Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB
July 27, 1893
THE PARISH OF PENNFIELD, COUNTY OF CHARLOTTE, PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK.
An Historical Sketch.
By J. G. Lorimer.
CHAPTER I.
The report of the division of the province of New Brunswick into counties, towns and parishes, by a commission under authority of Sir Edmund Walker Head, lieutenant-governor of said province; and signed by the commissioners, W. B. Kinnear, solicitor-general, J. W. Chandler and Charles Fisher, bearing date, Fredericton, 22nd March, A. D. 1853, commences with Charlotte county, in the division of counties, as follows:
Charlotte-south by the Bay of Fundy; West by the river Saint Croix and western shore of the Bay of Passamaquoddy; East by the line running true north, thirty miles from Point Lepreaux, as surveyed by Deputies Wilkinson and Mahood, in the year of Our Lord 1838, and in the year 1845; and north by the line running true west from the termination of the last mentioned line as surveyed by deputy Mahood in the year 1845; including all the islands adjacent thereto; and the Island of Grand Manan, and the islands adjacent to it.
Of the parish division, the report says:-
Pennfield, Westerly by Saint George and L’Etang river; North and East by the county line; and South by the Bay of Fundy; including the Wolves Islands and all other islands within two miles of the shore.
In the year 1838, and for many subsequent years, the county of Charlotte was blessed with six saintly parishes, viz: Saint Stephen, Saint David, Saint James, Saint Andrews, Saint Patrick and Saint George, but, to give the county additional claim to the pious calendar of saints, a few short years ago another saint, the offspring of Saint Andrews, known as Saint Croix, made up the lucky number, seven Saint parishes for the good old mother, Charlotte.
The parish of Pennfield, too, since the report of the said commissioners, has in the largeness of her boundaries contributed to swell the number of the county parishes by giving away, without a murmur, two parishes, the parish of Lepreaux from a portion of the east county line, and the parish of Clarendon from the portion of the east and north lines; but as our sketch dates from the year 1838 to 1893, with the last named two parishes the writer has nothing to do, they not being in parish existence for many long years subsequent to the year 1838.
In conformity with chronological data, our little history of the parish of Pennfield goes back over half a century, beginning with March, A. D. 1838; and altho’ writing from memory, our brain-diary will be found to be vouched for as quite authentic by several living witnesses at the present day. In 1838, at the junction of the Pennfield public road with the highway leading from Saint George to the city of Saint John, were Boyd & McCarroll, keeping a corner store with entertainment for travellers; and following the parish roads the following named residents, viz: Woodberry, Osborne, Miller, Reardon, Mealy, Farnell, Gillespie, Spears, Jack, Bothwick, Hunter, Hopkins, Harvey, Pike, Prescott, Bucknam, Johnson, Tatton, Trainor, Spinney, Knight, Justason, Jackson, Poole, Ash, Eldridge, Best, Cross, Munro, Wright, Dixon, Holmes, Stitt, Noble, Watson, Watt, Carlyle, Hawkins, Boyle, Boyd, Young, Cricket, McKay, Daley, Anderson, Armstrong, McDowell, Dunbar, Guthrie, Kernihan, Hayford, Brittain, Ellsworth, Foley, Constantine, Hamilton, Dunham, Holland, Watters, Donnelly, McGowan, Pendleton, Eagles, Shaw, Bartlett, Ahearn, Mulherrin, Lodge, Rafferty, Haggerty, and in after years a few others. The above list of names may not include all, as the writer at that period, 1838, had but slight knowledge of the Mace’s Bay district and about there.
On the highway leading from Boyd & McCarroll’s towards St. John, at Popologan, William McGowan kept an inn; which was very popular with the travelling public, as Mrs. McGowan as well as himself made it their chief delight to minister to the wants of travellers and at very moderate charges. At the New River bridge, William Pendleton also kept a house of entertainment; and there the stage coach changed horses, and passengers dined. The proprietor of the coach line at that time, Mr. Copeland, was a general favorite, and so was his whip assistant. After a short period of two years Pendleton left and McGowan succeeded him for a brief term of years, removing subsequently to the Musquash hotel where he died.
In 1839, Stephen Munson, from the vicinity of Lake Utopia, leased the Lepreaux mills, and did quite a smart business, giving employment to over a score of mill men, running also in connection with the sawing of lumber a large lathing machine.
There was only one house near the bridge at the Lepreaux river and “Bartlett’s Red House” was known and appreciated by travellers.
It was in that year, 1839, that a small school was opened in a small building at the road side immediately opposite the red house for the first time in the history of schools at Lepreaux; and Mr. Isaac Justason, the secretary of schools for the parish of Pennfield, visited it in his official capacity by coming from his residence near the parish church a distance of over fifteen miles on horseback.
BEAVER HARBOR
In 1838, Beaver Harbor was the principal resort for fishing vessels; and square riggers, too, found a haven of safety in many a storm, where was secure shelter from the furious gales sweeping over the turbulent waters of the Bay of Fundy. L’Etang is also an excellent harbor. Admiral Owen described it in his coast survey report as the very best harbor of all the harbors on the Bay of Fundy. And Seely’s Cove, Basin, Black’s Harbor, Crow Harbor and Lepreaux river are commodious retreats for mariners seeking refuge from the fury of wind and wave. Dating back to this early period of our sketch, Beaver Harbor had but a sparse population of fishermen-what is a town now in 1893, was then and for one or two subsequent decades, without a street, store, church or schoolhouse- but those few scattered fishermen were hardy, brave, industrious, and possessing a goodly share of that indomitable spirit of progress so characteristic of the old Loyalists; they persevered with an inflexibility of purpose to succeed that carried them on, superior to all hindrances and discouragements. And here, should their descendants ask the solemn question-Our fathers! Where are they? in reply it might be said, ‘Go, walk the graveled paths of the quiet grave yard and consult the chiselled chronicles of ancestral births and deaths mutely standing as faithful watchers over the sleeping dust, while casting their monumental shadows in sunshine and in the pale glare of the cold, bright moon, over the grassy mounds of the long ago departed, replying in tacit solemnity to the question.’
The reader is now invited to follow the writer up from Beaver Harbor to
THE FARMING DISTRICTS
of the parish, to see what we can see. Over a rocky, rugged road, for a mile or more from the harbor, a small yellow house owned and occupied by a Mr. Poole, came first in sight, and near it a saw mill owned by Barney Bucknam, who resided in a commodious house on the opposite side of the stream from the Poole house. Mr. Bucknam was a native of Eastport, Me., but preferred Pennfield to Eastport; as did also his brother Joseph-both of them, men of excellent character, and much esteemed by friends and neighbors, ‘Barney’ not only manufactured considerable lumber, but, in addition, cultivated his new farm with intelligent industry; raised considerable produce, and gave employment to many hands and teams winter and summer. Not far from the Bucknam mill and farm, easterly, is
WOODLANDS,
situate at the head of the tide water of Beaver Harbor; and for the first few years of our history James Rait, merchant, of St. Andrews, and a ship builder as well, carried on a lively business at Woodlands, and had saw-mills running from early spring to late autumn. Thomas Watson, of St. Stephen, and Thomas Watt, brother-in-law of James Rait, were superintendents at Woodlands; while John Stitt was head sawyer, and Wm. Dixon, surveyor of the lumber. Several fine horses were kept there for teaming and driving purposes; and every one in employ seemed as busy as the honey-bee in its season. Pleasure parties from St. Andrews, picking up special friends at St. George, such as Major Richard Magee, and others, made frequent visits to the Woodlands Mills, and feasting and dancing were the usual accompaniments. Such was Woodlands in the days of James Rait, and for a brief period after. Doctor Robert Thompson, of St. George, subsequently became proprietor of the property. What Woodlands is now, in 1893, will be referred to later; but we must not anticipate dates. Leaving Woodlands, and following a good road northerly, shaded by forest trees for some two miles, a neat
BRICK HOUSE,
with large barns adjacent, is in sight; and here was the birth-place of ex-Mayor McKay of St. Stephen; his elder brother, David, and his younger brother, Samuel, who now sits at the receipt of customs at Beaver Harbor. Daniel, another brother, went to California when quite a lad, in 1854, and never re-visited the old homestead. Hugh McKay, the father, was a native of County Antrim, Ireland; as was also the mother. He was a noble specimen of an able Irishman-of large size and great strength; and splendidly formed in body and limb. He was, as was Barney Bucknam, an intelligent farmer, and of industrious habits-fond of agricultural pursuits-kept good horses, sheep and cattle, and was prosperous-setting a good example to others-how to farm. His was the only brick edifice in the parish in 1838, and, if not mistaken, it remains alone in its glory as the only brick residence in Pennfield in 1893. On the corner, at the junction of the Woodlands public road with the Pennfield Ridge highway, on a portion of the farm, stands a building owned by the youngest son, Samuel, where groceries are kept; and Her Majesty’s mails received and despatched.
AT PRESCOTT’S CORNER,
at the cross-roads, one leading to L’Etang river, another to Beaver Harbor, another easterly along the Pennfield Ridge, the other westerly to the junction at Boyd & McCarroll’s corner, there was a good school house, known as ‘No 1,’ ; and following the Beaver Harbor road about one fourth of a mile, stands the Episcopal church, with cemetery; and about another quarter of a mile, a Baptist meeting house. In 1838, Rev. Samuel Thompson, then rector of St. George parish, held services in the Pennfield church each Sunday afternoon, continuing the same regularly until his death; when Rev. Mr. McGivern succeeded as the curate of the Pennfield church; and subsequently, Rev. R. E. Smith, the present rector of St. George parish and rural dean, who officiates in Pennfield as did his reverend predecessors. The Baptist church had no stated ministry during those periods of early history; but itinerant preachers were ever welcomed by the members and other worshippers. While mentioning those church edifices, it may as well be stated here, as elsewhere, that Beaver Harbor has now its churches; and the Presbyterians, true to their religious zeal, although a mere paucity of the parish population, have had erected a very neat house of worship, finely located on a gentle hill near the old Joseph Bucknam farm; and but a short walk from Prescott’s corner on the Pennfield Ridge road. Leaving Prescott’s corner, and proceeding easterly along
THE RIDGE ROAD,
in 1838, and for several succeeding years the north side of
the road was a dense forest for miles, with the exception of a
mile or two, where burnt land clearings were made by Willie
Johnson, John Carlyle, the Cricket brothers, the Youngs,
Alexander McKay, John Boyd, David Boyd, John Tatton, and a few
others. The south side of the Ridge road had been earlier
farmed, and gave good evidence that the woodman’s axe had
pioneered the way for the plough and the harrow. Isaac
Hawkins’s farm, Robert Armstrong’s, Hugh McKay’s,
and last but not least, that of William Tatton, the veteran
bear-trapper and hunter, were under good cultivation, yielding
excellent crops of hay, oats, turnips, potatoes, buckwheat and
vegetables; while their houses were comfortable and convenient,
with barns and outhouses, affording careful housing for cattle
and poultry. And those were the days that gave promise that
ultimately the then wilderness parish would blossom as the rose;
and, infested as it then was by wild animals that roamed the
woods and open fields as well, by night and by day, they would
have to beat a retreat and satiate their ravenous appetites away
from Pennfield. Bears were numerous; wolves and lucifees,
wildcats and foxes, were common sights, and many dainty meals
they had, at the expense of Pennfield farmers. Calves,
sheep, lambs and swine of all ages and sizes, fell victims to the
ravenous denizens of the wilds of the parish; but, as if to atone
in their way for their rapacious robberies, they drove scores of
deer from the woods into the open fields from time to time,
especially in winter; which gave the Pennfielders many
opportunities to add deer-meat to the other luxuries of the
larder. During the autumn of the years 1838, ’39 and
’40, prodigious number of wild pigeons visited the
parish-the buckwheat stubble ground was literally blue with
them-but, of them, and other matters, the reader will be told in
the next chapter.
CHAPTER II