Early Settlement

In 1785 a tract of land measuring 170 acres was granted to Paul Bushee, and a tract of land measuring 100 acres was granted to Philistin Coste in what was to become Harbour au Bouche. Paul Bushee was married to Pelagie Coste, a sister to Philistin. These two families are generally regarded as being the first two permanent family settlements in Havre Boucher but we know that other Acadian families were already arriving in the area. In a letter written in 1787 by Father Phalen, a missionary at Arichat in which he said that while traveling from Prince Edward Island to Arichat, he intended to visit two French settlements containing nine or ten families near the Gut of Canso.

The circumstances that brought Jean Baptiste Melon and Marc Crispo to Havre Boucher in the 1790’s are less than clear. One possibility links their arrival with the return of fisheries merchant Charles Robbins from the Jersey Islands to Isle Madame in the 1790’s bringing a workforce of unmarried men which may have included Jean Baptiste Melon. Also during that same time period, Charles Robbins was trading with Basque fishing crews which may have included Marc Crispo who was seeking passage to the new world. In later years, the Mathe and DeGruchy families also travelled through the Jersey Islands before relocating in the new world.

To deal with the provincial debt the Nova Scotia legislature passed a Poll Tax Act in 1791 which levied a capitation tax on all adult males. The amount of tax was based on a person’s employment and their ownership of cattle and sheep. The poll tax of 1794 revealed the following families as settlers in the area:

Many residents of Havre Boucher descend from these early settlers as is evidenced by surnames that persist to this day.

In the 1790’s the cultural barriers between the early Acadians and newly arriving Celtic immigrants resulted in a peaceful coexistence and occasional marriages. Michael Webb, an English sea captain sailing out of Massachusetts befriended the Daigle family and married their daughter Jeanette Francoise about 1791. In 1799, shortly after their arrival from Connecticut the McKeough family with roots in County Roscommon, Ireland acquired 550 acres of land from Jean Baptiste Coste and relocated from Lakevale near Antigonish to Little Tracadie (Linwood, NS). About 1851, the Corbett family with roots in County Tipperary, Ireland relocated from Malignant Cove, Antigonish County to Havre Boucher.

The descendancy charts on this website include a number of significant family relationships and surnames that may not have been included among the “Pioneer Families” but who nonetheless have and continue to contribute in a very meaningful way to the lifeblood of our community.

Many residents of Havre Boucher descend from these early settlers as is evidenced by surnames that persist to this day. The sustenance of these early settlers and the economy of the area was very much rooted in the natural resources of the area for the entire 19th century. The nearby ocean provided an abundant fishery, crops were planted as the lands were cleared and cultivated and the bountiful forests provided wildlife for food and lumber for somewhat primitive homes and shipbuilding. Towards the mid nineteenth century, the industrious, hard working seafarers began venturing to and working on vessels sailing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. This led to an outmigration in the later part of the nineteenth century that fractured many families as young men and women left Nova Scotia to work as labourers and domestics in the rapidly growing industrial economy in the Boston area. A second wave of outmigration occurred in the early twentieth century as many young men and women again left the area to work in the automotive plants of Michigan. Interspersed with this out migration was the loss of many brave young men in World War I and World War II. Through all of this family separation and hardship, the tight knit community fabric of Havre Boucher has prevailed.