‘
The
Nackawic Bend - 200 Years of History’, compiled by
Patricia M. Lawson, Gail Farnsworth and M. Anne Hartley with written
and oral contributions by many local residents. This treasury of
historical accounts covers various aspects of life. It includes the
Indian legend of the golden calf, French buried treasure, first
settlers, and the drowning of Pokiok Falls. The captivating family
stories handed down through the years and the written contributions by
local historians, enriched with a collection of pictures and anecdotes
from area residents, enable the reader to sketch a story of people and
times on the Bend.
Soft cover 282 pages Published
1985.
(Nackawic River, (Nackawick), New Brunswick, Canada. )
Book is a first edition in very good - almost as new - condition
for a book that was published more than 20 years ago. (
MORE INFO ON BOOK - SEE BELOW)
3002 Nackawic Bend $34.95 plus
$12.00 shipping and handling within North America.
If you
have roots in this area - this will make a GREAT and VALUABLE addition
to your bookshelf
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use (rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca) or
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****
From Column written by Ruby M. Cusack
If we had lived on the Nackawic Bend, we would probably have heard the
1782 story of General Henry Fox and Edward Winslow’s suggestion of
Pokiok being named the capital of New Brunswick. The two men were
impressed with the great potential for the marketing of lumber in the
Pokiok area. In fact Winslow was so impressed that he petitioned for a
grant of 1000 acres along the banks of the Pokiok, 500 acres on each
side of the stream. Though a small settlement did flourish, it did not
reach the expectations of Winslow and Fox.
One of the area’s first entrepreneurs was the commanding officer
of the King’s American Dragoons, Major Daniel Murray who built a
house, barn, grist mill and a saw mill. Due to the unsuitability
of the land for farming and the destruction of the mill by fire, many
of the early settlers left.
Major Richard Armstrong of the Queen’s Rangers received a large grant
of land near the mouth of the Nackawic river and purchased more than
1000 acres of land between there and the Coac stream. He constructed a
sawmill and a grist mill. He also purchased the block of land in
Fredericton above the present Phoenix Square where he had a storehouse
for supplies to be issued to the Loyalists. He was one of the
first appointees as Justice of the Peace for York County.
Upon his death on 07 April 1817, he was buried on his lot of land near
the Coac Stream where his wife had been buried three years earlier. Two
large stones marked their final resting place. In 1822, his property
was advertised for sale by his executors who were residing in the West
Indies.
According to family legend, John Christian Fox was a saddle maker in
Linburg, Germany when he was shanghaied for the British Army and
shipped with numerous others to the colonies to fight as one of the
17,000 Hessian soldiers in the American Revolution. At the close of the
war, he received Lot # 5 in the present Parish of Canterbury. It is
said that he and his wife, Mary poled a raft up the St. John River to
his grant, where they built a log cabin, cleared the land and raised a
family of seven children.
Daniel Parent suffered several whippings at the hands of the Rebels
before coming to this country in 1783. His widow, Abigail married James
Brown.
Captain John MacKay was one of the disbanded soldiers who had to meet
strict conditions to retain title to his grant. He was married to
the sister of the Hon. John Saunders. Upon the death of the couple
circa 1822, his lots numbered 34, 35 and 36 were divided among his four
sisters or their heirs. Two of them, Catherine Munro and Janet Mcleod
were living in Scotland. A niece, Jane Coburn was residing in the
parish of Northampton.