UPPER BURGEO

    Now we come to Upper Burgeo. That place was settled by Anderson's before old Mr. Matthews came here in 1796. How many of them came and when I do not know, nor have I ever heard any person say in the first years that the writer has been here. I think it is understood that this family or families came from Burin and that there were two brothers. The Great Grandsons say they were of Scotch descent. I am only taking the families as I know them in 1860. At that time there were no old men left and I find no old people buried at Upper Burgeo by Mr. Blackmore or Mr. Cunningham from 1842 to 1849. They may have lived up to the fifties.

    We find John and William Anderson living on Fox Point. They were also there for some years after this date. These men were brothers but who their father was, I do not know. Nor do I know of any other brothers. They certainly had no other brothers in Upper Burgeo.

    John married Susan Matthews, daughter of old man Matthews who was the first of the Matthews to come to Burgeo. I think Susan was the second youngest daughter. Their family was John, the only son, who was lost at sea on the Bankss in 1887. He was Master of the Grace Hall. He married Annie Chalk of Burnt Islands. John and Annie had a family of two daughters. One married Captain A. Chaisson. There was no family. The other married in Nova Scotia. There were also two sons, twins, Alfred and William, of Bobbett's Island. Mrs. Annie [Chalk] Anderson, the mother of these four, died over ten years ago.

    Then there were three daughters of John and Susan Anderson: Charlotte, Jessie, and Jane. Charlotte married John Le Moine of Channel, who was a telegraph repairman at Grandy's Brook. They moved to Channel and had two children, Nathan and a girl, who lives in the States. Nathan was lost, in October 1925, from his own schooner, the Una, near St. John's. He left an "adopted" son, Harry Le Moine, age 20. Nathan's wife was a daughter of Morgan and Ester Buffett. They had no natural family. She died of consumption twelve years ago.

    Jessie married my old friend, Philip Filleul, a Jerseyman, who came over in the sixties to his Uncle John who was agent in the Old Room. They had as family: Howard, Philip, and Clarence. All are still living. None of the boys are married at this date, 1925.

    Jane Anderson first married James Wilcox, an Englishman. He was lost on the Bankss in the schooner, Grace Hall, in August 1887. They had one child, a boy, Arthur, who died when still a lad. Afterwards, Jane married William Gore and is living at Mercers. They had one child, a girl, still living at home.

    John and Mrs. [Susan (Matthews)] Anderson moved to Burgeo and built a house now known at the Le Moine property, since it belonged to their grandson [Harry Le Moine]. John and his wife both died long ago.

    William Anderson married Elizabeth Farrell of LaPoile. Their family was: Edward, William, and Selina. Edward married Elizabeth, daughter of Larry Benoite, now living at Mercers. They had a large family. [William junior] married a daughter of Joseph Anderson of Small's Island. They had a family, all of whom are now scattered. Mrs. Anderson died of typhoid fever ten or twelve years ago. Selina married a Miller of St. John's who died only last March. They had a nice family. Mrs. [Selina] Miller was a great friend of the writer's sister and spent much time as a girl at our house in the seventies. She was very lively and the best of company. William and his wife [Elizabeth (Farrell) Anderson] both died long ago.

    John and William Anderson also had three sisters: Susan, Elizabeth and Ester. Susan married Henry Dicks and then William Matthews. This family will be mentioned later. Elizabeth married George Dicks. Ester married, I think, one Macdonald, and moved to Harrington, Labrador.

    The two brothers, John and William, and three sisters, Susan, Elizabeth and Ester, I have learned, were the descendants of Edward Anderson. The rest of the Anderson's were of William and possibly Robert of Otter's Point. Edward Anderson may have been a brother to the above [William and Robert, of Otter's Point]. Then there was another family at LaPoile or West Point. Hence, I believe they were all one family. Of the two supposed original Anderson families, I also believe that one was Thomas of West Point.

    We find George Dicks living on the SandBankss. He was a brother to the Burgeo family whose mother was living up to 1869. I remember her very well, a dear old soul, sister to Granny Vatcher. Caines was their maiden name. This family consisted of George, William, Ester, Deborah, Sarah, Frances and . George senior [died Oct. 16, 1863] and his wife [Elizabeth Caines d. Feb. 11, 1881] died long ago, say 1865 and 1870.

    George [Dicks] junior married a daughter, Jane, of Lambert and Hannah Forward. They had a nice family. They moved from the SandBankss to Mercers where he died in 1905. The widow is still living. George [son of George and Jane (Forward) Dicks], the third of that name, and the oldest son, married Maria, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Vatcher, and they had two sons. One is a young man living at home, blind or nearly so. The other son is Norman. Lambert, the second son [of George and Jane Dicks], went to Labrador years ago. He was a teacher and trader. He died late in the nineties. A daughter [of Lambert's], Doris, came here and lived with the grandmother, then went to Halifax for a change of climate, but it had no effect. She died of consumption in 1915. She was taken care of by her Aunt Annabel. The third son, Wilson, died in the country from exposure one winter sometime in the nineties. He was unmarried. Another son, Fred, was lost at the ice from the schooner Notice George and Jane (Forward) Dicks also had daughters. Rita married Louis Vatcher and lives at Halifax. Vera is also at Halifax. One daughter, Matilda, married Leonard Bowdridge. They have a family of four boys and three girls. One daughter, Irene, is married at Halifax, to her third husband. Another married Theodore Budgen at Deer Lake.

    William Dicks, the second son of George, the first of that name, married a girl named Neil. They moved to Sydney. He died there twenty-five years ago. Mrs. Dicks was a cousin of George Samways.

    Ester [daughter of George Dicks senior] married Walter Ford, an Englishman and a widower. They had two daughters: Deborah and Ester. Debbie married James Evans of Channel where they live. One child, a girl Ester Anne, married James Colbert, a Jerseyman. They moved to Prince Edward Island thirty years ago. I know nothing of them.

    Deborah Dicks [daughter of George senior] married Elliot Pike of Channel in the sixties. They had a family. I only know of one, who married Ralph Gore. She moved to Channel in 1925.

    Sarah Dicks [daughter of George senior] married an Englishman. Both are dead.

    Frances [Dicks, daughter of George senior] married Alfred Poulin, a Jerseyman. Mrs. [Frances] Poulin is dead. I know nothing of their family. There is a Doctor Poulin, but I think he is of a former marriage.

    Susanna married Thomas Anderson of West Point. They moved to Channel in the sixties. They lived on Channel Head, went to Labrador, and from there to Quebec. Mrs. Samuel Gore is a daughter. A sister married Thomas Keeping of Channel I know nothing more of this family. Mr. [Thomas] Anderson was a brother of the late Mrs. Samways, ______ and Neil, all born at LaPoile or West Point, hence, Mr. Anderson must have been a son of Thomas and Robert of Otter's Point and a John of Upper Burgeo. Another one also, William, of which mention has been made.

    On the Island we find Lambert Forward. He came from Grand Banks in 1840. His wife was Hannah, daughter of old Mr. Cox, father of the large family that came to Upper Burgeo in the thirties. John, Mrs. [Hannah] Forward's brother, was the first one to open business in or near Burgeo. Old Mr. Cox was the son of a soldier, a colonel, I believe, stationed at St. John's where all the family was born. John, Frederick, George, and Samuel came to this District in the late thirties and settled on the SandBankss. John and Frederick opened business there. The old couple are long dead and rest in the cemetery on the SandBankss.

    The family of Lambert and Hannah (Cox) Forward consisted of Isabella, Elizabeth, Lambert, John, Ambrose, Dolly, Louisa, Jane, and Matilda.

    Isabella [Forward] married Edward Anderson, brother of William of Upper Burgeo. She died in 1862 and Edward, I think, the next year. They left a son, Harvey, and a daughter, ______. Grandmother took Harvey and Lambert Forward took ______. Harvey married J. Bowdridge. She died of cancer of the face in 1914.

    ________ married Henry Hiscock, an Englishman. They lived on the SandBankss. There was no family. He died of consumption in 1884. Mrs. Hiscock afterwards married Martin Billard of Margaree, formerly of Grand Bruit. He was very much her senior. I think there were one or two sons by this marriage.

    Elizabeth [Forward] was never married. She went to Nova Scotia and was a domestic in Truro for many years. She returned here in 1911 and went to live with her sister, Mrs. [Matilda] Colley. The next year she was sent to the hospital by the member for the district, Mr. Robert Moulton. She was found to be a subject for the lunatic asylum. She died there in 1914 and is buried at St. John's. The writer was administrator of her estate. It was closed up and shared among her heirs of which there were quite a few.

    Lambert Forward junior was my good friend up to the time of his death, which was in ______. He married Ellen Chevalier of Upper Burgeo. First he built a house on the SandBankss. Later he came to Muddy Hole where he could keep his vessels. He had quite a number of vessels from 1860 up to the time he gave up, say in 1900. They had a nice family of four sons and five daughters. [The description Small gives of the descendants of Lambert Forward junior is especially confusing. However, the four sons would appear to have been: John, Henry, Edward, and Robert; the five daughters: Harriet; Hannah; Lilly; Maud; and, one, unnamed, who died at age 18.]

    The oldest, Harriet, married James Moulton. She is still living here. They had a large family, but many died in infancy. [Of the surviving children of James and Harriet (Forward) Moulton,] Harold Augustus and Hilda are married. Robert, the last, is at home.

    ______ died when about 18, a very nice girl.

    Hannah, named for her Grandmother Forward, married John Pinel. They had no family.

    Lilly married John Moulton. She was his second wife. They have had a large family. All of the children are still at school. They lost a fine boy in 1923. He was delicate, especially after he lost a foot.

    Maud, the youngest girl, lived with her father as housekeeper up to the time of his death. She married Lewis Moulton, son of the late Thomas Moulton. They live in and own the old John Caswell place.

    John, the first of the boys, [of Lambert Forward junior] married Alice Green of Our Harbour, daughter of Benjamin Green. They are living at Muddy Hole. He is a tradesman. Their family was: Edward, Sydney, Austin, and one daughter _______ who married William Larner, operator. They moved to Whitbourne. John learned his trade from our friend, John Colback.

    Henry [son of Lambert junior] went away to the States after his father gave up going to sea. He sailed, first in large sailing vessels, then in steamers out of Nova Scotia. Then, later, he went to the States. He worked his way up to First Officer, then Master, and during the war did some fine work in the Government ships carrying war material and other valuable cargo for the Allies. He retired from the sea in 1919 and has a farm in Connecticut.

    Edward was lost at the ice with his Uncle Captain Colley, as before mentioned.

    Robert married a Miss [*Amelia] Gallop of Codroy. They have a family. They have lived most of their time at Sydney except two years here, 1918-1919.

    John B. Forward, brother to Lambert, [and son of Lambert and Hannah (Cox) Forward] died in 1862 of brain fever. He was unmarried.

    Ambrose, brother of Lambert, [and son of Lambert Forward senior] married Valerie Chevalier and lived on the SandBankss for a number of years. In the eighties he moved to Lingan [Cape Breton]. Captain. F. Forward, of St. George's is a son and there are other sons. A daughter married Captain Carter, an Army Captain. They lived at St. George's. I know nothing of them.

    Sophia C. [Catherine] Forward, a daughter of Lambert, the first of that name, married Robert Billard of William. They lived at Muddy Hole after the death of her husband, which was in 1892. There were two children, a boy and a girl. They are both living at Halifax. Mrs. Billard married at Halifax, a Captain Smallcombe. He died six years ago and Mrs. Smallcombe is living there with her daughter.

    Louisa [Forward] married William Matthews of Upper Burgeo. They moved to Petites long year ago and later to Sydney. Both are now dead, I believe. I know nothing of their family except for one, a captain, who was here a few years ago, 1914; Master of a large vessel loaded with fish.

    Matilda [Forward] married Captain Louis Colley. They built a home and had their family at Muddy Hole. Captain Colley was born in St. Malo, France. He came here as a boy with Captain Lambert Forward [junior] and later married the sister. He was in the employ of the writer. Captain Colley was a most successful man and owned a fine vessel. He was lost at the ice, as before mentioned. Mrs. [Matilda] Colley died only a few years ago. They left a very nice family, who, like their father, have made their mark. Llewellyn was a teacher for some years at Bishop Feild College. He was a clever man; unmarried. Ambrose married a daughter, Violetta, of my friend, James Matthews. They have a large family and reside at Channel, where he carries on a flourishing fish business. He clerked and was an agent for Robert Moulton from some years at Rose Blanche. Robert Colley has lived some years at Detroit, U.S.A. He married a Miss Causman at Channel a few years ago and returned there again. Annie Colley was also a teacher. She married Captain Jacob Vatcher and has a nice home there. They have only one child, a girl, almost now grown up. The Captain has been a long time Master and has been very successful. Miss Josie [Colley] has been teaching ever since she was a pupil and left school. She left us a year or two ago. She was missed by the Sunday School and Church. She was a splendid organist and very fond of music; particularly bright and lively.

    Jane Forward, the youngest, or next to the youngest, [of Lambert and Hannah (Cox) Forward's children] married George Dicks, the second of that name. I have mentioned this family in the Dick's line. Mrs. Dicks is still with us and lives up to Mercers. This now covers the Forward family.

    We come next to [*George] Mr. Bowdridge. He married Susan Richard, whose family resided at Upper Burgeo but moved to West Point before 1860. Mr. Bowdridge was a stepson of John Cox, the first merchant. They [the Bowdridge's] were married September 21st, 1848, by Reverend John Cunningham, at Upper Burgeo. They had as family: George, Samson, Reuben, Leonard, Matilda, Frances, and Isabella; yes, one more, Cox, a son. I do not remember any others. Mr. Bowdridge carried on a small business at Upper Burgeo for some years. He also built a schooner here, say 30 tons. The material was obtained at Grandy's Brook. He also was a great mover as petitioner for a grant to have the canal cut through Broad Marsh. This has proved to be of mcalculable benefit to the two Burgeo's. It was cut in 1867.

    George [Bowdridge], my young friend, was of a splendid disposition, a great fisherman and worker. The building of the Sidon was his great delight. Unfortunately, he died young. After being taken with pneumonia, he only lived a few days. He was unmarried.

    Samson [Bowdridge] married a Miss Tipple. They moved away to Prince Edward Island. I known nothing of this family. He had become a Master Mariner the last I heard of him.

    Reuben [Bowdridge] lived first at Upper Burgeo. He married Georgina Guy who did not live long; died of consumption. She left a daughter, who lives with her grandmother Guy at Halifax, a very delicate girl. Reuben's second wife was a Miss Oake, a teacher. They have lived at Ramea for some years. He was agent for Henry Clement.

    Leonard [Bowdridge] lives at Mercers. He married Matilda Dicks, daughter of George, the second of that name. They have a large family. Some nice boys. Mr. [Leonard] Bowdridge is a good churchman and has been a Church Warden for many years.

    Matilda [Bowdridge] married my old friend and neighbour of sixty years, Philip Dicks, a most industrious man. He has a fine premises on the old stand of his father. He is Uncle Phil to all the neighbours around. I go to see him as often as I can to chat with him. He is always at work in his shop. He can carpenter, cooper, or do anything and if you want to borrow go to Uncle Phil. No finer neighbour ever lived. He is well informed and knows what is what. They have had a nice family. One son, George, is Captain and owner of his own vessel. He always ties up at his father's wharf, which will, no doubt, be his later on. The girls are all settled down except for Winnie and Isabel, and I suppose this is only a question of time. The others, I cannot name, live in Nova Scotia, Boston, and Grand Falls.

    Frances [Bowdridge] married Thomas Guy, one of my boyhood chums. He died many years ago of consumption. They had two girls. _______ married James Buffett, of Morgan. They lived at Mercers. James [Buffett] died in 1910. The other daughter [of Thomas and Frances (Bowdridge) Guy], ___________ went to the States and Frances and [her widowed daughter] Mrs. Buffett went to join her there somewhere way west. The two daughters [of Thomas and Frances (Bowdridge) Guy] both married in the United States.

    Isabella [Bowdridge] married Robert Andrews, a teacher at Upper Burgeo. She did not live long, say two or three years. This covers the Bowdridge family.

    The next family we take up is that of Augustus Chevalier. He was a Frenchman, born at Arichat, Nova Scotia. He moved to St. Pierre. I do not know when or how he got to Upper Burgeo. He married Susan Anderson, a sister of William, Edward, John, George, and I think, Thomas, of West Point, was another brother. They [the Chevaliers] had four daughters: Harriet, Priscilla, Ellen, and Valentia. Harriet [Chevalier] married George Hunt of Ramea, who died in 1866 of consumption. They had one child, a girl, Florence, who married James Hewitt or Huet. They moved to Sydney. She died some ten years ago. James Hewitt then married widow Pinel, the former Alice Dicks.

    Ellen [Chevalier] married my old friend Lambert Forward [junior]. I made mention of this family in the Forward line.

    Priscilla [Chevalier] married Edward Murphy, operator at Grandy's Brook from 1867 to 1874. They moved to Sydney.

    Valentia married Ambrose Forward. I have mentioned this family under the Forward line. They still live at Lingan [Cape Breton]. Mr. and Mrs. Chevalier moved to Sydney where their daughters lived. Mrs. [Priscilla] Murphy and Harriet, their daughter, went with them. They, and the Murphys, all passed away some years ago.

    Thomas Skeard, a widower, lived here with two sons and one daughter. They moved to Channel in the late seventies. I know nothing of this family.

    Richard Skeard married Eleanor Anderson of Upper Burgeo, 16th September, 1842. She was the daughter of William Anderson, the first of that name, and sister to Mrs. Chevalier. By this marriage there were two sons, William and Thomas. The latter was "adopted" by Mrs. [Susan] Chevalier, his aunt. Mr. [Richard] Skeard married again. They all moved to Channel. I met the old man last in 1900. We sat on a hill pan of an afternoon and talked of old times in Burgeo. Thomas Skeard, son of Richard, married his [first] cousin, daughter of Thomas Skeard, and William married some person in Channel.

    We find Mrs. MacDonald here with her three children. She is a widow, daughter of Thomas Reid, the Magistrate at LaPoile. She taught the school here for some time. Bruce [MacDonald], the oldest and a companion of the writer, lived at the Parsonage for a few years. Reverend Cunningham sent him to school at St. John's. On his return he took the Ramea school and taught for a while. In the fall of 1869 he cleared out and went to St. John, New Brunswick, with a Captain Griffn, who annually came to Ramea for herring. He wrote to his mother for a year or two, then stopped. Nothing has ever been known of what happened to him. Laura [MacDonald] married Reuben Parsons, operator at Grandy's Brook. They went to St. Pierre. She did not live long. George [MacDonald], who went with them in the Cable Office, also died young. Mrs. MacDonald went to LaPoile and lived with the old folks. They have all passed away and are buried there. Mrs. MacDonald was a very nice person.

    The next family, Edward Anderson and his wife Isabella (Forward), passed away as I have before mentioned in the Forward line.

    George Anderson, brother of Edward, married Bethania Childs of LaPoile, in June 1853. I know nothing of their children. Mrs. [Bethania] Anderson died at Upper Burgeo in the eighties and her husband later went to Sydney with his sister, Mrs. [Susan] Chevalier and died there.

    William Anderson, the fine old Patriarch of Upper Burgeo, married first, a daughter of Grandmother Dicks. There was no family by this marriage. He afterwards married Susannah Poole and they had a nice family. The writer knew them all. They are as follows: [Sarah, Martha Jane, Thomas, William, Joseph, and two other daughters].

    Sarah [Anderson] married Samuel Wrixon, an Englishman, and a very nice man. He was a great reader. Mrs. [Sarah] Wrixon died in the late seventies and left some family. I know of one, Nellie, who is somewhere in the States, unmarried a year or two ago. Samuel Wrixon moved to Sydney and then to the States where he married again. He died only a year ago.

    Martha Jane [Anderson] married George Collier. They lived with the old Gentleman [William Anderson] for years until he died at Upper Burgeo. He is buried on the SandBankss. Later, Martha Jane and George moved to Burgeo; to the Reach. George died only last week, May lst. They had no family. He was a Civil War Veteran and enjoyed a good pension from the American Government. After the close of the war, 1865, he sailed the Seven Seas and up to the time of his death he could give you a full account of his voyages, which were very interesting.

    Thomas [Anderson], I think was the third of the family. He left home in the seventies and went to the Southern States. He never returned but married and lived in Texas. The last I heard of him, he was a carpenter.

    William [Anderson junior] married Harriet, daughter of Henry Strickland senior. They moved to Sydney first, then to British Columbia. He still writes home to his sister, Mrs. Collier. __________ married Joshua Strickland of Upper Burgeo. They moved to Sydney. I know nothing of them only that Mr. [Joshua] Strickland died some years ago.

    Joseph [Anderson], my friend, lives here. He married Fanny, daughter of William Billard. They had a family: [Hubert, Joseph, John, one daughter who was crippled, and two other daughters who "went away.] Hubert [Anderson] of Mercers, married a daughter of Hugh and Mary Dominy. Joseph [Anderson junior] died two years ago. They have a crippled daughter, now forty years old, who has never walked. Two other daughters went away and I dare say married. John [Anderson], who lives here, married Lizzie Vatcher. John and Lizzie (Vatcher) Anderson had a family:[John, William, Susie, and another daughter in Nova Scotia.] John [Anderson junior] went away, single, to sea. William [son of John and Lizzie] married Dorothy Matthews. They live with the parents. Susie [Anderson] married Hubert Dicks. Both died in the States a few years ago, of consumption. They had a nice home at Malden, Massachusetts. They left behind two sons who were brought here. One died only a baby; the other, a nice American boy, (he says), who will return to that country some day. Another daughter [of John and Lizzie (Vatcher) Anderson] married in Nova Scotia. I do not know to whom or where they live. This, I think, covers the family of Mr. and Mrs. [Joseph] Anderson senior, who were nice people and great workers. This accounts for their smart children who are also pushers. However, Joseph is now feeling his many exposures.

    I think Thomas Anderson of West Point was a brother to this family as I find in the Church Records he lived at Upper Burgeo in 1842, with his wife, Bethania. Robert Anderson, Otter s Point, was the father of James, William, John, George, and Benjamin; all of whom the writer knew in the sixties. James, living here at Mercers, is a grandson. The Anderson's of Burgeo were not of this family. They came from Fortune Bay and have been mentioned.

    James Matthews comes next. He was a brother of the John who moved from Upper Burgeo to Petites with his family before 1860. The wife of James Matthews I remember but do not know who she was. This couple died years ago and are buried in the SandBankss Cemetery. One son, William, married Louise Forward. They moved to Petites in the eighties and later to Sydney. Both died a few years ago. One daughter, Grace, married John Bobbett in 1872. They later moved to Labrador. There may have been others, if so I have forgotten them.

    We find also, in this little cove, Henry Strickland, whose wife was a Skeard. She died many years ago. and Mr. Skeard in, say the late nineties. They had a family: [Henry, Dinah, Deborah, Joshua, and Harriet]. Henry [Strickland junior] married Amelia Matthews. They are both still living; he is 82. Dinah [Strickland] married at Channel. Deborah [Strickland] married Thomas Hickman of Grand Banks. They had no family. He [Thomas Hickman] died in 1925. Joshua [Strickland] married Eleanor Anderson, daughter of Uncle William [and Susannah (Poole) Anderson]. They moved to Sydney when the exodus took place from Upper Burgeo in the eighties. Harriet [Strickland] married William Anderson, of Uncle William [and Susannah (Poole) Anderson.] They had no family. They moved to Sydney, then to British Columbia, where they are still living.

    Widow Keeping is the last family. She was the widow of George Keeping, who died before 1860. Her son, Robert, married Susan Dicks of Burgeo. She did not live long, like her sister [Eliza], who married George Hunt, she died of consumption, in 1866. He [Robert Keeping] then married a Barter of Cape La Hune. His second wife survives him. He died in 1923. He was a servant with us in the sixties and a friend up to the last of his life. We were both pleased to meet when it was possible to do so. John, Edward, and Lambert went to Gloucester, Massachusetts years ago. Jane [Keeping] married Samuel Rose. He died in 1904. They had a large family of girls, three married at St George's. The widow [Jane (Keeping) Rose] lives with the youngest, married to a Mrs. Farmer, now living at Gloucester. Lambert [Rose] married at Sydney. William [Rose] is still here. He married widow Phoebe Bungay. They had one girl, who is at Halifax. The oldest daughter [of George and Widow Keeping] was first married to John Matthews, one of Uncle John's sons. He [John Matthews junior] died before 1860, leaving two sons, George and John. The latter died, George is still living and a widower.