1873 news of the Kincardineshire Colony

From the archives, a transcription of the article from St. John Daily News, Aug. 28, 1873 follows. (Images are for illustrative purposes and were not published in the newspaper originally.)

The Kincardineshire Colony

New Kincardineshire, August, 23, 1873

“Several rather serious accidents have recently occurred in this settlement, two to workmen from their axes; two, to little children in play with edge tools; one to a lumbermen in felling a tree; and while these have been surmounted with less or more pain and loss of time, a more serious calamity occurred on Thursday to two settlers, B. Annand and C. Chapman, while engaged in blasting rocks on the Kincardine Road. Both men are very much injured, although up to this evening the extent of their injuries or all the danger from them are not ascertained fully.

'British Tommy felling a tree' photo (c) 1918, National Library of Scotland - license: http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The danger of walking into our woods without guide company or a reasonable knowledge of wood-craft was illustrated in a previous week by a settler who took a near cut through a part of the forest to see some of his land, and got not out again for 48 hours, or until quite a hundred men were engaged in searching for him.

Kincardine School
Kincardine School

Having attained to the dignity of a tri-weekly post delivery we have next been recognized in the Educational Department of the Government, and the settlement has been divided into two Educational districts––the Kincardine and Kintore roads––schools appointed and teachers named for them––Mr. Stratton, jr. to the Kincardine and Mr. James Ledingham, to the Kintore. The schools at present are too [two] log buildings which will be made quite comfortable, and will be a great boon to the many children of educational age on the two roads.

Although our settlers have experienced immediate attention on these and other topics from all the members of the Government with whom they have required to communicate; yet on all these points they have been particularly indebted to Mr. Stevenson, who, in the discharge of his official duties is brought early into some acquaintance with the character objects and wants of new settlers in the Province.

Hay harvest, although late, is now ended in the district; it has been light, but the recent rains will bring up a rich abundance of clover and grass in the second crop. Buckwheat is called very light and short, but the rains will also improve this crop. Oats are thin and short, with good heads and cars, but cannot now improve in straw. Indian corn and wheat are both better, and might be more extensively cultivated with advantage. Turnips as grown by the older farmers, or by the new settlers are extremely late, and little would be expected from their appearance at this date in Scotland; although they may make more rapid progress in this climate. New potatoes have been in a common use for nearly all this week. Planting was very late from the severity of the early spring, and the long time that passed before the soil dried sufficiently for the process, but the crop is good and apparently sound without any symptom of disease.

The new colonists have acquired a considerable number of cattle and other stock; and a large breadth of forest at some points is cut, burned or ready for burning. Their crops in the present year are chiefly confined to potatoes, and oats, the latter many only be useful for their cattle, as they must be in many places late. Potatoes are a good crop.

The construction of the road, which are now assuming a better appearance than they presented in their early history, has agreeably occupied many settlers, but necessarily less has been done on their land, yet without the assistance from this work, many of the immigrants could not have got on.

A long purse is necessary to support a family until money can be drawn out of a new land. Hence the advice from this side against the departure of emigrants without means to settle on land at any season, is correct, and the contrary is erroneous. Immigrants with capital can employ their capital and their skill with advantage at any season. But the case is altogether different with immigrants possessing little money, but trusting to labour for their support, and they should arrive here early in the spring.

The experience of the present year is perhaps not inferior for the benefit of the settlers to that of a more favourable season. They see what the soil has done in a later year than any one of the last twenty five and if they have wrought through disadvantages with a considerable measure of success, they can naturally expect for average times more than present returns. One farmer, with adequate means, who along with members of his family, has cut, burned, cleared, planted, sown, dug and reaped, and is cutting and burning still, says that he has written nothing home, and will write nothing home, until the days be shorter and the nights longer, and will then inform old neighbours that those who are prepared and willing to work hard may come here, especially with a little means, and have good reason to expect permanent success and independence. His opinion is confirmed by many other practical men, but who also believe with him, that men who expect to find fortunes in the grass by merely looking for it, should remain at home. We remember to have met this settler beside a team, dragging part of his household goods through a flood, or the remains of a flood, to a small log house two or three hundred yards beyond and having informed him that there were no windows as yet put into his future house, we had for reply the assurance that his windows were in the cart. He looked at the debris from the flood as so much mud and nothing more, at the moment when younger men of less experience were engaged in writing those two or three gereminds  [jeremiads] defective in nothing more than genius and truth–– that have been made a great deal too much of by different parties, who now call on Government to provide against a similar calamity, i.e., against a fall of snow, and longer than the average frost, forgetting surely, that while this Government of New Brunswick has done, and is doing its part in a great work cheerfully, it is entitled to expect a careful selection of capable immigrants; and that the selection of persons capable of misrepresenting, fails, in foolish letters, and incapable of doing good out-of-door work, in farm or field, is a description of carelessness that the government is not entitle to expect. It must be borne in mind that the percentage of dissatisfied colonists in this settlement was always remarkably small, that the immigration has been extremely useful to the Province, for many of its members are doing good and hard work steadily in different parts, while others are carefully carrying out a clearance that, in efficiency and extent, will be a benefit and an example for future years.”

See the article here.