There is a saying that all politics are local. That was certainly the case in 19th-century rural Nova Scotia.
Today, the municipality or province funds and manages local public services. While a municipal district had representation on the county council or a group of municipal districts had a member of the provincial legislature, rural districts had very little control over local public works.
Communities along the north shore of the Minas Basin adopted the New England model of townships. This enabled the residents of each township to appoint their own officers, levy rates, maintain records and deal with petty offenses and petitions. The Court of Sessions[i] governed the remaining communities and was based in Truro and later assumed jurisdiction over the old townships. This arrangement continued after the formation of Colchester County in 1835 and was replaced by the Municipality of Colchester County in 1879.
In 1841 the districts in North Colchester presented petitions to the colonial assembly asking to be granted township status. Earltown, Tatamagouche, and New Annan each wanted more control over local spending priorities. This was never granted.
In 1857 another petition[ii] materialized. This time, the residents of the western communities of the Earltown district requested that they be annexed to New Annan. The primary reason stated was “as the business of Earltown is generally done in “Galick” which they do not understand”.
Most of us think of Earltown’s boundaries as that portrayed on A.F. Church’s Map of Colchester County (1874). It shows the western boundary starting at the northwest corner of The Falls, (near Drysdale Falls), and following Baillie’s Brook south towards Kavanagh’s Mills. It then branches easterly and follows the Baillie Brook to its source near the Nuttby towers and then on to the southwest corner of the community of Nuttby.
However, the original western boundary was approximately 2.25 km. west of the revised boundary, roughly where the Four Mile Brook crosses the New Annan – Balmoral Road. It went in a southerly direction across the ridge between Tatamagouche Mountain and East New Annan and on to Nuttby. It encompassed the communities of Tatamagouche Mountain, Kavanagh’s Mills and Corktown.
The aforementioned communities were diverse when compared to the rest of Earltown. Several of the Tatamagouche Mountain families were Ulster Scots who relocated from Truro. There were Irish Catholics in the Corktown area as well as two German families – one Catholic and one Anabaptist. There was a Norwegian, a Swede, a Lowland Scot, a family from eastern Caithness with no Gaelic and a half dozen Highlanders.
The bulk of Earltown was inhabited by Gaelic-speaking Scots – the majority of whom had roots in the eastern parishes of Sutherlandshire. Layered on top of that, they were clannish to a fault with little appetite to mix genes with other European families. Religion also played a role. The Earltown folk were all attached to the Established Church of Scotland, a different breed of Presbyterian than those of Ulster background. Throw into that the unfortunate views held by Protestant Scots towards Catholics.
The annexation didn’t involve expenditure. The Earltown folk were silent on the matter as they had no intention of being more inclusive. The magistrates wisely decided to grant the request.
Below are the families involved in the annexation as per the 1838 census:
Jacob Kisselbach – German Catholic in Corktown[iii]
Jacob Wortman – German, Baptist; Family came to Onslow via New Brunswick; He settled in
Corktown
Richard Hyslop – Scot from Dumphries; lived at Kavanagh’s Mills
Stephen Fitzpatrick – Irish Catholic; Corktown.
John Ryan – Irish Catholic; Kavanagh’s Mills
George Crowe – Onslow native of an Ulster family
Alex Shearer – Scot from Caithness living at Tatamagouche Mountain
William Murray -Father came to Pictou on the Hector and settled in Merigomish. William
married into the Crowe family and came to Kavanagh’s Mills to upgrade theGrist mill; [iv]
John MacKean – Ulster and New England background; Kavanagh’s Mills
James Mullany – Irish Catholic
George Smith – Lived at Tatamagouche Mountain
William MacKean – Ulster and New England background; Lived near East New Annan
Hiram Downing – From Onslow; lived at Tatamagouche Mountain
Richard Wooden – Kavanagh’s Mills – Corktown area
Robert Miller – Remote farm off the Old Truro Road
John MacKean Sr. – Kavanagh’s Mills
David Aikenhead – Between Corktown and Old Truro Road
Michael Terry – Between Corktown and Old Truro Road
James Drysdale – Came from Truro area; Lived at Tatamagouche Mountain
Jerimiah McCarthy – Irish Catholic; Corktown
John McCarthy -Irish Catholic; Corktown[v]
Hector Sutherland -Property unidentified at the moment but possibly the Hector Sutherland who settled at Balfron in 1841
Hugh Tucker -Corktown
Edward Studivan – Swede; servant with the Denoon family; Lived first between
Kavanagh’s Mills and West Earltown, later on Studivan Mountain
From the 1861 Census we can add these families:
Robert Harris -Descendant of Dr. John Harris of Maryland, Pictou and Truro
Alexander Conkey – Relocated from Old Barns to Tatamagouche Mtn.
William Thompson – Native of Norway, married to Mary Hayman
William McNutt – Relocated from North River to Tatamagouche Mtn.
Robert Hodge – Studivan Mountain
Donald Henderson – From Scotland via Middle River to Studivan Mountain
Michael White – Irish Catholic in Corktown
David Canary – Irish Catholic in Corktown briefly before settling at South
Tatamagouche
Phillip Burke – Corktown
Henry Porter – Corktown
Peter MacDonald – One time miller at Kavanagh’s Mills later Tatamagouche Mtn.
George Carter – Corktown
Thomas Lynds – Corktown
Hugh MacKay – Hugh “Uhr” then living at Tatamagouche Mountain before moving to the
Corktown Road
William Kaulback – Tatamagouche Mtn. Removed to Truro
Robert Kent – Tatamagouche Mtn
Illustration of approximate boundaries here.https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1ol-7kuK8URtHSf-_0-coZ9AadPEVaSc&usp=sharing
[i] Nova Scotia. Court of General Sessions of the Peace (District of the County of Colchester) – MemoryNS
[ii] RG5 Series P Vol 16 #28 PANS Feb. 13, 1857
[iii] Patterson “History of Tatamagouche” relates that Kisselbach, (Kisslepaugh), fought on the opposite side of the Napoleonic Wars than his Earltown neighbours. The battles continued in Earltown.
[iv] The writer’s ancestor. He was likely fluent in both Gaelic and English. None of his children spoke Gaelic and reportedly were annoyed when neighbours would switch to Gaelic when conversations became juicy.
[v] Corktown did not have the most suitable land for farming. Supposedly a Priest counselled the Catholic families to vacate or starve. Several moved to Middleton while others moved to New England.
earltown 