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Vol. 14, No.1 Summer 2000 |
In Part I of this two part series I told how our progenitors arrived in PEI in 1772 and how they established the first Scotttish Colony on this Island, a village they called Tracadie. However, these original families became fearful that they would never be given the land that they had been promised and for which they had worked so hard, so their descendants looked southward to Nova Scotia where they could obtain Crown Grants from the King of England who reigned over that land. Many second generation Tracadie settlers immigrated to Cape Breton. Life was not easy but they tilled the soil and started a new beginning there.
There was a new communal spirit. They often had "raising bees" wherein they helped the neighbor to construct his new log house.
With the influx of new settlers it soon became necessary to provide for their spiritual needs.
In 1815, a year after Donald Gillis' arrival, the Maritime Provinces were under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec. In 1821 New Brunswick, PEI and Cape Breton came under the direction of Bishop Mac Eachern of PEI( coincidentally Bishop Mac Eachern's parents had come to PEI on the same ship as Donald's paremts).
The second pastor was Father Fraser who came in 1822 and left the following year.
The third pastor of the Bras D'Or mission was Father William Mc Leod. He was a native of the area.
The settlement of East Bay owes its origins to the Highlanders, hardy pioneers who were prepared to endure hardship and live a life with a minimum of comfort. Nature's problems were overcome by hard work, sacrifices and cooperation. The Highlanders sought a compact community where they might live and prosper with their friends and relatives about them.
1. "East Bay, Cape Breton, People and Priests" John Mac Kenzie," An Essay Presented to the History Dept., Faculty of Arts, " St Francis Xavier University, April 1966.
2."East Bay Settlers" Unpublished manuscript published by Ed Mac Donald.
The first English -speaking missionary regularly stationed in the Bras D'Or Lake District was Father William Dollard, a native of Ireland. He was appointed in 1818 (he would have been the first officer of the church the settlers came upon). The new emigrants built a chapel where the present cemetery is located, between the current church and the lake. Father Dollard's health finally became impaired while he was staying at an Indian camp and he was forced to leave for Quebec and never returned. 
The fourth pastor was Father Mc Keagary who came in 1830. He remained in East Bay and Narrows until the former became a separate parish in 1838
In 1838 when East Bay became a separate parish Father Neil Mc Leod took over as pastor. Fr Mc Leod presided over the marriage of my grandfather's sister Kate to Senator William Mac Donald twenty seven years later and ten years after that he conducted the ceremony for my grandfather's brother Michael Mac Donald who had returned home from California to marry his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Mac Lean. Fr Mc Leod died in 1891 and is buried in the church cemetery.
Fr. Mc Leod was responsible for the construction of the church, the largest in the order at the time and which still stands proudly today. It replaced the smaller structure which was located closer to the water where the cemetery is currently situated.
A long series of priests followed Father Mc Leod , but it is doubtful that any of them contributed as much to the settlement of East Bay.
In 1820 there was a provincial allowance to augment local assistance to schools. It is estimatated that only 50 percent of the eligible school children did attend school and these were the offsprings of the well-to-do. It is known that in the early days there existed a school at the North Side near the church and another at the South Side. The school houses were rough hewn unpainted structures, not unlike the homes of the times. Laughlin and Michael attended school , probably at North Side, and they learned English which supplemented their Gaelic tongue which they had at home. Books were scarce at first and mainly consisted of those they could bring from home, usually the Bible or the American Dilworth Speller. Gradually more American books showed up in school and these were believed to have been one of the factors which caused the exodus of Cape Bretoners to the US.
Hey there, click here to see what grandma has been up to
Dear Cousin, I happened across the name Lester M.Gills yesterday. He was born Dec 6, 1908 in Chicago. I wondered if he wasn't a distant relative and if we shouldn't have him added to our list of famous and notorious family members who should be enshrined forever in our files! His alias is none other than "Baby Face" Nelson
Cousin Kerlyn
