Deer Island is one of the Fundy Islands at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Settled in the 18th century primarily by Loyalists fleeing the United States, it remains a fishing settlement built around fishing, aquaculture, herring weirs and lobster pounds.Welch, H. Wesley. "Welcome to Deer Island: Deer Island History", 1967. In reference collection St. Croix Library The Old Sow tidal whirlpool, the largest in the western hemisphere, is off its southern coast.
Although it has only a third the population it had before the 1950s, the "quiet and reposeful" Deer Island is the main centre of West Isles Parish and falls under the Southwest NB Regional Service Commission.
History Early Settlement There are "traces" of visits to the island by indigenous Passamaquoddys, although there was no known settlement by either the natives while a 1733 map by Cyprian Southack suggested there may have been French homes built at one time on the southern tip of Deer Island.
In 1604, Samuel de Champlain noted that a crewmember, Mssr. Poutrincourt, had almost become lost on the island.
The origin of the name is attributed to either following Estêvão Gomes' 1525 naming of Penobscot River as "Deer River" or to a Passamaquoddy legend about the island being a deer chased by wolves represented by the Wolf Islands. The name "Deer Island" is found on the 1764 Mitchell's Fieldbook, and the Passamaquoddy name is presumed to be a translation of the English. The natives referred to the lower end of the island as "Peelsquess", "girl", for the shape of a rock in the water.
Until the end of the French and Indian Wars in 1760, it was not considered safe for English families to settle in the region due to the French influence over the natives since at least 1704 when the Le Treille family settled Indian Island, after Cardinal Richelieu granted the region to the care of Isaac de Razilly.Barto, Martha Ford (1975). Passamaquoddy: Genealogies of West Isles Families At this time, Col. Gorham and Col. Benjamin Church were sent to Indian Island to raid the natives and guard over the Le Treille family.
In 1762 the colony of Massachusetts, and in 1767 the colony of Nova Scotia, began cautiously settling the area as the Passamaquoddy were now friendly and open to trade. In 1765, both Campobello and Deer Island were granted by the Crown to the Canada Company.DENOMINATIONALISM IN A LOYALIST COUNTY: "' A SOCIAL HISTORY OF CHARLOTTE 1783 - 1940· . by Thomas William Acheson B.A., U.N.B., 1962- \ 1. Guy Murchie, St. Croix: The Sentinel River (New York: 1947), P• 131.
Josiah Heney, John Frost, Alexander Hodges and James Parsons were among the first Loyalist settlers in 1763, building homes near Pleasant Point although legally squatters without title. In 1964, Reginald Richardson was scuba-diving and discovered the wreck of an unidentified colony ship with its cannonade, wine and anchor near the Sandy Island ledges off Deer Island, dated between 1770-1790, which Cyril Moore prepared for the New Brunswick Museum.Image of artifacts, held by NB Museum, are in "A pictorial treasury of the marine museums of the world" by Brandt Aymar, 1967, Crown Publishers editionRobinson, Cyril & Bert Beaver, "There's a Riddle in the Wreck at the Bottom of the Bay", Weekend Magazine, The Sun, Oct 30 1964
The British considered Deer Island's geography to be easily defended against possible American hostility, but to lack a deep-water harbour suitable for shipping.
The government assigned formal ownership of Deer Island to Joseph William Gorham on August 21, 1767 on condition that he settle families there as per an agreement of Dec 2 1766. It was presumed to be influenced by Gorham being the son or grandson of the original Col. Gorham. However Gorham was appointed to command in Newfoundland and unable to keep his pledge to settle and oversee the island, so agreed on February 3, 1770 to sell the island to another officer, Thomas Farrell for 470 pounds sterling. Here, ownership became more murky and the subject of legal battles, and Farrell was also granted timberland on the Digdeguash which went undeveloped. Meanwhile Gorham was tasked with the Two Sisters ship in the 1783 evacuation of the Second Fleet of New York to Saint John.Wright, Esther Clark. "The Loyalists of New Brunswick", 1955
Farrell led a multifaceted life, gifting land and selling cheaply on the island to families that would settle there - regaling them with tales of his marriage to a Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Charlotte, his duels and time in battle as a British lieutenant. Farrell said he had served as an ensign under Gnl. Edward Braddock at the Battle of Fort Duquesne.
Six months after signing the purchase of Deer Island from Gorham, Farrell listed his Montreal property for sale and in later claimed to have relocated to Deer Island as his "general residence" by 1772 although again it is contested as he was not listed among residents when the government surveyed all early settlers to ascertain which local river had been commonly named St. Croix to settle a boundary dispute. It was later surmised that Farrell had agreed to sell the property on January 21, 1778 to an American, Thomas Macdonald Reed of North Carolina, for the same 470 pounds sterling he'd paid himself as Farrell was himself heading to the United States to take up arms against the British as part of the American Revolution.
In autumn 1771, Captain Owen's ship Campobello Packet stopped at Cranberry Island, where his pilot Aaron Bunker "found his maiden sister bundled abed with the son of rather a wealthy settler on Deer Island [and] swore he would cut the gallant's throat if he did not repair the honour of the family by marrying his sister", leading Captain Owen to bring Eliachim Eaton and Mary Bunker to Indian Island where he had jurisdiction to marry them immediately.
In 1783, John Rolf, his widowed daughter and six grandchildren moved to Deer Island. Soon his daughter married John Fountain, who had previously spent nine years on Indian Island with his son and daughter. Other loyalist settlers include John Appleby who settled in Chocolate Cove, Obediah Clarke who founded Clarke's Point at Northwest Harbour, and the Dow family. Richardsonville was founded by Isaac Richardson, who had fought alongside Gnl. Wolfe in Quebec. George Cline of Maine had been a Sergeant during the Revolutionary War and died on Bar Island. In 1809 Joseph Conley moved to the island and later piloted the ship HMS Terror in the War of 1812, prior to its later calamity. Daniel Lambert spent his post-Revolution time between Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Deer Island, founding Lambert's Cove. Jonathan Stover was granted 25 prior to 1786 after being part of a major 1784 sawmill on the mainland. Guss Stover ran a grocery business downhill from the Fairhaven Methodist Church, and his brother John W. Stover raised three sons and a daughter in Fairhaven towards Cummings Cove. Robert Pagan operated two sawmills on the island.
There was a boundary dispute with the United States over ownership of nearly all the Passamaquoddy Islands, which was settled by the 1817 Passamaquoddy Bay Commission which reaffirmed an 1803 commitment that only Moose, Frederick and Dudley Islands would not be British.
Thomas Farrell re-settled in New Brunswick post-Revolution, as the southwest corner of the province was notably fluid in its allegiance between the two nations and not concerned with his American service, seeking to have Deer Island re-granted to him and not gifted in title to a number of local families now petitioning the government for relief. He claimed that Reed had never paid him in full before his death, so the earlier sale was null - and that he had been unaware of any obligation to register his initial purchase from Gorham for which he could produce the uncontested papers. Complicating matters in 1789, Reed's surviving son David unsuccessfully filed suit claiming ownership of his late father's island and another claimant Patrick McMaster claimed to have paid 168 out of 500 pounds sterling due to purchase it from Reed before the latter's death in a tavern. Patrick Flinn held in 1805 that he'd been undisturbed as a squatter improving a family farm and controlling Bar Island since the 1780s, other than a brief period a Thomas Doyle had spent a season building a fishing camp on the southern tip which Flinn later sold to Warren Hathaway, claiming at no time did Thomas Farrell play any role on Bar Island. Farrell's neighbours on the island did not participate in the lawsuit seeking title deeds, while 22 others largely led by Patrick Flinn, including boys not yet adults, collectively sought 200 acres apiece guided by lawyer Ward Chipman including ironically threatening that if not granted title deeds by the British government in Canada they would remove themselves to the United States and swear loyalty there - while still seeking to impress upon the Crown Farrell's disloyalty in having done the same. However, since his return Farrell had now been named a Captain in the Charlotte County Militia, and was promoted to Major in January 1805 re-affirming his loyalty back to British Canada.
Ultimately the government re-granted the land back to Thomas Farrell in 1810, denying the families' petitions - leading author Martha Barto to surmise it may have been to protect the large tracts of land held by lumber and shipping magnates in St. Andrews on the mainland, as non-petitioners, John Wilson, Thomas Wyer, Dr. John Calef, Robert and William Pagan each had a vested interest in Farrell retaining ownership. Farrell was noted to attend prominent balls in St. Andrews while wearing a tricorn, and the Pagans were listed as his trusted friends in his final will. On one occasion he travelled to Fredericton with the intent of challenging MLA Nathan Frink to a duel, as was his custom. The re-grant noted that the island comprised approximately 6,300 acres - of which 4,000 acres were unsold - recognising the sales and gifts Farrell had given over the years. Farrell built a frame house at Chocolate Cove in what is today known as Roscoe McNeill's field across from Ron Fountain's summer house.
In 1821, 35 petitioners on the island again brought an unsuccessful suit to the government seeking title deeds to award them each land on the island in view of having lived on the island for decades. In 1822, Thomas Farrell died and was buried on Haskins Head on the property of Herman Creamer, in an unmarked grave having renounced such worldly objects in his religious fervour. His sword passed through hands to Viola Calder of Fairhaven. His will assigned half his estate to his youngest and favourite child Sophia, and half his estate to be shared between his son George and other daughter Isabella Fitzherbert - none of whom had ever been to the island. In 1831, George Farrell deeded his portion to his sisters. This led to the sale of the lands on Deer Island for approximately 1,000 pounds sterling, allowing settled families to finally obtain legal title.
In 1822, brothers Coburn Leonard Cummings and William Cummings built a shipyard which became Cummings Cove, although it ceased production by 1850 or 1876. In 1850, Richardson and Son Boat Building began constructing fishing boats and built more than a thousand boats by its close in 1965. The site was added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1999.SPICER, Stanley, "Heber Richardson, The Master Builder of Deer Island, New Brunswick", Atlantic Advocate, vol. 50 (May 1960), pp. 66 By 1875, the Butler Brothers also had a shipbuilding yard rivaling Richardson's.
Ultimately the northern half of the island was largely settled and populated by Loyalist families and a few British immigrants, while the southern half of the island was settled and populated by American families.
Heyday of the mid-to-late 19th century