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Selmah in 1853.
A Paper read before the Presbyterian Social in Selmah, Maitland,
Hants County, Nova Scotia, BY ARCHIBALD FRAME, ESQ., Ex.-M.P.P.
Published by unanimous resolution of the Social Gathering
aforesaid, on motion of A. Shaw Smith, Esq., seconded by R. B.
Eaton, Esq.
The making of History in quiet and scattered sections of our
Country is of slow growth. Our historical life is of so recent
date that when portrayed it seems trivial and unimportant.
We sometimes read of the daily life and doings in an English
parish, five or more centuries ago, a record that has come down
to our present times in the diary of some good parish priest or
the brother dwelling in the old monastery; we have a kindly
memory for the writer, who has given to us a picture of society
that has long since passed away.
Those old annalists builded history better than they knew. In our
democratic age those old records are valuable; as history does
not alone consist in the records of courts and camps, and in
descriptions of wars too often waged only for power or plunder.
The struggles of our early settlers, the difficulties and hardships
they met and overcame; their moral characters and their
religious tone, are to us of especial interest -- what Gray has
so aptly called "The short and simple annals of the poor."
Here we have no old records running far away into the centuries as
are to be found in our motherland. And we have no history such
as that we have referred to. This year, at the World's Fair, at
Chicago, was celebrated only the 400th anniversary of the
discovery of this continent by Columbus.
That exposition was a memorial of the improvements and advances
made by the people of America since its discovery and
settlement.
And we, as Canadians, proud of our country, have cause to rejoice
at the position achieved by our exhibitors who displayed to
great advantage the industry and intelligence of the Canadian
people.
But this theme is outside of the scope of our humble paper, that
only proposes to give a short description of Selmah as first
seen by the writer in June, 1853, forty years ago. And before we
come to our story, we must say a few words about the earlier
history of this district.
It is now well known that the first European settlers in Selmah
were of French origin and language.
The French people came early to Acadia as missionaries of the
Catholic church, hunters, fishermen and cultivators of the soil.
In Nova Scotia the centre of their power was at Annapolis; from
that point their settlement extended into the country, until
their hamlets were found on both shores of Cobequid Bay, and on
the Shubenacadie River to the head of the tide waters.
For not fewer than forty years after the final conquest of Nova
Scotia by the English, the French remained, living industrious,
restless lives around the Bay shores, erecting dykes, clearing
the uplands, and too often blamed for inciting their Indian
allies to plunder and murder the English settlers.
The latter charge was alleged to have been the chief cause of their
expulsion in 1755.
As we have before stated, they were the first settlers here. At the
"French Field," near the head of the marsh, forty years ago,
could be plainly seen the mounds that marked their dwelling
places, and a few years later a number of their farming
implements and a few household utensils were turned out by the
plough from the place where they had been buried by their owners
to hide them from their English foes.
After the French were gone, for a number of years we have no
records of any person living in Selmah. In the year 1765, Mr.
Salter, of Halifax, obtained from the Crown a grant of 2,500
acres, extending on the shore from near Mr. Alfred Putnam's
shipyard to Lower Selmah. All that has come down to us of his
ownership is the name of "Salter's Head," and our worthy citizen
and county councillor, Mr. Stairs, is one of his descendants.
The Salter Grant, except 100 acres at the upper side, passed by
purchase about twenty years later to General Small, who, at the
close of the American Revolution, settled the Kennetcook and
Nine Mile River districts with soldiers who had been disbanded
at the close of that unfortunate struggle, and were rewarded for
their sacrifices and services with allotments of lands in those
districts.
We know little of General Small during his ownership, further than
the fact that he lived some time here. Of his family or his
dependents, no descendants remained.
To him we are indebted for the name "Selma," that he gave his
estate. The name remains to keep his memory green; only in
spelling it, those who came after him, added in an h, in
addition, we fear, that must vex his spirit for our disregard or
ignorance of the orthography of Ossian.
On the north shore of Cobequid Bay, at Londonderry and Onslow, and
at Truro, the settlers came in a body, and the early records of
those townships give the names and nationalities of the people,
together with the area of the lands allotted to each of them.
The same is true of Falmouth, Windsor, Newport and Rawdon, in this
county.
On this south shore of the Bay no organized efforts at settlements
seemed to have been made, presumably for the reason that the
area of the cleared lands made by the French were small and the
acreage of marsh lands limited. Here the permanent settlers seem
to have straggled in by twos and threes or singly, and amidst
isolation and many discouragements, bravely took up the toilsome
burden of life.
In this way the south shore of the Bay was settled from Maitland to
Walton, or, as they called it, from the Shubenacadie to the
Petite.
But to return to Selmah, in 1803. General Small was dead in the old
country to which he had some years before returned, and his
executors sold his Selmah estate to Colonel William Smith, of
Douglas, who conveyed it to three of his sons, Caleb, Richard
and Nathan who all settled here. Shortly after this date, their
relative, Mr. John Sterling, located at the lower part of the
district, and from that time the permanent settlement of Selmah
begins. Fifty years later, in June 1853, the writer came here,
and the purport of this paper is to give our younger friends,
whose memories go not very far backwards, a short description of
Selmah at that time, forty years ago.
The part of the Selmah that was then comprised in the school
section from Capt. Ellis' to Mr. David R. Crow's east line. To
give the names of the families and others, and the number of
inhabitants, their daily pursuits and manner of living, their
religious persuasions and educational condition -- in a word, a
few of the many things that make up the daily life of a
community. The natural scenery of the district then presented to
the beholder much the same beautiful appearance it does to-day.
The area of improved lands was much less extent than at present; the
woods extended to the highway in many places. Salter's Head was
an almost unbroken forest, mostly covered with hardwood, giving
a large supply of firewood for home use and cordwood for export.
The marsh had been dyked for a number of years, and included its
present acreage, and then, yielding a large amount of hay. The
number of inhabited houses of all descriptions was thirty-six.
Of these, six were of unhewn logs; ten of the others were of the
poorest description. Of the remaining twenty, about one-half
were fairly comfortable dwellings.
There were no grates in any of the houses, and no coal used as
fuel; cooking stoves had lately come into use.
The open wood fire was then in use in every house. This, with the
tallow candle, afforded light in the winter evenings, for at
that date kerosene oil and the kerosene oil lamp were unknown.
Commencing at the upper end of the section the inhabitants are
comprised in the following list.:
Norman Cole, wife and 7
children............................... 9
Dr. McDowell and
wife................................................ 2
John Weldon, wife and 5
children............................... 7
Christopher Weldon,
widower.................................... 1
Mrs. Atkins, widow and 3
children............................. 4
John McDuffee,
Bachelor............................................ 1
Mrs. Allen, widow, and 2
sons.................................... 3
George P. McNutt, wife and 8
children...................... 10
James Walker, wife and 4
children.............................. 6
John Faulkner, wife and 4
children............................. 6
Mrs. Faulkner, widow, and
daughter........................... 2
John Robison, wife, son, and
daughter........................ 4
Capt. William McDuffee, wife and 3
children................ 5
Jacob Yuill, wife and 4
children.................................. 6
William Yuill,
bachelor...............................................
1
Archibald Campbell,
widower..................................... 1
Mrs. Walker, Sr.,
widow.............................................. 1
Alexander Gray, wife and 5
children........................... 7
Alexander Forbes, wife and 2
daughters..................... 4
Mrs. Hunt, widow, and 2
children............................... 3
William McGuiggan, wife and 5
children...................... 7
Rev. Henry Pope, Jr., wife and 1
child......................... 3
James Dunn, wife and 3
children................................. 5
John Sweeney, wife and 2
children.............................. 4
Mrs. McDonald,
widow................................................ 1
Mrs. Norman, widow and 3
children............................ 4
Mrs. Downing,
widow..................................................
1
John Royles, widower, and 2
children......................... 3
John Pratt, wife and 6
children.................................... 8
William Skaling, wife and 5
children............................. 7
Col. Richard Smith and wife
Harriett Smith, his neice
David R. Smith, his
nephew......................................... 4
Mrs. Eunice Smith, widow, and 7
children................... 8
Mrs. Caleb Smith,
widow............................................. 1
George Smith, wife and 4
children............................... 6
Joseph Woodworth, wife and 5
children...................... 7
William Smith, wife and 2
sons.................................... 4
Mrs. Isaac Smith, widow, daughter and grand-
daughter.............................................................
3
John C. Smith, wife, 5 sons and 2
daughters................ 9
William McKenzie, wife and 6
children........................ 8
John S. Smith, wife and 3
children.............................. 5
Nathan Smith, wife and 2
sons.................................... 4
Mrs. Chambers and 3
children.................................... 4
William Morris Smith, wife and 2
children.................. 4
William Henry Hamilton, wife and daughter...............
3
William Sterling, wife and 5
children.......................... 7
John Sterling, Sr., widower, and 2
daughters.............. 3
James Sterling, wife and 4
children............................. 6
Richard M. Sterling, wife and 1
child........................... 3
John Sterling, Jr., wife and 3
children......................... 5
William A. Gaetz,
bachelor.......................................... 1
Total 225
Of the active men on the foregoing list about one-third were
farmers, mostly varied with other pursuits; two were
professional men, three carpenters and joiners, three shoe
makers, one tanner and one blacksmith. The others, and a number
of the younger men and boys, went in the coasting trade in the
summer, and worked in the woods in winter, getting out timber
and firewood. There were no ships or barques built or owned here
at that date and the foreign freighting business was then in the
future.
There was more employment for men and boys on the farm. The hay
making and harvesting season required more help than at present,
the mowing machine and the horse rake not having come into use.
Of the farm stock, horses were not plenty; not more than one dozen
being in the section. And we may here say that the barns and
outhouses (all of which since have been replaced as we now see
them) were of the roughest description.
There were many more sheep kept than in this day. In every house
the wool was spun into yarn and three or four hand looms were
kept busy, and home-spun, dressed or undressed, formed the
staple every day clothing.
In 1853 the world had recovered from a long depression, and entered
on a better era. Business of all kinds had so greatly improved
that every one seemed to be contented and happy.
Juniper timber, scantling, cordwood, plaster and potatoes were in
active demand at fair prices in the American market and trade
was free and buoyant.
But, contrasting that time with the present, the conditions of life
then would, to our younger friends of to-day, seem in many ways
wretchedly narrow and intolerable.
The only road in the district was the highway on the shore, not
nearly so good a road as we now have made it.
There was no store in the district and no post office, and instead
of our daily, there was then only a weekly mail from Halifax. A
few weekly papers, not exceeding a dozen, were taken in the
section. We then had no country papers.
Then there were no musical instruments in houses or church.
Church socials such as this assemblage to-night, were unheard of,
and there never had been a tea-meeting or fancy sale in Selmah.
There were only two or three light waggons and three two-wheel
carriages here. The larger part of the travelling was as yet
done on horseback.
All were intensely provincial, caring little for their fellow
colonists outside of Nova Scotia.
The provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, as Ontario and Quebec
were then called, were spoken of chiefly in connection with
their rebellion, and then seemed further away than China and
Japan are now to us. And all the great west of our Dominion was
really an unknown country.
There were no free schools until a dozen of years later, and, as in
all country sections, education was in a very backward
condition.
The school house was a very humble building about twenty feet
square, furnished with two long desks, a few long stools without
backs; these with an old box stove, completed the outfit. In
June 1853, there were 45 scholars entered on the school list;
most of them bright boys and girls very anxious for education.
Only a few of them now remain, and it is with saddened thought we
recall the fact that not fewer than one-half of the boys have
died away from home or were lost at sea.
At that date there were more rivalries among the religious
denominations, and more controversies about doctrines and
creeds.
In our day we have a larger charity. Of the inhabitants of Selmah
at that time, 3 women were Catholics, 3 or 4 Baptists, 3
Presbyterian families; and as this is a Presbyterian social, we
will give their names: Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Atkins and the Faulkner
family.
All the others, numbering about 200, were members or counted in the
Methodist church.
The only place of public worship in the district was the old
Methodist church, which most of you can remember. The minister
in charge, or as he then styled himself, "Wesleyan Missionary,"
was the Rev. Henry Pope, Jr. Mr. Pope was an energetic preacher
with a fine style and address, and it usually took his sermon to
be an hour in length to expound the Wesleyan divinity.
This was popular with the younger Presbyterians, who had been used
to sermons Calvanistic from an hour and a half to two hours
long.
The other professional man at that time in the section was the
doctor, Dr. Henry McDowell. The doctor was a Scotchman, past
middle age, with a fine presence and very fine manners when he
chose to use them.
We have very little knowledge of his skill as a physician. A few
years later he fell into a partially deranged condition and
lived a dreary life for nigh on to twenty years later.
Of the four pioneer settlers we have before named who came here in
the early years of the century, three were living here in 1853.
The elder of the four, Mr. Caleb Smith, familiarly referred to
as the "old Squire," had then been dead about a dozen of years.
When he first came here he had a wife and children. His sons
were settled on his property.
His name was always mentioned with affection and respect. He has
many worthy descendants. Three of the oldest residents of
Maitland, Capt. Caleb S. Stuart, Mr. McCollum and Mr. Isaac
Douglas, are his grandsons.
Of the others at that day, Colonel Richard Smith was the principal
man in the district, largely engaged in timbering, farming, and
in the plaster trade; he was the chief employer of labor. Mr.
Smith was also the most active and interested member of the
Methodist Church, always present at the Sunday services, and his
solemn and earnest voice was ever heard in the Sunday school and
prayer meeting. He had, previously to this time, represented
this county in the Provincial Assembly, had long been a Justice
of the Peace, attending the sessions at Windsor, and taking an
active interest in local affairs.
Mr. Smith was one of the early temperance reformers, and unceasing
in his efforts to make this a temperance and law-abiding
community. He was very charitable and a friend to the poor; and
of him it may be truly said: "The good men do lives after them."
Another of the four pioneers was Mr. Nathan Smith, the youngest of
the three brothers. In 1853, Mr. Smith was still an active man,
past middle age. In consequence of an illness in early life, Mr.
Smith was lame and walked with a crutch. Like all the men of his
family, nature had endowed him with a fine physique. Also he had
what is often wanting to men who are partially invalids -- a
very happy and cheerful disposition. He was a lover of
hospitality, and a gifted and entertaining conversationalist. He
was always in the chair at public meetings, where his services
were highly valued, and it was amusing at the old-time town
meetings to see the skillful way he could handle the man with a
"grievance," and send him away satisfied that the overseers had
acted wisely and well, and in the public interest.
Mr. Smith was the earliest mail contractor in this part of the
country, when the only mail came from Newport Corner on the
Western Post Road across the country to Maitland. He died an old
man full of years and honor, after seeing most of his large
family settled around him, and sincerely regretted by all who
knew him, and valued his friendship.
The other of the four early pioneers, Mr. John Sterling, was living
in 1853. He was then an old man in failing health, and highly
respected for his moral worth and his industrious and useful
life.
As we stated, these were the pioneers, and as a community we owe
them much. They gave to us its moral and religious tone.
It has been well said that "the record of the lives of those who
have done nobly will never cease to influence the conduct of
men." If this is true of the higher, it is also true, to a
lesser degree, in the humbler walks of life. We have not time to
speak of many of the men who were living here in 1853. Some
student of human nature has said "that all men have oddities and
peculiarities." The particularly odd man in Selmah forty years
ago was William McGuiggan, shoemaker, or as Mac sometimes "put
it," William McGuiggan, Cordwainer.
Mac was a busy Scotch-Irishman from Belfast, had crossed the ocean
in his early days and, after working for some years around the
country, came to Selmah worked, or as he said, "wrought at his
trade" for Col. Smith, married and settled in a small house by
the roadside near where Mr. Scott now lives. He was innocent of
letters, or as he expressed it, "was no scholard." He had a good
share of shrewdness, and was celebrated for his quaint sayings
and his mother wit. He had an unbounded capacity for the
marvellous; his life was in constant terror from ghosts, in
whose reality he was a firm believer. The great comet of 1858,
blazing in the sky opposite his door, filled him with terror. As
this was before the days of shoe factories, he was kept busy at
his bench, and many were the marvellous stories he was told, and
that he related to his customers, of the war then waged in the
Crimea, and the struggle for Sebastopol. "Mac" has been gone
nigh a quarter of a century -- peace to his ashes.
To complete our sketch we must not omit to mention the grave yard
among the trees around the old church. In 1853 there were two
dozen or so of graves, four with marble headstones. The harvest
of death that never fails has since filled it to overflowing. It
has been enlarged, and few can pass it by without loving
memories of many who sleep beneath its sheltering quiet and
repose.
And on this Thanksgiving time our young friends when contrasting
this past time with the present, will note that the years gone
by have wrought many changes, and all in the paths of progress
and improvement, in social life and manners, in domestic
comforts and homes, in educational advantages, in the melting
away of religious prejudices, and in the enlargement of our
political horizon. And while to-night we praise the "Father
Beneficent" for all blessings, especially may we give thanks for
peace in our time, that no wars or revolutions have disturbed
our country, and that it is our priceless privilege to live
under the same glorious flag that sheltered and protected the
fathers.
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