The Examiner for April 19, 1916 recorded the death of Samuel J. Leard, proprietor of flour, grist, shingle and saw mills in Pisquid. Of a very inventive nature, Mr. Leard is said to have devised a machine for sawing shingles. He insisted on the highest standards of cleanliness in his flour mill and one, reputedly, could literally eat a meal off the floor. After his death, the business was operated by his son, Frederick, who, as mentioned above, in 1927, installed a plant which supplied Mount Stewart with its electric power requirements until 1937. Frederick’s son, Robert, operated a portable saw mill for a short time. The site of this historic milling operation is presently owned by Mr. David Whittlesey.

As was the case with Leard’s Mills, the milling operations located on the upper reaches of the Hillsborough were powered by water. A very early reference indicates that George Douglas (1799-1849) son of William and Catherine (Miller) Douglas of Hillsborough, built the Douglas grist mills around 1838. These were possibly constructed some distance above what is presently known as Warren’s Dam, and an Island in the stream, once part of the dam itself, marks the probable location. Whether or not he at first used the old site, Mr. George Warren had his business well established by 1911. A note in the Examiner for February 20th of that year regrets the breaking of his mill dam in the midst of the busy season for flour making. A tragedy involving the saw milling part of the oper- ation occurred on March 30, 1940 when a flying board from the machinery struck Mr. Warren’s 28 year old son, Ernest, on the chin and killed him instantly. Mr. Warren, Sr., died in 1945, and, in 1947, Messrs. William and David Crawford reactivated the business. William later moved the machinery to his home, and the site was sold to Douglas Bros. and Jones of Charlottetown who resold it to the Provincial Government. It is now a public fish pond.

Two mills, a feed mill and a saw mill, are operated in Mount Stewart at the present time. The first of these was established by Frederick W. Clark after World War II in the 01d Foresters’ Hall. Affiliated with Shur— Gain Feeds (Canada Packers) at first, Mr. Clark eventually switched to Master Feeds (Toronto Elevators). As mentioned above, the building was destroyed in the disastrous fire of June 19, 1952. It was rebuilt and later sold to Arthur Coffin, the present owner. The second mill was established by the late Lane F. Pigot and his son, Bruce, in 1962. Powered at first by gas engine, and, since 1973, by Diesel, it is a general saw milling busi- ness. Its specialty is the preparation of materials for the manufacture of lobster traps and strawberry crates.

Hotel Service

In this section the term “hotel” is used broadly to cover any pre- mises wherein a traveller could, for a consideration, secure a nights’ lodg- ing. During the French Regime, as was mentioned earlier, the wayfarer was accustomed to seek shelter at the home of the Widow Gentil before undertaking the difficult overland journey to St. Peter’s. During the early part of the 19th century, the various roadhouses and taverns catered to the needs of the travelling public. Some of these were the Red House at Glen Roy, the taverns of Elisha Coffin, Andrew Coffin and Thomas Merry at Mount Stewart and those of John Cunningham (the 20 mile house) at St. Andrew’s and John Campion (or Champion) at Savage Harbour.

During the early 70’s, the opening of the railway and the continued popularity of excursions up—river from Charlottetown created a demand

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