Marble Island (also called Marvel Island, Rouen Islethttps://unbscholar.dspace.lib.unb.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/d53d197c-b959-484b-ba94-6f264d6ef882/content or Rowan Islet) is an undeveloped island in the West Isles Parish of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada, where the Bay of Fundy enters Passamaquoddy Bay. Remainder of parish on mapbooks 490, 497, 500, and 501 at same site.
It may have been occupied 3000 years ago. Archaeological excavation was done on the island by Stephen A. Davis and Albert Ferguson in the 1970s-80s.Shaw, Christopher, "A GIS Approach to Ancestral Wabanaki Canoe Routes and Travel Times", 2016Davis, Stephen A. 1978 Teacher's Cove: a Prehistoric Site on Passamaquoddy Bay. New Brunswick Archaeology ser. 1, no. 1. Historical Resources Administration, Fredericton, New Brunswick.Davis, Stephen A., and Albert Ferguson, 1980 (West Isles) Deer Island Campobello Island and Other Islands. Survey Report. Manuscript on file, Historical Resources Administration,, Fredericton, New Brunswick. Four double-grooved stone axes of indeterminate age, possibly from the terminal archaic period,“…gathering pebbles on a boundless shore…” — The Rum Beach Site and Intertidal Archaeology in the Canadian Quoddy Region 1, David W. Black were recovered by Davis from Marble Island in 1982.Suttie, Brent David. "Archaic Period Archaeological Research in the Interior of Southwestern New Brunswick", 2002 BfDr8 is on the island.Brzezicki, Ashley. "Getting a Handle on Ground Stone", 2010An Analysis of Lithic Materials and Morphology from the Late Maritime Woodland and Protohistoric Periods at the Devil’s Head site in the Maine Quoddy Region Author Chris E. Shaw, Bates College https://scarab.bates.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1179&context=honorstheses
As David Owen had rejected efforts to build a customs house on Campobello Island, objecting to its aesthetic value in sketches and coincidentally reducing his trouble shipping across the international border, the government was forced to build one on Marble Island which proved less than effective.Craven, Paul. "Petty Justice", pg 77 and elsewhere Meanwhile Robert Pagan installed John Campbell on Marble Island to oversee his fisheries interests.
Three trading posts, belonging to James Simonds, William Hazen and White, are believed to have been built on Marble Island. In 1849, Marble Island merchant George N. Kay was wounded in the right lung, one of 120 people injured and dozens killed in New York's Astor Place Riot revolving around whether a British or American actor better cast in Shakespeare's roles.The Head Quarters May 16 1849 • Fredericton, https://www.oldnews.com/en/record?lang=en&record_id=record-10835-30801208
On May 16, 1866 nine armed Fenians landed on Marble Island and took possession of Norwood's house until New Brunswick militia members dislodged them the following morning.The Morning Telegraph May 19 1866 • Saint John, https://www.oldnews.com/en/record?lang=en&record_id=record-10835-30800332
The island has been identified as one of those written about in the 1604 writings of Samuel Champlain and Sieur de Monts.Parks Canada, "West Isles Feasibility Study....a National Marine Park in the West Isles", December 1985
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