The Chignecto Isthmus And Its First Settlers

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THE CHIGNECTO ISTHMUS AND ITS FIRST SETTLERS

BY HOWARD TRUEMAN

1902

PREFACE.

For some years past I, in common with many others, have felt that all
letters of interest and accessible facts in connection with the early
history of the Truemans should be collected and put in permanent form,
not because there is anything of interest to the general public in the
records of a family whose members have excelled, if at all, in private
rather than in public life, but in order that the little knowledge
there is of the early history of the family might not pass forever out
of the reach of later generations with the death of those whose memory
carries them back to the original settlers. In getting together
material necessary for the work, numbers of interesting facts
concerning other families came inevitably to light. In order to
preserve these facts, and at the same time give the book a slightly
wider interest, I decided to write a short history of those families
connected by marriage with the first and second generations of
Truemans, and also, as far as material was available, of the first
settlers in the old township of Cumberland, which now includes the
settlements of Fort Lawrence, Westmoreland Point, Point de Bute,
Jolicure, Bay Road, Bay Verte, Upper Tidnish and Port Elgin. Finally,
as a kind of setting for the whole, I have prefaced these records with
a brief outline of the early history of the Isthmus.

That the work falls far below the ideal goes without saying. Anyone who
has made the effort to collect facts of local history knows how
difficult it is to get reliable information. In almost every case where
there was a conflict of opinion I have endeavored to verify my facts by
light thrown on them from different directions; but doubtless mistakes
will be found. By keeping the work in preparation for a longer time,
more matter of interest could certainly be added, and perhaps
corrections made; but to this there is no end, as the discovery of
every new item of interest reveals a whole series more to investigate.

To all who have given me assistance warmest thanks are tendered. To Dr.
Ganong, of Northampton, Mass.; Judge Morse, Amherst; W. C. Milner,
Sackville; and Dr. Steel of Amherst, grateful acknowledgment is
especially due for their ready and cheerful help. To Murdoch's Nova
Scotia, Hannay's Acadia and to Dixon's and Black's family histories I
have also been indebted.

INTRODUCTION.

This book needs no introduction to the people of the Isthmus, whom it
will most interest. I shall therefore attempt only to point out the
plan the present work will take in the general history of Eastern
Canada.

Mr. Trueman does not profess to have attempted a complete history of
the Isthmus. The earlier periods, prior to the coming of the
Yorkshiremen, are so replete with interest that a many times larger
work than the present would be necessary for their full consideration,
but Mr. Trueman has treated them with sufficient fulness to show the
historical conditions of the country into which the Yorkshiremen came.
It is the history of these Yorkshiremen and their descendants which Mr.
Trueman treats so fully and authoritatively, and withal, from a local
standpoint, so interestingly; and his work is the more valuable for the
reason that hitherto but little has been published upon this subject.
Some articles have appeared in local newspapers, and there are
references to it in the provincial histories, but no attempt has
hitherto been made to treat the subject as it deserves. Those of us who
are interested in history from a more scientific standpoint will regret
that the material, particularly of the earlier part of the Yorkshire
immigration could not have been more documentary and less traditional,
but that it is as here given is not Mr. Trueman's fault but a result of
the nature of the case. It is not impossible, by the way, that such
documents may yet be discovered, perhaps in some still unsuspected
archives. It is to be remembered, however, that to a local audience,
documents are of less interest than tradition, and the genealogical
phases of history, here so fully treated, are most interesting of all.
Mr. Trueman seems to have sifted the traditions with care, and he
certainly has devoted to his task an unsurpassed knowledge of his
subject, much loving labor, and no small enthusiasm. I believe the
local readers of his work will agree with me that this history could
not have fallen into more appropriate hands.

It does not seem to me that Mr. Trueman has exaggerated the part played
by the Yorkshiremen and their descendants in our local history. While
it is doubtless too much to say that their loyalty saved Nova Scotia
(then including New Brunswick) to Great Britain by their steadfastness
at the time of the Eddy incident in 1776, there can be no doubt that it
contributed largely to that result and rendered easy the suppression of
an uprising which would have given the authorities very great trouble
had it succeeded. But there can be no question whatever as to the value
to the Chignecto region, and hence to all this part of Canada, of this
immigration of God-fearing, loyal, industrious, progressive
Yorkshiremen. Although they and their descendants have not occupied the
places in life of greatest prominence, they have been none the less
useful citizens in contributing as they have to the solid foundations
of the upbuilding of a great people.

It is of interest in this connection to note that Mr. Trueman's book,
although preceded in Nova Scotia by several county histories, is for
New Brunswick, with one or two exceptions (in Jack's "History of the
City of St. John," and Lorimer's pamphlet, "History of the
Passamaquiddy Islands") the first history of a limited portion of the
Province to appear in book form, although valuable newspaper series on
local history have been published. May it prove the leader of a long
series of such local histories which, let us hope, will not cease to
appear until every portion of these interesting Provinces has been
adequately treated.

W. F. GANONG.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. The Chignecto Isthmus

CHAPTER II. The New England Immigration, 1755-1770

CHAPTER III. The Yorkshire Immigration

CHAPTER IV. The Eddy Rebellion

CHAPTER V. The First Churches of the Isthmus

CHAPTER VI. The Truemans

CHAPTER VII. Extracts from Journal and Letters

CHAPTER VIII. Prospect Farm

CHAPTER IX. Families Connected by Marriage with the Second
Generation of Truemans

CHAPTER X. The First Settlers of Cumberland

CHAPTER I

THE CHIGNECTO ISTHMUS.

The discovery of America added nearly a third to the then known land
surface of the earth, and opened up two of its richest continents. If
such an extent of territory were thrown into the world's market to-day,
the rapidity with which it would be exploited and explored, and its
wealth made tributary to the world's requirements, would astonish, if
they were here, the men who pioneered the settlement of the new country
and left so royal a heritage to their descendants. To those who cross
the Atlantic in the great ocean liners of our time, and think them none
too safe, the fleet with which Sir Humphrey Gilbert crossed the sea to
plant his colony in the new land must seem a frail protection indeed
against the dangers of the western ocean.

Perhaps in no way can the progress made since the beginning of the
nineteenth century be more forcibly brought before the mind than by
comparing the immense iron steamships of the present day with the small
wooden vessels with which commerce was carried on and battles were
fought and won a hundred and fifty years ago.

The Isthmus of Chignecto separates the waters of the Bay of Fundy from
those of Bay Verte, and constitutes the neck of land which saves Nova
Scotia from being an island. It is seventeen miles between the two bays
at the narrowest point, and considering the town of Amherst the south-
eastern limit, and the village of Sackville the north-western, it may
be put down as a little less than ten miles in width.

The southern slope is drained by four tidal rivers or creeks, namely,
La Planche, Missiquash, Aulac and the Tantramar. These rivers empty
into Cumberland Basin, and their general course is from north-east to
south-west. In length they are from twelve to fifteen miles, and run
through narrow valleys, the soil of which is made up largely from a
rich sediment carried by the tide from the muddy waters of the basin.
These valleys are separated from each other by ridges of high land
ranging from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the sea
level.

The Tidnish River, and several streams emptying into the Bay Verte,
drain the Isthmus on its northern slope. The Missiquash and Tidnish
rivers, each for some part of its course, form the boundary between the
provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The tides at the head of
the Bay of Fundy rise to the height of sixty feet, or even higher, and
are said to be the highest in the world. The mud deposit from the
overflow of these tidal waters, laid down along the river valleys, is
from one foot to eighty feet deep, varying as the soil beneath rises
and falls.

Between Sackville and Amherst there is an area of some fifty thousand
acres of these alluvial lands, reclaimed and unreclaimed. Some of this
marsh has been cutting large crops of hay for one hundred and fifty
years, and there is no evidence of diminished fertility, although no
fertilizer has been used in that time; other sections have become
exhausted and the tide has been allowed to overflow them. This
treatment will restore them to their original fertility.

Cartier was the first of the early navigators to drop anchor in a New
Brunswick harbor. This was in the summer of 1534, and the place was on
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near the mouth of the Miramich River. This
was on the 30th of June. Landing the next day and finding the country
well wooded, he was delighted and spoke of it in glowing terms.

The first white men to visit the Isthmus with a view to trade and
settlement came from Port Royal in the summer of 1612.

In 1670, Jacob Bourgeois, a resident of Port Royal, and a few other
restless spirits, were the first to make a permanent settlement. These
were followed by another contingent under the leadership of Pierre
Arsenault.

In 1676, the King of France gave a large grant of territory in Acadia
to a French nobleman, Michael Le Neuf, Sieur de La Valliere. This grant
included all the Chignecto Isthmus. Tonge's Island, a small islet in
the marsh near the mouth of the Missiquash River, is called Isle La
Valliere on the old maps, and was probably occupied by La Valliere
himself when he lived on the Isthmus.

From this date Chignecto began to take a prominent place in the
history of Acadia, and continued for a hundred and fifty years to be
one of the principal centres of influence under the rule both of France
and Great Britain.

It was here that France made her last stand for the possession of
Acadia. It was here that Jonathan Eddy, twenty years later, raised the
standard of the revolted colonies, and made a gallant but unsuccessful
effort to carry Nova Scotia over to the rebel cause.

From 1713 to 1750 was the most prosperous period of the French
occupation. The population increased rapidly for those times. The
market at Louisbourg furnished an outlet for the surplus produce of the
soil. The wants of the people were few. The Acadians were thrifty and
frugal, the rod and gun supplying a large part of the necessaries of
life in many a home. The complaint was made by those who at that time
were interested in the circulation of the King's silver that the people
hoarded it up, and once they got possession of it the public were never
allowed to see it again. The houses were small and destitute of many of
the furnishings their descendants now think indispensable, but perhaps
they enjoyed life quite as well as those of later generations.

Bay Verte at this time was a place of considerable importance. The Abbe
Le Loutre lived here a part of the time, and owned a store kept by an
agent. The trade between Quebec and Louisbourg and the settlements on
the Isthmus was carried on through the Port of Bay Verte, and from
there the farmers of Chignecto shipped their cattle and farm products.
The Acadians were quick to see the benefits that would arise from
reclaiming the rich river valleys, and they drew their revenues chiefly
from this land. They did not readily take to the cutting down of the
forests and preparing the upland for growing crops; they were more at
home with the dyking-spade than the axe. A description of their methods
of dyking and constructing aboideaux, written in 1710, is interesting
to those who are doing the same work now.

The writer of 1710 says: "They stopped the current of the sea by
creating large dykes, which they called aboideaux. The method was to
plant five or six large trees in the places where the sea enters the
marshes, and between each row to lay down other trees lengthways on top
of each other, and fill the vacant places with mud so well beaten down
that the tide could not pass through it. In the middle they adjusted a
flood-gate in such a way as to allow the water from the marsh to flow
out at low water without permitting the water from the sea to flow in
at high tide." The writer adds that the work was expensive, but the
second year's crop repaid them for the outlay. This is more than can be
said for present-day experience in the same kind of work.

The land reclaimed on the Aulac was confined principally to the upper
portion of the river. The Abbe Le Loutre saw that the benefit would be
great if this river were dammed near its mouth, and he was at work at a
large aboideau, for which he had received money from France, when the
fall of Beausejour forever put a stop to his enterprise.

Wheat seems to have grown very abundantly on the marsh when it was
first dyked, judging from the census reports of those days and the
traditions handed down.

The old French maps of 1750 and earlier show settlements at Beaubassin
(Fort Lawrence), Pont a Buot (Point de Bute), Le Lac (Jolicure), We-He-
Kauk (Westcock), We-He-Kauk-Chis (Little Westcock), Tantramar (Upper
Sackville), Pre Du Bourge (Middle Sackville), We-He-Kage (Amherst
Point) and Amherst or Upper Amherst, Vill-La-Butte, and La Planche.
There were settlements also at Maccan, Nappan and Minudie. The
statement that the village of Beaubassin, in 1750, contained a hundred
and forty houses, and a population numbering a thousand, seems
improbable under the circumstances.

Fort Lawrence, the site of old Beaubassin, contains to-day less than
forty houses, and not more than three hundred inhabitants, yet more
land is under cultivation now than in any previous time in its history.
It is highly probable that the whole population on the south side of
the Isthmus was reckoned as belonging to Beaubassin.

There is good reason for saying that the population of the district
embraced in the parish of Westmoreland, excepting Port Elgin, was much
larger from 1750 to 1755 than it has ever been since.

The Seigneur La Valliere was, no doubt, the most prominent man,
politically, on the Isthmus during the French period. He was appointed
commandant of Acadia in 1678, by Count Frontenac, and just missed being
made governor. He was a man of broader views than most of his
contemporaries. He encouraged trade, and was willing that others beside
his own countrymen should reap the benefits if they were ready to pay
the price. He anticipated the MODUS VIVENDI system now in force between
this country and the United States in dealing with the fisheries, and
instead of keeping a large fleet to patrol the coast and drive the
English from the fishing ground, he charged them a license fee of five
pistoles (about twenty-five dollars) for each vessel, thus giving them
a free hand in the business.

La Valliere's farm was probably on the island marked on the old maps,
"Isle La Valliere," and here he lived when not in other parts of the
colony on public business. He had a son called Beaubassin, who was
always ready to take a hand in any expedition that required courage and
promised danger. In 1703, this Beaubassin was the leader of a party of
French and Indians that attacked Casco and would have captured the
place but for the timely arrival of a British man-of-war.

On the 11th April, 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. This gave
all Nova Scotia, or Acadia, comprehended within its ancient boundaries,
as also the city of Port Royal, now called Annapolis Royal, to the
Queen of Great Britain. The English claimed this to include all the
territory east of a line drawn from north of the Kennebec River to
Quebec, taking in all the south shore of the St. Lawrence, Gaspe, the
Island of St. John, and Cape Breton. The French contended that Acadia
only included the southern half of the present Province of Nova Scotia.
Views so divergent held by the contracting parties to an agreement,
could scarcely fail to produce irritation and ultimately result in war.

In 1740, the Abbe Le Loutre, Vicar-General of Acadia under the Bishop
of Quebec, and missionary to the Micmacs, came to Acadia to take charge
of his mission. It soon became apparent that the Rev. Father was more
anxious to advance the power and prestige of the King of France than he
was to minister to the spiritual elevation of the benighted Indians.
The course pursued by the Abbe defeated the end he had in view. His aim
was to make Acadia a French colony; but in reality he helped to make it
the most loyal British territory in North America.

The successful raid of de Villiers, in the winter of 1747, convinced
the English that so long as Chignecto was in possession of the French,
and was used as a base of operations to defy the English Government,
there could be no lasting peace or security for settlers of British
blood. Taking this view of the matter, Governor Cornwallis determined
to take measures to drive the French from the Isthmus. The unsettled
state of the French population through the Province contributed to this
decision.

In November, 1754, Governor Lawrence wrote to Shirley, at Boston, that
he had reason to believe the French were contemplating aggressive
measures at Chignecto, and he thought it was quite time an effort was
made to drive them from the north side of the Bay of Fundy. Col.
Monckton carried this letter to Governor Shirley. The governor entirely
agreed with the suggestion it contained, and had already taken some
steps to bring about so desirable an end to the troubles the Government
was experiencing on the Isthmus.

The matter was kept as secret as possible, but efforts were immediately
made to raise a force to capture Fort Beausejour, the new fort built by
the French on the high ground overlooking Beaubassin, on the north-west
side of the Missiquash. So successful were they in getting up the
expedition that, on the 23rd of May, everything was ready and the force
set sail from Boston.

The expedition numbered two thousand men, under the command of Lieut.-
Col. Monckton, with Lieutenants Winslow and Scott under him. They
called at Annapolis, and were joined there by three hundred regulars of
Warburton's regiment, and got a small train of artillery. Fort
Lawrence* was reached on 2nd June, and the next day all the troops were
landed and camped around the fort.

[FOOTNOTE: *The fort at Fort Lawrence, was situate on the high land
that separates the valleys of the Missiquash and La Planche rivers, a
little less than two miles distant from Fort Beausejour. It was
constructed in the month of September, 1750. Lieutenant-Colonel
Lawrence arrived at the Isthmus with a strong force, consisting of the
48th Regiment, and three hundred men of the 45th Regiment. "The Indians
and some of the French were rash enough to oppose the landing of so
formidable a body of troops, but they were driven off after a sharp
skirmish, in which the English lost about twenty killed and wounded." A
short distance from where they landed Colonel Lawrence erected a
picketal fort with block-houses, which was named for himself. A
garrison of six hundred men was maintained here until the fall of
Beausejour. END OF FOOTNOTE]

Vergor, the French General in command at Beausejour, called on all the
Acadians capable of bearing arms to come into the fort and assist in
its defence. The Acadians, however, would not obey this order unless
Vergor would make a refusal to comply punishable with death. This would
given them an excuse with which to meet the English if the fort were
taken.

On the 4th June, the English broke camp and marched north from Fort
Lawrence, a distance of about two miles along the ridge of high land;
then, entering the Missiquash valley, they crossed over to Pont a Buot,
or Buot's Bridge, which spanned the Missiquash River. This bridge was
near what is now Point de Bute Corner. Here the French had a blockhouse
garrisoned with thirty men. There was also a breastwork of timber. This
place was defended for an hour by the French, and then, setting fire to
the little fort, they left the English to cross over without
opposition. The victorious force camped that night on the Point de Bute
side of the Missiquash River.

At this day it is difficult to account for the slight value the Acadian
seemed to place upon his home. He appears to have been always ready to
set it on fire at the least danger of its falling into the hands of the
English. The sixty houses that stood between Buot's Bridge and
Beausejour all went up in flame that night, fired by the French
soldiers as they retired before the English.

From the 4th until the 13th of June the English were engaged in cutting
roads, building bridges, transporting cannon, and getting these into
position north of the fort, on the high ground, within shelling
distance. During this time the French had been strengthening their
defences and making other arrangements for withstanding a seige (sic).
The Abbe Le Loutre ceased work on his "abateau" and set his men to
assist at the fort.

Scouting parties from either camp met once or twice, and the Indians
captured an English officer named Hay, who was passing from Fort
Lawrence to the English camp.
On the 13th the English threw a few shells into the fort, and continued
to shell the place on the 14th, without much apparent result. On that
day Vergor received tidings that no help could be sent from Louisbourg.
This news was more disastrous to the French than the English shells.
The Acadians lost all heart and began to slip away into the woods and
the settlements to the northward.

The next day, the 15th, larger shells were thrown, some falling into
the fort. One shell killed the English officer, Hay, who was a
prisoner, and several French officers, while they were at breakfast.
This decided the matter. Vergor sent an officer to Monckton asking for
a suspension of hostilities. That afternoon the following terms of
surrender were agreed upon:

"1st. The commandant, officers, staff and others employed for the King
and garrison of Beausejour, shall go out with arms and baggage, drums
beating. 2nd. The garrison shall be sent to Louisbourg at the expense
of the King of Great Britain. 3rd. The Governor shall have provisions
sufficient to last them until they get to Louisbourg. 4th. As to the
Acadians, as they were forced to bear arms under pain of death, they
shall be pardoned. 5th. The garrison shall not bear arms in America for
the space of six months. 6th. The foregoing are granted on condition
that the garrison shall surrender to the troops of Great Britain by
7 p.m. this afternoon. Signed, Robert Monckton. At the camp before
Beausejour, 16th June, 1755."

As soon as the British were in possession at Beausejour, Monckton sent
a detachment of three hundred men, under Col. Winslow, to demand the
surrender of the fort at Bay Verte. Capt. Villeray accepted the same
terms as Vergor, and on the 18th of June, 1755, the Isthmus passed for
ever out of the possession of the King of France. A large amount of
supplies was found in both forts.

Monckton changed the name of Fort Beausejour to Fort Cumberland, in
honor of the Royal Duke who won the victory at Culloden, and as it was
a much better fort than the one on the south side of the Missiquash,
the troops were ordered to remain at Fort Cumberland.

This fort stands in a commanding position on the south-west summit of
the high ridge of upland that separates the Missiquash from the Aulac
valley. It was a fort of five bastions, with casemates, and was capable
of accommodating eight hundred men. It mounted thirty guns. After it
fell into the hands of the English it was great improved. A stone
magazine (a part of which is still standing) was built outside the
southern embankment. The moat was excavated to a much greater depth. Of
late years the place has been shamefully neglected. On account of its
historic associations many yearly visit the "Old Fort," and efforts
have been made to enclose the grounds and make them more presentable.

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