History of the County of Lunenburg ... Second edition

Preface

TO FIRST EDITION. To the Inhabitants of the County of Lunenburg : I have for some time given to the preparation of the following history of my native county, the leisure left me by my professional and public duties. I am indebted for information to the works of Haliburton, Dawson, Murdoch, Aikins, and others ; and to important public and private documents. I have examined all the places of special historic interest referred to, and heard from the lips of many of the most aged resi dents, four of whom have attained respectively to ninety-five, ninety six, ninety-eight, and over one hundred years, their personal recollections, and statements made to them by their ancestors. To each one who shall peruse the work, I beg to say, in the words of an ancient author, " I wish thee as much pleasure in the reading as I had in the writing." I am, your Friend and Representative, Mather B. DesBrisay. Bridgewatek, La Have, February, 1870.

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION. In England, where county annals are highly valued, a writer has said, " Local histories are always welcome, even beyond the districts which they immediately concern. They preserve for us the past." Since the publication, in 1870, of the first edition of this work, I have received numerous applications for copies, which could not be supplied, and I have been several times advised by friends to publish another edition. I have also had from many of its readers very encouraging words, some of which are the following, from a letter written to me in August, 1889, by one living in a far away Province : ." I remember well the first appearance of your history, at which time I read it with pleasure and much interest, for it gave a good account of our antecedents. I have often wondered how and where you got all the material for its composition.

I regard it as one of the most valuable of the collection of books I possess. I am proud of my county, its antiquity, its early pioneers, its present inhabitants, and its advancement in that which pertains to perfect civilization." I have revisited many districts, conversed with the oldest people, perused additional historical documents, and no pains have been spared in the endeavor to make the book a complete county record. Mather B. DesBrisay. Bridgewater, October, 1895. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Page

Situation of the County — Indian Names — La Tour Grant — Cornwallis at Merliguesche — Township of Lunenburg — Obtaining Settlers from Germany — Arrivals at Halifax — Description of Liineburg in the Fatherland — Opinions about Germany and the Germans ---------- 17-26

Chapter II

Arrival at Lunenburg — Captains Cohb and Rous — First Birth — Military and Civil Authority — Block-houses — Rebellion — Commons — Stock, Houses, Huts, Crops, Mills, and Vehicles —First Ferry— First Shop - - 27-42

Chapter III

Town Plot — Allotments and Registry of Land — First Deeds — Letters, Petitions, Orders, and Official Returns — Boundaries of Township — .lessen Expedition — Boundaries of County — Townships established — Bounties — Settlers and Stock — First Civil List — Governor's Praise of Germans — Inhabitants, Stock and Crops— Governor's Letter to Earl of Dartmouth — Inventory of Property of C. B. Zouberbuhler - 43-59

Chapter IV

Councillor Creighton — Bulkeley's Letter and Orders — Leave Asked to Dig Coal in Cape Breton — First Court-house — Block-houses — Captures — Impressment — Invasion of Lunenburg — Grant of Township — Militia Officers named in German Almanac — Lieutenant Rudolf's Letter to Queen Victoria's father — Capture of Vessels — Amended County Line ... - 60-79

The Ovens, and Gold Discoveries there, with accounts of other Settlements ---------- 135-139

Chapter X

Cross Island, near the Entrance to Lunenburg Harbor, and other Islands in the same vicinity ------ 140-142

CHAPTER XL

Early Settlement at Mahone Bay, with History of its Churches and Clergymen, and other matters of interest — Indian Point 143-152

Tragical events which have happened in the County - - - 494-508

Chapter XLVI

Tales of Shipwreck suffered by Mariners and others belonging to the County — Chase and explosion of " Young Teazer " - 509-521

CHAPTER XL VII.

Rescues of Persons in Peril on the Sea, and Presentations made for Deeds of Bravery, and as Tokens of Esteem - - - 522-531

Lighthouses — Rivers and Lakes — Heights of different places — Tables of distances with old routes of travel - - - 546-552