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Pictonians at Home and Abroad
By Rev. J. P. MacPhie M.A. (1914)
[Our thanks to John Snyder for ocr'ing in this book for us]



The Town of Pictou, located on the beautiful Northumberland Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, is renowned as the "Birthplace of New Scotland" as it was here that the first wave of Scottish immigrants landed in 1773. Pictou offers diverse amenities, period homes on tree lined streets, and strong entrepreneurial spirit where residents enjoy a stable and prosperous economy. Pictou is the best place to experience old-world charm and culture and present day hospitality.

Forewood

THE preparation of this book has been a labor of love. Although the author has been called to spend most of his life in other and distant fields, he has never wavered in his devotion to the place of his birth and the friends of his youth. It has at times been his dearest hope to repay in some measure, by some serviceable deed, the debt of gratitude which he owes to his native land.

Hence the undertaking of this book, the aim of which is to rescue from oblivion the names, the deeds, the heroism of the pioneers of Pictou, and to show how notable a contribution, in men and women, the county has made to the intellectual life and growth of the country.

No fairer scenes than Pictou County presents can be found in the land. Merely as a piece of Mother Earth it is deserving of the most enthusiastic admiration and ardent attachment. Its beautiful elm-studded valleys, its clear, winding streams, its sunlit hills with their fertile fields gently sloping toward the sea, its bonnie, happy homes, its thriving towns, its peaceful villages, its infinitely varied forests and even its rugged glens present charms which never pall.

But the county’s moral claim for its people’s love and loyalty is stronger than the physical. No spot in our wide Dominion, of equal size and population, has contributed so much to all that is best in our national life. Nowhere else have religion and education so effectually joined hands for the uplift of the people and the promotion of good. Nowhere have righteousness and truth been more genuinely wedded, or produced finer fruitage.

In support of these statements the evidence in this book is confidently submitted. The gathering of the evidence has been a difficult task. It is not claimed that it is either exhaustive or absolutely accurate, but the author has done his best, and he has had the hearty cooperation of many to whom he is sincerely grateful.

It has been said that Pictou is noted for coal and clergymen. Great as is the yield of coal, yet that which is Pictou’s proudest product is her men and women. In less than a hundred years she has given to the church nearly three hundred clergymen. She has sent forth one hundred and ninety physicians, sixty-three lawyers, forty professors, fifteen men and eleven women missionaries, eight college presidents, four judges, two governors, two premiers and a chief justice for the Province, besides a host of journalists, politicians and business men of note and name.

There is inspiration in studying the lives of men and women. It stirs within us a deepening desire to imitate and achieve all that was best in their lives. If this book will help the youth of the land to do this, it will have accomplished the main purpose of the writer.

Our fathers have left us a precious heritage and a rare record. We owe them the debt of a grateful remembrance. "Happy are the people," says John Fiske, "that can look back upon the work of their fathers and in their heart of hearts pronounce it good."

June 1, 1914 . J. P. MacPhie


Ship Hector Re-enactment. This tiny ship left Scotland in July 1773 and sailed with 200 persons on board for almost 3 months. It arrived in Pictou, Nova Scotia in September 1773 and thus was started the first Scottish settlement in the New World. This reenactment took place on September 13 2009 at the Hector Heritage Quay in Pictou, when as many descendants as possible of the original Hector were gathered together and loaded onto the ship!

Contents

"A wise nation preserves its records, decorates the graves
of its illustrious dead, repairs the great public structures, and fosters
national pride and love of country by perpetual references to the
sacrifices and glories of the past." —Joseph Howe.

See also
A History of the County of Pictou
By the Rev. George Patterson (1877) (pdf)


Return to our History of Nova Scotia Page

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