Samphire
Greens
The Story of The Steeves by Esther Clark Wright
Dad got us up early as he said he needed a couple of
fast
moving drovers to help bring the young cattle home from the mountain
pasture.
They had been running free all summer and were a bit on the wild side
in
their actions. We had to do lots of chasing to keep them on the road
and
out of the fields of the farms we passed. Finally, we managed to get
them
into the barn and fastened in the stanchions.
The herd included five that belonged to a fellow from Norton who had
been scarce on summer pasture. Dad suggested Mum write him a letter to
advise the
cattle were safe and ready to be taken home.
Way back in 1767, Francis Peabody of Maugerville wrote a letter to
Captain Hall, telling him the cattle that he had left were all alive.
He regretted that the Captain had not come to settle in the area as he
had talked of doing.
By the way, Captain Hall brought a group of German settlers from
Philadelphia to the banks of the Petitcodiac River in New Brunswick in
1766.
The creek where they landed is still called Hall’s Creek. The families
of Stief, Lutz. Trites, Somers and Jones set about creating a fruitful
settlement. But hardships had to be first overcome. One of the tales is
of their having no cereals and having to live, for at least one winter
on turnip mush.
Help was offered by an Acadian, named Belliveau, who appeared out of
the woods and taught them how to snare rabbits, moose and other
animals, to make maple sugar, and to procure other means of living. He
possibly showed them how to build a brush fence across a little creek
on the river bank to trap the shad and salmon.
The gathering of samphire greens from the marshes was a tradition that
was passed down to later generations.
Esther Clark Wright’s mother, who was a direct descendant of the
settler Heinrich Stief, told of going down to the marsh to gather
greens during her childhood days. Thus it was very fitting that Esther
Clark Wright chose “Samphire Greens” for the title of her
publication in 1961 on the
Story of the Steeves, an account of the legendary figures, Heinrich
Stief
and his seven sons. She wove fact and fancy into a vivid and readable
story
of those settlers who came to New Brunswick before the Loyalists.
Samphire Greens is a book, not only about the Stief
descendants
who later became known as Steeves but of their neighbours and others
who
survived the early years in a new country and about the opportunities
they
seized as well as the hardships and tragedies they overcame. It is
available
in several research institutions.
***
Query 1225
Petersen - Hansen: I am seeking information on the
Danish
origins of Caroline Petersen who married Jorgen Hansen and lived in New
Denmark.
Jorgen and Caroline, as of the 1901 census, had these children:
Matilda,
Holga, Hans, Marie, Valdemar, Julius, Johannes, Alena, Daniel, Fredrik,
and
Maggie.
SUE COLLINS
10510 NE 90th Street
Vancouver, Washington
98662, USA
E-mail Collins30038@aol.com
Query 1226
Chambers - Donaldson: My Great Aunt Annie
Donaldson
came to Canada in 1913 and married George Chambers in Sackville in
1915.
I am searching for the families of George William Chambers born
1916,
Henry James Chambers born 1919 and John Leaman Chambers born1922.
Mrs. DENISE JARVIS
30 Casewick Lane
Uffington, Stamford
Lincolnshire, Pe9 4SX
England, U.K.
E-mail george@jarvisg.fslife.co.uk or denise@jarvisg.fslife.co.uk
