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The first trading post at Jemseg was built near the mouth of the
river in 1659 by Col. Thomas Temple. This was a fortified post
convenient for trade with the Maliseet. However Temple's prosperity
was short-lived for Acadia was restored to the French in 1667. A
flood in 1696 caused late planting and crop failures. Sieur de
Soulanges lived here when the fort was attacked by Jurriaen
Aernoutsz, a Dutch privateer, in 1674 and held by the Dutch for
several months. After the death of Soulanges in 1678 it was occupied
by the d'Amour brothers, Louis and Mathieu, who are recognized as
the first farmers at Jemseg. So farming in this area has a 300 year
history although nowadays strawberries, potatoes and market
vegetables are the chief crops grown while beef cattle and light
horses are the only stock traded commercially. Around 1700 "Fort"
Jemseg was abandoned for military purposes although it was still
used as a trading post. A flood in 1701 caused losses to crops and
cattle. The settlement was relocated to Port Royal, Nova Scotia. By
the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Acadia was ceded to the English for
the final time, but it seems likely that Acadians lived and farmed
in the area until 1758 when General Moncton razed the settlement at
Grimross (now Gagetown). Between then and 1783, a handful of
English-speaking pre-Loyalist families settled on the Jemseg (the
Nevers, Garrisons and Estabrooks for example), but it was the
Loyalists after 1783 who really caused the village to grow. Loyalist
names like Dykeman, Ferris, Gunter and Currie and, until recently
Colwell, are still represented in the community and these people
often live on the same land granted to their ancestors in the 18th
century. |
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