Nova Scotia

In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, a bridge to our future.  Alex Haley

Having just completed another photo tour with John Barclay and Dan Sniffin, I am consumed with the images I collected.   The imposing lighthouses in Maine, the rocky coastal cliffs, the quiet solitude of Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia.  All have filled my being with a familiarity that is deeper than sensual pleasure.  Although the vacation is far from over, as a week on Cap Cod awaits, there was a sadness as we packed up the car and left the coast of Nova Scotia.  Friendships have been forged with those sharing this photographic journey and goodbyes have never been a strong suit.
This photo tour has provided us the opportunity to extend the visit through the Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; the land of my ancestors. My genealogy research lead me back to Ireland and France, the places where earlier generations immigrated from and ultimately settled in Canada and the United States. The names Antiginosh, Harve Boucher, Tracadie, Fort Beausejour and Shediac, which had merely been statistics, now were towns stretched out before us as we travelled the roads in Canada. We drove the better part of the day seeking out cemeteries and photographing headstones of potential relatives.

In 1755 the politics of the time forced a major deportation of Acadians from these lands. Living,  at times,  under both French and British rule, they were forced to adapt and develop a sense of independence.  When forced to take allegiance to the British crown or face deportation, many found themselves already on the side of the French, sealing their fate.  Ultimately ships were loaded with Acadians and sent to many different ports along the east coast and in many cases causing separation of families.  My research shows that many of my ancestors, who were originally deported to Massachusetts, returned after peace returned to their homeland.  A visit to Fort Beausejour gave me additional insight to that period of unrest.  Now a  historic site perched between the two provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy,  the fort is staffed by historians eager to share this history in the pursuit of continued peace.

While in Nova Scotia, I was astounded by the remoteness of places like Harve Boucher as I tried to imagine ancestors, most assuredly fisherman, raising their families in the quiet beauty of this place on St Georges Bay. Would my great grandfather, "Captain Mike" Michael Bennet, still find his way around this small community, and point out the place of his birth, which, most assuredly, was also his home. Perhaps I was standing in the place where he and his friends played as young children. I was content to look out across the water and imagine him in the same spot, breathing in the same salty air, remarking on the beauty of the bay and being thankful for the sacrifices his generation made to forge a better life.