Centerbrook Farm

Centerbmok is situated on the Tryon Crossroad, its eastern boundary is the Tryon River and through its center runs the brook from which the farm’s name originated. This brook is actually a small tributary of the stream which empties its waters into the Tryon River in the vicinity of Gerald Best’s farm on the Tryon Point Road.

Centerbrook is still the pride and joy of the ninth generation of Leard’s although the surname has changed to Craig. Its gently sloping hills are crowned with neatly painted farm buildings and a tall white farmhouse with green gables, a balcony, and generous verandahs flanking its eastern approach. This three—storied house was built by Fred A. Leard in 1921. The size of the house testifies to the generosity of the farm’s woodland.

The interior finish, of white birch and birds-eye maple, was procured from Fred A.’s Uncle Johnson Leard’s farm in Searletown. A local carpenter, Herbert Thomas, built the house. The skill of his handicraft is still praised today by members of his craft. From the balcony, the View is superb! Salty-pooled marshes lie on either side of the narrow river to the northeast and southeast, flanked by gently rolling farmlands, inter- mingled with woodlands, as far as the eye can see, to the hills of Westmoreland and Rose Valley— not forgetting the spires of several churches in the Tryon, Crapaud, and Victoria area.

Centerbrook holds many secrets in her reaches. An old dike to the south of the present Aboiteau Bridge suggests the marshes were utilized by the early Acadian settlers who lived here in approximately 1750. Men by the surname of Reneauld, Robichaud and Bourg farmed land along the river. By the census of Sieur de la Roque, these men had been given their lands by Monsieur de Bonnaventure.

The Acadians were expelled from Isle SLJean in 1758 with the defeat of the French by the English. Captain Samuel Holland became the landlord of Lot 28 on December 21, 1768, of which Tryon is the eastern center, and brought out the first tenants to his estate. Evidently, Samuel Leard was one of these tenants. He emigrated from Kilmunny, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, to Tryon Point. Samuel Leard’s forefathers emigrated from Scotland to Northern Ireland to avoid religious perse- cutions in that country. Mildred Clark had the documents bearing Holland’s signature on the deeds for the land purchased at this time. Samuel’s fourth child, John, took up residence on the Bito Hill, when he marriedjane Lord on August 5, 1800. They operated a brick factory at the foot of the hill and were known as the Brick Leards.

Among the trustees who signed their names to the first trust deed of the Methodist church in 1819 wasJohn Leard. His home was noted for its hospitality. In fact, until a parsonage was built many years later in Tryon, the ministers stayed at the old Leard home on Bito Hill.

From these visits one humorous tale is told: The Rev. J.B. Strong

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