Half a ton of rum was seized, as this heading proclaims, but rest assured that the peaceful little village of Canning has not undergone some sort of metamorphosis.

The rum seizure made the front page of an old Valley newspaper, the Western Chronicle, away back in 1916. The story of the seizure, a momentous event for the times, occupied the entire front page of the issue; there were two-inch headlines and vicious, slanderous prose that, if printed today about a similar occurrence, would have resulted in a truckload of litigation.

The story of the rum seizure is interesting for several reasons. In the early days of this century “politicking” was greased with black rum. In the late summer of 1916 an election was in progress and since some well-known local politicians were suspected of being involved in the rum-running, the Western Chronicle blatantly informed readers who they were. The story appeared the day after the seizure and the newspaper named the man who supposedly did the rum-running and his party affiliations.

It was all dirty pool, of course, and par for the way politics were played in that period. The Western Chronicle was simply showing its colours, in other words its own party affiliations. Newspapers could do that at one time, at least when it came to politics, and apparently publishers was able to get away with it.

As I prepare this column I have a copy of the Western Chronicle front page at my elbow (compliments of Leon Barron) and I find myself reading it again and again. I’m astonished and amused in turn. The headline proclaims that the “half a ton of rum” was seized at the home of one Leslie E. …. Well, never mind the last name since his relatives are probably still living here and everything in the story was based on speculation and circumstantial evidence. No charges had been laid when the story appeared, yet a leading citizen of Canning was named as the culprit, called a hypocrite and a scoundrel.

“The seizure of over half a ton of liquor, the fleeing from the country of the president of the Liberal Conservative Association, hotly pursued by provincial constable, the violation of oaths are events that have livened up the Kings County political campaign that seemed to be passing quietly,” read the lead paragraph of the Western Chronicle story.

This was mild compared to the remainder of the report. For example, “The awful disclosures have come as a horrible black eye to those who have been heeding the high sounding purity utterances of the Conservative candidates, both of whom have within a few days pledged themselves to enforce the liquor laws.” “The rottenness of the whole Tory campaign has been revealed,” is another example. As is, “The seizure of the liquor at Canning …. and other points clearly show the deep dyed hypocrises (sic) of the whole Conservative outfit.”

As the story unfolds we learn that a shipload of rum had come up the Habitant River to Canning on a night tide. When it was being unloaded and carted to the home of the Liberal Conservative Association president, a group of what the Western Chronicle described as “young manly Liberals” happened upon the scene. Acting heroically, the manly Liberal lads blockaded the house where the rum was being stored and sent for the County Constables.

The rum, the newspaper said in a parting shot, had been destined for “the carrying on of Tory corruption” in the area.

The “bible” of history books in the Annapolis Valley is Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton’s massive volume on Kings County, which was first published in 1910. While not as lengthy as Eaton’s work, W.A. Calnek’s 1897 publication records the early days of Annapolis County and dabbles in a bit of Kings County history as well. In Hants there is no “official” county history in one volume but various works collectively chronicle the Acadian, Planter and Loyalist periods.

On a lesser but no less important scale than the works of Eaton and Calnek are a number of histories on Annapolis Valley communities. There’s an abundance of these valuable works, several of which have been mentioned in this column before. Valley people would appear to be “hooked on history,” and there’s an ongoing, never-ending effort to write and publish area histories. Even as I write this, several new community histories are nearing completion and others are being planned.

While it’s impossible to do justice to the topic and many books and papers will be overlooked, I’ve planned for some time to devote a column to listing some of the local histories that have been written. A few of the following histories are out of print and can only be found in used book stores, libraries and museums; where possible I will indicate if a history is for general sale and where it can be purchased.

For starters, both Eaton’s and Calnek’s history were reissued by Mika Publishing and can be found in or ordered by most bookstores.

Readers interested in Hants County history should contact the West Hants Historical Society, which has an extensive list of community works. The Society has histories on the communities of Bramber, Centre Burlington, Cheverie, Summerville, Ellershouse, Falmouth, Newport, Walton, Rawdon, St. Croix and Hantsport.

If Kings County is your main interest, a book reviewed previously in this column should be read. An Early History of Windsor, Henry Yould Hind’s 1889 work, complements Eaton’s history, containing many interesting references to Kings County in the Acadian period. It is also available from the West Hants Historical Society.

Some of the communities of Kings County that have published histories are Coldbrook, Port Williams, Kingsport, Canaan, Greenwich, Bishopville, Aylesford and Prospect. Echoes Across The Valley is a two-volume history of Kingston and surrounding communities. A history of Scots Bay should is currently being worked on and should be available this summer.

Town histories include a chatty, detailed work on Kentville by Mabel Nichols (The Devil’s Half Acre). James Doyle Davison’s book, Mud Creek, is a well-researched, comprehensive history of Wolfville. The town of Windsor is also covered by several books of more recent vintage than Hinds. Historic Windsor and Windsor: A Journey in History are available from the West Hants Society.

While they aren’t truly community histories, three other books by James Doyle Davison are recommended if you would like to nurture a historical “feel” for our early days. These are Handley Chipman, Kings County Planter, Eliza of Pleasant Valley and a book that complements Davison’s Wolfville history, What Mean These Stones?

Published, written but unpublished, researched, written and gone astray.

Briefly, this describes the community, town and county histories that have been painstakingly put together in the Annapolis Valley in the past century. Many community, town and county histories have been published and I know of several that are completed or nearly so and haven’t reached a printer.

Lamentably, the third category – researched, written and gone astray – includes several histories that I’m aware of, one of them possibly of Canning and others of adjacent communities. Last week a reader told me about a longtime Centreville resident who some years ago compiled a history of that community. According to my informant the history was never published and it disappeared after its compiler died. Undoubtedly it is gathering dust somewhere in an attic or basement.

Recently I mentioned the lost Centreville story to marine historian Leon Barron. It was fortunate that I did. Leon told me that decades ago someone had compiled a history of Sheffield Mills that had never been published; and he had a handwritten copy.

Sheffield Mill lies at the head of the Habitant River. Fast becoming famous as the site of a festival that celebrates the bald eagle, the Mills is a settlement that’s about 300 years old. The Acadians were first to settle the area. In his history of Kings County, Eaton noted that there was an early crossing at the Mills which probably was of Acadian origin and may have been the first dykeing in the area.

Eaton’s history only mentions Sheffield Mills a few times. This neglect of a long-settled site may have spurred Mrs. David Ells into sitting down and recording the community’s early days. In 1935, when she was 81, Mrs. Ells penned a brief history of the Mills, equal in length to about four of these columns. Taken mostly from memory, with some assistance from Mrs. Nathan Ells and Ezekiel Illsley, Ells wrote a chatty story that deals mainly with the comings and goings of the early families of the Mills.

For genealogists or anyone wishing to trace family roots, Ells’ work is a goldmine of information. One may weary of reading about who married whom and how original grants of land were traded, sold or passed from family to family, but in communities like Sheffield Mills that’s what history actually is. Our roots are in the land and histories cannot be written without acknowledging this, obliquely or otherwise. Thus Mrs. Ells provides significant information when she traces ownership of the original land grants in the Mills.

There is more than this in her history, of course. We are told about the Acadians and the evidence that they colonized the Mills. Ells mentions the Acadian homestead sites, the Acadian apple trees, and the Acadian blacksmith shop. We are told about Samuel Borden, founder of the family that Eaton calls “one of the most important (in) Canada at the present day.” Borden received a large land grant in the Mills, running from the Mills along the entire length of Borden Street.

In its heyday the Mills had a grist mill (owned first by a man named Knight and later acquired by the Sheffield family) a saw mill, woodworking factory, blacksmith shop and a small axe factory, started by Benjamin Eaton and later moved to Canning when it was purchased by the Blenkhorns.

And like many long-settled communities, the Mills has buried treasure, long sought but never found – the mysterious French treasure mound and an old pine which marks the area where the Acadians buried valued possessions before being expelled.

Farmer, author, agricultural pioneer, historical researcher, Mason, teacher: People will remember the late Ernest Eaton in these and other capacities but he was probably best known in the Annapolis Valley as an amateur historian. Mr. Eaton had a lifelong interest in the history of this region and Kings County in particular, devoting his retirement years to researching the Acadian period.

I had the honour of knowing Mr. Eaton personally and had many long talks with him over a 30-year-period. Eaton amazed me again and again with his detailed, intimate knowledge of the dykelands and Acadians and I regret that I hadn’t recorded our conversations.

Recently I heard an Ernest Eaton story and it illustrates his persistence when it came to researching. The story, told to me by a local history buff, goes that workers ditching a piece of Eaton’s dykeland near the Canard River uncovered a massive pine log. Mr. Eaton determined that the log came from an ancient forest now covered by the waters of the Minas Basin. Based on several factors, which are mentioned below, Eaton estimated the age of the pine log to be about 1,500 years.

Mr. Eaton donated a large piece of the pine – perfectly preserved from being buried in fine silt – to the Kings Historical Society. The plaque accompanying it mentions the ancient forest, points out an inaccuracy in local lore regarding the property where the pine was found, and explains Mr. Eaton’s reasoning on determining its age.

“This specimen collected in 1975,” the plaque reads, “was one of many encountered when opening a drainage canal at Upper Canard (on land) then owned by Mr. Kenneth L. Ells.

“It is estimated that the land surface must have at least 10 ft. higher than at present to have matured a forest of this size. The land in question was reclaimed from the sea by the Acadians in 1755, or some 300 years ago. The tree has about 200 annual rings. Adding these three periods together, we have an estimated age of not less than 1,500 years for these trees.”

Mr. Eaton’s estimate of the pine’s age was also based on another factor mentioned in the plaque – evidence that the sea in the Minas Basin has been submerging land at the rate of one foot per century. Mr. Eaton apparently determined where the Acadians started their original dyke work and factoring in the rate of rise of the sea, concluded that a pine forest once stood where the log was unearthed.

Knowing the factors involved, this is a reasonable estimate. However, there is a P.S. to the pine log tale. I’ve been told that a piece of the pine tree was sent to Ottawa for carbon dating. This procedure indicated that the pine tree once stood in a forest with others of its kind some 900 years ago. From what I’ve read, carbon dating is not a precise science and is often off the mark by two, three and four hundred years. Mr. Eaton’s educated guess of the pine log’s age is likely the most accurate estimate.

Where Were They?

An ad in a 1902 directory indicates that H. S. Dodge once ran a dry goods store on Island Road in Kentville. And in 1933 Kentville had a Bell-Air Terrace. Island Road and Bell-Air Terrace as name places have disappeared but someone might know where they were. Any input a reader might have would be appreciated.