schooners lying at anchor near Tryon Point Wharf or to be used in the shipyards that operated near the river’s wide estuary. The men stumped the fields with oxen and capstan, and the help of the womenfolk. The women laid their babies in the lee of a stump where they kept a watchful eye on them as they bent to the back—breaking labor. The following is the acquisition of lands that later comprised Cen- terbrook: 1. Stephen Leard must have acquired the lands of his father, James Benjamin, as the only deed to this land is contained in the old re-

cords where it states Fred A. Leard bought this sixty- two and a half acres from Fred A. Wotton and wife on April 22, 1911. This land deal is a story of intrigue or matching of wits. Stephen would not sell his farm to any of his sons or grandsons. He would sell to

a stranger. Fred. A. Leard, his grandson, made a secret arrange-

ment with Wotton whereby the latter would buy it and then turn

it over to Fred A.. This he did.

2. Edward Leard, son of Stephen Leard and father of Fred A. Leard, had bought the following lands:

0 one and a half acres of marshland from Charles Alder Hartman

Leard on August 26,1907.

0 sixty and a half acres of land from Henry Wood on August 20, 1879. This land adjoined land then owned by Solomon Bell, and formerly owned by Samuel Leard.

0 thirty acres of land from William Samuel Thomas and wife on February 13, 1895.

3. Mortgage documents show how one piece of land was mortgaged to obtain another. ByJune 14, 1912, a document shows all these lands were owned by Edward Leard’s son, Fred A. Leard. Again on April 5, 1947, these lands were sold to Fred A.’s daughter, Jes- sic, and her husband, Eric Craig. On September 29,1953, fifty five acres of land were added to this. This land lay to the north of the present farm and was purchased from Alfred Groggett, son of Charles Groggett.

The Edward Leard’s had been strongly Conservative in their politics. However Fred A., son of Edward, changed the Leard’s political affili- ation. Fred A. was challenged on his first property vote at a general election, and he never cast another Conservative vote. Fred A. was an idealist, and thought that the Hon. Walter M. Lea was the next thing to a god. The tremendous faith that people had in others during that generation is something that can be envied today. If anyone worked at their politics without an eye for reward it was Fred A.. He saw the potential of the ideal politician inJ. George MacKay of Albany. Fred A. helped initiate his career, and always remained his loyal supporter. The Hon. J. George MacKay became Lieutenant Governor of our Island.

Fred A. Leard was Centerbrook ’s most illustrious son. He began farming responsibly at the age of nine. His father, Edward, died

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