FIELDSTONE FENCES: PART 5

Published on March 2017

Now I would like to take you to the end of the East Road and work our way back in. It’s not really because I want the beginning and the end to meet in the middle, it’s just that it might make a better picture that way.

At the end of the East Road we come to a cross road. That’s the old road from Rawdon to Beaver Bank. The road has been there since they squeezed the soldier’s grant between Rawdon and Halifax County and called it Douglas Township.
Only about thirty-two of the soldiers’ families settled on the grant and that was in the Kennetcook District. The rest of the grant went unsettled. Some of it became Uniacke when this Township’s boundaries were set in 1831. The rest of it was in other Districts. In 1879 all of the Townships merged to become Municipalities – as Hants County divided to become East and West Hants for the purpose of representation. Uniacke retained its boundaries as had been set from the first. But, Douglas Township divisions disappeared. Because of this, there were settlers with wide distances between them who, while living in Uniacke District, had all their connections with Rawdon. Today, our residents at the end of the road still use the old roads turned modern to go to the city or Rawdon.
At the end of Bernie Miller’s fields are some old apple trees and an old road just barely visible. The old road led to Rawdon and the trees were on the farm of John and Ann Moore opposite the lake. Their neighbour towards Rawdon was the Jarret Lively family and James Fahey. Neighbours on the turn into the East Uniacke Road were Ruben and Bill Lively and George Lynch who had married their sister, Esther. George Lynch enters the Township records when he became the Pound Keeper in 1842. One of his daughters, Jane, married Thomas Savage. It is that Savage family that was the forbearer of the present Beamish family still in possession of the Timothy Savage farm of 1840.
Coming in along the road was the homestead of Aaron and Mary Johnson on their three hundred acres. Their sons were Moses and Joshua. Their home was atop the big hill. But, even before Aaron came along, on the hill across the road there were the old dug-outs and cellar stones of those who had come before. Even though they found the old remains of cellar stones and dug-outs, no one can even remember to what, to whom or when they belonged. It’s a mystery and we will leave them so. It’s kind of nice to have a mystery in our midst. Aaron divided his acres equally between his sons. When Joshua married Jane Wood from Rawdon in 1881, he built his house on his half of the land amongst the old foundations. Moses stayed, farmed the home land and looked after his mother after Aaron died. Moses married later in life and his wife, another young mum, died, leaving Moses with three young children. But, help was across the road. Jane and Joshua helped Moses bring up his little ones. Azra and Johnnie Johnson are the sons of Moses Johnson.
Jane and Joshua had their own children to tend as well. Ada Johnson, who was ninety-five in 1984 and lived on part of Aaron’s land, was married to Mosher, a son of Jane and Joshua. Two daughters and another son, Arthur, were married and their descendants are part of East Uniacke.
John and Ann Moore had a family of five boys and two girls. One of the girls, Susan, wed John Parker and went to live just over on the Beaver Bank Road. As a matter of fact, you’ve likely heard the hum of Model Airplanes flying over a nice big field over there. Well, that’s Susan and John’s farm field of long ago. It’s we, living in the 20th Century, who can take for granted what Susan and John never saw or imagined – the airplane, let alone models, flying about in their fields.
Only two of John’s sons married – William and George. William, when he had become a miner in Uniacke, later went to live in Refrew. George settled on the home farm. He married Rebecca Peters and it was their family who would raise the future descendants of the Moore families. Two of George’s sons bought land on top of the hill. Arles bought land from Moses Johnson and Noah bought some land of Joshua’s on the other side of the road. Because the two brothers had remained single, this land found its way down through the family to their brother Ozzie Moore and its his descendants who live there now. Mrs. Daisy Moore Rafters, Mrs. Nancy Moore Smith and their families and Henry and Rodney Moore, the two remaining sons of Ozzie. Theodore Moore farmed near his father. He had six daughters and two sons. Most of their family settled in Uniacke.
The biggest change to come in the lives of the residents was in the spring of 1865 which was the prospecting trip of Charles Sier. No matter which direction he entered the bush that day, he came out with quarts of a gold strike in his packsack. Life was to change all over Uniacke.