History of the Valley:
The Settlement of Upper Stewiacke:
The following paragraph is taken from an article called "The Settlement of the Stewiacke Valley: The First Fifty Years":
The first settler to arrive in what is now Upper Stewiacke was Matthew Johnson, son of James Johnson, the Truro Grantee. Matthew settled on the north side of the river in 1783. He and his wife lived there all alone for the first winter. Their nearest neighbours were seven miles away in Middle Stewiacke, and all supplies had to be carried in through the forest from Truro, twenty miles away. When Matthew made the journey to Truro, his wife was left alone overnight in this wild and lonely spot, and Thomas Miller describes her encounter with a bear on one of these occasions. Bears were the chief hazard with which the early settlers in this valley had to contend.....In the spring of 1784, the Johnsons were joined by seven other settlers, who came from Truro with their families. These seven were Thomas Crocker, Samuel Fisher, William Fulton, Samuel Fulton, Samuel Taylor. "Long" John Archibald, and Charles Cox.
In 1983, a special event was held, to mark the 200th Anniversary of the
arrival of Matthew Johnson and his wife Ruth (Fisher) The attached
picture shows the monument unveiled that day, which commemorates their
arrival in this area. This monument stands in front of the Upper
Stewiacke Elementary School.
The Stewiacke Valley was first settled in 1780 by William and Janet
Kennedy and their six children, who came from Truro and landed in
Middle Stewiacke. They cleared land and lived here without neighbours
for over a year. The closest neighbours were living in Truro. The first
family to arrive in what we know as Upper Stewiacke was Matthew Johnson
in 1783. He settled on the north side of the Stewiacke River. They were
seven miles upstream from the nearest neighbours in Middle Stewiacke.
Supplies had to be carried from Truro through the woods.
As word of the fertile lands in the valley reached Truro, seven more families applied for Government land grants and moved here in 1784.
The name Stewiacke was pronounced Esitkaweeacke by the Micmac Indians, meaning "a place of small streams", and it aptly describes the valley.
This re-enactment took place on August 3, 1980. The photo to the left features Shelley Kennedy, Colin Fisher, Vincent Higgins, Colleen Cox, Bruce
Mowatt, Kimberley Brown, Lydia Redden, Darren Miller, and Doug Kenrick.
Many hardships were endured over the first years and it was not until
the early nineteenth century that a main road from Halifax to Truro was
completed. The people of Middle and Upper Stewiacke had hoped for a
road through the valley as well, but as late as 1805 it was
incomplete. By the close of the first fifty years of settlement, people
had roads and bridges; carts and carriages provided transportation.
Churches and schools were being built and Upper Stewiacke was no longer
a lonely isolated spot in a forest.
The following article, from the Truro paper of August 6th, 1980 , explains the event:
With courage, determination and the prospect of a new land, William Kennedy, his wife Janet and their seven children set foot here 200 years ago to become the first settlers, and that same spirit was in evidence here Sunday during a re-enactment of the landing.
The canoe ride up the river was participated in by nine people from different parts of the valley, all with different surnames, but all descendants of William Kennedy.
A monument to William Kennedy was unveiled at Middle Stewiacke School by Eric Fisher, and the Middle Stewiacke United Church was the scene of a bicentennial service conducted by Rev R. Cameron.
William Kennedy was one of the first grantees of Truro and built his home in Truro about 1760. Elizabeth, the first girl, was born the next year and was said to be the first child born in Truro after its settlement by the British. Two more boys, James and Robert, were born within the next five years.
In 1768 the Kennedys moved for reasons unknown, through the woods to the new settlement of Pictou. Here the Kennedys cleared land, long known as "Kennedys' Clearing" or "Kennedys' Hill" on Sawmill Brook.
The following year he erected the first sawmill in the county, said to be the first frame building in Pictou. Shortly after the move, the twins Margaret and Jane were born, and the last child, John, was born two years later.
Eight years after moving to Pictou the family again moved back to Truro, and four years after that the family made a more permanent move to the forests of Middle Stewiacke.
The wanderlust seemed to leave William when he reached this valley, and he settled down to the task of clearing the forest to build a farm.