Arrivals 99 ­ Our First Families in New Brunswick   
 
Descendants get together to compile a book about
first families in New Brunswick
 

It was a beautiful August morning and I wanted to go out to play, but this was not the plan that Mum had in store for me. I stood over the hot kitchen stove with a wooden spoon in hand. Mum kept reminding me, "Keep stirring so the mayonnaise won't burn to the bottom of the pot!"

Finally it thickened to the correct texture and I thought I could escape, but it seemed there was to be no rest for the wicked. My next task was to help Cliff cut cooked potatoes into little pieces. "Gee! Did she cook a whole bushel?" I grumbled.

Poor Ken had tears running down his face, not from crying, but from peeling and cutting onions. He had already picked the shells off a couple of dozen hard-boiled eggs.

The church picnic was great fun once we got there, but this business of helping to make potato salad wasn't.

When we arrived at the Corner, tables and booths had been set up in Campbell's field.

The few nickels and dimes that I had were burning holes in the pocket of my dress. I just had to try my hand at bean toss and round-the-world. I was certain I would win the prize for correctly guessing the number of beans in the jar.

My last nickel was spent for a cone of maple walnut ice cream.

People were arriving steadily. It seemed everyone who had ever lived in the area had returned for this event. There was a great deal of hugging and handshaking. As the afternoon wore on, little groups of relatives could be seen gathering together, sharing stories of years gone by.

In 1999, another group of people gathered together via the computer. They shared information about their ancestors in "Arrivals 99 ­ - Our First Families in New Brunswick."

The publication is a collection of first generation family group records for 616 ancestral arrivals of members and friends of the Saint John Branch of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society.

This 409-page book is a revision and expansion of the 1985 edition. One hundred and thirty-one researchers contributed their work on 616 families.

For each family listed in the book, it includes the name of the immigrant, date of arrival (if known), ship of arrival (if known), spouses and children of the immigrant and spouses of children. If known, birth, death and marriage dates and locations are also included.

Addresses of contributors to contact for further information are listed in an appendix. An index of more than 15,000 entries covers the approximately 10,000 people mentioned in the book. Married women are listed under both maiden and married names if given.

Joyce Manchulenko of Alberta gives facts on Robert Atkinson, who arrived in 1774 on the Albion. His first wife, Ann Brown, gave birth to seven children at Franklin Manor from 1775 to 1785 and died in 1787 at Sackville. Robert then married Mary Killam and they had 11 children from 1792 to 1809.

Jan Dexter writes of John Brown, who came to Newport, N.S., in 1761 with his mother and stepfather, Stephen Macomber. In 1776, he married Sarah Baley, born in Rhode Island, the daughter of Joseph Baley and Hannah Sanford. In 1796, he arrived in St. Martins with his wife and 10 children.

Sandra Thorne shares more information on a St. Martins settler ­ John Floyd, the son of Simon and Anne (Corney) Floyd. He was born in 1784 at Chester, N.S. He and his siblings started calling St. Martins home in about 1803. John Floyd married Freelove McCumber, the daughter of William McCumber and Deborah Carr Potter on June 4, 1824. Their eight children married into the families of Fletcher, Lutes, McGeoch, Wright, Cox, Hardenbrook, Vaughan, McIntyre, South and Capes. Doctor Ruddock of St. Martins reported that Freelove McCumber Floyd died on June 21, 1897 at the age of 100 years, 5 months. The religion given was Baptist and the cause of death was stated as old age.

Robert Pinney, was born in 1844 in Devon, England. He was the son of Robert and Jane (Legg) Pinney. His wife, Selina Casely, was the daughter of James and Susana (Gidley) Casely and was also born in Devon. They sailed across the Atlantic on the SS Acadia in 1872 with five children. Sadness struck this family shortly after their arrival. Little six-week-old Mary Ann died on Aug. 3.

Louella Ryan of Maine relates the story of Alexander MacKenzie, who was born in Morayshire, Scotland, in 1831. He was the son of Alexander and Barbara (Murdoch) MacKenzie. His wife, Jeanne Watt, was the daughter of Alexander and Mary (Wilson) Watt of Aberdeen, Scotland. They were members of the "Glass Settlers" who sailed from Greenock, Scotland, and after a rough voyage on the Irvine arrived at Saint John on June 26, 1861. It was mid-July before they were released from Partridge Island quarantine and then proceeded by the river steamer Antelope to Woodstock with three children under the age of three years. Seven more children were born at Glassville, Carleton County.

A copy of "Arrivals 99 ­ Our First Families in New Brunswick" can be found in most research institutions in New Brunswick.
 

Ruby Cusack is a genealogy buff living in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Readers are invited to send their New Brunswick genealogical queries to Ruby at rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca. When E-Mailing please put Yesteryear Families in the Subject line. Please include in the query, your name and postal address as someone reading the newspaper, may have information to share with you but not have access to E-mail. Queries should be no more than 45 words in length.

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