EARLY SETTLERS

The first people to reside in the area were the native Micmacs. Although there were no major Indian settlements in the area, several people recalled an Indian group that lived at Big Run. This was probably only a summer residence for them. The 1848 map of a section of Lot 55 shows an Indian Reserve below Thomas Clay’s property in Bridgetown. There were also reports of Indians in Sailor’s Hope.

The main source of income for the Indians appeared to be selling baskets. The baskets were hand woven and in various sizes. James Norton’s diaries records his sighting of two Indians walking across the ice, carrying one hundred peck size baskets. Mary Robertson also recalls her grandmother buying baskets made by the Indians of Big Run. This practice of selling baskets continued until more recent years.

According to Meacham’s Atlas of 1880, settlement of Lot 56 began in 1784 by a few Loyalists. A map present in the P.E.|. Public Archives shows the allot- ment of “Refugees shares drawn for in Council this tenth day of September, 1784." The majority of the lots were far away from any shipping place so only a few Loyalists actually lived on their grants.

At the same time, the Little Pond area was being settled by Acadians seeking refuge. The most common surname appears to have been Cheverie, and it is recorded that they later moved to the Souris area.

Lot 553 settlement was, according to the same Atlas, begun in 1793. The first settlers were said to be squatters.

The water provided the easiest means of travel and trade so it was logical that the earliest settlers choose locations close to the water and good shipping locations. The most valuable lots were those fronting on a waterway. The pattern of major settlement began at the shores and then traveled up the River to the Dundas-Bridgetown area.

The first settler in the Annandale area, then known as Grand River, was a William Blackett. It is from his family of seven that all Blacketts now residing on the Island are said to descend. He was shortly followed by John and Jane Carpenter,Loyalist grantees, and George Banks. They built two log houses on the point by the Front Range lighthouse.

The Acadians in Little Pond by 1810 had been joined by Scottish emigrants. By 1811, the surname of MacDonald was already quite common on the map of the area It is interesting that the MacDonalds still abound in Little Pond while the names of other original settlers such as Cheverie, Steele, Chaffey, Jeffery, and Swallow have all but died out.

By the 1880’s settlement was well established in the area. Meacham's Atlas showed major settlement at Annandale, Dundas, and Bridgetown and Little Pond, Little River, and Cumberland Hill were thickly populated farming areas.