In 1880 the copper boom peaked for Notre Dame Bay. This was the high-water mark but the decline would be slow across the rest of the 19th century, coming in fits and starts before puckering out in the early 1900s. But, these were still the boom years and the town was being hailed as “Newfoundland’s el Dorado” (Moments in Time). It also gained some fancy government appointees this year such as a shiny new Magistrate by the name John B. Blandford (Twillingate Sun). A subcollector named Duder was assigned to Betts Cove but he’d end up in Little Bay soon enough. The Twillingate Sun reported that the “nucleus of a thriving and populous little town [had] been laid.” The optimism about the place was damn high in 1880, the sentiment summed up nicely as an “admiration for the Little Bay Mine [that looked forward] to the future [where there was] every reason to believe that Newfoundland was destined to become one of the greatest copper-mining countries in the world” (The Book of Newfoundland, P. 420).

Access to the town was still entirely by water and families continued to arrive by schooners but there were also at least three recurring steamers; the Hercules, the Bessie and the Plover. They shipped largely between Little Bay and St. John’s or Europe, a fact that would become a point of contention in Twillingate as they came and went again with full cargos sometimes neglecting to service Twillingate. Steamers were faster than schooners and not designed for passengers, however, as David Dobbin noted, you could still pay for travel if you didn’t mind sleeping “in a hammock with the crew” (Perry, P. 46).

By this time, “the population was documented between 1400 and 1500” (Twillingate Sun). And the more people came the more drama followed. The Supreme Court documents note a woman named Mary Ellen Flaherty who, along with “her co-conspirators” was fined a hefty $100 for the crime of “concealment of birth.” There were several tragedies in 1880. A miner named John Applton died by falling down a mineshaft on September 2nd. On October 21st a ship called The Jozy was wrecked off the shore and brought in for repairs. On November 19th another fatality occurred when William Maddigan also fell to his death down a mineshaft (Twillingate Sun). 

Rev. Gunn made a public appeal for money for his church in June (Harbour Grace Standard). The Presbyterian Church was still the place to be but was about to come under new management. “There was a brief vacancy between the departure of Mr. Gunn and the arrival of the Reverend W. Scott Whittier [. . .] in September” (Moncrieff). This was the first of many changes in the town’s leadership over the next two years.

Baron von Ellershausen wanted out too and moved to liquidate the company and sell and “after initiating negotiations with some New York capitalists, he spent two weeks showing the Notre Dame Bay copper properties to one of the representatives. The man’s favourable report led the New Yorkers to incorporate in September 1880 into The Newfoundland Consolidated Copper Mining Company Limited [a name that would become] synonymous with all that was dishonest and fraudulent” (Martin).

There were several notable visitors this year. A professor Stewart of Nova Scotia gave the mine a glowing review and the Governor of Newfoundland made his second trip. Governor Glover arrived with Newfoundland’s Justice of the Peace; W. J. S. Donnelly to settle a, perhaps not surprising, ownership dispute with the mine (Journal of the House of Assembly). The Governor may have come for the business but he stayed for the party and the way Howley tells it they had “a glorious time” to tell the townies about back in St. John’s (Howley, P. 484).

In Little Bay, however, the times weren’t looking so good – what the new owners lacked of Ellershausen’s social planning and mine management skills they were going to make up for in good old-fashioned greed. And the Americans were just one of the international interests at play here. An increasing demand for copper was being fuelled by increased electricity use across America and Europe, a trend that would invite its own problems as varied interests wrestled to profit from and control the rising price of copper (Martin). Mo money, mo problems. As Little Bay was increasingly reported on by newspapers both on and off the island the closest publication, the Twillingate Sun, responded by officially requesting special reports from the town on December 9th. Where there was cash, celebrity, danger, and drama there was gonna be news – the world was watching.

Sources:

Perry, Felix “In Deep Water” 2006
“Moments in Time” 1994
Martin, Wendy “Once Upon a Mine” 1984
Moncrieff, Wilfred M “A History of the Presbyterian Church in Newfoundland 1842-1967” 1966
“The Book of Newfoundland” 1967
Howley,  “Reminiscences of the forty-two years of exploration” 1914
“The Twillingate Sun” 1880
“Harbour Grace Standard” 1880
“Evening Telegram” 1880
“Journal of the House of Assembly”

Residents:

* Baron Franz von Ellershausen – mine management (Martin)
* Adolf Guzman – mine management (Martin)
* John B. Blandford – magistrate (Twillingate Sun, 1880)
* Rev. Arthur Pittman – Church of England (Moncrieff)
* Rev. Stephen O’Flynn – Catholic Church (Moncrieff)
* Rev. Archibald Gunn – Presbyterian Church (Moncrieff)
* Rev. W. Scott Whittier – Presbyterian Church (Moncrieff)
* Dr. Stafford – town surgeon (Twillingate Sun, Sept 1882)
* The Benson family – merchants (Who’s Who)
* The Head family – miners (Atlantic Guardian, Sept 1948)
* The Bouzane family – tree cutters (Deck’s Awash, Vol. 17 No.5)
* John Appleton – miner (Twillingate Sun, 1880)
* William Maddigan – miner (Twillingate Sun, 1880)
* Mary Ellen Flaherty (Supreme Court documents)
* Birth of Elizabeth Gunn – maiden name unknown (1921 census)
* Birth of Virtue Knight – maiden name unknown (1921 census)
* Birth of Mary Head – maiden name unknown (1921 census)
* Birth of Emeline Welchman – maiden name unknown (1921 census)
* Birth of Emma Wells – maiden name unknown (1921 census)
* Birth of Jemina Bussey to Joseph and Eliza (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of William Foley to William and Mary Ann (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of James Allan Shearan Griffin to Bridget (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Elsie Jane Hull to William (fisherman) and Sophie Anstey (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Frederick James and Arsenal Elizabeth Clarke to Josiah and Dinah (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Stephen James Faney to Josiah and Emma Jane (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Mary Ellen Hughes to Henry and Cecelia (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Jospeh Heckter Mcdougall to Neil (miner) and Bridget Pitman (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Elizabeth Ann Green to Edward (planter) and Susanna (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Jospeh Adolphus Taylor to George B and Elizabeth (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Rebecca Emily Taylor to George and Ester Sarah (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Sarah Jane Randell to George and Susannah (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Charles Kellings to George and Mary (Vital Stats, 1753-1893)
* Birth of Annie Maud Huestis to Joseph Bigney and Katherine Mcnutt (Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915)
* Birth of Thomas Henry Garrity to William and Lilian Spry (Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954)