John MacDonald

the Little Sands shore were first farmed by the ear-

lier French settlers. In the late 1700’s Scottish set- tlers came from Cape Breton and squatted on these va- cant lands. Some came from St. Ann’s, Cape Breton. They were of the opinion that here was free land. On the farm owned by John MacDonald, the settler I can recall was John Campbell who married my grandfather’s sister. There did not seem to be the old feud of the Campbells and MacDonalds as John Campbell and my grandfather worked together as masons. Their works still stand to- day as in the town hall in our city. John Campbell built a tombstone for his son who was drowned in the English Channel. This is one of the highest stones in Little Sands graveyard. The farm was then sold to Donald Nicholson. I know little of him other than his fighting skills.

My father bought the farm from Donald, who had moved the main part of the house from above the road and built on the kitchen. In my early days the farm was cleared from the shore to a field beyond a creek about a mile from the shore. One could only see the tip of the trees from our house. The farm extended to the Hope- field road, which left considerable wood for firewood.

When my father, John MacDonald, was a young man he learned the carpenter trade. He then went to Boston, from there to Vancouver, and then to the North in the

It should be recalled that some of the farms along

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