Joe French

Restore Panmure Island cemetary

m mum

Nov . 23, 1977

Section Two

Panmure Island history revealed

BY LOUISE MILES

At the western tip of Panmure Island. in a small clearing surrounded by an old stone wall. an odd jumble of stones jut here and there outrof the grass At one end the wall has given in to the

- ‘ _oice of wind and - tumbled to the Beyond St. ’ opens out to the

.-r look the stones ials or x‘s carved . One such stone e edge of the cliff is engraved with DB - » aorothy Brown. Joe - great grand- ‘ buried in one of the

Joe French i s a native of Panmure Island A careful and attentive listener. he is well acquainted with the history of Panmure Island and of the cemetery now being restored and preserved under a Canada Works Grant. Much of his knowledge comes simply from listening to the old timers of Panmure Island.

As Gertrude Partridge. President of the Panmure Island Community Aswciation says. “he is a storehouse of history that can not be found in any history book."

According to Mr. French. Andrew MacDonald bought Panmure Island before he left Scotland and settled with his wife. 9 sons. an d 4 daughters on Panmure where the wharf is now. in 1800.

MacDona Id and his family. known as “the MacDonalds from the Isles came from one of the Hebrides. off Scotland. proceeded to build a small empire there on Panmure- Island with a flourishing ship building industry. As many as 20 of their ships might be on the ocean at one time He also cleared 300 acres of Pan- mure Island for taming and built a large general store next to his house which was one of the only stores in all of Kings County at that time. according to Joe French.

Mr. French said the cemetery was started in 1812 when an Aitken girl (resident of Panmure Island) set out to cross the ice to visit friends in Lower Montague, A storm blew up and she froze to death. Her remains were the first to lie in the little plot.

A church 20‘ x 30' whose foundations still remain. but are almost hidden by lichen and spruce needles. was situated slightly east of the cemetery. Father (and later Bishop) McEachern con- ducted services there. making the trip to the church by btat. Families brought their dead to the cemetery by boat also as there was'no road leading through the Woods out to the point.

In 1837. said Mr. French. old Andrew MacDonnald died. His sons. some of whom had already moved to Georgetown. had a large tombstone made for him in Georgetown. although he was buried in the Panmure Island plot. Shortly after Andrew's death. the little church was hauled by the “Georgetown bunch“ across the ice to Georgetown.

In 1850 French's great grandmother was buried in the Panmure Island cemetery. She was one of

the lastto be laid there. Her‘

husband. John French. who died in 1863. was buriedin Sturgeon as a cemetery had been created there by that time.

Two years ago some

residents of Panmure Island became concerned that the historic point would soon be washed away by erosion and s o u g h t

government

assistance to preserve and protect the cemetery.

At theend of October of this year the Panmure Island Community Association was awarded $38.032100 of Canada Work Grants money to build a sea wall to protect the graveyard. to cut trees and clear a way in to the plot (which later may be made into an actual road). to restore and erect grave markers. to research names. and to provide a parking area and pcinic tables. The Community Association asked that the crew who would be doing the

work be unemployed people ‘

Panmure Island or this

from nearby areas and request was granted. The project has been given a 6 month time limit. During short periods of bad weather the work crew will be given indoor community work to do. according to Thelma Moore. secretary of the Community Association. The research committee. composed of Alyosius MacDonald. Alex Jamieson. Gertrude Partridge. Joe French. and Peter

Boudreault are interested in informatim anyone might have regarding the pioneer cemetery.

Headstone marker at Panmure-l '