Neil MacDonald

en the MacDonalds came from St. Ann’s, Cape

‘ )‘ ; Breton, in the late 18th century, they landed in Little Sands on what they thought was free

land. When Lord Selkirk arrived in PEI in 1803, he owned all the land in southeastern Queens. Selkirk sold the farm to my ancestors (MacDonald) for $10.00. I still have the deed, which describes the farm starting from a

stake on the shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence. Apparently the Gulf at that time went to Pinette.

This area is opposite Pictou, Nova Scotia, where trans- portation by boat was available. There were no roads to Charlottetown and only blazed trails through the woods where only a man on foot or on horseback could travel. The first MacDonald to arrive was a blacksmith, the son of a tailor. My grandfather got the farm after a tree fell on his father and killed him as he was travelling one of those wooded trails.

My grandfather was a stone mason and a part-time farmer. He had two sons, my father who was a carpenter and a farmer, and Neil the older son who obtained the farm. Neil was a true farmer. He never married and in his earlier years he lived with his mother.

When the earlier ancestors arrived in Little Sands they obtained a strip of land, which included 100 acres, including a creek with marshland. This was important in the early days as this provided food for the animals.

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