INTRODUCTION

The C.B.C. National NeWs for April 24, 1974 held the Village of Mount Stewart up ‘to the nation as an example of the decay of small rural communities in Prince Edward Island. The trend towards centralization is indeed effecting marked changes on the traditional Island landscape. Abandoned dwellings, school houses and even churches dot the country- side, while once bustling railway stations, retail stores and processing plants moulder away in the local centers they once helped support.

It is possible that the trend is irreversible and that the province itself may fall victim to centralization in Maritime Union. Canada itself could conceivably be annexed to the United States. It is a tide that must nevertheless be resisted, even in small ways. The fact that the citizens of Mount Stewart cleared up some of the eyesores that had caught the attention of the C.B.C. camera crew and won first prize in the P.E.I. Rural Beautification Contest for Queen’s County before the year was out is an indication of the proper spirit.

Knowledge of a community’s past, particularly a past as rich. and colorful as that of Mount Stewart’s, can also promote community spirit. It can also help place developments in their proper perspective. A century from now, a local historian may View the present difficulties much in the same light as we presently regard the depression which struck the village after the collapse of the shipbuilding industry in the late 1870’s —— as one of the rough spots in the continuing life of the community.

The author owes a deep debt of gratitude to those who assisted with the preparation of this volume: to Messrs. De Jong and Holman of the Public Archives of Prince Edward Island and to the staff of the Con- federation Centre Library who met repeated requests for material over a long period with unfailing courtesy and efficiency; to his employer, the Robertson Library at U.P.E.I. for the use of its microfilm facilities during noon hours; and to the Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation and, Indirectly, Judge H. L. Palmer, for the use of the account books and cor- respondence of Mount Stewart Estate. The author remembers with pleas- ure lengthy and informative interviews with Miss Evelyn Walsh and Mr. W. W. Glover and shorter talks, in person or by letter, with many others. The many suggestions and helpful criticisms offered by his brother, Bruce, during the preparation of the manuscript were of inestimable value.