Grinding Away

          Anyone that has stopped in at our museum has probably seen this stone before, but it may not have caught your attention as it isn’t in one of our buildings. Believe it or not, the stone out front is actually an artifact in our collection – one very large, heavy and rugged artifact that has thus taken its place outside of our museum.

            William Redstone moved to Springfield Parish in 1836 along the Joliff Brook. Some land he purchased and some he leased from the Trinity Church in 1837. It was here that he built two watermills, one a gristmill and the other a sawmill, both on the Joliff Brook. One was located at his home, where the water came from a head pond at the foot of Bull Moose Hill Road. The water flowed down a flume or ditch to the gristmill. The second mill was across the highway from where Roy Northrup lived. This mill, with its undershot wheel, was used for sawing lumber and in its later days it may have been used for grinding buckwheat.

These mills were taken over by William Joliff, an Englishman. He came to New Brunswick in the year 1830, a son-in-law to William Redstone. Mr. Joliff did very well with his mills until his interest turned to prospecting. Later this place became home to Thomas Marr who was the last to operate the mills. Eventually, it became the property of the donor, William Tremain.

Following is some brief information on how millstones actually work. Millstones come as two pieces, a base or bedstone that doesn’t move and a runner stone that sits on top of the base and does the grinding of material. The runner stone is connected to different pieces that lead to the source of power – water. The surface of the millstone is divided into furrows that continue on as smaller grooves, called feathering or cracking. Our millstone only seems to have furrows – it doesn’t appear that the grooves get smaller continuing outwards. When the two stones are set against each other the patterns and movement allow for the stones to create a grinding action.

Next time you’re in be sure to stop and check out the millstone by our door! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millstone

Happy Canada Day!

             Today’s post is a little bit different, but in light of the Canada Day celebrations taking place today we thought it fitting to share with you a piece from our collection with details of Confederation. As stated within the first few pages of the book titled ‘Confederation’, “This book was compiled from reproductions of actual newspapers of the day for the Rolland Paper Company Limited as its contribution to the celebration of Canada’s 100^th birthday.” Most already know the facts and dates of Confederation, so we wanted to share a few excerpts from newspaper articles that may be of interest. Since none of us were around to grab the daily paper in 1867, we thought it might be neat to highlight some lines from different papers.

            

          Toronto, Monday, July 1, 1867 – The Globe, “With the first dawn of this gladsome midsummer morn, we hail the birthday of a new nationality, A united British America, with its four millions of people, takes its place this day among the nations of the world. Stamped with a familiar name, which in the past has borne a record sufficiently honourable to entitle it to be perpetuated with a more comprehensive import, the DOMINION OF CANADA, on this First day of July, in the year of grace, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, enters on a new career of national existence. Old things have passed away. The history of old Canada, with its contracted bounds, and limited divisions of Upper and Lower, East and West, has been completed, and this day a new volume is opened, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia uniting with Ontario and Quebec to make the history of a greater Canada, already extending from the ocean to the head waters to the great lakes, and destined ere long to embrace the larger half of this North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific.”

          

             Halifax, July 1, 1867 – Morning Chronicle, “DIED. Last night, at twelve o’clock, the free and enlightened Province of Nova Scotia. Deceased was the offspring of old English stock, and promised to have proved an honour and support to her parents in their declining years. Her death was occasioned by unnatural treatment received at the hands of some of her ungrateful sons, who, taking advantage of the position she had afforded them, betrayed her to the enemy. Funeral will take place from the Grand Parade this day, Monday, at 9 o’clock. Friends are requested not to attend, as her enemies, with becoming scorn, intend to insult the occasion with rejoicing.”

            Friday, July 12, 1867 – The Ottawa Citizen, “Confederation Day appears to have been generally well-observed throughout the Dominion. But in Nova Scotia, in the strongholds of Anti-Unionism, the day passed over without jubilation. This, of course, is no more than we might have predicted, for, weeks ago, Mr. Howe and the anti-Confederate journals recommended that the day should be devoted to fastings and humiliations. The recommendation of Mr. Howe was followed by at least one Quebec Rouge – a Mr. Laberge – who, as mayor of Dorchester, withheld his sanction and authority for the holding of a celebration. When asked to convene a public meeting to take into consideration the celebration of the day he refused to do so on the ground that he believed Confederation to be a public misfortune, and that , before rejoicing, the people should wait at least one year to see how the Union should work.”

            Montréal, Samedi, 6 Juillette 1867 – La Guêpe, “L’Évènement de la Confédération est signalé par les signes les plus étranges, les choses les plus inouïes et les monstruosités les plus étonnantes.”

            As most know, Confederation Day wasn’t all smiles– there were many different emotions on this day 149 years ago. Some happy, some not so happy, and in Montreal, some just in awe at what was happening!

           

             We will be open until 4pm today if you want to stop and visit the Old Jail or our new Steamship Exhibit! We hope you enjoy a wonderful Canada Day, though, wherever you may be celebrating!