February 20, 1929
The Pioneers (No. 2)
(Written for The Register)
Among the first grantees of Cornwallis, in 1761, was a man with military title of whose surname the spelling is uncertain. In the early records he appears as "Major William Canada." His descendants have always spelled the name, "Canady." A memorial, signed by his grandson, John William, as Ruling Elder in a Presbyterian Church, was published in a Belfast (Ireland) magazine, the signature appearing as "John W. Kennedy." It seems quite probable that Kennedy was the original name.
The Major chose as the location of the grant awarded him, (666 2/3 acres), the shore of the Bay of Fundy, at and around the mouth of a stream ever since known as "Canady Creek." Here a settlement of farmers, fishermen and traders soon grew up. The Major is understood to have had connection, business or otherwise, with the garrison at Annapolis Royal and at Windsor. During the troublous times that marked the later years of the eighteenth century, travelling by sea, even in the Bay of Fundy, was not always safe and in winter there were dangers to lighter craft from ice and storm.
A road was early made from Canady Creek to the Valley. This road, from the top of the mountain down, was considerably west of either the "Old Black Rock Mountain Road," or the "new" one in use for the last 70 years. It reached the Valley about where the highway now runs. Thence the route taken was west-wardly, forming what was afterwards known at its eastern end as the "Newcomb Lane" and at the western as the "Calkin Lane" (now leading to the residence of Rufus Power). This was laid out as a public road. From the western end of this road the route lay along the right bank of the Cornwallis River. At the great bend in that river, north of where Berwick now stands, the travellers rounded that bend and proceeded – still on the right bank of the river, but now on its southern side – till they reached a surveyor’s line (blazed) which they followed south to the Old French Road at the base of the South Mountain. That blazed line became Commercial Street, Berwick.
In 1814, Mr. John Woodworth, one of the lot layers of the Township, made an important visit to Western Cornwallis. He was a relative by marriage of both Mrs. Jonathan Newcomb and Mrs. Hugh Graham Bowles, referred to in No. 1 of these notes. His business on this occasion was to lay out a road that would connect the residences of these next-door neighbors residing four miles apart. The road from the foot of the Black Rock mountain to the Cornwallis River, at Waterville, is a result of this visit.
This road, at the point where it struck the "Big Brook," the head-waters of the Cornwallis River, swerved from the compass line, making a detour of nearly two miles in length and rejoining that line at the point where Mr. Gay E. Best afterward built his house. This detour gave a road of easy grades completely avoiding the clay hills which were for years the dread of travellers between Buckley’s and Grafton corners. The road was changed to its present route over those hills in 1836.
Such detours were quite common in the early roads of the Township. Another instance occurs in this same vicinity. The road east from "Buckley’s," where the store of Mrs. Burgess now stands, is also famous for its clay hills. The road first built, being located a few rods north of this one, completely avoided these hills, giving easy grades all the way to Woodville. It branched off from the main road laid out in 1814, as stated above, at a point about opposite the barn on the Buckley property, now owned by Mrs. Burgess.
(To be continued)
February 20, 1929
Kings County 81 Years Ago
(By I.C.R. in The Halifax Herald)
Here’s a list of the men who were prominent in the public life of Kings County in 1847. The list, I feel sure, will be of considerable interest and some historical value to the people of that county. It is taken from Belcher’s Almanac of 1847.
High Sheriff, W. C. Campbell.
Coroners. Jas. Allison, Abr. Van Buskirk, Jno. Fisher, Jno. E. Forsyth, M.D., Danl. Moore, Chas. C. Hamilton, M.D., and Chas. W. H. Harris.
Dept. Proth’y. and clerk of the Peace. Wm. H. Chipman, Caleb H. Rand, Jas. Harris and T. B. Campbell.
Justices of the Peace to execute all Acts relating to Insolvent Debtors and all other Acts which Judges of the late Inferior Court were formerly empowered to perform out of Court: Hon. J. D. Harris, Caleb H. Rand, Jno. F. Hutchinson, Harris Harrington, Elisha DeWolf, Jas. Harris, H. L. Dickey, Caleb R. Bill, Rich’d. Starr, Edw. Palmer, Henry Magee, Seth Burgess, Mayhew Beckwith, and Jno. Wells.
Justices of the Peace, Hon. Jno. Morton. (Custos), Jno. Wells, Sherman Dennison, Hon. Jas. D. Harris, Jas. N. Crane, Harris Harrington, Caleb H. Rand, Elisha DeWolf, Wm. C. Campbell, Saml. Chipman, Jas. Harris, Simon Fitch, Hugh L. Dickey, Seth Burgess, Caleb R. Bill, Henry Magee, Jno. Crane, Edw. Palmer, Geo. L. Lockwood, Richard Starr, Jno. F. Hutchinson, William Johnston, Mayhew, Beckwith, Jno. Lyons, Nathan Parker, Alex Patterson, 3rd., Wm. Miller, Chas. H. Brown, Thos. Lovett, Saml. Sharp, Fairfield Smith, Nathan Lockhart, Edw. P. Borden, Jas. Levi Lockhart, Abr. Gesner, M. D., Jas. Wm. Harris, Thos, Tupper, Jno. M. Caldwell, Joseph Crane, Abel Parker, Ward Eaton, Patk. D. Scanlan, Archibald Walker, Wm. Woodworth, Gideon Cogswell, Jno. O. Pineo, Theodore Reed, Jno. G. Patterson, David Ells and Peter Wickwire.
Court of Probate, Judge, Jno. C. Hall; Registrar, Wm. H. Chipman; Dep. Reg’r. of Deeds, Thos. B. Campbell.
Coll’r. of Customs, and of Colonial and Light Duties, David Whidden, Coll’r. of Colonial Duties for the district comprehending all the Bay Shore in the county westward of Hall’s Harbor, Jno. Givan, Seizing Officers, Messrs. W. H. Lovett, Jno. Givan and Wm. Starr.
Dep. Postmasters, Kentville, Jno. F. Hutchinson; Wolfville, E. DeWolf; Aylesford, J. Van Buskirk.
Comm’rs. Of Schools, Caleb. H. Rand, Elisha DeWolf, Wm. H. Chipman, Hugh L. Dickey, Nathan Tupper, Wm. Miller, Caleb R. Bill and Chas. H. Hamilton, M. D.
Board of Land Comm’rs, Hon. Jno. Morton, W. C. Campbell and Wm. Johnson. Dep. Land Surveyors, Wm. Johnson, C. Patterson and A. Armstrong.
Agricultural Societies, Horton – Prest. Elihu Woodworth; Sec’y. Chas. W. H. Harris; Cornwallis – Prest. Sam. Chipman; Sec’y. C. C. Hamilton; Weston Branch – Prest. Robt. J. Lyons; Sec’y. Jno. Lyons; Aylesford – Prest. Alex. Patterson; Sec’y. Jas. D. Van Buskirk.