of the cataract’s thunder roared suddenly in their ears, they sprang in desperate horror to their paddles. But it was too late; and the women raised their shrill cry as they swept with their captors into the gulf, and saved their people.

Nova Scotia Photographs, 1895, from the Yarmouth Steamship Company — Part 1

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Nova Scotia Photographs, 1895, from the Yarmouth Steamship Company — Part 1

The Yarmouth Steamship Company published a brochure in 1895 of pictures from Nova Scotia, and entitled it Beautiful Nova Scotia, the Tourist’s Eden. Following are some of the images from that brochure.

Title Page:

Yarmouth Steamship Company’s Fleet, Yarmouth:

Yarmouth Light:

Digby Photograph Collection:

A Native of Nova Scotia: (Yes, that is the title they used.)

Bridgetown, Nova Scotia:

Hunting Scene in Nova Scotia:

Road to Acacia Valley, Digby:

Annapolis River:

Granville Street, Bridgetown, Nova Scotia:

Mill Bridge, Kentville, Nova Scotia:

The New Brunswick Regiment, the Fenians, and Confederation

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The New Brunswick Regiment, the Fenians, and Confederation

John M. Baxter wrote Historical Records of the New Brunswick Regiment, Canadian Artillery, and published it in Saint John in 1896. One Chapter dealt with the years from 1865 to 1868, which included the Fenian uprising and Confederation, and I have edited it to include only those two topics, per the appended post.

Militiamen During the Fenian Scare, 1866

From the Charlotte County Archives, via the Saint Croix Historical Society

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The year 1866 was destined to try the mettle of the volunteer forces throughout Canada. For some months rumors of a Fenian rising had been current, and as this year approached they seemed to take more definite shape. The first two months were quiet enough, while routine changes in the command of various batteries of the militia took place. At Saint Andrews, for example, a new artillery battery was formed in January under Captain, Henry Osburn, with, Thomas T. Odell Lieutenant, and Walter B. Morris Second Lieutenant.

This Saint Andrews battery performed some interesting service a few months later. There were newspaper reports early in March that bonds of The Irish Republic were being offered for sale in New York and other American cities, and these began to excite alarm. Agitators known as ‘Head Centres’ addressed largely attended meetings across the border, and the feeling grew that the troops which they were gathering would descend upon the New Brunswick border. Popular imagination fixed on Saint Patrick’s Day for the date of invasion, and so great was the excitement that there was a run on the Savings Bank at Saint John. Circulars, purporting to come from a republican committee in the city, were twice distributed about the streets calling on the citizens to rise, and assuring them that these republicans had the sympathy of the Fenians and even of a part of the militia.¹ The British and local governments made preparation and the drill rooms were closed to all but volunteers. On the 10^th of March Mr. Wilmot asked the Attorney-General in the House of Assembly if the government intended sending volunteers to Campobello, intelligence having been received that a Fenian demonstration was expected in that quarter. No information was forthcoming except that the government was taking measures for the safety of the country. In a few days despatches from New York stated that the organization was formed under experienced officers and that 15,000 uniforms and 2,000 rifles were stored in Burlington, Vermont.

Baxter itemized military staff changes that were made in preparation for conflict, and some of the names appear later in this blog post. These included Lieutenant Darrell R. Jago who was made Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General of artillery; Captain Pick at Partridge Island, with his juniors Lieutenant S. Kent Foster, jr. and Lieutenant George Garby at Reed’s Point; Captain M.H. Peters, with Lieutenant E.J. Wetmore and twenty men at Martello Tower, and Sand Cove, near Saint John; and Captain Osburn, with one lieutenant and twenty men at Saint Andrews.

At Carleton, the old roof was removed from the Martello Tower and guns were mounted. Earthworks were thrown up on the adjacent hill and guns mounted at Fort Dufferin. On April 11^th there was a rumor that two hundred armed men had endeavored to take passage on the American boat at Portland for Eastport, but had been refused unless they left their arms behind. Captain Hood, of H.M.S. Pylades telegraphed recommending a call up of volunteers. The Saint John men had patrols out, since of the Carleton battery extended down the coast to Sand Cove. A system of signals was arranged by Major Jago, and Captain Pick directed that one sentry be on duty at Partridge Island and such others at other points as might be needed. An attempt at landing was to be announced by two guns, and very suspicious circumstances at night by three rockets at three minute intervals. Rockets sent up from Sand Cove were to be repeated at the Island, at Lower Cove and at Carleton. Captain M.H. Peters’ force was increased to forty men, and afterwards four more were taken from Captain Pick’s and added to Peters’. On April 15^th there was a landing at Indian Island, a small island near Campobello.² The house of the collector of customs was visited and the British flag seized. It was found a few days afterwards, and there has always been some doubt as to the real character of the persons who committed the depredation. But the Province was in a blaze. There was another landing later on at the same place when the boat was challenged by an outpost under command of Lieutenant Wilmot of the Saint John Volunteer Battalion. Receiving no reply they fired, and the party left hurriedly. A few nights after, H.M.S. Cordelia in the harbor of Saint Andrews beat to quarters and despatched rockets. Captain Osburn’s battery fired from the guns of Fort Tipperary and the whole force turned out. It was only a scare, but it worked well. Nothing more serious occurred, and the Fenians after a repulse at Niagara disbanded. During the excitement General Meade and staff of the U.S.A., was stationed at Calais with sixty-five men of the 1^st U.S. Heavy Artillery. General Meade and our General Doyle exchanged civilities and took precautions for the safety of the Province.

The only uniform most of the men had was a great-coat. Most of the men went home at night and did about five hours work per day mostly garrison gun drill in which they became very proficient. Of course the other forces kept up sentries by night at their outposts. During the service Captain Pick reported two men, Gunners Devereaux and Logan, for having deserted their posts while on duty, and asked if there should be a court martial. Lieutenant Foster says that the men went into a shed and played a game of cards. The official correspondence does not confirm this, simply stating that they were in a shed a short distance, not more than one hundred yards, beyond their beats, and that they stopped in there to light their pipes. Smoking on the beat was of course forbidden, and when the news got about it was currently reported that the men would be shot. The affair was ended by Major Jago, who wrote a letter on the subject and said “My own idea of volunteers is that you ought not to look too closely into their way of doing the work as long as it is done.” The exercise of good common sense got over a difficulty which might have been very serious if formalities had been observed.

The whole force, consisting of Captain Pick with Lieutenant Garby and forty-six men, Captain M.H. Peters with Lieutenant Wetmore and forty-four men, and Lieutenant Foster with thirty men, was paid off on the 2^nd June and the bloodless campaign was at an end. Three additional batteries had been formed as a result of the scare, that under Captain Osburn at Saint Andrews, one under Captain Edgar at Woodstock, and a third under Captain Wm. T. Rose at Saint Stephen.

Under these circumstances it may be imagined that the celebration of the Queen’s birthday was more than an ordinary affair. At Saint Andrews a dinner was given, at which Saint John officers were guests. The whole force was inspected and the day was a great one.

As B. Lester Peters’ battery was largely composed of clerks in banks and other institutions it was impossible for them to go to service, except in case of emergencies. They, however, volunteered to a man to put in four hours drill daily at the garrison guns, and did so during the whole time that the force was under arms. This service was spontaneous and received the warmest thanks of His Excellency. During the winter, too, lectures were delivered by Hon. John Boyd, Rev. G.W.M. Carev, George E. Fenetv and Hon. William Wedderburn, the proceeds being in aid of uniforming Murray’s battery. Upon the disbandment of the forces a general order was issued dated 20^th June, from which the following is an extract:—

“His Excellency desires in a special manner to acknowledge the services rendered by the batteries and detachments of the New Brunswick Regiment of Artillery. The officers and men of this branch of the militia force have shown a remarkable aptitude for acquiring a knowledge of their more difficult duties, which has called forth the marked commendation of the Major-General commanding in the Lower Provinces, and His Excellency has received the most satisfactory reports as to their general good conduct and efficiency…. To the forces generally employed on the frontier His Excellency desires to express the gratification he has experienced in finding the officers, non-commissioned officers and men composing the force engaged in protecting those points of the frontier most threatened by attack, deserving of his entire confidence. His Excellency is fully aware that upon them devolved duties of a peculiarly difficult nature, the discharge of which was occasionally attended with a greater degree of hardship than His Excellency had anticipated or desired, but which have been accomplished to His Excellency’s full satisfaction.

“Had it been the fortune of the militia volunteers of this Province, as it was of those in Canada, to meet in conflict the armed invaders of our soil, His Excellency is certain that their conduct would have been such as to merit yet warmer commendation; and they may take a pride in reflecting that the attitude assumed by the local force was among the causes which frustrated the projected invasion of this province.”

In 1867 there were many promotions and brevet rank was liberally granted.³ The raising of a new battery at Chatham, which had been undertaken in the previous year, was completed and the following officers gazetted: Captain, Thomas F. Gillespie; First Lieutenant, Francis J. Letson; and Second Lieutenant, John F. Gemmill.

The day appointed for the Confederation of the provinces, July 1^st, 1867, ushering into life the Dominion of Canada, was duly celebrated by our artillery corps. At noon royal salutes were fired from King Square by Captain Murray’s battery, and from Fort Howe by Captain Farmer’s. Captain B.L. Peters’ battery was at the guns at Reed’s Point to salute also, but only two guns were fired owing to a mistake in making up the cartridges.      

Under the new regime militia and defence were placed under the exclusive control of the Federal government, and the provincial force was drilled in 1868 under regulations from Ottawa pending another reorganization. Dominion Day was celebrated this year by three salutes fired at 6, 8, and 9 a.m. by Pick’s and Farmer’s batteries from King Square and Fort Howe. On the swearing in of Hon. L.A. Wilmot as Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, July 23, three salutes of thirteen guns each were fired from Fort Howe by Captain Farmer’s battery.

In October of this year notification was received that provision had been made for a class in gunnery at the school at Montreal. Companies were required to enrol in compliance with the new law. The year closed with the ninth anniversary of Portland battery which was celebrated by a ball and supper in the Temperance Hall, on December 23^rd.

This year, the last of the provincial organization, unfortunately brings to an end the historical continuity of the original Company. Though by a very slender thread at times, yet still by one that holds, succession can be traced to Captain Murray, but on 20^th March, 1868, a militia order states that this battery having completed the term of engagement its services are dispensed with. It is probably better to withhold the reasons which led to this step as they involve the charge of extremely disrespectful conduct by the captain of the battery to Major Jago. There was no lack of efficiency on the part of the battery, however, and by July 14^th of the same year there was a correspondence between Major Jago and the D.A.G. as to the appointment of Sergeant-Major John Kerr of Captain Pick’s battery as lieutenant of a new company which was composed of a number of Captain Murray’s men together with recruits.

And thus we leave the old N.B.R.A. which had been in existence for thirty years and in whose ranks had been found some of the foremost men of the province. While we must all be glad that a new era of activity had opened before the old organization, yet the change must cause deep and lasting regret to all who care for the preservation of our regiments’ story. For by an act of wanton vandalism almost every paper was destroyed which belonged to the records of the New Brunswick Militia, and was not required to be transmitted to headquarters at Ottawa in connection with current business. Thus valuable material for accurate compilation is in many cases wanting, and this generation must depend upon the fragmentary details which in one form and another have been transmitted from the past. In Ontario and Quebec all militia records were transferred and the result is that today their forces are regarded as a continuation of those existing anterior to Confederation, while ours has been in some quarters erroneously believed to have been of a much later creation. But it is submitted that these pages show conclusively that the company founded in 1793, lived to become a part of the regiment formed in 1838, the record of which under that designation is now brought to a close.

Footnotes:

1. One such circular calling on New Brunswickers to support a republicanism appeared in an earlier blog post at https://johnwood1946.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/two-documents-relating-to-the-fenians-in-new-brunswick/
2. Other details of the Fenian activity in the Passamaquoddy appear in the above reference, and at https://johnwood1946.wordpress.com/2019/12/18/little-indian-island-and-its-surprising-history/
3. ‘Brevet’: A military commission conferred for outstanding service, but without a corresponding pay increase.

Immigration to Nova Scotia Beginning with those from Yorkshire

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Immigration to Nova Scotia Beginning with those from Yorkshire

Howard Trueman published The Chignecto Isthmus, and its First Settlers, in Toronto in 1902, and one chapter of that work focused on immigrants mostly from Yorkshire. An edited version of that chapter follows.

On the Tantramar Marshes, by John Hammond, abt. 1925

From the N.B. Museum via the McCord Museum

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Yorkshire is grouped as one of the six northeastern counties of England. Jackson Wray calls it “one of the bonniest of English shires.” It has an area of 6,076 square miles, making it the largest county in England. Its present population is a trifle over three millions. A coastline of one hundred miles gives its people a fine chance to look out on the North Sea. The old town of Hull is the largest shipping port. Scarboro, on the coast, is the great watering-place for the north of England. Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Bradford are the largest towns. It is the principal seat of the woollen manufacture in Great Britain. The people are self-reliant and progressive. In Yorkshire today are to be found the oldest cooperative corn mills and the oldest cooperative stores in England. The practice of dividing profits among purchasers in proportion to their trade at the store was first adopted by a Yorkshire society. This is just what might be expected from the people who, in 1793, passed the following resolution: “Resolved, that monopolies are inconsistent with the true principles of commerce, because they restrain at once the spirit of enterprise and the freedom of competition, and are injurious to the country where they exist, because the monopolist, by fixing the rate of both sale and purchase, can oppress the public at discretion.”

Another resolution passed by the same corporation, but earlier in the century, shows our ancestors in a somewhat different light. A day of thanksgiving was appointed for the success of the British forces. The corporation attended divine service in the Parish church, after which it was agreed to meet at Mrs. Owen’s, “at five of the clock, to drink to His Majesty’s health and further good success,” the expense of the evening to be at the corporation’s charge.

The old Yorkshire men liked a good, honest horserace, and fox hunting was a favorite sport with them. It is told of a Mr. Kirkton that he followed the hounds on horseback until he was eighty, and from that period to one hundred he regularly attended the un-kennelling of the fox in his single chair. Scott’s “Dandy Dinmont” could scarcely overtop that. No one can read the Annals of Yorkshire without being struck with the number of persons who at their death left bequests to the poor, widows getting a large share of this bounty.

John Wesley, very soon after he began his life work, found his way to Yorkshire, and nowhere had he more sincere or devoted followers, many of whom were among the first emigrants to Nova Scotia. To the England of the eighteenth century, America must have presented great attraction, especially to the tenant farmer and the day laborer. The farmer in that country could never hope to own his farm, and the wages of the agricultural laborer were so small that it was only by the strictest economy and the best of health that he could hope to escape the workhouse in his old age. In America, land could be had for the asking. The continent was simply waiting for the hands of willing workers to make it the home of millions. The reaction in trade after the Seven Years’ War made the prospect for those just starting in life gloomier than ever, and many a father and mother who expected to end their days in the Old Land, decided, for the sake of their children, to face the dangers of the western ocean and the trials of pioneer life.

Charles Dixon, one of the first of the Yorkshire emigrants, writes of England before he left: “I saw the troubles that were befalling my native country. Oppressions of every kind abounded, and it was very difficult to earn bread and keep a conscience void of offence.” Under these circumstances, Mr. Dixon and a number of others decided to emigrate. It is not surprising, then, that when Governor Franklin, at the invitation of the Duke of Rutland, went to Yorkshire in 1771, to seek emigrants for Nova Scotia, he found a goodly number of persons ready to try their fortunes in the new land.

Governor Franklin did not stay long in the northern district, but left agents who, judging by the number that came to Nova Scotia during the few ensuing years, must have done their work well.

Among the first of the Yorkshire emigrants to sail for Nova Scotia was a party that left Liverpool in the good ship Duke of York, on the 16^th of March, 1772. The voyage lasted forty-six days, and at the end of that time the sixty-two passengers were all landed safely at Halifax. From that port they went by schooner to Chignecto, landing at Fort Cumberland on the 21^st of May.

Charles Dixon, with his wife and four children, were passengers on the Duke of York. Mr. Dixon’s is the only record I have seen of this voyage, and it is very concise indeed. He writes: “We had a rough passage. None of us having been to sea before, much sea-sickness prevailed. At Halifax we were received with much joy by the gentlemen in general, but were much discouraged by others, and the account given us of Cumberland was enough to make the stoutest give way.”

Mr. Dixon does not seem to have allowed these discouraging reports to influence him greatly, for by the 8^th of June he had made a purchase of 2,500 acres of land in Sackville, and moved his family there.

Other vessels followed the Duke of York during 1773 and the two following years, the largest number coming in 1774. By May of that year, two brigantines moored at Halifax with 280 passengers, and three more vessels were expected. By the last of June nine passenger vessels had arrived. The ship Adamant at this time was the regular packet between Halifax and Great Britain.

As one of the passenger vessels was from Aberdeen, it is not likely that all the immigrants this year were from Yorkshire. At Halifax, the women and children going to Cumberland were put on board a schooner bound for Chignecto, and the younger men started to make the journey on foot. The latter took the usual road to Fort Edward; from there they went by boat to Parrsboro’, and then followed the high ridge of land called the Boar’s Back, to River Hebert. At Minudie they found boats to carry them to Fort Cumberland, where they were given a right royal Yorkshire welcome by their wives and children, who had reached the fort before them. From Fort Cumberland the immigrants quickly began to look around the country for suitable locations.

Those by the name of Black, Freeze, Robinson, Lusby, Oxley and Forster bought farms at Amherst and Amherst Point. Keilor, Siddall, Wells, Lowerson, Trueman, Chapman, Donkin, Read, Carter, King, Trenhohn, Dobson and Smith were the names of those who settled at Westmoreland Point, Point de Bute and Fort Lawrence. The names of the Sackville contingent were Dixon, Bowser, Atkinson, Anderson, Bulmer, Harper, Patterson, Fawcett, Richardson, Humphrey, Cornforth and Wry. Brown, Lodge, Ripley, Shepley, Pipes, Coates, Harrison, Fenwick and others settled at Nappan, Maccan, and River Hebert.

Hants and King’s County, in Nova Scotia, got a part of this immigration. Those who came to Cumberland were too late to secure any of the vacated Acadian farms before others had got possession, these lands having been pre-empted by the New Englanders and the traders who followed the army. Those who had the means, however, seem to have found no difficulty in purchasing from the owners, and very quickly set to work to adjust themselves to the new conditions. So effectually did they do this that almost every man of them succeeded in making a comfortable home for his family.

The local historians of those times claim that these English settlers, arriving as they did just before the Revolutionary war, saved Nova Scotia to the British Crown. If that is the correct opinion, and we are more disposed to believe it is true than to question its accuracy, then the British Empire is more indebted to these loyal Yorkshire immigrants than history has ever given them credit for. The Eddy rebellion proved that the New Englanders, who constituted a large part of the inhabitants of Chignecto previous to the arrival of the English, sympathized very generally with the revolutionists, and were ready to help their cause to the extent of taking up arms, if necessary, on their behalf. These English immigrants were not soldiers; most of them were farmers and mechanics who had taken little part in the discussions of public questions, but they were loyal subjects of the King of Great Britain. They always had been, and they always expected to be, loyal. The headquarters of the rebellion was in Cumberland, and it was in Cumberland that the largest number of these Englishmen settled.

In 1776, Mr. Arbuthnot writes, “There is an absolute necessity for troops to be sent to Fort Cumberland, Annapolis Royal, and a few to Fort Edward and Windsor for protection, with the help of His Majesty’s loyal subjects who consist of English farmers. A sober, religious people, though ignorant of the use of arms, will afford every assistance.” He says the others are from New England and will join in any rebellion. Murdock thinks that Arbuthnot did not judge the New England men fairly; that many of them were loyal subjects of Great Britain, and did not want to be mixed up in the trouble and discussion between Great Britain and her older colonies.

Whether this English immigration did for Nova Scotia what is claimed for it or not, their success in the new country as farmers and settlers forever removed from the English mind the belief that Nova Scotia was a cold, barren and inhospitable country, “fit only as a home for convicts and Indians.” And thus it opened the way for future settlers. It is not claiming too much to say these northern Englishmen were industrious, hardy, resourceful and God-fearing. They were made of the right material to form the groundwork of prosperous communities, and wherever this element predominated it was a guarantee that justice and order would be maintained. They were not all saints perhaps none of them were but there was a homely honesty and a fixedness of principle about the majority of them that “made for righteousness” wherever they were found.

The most considerable addition to the population of Nova Scotia after the Yorkshire immigration was in 1783 and 1784, when the United Empire Loyalists came to the Province. They left New England as the French left Acadia, without the choice of remaining. The story of their removal and bitter experiences has been told by more than one historian. They have left their impress on the provinces by the sea. Among the names of those who settled at the old Chignecto were: Fowler, Knapp, Palmer, Purdy, and Pugsley. After the Loyalists there was no marked emigration to the Maritime Provinces till after the battle of Waterloo. The hard times in England following the war turned the attention of the people of Great Britain again to America, and from 1815 to 1830 there was a steady stream of emigrants, particularly from Scotland to the Provinces. Northern New Brunswick received a large share of these Scotch settlers. The Mains, Grahams, Girvins, McElmons, and the Braits of Galloway and Richibucto, in Kent County, and the Scotts, Murrays, Grants, and Blacklocks of Botsford, Westmoreland County, came at this time.

An account of the wreck of a ship in 1826, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is yet told by the descendants of some of those who were coming as settlers to Richibucto. In the spring of 1826 a lumber vessel bound for Richibucto, N.B., carried a number of passengers for that port. When off the Magdalen Islands the vessel was stove in with the ice, and the crew and passengers had to take to the boats. There was no time to secure any provisions, and a little package of potato starch that a lady passenger had been using at the time of the accident, and carried with her, was the only thing eatable in the boats. Among the passengers was James Johnstone, of Dumfries, Scotland, and his daughter Jean, sixteen years old. For three days and nights the boats drifted. Mr. Johnstone, who was an old man, died from the cold and exposure, and at the time of his death his daughter was lying apparently unconscious in the bottom of one of the boats. On the morning of the fourth day a vessel bound for Miramichi discovered them and took all on board. After landing safely at Miramichi they took passage for Richibucto. Miss Johnstone married John Main, of Richibucto, and was the mother of a large family. Mrs. Main was never able to overcome her dread of the sea after this experience.

The last immigrants who came to the vicinity of the Isthmus were from Ireland. They arrived in the decade between 1830 and 1840, and settled in a district now called Melrose. Until recently their settlement was known as the Emigrant Road. Some of the names of this immigration were: Lane, Carroll, Sweeney, Barry, Noonen, Mahoney and Hennessy. They proved good settlers, industrious and saving, and many of the second generation are filling prominent positions in the country. Ex-Warden Mahoney, of Melrose, and lawyers Sweeney and Riley, of Moneton [Moncton?], and Dr. Hennessy, of Bangor, Maine, are descended from this stock.

Sable Island’s Very Long History

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The ship Crofton Hall, back broken and ashore on Sable Island

From the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, part of the N.S. Museum, via the CBC

Sable Island’s Very Long History

The following is condensed and edited from Sable Island and its Attendant Phenomena, by Simon D. Macdonald, as read before the Institute of Natural Science, Halifax, March, 1883.

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This Island, situated directly in the pathway of commerce, enshrouded for weeks on end by impenetrable fog, encircled by eddies and currents of the most erratic character, its dangerous and ever shifting sand-bars and its terrible record of disasters, has earned for it among mariners the well-merited appellation, of The Grave-Yard of North America.

And were we tomorrow to visit this island and witness its wreck-strewn shores—the ghastly grin of skeletons protruding from the embankment or lying awash on the beach—and listen to the sickening tales of the surf-men, we would feel guilty, indeed, if we did not put forth our greatest effort to learn something of its nature and history.

I have examined the early records of the Province, from which I have gleaned many facts in connection with the history of this Island. I have also had the opportunity of visiting it on two occasions and, learning something of it as it is today, I thought it well to place the results before you.

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The first notice of this Island in history, is from the voyage of John Cabot, who, in company with his son, Sebastian, sailed from Bristol in 1547, in a vessel called the Matthew. After making the land at Labrador, he sailed south and westward, coasting Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, as far as Cape Sable. Finding here the coast trending suddenly to the north, and being short of provisions, with an unknown sea before him, he wisely turned his prow homeward. On the third day he passed two islands to starboard, which, from their position, must have been some of the higher hummocks of Sable Island. Viewed at a distance, these might easily be taken for separate islands.

Three years later an expedition ordered by Emanuel, King of Portugal, followed in the wake of Cabot; but meeting with reverses, they returned, disheartened, to Lisbon. Private enterprises, however, stimulated by Cabot’s glowing accounts of seas blocked with fish, were continued from year to year, and hundreds of Portuguese fishermen resorted to the banks. To these people the credit is given of having placed cattle and swine on the Island for the benefit of those who might be cast upon its shores. That they were well acquainted with the place, there can be little doubt.

In 1518, Baron de Lery made the first attempt to colonize New France, but he arrived on this coast too late to place his people under shelter before winter. He therefore left part of his cattle at Canso, and sailed for Sable Island, where he placed the remainder, and returned to France. In after years these cattle had so multiplied that it became a matter of speculation for parties to land and hunt them for their hides and tallow.

The next mention made of the island concerns the disastrous voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who sailed from England with a fleet of five armed vessels. Arriving at St. John’s, Newfoundland, he found a large fleet of fishermen of different nations, and took formal possession of the place in the name of Queen Elizabeth. The Portuguese treated him well, and after supplying him with wines, marmalade, sweet oil, &c., told him of their having placed swine and cattle on Sable Island. Thither Sir Humphrey sailed. Several days later, during a thick fog, he lost his second in command on Sable Island. This is the first wreck of which there is written history, and it reads as follows:

“Sabla lieth, to the seaward of Cape Breton about 45°, whither we were determined to go, upon intelligence we had of a Portingall, during our abode in St. John’s, who was also himself present when the Portingalls about 30 years past, did put into the same Island both neat and swine to breed, which were since exceedingly multiplied.”

“The distance between Cape Race and Cape Breton is 100 leagues, in which navigation we spent 8 days. Having the wind many times indifferent good, but could never obtain sight of any land, all that time, seeing we were hindered by the current. At last we fell into such flats and dangers, that hardly any of us escaped. Where nevertheless we lost our Admiral, with all the men and provisions.”

“Contrary to the mind of the expert Master Cox, on Wednesday, 27^th August, we bore up toward the land. These in the doomed ship continually sounding trumpet and drums. Whilst strange voices from the deep scared the helmsman from his post on board the Frigate.”

“Thursday, the 28^th, the wind arose and blew vehemently from the south and east,—bringing withal rain and thick mist, that we could not see a cable-length before us. And betimes we were run and foulded amongst flats and sands, amongst which we found flats and deeps every 3 or 4 ship’s-lengths. Immediately tokens were given to the admiral to cast about to seaward, which being the greater ship, and of burden 120 tons, was performost upon the beach. Keeping so ill a watch they knew not the danger before they felt the same too late to recover, for presently the Admiral struck aground, and had soon his stern and hinder parts beaten in pieces. The remaining two ships escaped by casting about E.S.E., bearing to the south for their lives, even in the wind’s eye. Sounding on while 7 fathom, then 5, then again deeper. The sea going mightily and high.”

In the wreck of the Delight, or Admiral, as she was called, upwards of 95 perished, 12 only escaped, and afterwards reached the Nova Scotia coast and were carried by some French vessel to England.

In 1598, the Marquis De la Roche obtained a charter from Henry III to colonize and Christianize New France, and sailed in May of that year. Arriving off this coast, and fearing that his people,—consisting of 40 convicts from the French prisons—might escape, he landed them on Sable Island until he could make arrangements to settle on the mainland. On returning, he encountered a furious gale which drove him onto the French coast — the prisoners still being on Sable Island. He had scarcely landed, when he was thrown into prison by an enemy, and was prevented from communicating with the King. Five years later the king, receiving intelligence, ordered a ship to proceed to Sable Island and learn the prisoners’ fate, which was found to be deplorable. Out of the forty landed five years earlier, only twelve remained alive.

Finding themselves alone and deserted, they became desperate. With no law to restrain, nor punishment to fear, each man’s hand was turned against his fellow, and several had come to a violent end. The remainder, from ill-prepared food and exposure, became reduced in spirits, and had likely led more quiet lives. After being landed on the Island they managed to erect huts from the remains of a Spanish vessel wrecked in the breakers, and maintained existence by eating the raw flesh of the cattle Baron de Lery, or the Portuguese, had placed on the Island many years before. In a short time their clothes were worn out, and they dressed themselves in the seal skins.

On their arrival in France they were presented to the King. Their savage expression, unkempt hair and beards, which reached to their waists, together with their pitiful tale of want and exposure, so moved the King that he gave them fifty crowns apiece and permission to return to their homes. Strange to say, they afterwards sought passage to the island again, where they accumulated a large quantity of fur.

In 1638, John Rose of Boston, lost his vessel—the Mary & Jane—at this place. He was here three months constructing a yawl from the remains of his vessel, by which he reached the mainland. His reports of having seen “more than 800 head of wild cattle, and a great many foxes, many of which were black” so interested the Acadians that 17 of them embarked in a vessel, taking Rose as pilot. After this, Rose returned to New England, where the tidings of this wonderful Island soon spread. A company was formed at Boston to hunt on the Island. On their arrival they found that the 17 Frenchmen who had wintered on the Island, had built houses and a fort, and so slaughtered the cattle that only 150 remained.

About 100 years later, a French clergyman named LeMercier, claiming to be an Englishman by naturalization, sent thither a number of cattle, previous to removing with his family. He had petitioned Governor Armstrong, at Annapolis, for a grant of the Island but, declining to pay a Quit rent to the government, the grant was withheld. A proclamation was issued forbidding persons from killing the animals, and they continued there for many years. At what period they were destroyed, and succeeded by the wild horses now upon it is not known.

From this date up to the beginning of the present century [1800], we have little information respecting this Island, except that it became a favourite resort of fishermen, for the purpose of hunting walrus and seal.

With the increase of commerce, wrecks were more frequent, and it became the haunt of pirates and wreckers of the worst description, who are said to have lighted fires on the shore luring vessels to their destruction. Valuable jewels and rare articles having been exhibited as coming from there from time to time, strange stories of piracy and murder became frequent. This, together with report of several vessels being lost with all hands, in quick succession, excited the suspicions of the authorities. Among these vessels was the Princess Amelia, a transport having on board the household effects of the Duke of Kent and upwards of 200 officers and recruits. All 200 perished, although it was thought that many of them reached shore and were afterwards murdered by the pirates. The gun brig Harriet was dispatched, under Lieut. Torrens, to investigate matters, but she also was lost. The government at once took action, and an amount was appropriated for settling families on the Island to assist shipwrecked persons and for saving property. A proclamation was also issued, stating that persons found residing upon the Island without a license from the government would be removed and imprisoned for a period of not less than six years. This had the desired effect, driving off the wretches who infested it, and the present establishment was formed under the superintendence of one James Morris in 1802.

Such is the early history which, though dim and fragmentary, yet serves to show that the Island was well known and frequented hundreds of years before the founding of Halifax, and that by a race of people who have left no descendants along our coast.

Picturesque New Brunswick in 1898 — But Mostly Saint John

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Picturesque New Brunswick in 1898 — But Mostly Saint John

A pamphlet was published in Saint John in 1898 entitled Picturesque St. John and the Province of New Brunswick which, however, mostly concerned the City itself. Following are the images which appeared in that pamphlet.

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Some Chief Magistrates of New Brunswick: Hon. A.R. McClelen, Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick; Edward Sears, Mayor of Saint John; George J. Clarke, Mayor of Saint Stephen; W.T. Whitehead, Mayor of Fredericton; and Alex Gibson, Jr., Mayor of Marysville.

Falls and Bridges of Saint John with City in Background.

Views at Saint John, N.B.: The Harbor; King Street During Diamond Jubilee; Market Slip; and The Bridges.

Scenes in Rockwood Park, Saint John.

An Excursion Day on the Queen of the Saint John—Steamer Victoria.

Saint John and Harbor from Fort Howe.

Reed’s Point at High Tide, Saint John Harbor.

Lake Scenes near Saint John: Ball’s Lake; Loch Lomond; and Ashburn Lake.

The Grand Falls of the Saint John.

Saint John Views: The Harbor; Rockwood Park; Custom House; Martello Tower; The Falls; and Rockwood Park (again).

Scenes on the Annual Cruise of the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club: Sunol; Meadow Lands on the Nerepis; A Cup Race; Flagship British Queen; Fleet Starting on Annual Cruise; Canada; and Yacht Squadron at Gagetown.

Types of New Brunswick Architecture: Residence Lt. Gov. McClelan, Riverside, Albert County; Stoneleigh Terrace, Saint John; North Side Queen Square, Saint John; and P.S. McNutt’s Residence, Saint John.

Fredericton, New Brunswick Architecture: Anglican Cathedral; Queen Street; and Parliament Building.

Panoramic View Saint John Harbor Taken from the Custom House. Left half of Panorama Showing Carleton.

Panoramic View Saint John Harbor Taken from the Custom House. Right half of Panorama Showing C.P.R. Deep Water Terminus and Elevator at Sand Point.

Nooks on the Nerepis, a Tributary of the Saint John.

A Summer Afternoon on the Nerepis.

Views of the Saint John River.

Intervale Lands on the Saint John.

New Brunswick Hunting Scenes. [Note that that is Gabe Acquin at the lower left. https://johnwood1946.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/gabe-acquin/]

Officers of the Board of Trade, Saint John: D.J. McLaughlin, President; George Robertson, Ex-President; W. Frank Hatheway, Ex-President; W.M. Jarvis, Vice President; F.O. Allison, Secretary.

Officers of Exhibition Association, Saint John: W.C. Pitfield, President; R.B. Emerson, Vice-President; A. MacAulay, Treasurer; C.A. Everfit, Secretary.

Officers of New Brunswick Tourist Association, Saint John: W.S. Fisher, Vice-President; O.H. Warwick; P. Gifkin, Superintendent, Dominion Atlantic Railway; C.E. Laechler, Agent I.S.S. Company; E. Le Roi Willis, Dufferin Hotel; W.E. Raymond, Royal Hotel; D.W. McCormick, Victoria Hotel; H.A. Doherty, Royal Hotel.

Officers of Fredericton Tourist Association: Hon. Albert T. Dunn, Surveyor General of New Brunswick, Honorary President; C. Fred Chestnut, President; Fred. B. Edgecombe, Treasurer; Wesley Van Wart, Q.C.; F.B. Coleman; James S. Neill.

The Palace Steamer Victoria of the Star Line.

Credits.

Loyalist Settlements in Nova Scotia

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Loyalist Settlements in Nova Scotia

W.O. Raymond published an article entitled The United Empire Loyalists, in Saint Stephen in 1893. The purpose of the article was to tell the Loyalist story in a non-political way, free of both American and Canadian hyperbole. He was particularly critical of American histories, which painted the Loyalists in negative terms.

One section of the article was entitled Loyalist Settlements, and concentrated on peninsular Nova Scotia. This is presented below.

A family of Black Loyalists at ‘Bedford Basin,’ by Robert Petley

From the National Archives of Canada

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Loyalist Settlements

Halifax, Shelburne and Annapolis were the principal places in the Nova Scotian peninsula to which the loyal refugees turned their faces; and from these, as centres, were founded a large number of settlements which were destined to play an important part in the future development of the country.

On the coast above Halifax, in Country Harbor, the refugees erected a town to which they gave the name of Stormont, in honor or Lord Stormont, who had so earnestly pleaded their cause in the House of Lords.

Guysborough was settled at the same time by a band of more than a thousand refugees. Subsequently some eight hundred others settled in Cape Breton, chiefly at Baddeck, St. Peters and Louisburg. Prince Edward Island, or the Island of St. John, as it was then called, furnished an asylum for between three and four hundred of the exiles.

The largest single settlement was that at Port Roseway, near the extreme south of Nova Scotia. Here the Loyalists who arrived early in May laid out their town at the mouth of the Roseway River, and named it Shelburne in honor of the Colonial Secretary. There were 1,140 grantees, and in the course of a year the population reached nearly 12,000. Governor Parr paid the town a visit, in July, 1783, and was received on landing with a general discharge of cannon from the shore. He proceeded up King Street, both sides of which were lined with the inhabitants under arms, to the place appointed for his reception, where the justices of the peace and other leading citizens were collected to present him with an address. The Governor made a speech in reply and drank the king’s health and to the prosperity of the town and district of Shelburne and to the settlement of the Loyalists in Nova Scotia. The festivities continued for several days, and the Governor departed with favorable impressions regarding the future of the place. The site of Shelburne, however, was unfortunately chosen. Within two or three years after its founding the population began rapidly to decline. However, the statement commonly made that “a well-nigh deserted spot on the spacious bay now marks the site of the transient town” is quite incorrect. The Shelburne of today is a bright, happy looking little town, half hidden among the willows planted by its founders. If it is not the town that it bid fair to be in its early days, it is not losing ground now. Upon the slopes behind modern Shelburne remain landmarks of the ancient town — old foundations of houses, remains of cellars, streets, and traces of streets with acres and acres of land laid out in squares.

“Here, over these old cellars,” says a modern visitor, “resided for a time jurists and bankers, wine merchants, wig makers, dealers in snuff and dealers in hair powder, gunsmiths, silversmiths, carvers and all other functionaries belonging to a proud city of a hundred years ago. Along the grass and tree covered spaces which were laid out for streets, once strode martial figures familiar to many a battle field and grave dignitaries with the wigs and cloaks of their time. Over these rocks tripped gay ladies in silk attire and merry maidens in homespun. Here, in some rudely built house, whose interior furnishings and embellishments contrasted strangely with its external appearance, stately dames were escorted to dinner by stately men, and the great grandmothers of the present generation trod the minuet.”

In a year or two after the landing of its founders, the city had reached its maximum, and was for a very brief period the largest town in what is now the Maritime Provinces. Five years later it had shrunk to less than one fourth its former size, and, compared with Halifax or St. John, was out of the race.

The settlements established in the township of Digby and in the neighbourhood of Annapolis were favorably situated, and from the first continued to improve.

Aylesford and Rawdon received a proportion of the refugees. The Douglas settlement was filled by disbanded soldiers of the 84^th Regiment; while the vacant lands at Clements, in Annapolis County, were largely taken up by Loyalists and disbanded Hessian soldiers.

At the close of the revolution there were in New York at least 2,000 Negroes who had been induced by a proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton’s to come within the British lines upon a solemn assurance of liberty, safety and protection. At the peace, a large number of these, desirous of preserving their freedom and dreading the vengeance of their former masters, took passage in the ships bound for Nova Scotia. Washington, on behalf of the American Congress, very strongly protested against such a proceeding. In a letter to Sir Guy Carleton, May 6, 1783, he refers to their personal conference on the same day, and says: “I was surprised to hear you mention that an emharkation had already taken place, in which a large number of negroes had been carried away. I cannot conceal from you that my private opinion is that the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the treaty.”

In reply, Sir Guy Carleton insisted that it could not have been the intention of the British Government, by the treaty of peace, to reduce themselves to the necessity of violating their faith to the Negroes who came into the British lines under the proclamations of his predecessors. “The negroes in question,” said Sir Guy, “I found free when I arrived at New York. I had therefore no right, as I thought, to prevent their going away to any part of the world they thought proper.” He further urges that delivering them up to their former masters would be delivering them up, some possibly to executions, and others to severe punishments, which in his opinion would be a dishonorable violation of the public faith pledged the Negroes in the proclamations. If the sending them away should hereafter be declared an infraction of the treaty, compensation must be made to the owners by the crown of Great Britain. Sir Guy added that he had taken measures to provide for this contingency by directing an accurate register to be kept of all Negroes who went off specifying the name, age and occupation of the slave and the name and place of residence of his former master. Had the Negroes been denied permission to embark, they would in spite of every means to prevent it, have found various methods of quitting New York; the former owners would no longer have been able to trace them, and of course would have lost in every way all chance for compensation. Speaking of the action of Sir Guy Carleton in this matter, Judge Jones says:

“Congress and the several legislatures of the States jumped at his proposal. A valuation of the slaves was made and approved of. The money, it is true, has never been paid. What occasioned it? An absolute refusal on the part of the Americans to comply with a single article in the treaty in favor of the Loyalists.”

Very many of the Negro refugees settled at Birchtown, near Shelburne, and nearly 400 more in Digby and Annapolis Counties.

Some further particulars regarding the size and importance of the Loyalist settlements may be gleaned from the following—

“General Return of all the Disbanded Troops and other Loyalists who have lately become Settlers in the Province of Nova Scotia, made up from the Rolls taken by the several Muster Masters: Halifax, 4^th Novr., 1784.

“Halifax Harbour, 48; Dartmouth, 480; Musquadobbin, 16; Jeddore, 26; Ship Harbour, 161; Sheet Harbour, 122; Country Harbour, 289; Chedebucto, 1,053; Island of St. John, 380; Antigonish, 120; Pictou and Merrigonish, 324; Cumberland, etc., 826; Partridge Island, 188; Cornwallis and Horton, 237; Newport and Kentecoot, 307; Windsor, 278; Windsor Road and Sackville, 130; Annapolis, Granville, Wilmot and Clements, 1,830; Bear River, 115; Digby, 1,295; Gulliver’s Hole, St. Mary’s Bay and Sissiboo 173; Nine Mile River, 72; Chester Road, 28; At Halilax (objects of charity), 208; Between Halifax and Shelburne, 651; Shelburne, 7,923 — Total, 17,300”

Of this total there were 7,419 men, 3,563 women, 2,701 children above ten years of age, 2,826 children under ten years, and 791 servants.

From the reports of the muster masters, the following remarks are taken:—

“Dartmouth. This settlement, from its vicinity to Halifax and some other good harbors, promises to be a place of importance.

“Masquadobbin. The muster master reports that this is a promising little settlement; that the harbor abounds with fish of every kind, both winter and summer.

“Ship Harbour. The Loyalists here are industrious laborious people. The muster master says they, as well as the disbanded troops, are still in the dark with respect to their lands; that many of the latter have quit the settlement on that account and if not so remedied it will drive the whole away.

“Sheet Harbour. No lands have vet been granted to these people. That which they now occupy is a donation from a Mr. Kirby, who holds a tract of 8,000 acres here.

“Country Harbour. This place exhibits instances of industry and perseverance that do honor to the settlers.

“Chedebucto. There are at this place 228 Negro settlers exclusive of the blacks employed as servants. This is a good harbor and fertile soil.

“Island of St. John. Great delays have arisen in laying out land for the people. The muster-master complains that Governor Patteson declined giving them assistance, and that great abuses have been committed in the issue of provisions.

“Antigonish, Pictou and Merrigonish. These settlements afford the most agreeable appearance of industry, and promise to become in a little time very flourishing.

“Cornwallis and Horton. From the inattention of the surveyor many of these people, from not getting their lands, have been obliged to leave the lands they were cultivating.

 “Newport and Kentcoot. The settlers here wear the appearance of industry and will be able to raise a quantity of grain and vegetables this season.

“Annapolis, Granville Wilmot and Clements. The settlers in these districts are very enterprising in their endeavours to improve the country, particularly those at Wilmot.

“Bear River. The settlers here have made great improvements: There is not one of them who has not planted a crop of one kind or another.

“Digby. This is a good harbour and the settlement is in a very flourishing condition.

“Gulliver’s Hole, St. Mary’s Bay and Sissiboo. These settlements are in a very promising condition owing to the exertions of the settlers. Sissiboo is conveniently situated for a fishery.

“Nine Mile River. The people seem pleased with their situation.

“Settlements between Halifax and Shelburne. The commissary of musters observes that the harbors of Prospect, Margaret’s Bay, Chester. Lunenburg, La Have, Port Matoon and the Ragged Isands are well situated for fisheries and that the settlements of Loyalists at those places will afford a respectable defence to the coast.

The unfortunate people included in the forgoing returns as objects of charity at Halifax consisted chiefly of crippled soldiers and the widows and orphans of Loyalists and soldiers. Col. Edward Winslow in one of his private letters written at Halifax, Sep. 25, 1784, says. “It is not possible for any pen or tongue to describe the variety of wretchedness that is at this time exhibited in the streets of this place.” Amongst those who appealed for a share of the government provisions issued under his supervision, he instances, “a little multitude of old crippled Refugees — men and women who have seen better days.” “Some of them.” he says, “’tell me they formerly knew me; they have no other friend to depend upon, and they solicit in language so emphatical and so pathetic that ’tis impossible for any man whose heart is not callous to every tender feeling to refuse their requests. Next to them comes an unfortunate set of Blackies begging for Christ’s sake that Masser would give ’em a little provisions if it’s only for one week. ‘He wife sick, he children sick, and he will die if he have not some.’”

“I am illy calculated for such services,” adds Winslow. “It is not possible to relieve their distresses; I long to retreat from such scenes.”

The Loyalists at Shelburne soon found their prospects less encouraging than they had anticipated, and many of them wrote to their friends at New York by no means to come to that place, in consequence of which more than 200 families decided to establish a settlement on one of the Bahama Islands. Another large party, under the command of Alexander White, formerly a Lieutenant of Tryon Co., New York, appear to have sailed for Canada in a fleet which left New York on the 9^th July. Shortly before the final evacuation of that city, two ships laden with Loyalists convoyed by the brig Hope, sailed up the St. Lawrence to Sorel, where they united with others who had come by way of the old military road down the Richelieu. The united parties spent the winter in log huts, and in the following spring proceeded up the river in flat bottomed boats and established themselves at various points from Glengarry to the Bay of Quinte.

By the Hudson and Mohawk, past Oswego, another stream of emigrants made their way to settle along Lake Ontario and the Niagara River; and Loyalist districts extended even to Detroit along the shore of Lake Erie. Probably 10,000 Loyalists, “men and women of determination and principle,” laid at this time the foundation of the noble Province of Ontario. There was a large military element from the disbanded Provincial corps, including the 84^th Royal New York, or Royal Green, and the Highland Fencibles.

Dr. Ryerson gives many interesting details regarding the settlements established by the United Empire Loyalists in what was then western Canada.

The precise number of Loyalists who at various times found an asylum within the borders of the old province of Nova Scotia it is difficult to determine. The exodus from the revolted colonies which began with the evacuation of Boston, in 1776, continued throughout the war; but many who came during this period sought merely a temporary refuge and did not remain. Many, too, of the immense multitude that arrived in the great immigration of 1783 were discouraged by the outlook, and as soon as possible either returned to the States or made their homes in other parts of the British dominions. The place of these transient inhabitants was in some measure supplied by those who continued to find their way to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick during the years immediately following the peace.

Many prominent loyal refugees who had been in England awaiting the issue of the conflict, when the independence of the United States was assured, concluded to begin life anew in the northern provinces that remained to the crown. About the middle of August, 1784, three hundred poverty stricken refugees arrived at Halifax in the transport Sally; and dispatches received from London announced that a further number of Loyalists then in England might shortly be expected, vessels having been chartered by the government for the purpose of bringing them out.

No enumeration taken at any one time will suffice to show the total number of those who came to Nova Scotia; but it may be approximately fixed at 35,000. The reader who has any curiosity upon the subject can compare the following statements:—

1. Rev. John Breynton, missionary at Halifax, in his report to the S.P.G. for the year 1784, says that “30,000 Loyalists are settled in Nova Scotia.”
2. Governor Parr, in a letter to Gen. Haldimand, of Jan. 14. 1784, writes that “30,000 Loyalists have arrived in Nova Scotia;” and seven months afterwards he informed Lord North, the Secretary of State, that “the number now located amounts to near 30,000.”
3. Sir Brook Watson states in one of his letters: “In 1783, as Commissary General to the army, it became my duty under the command of Sir Guy Carleton to embark 35,000 Loyalists at New York to take shelter in Nova Scotia;” and he adds. “I trust all in my power was done to alleviate the sufferings of those who were so severely treated for endeavouring to support the union of the British Empire.”
4. Mr. E.F. deLancey of the New York Historical Society “is satisfied, from a personal examination of the MS records in the secretary’s office at Halifax that the emigration amounted to at least 35,000 men, women and children.”
5. The Lords Commissioners of his Majesty’s treasury, having been convinced by Sir Guy Carleton’s forcible representation of the necessity of continuing for some time the aid extended the Loyalists on their arrival, issued an order to victual the Loyalists in Nova Scotia —being 33,682 —whereof 4,691 are under ten years, at two-thirds allowance, from the 1^st of May, 1784 to the 1^st of May, 1785, and from that period at one-third allowance, to the 1^st of May, 1786; estimating the whole ration at one pound of flour and one pound of beef or twelve ounces of pork; the children under ten years of age to have a moiety of the allowance made to grown persons.”

A Short History of Nova Scotia, from 1497 to 1615

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Following is a bite-sized summary of the history of discovery and exploration in Nova Scotia from 1497 to 1615, from John Macgregor’s, British America Book 1, published in London in 1832. Spelling is as found.

An image meant to represent John Cabot

From the Dictionary of Canadian Biography

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A Short History of Nova Scotia, from 1497 to 1615

Nova Scotia was first discovered in 1497, by John Cabot, or his son Sebastian, under a commission from Henry VII, sometime before Columbus actually discovered the main continent of America. With the exception of adventurers trading to Newfoundland, England neglected the discoveries of Cabot until 1583, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on making a second voyage to Newfoundland, where he left a small colony, made the attempt to reach the continent which ended so unfortunately in his perishing with his whole ship’s crew at sea. His brother. Sir John, revived his claim in 1607, and proceeded to America, where he died the following winter, on an island at the mouth of the Kennebec. His followers, after having endured extreme misery, returned in the spring to England.

The discovery by Cabot, and the possession taken of Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and afterwards of the continent by his brother Sir John, form the foundation of right by which England claimed Nova Scotia and the adjacent countries. The spirit of colonizing it, however, seems to have languished on the part of the English. It was otherwise with France. Mons. De Monts, a French Protestant, and a gentleman of enterprising spirit, obtained a commission, in 1603, from Henry IV, constituting him governor of all the countries of America, from 40º to 46º north, under the name of New France, which included Nova Scotia, then and long after called Acadia. Several French adventurers having previously visited Acadia and Canada, the vast profits they realized, by bartering European commodities for furs, created at that time an extraordinary spirit of enterprise among the French merchants; and as De Monts had, by his charter, secured a monopoly of the fur trade, a great number of wealthy men readily associated themselves with him. They soon equipped and fitted out four ships, loaded with all necessary stores and suitable goods, and in March 1604, they sailed from Havre; De Monts having the chief command, accompanied by Champlain, the celebrated navigator of the St. Lawrence, as pilot, and M. Potrincourt, and M. Champdore, with numerous volunteer adventurers. De Monts arrived, on the 15^th of May, at the harbour in Nova Scotia which now bears the name of Liverpool, where he found a French adventurer, named Rossignol, trading without commission for furs with the Indians. He confiscated this man’s property, naming the harbour Port Rossignol, as if to console him for the loss of his wealth by this mark of honour. From this place, De Monts coasted westward to Port Mouton, where he landed, and formed an encampment.

The vessels under De Monts having different destinations, the one which carried the principal supplies for the winter, and which had been ordered to proceed direct to Canseau, there to wait his arrival, was long missing, in consequence of the delays occasioned by the capturing of four French vessels engaged in trading without license with the Indians.

De Monts soon after dispatched this ship to Tadvusac, a spacious harbour on the north side of the St Lawrence, at the débouché of the river Saghunny. The other two vessels were ordered to cruise along the shores of Cape Breton and the island of St John, and off the coast of Acadia, within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in order to prevent unauthorized adventurers from trading with the natives.

De Monts, in the ship immediately under his command, then proceeded westerly, and sailed into St Mary’s Bay, where he discovered iron ore. He traversed the coasts of the Bay of Fundy, which he named Le Bai Françoise; and, by the narrow strait now called Digby Gut, on the east side, entered a beautiful and extensive basin; with which, and the surrounding prairies and luxuriant woods, Potrincourt was so much charmed, as to select it for his place of settlement. He accordingly received a grant of it from De Monts, named it Port Royal, and soon after returned to France, for the purpose of carrying out his family and the means of establishing himself in Acadia.

De Monts meantime discovered, on the festival of St. John, a large river, which he named after that saint. He afterwards sailed southward, until he came to the river now called St. Croix. On a small island at the entrance of this river, they commenced forming a settlement, by clearing some acres of the trees, building a magazine, a place of worship, several houses, and erecting a fort and battery. This place had, however, scarcely any advantage to recommend it, except its being easily defended. It was most improvidently chosen, as it afforded neither fresh water, nor proper fuel for winter; nor was it the haunt of game. Out of the whole number, seventy-six, which formed De Monts’ colony, thirty-seven were carried off by scurvy, produced by living on salt meat, and by having no water but what was procured from melting snow.

When the spring broke up, De Monts, after examining the coast as far as Cape Cod, in search of a more fit place for settlement, resolved on abandoning St. Croix, and removing altogether, along with Poutgrave, who had then arrived with supplies from Europe, to Port Royal. In this place they soon established themselves; and, with the usual success of the French in negotiating with the Indians, secured their friendship. De Monts sailed for France in autumn, leaving Pontgrave, Champdore, and Champlain, in command of the colony.

In May following, De Monts and Potrincourt sailed from France; and, after a tedious passage, reached Canseau, from whence he dispatched a party of Indians to communicate his arrival to the settlers at Port Royal.

Pontgrave had previously attempted to explore the coast south of Cape Cod, agreeably to the instructions of De Monts, but was driven back, and shipwrecked near the entrance of Port Royal. In consequence of this disaster, he built two small vessels; and, putting all he could on board of them, and leaving two volunteers in charge of the remaining stores, he then proceeded to Canseau, before the arrival of the messengers from De Monts; but returned on meeting with a boat’s crew which De Monts had left at that place.

It was considered that, notwithstanding the energy of De Monts, the settlements at Port Royal would have been unsuccessful, were it not for measures pointed out by Lescarbot, a gentleman bred to the law, but who, from personal attachment, accompanied Potrincourt. He showed the urgent necessity of importing and breeding domestic cattle, and of cultivating the soil, in order to become independent of the Indians for food, or of receiving supplies of provisions from Europe. The settlers would then, he contended, be more secure in trading with the natives, by living more compactly, and not subjected to chance for the means of procuring food.

De Monts left Acadia for France in August 1606. Still anxious to establish a colony farther south, he dispatched Potrincourt in another vessel to explore the country to the southward of Cape Cod; but this, like his former voyage, was quite unsuccessful; and he returned to Port Royal in November, where he was received with great joy, friendship, and respect, by Pontgrave, Lescarbot, and Champlain.

The winter being remarkably mild, and the spring early, these respectable adventurers appear, from Lescarbot’s account, to have passed their time most agreeably and sociably. At their principal mess table, Pontgrave, Champlain, Lescarbot, and twelve others, dined, taking upon them the offices of president and caterer in daily rotation. They diverted themselves in making short hunting excursions, and in employing their people in building two small shallops, and in erecting a mill. After waiting, however, a long time for the arrival of De Monts with supplies from France, a vessel at last appeared from Canseau, bringing only a few provisions and stores, and the mortifying information that the charter of De Monts was revoked, in consequence of the remonstrances made against it by the French merchants; and that he was therefore under the necessity of relinquishing all connection with Acadia.

The high-minded Potrincourt, distressed, but not disheartened, at this intelligence, received at a time when the colony was so far established, that nothing but a substantial right to the soil, and some further assistance in the way of supplies, were necessary to ensure its prosperity and permanency, resolved to return to France, for the purpose, if possible, of obtaining both. He did not leave, however, until he was enabled to carry with him samples of wheat, and other agricultural produce, some native animals, and several specimens of minerals, which, on his arrival in France, he presented to the king.

He succeeded in obtaining a grant of Port Royal, saddled, however, with a stipulation to provide for two Jesuits, who were to accompany him for the conversion of the Indians. This condition was exceedingly disagreeable to such a spirit as that of Potrincourt; and soon after his arrival at Port Royal, he did not scruple to let them know his determination to exclude them from all interference with his affairs. He justly told them, “that their duty was limited to teaching men the way to Heaven, and that it remained for him to govern and direct those under him on earth.”

The residence of these priests at Port Royal would have been of little importance, were it not for the attendant sequel.

Potrincourt, who unwisely, though honestly, despised them, made their situation far from being agreeable to their ideas; and their repeated complaints against him, and his son Biencourt, were apparently terminated by the arrival of a vessel, dispatched in 1613 by their patroness, a pious lady of the name of De Gaucherville. This ship, having on board two priests and some emigrants, carried away the two Jesuits from Port Royal; and, sailing out of the Bay of Fundy, they fixed on the Island of Mount Desert, lying a few miles north of Penobscot Bay, as a proper situation for a settlement. Here they commenced by erecting a cross, setting up the arms of their lady patroness, and naming the place St. Saviour’s.

While proceeding rapidly with their buildings and improvements, they were surprised by an English ship of war from Virginia, commanded by a Captain Argall, who pillaged the place, and compelled them to surrender as prisoners of war, for having encroached upon, and settled within, English limits. One of the Jesuits was shot through the head while urging the settlers to defend themselves; two ships that lay at anchor were seized, in one of which most of the prisoners were sent to France; the others were carried to Virginia.

This affair led to the fitting out of an armament from Virginia, commanded by Argall, for the purpose of dislodging the French settled in Acadia. Argall, piloted by the Jesuit Beart, who thirsted for revenge, proceeded to Port Royal, now commanded by Biencourt, the son of Potrincourt, and destroyed the fort, but spared the mills and corn fields. Biencourt attempted to treat with him, offering Argall an equal share in the trade, if he could obtain the protection of England, and the person of the Jesuit; but the conference ended by some of the French associating themselves with the Indians, others leaving for Quebec to join Champlain, and by those who surrendered being sent to England.

This outrageous affair, during a time of profound peace between England and France, cannot be defended on the slightest ground of justice; and it may be safely assigned, principally to the thirst for plunder, and partly to religion. By this unwarrantable waste, robbery, and violation of private property, to which force alone gave authority, the first settlement made in North America was destroyed in 1613 or 1615, after prospering for eight or ten years, and without experiencing a share of that ferocious opposition from the Indians which proved so dreadfully fatal to the early attempts of England at colonization.

The ‘Delights of an Enchanted Island’ — Campobello, 1900

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The ‘Delights of an Enchanted Island’ — Campobello, 1900

It was probably the Campobello Corporation who commissioned a pamphlet to promote Campobello as a vacation home, and as a good place to buy property in 1900. The pamphlet was entitled A Glimpse of Campobello, and is repeated below, with photographs. It certainly was ‘promotional.’

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A Glimpse of Campobello

Fresh air, good food, fine scenery. Cool nights and sunny days. An average temperature of 68°. A safe place for your children with ten miles of playground free from autos honking along the road. A jolly place for yourself, with a casino, hotel, cottages, tennis, golf, sailing, swimming, fishing, riding and driving, and every outdoor sport. This is the Island of CAMPOBELLO, rich in scenery and the legends of olden times.

Just across from Eastport, and only seventy miles from Bar Harbor, nowhere in the world can be found coast scenery more enchanting than that of CAMPOBELLO, with its rock-bound shores, indented for some thirty miles with winding coves and beaches made cool with overhanging crags. The interior of the Island is made up of forest preserve traversed by thirty miles of roads, bridle paths, and trails. From the midst of the spruce and hemlock and fir and pine one catches glimpses of Deer Island, Indian Island, and the majestic cliffs of Grand Manan. On every side is panoramic vista of the sea.

General W.A. Greely, Chief of the United States Signal Service, speaks of this region in a recent article in Scribner’s Magazine, entitled “Where Shall We Spend Our Summers?” After detailing the beauties of climate and scenery which people are led to expect from the perusal of summer resort literature in general, he says: “There is possibly one place in the United States where such conditions obtain, a bit of country about forty miles at the extreme southwestern part of the United States, in which San Diego is situated …. By a singular contrast the second favored spot as to weather is the extreme northeastern point in the United States, Eastport, Maine.

The Inn

In the charts which accompany his article General Greely places the mean daily temperature at 68° during the entire heated period. Think of it! Only 68° average all summer! Another point is the lack of humidity in the atmosphere which makes this a perfect retreat for those suffering from hay fever. According to General Greely’s chart, the belt denoting the driest atmosphere passes through Passamaquoddy Bay, in which the island of Campobello lies.

The chief delights of this enchanted Island are to be found in the yachting, canoeing, and fishing. Rich in fresh inland waters, as well as the surrounding waters of Passamaquoddy Bay, CAMPOBELLLO affords every kind of aquatic enjoyment known to man. The summer visitor can take a quick plunge in the invigorating waters of the Bay. He can glide quietly in his canoe among the inlets and little bays, and on the shining bosom of Lake Glensevern, or he can sail in any kind of craft from a cat-boat to a steam yacht, or from a row-boat to a motor-boat, on the deeper waters of the Bay. There is a marvellous network of streams and bays for those who are familiar with the joys of cruising. It is possible to sail the entire summer practically without crossing one’s wake. The St. Croix and the Denny flow into the Passamaquoddy, opposite the Island, within easy sail, but there are so many charming nooks and mysterious coves and inlets to explore on the Island itself that it is not necessary to go further afield. The kindly native population of fishermen affords an ample supply of experienced guides and skippers for the uninitiated, and Indian guides from the Pleasant Point Reservation teach the visitors to handle the canoe as easily as the Indians can. Boats of all descriptions can be rented by the day, week or season at moderate rates.

Life on the Island is varied by excursions by steamer and sail-boat to both Canadian and American towns of historical interest. Of CAMPOBELLO itself, Mrs. Kate Gannett Wells has written:

“The mysterious charms of ancestry and yellow parchment, of petitions to the Admiralty of royal grants of land, of wild scenery and a feudal loyalty, of rough living and nightly etiquette have long clustered around an island off the coast of Maine, called on the charts Passamaquoddy Outer Island, but better known by the more pleasant name of Campobello.”

The word “mysterious” is the proper term, for CAMPOBELLO is equipped with a well-defined legend of hidden treasure of such magnitude that any summer visitor that might stumble upon it would be well rewarded for his stay.

The Casino. Where the Dances are Held

A Path in the Inn Grounds

Conveyed in 1767 by royal grant of King George the Third to Admiral William Owen of the Royal Navy, and held by him and his family for over a century, CAMPOBELLO has been managed like an old English manorial property. It has been purchased by the Campobello Corporation, which is now prepared to offer land for sale on any part of the Island, and the purchaser may build as he chooses, an expensive villa or a summer bungalow. As the whole property is to be laid out on a comprehensive plan, suitable restrictions for the benefit of all will be placed on the various lots. One of the fist regulations is good drainage and a supply of pure water. A number of the summer visitors have already bought lots and put up cottages, and form a permanent summer colony which is increasing year by year.

A Native Cottage

“You drive to Herring Cove through miles of spruce and fir woods, the trees standing in serried rows, like an army under review, and the air is so filled with their spicy fragrance that it pervades the whole Island and drowns the smell of the sea.”

It has been said that for a steady income, an acre of Passamaquoddy Bay would surpass the most productive gold mine in world. To see the hand-line fishing in Quoddy waters is to see the Banks of Newfoundland in miniature. A few miles back in the Bay, fine land-locked salmon fishing is had. In a word, CAMPOBELLO is a veritable Mecca for the devotees of Sir Isaac Watson.

Grand Manan, with its giant cliffs up hundreds of feet, Quaint St. Andrews with its big Algonquin Hotel and golf links, the Twin Cities, Calais and St. Stephen and St. John are all within easy reach by steamer or motor boat.

Herring Cove

Harbor De Leute, an Inland Sea

The CAMPOBELLO INN, under the efficient management of Mr. William F. Ingold, who spends the balance of the year in charge of the Hotel Hamilton, Bermuda, and the Hotel Arlington, New York City, is spacious, comfortable and modern. It is located ten minutes across the Bay in Eastport.

Lake Glensevern

Cliffs of Grand Manan

The table is supplied from the stock, poultry and vegetable farms conducted by the Corporation. Thus there can be no doubt of the freshness and wholesomeness of the food, all of which, including the butter and milk, is not bought but produced on the Island itself. Fresh sea-food of all kinds; including the famous deep-sea lobsters of the Bay of Fundy, are a feature of the menu. The fact that the Corporation supplies its own table in this manner with fresh meats, fowl, eggs, butter, vegetables and fish cannot be too strongly emphasized. Fresh, wholesome food is even more important than the marvellous climate, and means even more to the visitor than the cool weather and the fresh air. Guests who have returned to CAMPOBELLO year after year are the best testimonial to its attractions.

For those who prefer a more retired life there are many pretty cottages extending a mile along the shore from the hotel, and the regular residents of the Island, well known for their hospitality, are always ready to care for those to whom the hotel or cottage does not appeal. The owners of the Island are more than glad to be of every possible assistance to prospective visitors in finding agreeable quarters.

There is a well-equipped livery in connection with the hotel for the accommodation of those who prefer riding and driving to sailing, tennis and golf.

The village library supplies books for those inclined to lounge and read in CAMPOBELLO’S many tempting nooks.

A new three hundred and fifty foot pier, constructed by the Canadian Government, offers accommodations for all maritime traffic, and forms a breakwater just below the hotel, making Welsh Pool Harbor a safe haven for all craft.

On the Island is the historic chapel, built by Admiral Owen, whose mortal remains are in the adjacent “God’s acre.” Across in Eastport, ten minutes away by ferry, there are seven different churches—Baptist, Congregational, Episcopalian, Methodist Episcopal, North Christian Church, Roman Catholic, and Unitarian. There are special boats for the morning and evening services.

There is an excellent physician resident on the Island during the summer months. The season is from the first of June to the last of October.

A Fundy Fisherman

A Fishing Fleet

CAMPOBELLO can be reached by rail from Boston in about twelve hours in Pullman sleepers and parlor cars running directly to Eastport; also by the new turbine steamships of the Eastern Steamship Company thrice weekly. The Yale and Harvard from New York and the Fall River Line make good connections at Boston for CAMPOBELLO.

A well-equipped steam ferry makes connection with Eastport every hour. Mail is delivered twice a day, and CAMPOBELLO is connected with the mainland by telegraph, so that it is in full touch with the outside world.

Hotel porters will meet all guests at Eastport.

The rates are $3.00 a day, with special accommodations for those planning a long stay.

For any further information, address CAMPOBELLO CORPORATION, Ltd., CAMPOBELLO, New Brunswick, or 11 East 59^th Street New York City.

Information regarding the hotel will be furnished by William F. Gold, Manager, Hotel Arlington, West 25^th Street, near Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Steamboat ‘Camden’ off Campobello

“The great tides rush against this island, and recede, leaving great masses of seaweed, as if the ocean combed its hair and left its locks to dry.”

“Thirty miles of rock-bound shore and beaches made cool by overhanging crags whose contours have been changed by many a mighty gale.”

Halifax and the Saint John River in 1884

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Halifax and the Saint John River in 1884

The British Association for the Advancement of Science was planning a meeting in Montreal, to take place in the summer of 1884, and published a sizable booklet in preparation for the event. The booklet was entitled Report on Conveyance, and included transportation and vacationing advice for European attendees. It was published in Montreal, also in 1884.

Transportation was by sea to North American ports, and then by rail to Montreal, and the booklet included a description places that people might want to visit. An edited version of their descriptions of Halifax and the Saint John River follows.

Dalhousie College, Grand Parade, Halifax, in 1871

William Notman, from the McCord Museum

The Cathedral in Fredericton, about 1880

From the McCord Museum

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Halifax

The drum-beat of Britain, which, to adapt the eloquent words of Daniel Webster, once followed the morning round the world, ceases its proud roll at this city—the portal of the Dominion of Canada. For here is the last English garrison upon the Western Continent—kept here, we are carefully assured, not out of regard for any antiquated colonial prejudices, but solely because of the importance of Halifax to England as a naval station and a coaling depot. At Halifax, the visitor will be thoroughly at home. From the citadel, and on the Queen’s ships of war in the harbour, the British flag still flies without the escutcheon of the younger Britain emblazoned upon it. The familiar uniforms will be seen on the streets and on the wharves. The people will not seem strange, and if, as is frequently the case, that favorite Haligonian dissipation, a regatta, is going on, he will see that, though colonial born, they have all the nautical instincts of the British race.

The city of Halifax was founded in 1749. It was the first permanent settlement of Englishmen in Nova Scotia; for, although there had been an English governor and an English garrison at Annapolis since 1713, and English fishermen frequented the coast and assembled in the harbours, there had been no serious attempt to colonise the country. The seat of government was then transferred to Halifax, and Governor Cornwallis, who came out in command with the first settlers, again called upon the Acadians to take the Oath of Allegiance to the British Government. The Acadians were very uneasy, and made the following response: “What causes us all very great pain, is the fact that the English wish to live amongst us. This is the general sentiment of the undersigned inhabitants.” This did not promise a peaceful time for the new settlers. The Indians fully sympathised with the Acadians, and, as the English settlements spread along the coast to Lunenburg and Liverpool, violence was common, and resulted in the Acadian transportation.

Halifax grew rapidly during the war which followed. Here Wolfe’s fleet assembled for the subjugation of Louisburg and for the capture of Quebec. Then followed the American Revolution, and troops and war ships crowded the streets and harbour. When Howe was compelled to evacuate Boston in 1776 it was to Halifax he retired. His fleet and army made the little town very lively for a while. During the war of 1812-15 Halifax was again a centre of naval activity and, until recently, there were old residents who could remember the excitement when the Shannon towed the Chesapeake into the harbour as a prise, and broke the spell of success which seemed until then to attend the United States navy. Such times as these have happily passed away; but the dockyard, and the forts, and the citadel tell of the former years of bitterness and warfare.

The population of Halifax, inclusive of Dartmouth, is 40,340. It is essentially a maritime and commercial city, doing a large trade in the export mainly of products of the fisheries, of gypsum, coal, and lumber, and carrying on, by the ships owned there, a considerable foreign trade. In the year ending June, 1883, the imports were $7,206,885 and the exports $5,002,929. Since the completion of the Intercolonial Railway it has become the winter port of the Dominion. Manufactures are now springing up and, lately, a large sugar refinery has been established there. The city contains a large proportion of wealthy people. It is not as progressive as some of the other cities of the Dominion, for the fact of its being so important a military and naval station in past years has not been an unmixed advantage. Large expenditures for military purposes do not confer the lasting benefits which permanent productive investments, and the attention of youth is apt to be drawn away from commercial enterprise.

The harbour is justly celebrated for its safety and commodiousness. Lying close to the great ocean highway between Europe and America, it is admirably adapted for a port of call or a port of refuge. The inlet extends fifteen miles into the land. In front of the town the harbour is one mile across, and, beyond the narrows, Bedford Basin expands into a sheet of water ten square miles in extent where the largest ship may lie close to the shore. There is no bar at the mouth of the harbour. The average depth of water is eight to ten fathoms, and in its very shallowest part it is 24 feet deep at low water. The tide rises six feet, and the largest vessels can lie afloat at the wharves. It is accessible at all seasons of the year. The Cunard line, the first line of ocean steamers, was projected by a Haligonian, Sir Samuel Cunard, and here all the steamers touched during the early years of the enterprise. Regular lines of steamers sail for Bermuda and St. Thomas, connecting at the latter port with all the West Indian lines. Steamships of the Allan line for Liverpool and St. John’s, Newfoundland, call here en route for Baltimore Md., and Norfolk Va. The Anchor line connects with St. John and Glasgow. Then there are steamers for Boston and New York; for Sydney, Cape Breton, Canseau, and Charlottetown.

The entrance to Halifax harbour upon a clear day is very striking. On the right is McNab’s Island, and beyond it the eastern passage, not available for large vessels, guarded by Fort Clarence on the Dartmouth shore; on the left is a bold shore surmounted by York redoubt and the telegraph station. Then Point Pleasant with its charming park, the seaward point of the peninsula upon which the city is built, is seen in front. To the left of it runs the northwest arm and to the right is the harbour, with George’s Island armed to the teeth in the centre of it, raking the entrance. Above the city, which is built upon a rocky declivity sloping somewhat steeply down to the water’s edge, is the citadel. Far up the harbour are the Narrows hiding the beautiful Bedford Basin, which suddenly expands its tranquil surface, securely land-locked and deep enough for men-of-war close to its shores.

Visitors from the United States always inspect the citadel, but from the old world, where citadels are plentiful, visitors are not so curious in that direction. The view, however, from the citadel taking in as it does all the environs of Halifax, is well worth the attention of strangers. A drive round by the park at Point Pleasant and along the Northwest Arm should be taken. This is one of the most picturesque sheets of water in the Dominion. The villas on its shore and Melville Island in a pretty bay at the head add to the general effect and make the drive very enjoyable.

Halifax is full of memories of the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria. The Prince’s lodge on Bedford Basin, though sadly dilapidated, is still pointed out; and he it was who laid the first stone of the citadel. The town is resonant with military and naval names; the Queen’s Dockyard, the Admiral’s House, the Artillery Barracks, the Ordnance Wharf, the Wellington Barracks, and the forts which protect the harbour give a martial character to Halifax which no other Canadian city besides Quebec possesses.

Dalhousie University is an important institution. It is unconnected with any religious body. There are seven professors in the faculty of arts, and thirteen in that of medicine.

The Province Building is a handsome building containing the chambers of the Legislature and the library and the archives of the Province. The new Provincial Building contains a museum where may be found a valuable collection to illustrate the resources and natural history of the Province. The Post Office is in the same building.

Halifax abounds in charitable institutions of all kinds and in churches, notable among which are St. Paul’s Church and St. Mary’s Cathedral. Here also are the seats of the Anglican Bishop and the Roman Archbishop of the Province.

Among the sights of Halifax must be counted the …

Fish Market where an idea of the wealth of the Nova Scotia fisheries can be formed.

Beautiful drives and walks abound at Halifax. The Public Gardens on Spring Garden Road are very well kept and are a pleasant refuge in summer from the heat. The Park at Point Pleasant possesses a singularly attractive site. The old Martello tower is a picturesque object.

Hotels— The chief is the Halifax Hotel in Hollis Street. Near it is the International Hotel. The Waverley Hotel is an exceedingly good semi-private hotel but it is not large. It is very pleasantly situated.

Clubs— The Halifax Club has a very well appointed club-house on Hollis Street.

Saint John to Fredericton, and a description of the River

The distance is ninety miles, and it is a very pleasant trip by day. The steamer leaves from Indiantown, above the bridge. The shores of the river at first are rocky. The river has the appearance of a succession of lakes with steep slopes, but it changes as the farming land of the province in reached. The banks become lower, and some of the fertile intervale lands, which the province in so proud of, may be seen from the deck. After passing Gagetown the Jemseg River, which is the outlet of Grand Lake, falls in. Here, in 1640, the French erected a fort, which in 1654 attracted the attention of Oliver Cromwell, who understood colonial questions exceedingly well. He sent an expedition to take it, and it was taken and held until 1670. At the conquest of Canada the Marquis de Vaudreuil was Seigneur, and 116 settlers held lands from him.

The Oromocto is the next important river passed, and close to it is Maugerville, a village settled before the Revolution, whose inhabitants, in 1776, were Whigs, and passed resolutions of sympathy with Congress.

At last the city of Fredericton is reached. One of the prettiest cities in the Dominion—built on level grassland among gardens, with a gentle sloping, garden-like acclivity as a background. The river makes a bend here, and at one point is the Cathedral and at the other is the Government House—for this is the capital of the Province, where, undisturbed by the noise and bustle of the outer world, legislation may be matured in peace.

Fredericton has a population of 6,218. The Parliament Building is a handsome edifice, containing the chambers of the Legislative Council, Legislative Assembly and Supreme Court. The library contains 15,000 volumes. It is a fireproof building. The gem of New Brunswick is the Cathedral which, though small, is one of the most perfect pieces of early English Gothic in America. The Cathedral of Christ Church at Montreal was designed after it by the same architect.

Fredericton is at the outlet of a lumbering district, and large establishments are located opposite at the mouth of the Nashwaak River. It is a centre of supplies for the upper St. John. It is also a centre convenient for sportsmen, for it is close to the best hunting and fishing regions in America. There are good hotels there, and pleasant cultivated society. In the old days, when British troops were in Canada, no place was more popular as a station than the quiet pretty capital of New Brunswick.

[From Fredericton there is a railway along the St. John River to the Grand Falls and Edmonton, where the Madawaska falls into the St. John. Up the Madawaska and through Lake Temiscouata was the old route to Canada, and there is still a portage from the lake to the streams which fall into the St. Lawrence. This route is often taken by sportsmen and tourists. From the lake to the town of Rivière-du-Loup, on the river St. Lawrence and a station of the Intercolonial Railway, there is a well-built post-road, over which Her Majesty’s troops journeyed from New Brunswick to Quebec, at the time of the Trent difficulty with the United States.

A few miles east from Rivière-du-Loup is Cacouna, the principal seaside resort of the province, where there is an excellent hotel and numerous comfortable boarding houses.

The influence of the northern current, which flows into the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the Strait of Belleisle, is manifested even here, in the cold, bracing sea water of the river and in the arctic and sub-arctic character of its marine fauna and flora. The land flora is also sub-arctic, and includes many rare northern plants. The moist fissures of the cliffs of the Quebec group rocks hereabouts, afford shelter to some interesting ferns—as Pellœa gracilis, with its long running, slender and cord-like rootstock and its delicate stipes and fronds; Asplenium viride, local and rare in America; Woodsia hyperborea and glabella, also local and rare, and Ilvensis, abundant and widespread; Polystichum fragrans, deemed by Sir William Hooker to be the most beautiful of all ferns, remarkable for the persistence of its dead fronds and for its strong aromatic odour; the ubiquitous Cystea fragilis in many of its protean forms, the purely American C. bulbifera, and perhaps also the rare and beautiful C. montana. Members who are botanically inclined might do worse than spend a few days in this neighbourhood and on the river Saguenay.]