The census taker for Hammond Parish in 1871 was John Armstrong, the father of Mary Ann (Armstrong) Anderson, wife of William Anderson. This community is in a section of land which changed ownership between Hammond Parish and Sussex Parish until 1874 when Waterford Parish was set off from Sussex Parish and alterations made to Hammond Parish. Perhaps John Armstrong's connection to the Andersons may be the reason why this community was included in the Hammond Parish census.
S. Thompson Anderson immigrated to New Brunswick from County Londonderry in 1860. He first stayed with his brother-in-law, Samuel Walker, resident of Walker Settlement and for whom that settlement is named. Whe he came to New Brunswick with his wife Mary (Mills) Anderson, he was accompanied by two sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Samuel, married Mary Ann Myles of Long Settlement; his other son, William, married the aforesaid Mary Ann Armstrong, daughter of John Armstrong Esq., of Long Settlement; his daughter Eliza married Charles Crothers of Walker Settlement; his second daughter Catherine married Thomas Bowland of Walker Settlement, and his youngest daughter Nancy (Ann) married James Armstrong, son of John Armstrong Esq and brother of Mary Ann.
Some time
between
the census of 1861 and the compilation of Hutchinson's Directory in
1865-1866,
Thompson Anderson, his sons Samuel and William, and his nephew, William
Walker,
all secured land grants in what would become known as Anderson
Settlement a small settlement through which runs the head waters of
Anderson Brook, running southwestward to the Schoales Dam. In the
Land Grant applications, Thompson Anderson's grant is dated 1867,
Samuel Anderson's grant is
dated 1870, and William Anderson's is dated 1872. William Walker's is
dated 1869.. There is also an application by William Walker dated 1859.
By the 1880's, this community was abandoned with
all of these families either moving to Walker Settlement or to
Londonderry.
In my walks in that area, I have not come across any evidence of any
homes
or buildings as it has all returned to its natural state.
After this community was largely abandoned in the 1880's, a newer road was put in north of the original and directly across from the one going through Elm Valley. Along this road were the McAfee's, possibly the McAllisters, John Watson, and William Buchanan and his family. Thompson and William Anderson, as well as William Walker, all moved back to Walker Settlement, and Samuel Anderson moved to either Shepody Road or to Londonderry and eventually died at Parlee Brook. Thompson Anderson died in 1891, two years after his wife, and both are buried in Walker Settlement Cemetery. Samuel Anderson dies in 1921 and is buried in Knox United Church Cemetery, Markhamville. William Anderson also died in 1921 and is buried in Trinity Anglican Cemetery, Sussex Corner. William Walker died in 1918 and is buried in Trinity Cemetery, having buried at least five of his ten children in the Walker Settlement Cemetery, quite possibly all of them born in Anderson Settlement.