Glassville, New Brunswick A Pioneer Community
A Pioneer Community

Glassville Historical Society Meeting c. 1979

Transcription

THE OBSERVER, Hartland, N.B.

Glassville Historical Society

A meeting of the Glassville Branch of the Carleton County Historical Society was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Martinson. Those present besides members from Glassville were Mrs. Gerald McIntosh and Mrs. James Lockhart, Bristol, Mr. and Mrs. Fraser McIntosh, Bath, and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Martin, Bath.
The meeting, chaired by Jack Laing opened by observing a minute’s silence in honor of James Miller, a past president, and a respected member of the community.

The guest speaker, Mrs. Gerald McIntosh gave a very interesting history of the community of Kenneth which at one time was well populated. Settlers from Scotland and England were enticed to the new land by the promise of owning their own property. Names of some of the early settlers were: Elliott, Gregory, Young, McDonald, McIntosh, Martin, Gray and Lee. Life was hard as the land was not only hilly, but rocky, but these pioneer settlers soon established homes for themselves.

Mrs. McIntosh mentioned briefly the settlement of Glassville by Scottish Presbyterians, Johnville by Irish immigrants, Knowlesville by people from Yarmouth, N.S. who left the sea to take up farming; Beaufort by a group of Anglicans led by a man named Beaufort Mills of Saint John following the Saint John fire, and Ketchum Ridge by immigrants from the United States.

To add more interest to her history of Kenneth, Mrs. McIntosh displayed school registers covering the period from 1914 to 1926, a school minute book and several diaries writes by Kenneth McIntosh who came to the community, then known as Rutherglen, in 1882. who raised a family of twelve children. was a leader in community affairs, and a staunch member of the church, first in Glassville and later services were held in the school in Kenneth. The diaries told of produce being sold in Glassville and Bath. For the short period of time that the cheese factory was in operation in Glassville, the milk was gathered by Roderick Lee by 6 a.m. Milking was done by the women of the family in time for this early collection These early settlers were indeed hardy and their descendants are justly proud of their ancestry.

The annual meeting of the Carleton County Historical Society will be held in Woodstock on January 26th at which time the guest speaker will be Michael Hatfield of Hartland, who is presently teaching at St. Mary’s University, Halifax.

Plans were discussed for the next meeting. A delicious lunch was served by the hostess.