Google
WWW RubyCusack.com
Return to Ruby Cusack dot com Home Page

A History of Anagance Ridge


I rushed to get my Arithmetic finished so I could have a look in the box of books the Lady LaTour Chapter of the I.O.D.E. sent for our school library.

The first book was thin with lots of pictures and very easy to read. It was about a secret tree house that held lots of surprises. I made an excuse to sharpen my pencil and placed the book on Cliff’s desk. I watched him as he read the first few pages. By the look in his eye, I knew he had the same idea as I did.

We rushed home right after school to get the boards and tools to build a house in the Spruce tree in the upper pasture.

Things didn’t go quite as planned. Dad was willing to give us the boards and nails but he had a whole bunch of you must agree “to do this” stipulations.

In “A History of Anagance Ridge”, Margaret K. Elliott spells out the stipulations the grantees had to agree to when taking out grants of land in 1803 - “A grantee was required to pay two shillings for each one hundred acres of land. He was to clear and put in cultivation three acres out of every fifty, or if the land was swampy and marshy, to drain and clear three acres of every fifty. For every fifty acres of barren land he was to keep three head of cattle. He was also to erect a strong dwelling twenty feet long by sixteen feet wide.”

Mrs. Elliott provides information on many of grants and to whose hands they fell into in later years as well as biographical information on the families. The largest grant was to the Honourable Ward Chipman who received one thousand acres, which he sold to John Simonds, who operated a large farm and built a frame house with a verandah all around it. Simonds sold two hundred acres to William C. F. Paley, one of his hired hands. Two hundred acres were sold to his foreman, Robert Ogilvie and a few years later the remainder of his holdings to Samuel McCully.

William Paley sold his land to James Elliott, who divided it between his two sons, John and George.

Robert Ogilvie left his farm to his son Heber. The land was sold to John and George Elliott.

In about 1873, Samuel McCully sold his six hundred acres to Duncan McLeod of Portage Vale, who had married Katherine Musgrove from Millstream.

The religious denominations in Anagance Ridge were the United Church, formerly the Methodist Church, Roman Catholic and the Baptist who had larger part of the people of the community as members.

In 1885, Miss Mary Goldrup, who held a third class licence, made an agreement with the trustees, Lawson Brown and W. S. McCully. Her salary was $68.00 for the first term.  When Janet Fowler, later Mrs. Thomas Elliott came to teach, she refused to do so until the trustees had the building cleaned. 

A school picture of 1902 has the names of more than forty students with their teacher, Laura Moore.

Mrs. Elliott states in her introduction, “It is of the people, their struggle with the environment, their courage and their ambition and desire to leave a better home for their descendants, and a better community because they lived in it, that this story is written, and each in his or her own way contributed so much to the making of Anagance Ridge.”

A History of Anagance Ridge”written in 1970 by Margaret K. Elliott is available for viewing at the Salisbury and Sussex libraries.

***
Query 1388
Beatty - Fowler - Langstroth - Rice - McMan: I am looking for information on the ancestors and  descendants of William Beatty and Jasper Beatty, who came from Ireland to Kings County, New Brunswick in the 1830s. William Beatty’s wife was Margaret and they had the following children: 1) Robert Beatty, 2) Thomas Beatty 3)  John Beatty, 4) William Beatty, 5) Noble Beatty who married Sarah, and 6) George Beatty. I would like to mention, Thomas Beatty  married Harriet A Fowler, and had 10 children - [Margaret M. Beatty who married Craven F Langstroth, Josiah married Sarah Ann Rice, Leslie died as a child,  Noble, James, George, William, Robert, Ward, and Wallace all came to Minnesota]. Jasper Beatty, who came from Ireland, married Deborah and had the following children: two step daughters Frances McMan, and Sarah McMan, natural children Margaret, Catherine, Deborah, Jemima, John and Jasper. If anyone has any connection or information on these two Beatty families please contact me. We are holding the Beatty family reunion in the summer of 2006 in Beatty Township, Minnesota and would love to meet new cousins.
MARGARET CARLSON
23215 Walden Ave.
Hutchinson, Minnesota
55350, USA
E-mail cmc@hutchtel.net

Query 1389   
Cameron - Armstrong: My great grandfather, John Cameron was born circa 1841 in New Brunswick to Donald Cameron and Jane Armstrong. John Cameron married in Inverness Scotland 1 December 1865. Any information on the family would be most welcome.
ALLAN CAMERON BARCLAY
Aldourie
Golspie, Scotland
KW10 6SZ
E-mail acbarclay@beeb.net

Query 1390
Ougler: I am seeking information on the ancestors of Margaret Ougler, 2 May 1912 and Sadie Ougler who were born in Saint John, New Brunswick. What is the origin of the Ougler name?
ARON ALLISON
215 Edward St., Apt 104
Miramichi, NB
Canada, E1V-2Y7
E-mail letitbe@nb.sympatico.ca

Query 1391
Jenkins: It is reported that Robert and Griffith Jr. Jenkins, two sons of Griffith Jenkins, a Loyalist from New Jersey and my 4th great grandfather, moved to New Brunswick about 1783 when Griffith moved to Digby, Nova Scotia. I am looking for their descendants.
JAMES WENTWORTH JENKINS
1734 Spring Lane
Salt Lake City, UT
84117, U.S.A.
E-mail jimj@cherokeeandwalker.com

Query 1392
Barnes - Kinney: Joseph Barnes married Sarah Kinney (location unknown).  I am interested in finding their parents, siblings and children. Conflicting census information on ages but approx date of birth is 1806 in Saint John, New Brunswick. The family moved to Fort Fairfield, Maine in the 1840’s.
TRACY GAGNE
48 Beech Street
Lisbon, ME 
04250, USA
 E-mail trgagne@adelphia.net

Query 1393
Marshall - Whallen - Sullivan: James Andrew Marshall, son of John Marshall, was born in 1837 in Pictou or Kings County, Nova Scotia. He married in New Brunswick to Ellen T. Whallen, daughter of William Whallen and Mary Sullivan at St. Luke's Church, Parish of Portland, on 6 Dec. 1864. They were in the 1881 Lepreau Charlotte County, New Brunswick census. Shortly after they moved to Milbridge, Washington County, Maine where they remained until their death in 1921.
BARBARA CAMPBELL
64 Oakland Street
Waterville, Maine
04901, USA
E-mail bluenoser100@hotmail.com

Query 1394
Pidgeon:  My great-grandfather, John Henry Lemington Pidgeon was somehow related to Walter Pidgeon, the actor. I'm interested in how they were related. 
RICHARD WHARTON
218 Bennington Rd.
Francestown, NH
03043, USA
E-mail richard05@ibexmfg.com

Query 1395
Beattie: Samuel John Beattie was born circa 1845. His father drowned in a mill pond in Carleton, St. John County in 1850. The mother died of tuberculosis a few days later. Samuel’s, brothers Richard and William were taken in by their father's uncle. They had a sister also. Richard who was born 16 Mar 1854 lived in Sussex until his death 31 Aug 1925. He is buried in Kirk Hill Cemetery there. I am looking for any information regarding this family.
LORI BEATTIE McCONNELL
P.O. Box 728, Buellton, CA
93427, USA
E-mail lori@hwy246.net


New and Used Genealogical and Historical books of
New Brunswick for sale.


Ruby M. Cusack is a genealogy buff living in New Brunswick, Canada. Send your New Brunswick genealogical queries to her at:  rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca.  Include your name and mailing address for the benefit of the readers of the newspaper who do not have access to E-mail but could have information to share with you. Please put "Query" followed by the surnames in your query. For more information on submitting queries, visit http://www.rubycusack.com/Query-Instructions.html
Back to Home of  rubycusack dot com