This one has it all – rum running, arson, religious intolerance, and perhaps even hints of murder – if you’ll allow me my suspicions anyway! What follows is the Richards family’s journey in Little Bay.

John Thomas Richards married Sarah Dawe at New Bay Head in March of 1865. The couple moved to Little Bay in 1882 with their children – William, Isaac, Temple, and Evangeline. John listed as a trader during the mining boon but later as a fishermen when mining operations stalled. A letter to the editor of the Twillingate Sun described him as a “white haired boy” which is an old British slang for a favourite or darling. The same letter refers to him as one of the “old foxes” involved in Little Bay’s liquor trade. It is also written that he refused to testify against Michael McLean after the undercover police raid in 1887. He willingly served seven days in gaol for keeping his mouth shut in that case.

The following year, 1888, was a rough year for the Richards. Their house was lost to a forest fire which was callously started by Stephen Huxter at Wolf’s Cove. Their daughter Evangeline was said to have lost her mind afterward which landed her in the police lockup. Magistrate Blandford ordered Mr. Richards have a man in charge of her as Sergeant Wells was away from town on another matter. That same year marked changes to the town’s religious structure.

The Richards had been heavily involved with the Church of England but Rev. Turner left in 1888 after accusations of drinking were made against him which he publicly denied. There had been a rising tide of Temperance growing since 1883 when it was founded by the Presbyterian church leadership. Little Bay’s Temperance movement found staunch support from the town’s police force. Public opinion on alcohol consumption shifted. The police came down hard on alcohol sales with increasingly questionable methods used. At the same time, a series of fires referred to as the “tennis fires” saw the back and forth arsons of pro and anti alcohol homes and establishments. Several young men connected with alcohol died around this time. I’ve found no record of these deaths being suspicious but considering the police involvement with Temperance I question if they would be. Murder is not a huge leap considering the cost of life associated with an ongoing arson war. John Lamb had to publicly decry alcohol after his Skittle Alley was torched in 1887. The Innkeeper, Big Dan Courtney, died in 1887 at the age of 33. The arsonist Robert Malcom in 1888 at the age of 29. These are just some examples. I suspect John Richards found himself in a tight spot and his saving grace may have been the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army arrived in the form of two young female cadets in 1888. The denomination was new and their practices were unwelcome. Early reports from the town regarding them were unkind. They faced assault and vandalism. The mine refused them land for a barracks so they held services in the woods only to be pelted with snowballs on their return home. On the surface it’s surprising that they found any converts at all but I’ve uncovered a trend which may help explain their success as some of the Salvation Army’s early converts came from families associated with alcohol use and the Church of England.

The Church of England did not side heavily with the absolute stance of Little Bay’s Temperance movement in the beginning with church functions and events hosted at such venues as John Lamb’s Skittle Alley and ran by the wives of men involved in the alcohol business. The combination of legal and illegal pressures from the growing Temperance movement not only impacted the alcohol related businesses but put the men associated with those businesses in serious harm’s way. My hunch is that Rev. Turner’s denial of casual drinking and his apparent expulsion marked a loss of congregational protection for those families which the Salvation Army subsequently provided. The Salvation Army had its own challenges in town but I believe the Temperance movement had turned the Church of England congregation more seriously against families like the Richards. Joining the Salvation Army made it an issue of religious denomination as oppose to a culture divide over drinking.  Whatever flack the Salvation Army faced from the community lacked the frightening police support of the Temperance crowd so while they might face a snowball or a broken window their converts avoided the threat of arson or worse.

John’s son William, who’d had previous run-ins with the police for street brawling died in Little Bay in 1890 at the age of 26. He was not Salvation Army. Two years later in 1892 John’s son Issac was listed as Salvation Army at his wedding. Evangeline married in 1896 as Salvation Army. Temple married in 1898 as Salvation Army.

Conversion may not have protected everyone from fire and two devastated the area in 1903 and 1904. This dropped the once sizeable town of Little Bay from a population of over 2000 to one under 200 but the Richards, luckily, had migrated before those in 1901. Like many of the people of Little Bay they left for the mining boon at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. John Richards and his son Temple were heavily involved with the Salvation Army in Glace Bay where John found himself employed as a drayman – delivering beer for a local brewery by horse and cart. I’d like to think that gave him the last laugh.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this piece. I owe much thanks to Albert Clark for his help on this family. If you know more about the Richards please let me know, I’d especially love to find a picture of John. If you’d like to help out with this project you can donate to my Patreon here or follow my Facebook page here. Sharing my posts helps as new followers lead me to new sources. If you have further information on the Richards or any other family covered please reach out and let me know. Your support for this project is ever appreciated!

Below you’ll find my sources for the Richards family in Little Bay.

• 1882 – John Richards (trader) vs Henry Andrews – debt (SC docs)
• 1883 – John Richards (trader) New Bay vs Caroline Boone and John Boone, executors in the estate of the late Isaac Boone, Little Bay – debt (SC docs)
• 1883 – John Richards (trader) vs Francis Budgell – debt (SC docs)
• 1883 – John Richards vs William Wholan (TS, Sept 21)
• 1883 – John Richards vs George Simms (TS, Sept 21)
• 1883 – John Richards (trader) v Benjamin Billings (fisherman) debt (SC docs)
• 1883 – Aug 11, “J. Cooney, Wm. Richards, and James Fahey were fighting on the street near Huxter’s public house” (Wells)
• 1885 – Mrs. Richards helped to organize the Fancy Fair (TS, June 13)
• 1885 – Mrs. Richards and Mrs. J. P. Diem had the most attractive presentation at the Church of England Bazaar (ET, Oct 20)
• 1887 – Jan 26th “7:00 a.m. Constable Meaney proceeded on duty to the loading wharf to serve subpoenas on Rolling and Phillips. He discharged the duty and returned to police station at 8:30 a.m.; then he served a subpoena on John Richards at the Court House at 9:45 a.m. Court opened at 11:20 a.m. when the case of Sergt. Wells vs. Michael McLean for a breach of the 2^nd Section of the License Act was commenced. The defendant denied the charge whereupon the complainant and his witnesses were examined, viz., Sergt. Wells, the two Constables, and 7 others whose names are mentioned above. On the examination of the last witness (John Richards) or, rather after His Worship had ministered the oath to him, the first question he put to the witness ran thus, “Have you at any time during the past six months had any transactions in the shape of liquor, or spirits, with Mr. or Mrs. McLean?” The witness replied, “I am not prepared to answer that question.” His Worship told him that he was bound to answer that question. If he did not answer, he would have to be committed to Her Majesty’s Gaol for seven days, whereupon the witness replied that he would take the gaol first. His Worship then committed him for 7 days. This closed the case for the prosecution” (Wells)
• 1887 – Jan 27th “Court opened at 11:00 a.m. The adjourned case of Sergt. Wells vs. Michael McLean was called, and the complainant and defendant were present. His Worship asked for the prisoner, John Richards, who had been sent below yesterday for refusing to answer the question put to him by the court. On being brought up, His Worship asked him if he had changed his mind since yesterday. Richard replied: “I am of the same mind as I was yesterday.” His Worship sent him below again” (Wells)
• 1887 – “Mr. McLean was summoned for a breach of the 2^nd Section of the License Act, and the following persons were summoned as witnesses by the sergeant, viz., Allan McArthur, shoemaker; Thomas Osbourn, miner; Selby Dawe, ex-accountant; Walter Rolling, driver and fireman; Charles Phillips, jack of all trades; Jeremiah Squires, miner; and, last, but not least, John Richards of New Bay Head, fisherman” [. . .]“In going through the evidence for the prosecution, I omitted to mention the part which the Witness, Richards, took in his little game of ‘Old Foxes’. You must remember that the witnesses were all old customers of Mrs. Mc’s. At least, the sergeant says so, and he was fighting the ‘Old Foxes’ with their own tails, so to speak. I say that the Witness, Richards, played his part well, and after being sworn, and when asked by the Magistrate if had bought any liquor from the defendant, or from any of his family, he (Richards) refused to answer the question, for which he was sent below for seven days. Richards is looked upon here as the white-haired boy, although there is no hair on his head where the wool ought to grow” (TS, April 2)
• 1888 – Arrival of the Salvation Army corresponds with the departure of Rev. Turner
• 1888 – June 6th “At 2:30 p.m., John Richards’ daughter, Evangeline, was brought into the lockup. The Magistrate ordered Richards to have a man in charge of her since Sergeant Wells was away” (Wells)
• 1888 – Mrs. E. Richards present (TS, Oct 22)
• 1889 – May 2nd “Nothing of importance occurred at this station since the 17^th inst. Constable Sutton shot 2 dogs on the New Line yesterday. Paid the boy, Richards, 20¢ for removing the two dogs” (Wells)
• 1889 – “A girl named Richards lost her mind and became a source of much trouble to her parents, requiring, I have been told, continuous watching. Her father’s house was burnt down by the forest fire of June 6th, last year, and the unfortunate family left to shift for themselves. This girl was taken charge of by the civil authorities and placed for safely in the prison. She was then, to the surprise of many, allowed at large, no doubt” [. . .] “Justice, no doubt, commingled with charity, was the principle which obtained in the case of the girl Richards. Justice precedes charity, and the later precedes gallantry. If I were that girl Richards I’d be mad myself for the little attention she got, and the ungallant way in which she was made to get out” (ET, Aug 16).
• 1889 – Mrs. W. Richards donated to the Harbour Grace Cathedral Fund (HGS, Oct 11)
• 1889 – Temple Richards performed in a concert put off by the Church of England school teacher. He is one of the Church of England students who performed the play “Try Again Company” (TS, Dec 21)
• 1889 – John and William Richards present (Voter’s List)
• 1890 – Death of William Richards (son of John Thomas Richards and Sarah Dawe / husband of Louisa Spencer). Age 26 (UC burials)
• 1890 – Abraham Harvey vs Abraham Richards (planter) $1000 for damages (SC docs)
• 1892 – Issac Richards marries Elizabeth Mary Dowell. They are Salvation Army. He was born at New Bay Head (Civ marriages)
• 1894 – John, Isaac, and William Richards listed as fishermen at Little Bay Harbour (1894 census)
• 1895 – John and Thomas Richards sign Requisition to Robert Bond
• 1895 – July 13, Isaac Richards (miner) and Elizabeth Dowell have Pierce William (Civ births)
• 1896 – Marriage of Evangeline Richards (daughter of John Thomas Richards and Sarah Dawe) They are Salvation Army. Andrew Gillard and Mary Richards as witnesses (Civ marriages)
• 1898 – “Sept. 5th at the Methodist Parsonage, Little Bay, by Rev. E. MANNING, Mr. William H. RICHARDS to Miss Louisa SPENCER, both of Little Bay.” (TS)
• 1898 – Temple Richard’s wedding to Amelia Rideout on Nov 5th. They were Salvation Army (family bible)
• 1898 – Oct 10th, Isaac Richards and Elizabeth Dowell have Lulu (dedication certificate)
• 1901 – The Richards are found at Glace Bay, NS (1901 census)
• 1903 – John referred to as a Drayman in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia (Land transaction)
• 1904 – John, Isaac, and Temple Richards listed as fishermen at Indian Bight (McAlpine)
• 1921 – Teacher John B Richards (Annual report of the dept of ed, 1921-1922)