Posts - Page 14 of 15 - The History of Little Bay

Rev. Abraham

Rev. Henry Abraham (1860-1933) was Little Bay’s fourth Methodist minister; he was a pivotal figure whose influence extended beyond the pulpit. Serving from 1886 to 1889, his connection to the town began earlier, in 1883, when he was stationed at Betts Cove. In Little Bay, Abraham embodied many roles: he was a devoted father, a loving husband, a passionate minister, an inspiring teacher, and an activist. This article delves into the multifaceted life of Rev. Abraham, exploring how his roles and e ...

The Journal of Little Bay’s Paymaster Henry Lind

1888 January 1st: Hercules left 2nd: Office and stores closed today for New Years Day. 3rd: Mrs. Diem died this morning aged 35 years. 4th: Very frosty. Snow during night. 5th: Snowing nearly all day. 6th: Snowing till about 10 AM. Put in the advances in the morning and time in the evening. Mrs. Diem buried at 2:30 PM. 7th: Snowed during night. Put in contracts and collections. 8th: Snow during night. 9th: Commenced calculating at 11AM. SS Falcon from St. John’s at 6 PM and left for ...

The Weather Lights

In a recent video I posted a 1980s interview with a woman from Little Bay Islands named Dorothy Locke in which she speaks about her experiences growing up on the island with particular focus on life there in the 1930s. It's an amazing listen and really brings the time and place to life. But one of the things she mentions really stood out for me, it's a phenomena called "the weather lights" and it's a curious attention grabber. I'd never heard the phrase but a quick Google search turned up an ar ...

E.R. Burgess

https://youtu.be/Qe9f9Me5eo0 Sources: Wells, All Quiet (2012) Romkey, "Labrador Odyssey" (1996) Moncrief, "History of Presbyterian Church" (1966) Harvey "Newfoundland at the Beginning of the 20th Century" (1902) Supreme Court documents Twillingate Sun Evening Telegram Newfoundland Almanac The will of James Carter

History of the Salvation Army in Little Bay

1888 January 14 Two female Salvation Army officers - Lieutenant Lizzie Penny and Cadet Lizzie Howse arrive in Little Bay via the steamship Plover (Twillingate Sun, Moyles). January 21 The Salvation Army are said to hold "nightly noisy meetings" in two small houses (Twillingate Sun). ...

Little Bay Historical Figures

If you're following the Facebook fan page you've likely already seen this, I'm just putting the list here as well so that it's easier for people to find online. It's a list of 19th century Little Bay residents that I’d like to find photographs of or more information on. I’m just sharing some of what I've got and hoping that families with other sources will share too. Baron Franz von Ellershausen - He was German and came to Newfoundland in 1878 from Nova Scotia where he had a whole town named ...

1888

JanuaryLittle Bay had been quiet that holiday season - a point of pride for the town’s Temperance movement who eagerly solicited “signatures to a petition asking the Council and House of Assembly to write legislation with regard to the sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquors. About 150 names the chief officers of the mines” were collected. The Little Bay Brass Band “accompanied by lighted torches marched round the town and cheered the inhabitants.” But the calm wouldn’t last. A new disrup ...

1887

January As the year 1887 opened the ban against alcohol came into effect (Twillingate Sun, January 1, 1887). Sergeant Wells hired spies to buy alcohol and report back to him on its sellers (Wells, 164). On January 22nd the cops busted up alcohol operations at the houses of Fitzgerald and McLean. Mrs. McLean was charged with assaulting a police officer (Wells, 165). Wells was reported as the bane of evildoers “bringing justice to the “invincibles in this Little Bay of ours.” It was reported tha ...

1886

January The year 1886 opened bleak as the fisheries were increasingly dismal and the mining operations had now been slowed for months. In a letter to the editor of the Twillingate Sun that January was written “We have just entered upon another New Year, and what has it brought us more than years that are passed? To the poor it has brought poverty, hunger and cold. We can see men and women (walking skeletons, for nothing better we can call them) wending their way to the Magistrates, begging re ...

1885

January The year 1885 opened with shipping problems caused by heavy ice. People on route were instead dropped as close as possible and left to walk the ice the rest of the way and freight being shipped to town was returned to St. John’s still onboard steamer (Evening Telegram, January 6, 1885). This hindered communication, especially among the working class, as “the charge for sending messages exorbitant the general public from availing of the privilege of communicating by telegraph” (Twilli ...

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