When the Eastern Extension Railroad was constructed, a right of way was secured by the company over the new aboideau, and later, when the road came into the hands of the Dominion Government, an arrangement was made with the commissioners of the aboideau for maintaining the work that has proved very satisfactory to both the owners of the marsh and the Government.
In the decade between 1830 and 1840 the price of farm produce had dropped very much below what it was in the earlier years of the century.I find Hugh Hamel bought at Prospect 559 lbs.of butter for 9d., or 15c., per lb., and 1,198 lbs.of cheese for 6d., or 10c.The next year, 1834, a sale of cattle was made to George Oulton for 4d.per lb., weight estimated.In 1811 the same description of beef brought ten cents.
In 1839 Rev.Mr.Bennet was for some months member of the home at Prospect, and later Rev.Mr.Douglas and Mrs.Douglas and Rev.Mr.
Barrett spent some time here in the order of their occupancy of the Point de Bute Circuit.
In 1840 an influenza, much like la grippe, passed through the country and caused a great many deaths.The family at Prospect were nearly all down with it at once, but all recovered.
The saddest visitation that ever came to this home was in the year 1845.On the evening of the 28th July death came a sudden and unexpected guest.The day had been fine, and farm work was going on as usual.Mr.Trueman had been at the grist mill all day.The family had gathered for supper, and a horse stood saddled at the door.There was to be a trustee meeting at the church that evening, and Mr.Trueman was on of its members.Supper over, he mounted his horse to ride to the church.Ten minutes had not passed when the horse was seen without a rider, and Mr.Trueman was found a short distance from the house, where he had fallen, to all appearance, dead.He was quickly carried in and medical aid summoned, but all was of no avail.It was a heavy blow.
Mrs.Trueman could not look upon life the same afterwards, and she never recovered from the great sorrow.There were seven children, the eldest, Ruth, twenty-one years of age, and the youngest, Mary, eighteen months.
Thompson Trueman was in his forty-fifth year.He was a heavy man, quite different in build from his brothers.The writer was but eight years old at that time, and so has learned about him mainly from others.He seems to have made a great many friends, and was looked upon as an upright man.One who knew him well said, when he heard of his death, this passage of Scripture came to his mind: "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, and the faithful fail from among the children of men."The years that followed were trying ones at Prospect.The blight that ruined the potato crop in 1846, and the loss of the wheat crop a few years later by the weavil, were felt more keenly because of the loss of the controlling mind.To give an idea of the financial loss, I may mention the fact that in 1843 two thousand bushels of potatoes were grown on the farm, and in 1847 not enough were grown to supply the table.In addition to the great failure in these two staple crops, at that time the price of beef, pork and butter went down to a very low point.A pair of oxen that would girth from six to six and a half feet could be bought for forty-five or fifty dollars.Pork went down to 4and 4 1/2 cents per lb., and butter to 12 1/2 cents, or a York shilling.In one of the best settlements in Nova Scotia a majority of the farms were mortgaged to carry their owners over these hard years.
Those who remember the period in New Brunswick history will not be inclined to complain to-day.
Samuel Davis, with the help of Mrs.Trueman, managed Prospect Farm until the sons were able to take charge.Mr.Davis was a most faithful and kind-hearted man, and is remembered with the liveliest feelings of gratitude by the writer for the numberless ways in which he tried to make up to him a father's loss.
It is doubtful if the saw-mill, which was built in 1843, was ever a paying investment.
In 1849 a stone kiln and machinery for making oatmeal were added to the mill property.The loss of the wheat crop had lead the Government of the Province to encourage the use of oatmeal by offering a bonus of L 25 to anyone who would build an oat-mill.This led to the addition, and oats were made into meal for a large district of country for a good many years; but the expense of keeping the dam up, and the frequency with which it was carried away by the freshets, must have absorbed most of the profits of the business.
Up to this time agriculture had been the principal industry on the Isthmus.The farmer was the prominent man in the neighborhood, and the aim of every young man was to get a farm of his own.Now, however, there came a change.In 1848 gold was discovered in California, and in 1849 and the early 50's numbers of our young men left for the gold-fields.Then came the telegraph service, which called for bright, intelligent young men.Ever since that date agriculture has declined relatively in the Maritime Provinces.As the years went by the products of the western wheat-fields came into competition with the home-grown article, and the result was soon felt in the milling business here.
Since 1872 the grist-mill at Prospect, with its three run of stones, and the saw-mill as well, have been allowed to go to decay.
In 1856 Hiram Thompson married Tryphena Black, of Prince Edward Island, and settled on the second farm north of the old place.Later he sold this farm and moved to Searletown, Prince Edward Island.In 1857, Eliza, the second daughter, married William Avard, of Shemogue.
In 1860, April 11th, Mrs.Trueman died, in the sixty-second year of her age, and after fifteen years of widowhood.She had a large circle of friends, and was always ready to help those who were in need.After her husband's death she kept up the family altar, and few mothers have been more earnest in looking after the moral and spiritual welfare of their children.
