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Individual:
A brief history of the River Hebert area.
By J.M. Sicheri
The history of this area goes back to over four hundred years ago when it was inhabited by the American Indians. The information for this article was obtained from varied sources such as the local library and newspaper offices, also some information came from local people who shared old records, documents and articles with us and Sylvia (McIver) McKoy for allowing me to use some of her material.
Champlain, on the 7th of March 1604, sailed into Advocate Harbour on his exploration of the Bay of Fundy. He found some copper in an area he promptly called Cap D’or, meaning Cape of Gold which is now Cape D’or. He then landed on Partridge Island and Blomidon and discovered huge amounts of amethysts and divided his good fortune between DeMonts and Poutrincourt. Two large stones from that find were mounted in gold and given to the King and Queen, and now form part of the French Crown Jewels.
Soon after Champlain came, a body of French settlers came to a place known as Rivière Hébert. It is believe that the name came from Louis Hébert, a settler at Port Royal who, with Father Biard (Béard), sailed up the Bay of Fundy and up the River which now bears his name.
The first recorded settlers in Chignecto were from Port Royal, namely Jacob Bourgeois and René Arsenault, about 1670 or 71.
LaVallière gave the name of Beaubassin (beautiful Bay) to the area of the Chignecto Bay. In 1735 the population was 127 people with 426 acres of land being cultivated and farmed.
By 1745, there were 112 people in the colony at River Hebert. At first the nearest stronghold was at Port Royal, but when Fort Beauséjour was built, the people went about seven miles to Minudie, and, crossed the stretch of water to Fort Beauséjour.
The only route to go from Minas Basin to Chignecto (Beaubassin) was either over the Boar’s Back on horseback or through River Hebert and Minudie and across the river at low tide.
Following is the number and previous places of residence of the refugees who in August 1751 sought protection at Fort Beauséjour from the attacks and destruction caused by the British:
Minudie 169 La Butte 86
River Hebert 112 Amherst 59
Maccan 86 Beaubassin 190
Nappan 142 Minas 152
West Brook 115
for a total of 1,111 refugees.
They had abandoned all of their possessions except for what they could carry. When they returned everything had been burned to the ground or destroyed by the British in all of the above mentioned villages. Next came the expulsion after they had returned and rebuilt their homes. After 1755, the French returned to reclaim their land in P.E.I., Gloucester, Northumberland, Kent, Westmorland and in Minudie in Cumberland County.
In May 1765, during the administration of Governor Montague Wilmot, the Minudie estate of 8,000 acres, comprising over 3,000 acres of prime marshland and the most valuable grindstone quarries yet known in North America, was granted by the Crown to, along with a few relatives and friends, Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, who eventually became the largest holder of most valuable lands in Nova Scotia. It was he who surveyed and compiled the first Admiralty charts of the coasts of Nova Scotia, and who afterwards figured somewhat conspicuously in the local history of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island as separate provinces. On the same date the Honorable Michael Francklin secured himself a pleasant tract of land of 20,000 acres adjoining the DesBarres grant along both side of the River Hebert river and since known as the Francklin Manor. This he managed by hook and by crook and a friendly smile to the Queen.
In time the English settlers and French settlers that had returned after 1755 were allowed to buy the land that they had leased from the grant owners.
During the American Revolution, many families of Loyalists came to settle in the area. Cumberland County (with its large French population) became more involved than any other part of the British Empire, to the extent of raising an insurrectionist army under Samuel Archibald, which began raiding and looting the Loyalists in Northern Nova Scotia. Forces had to be sent from Halifax to take the situation in hand and protect these Loyalist families.
On a map published circa 1869, the following names of households can be found: J. Faulds, Blair Wood, J. Landells, Collingwood Pugsley, J. Latta, T. Christie, J. MacDonald and W. Moffatt.
The first school was built in 1854 at Moffatt’s corner where (Thomas Waddell) Sonny St-Peters now lives. It was then called "Crow Hill". The second school was built on the same grant of land but near the house that is now occupied by Harvey Stevens. On the four side of this building were printed the following: "Come Early", "Fear God", "Love All Men" and "Honor the King". The next school, a 2 room school, was built on the opposite side of the river on a site near the People’s Store and then another of 4 rooms on a piece of land where the present Rural High stands, the old 2 room school was moved to someplace near where Hennessey’s Livery was. The 4 room school then had to be expanded to 6 rooms as the population increased and since it served grades Primary to 11. In 1945 when construction of a new high school began this school was moved across Pearl St to where the elementary school parking is now. When the new high school was completed in 1947 the old school became the elementary school. The River Hebert Rural High School was the first rural high in Nova Scotia.
Then in the 60’s when a new elementary school was completed the old building was torn down. In 1969 a new extension was built on the River Hebert Rural High School and it was renamed The River Hebert District High School.
The ship R.B.Boggs built at the Head of the River Hebert carried a cargo of lumber for the West Indies. On its return voyage it was lost in the quicksand at the mouth of the river. The first vessel to sail up to the wharf at River Hebert in 1867 was the "Three Brothers". It loaded a cargo of coal. It was mastered by Capt. W. T. Theal and it also was lost on the quicksand on a return voyage.
At times there were as many as 21 ships loading lumber and coal at the wharf at once. The last ship to sail up the river was in 1925.
The first full scale mines were the Victoria and the Kimberley mines. Other smaller mines were: "Dog Nail", "Sweet Cake", "Bright Light" to name but a few.
The first stores were opened by Angus and Lauchie MacDonald. These two started as peddlers, then Angus built a log cabin and made it into a store. The next was one was on the site of McIver and Hatherley. It now form the kitchen of Roger Droesbeck’s house.
Some of the oldest houses known o be still lived in are the McIver (Clair), McAloney (Guy) and Aubrey McAloney’s.
In October of 1869, a great tidal wave came up the river and washed away everything in its path. The tidal wave came so quick that a man walking across the bridge found himself in water up to his neck before he reached the other side. That phenomenon had been predicted the year before by a man called Saxby so this is referred to as the Saxby tide.
The railroad was put through from Maccan to Joggins in 1885-86. This line operated until 23 September 1961 and linked Joggins and River Hebert to the Intercolonial later the CN railway.
In the early 1900, the farmers joined together and started a cooperative creamery which operated in the area for more than 70 years. They produced butter, pasteurized milk, chocolate milk, ice cream etc.
In 1921, a disastrous forest fire swept through much of the woodland around River Hebert. This fire started in Sand River, a fair distance from River Hebert, and burned its way up through the woods until it reached the Head of the River, burning Rufus Christie’s house which stood where Alice and Sandy Sanderson now live. The fire made its way across the river and burned down as far as the houses at Moffatt’s corner. It then continued on towards Maccan. No lives were lost in that fire but a lot of properties and much valuable woodland were destroyed.
The last coal mine close in the 1980 and an era came to an end. Shortly after the farming and many stores had to scale back to much smaller operations or close down cause by the fact that the younger families had to search for employment outside the area or even the province.
The Joggins Fossil Cliff project being the main undertaking at the present, much effort is being put into this to have it as a World Heritage Site. There are a number of meaningful little museum in the immediate area and also we are but a short distance from other interesting centers like Springhill with their mine that you can visit and the Ann Murray center. Then there’s Parrsboro with it’s geological center, where you can see fossils of not only plants but also dinosaurs.
River Hebert stands at a crossroad right now, gone are the days of lumbering and coal mining and new ideas and industries have yet to pick up the slack left by their departure. Still this area has so much history and heritage in customs and lore to offer that we feel that yet again the area will renew itself and find a new direction to prosper.
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