Nova Scotia
Halifax
In the summer of 1752 the ship "Pearl" sailed from Rotterdam, Holland and arrived at Halifax on August 11. Aboard that ship were 212 persons including my Great (x5) Grandfather Johann Wilhelm Gorkum, his wife and children, and some children of his brother Johann Hermann Gorkum. Herman and his wife were among the 39 persons who had died on the voyage. The ship was kept at anchor for two weeks on arrival as the authorities were concerned about contagious disease.
What was life like in 1750 to make a decision to leave your home and travel a very long way to an unknown place to make a new home? The Canadian Virtual Museum has some are fascinating stories of that time. John Dick is real however the others are "composites" of people of that time.
The London Board of Trade in 1749 described it like this... maybe they were overselling it just a bit?
"that the Climate is as healthy, and the Soil as Rich and fertile as any other of the British colonies, affording, when cultivated, all the Comforts and Conveniences of Life. That the Seacoast abounds with Fish in greater plenty and variety than any other part of America and is peculiarly adapted to Commerce and Navigation. . . That the Inland Parts are very proper for the cultivation and Produce of Grain, Hemp, Flax and all other Commodities that are to be found or produced in other parts of America, and which are now produced in all such parts of this Province as have been hitherto cultivated. That a number of British Subjects were this year sent from England to settle... That the said Settlers have had constant Supplies of fresh provisions from the French Inhabitants of the said province who remained there after the Treaty of Utrecht ... and whose Farms produce Corn and Cattle in great Abundance...."
UPDATE - March 1, 2022 - Unfortunately the VirtualMuseum web site was taken down in 2021 but the site had been archived on the Wayback Machine site. I have updated the links which will now go to that archive.
1. John Dick: Hired to Get German Emigrants to Canada, 1750-1752
John Dick was contracted by England to provide protestant settlers to Nova Scotia.
2. Anna Elizabeth Meissner: German Emigrant to Canada, 1751
"Anna" describes their decision to leave Germany as life there was hard and they were hoping it could be better here.
3. Jakob, Child Emigrant from Germany to Canada, 1752
"Jakob" tells about their travels from Germany to Rotterdam and then aboard ship to Halifax.
4. Johann Schmitt: German Emigrant to Canada, 1750
"Johann" arrived in Halifax just a year after the founding (before "Anna" and "Jakob") and he describes what he found when he arrived and what it was like to live in Halifax for two years until he moved to Lunenburg and the first years of life there.
Each of these three persons could have been describing the decisions and travels of my Great (x5) Grandparents.
Here is another item that describes the conditions endured by these immigrants during their travels. It is posted to the memorial page on Find-a-Grave of John Lohnes, the father of Michael Lohnes who married the eldest daughter of Johann Wilhelm Gorkum.
The London Board of Trade in 1749 described it like this... maybe they were overselling it just a bit?
"that the Climate is as healthy, and the Soil as Rich and fertile as any other of the British colonies, affording, when cultivated, all the Comforts and Conveniences of Life. That the Seacoast abounds with Fish in greater plenty and variety than any other part of America and is peculiarly adapted to Commerce and Navigation. . . That the Inland Parts are very proper for the cultivation and Produce of Grain, Hemp, Flax and all other Commodities that are to be found or produced in other parts of America, and which are now produced in all such parts of this Province as have been hitherto cultivated. That a number of British Subjects were this year sent from England to settle... That the said Settlers have had constant Supplies of fresh provisions from the French Inhabitants of the said province who remained there after the Treaty of Utrecht ... and whose Farms produce Corn and Cattle in great Abundance...."
UPDATE - March 1, 2022 - Unfortunately the VirtualMuseum web site was taken down in 2021 but the site had been archived on the Wayback Machine site. I have updated the links which will now go to that archive.
1. John Dick: Hired to Get German Emigrants to Canada, 1750-1752
John Dick was contracted by England to provide protestant settlers to Nova Scotia.
2. Anna Elizabeth Meissner: German Emigrant to Canada, 1751
"Anna" describes their decision to leave Germany as life there was hard and they were hoping it could be better here.
3. Jakob, Child Emigrant from Germany to Canada, 1752
"Jakob" tells about their travels from Germany to Rotterdam and then aboard ship to Halifax.
4. Johann Schmitt: German Emigrant to Canada, 1750
"Johann" arrived in Halifax just a year after the founding (before "Anna" and "Jakob") and he describes what he found when he arrived and what it was like to live in Halifax for two years until he moved to Lunenburg and the first years of life there.
Each of these three persons could have been describing the decisions and travels of my Great (x5) Grandparents.
Here is another item that describes the conditions endured by these immigrants during their travels. It is posted to the memorial page on Find-a-Grave of John Lohnes, the father of Michael Lohnes who married the eldest daughter of Johann Wilhelm Gorkum.
Lunenburg
For the emigrants who were unable to pay their fare, John Dick had an arrangement where they would pay off their debt by working for the authorities on arrival until their passage was paid. Winthrop Bell's records show that Wilhelm was indebted for 4-1/2 freights. A "freight" was the fare for an adult (over 14), and children 4 to 14 were 1/2 freight, under 4 not charged. Bell says his family group consisted of nine people - one adult male, one adult female, five children 4-14 and two children under 4. So the family then would have been:
- Wilhelm and Sophia - full fares
- Anna Maria (12), Wilhelm Jr. (11), Johann George (8), and Johannes (6) - But that is only 4 at half fare
- George Heinrich (3) and Hermann (2) - not charged.
Having arrived in 1752, Johann Wilhelm and Sofia Catharina and their children were among the first settlers transported from Halifax in 1753 to found the new town of Lunenburg. Settlers in Lunenburg were given a number of land grants - a town lot, a garden lot, a 30-acre farm lot, and a 300-acre wood lot. On the map below, the town of Lunenburg is at the black arrow, the garden lots are at the purple nearby arrow, Wilhelm's 30-acre farm lot is at the red arrow, his 300-acre wood lot is at the green arrow, and the blue arrow shows where my Corkum family lived in Middle LaHave for approximately the last five generations. With travel by horse and wagon, it would have taken a day to travel from town to the farm lot, possibly two to get to the wood lot. No wonder some people eventually moved from town to live on their farms. (Maps and charts from the late Dr. J. Christopher Young's book "Maps Associated With Lunenburg County Family History".)
The town was laid out in a grid pattern. Each column was named after the officer in charge for those lots. The maps below show Wilhelm's town lot which was number F7 in the first column under Sebastian Zouberbuhler. It was on the corner of Cornwallis and Fox streets where the front door of Zion Lutheran Church is located today. (Look for the white church in the upper left of the picture at the top of this page.)
Shortly after the town lots were granted, it was found that they were not large enough for the residents to plant a garden that would supply enough food for their family so additional garden lots of approximately 1/4 acre were allocated just outside town to the east in what is now the community of Garden Lots. Wilhelm was assigned lot C12 in the 2nd Division.
Wilhelm was assigned his 30-acre farm lot in South Division, lot E1 which is in today's community of Feltzen South near the end of the road.
Finally, Wilhelm was assigned his 300-acre forest lot in 1st Division, lot E3. That is in today's community of Oak Hill.
The original lots were assigned based on a lottery type draw and it is noted that in the few years afterward there were a lot of ownership changes. There were a variety of reasons. Some people living in town probably found it too inconvenient having a farm property that far away so probably moved to live on their farm. It was a condition of ownership that the original property grants had to be "improved" in some way within a specified period of time so maybe some people were unable to do that and sold their properties to others. Some may have found settlement life too difficult and moved away to the more settled New England colonies. Some families also may have died leaving no male heirs. For whatever reason, many original settler names have disappeared from this area. It is also interesting looking at the ownership changes from 1753 to 1760 as it is easy to see who the wealthier people were - they were buying up multiple properties.
Apparently in 1762 Wilhelm sold his town lot, and then in 1770 he purchased a 15-acre farm lot in Mahone Bay, somewhere near where the Bayview Cemetery is located today. From that point I have no more information on where he and the next few generations lived.
Most of this information is from original probate records and maps researched by the late genealogist Dr. J. Christopher Young (also a cousin.) With the exception of the house lot location, all other property lines are estimations by Chris Young based on measurements of what the property sizes would have been scaled onto the maps. Even if you had old deeds to refer to, it would be impossible to exactly locate a property today as deeds until modern times indicated property lines as bordering the property of the next neighbour and "survey markers" would probably have been notches in trees or maybe a pile of rocks - nothing that would be identifiable today where we now use official survey stakes and GPS coordinates to pinpoint an exact line. I remember as a child my father pointing out to me a tree or two along our property lines that had "notches" as property line markers. (Lots of unanswered questions about the family migrations between Lunenburg and eventually to Middle LaHave in that first 150 years.)
Apparently in 1762 Wilhelm sold his town lot, and then in 1770 he purchased a 15-acre farm lot in Mahone Bay, somewhere near where the Bayview Cemetery is located today. From that point I have no more information on where he and the next few generations lived.
Most of this information is from original probate records and maps researched by the late genealogist Dr. J. Christopher Young (also a cousin.) With the exception of the house lot location, all other property lines are estimations by Chris Young based on measurements of what the property sizes would have been scaled onto the maps. Even if you had old deeds to refer to, it would be impossible to exactly locate a property today as deeds until modern times indicated property lines as bordering the property of the next neighbour and "survey markers" would probably have been notches in trees or maybe a pile of rocks - nothing that would be identifiable today where we now use official survey stakes and GPS coordinates to pinpoint an exact line. I remember as a child my father pointing out to me a tree or two along our property lines that had "notches" as property line markers. (Lots of unanswered questions about the family migrations between Lunenburg and eventually to Middle LaHave in that first 150 years.)
Picture of Lunenburg at top of page is from
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Lunenburg_Aerial.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Lunenburg_Aerial.jpg