“The Early Times” … of the Kingston Peninsula had its “Beginnings” … where the land was shaped by nature’s elements, the native people (Malecites), and later on the Europeans, “The Acadians”, (“camped at the present Gorham’s Bluff”), but driven away in all directions.  “New Settlers”…  “The peaceful outcome of the meeting on Indian Beach was crucial in helping to keep what is now New Brunswick under British rule.” … “In the New England colonies the war raged on, and the course of events was to bring the Kingston Peninsula its first major settlement”.

The “Kingston Loyalists”…  “The Loyalists who came to the Kingston Peninsula came mostly from south-western Connecticut, although a few came from other New England states, and some from Dutchess County, New York.  They were versatile people, able to turn their hands to many things and to do them well.” … “The First Years”… “Wherein the Loyalists arrive at Portage Cove and are welcomed by the Indians, the settlers prepare for their first winter, farming begins, and Israel Hoyt shows how to do nearly everything” … “Together they worked diligently and succeeded quickly – as families and as a community”… “The Church & The Crown” … “A few little halls in which public worship was held, and three Methodist meeting houses – at Moss Glen, Centreton and White’s Mills – have disappeared over the years.  Otherwise, the churches on the Peninsula appear much the same as they did in the 1800’s.  Both Trinity Church and its rectory have been designated as National Historic Sites, but they actively serve the religious life of the community.  The Churches of the Kingston Peninsula not only add grace to the landscape, but grace to the lives of the people as well.” … “The Black Loyalists”  … “Vestry records of Trinity Church for 1857 state that two pews near the entrance were set aside for “people of colour”. Black Loyalists and their descendants were unable to develop a strong emotional attachment to the Kingston Peninsula.  They weren’t allowed to belong.” … “Early Schooldays” … “Sitting in a drafty log school house and learning by rote probably appeared far less adventuresome than working in the woods cutting lumber, joining the men in the sawmills and shipyards around the Peninsula, or sailing on locally-built vessels to lands across the sea.  For girls, learning how to spin, weave, cook and competently perform a myriad of other household and farm chores seemed more important than school, when virtually the only outlet for their talents was found in the home.” … “Getting Around” … “In 1846 Justus S. Wetmore agreed to put a steamboat on the Reed’s Point run.  Justus Wetmore had already built two successful steamboats for the St. John River ten years previously – the Novelty and the Water Witch – but it’s unclear from the church records whether or not he put on a new ferry at Reed’s Point in 1846.” … “Early Industry” … “At the other end of the Peninsula, two brothers, William and George Harding, settled in 1818 at what became known as Harding’s Point.  In addition to farming, they soon established a variety of small industries which catered to the busy river traffic.  George Harding operated a gristmill and tannery just a mile above William’s place on the point.  William kept a public inn as well as blacksmith forges, a wheelwright shop, and a shop manufacturing farming utensils, including cowbells.  As the years rolled by, products of Peninsula industries served a wider area, but initially they were used primarily by the residents themselves.  Wagons, sleighs, boats, farm and household implements, clothes and footwear were all manufactured and used in the local community.”

“The Next Generations” …  “Changing Times”… “In the first half of the 1900’s, the pace of change accelerated.  The building of the railroads, especially up the St. John River valley, and the advent of the motorcar meant the end of the steamboat era.  The quality of education improved, and the telephones gave instant access to friends and neighbours.  Yet, for all these changes, the Kingston Peninsula maintained a special identity.”

…  “Thriving Industry” … On the Kingston Peninsula, from the 1780’s into the 1900’s, a variety of industries, based on local needs, came into being, grew, declined and disappeared.  Disaster was the least of the forces which destroyed them.  Industrial change was a greater force, but it was improved transportation which really brought them to an end.  The coming of the automobile enabled people to travel much more frequently to the city and to do their buying there.  The city offered a greater variety of items for sale in a relatively small area.  The Peninsula today has very few visible reminders of the humming industries of the past.  But, for a handful of older residents, memories remain strong and clear.” …  “Sailors & Sea Stories” … “One of over 300 ocean-going vessels constructed on the Peninsula, the three-masted schooner Muskoka was built in 1876 by Gabriel Merritt.  It was lost in a typhoon in the Indian Ocean in 1887.” … “Country Doctors & Home Remedies” … “Examination of the doctor’s books from 1841 and the years immediately following reveal that nearly every day he had a number of calls to make, and often rose during the night to attend to the ill or to women in labour.  Midwives, too, were constantly in demand until the 1920’s.  One midwife at Gorham’s Bluff, Eliza Bostwick, delivered over 100 babies, even though she herself was a very busy farmwife with several children of her own.  She delivered one of her own babies and, many years later when she was in her eighties, she delivered her own grandchild.” … “River Ice & Winter Fun”… “Although people had been skating on the rivers since the early 1800’s, it was only after James A. Whelpley invented the “Long Reach Speed Skate” and introduced it on the Long Reach about 1870, that skating became a passion for young and old alike. Whelpley’s skate factory was located at Jones’ Creek, near Oak Point on the western side of the Long Reach.  Headlines: “Whelpley Does 118 miles in Ten Hours.”  He was invited to the United States to compete with their top skaters.  There he set a new record in a five mile race on the Hudson River, defeating American champion Joe Moore.” … “Steamboats & Hotels” … “Wherein river steamers alter the social scene, the hotel business booms, the Prince of Wales admires an elm tree, ice cream is made with a bicycle, and an era comes to an end.”

 “Agriculture & Farm Life” … “The Peninsula was noted for fine garden produce.  A.R. Wetmore, secretary of the local agricultural society, wrote an article in The Maritime Farmer and Co-Operative Dairyman, April 13, 1913.  The headline stated: “Agricultural conditions in Kingston Parish, N.B. - One of the Best Market Garden Sections in the Province.” Wetmore wrote that the farms of the Peninsula, although small and hilly, were very suitable for market gardening and the raising of small fruits.” … “Captain Pitt & The Ferries”  … “Captain William Abraham Pitt of Reed’s Point had the idea for the first cable ferry in New Brunswick (some say the first ferry with underwater cable in the world), and it was he who first put such a ferry into operation.  The Maggie Miller, a paddle-wheel steam ferryboat built in 1891, ran until 1934 between Bayswater, Kennebecasis Island, Summerville and Millidgeville.”

… “The Three R’s & More” … “The first consolidated school in New Brunswick opens at Kingston … One day in 1904, a big boy came to my class.  I asked him how long he had gone to school.  He said he had never gone to school.  I was embarrassed to have such a large boy in my class of first grade children, but for his sake, I decided to ask him some questions to see how much he knew.  In fifteen minutes, he had graduated from my department.  In two weeks, he had reached grade seven and in two years, he had entered Macdonald College, Quebec.”

… “The Mail & The Phones”… “Di Gorham ran the business of The Kingston Peninsula Telephone Company from a little office in his home.  It was obvious by 1960 that the proud little telephone company didn’t have the money or the know-how to cope with rapidly advancing technology.  In 1961 the shareholders sold the company, and the 160 subscribers became a tiny part of the New Brunswick Telephone Company”.  In communities on the Peninsula there has traditionally been a tendency to think that personal matters are everybody’s business, and this wasn’t always bad.  Because people knew each other so well, they looked out for one another.  The party line was important in creating this sense of community.” … “Ghosts”  … “Wherein a man becomes his brother’s ghost, shrieks terrorize travellers on the Old Reach Road, a shadowy woman stalks a hill, and footsteps lead nowhere.”  … “Goings On” … “Ern Nagle’s store at Long Reach was one of the last great country stores of the peninsula.  People gathered there in the evenings to talk and tell stories.” … “Rainbow’s End” … “Wherein the author and her friends re-enact the landing of the Loyalists, and a rainbow appears over Kingston Creek” … “in the spring of 1983, re-enacting the arrival of the Loyalists exactly two centuries earlier, we could see a magnificent rainbow arched over the spot where the Loyalists had landed… In this beautiful moment, we had brought our past into the present.”