Jemseg, New Brunswick

Jemseg is a Canadian rural community in Queens County, New Brunswick.

It is located on the east bank of the Jemseg River along its short run from Grand Lake to the Saint John River.

Origin of the name

The name Jemseg is said to come from a Malecite word "Ah-jem-sik", meaning "picking up place", a reference to the trade that traditionally took place here during the pre-contact period and through both the English and French occupation of the area. The name is applied to what initially were two villages, Lower Jemseg and Upper Jemseg, and except for perhaps a half dozen pre-Loyalist settlers, the land was granted to United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolution.

Jemseg Sketch

Early settlers were attracted to this place by several things. Firstly the system of rivers and lakes meant transportation was relatively easy through most of the year. Then there was an extensive old-growth forest which was used almost from the beginning for domestic building, and very profitably for masts and spars for the King's Navy. Thirdly, the river and Grand Lake, which is about convert|5|mi|km wide and convert|25|mi|km long, moderated the climate, giving an extended growing season. The land was fertile and quite flat, and quantities of marsh hay were there for the cutting. Most of the land grants were for convert|200|acre|km2, and the majority of the settlers over the first decade or two established thriving farms.

As the communities grew, churches and schools were begun for the support of the inhabitants. Initially itinerant clergy from the Church of England, and a bit later those of a Baptist persuasion travelled from place to place. The Anglican rector of Gagetown at Gagetown began work in 1785 and for several decades performed the rituals of baptism, marriages and burials. By the early 1820s the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had sent Rev. Abraham Wood to the Grand Lake pastorate, and by the mid-twenties the Baptist Church, the so-called "Canning Church" was serving the Baptists of the area. Schools appear to have begun very early in the 1800s; certainly there were at least three schools in the area when the first school inspection was done in 1844. One school was in the vicinity of the corner and the Stone Church at Lower Jemseg, a second was somewhere near the supposed division between Upper and Lower just below Stuart and Lori Appt's farm, and the third was on the banks of a little brook that runs into Grand Lake between the Walter Gunter and Turner farms.

Concurrently with the development of churches and schools, tradesmen started to appear. Besides teachers and clergymen, blacksmiths, carpenters, mariners, tanners, shoemakers, weavers, and, of course, merchants appeared as necessity dictated. Also by mid-century the age of wooden ships was a reality, and men began to build woodboats, and even sea-going vessels along the banks of Jemseg Creek. At this point the riverboats were well established and throughout the navigation season there were boats coming from St. John two or even three times a week, and returning on the following day - a good way to get farm produce to city markets and manufactured goods to people up river.

As time went on mixed farming, and forestry in the off-season, were the primary occupations of the inhabitants with a few tradespeople as required. The population with Loyalist roots was supplemented from time to time by immigrants mainly from Scotland and Ireland but generally the population neither increased or decreased in numbers for two centuries. The reliance on agriculture and some forestry lasted until after World War II but then with mechanization, (changing from horses to tractors) and with a system of roads for transporting produce to markets, things changed rather quickly. The river boats ceased to operate in the 1940s, and now in the twenty-first century farms are very few indeed. Over fifty years, Jemseg, like many other rural communities, changed from a thriving self-sufficient place to a community of retired people or those who travel each day to employment elsewhere. The village school has been gone since 1978, and while the churches still exist they are somewhat diminished as centers of community activitity. But change is inevitable.

In Jemseg in 2006 there are two stores, one of which has existed in the same family for over 100 years. The local Lions organization is a going concern, as is the Farmers' Market which flourishes at the Lions' Hall on Saturday mornings in summer. There are two Women's Institute Halls that serve as important community meeting places, and both W.I.'s are active. There is a motel dating from the 1950s which currently is being renovated, and a green house operation has just begun. Community Days will be celebrated in August, and at the crossrods at "Upper" Jemseg a beautiful community garden has just been developed. Also new people are coming to Jemseg, and many of them become involved in community life, where they join us in protecting and celebating the peace, charm and natural beauty of our Home.

Jemseg Early History

Prior to European contact in the 16th century the Wolastoqiyik (also called the Maliseet or Malecites) lived along the banks of the Wolastoock (the "good or "beautiful river", named the "St. John River "by the first Europeans) for thousands of years. Trading and travel were widespread due to the confluence of rivers and lakes that occurs in this area. The expanse of Grand Lake moderated the local climate and resources were abundant. Spring runs of gaspereau and salmon, winter herds of caribou, other game and, of course a good variety of wild plants from fiddleheads in spring to butternuts in fall were available to hunters and gatherers.

Most "Jemsegers" live along the banks of the short, deep Jemseg River that flows from Grand Lake to the St. John River. Locals speak of two villages, "Upper" and "Lower" Jemseg. Jemseg is probably the oldest name in Queens County and is a microcosm of the whole story of Acadia, the eastern provinces of Canada that passed back and forth between the French and English after 1604.

The first trading post at Jemseg was built near the mouth of the river in 1659 by Col. Thomas Temple. This was a fortified post convenient for trade with the Maliseet. However Temple's prosperity was short-lived for Acadia was restored to the French in 1667. A flood in 1696 caused late planting and crop failures. Sieur de Soulanges lived here when the fort was attacked by Jurriaen Aernoutsz, a Dutch privateer, in 1674 and held by the Dutch for several months. After the death of Soulanges in 1678 it was occupied by the d'Amour brothers, Louis and Mathieu, who are recognized as the first farmers at Jemseg. So farming in this area has a 300 year history although nowadays strawberries, potatoes and market vegetables are the chief crops grown while beef cattle and light horses are the only stock traded commercially.

Around 1700 "Fort" Jemseg was abandoned for military purposes although it was still used as a trading post. A flood in 1701 caused losses to crops and cattle. The settlement was relocated to Port Royal, Nova Scotia. By the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Acadia was ceded to the English for the final time, but it seems likely that Acadians lived and farmed in the area until 1758 when General Moncton razed the settlement at Grimross (now Gagetown). Between then and 1783, a handful of English-speaking pre-Loyalist families settled on the Jemseg (the Nevers, Garrisons and Estabrooks for example), but it was the Loyalists after 1783 who really caused the village to grow. Loyalist names like Dykeman, Ferris, Gunter and Currie and, until recently Colwell, are still represented in the community and these people often live on the same land granted to their ancestors in the 18th century.

During the two plus centuries since the Loyalists came, the population has remained relatively stable with new arrivals mixing with the older settlers. Schools, stores and businesses have come and gone. Churches have been built. St. James (Anglican) built in 1887 at Lower Jemseg is an architectural gem, and the Jemseg Baptist Church which dates from the mid-19th century is typical of rural churches throughout the country.

Over the years farming methods have changed and transportation has changed too. The river boats that called at the wharves for passengers and produce are only a dim memory, and the same highways that take our products to market enable many Jemsegers to work outside the community. Now, the best place to see produce and capture the camaraderie of the old wharves is at the Jemseg Farmers' Market in the summertime.