Dedication of Melville Church, Kincardine, NB 1878

[The year 2018 marks the 140th anniversary of the Melville Church as well as the 145th anniversary of the Scotch Colony. This newspaper article presented an account detailing the dedication of the Melville Church held on January 1, 1878 at Kincardine, New Brunswick.]

Aberdeen Press and Journal
January 29, 1878, Tuesday; page 2

The New Kincardineshire Church.

The settlers in New Kincardineshire, New Brunswick opened their new church on New Year’s Day, as was sometime ago proposed. The day was fine, and a vast crowd of neighbours from considerable distances on both banks of the river St. John attended the service which was conducted by the Rev. D. M. Maclise, D. D. of St. John, who was assisted by the Rev. C. N. Sinnet of Fort Fairfield, State of Maine, and we may add that the latter gentleman was accompanied by a considerable number of visitors from that State. The service commenced at 11 a. m., and by that hour part of all the families in the new settlement, and the families long settled on the north bank of the great river, were present, and many friends who had driven on sleighs from distant localities. Dr. Maclise opened the proceedings by praise, selecting the Old Hundredth Psalm. He then read II Chronicles, 6th chapter, then Rev. Mr. Melville, minister of the colony, engaged in prayer; and Dr. Maclise Continue reading

Letter by Rev. Peter Melville, New Kincardine Colony, New Brunswick, Sept. 11, 1877 Published in the Rothesay Chronicle and Buteshire and West Coast Advertiser, Oct. 13, 1877

NEW KINCARDINE COLONY.
The following letter written by our former townsman and Parish Church missionary, the Rev. Peter Melville, M. A., B. D., to The New Brunswick Reporter, will be read with interest by his many friends in Rothesay:—

Mr. Editor:—You and your readers will be pleased to hear that this Scottish Colony is making good progress. The crops are very good, (excepting hay,) and are likely to be gathered in safety, without frost or snow. Continue reading

Letter by David Burns written June 23, 1873, published in The Stonehaven Journal July 31, 1873

NEW KINCARDINESHIRE COLONY.
The following letter has been addressed by Mr. David Burns, one of the New Stonehaven colonists, for publication amongst friends in Scotland:—
To Members and Friends of New Kincardineshire Colony, resident in Scotland.
DEAR FRIENDS,—Before I left our heather land I promised to write at times and give you some account of our procedure here, and before commencing I beg to state that I shall confine myself to what I know to be the truth—as some reports got out concerning us that had better never been heard of—many reports, Continue reading

Nine months of Kincardine by a Settler, Edward Bruce of Bannockburn

NINE MONTHS OF NEW KINCARDINE. (By a Settler.) I may say, by way of preface, that I am quite satisfied with the territory myself, its prospects being very good for those able and willing to undertake the clearance of forest land, and possessed of a little capital. In this connection, I may state that many who arrived here almost penniless have done remarkably well, their earnings from work on colony roads and other sources having been considerable.
The land on the Kintore section is not quite so level as one would wish, but Continue reading

Letter Excerpt by David Taylor, April 14, 1873, Stonehaven Journal

Letter by David Taylor dated April 14, 1873, written at Fredericton, New Brunswick; published in Stonehaven Journal, Thursday 08 May 1873

NEW KINCARDINESHIRE COLONY.— On Thurs-last, a letter was received from the Secretary of the new colony, who has gone out to make arrangements for the colonists previous to their arrival, from which we give the following extract. From it, friends of the colonists left behind will be glad to see that they are likely to meet with a very warm reception:—
Fredericton, 14th April, 1873.
Having arrived at St. John this day week, we there spent two days—leaving on Wednesday for this place—the political capital of New Brunswick. It is a city of about 6500 inhabitants, and one of the prettiest places I ever saw. Continue reading

Letter from William Duncan, Stonehaven Journal – Thursday 10 July 1873

Letters from New Kincardineshire, Victoria County, New Brunswick to Scotland

NEW KINCARDINESHIRE COLONY.
The following letter from a working man to a fellow workman in Stonehaven shows the philosophical spirit with which some persons endure the greatest hardships. It bears a marked contrast when compared with the grumbling epistles of colonists in much easier circumstances:—
Carron Terrace, Stonehaven Road,
New Kincardineshire, Victoria County, N. B.
June 1, 1873
Dear Friend,
I am happy to say that we are all well. The fact is I was not so lucky as to get away from St John with the first lot of the Colony. Continue reading

Christmas Past in the Scotch Colony

Jan. 12, 1894, Kincardine Colney [sic], Northern Leader: The Christmas tree which was held in the new hall was a great success. It was estimated that there was over one hundred dollars worth of presents on it. The evening passed very pleasantly with dialogues and recitations until about ten o’clock when tea was passed around and a hearty supper was disposed of, then after a few more dialogues and speeches the presents were disposed of and the fun for the evening closed by singing Auld Lang Sine [sic].

Jan. 4, 1900, Kintore, NB, Northern Leader: A large number from here attended the concert and dance at Kincardine Tuesday evening.
An entertainment and Xmas tree was held in the school room Xmas night. After the program was most ably carried out by all who took part refreshments were served of which all partook and did ample justice. The presents were then distributed from off the tree and all left about twelve o’clock after they had spent a most enjoyable evening.

Dec. 30, 1903, Upper Kintore, NB, Fort Fairfield Review: Several of the young people attended the Christmas tree and dance at Upper Kincardine Friday evening.
On Christmas Eve a Christmas tree and concert was held in the school house. At the concert supper was served by the ladies, after which the tree was stripped of its presents for old and young. On account of the disagreeable weather and the icy roads, the attendance was not as large as it would otherwise have been. But everybody enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

Jan. 11, 1905, Upper Kintore, NB, Fort Fairfield Review: The Sunday school held its Xmas tree in the schoolhouse on Friday evening. The affair was very largely attended, and an interesting program was successfully carried out by the members of the school under the skillful management of their teacher, Miss McCarthy.
Several of our young people attended the Xmas tree at Kilburn and the dance in Kincardine on Monday night.

Jan. 3, 1906, Kintore, NB, Fort Fairfield Review: A concert and Christmas tree was held Friday evening for the Sunday school. Before distributing the gifts, refreshments were serveed. A large number were present and a very enjoyable evening was spent.

Dec. 26, 1906: Kintore, NB, Fort Fairfield Review: A Christmas concert in the hall Christmas eve, also a tree for the children.

Jan. 6, 1909, Upper Kintore, NB, Fort Fairfield Review: A Christmas concert and tree was held in the hall Christmas eve. There were many outsiders in attendance and all report a pleasant time spent.

Jan. 5, 1910, Kintore, NB, Fort Fairfield Review: The Christmas tree and concert held in the hall on Friday evening for the young people was a grand success.

 

140th Anniversary of “Sidonian” Colonists

"Sidonian" 11 April 1874; The "Sidonian" leaves Glasgow. via Callum Stuart, FB Chapman, Cumming, & Duncan Family History, April 12, 2014;

The “Sidonian” leaves Glasgow. (Thanks to Callum Stuart for the clipping.)

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick provides a list of names and ages of Scottish immigrants who were passengers arriving in St. John, New Brunswick by the Sidonian on May 14, 1874, ending the log with this news item that tells what happened next:

“16 May 1874 – Woodstock, N.B., 15th May -The train with the Scottish immigrants arrived here at half past 4 this afternoon, under the charge of Mr. STEWART. They are now being transferred to the steamer “Ida Whittier”, Capt. Rideout, which leaves at 8 p.m. They will arrive opposite Mr. BEVERIDGE’s at Andover (Victoria Co.) tomorrow forenoon and proceed at once to their future homes, up the Tobique River some seven miles where the settlement commences and extends to New Stonehaven.  ”

About 210 colonists sailed April 30-May 14, 1874, arriving in Andover, New Brunswick about May 16, 1874.

Thirteen-year-old William Cumming tells the story of the voyage across the Atlantic and up the St. John River to Upper Kintore here.

At the 75th anniversary of the Upper Kintore Church on September 1, 1968, it was noted in the church bulletin: “Miss Elsie Innes is the last living survivor, who came over from Scotland in May, 1874 on S. S. Sidonian, with a passenger list of 219, who settled in Upper Kintore, Bon Accord and S. Tilley. She is now 95 years of age, and resides in a Rest Home, Portland, Oregon.”

Here is a link to a related spreadsheet: Scotch Colony: Castalia & Sidonian passenger lists compilations. Use the tabs to view different lists.

The Scotch Colony and Burns Night 1919

Published in the Presque Isle, Maine newspaper, Star Herald, Feb. 13, 1919 and is signed at the end of the article by W. L. Duncan

Many years ago, to be exact, in 1873, a Scotch sea captain whose ship plied between Scotland and St. John, on occasion of a voyage when he had some time on his hands in St. John, took a run up the river. Noting the big domain of government wild land he saw on the trip, he conceived the idea of bringing a colony of his neighbors in Old Kincardine across, and settling them in New Brunswick.

Going back home he succeeded in recruiting a colony, secured a grant of land for a settlement, and the movement resulted in transplanting about 400 hardy Scotch people, and their settlement in what is known as the Scotch Colony, a place about 30 miles due east of Presque Isle. Continue reading

40th Anniversary of Rev. Gordon Pringle

Star Herald, Sept. 15, 1932, Washburn, Maine news

Here is a report printed in the Presque Isle, Maine newspaper.

Rev. Gordon Campbell Pringle

Rev. Gordon Campbell Pringle

The fortieth anniversary of Rev. Gordon Pringle’s pastorate at Kincardine colony Presbyterian church, New Brunswick, was observed on Sunday, Sept. 11, at Melville church in the Colony. The Auld Kirk was well filled by Scotch folks from both sides of the line, most of them being former settlers from the Colony. The services were very impressively managed by a number of the minister members of the Presbyterians of Woodstock, N. B., assisted by Rev. Dr. Archibald of Grand Falls. Like Rev. Gordon Pringle himself, most of these men came from the land of the heather. Mr. Pringle was graduated from Edinburgh University (an honor man) in 1891. The next year he came over to Canada and found Kincardine in need of a minister at that time. Needless to say his life of service has shown how well he responded to that need. Mr. Pringle is a son of the Manse, Continue reading