The First History of New Brunswick

The First History of New Brunswick

This book by Peter Fisher was first published in 1825 under the title Sketches of New Brunswick. Below is an excerpt from the section on Kings County. I was surprised at the population (2011 population 69,665):

"It contains seven thousand nine hundred and thirty inhabitants.

It comprehends the Long Reach, the Kennebeckasis (sic) and Belisle (sic), and is divided into the following parishes - Westfield, Greenwich, Kingston, Springfield, Norton, Sussex and Hampton. Kingston has a Township regularly laid out, which bears the name of the Parish. It has a neat Church, with a resident Minister, and a number of neat buildings, which make a fine appearance. The Court-House, however is a considerable distance from the Town. The settlers in most parts of this Parish have the appearance of comfort and affluence, although the land is inferior in fertility to most of the other Parishes.

. . . There are two quarries of excellent Plaster of Paris on the river Kennebeckasis. There is likewise a salt spring in this part of the country, from which small quantities of salt have been made by the Indians and the Inhabitants settled near the place, which has proved of an excellent quality for the table, and there can be no doubt of its possessing valuable medicinal qualities; but no attention has yet been paid to analyse it. Great quantities of sugar are extracted from the sugar maple in this county, upwards of ten thousand pounds have been made in a year, of that valuable article in the Parish."

1923 Spring Flood

1923 Spring Flood in Hampton

As each Spring arrives many of us are looking at the rivers and creeks around us and wondering what the water levels will be this year. In a newspaper account from 1923 it was reported: "This last week is one that will be remembered for many years to come on account of the severe freshet that has covered the bridges and railway tracks, surrounding and entered a number of dwellings at the village and station.This is the first time since 1887 that boats had to be used to get from the village to the station. The bridge over the creek is completely covered in water and partly washed away, and the road for several rods is covered by water [Note: a rod is approximately 16.5 feet]. The houses along Langstroth Terrace have to be reached by boats and several houses nearer the river bank are completely surrounded, one family having to live upstairs as the water had entered the downstairs. Several barns are washed away. The amount of damage done is great."

The 1923 flooding along the Saint John River and its tributaries resulted in estimated damages totaling $532 million in today's dollars.New Brunswick's River Watch Program for the 2018 freshet season started on March 12, 2018 and as of yesterday there are no flood risks reported.If you want the latest information on flooding this spring you can go the government website or access the mobile app at https://www.watercanada.net/new-brunswick-flood-forecast-d…/

Letter Writing

Letter Writing

Many of us "older folk" lament that cursive writing is becoming a lost art. There was a time when elegant handwriting was a status symbol and there were schools in penmanship. While penmanship is still taught in Europe, North American schools have largely eliminated it from the curriculum. The invention of the typewriter in 1867 began the movement away from penmanship, and the growing usage of electronic devices has largely eliminated the related skill of letter writing.

Schools in early Kings County spent many hours teaching first reading, then cursive writing, and then instructing in the proper form for letter writing, as this was the principle way of communicating. Young men away at war wrote letters home and eagerly awaited letters from parents and wives to get the news from home. Young women who married and moved with their husbands to new communities wrote letters home. Siblings could go their whole adult lives not seeing each other, but remaining in touch through letters.

If you want your children to experience the joy of writing a letter, you may be interested in an up-coming event at the Saint John Public Library in which your child can compose and type a letter on an old typewriter, perhaps similar to the one pictured below. This typewriter from our museum collection is a Woodstock No. 5, manufactured in Woodstock, Illinois between 1912 and 1922.

HAMPTON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL

We have a number of photos of Hampton Consolidated School in our photo collection, including of the fire that led to its demise. Hampton Consolidated School opened in the fall of 1907 on the site of the current Hampton Middle School. As it served the students of both Hampton Village and Hampton Station, it was constructed midway between the two communities. By the time the building burned in March of 1981 it had become Hampton Junior High School, with the high school students being bused to the Kennebecasis Valley High School. It was a Thursday morning on March 12th that the 452 students were safely evacuated and watched, with much of the community, as their school burned. The students had only a few days off, however, as portable classrooms were quickly set up and work commenced on the construction of the new school and amazingly several classrooms were ready for use by September of that year and the rest as the term progressed.

EXPLORE YOUR IRISH ROOTS

The Kings County Museum has a large collection of local family histories in our Research Room and we will be open on St Patrick's Day, March 17, from 1:00pm until 4:00pm.

Come explore your Irish roots. Locate your family home on our Irish Family Homes Map. Get hints on research with our books Handbook on Irish Genealogy by Heraldic Artists Ltd, Tracing Your Irish Roots by Christine Kinealy or Immigrants from Ireland to Kings County Prior to 1840. For those wearing their green, the $10 research fee will be waived.

And remember . . . "If you're lucky enough to be Irish, you're lucky enough".

Treasure from the Storeroom:

Treasure from the Storeroom:

One of my favourite items unearthed from the storeroom during the recent clean-out was this beautiful ladies dress from the mid 1800's. It is a fairly recent acquisition and has not yet been displayed, but I anticipate it being a hit for our exhibit this summer. It belonged to Mrs Julia Nembhard Helen (Kortright) Neales, wife of Rev Dr James Neales of Gagetowm She was born in 1831, married in 1849, moved to Gagetown in 1859, died in 1885. It is handstitched with an elegant Scallop pattern at the neck and the sleeves, fully lined, and in excellent condition. It has detachable "Modesty Sleeves" and a 22 inch waist!

Heritage Homes

February 12-19 2018 is Heritage Week in New Brunswick.

Celebrating our heritage is not just about musty old clothes in your grandmother's attic (although attics are amazing places to explore). Heritage includes the buildings that house those attics! Kings County is fortunate to have many heritage homes, but regrettably not all have survived. Ryan's Castle in Lakeside (Hampton) is one such. On a property of approximately 10 acres overlooking Darling's Lake (on land now owned by the Downey family), the showcase home was purchased in 1895 by Dr John J Ryan. Dr Ryan, the son of James Ryan of Millstream, became a celebrated dentist in Paris. He purchased the home as a summer home and is said to have spent $70,000 on renovations to the house and grounds, including a model barn constructed by George Langstroth. The lovely home deteriorated after the death of Mrs Ryan in 1927 and after a number of years being vacant and vandalized it burned in 1963.