Mrs. James (Hattie Ellis) Dunbar

     I recently read this book, Highlights of our Baptist Work: in Springfield West, O'Leary, Alma Churches 1852-1977.  Therein was the mention of only one person from Alma - that of Mrs. James *Jim* Dunbar of the Centerline Road where today Kent and Lloydia Smallman live in a new house.
     Below is the cover of the book.

 Below: inside the front cover - the churches of the congregations.

 Below:  The history of Hattie (Ellis) Dunbar.

     Below: the Jim and Hattie Dunbar homestead not long before it was demolished for the new, present home on the property.  It was located on the north side of the Centerline Road across the road from Spurgeon Jeffery's homestead.

cf. Ellis Smallman Collection

Rennie's Store, Alma Corner

     Alma Corner was always a busy place for the goings on of the community.  At the corner there were once stores, blacksmith shops, the post office, the school, a cooper, etc. - today there's nothing there at all except for homes.
     The location of Rennie's Store, on the southeast corner, was originally the home of Albert Jeffery (1857-1905) of the Centerline Road, son of blacksmith Stephen E. Jeffery.  Albert married Roannah Riley (1862-1929) - they had one adopted daughter, Pearl.

Below:  Blanche (Rennie) Crockett home, former Albert Jeffery home.

Below:  Blanche (Rennie) Crockett.  Photo taken in the summer of 2002.

 Below: The 2nd Rennie's Store, southeast view.

 Below: Rennie's Store, northeast corner.  Demolished in the summer of 2007.

     Below: the northeast corner at Alma Corner - the Mountain homestead where Alvie Mountain operated a blacksmith shop.

      Below: an old barn that the Mountains traded land for with Ellis Smallman - this old barn came out from the Centerline Rd. in Lauretta.  It was demolished in the summer of 2007.

      Below:  the Mountain Homestead - the home of Alvie and Millie Mountain.  Alvie was a blacksmith.   Their three children: Leslie, Margaret and Frank always lived here - they never married.  The house had been abandoned and was demolished in the summer of 2007 when Route 2 highway and the intersection was rebuilt.

      Below:  a page from the book, Alberton & Area: A Pictorial Experience Through Time showing the first Rennie's Store which burned in 1921.

Below:  cf. page 104 of the Alberton & Area book showing Fred Rennie's Egg Waggon.

     The new books about the History of Elmsdale tells much about the history of the Rennie's and the origins of the family with their forefather Luigi Riani (anglicised to Louis Rennie) coming from Tuscany, Italy with his a friend Mr. Platts around the turn of the nineteenth century.  Louis' son Fred built and operated stores at Elmsdale and Alma corners.

Alma Churches used by Montrose United following fire

     On Sunday past Donald Hardy told me that in 1944 when the Montrose United Church burned the Alma Baptist Church and Holy Trinity Alma Anglican Church offered their churches to the Montrose congregation until they were able to rebuild.  The churches were used alternately.   Donald said he had fond memories of coming to Alma and the generosity of the congregations of both these churches.

Below:  Montrose United Church. cf. the Millennium book,

Alberton and Area: A Pictorial Experience Through Time

Below:  Holy Trinity Alma Anglican Church. Photo Oct. 2007

 Below: Alma Baptist Church.  Photo c. 1950s

Mrs. Graham, died at 111-years-old c. 1885

"A Mrs. Graham, who died in Alma, Prince Edward Island about the year 1885, reported just prior to her death at one hundred and eleven years of age, that when she was a small girl living with her parents in a log cabin some little distance outside of Charlottetown, she saw this tall, good-looking, blond blue-eyed man and his beautiful young wife as they travelled from the boat landing past her mother’s cabin. With their dog-team they headed through the portage in the general direction of New London Bay. (A portage on P.E.I. is a narrow road or path through a thick wood and was used by the Indians to portage their canoe from one body of water to another. The portage here referred to may have been only an Indian trail.) At any rate Mrs. Graham said she knew the family in after years, and that his name was Simpson, his first name she could not be sure of and that his wife’s name was Helen Winchester.

cf.  Chapter 5, THE FOUNDING OF CAVENDISH, 1790

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/cavendish.htm

This account is taken from the book "Cavendish - Its History, Its People, Its Founding Families - Simpsons McNeills Clarks and their Kin" by Harold H. Simpson. I have taken the liberty of taking Chapters 5 and 6 from this book to enable me to show something of settlement life on Prince Edward Island. We have now added the complete book in pdf format to the foot of this page.

A Cabin in the Woods on the Centerline Road

     I came across the following note that Eva Jeffery had written-out to a cousin on July 12,
1977 to tell her family's history about coming to Alma.
     "My grandfather's name was Stephen Jeffery - his family came from England many years ago.  He set out from Bedeque for the western part of the Island, so i am told, and landed in Alma (1860) and built a little log cabin in the wilderness.  It was nothing but a forest at that time.  They must have endured great hardship to make a living for himself and his family in the wilderness with no cleared land.  I would liked to have written a History of the Jeffery family but did not think of it when my father and mother were alive as they had alot about the family - they are both dead now..."

Image cf. http://tonguekissesandtyranny.blogspot.ca/2010/09/little-about-me.html

     Settlement in the Alma area began early in the mid 1800's with settlers along the Western Road where they had easy access to the road - there was little settlement in the backwoods.  Older residents of the Centerline Road recall their forefathers saying that the Stephen Jeffery home was the oldest on the road.  

      Above: Stephen Emmanuel Jeffery (1830-1911) and his third wife Jane Collicutt (1842-1814) - they were married in 1868.  Stephen had 5 children by his first marriage to Maria Fields; no children from his second wife Mary Ann Lewis and 8 children with his third wife Jane Collicutt.  In total there were 12 children raised in this home - 10 sons: William, Albert, Spurgeon, George, Abram, Richard, Stephen, David, Joseph, Robert and 2 daughters: Elizabeth, Jane and Rebeccah who died at birth.

     Above: sketch by Carter Jeffery depicting the Jeffery homestead around 1890.  The house was built in the late 1860's.  See it today in image below - Jeffery homestead.

Former Alma Residents making history

     History is made everyday - a young couple from Alma, now living in Charlottetown, are setting out to raise money for the Cancer Cancer Society.  Two years ago Kenton Smallman (son of Kent and Lloydia Smallman) and Ashton MacNeill (dtr. of George and Chrissy MacNeill) kayaked around the Island raising money for the good cause.  The following article appears on the Guardian Newspaper's website today.
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2012-07-10/article-3026360/Kayaking-for-cancer/1

Couple aims to fundraise $10,000 for cancer

treatment with second paddle around P.E.I.

     Ashton MacNeill and Kenton Smallman plan to circumnavigate the island in their kayaks for a second time starting Thursday.  The pair hopes to raise $10,000 for the Cancer Treatment Centre in Charlottetown.

Article by Jim Day, July 10, 2012

     Ashton MacNeill wants her second kayak trip around Prince Edward Island to take less time but raise more money.
     In 2010, MacNeill and her partner Kenton Smallman circumnavigated the island in 21 days, raising $1,400 for the P.E.I. division of the Canadian Cancer Society.
     Setting off Thursday, MacNeill, 25, of Charlottetown hopes to complete the journey in just 16 to 18 days.  She would also like to raise $10,000 for the Cancer Treatment Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.
     To shave as much as a handfull of days off from the 2010 trek, MacNeill and Kenton, 23, plan to make some adjustments to make the outing faster and less burdensome.
     They will pack lighter, including hauling along a smaller tent.  They will also try to hit the water early, no later than 7:30 a.m., after discovering their first time around that the wind picks up in the afternoon.
     "Try to get a good chunk done before lunch," said MacNeill.
     The couple look to average about 30 kilometres a day with overnight stops at campgrounds and provincial parks.
     In an attempt to raise considerably more money, the pair has been holding more fundraising events leading up to the trip.  The also plan to lean more heavily on social media to promote their fundraising voyage.
     Regular updates will be posted on the Facebook site  http://www.facebook.com/KayakingForCancer Donations can be made at the couples website http://kayakingforcancerpei.ca/
     Thirdly, media did not pick up on the couple's fundraising adventure until MacNeill and Smallman had already kayaked half way around the Island in 2010.  MacNeill made a point of approaching The Guardian well in advance this time around.
     Both MacNeill and Smallman have a personal attachment to their fundraising cause.  MacNeill lost two uncles, a grandmother and a grandfather to cancer.  Smallman lost his grandfather to the disease.
     MacNeill didn't know what to expect before setting out in 2010 in a kayak to paddle around the Island.
     The couple's novice trip, she says, was highlighted by the natural beauty of the province that included being trailed through the water by seals and the sight of whales splashing about.
     There were also challenges such as being tracked for five kilometers along the shore by a pair of wild dogs, sand flea infestations, and MacNeill's kayak almost submerging when it filled with water during rough whitecap conditions.
     Setting daily targets helped the pair reach their final goal.
     "The biggest marker for us was the Confederation Bridge," said MacNeill.
     "We could see it for so long, it was like a tease.  When we finally passed under it, it was such a good feeling."
     Neither has been kayaking since the fall but both have been keeping in top physical condition for their upcoming run.
     MacNeill, who is studying kinestiology, is working towards her fitness certification as a personal trainer with the International Sports Sciences Association and has recently started leading her own bootcamp through TogetherFit.
     Hauling in lobsters help keeps Smallman fit.
     MacNeill has little concern with the fact she and her partner have not been kayaking for several monht.
     "It's kind of like a bike," she said.
     "It comes right back to you."

Alma Folk

     Here are some photos from the Donna (Barbour) MacPhee collection of a few people around Alma and Laruetta.

 Above: Daisy (Rix) Barbour and Raigh Currie.

 Above: 25th Wedding Anniversary of Isaac and Edna (Herlihy) Dunbar.

    Above: Jean (Barbour) Oliver; Wanda (Barbour) Matthews; way in the back, Daisy (Rix) Barbour; Eva Jeffery; Geralda (Shields) Arsenault and Velda (Dunn) MacRae.  The date on the photos is 1962 - fifty years ago.

 Above: Mrs. Allan Clark; Blanche (Gordon) Clark and Scott Clark.

     Above:  Taking a break from planting potatoes - Leslie Mountain; Blanche (Mountain) Bowness; Sid Vincent: Lila Mountain; Geralda Shields; ? ; Preston Murphy.