Hantsport Stories

Hantsport Riverbank Cemetery Thomas Nelson Patten, the patriarch of the Hantsport area family by that name, was born 26 August 1838 at River Phillip, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He was the son of Isaac Patten and Harriet Parker. They are both buried in Upper Cunard Cemetery, Kings County, Nova Scotia. On 20 May 1863 Thomas N. Patten enlisted in the United States Army at Bangor, Maine. He was described as age 22, Occupation - seaman, Height - 5ft. 9in., Hair - light, Eyes - blue. He was a substitute, meaning he was paid to take the place of another man who was drafted into the U.S. Army. Thomas Patten served as a Private in the 3rd Maine Infantry - I Company. Winter 1863-1864 Thoms Patten's pension affidavit indicates that he became ill (pneumonia) after sleeping on the cold ground, having crossed the Rappahannock River during a skirmish between troops from the North and South at Kelly's Ford (about 20 miles from Fredericksburg, Virginia)...

This document is a transcription by Bob Langdon of a handwritten school paper by Harriett (Faulkner) Woodman. The main report was written in 1906 with a small addition dated 1913.  Hantsport Museum file # is 981.2. History is the study of human nature and we must study human nature to know ourselves and others.  We ought to know how we came to be what we are, so that each generation need not start again from the point and toil over the same ground but profitting (sic) by these experiences of those that came before, may advance towards higher points and nobler aims.  We should try to find out about our past in order to know how to form our future.  Tradition tells us of many legends and stories of our ancestors, how they suffered and endured hardships for us, in order to give us the homes we have.  In this little book, by beginning at the past, I wish to the...

by Susan Tracey, 1978 Hantsport High School Graduate for a Grade XII history project at Windsor. The structure now situated at 45 William Street, Hantsport was built in the 1850’s. The building underwent many changes through the years to keep in time with the changing characteristics of the town. This structure alone reveals the degree of activity in the town, through a period of over one hundred years. The following is a copy of the Deed conveying the land to the people responsible for erecting the building. Conveyance...Between Handley C. Davison (Master Mariner) and Anna his wife; John Davison (Shipwright) and Louisa his wife; Joseph Davison (Master Mariner) and Olivia his wife; and Rhoda Davison, widow of the late Asa Davison all of Hantsport, of the one part and George Woolaver (Blacksmith); Daniel Faulkner (Blockmaker); George W. Churchill (Farmer); and Robert Coalfleet (Joiner) … made 28 June 1856… sum of £90 … bounded by the Road leading from Edward Davison's to the Shore...

(Special staff correspondence of The Halifax Herald.)HANTSPORT-ON-AVON. August 25.—While a burnished brass sun burned the pitch pine from her new decks, and caused her white sides to glisten with reflected rays like searchlights thrown upon an ice-berg, the 1,000 ton four-masted schooner Margaret F. Dick slipped smoothly down her tallow coated ways, at the North Shipyards here yesterday afternoon, and nestled into the turbid tidal waters of the Avon silently, smoothly, and naturally as a swooping swallow takes the air. Three thousand people viewed the spectacle lined along the natural amphitheatre which backs the North yards in a sloping hillside which rises to the sky-line, scattered at various points of vantage inside the yards themselves, and watching the launching from the crowded decks of smaller sail and power craft which had gathered from every public and private landing stage on the Avon within a twenty mile radius. And the unanimous opinion was that Saturday's ceremonial was “the finest launchin'...

Captain Fred Whitney Folker A quaint home, owned by a former sea captain, stands on Avon Street in Hantsport overlooking the river. It is situated halfway between the former shipyards of J.B. North and Ezra Churchill & Sons.  Captain's Cabin Years ago the captain added a room to the house resembling a ship’s cabin. Through the porthole, and using a little imagination, one can see the barque Stadacona sailing on the incoming tide to Windsor. Watching from the riverbank is a woman. The captain of the ship, with his son by his side, is waving to his wife as the vessel passes their home.  The imagery is actually more truth than fiction. Captain William Folker took his youngest son Fred with him on numerous voyages aboard the Stadacona in the mid 1890's. Avon River Sunset It could be stated that William and Almira Folker's son cut his nautical teeth on the belaying pins and spars of his father’s barque. And, like his father, his life at sea...

A SERIES ABOUT HANTSPORT MARINERS  Captain William Folker 1837-1921 “His life, spent mainly at sea, sailing to every port in the world, with all its risks and dangers and adventures, abounded with interest, and were the incidents published in a book would be eagerly read.” The above quotation from William Folker’s obituary was obviously written by someone familiar with his life story. Ship logs, newspaper articles, historical records, and family scrapbooks all substantiate that Folker’s nearly forty years at sea were filled with extraordinary adventures. As a risk-taker he reaped astonishing rewards but in some scenarios suffered dire consequences. William Folker was born on July 13th, 1837 in Snettisham, a village in Norfolk County, England; five miles from the North Sea. He took his first risk when he set sail as a cabin boy on a vessel bound for America from King’s Lynn, a nearby seaport. Boys aged 14–16 were often sent to sea by their parents to learn the skills necessary to becoming a master...

A SERIES ABOUT HANTSPORT MARINERS Robert “Bob” Carter Clayton 1916 - 1987 Wireless Operator Bob Clayton was born in Saint John, N.B. His family later moved to Parker’s Cove, N.S. and in 1935 settled in Hantsport.  He was the fourth of seven sons born to Capt. Delbert and Laura (Hudson) Clayton.  The family moved to Hantsport, in part, because of Bob’s health.  Bob had contracted tuberculosis and spent a year in the Kentville Sanatorium. Hantsport, being a seaport, brought employment opportunities for his father who was a tugboat captain. Clayton became engaged to Jennie Doris Ells in 1942.  Doris, a 24 year old stenographer was a Willow Street neighbour but not the only lady Bob was infatuated with at the time. The other was Lady Hawkins, a magnificent luxury ocean liner owned by the Canadian National Steamship lines that called on ports in Montréal, Boston, Bermuda and other Caribbean islands. Officially the vessel was a Royal Mail Ship, but could carry cargo as well as...

In the early 1820s Ezra Churchill (1804-1874), a young man from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, arrived in what was known as the Halfway River settlement, Falmouth District, Hants County, on the west shore of the Avon River estuary. The Halfway River was so-named because it was halfway between the older communities of Grand Pré and Windsor. Ezra Churchill Ezra Churchill began to build ships c. 1840 on the bank of the Halfway River. By 1850 he had established the Churchill Shipyard on the Avon River estuary immediately north of the mouth of the Halfway River. The nearby forest and the vertical range of Fundy tides at that site were ideal for building, launching, and carrying out maintenance on the more than 80 wooden sailing vessels (barques, brigs, schooners, and full-rigged ships) that saw service in the Churchill fleet during the 19th century. Shipyards existed at several other communities around Minas Basin, but the Churchill Shipyard was one of the most active, and the...

Twenty years after the dedication of the William Hall VC Cairn, the Memorial received another plaque - Sunday July 9th, 1967. The final day of the Canadian Centennial Programme in Hantsport was designated William Hall V.C. Memorial Day. The new plaque was fastened to the front of the top base, the inscription reads: THIS CAIRN MARKS THE LAST RESTING PLACE OF WILLIAM HALL, V.C. Led by the Guard of Honour and band from CFB Cornwallis, members of the Royal Canadian Legion, Lucknow Branch 109 Hantsport and the William Hall V.C. Branch 57 Halifax marched from William Street to the Hantsport Baptist Church. At the reviewing stand at the Legion Hall, the Salute was taken by Lieutenant Governor H.P. MacKeen and His Worship the Mayor L.G. Bishop. The church service was conducted by the Rev. Gordon Gower, assisted by the Rev. Dr. W.P. Oliver of Halifax. The address was given by the Rev. George R. Bell, Protestant Chaplain of CFB Cornwallis. This service...

Mayor Claims Lack of Co-operation, Resigns HANTSPORT, March 6/52 – Stemming from vandalism last Hallowe’en, Mayor Burpee T. Smith, resigned at a meeting of Town Council when he claimed that members of the Council were not giving him co-operation as evidenced by refusal to accept his ruling. On Hallowe’en night, two blue spruce trees on the lawn of Town Clerk D. M. Frittenburg were chopped down and a fence on the mayor’s property was also wrecked. Just prior to this incident, town officials, it is said, had been pressing for payment of poll tax arrears. Requests Prosecution Subsequently, Council empowered the mayor to take measures dealing with the apprehension of those responsible and later, with Town Police and R.C.M.P. on the job, His Worship secured circumstantial evidence on which he requested the Council to take action toward prosecution. At the Council meeting Tuesday night, Bruce McDade, Hantsport lawyer, was given permission to address Council on behalf of a client. He demanded that the mayor resign. After...