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Address Delivered to the Isle Madame Genealogy Summit 2000
Arichat, Nova Scotia
15 August 2000

By: Robert J. Morgan Ph.D.

The area comprising Richmond County, including Isle Madame, claims a special place in the history of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. Unlike the rest of Cape Breton Island, this section of Richmond County has ancient links with both the adjoining mainland of Nova Scotia, including Guysborough and Halifax Counties, as well as Cape Breton and Inverness Counties. This is because of its location on both the Bras d’Or Lakes, which links it to all the other counties of the island, and on the Atlantic, which links it to the mainland. For centuries, water traffic coming to and from Cape Breton passed through the area. It became a cross roads for the Mi’kmaq, the Spaniards, the French, the English, the Jerseymen, the Loyalists and the later Scottish and mainland settlers. All of these people have left their mark on the human composition of the region. The interrelationships of the French with the Mi’kmaq, the Jerseymen with the Loyalists, and the Scots with everyone, has made this area either a genealogist’s paradise or nightmare. To make matters more complicated, these people moved around a good deal, from port to port as economic opportunities arose or as a result of the fallout from enemies fighting over possession of the region. Indeed, the area of Richmond, western Cape Breton and Inverness Counties must be seen as a unit, affected by the same forces, which in turn affected settlement and human relationships. In all of these changes, the Mi’kmaq have had to relate to the changing demands of the various dominant societies while at the same time retaining their own culture. Now the Mi’kmaq are influencing the new society which is emerging in South Western Cape Breton.

A basic understanding of the history of the various peoples who compose this area of Cape Breton is essential for any genealogist of the region.

For at least 10,000 years, the area extending from Chapel Island to St Peter’s has formed a natural transportation corridor shortening travel between Cape Breton and the adjoining mainland. For millennia native people portaged their canoes across the isthmus at St. Peter’s; later, Europeans pushed and pulled their vessels over the same path which was later turned into a "haul-over road", and finally, a canal.

The Mi’kmaq people used the corridor as a stop-over place at different times of the year as they moved back and forth between the island and the mainland following food sources and trade. When Europeans first reached North America, the long-travelled, time-saving route caught their eye. An even greater attraction was trade as native and European met at this natural crossroads. Natives from all over the Maritimes had long met at Chapel Island, not far from the St. Peter’s portage. This gave the region a special importance to the Mi’kmaq, and Grand Chiefs often came from Cape Breton.

For their travel, the Mi’kmaq constructed two kinds of canoe: one for the Bras d’Or Lakes and streams, and a larger, heavier one for the ocean. Both would be used at the isthmus. The Mi’kmaq readily adapted the European sailing boats, using them to fish and trade. The Mi’kmaq continued to use the corridor at St. Peter’s throughout the 17^th century when Nicolas Denys established his trading post nearby, and then during the Louisbourg period. After the fall of Louisbourg the natives continued to cross there using the canal after its completion in 1869 while they camped nearby into the early twentieth century. Until the 1930's they took schooners through the canal on their way to the mainland for camping and fishing expeditions. When the railway later terminated at St. Peter’s near the canal, natives would board there to travel to the mainland to sell crafts, continuing the age-old role of St. Peter’s as a launching point for Mi’kmaq travel in the region.

Of course every feature on the Island had a Mi’kmaq name. Many of these were distorted or changed by the later Europeans. Hence, Apitaqwitk became Baddeck, We’koqma’q became Whycocomagh, and Menadou, Main-a-Dieu. In a reverse of this, the French in the 18^th Century referred to the area at St. Peter’s as Port Toulouse, which the Mi’kmaq translated as Potlotek. This name referred not only to St. Peter’s area, but had a broader application to include the whole of south-western Cape Breton as a unified area called Potlotek. The name still survives since the Mi’kmaq use it to refer to the community at Chapel Island First Nation.

Europeans were in the region in the sixteenth century, attracted by the codfish. They came ashore for water, game and to dry their catch; soon trade began with the Mi’kmaq. Perhaps the name "Saint Peter’s" dates from the Portuguese name "San Pedro" for the area, later changed to Saint-Pierre by the French. By the 17^th century, it was they who laid claim to Cape Breton. They fought off attempts by a group of Scots led by Lord Ochiltree to settle at nearby Baleine in 1629 and sent them packing home.

In order to clinch their control over the region the French then attempted a permanent settlement at St. Peter’s. The area was valuable for the fur trade and the fishery. The result was that various French interests fought among themselves for control of the precious corridor. The name most often associated with this attempt is Nicolas Denys. Denys, a merchant from Tours, France, along with his brother, Simon, established a fur trading-fishing post at St. Peter’s in 1650. Nicolas built a fort and habitation there and took advantage of the location of the settlement to trade in furs with the Mi’kmaq. To enhance this advantage he had a haulover road built over the isthmus so that European boats could enjoy the link between the ocean and the Bras d’Or Lake in the same way as the natives. His venture would have been successful if other Frenchmen had not harassed him and jealously attacked his fort; in 1669 fire destroyed his enterprise and Denys, drained of money and tired of fighting, relocated to what is today Bathurst, New Brunswick. Once again Cape Breton was left to the Mi’kmaq, who continued to use the St. Peter’s corridor as a meeting place and point of trade.

The French returned in numbers again in 1713, after they had been evicted by the British from Newfoundland. They were desperate for a safe place to practice the Atlantic cod fishery, which was rapidly falling under British control. Cape Breton was their last hope and a powerful government was established by the king at Louisbourg to protect the fishery and to allay the infighting that damaged French interests at the time of Nicolas Denys. This change in direction is best exemplified by the name of the Colony: "Isle Royale", meaning it was under royal or government jurisdiction, not private interests.

St. Peter’s, because of its strategic crossroads location, was in the running for the chief settlement, but Louisbourg’s greater proximity to the fishery, its good beach for drying fish, and its superior anchorage won the day.

St. Peter’s was not forgotten however. It was renamed "Port Toulouse" after the Comte de Toulouse, one of the sons of Louis XIV by his mistress, Madame de Montespan. Isle Madame however does not seem to have been named for her, but for Louis XIV’s sister-in-law, Charlotte-Elisabeth of Bavaria (1652-1722), whose official title was "Madame". Isle Madame soon became part of the Port Toulouse administrative area. Its two principal settlements were Petit-de-Grat and Nerichac. The name Petit-de-Grat derived from the fishing term "degrat" which indicated a temporary fishing base set up near a more permanent one, and "petit" here meant the shallop fishery as opposed to the grand or schooner fishery. The name Nerichac is derived from a Mi’kmaq name, whose meaning is uncertain. Like many other Mi’kmaq names it fell victim to corruption as "Arichat".

Petit-de-Grat flourished and grew to a community of over 100 inhabitants, proving the name a misnomer. Nerichac remained tiny; its glory days would arrive in the 19^th century.

Though smaller, the strategic location of Port Toulouse ensured that it would have fortifications, a garrison and act as a regional capital. Most important, it was close to the Mi’kmaq and near British Territory on the mainland. The French catered to the Mi’kmaq since they needed their loyalty against the British. The natives had been converted to Roman Catholicism which tilted them in favour of the French. French missionaries were sent to live among the natives to ensure this loyalty, usually near Port Toulouse, Malagawatch or Chapel Island. Annual ceremonies were held to renew the alliance usually at Port Toulouse. Gifts were exchanged and discussions were held. Some prominent French families even sent children to live among the Mi’kmaq. The inevitable blending of the peoples occurred. Economic ties then grew closer and Port Toulouse became the centre of French and native trade. The Mi’kmaq would slip across Chedabucto Bay to the British base at Canso and to obtain goods and report back on Nova Scotian affairs to the French at Port Toulouse.

Not only natives, but Acadians were drawn to the St. Peter’s corridor. The French encouraged this migration to add to their numbers in Isle Royale. At least 2,500 Acadians had been stranded on the mainland in 1713 when Nova Scotia became a British possession. Initially only a small number came, some going to Louisbourg as domestics, but the St. Peter’s corridor became their location of preference. There they abandoned farming and took up the fishery, trading of course with the French at Louisbourg, and illegally with the British at their base in Canso. This group formed the largest concentration of Acadians on Cape Breton. There they intermarried with the French and sometimes the natives. Some of the prominent names were Boudrot, Landry and Fougere.

Port Toulouse was a key position during the first attack of the British on Isle Royale. The French, Acadians and Mi’kmaq fought off the first assault and the British had to return with a larger force; they burnt every house, demolished the fort and desecrated the Mi’kmaq cemetery. Nerichac and Petit-de Grat were also destroyed. Most people were captured and deported to France; others fled to as far away as Quebec, though around 100 braved it out under British rule.

With the return of peace and of Isle Royale to the French in 1748, the deportees plus new colonists headed back home. Many of the areas earlier settled were not re-occupied; an example was Nerichac which remained deserted . Port Toulouse and Petit-de Grat were re-occupied with increased numbers; indeed Petit-de Grat, with 284 inhabitants in 1752, was second only to Louisbourg in population during the second period of French control. Port Toulouse remained the administrative and garrison centre of the area with a small population, but the fishery centred on the consequently more populous Isle Madame.

The greatest accession of new population in the St. Peter’s corridor area was mainland Acadians who left there as tension increased throughout the 1750's between the British Protestant authorities and the French-speaking Roman Catholic population. The result was that the population of French settlers in the southwestern section of Isle Royale doubled between 1734 and 1750-51. The new Acadians brought agricultural and livestock raising skills with them reducing the colony’s dependence on the fishery, logging and the coastal trade.

The population profile of the colony was also changing. There were still considerably more adult men than women. The population was young: nearly 40 percent were under the age of 15. However the place of origin of the population was evolving. Where earlier the population was overwhelmingly native French, in 1752 between 35 and 45 percent were born in France; between 24 and 30 percent were originally from Acadia, and 15 to 19 percent were natives of Cape Breton. If the colony had lasted beyond 1758, this last group would have overtaken the other two.

The second fall of Louisbourg in 1758 put an end to these possibilities. The British once again wiped out the settlements; most families and individuals were deported, but some, perhaps a third, escaped. In some cases their descendants still live in Cape Breton in or near their 18^th century ancestors’ homes.

One of the first things the British did after their conquest, was to survey the Island, detailing an army engineer, Samuel Holland, to do so. He took the opportunity to rename most of the harbours and features of the island. The majority of his names, with the notable exception of "Richmond Isle" for Isle Madame, which is the origin of the name of the present county, did not stick. He did notice the presence of Acadians and Mi’kmaq going about their activities as they began to adapt to the new circumstances.

The circumstances were certainly different. In 1763, Cape Breton was annexed to Nova Scotia, but was not allowed representation in the province’s House of Assembly. Louisbourg was a ruin. An administrator stationed there was supposed to have jurisdiction over the whole island. The result was that there was no effective government. That was probably fine for the Acadians, but smuggling and lawlessness made the island unappealing to new settlement. Some Newfoundland Irish drifted into Louisbourg to fish or to supply the small British garrison there. When it withdrew in 1768, many of the inhabitants of Louisbourg left for the only place with any economic activity: the Isle Madame - St. Peter’s area. This represented a population shift from eastern to western Cape Breton, a trend which saw the western side of the island more populous than the eastern side until the late 19^th and early 20th centuries.

Laurence Kavanagh is an example of a merchant who left Louisbourg at this time and established his business in the St. Peter’s area, making him and his sons the most powerful merchants there. They took advantage of the location to trade between Cape Breton and the mainland. He and other such refugee merchants and fishermen were soon joined in the 1760's by Jerseymen. The latter were British subjects who were outstanding traders and exporters. From their headquarters at Nerichac, or Arichat as it was now called, they bought fish from the Acadian fishermen. They thus breathed life into that settlement, making Arichat the chief trading centre on Cape Breton, a position that ensured its becoming the shire town of Richmond County and the most populous settlement on the island until the latter part 19^th century. In 1774, Arichat had a population of 237, St. Peters 186, and Petit-de-Grat 168. All were larger than Louisbourg.

The Jerseymen, being Anglican, tended to stick together and married their fellow countryman. When they eventually set up homes here, they were outstanding merchants: the Robins, the Bourinots, the Jeans, the Huberts, the deGruchies, the LeViscontes, the Janvrins to name only a few, formed an important chain in the economic development of the area. Meanwhile the Irish and the Acadians intermarried and the Mi’kmaq traded with all three specializing in crafts like coopering.

In this manner life continued. When Cape Breton was made a separate colony in 1784 and newly-founded Sydney was made the capital, a number of Jerseymen sat in the executive council and looked after the affairs of the St. Peter’s region. One of the governors, Macarmack, worried when the French Revolution broke out in 1789 that the French might try to retake the island. The presence of so many Acadians in the Isle Madame area caused him to fear a revolt, so he had a fort built above the haulover road and called it Fort Grenville; it was manned by the Irish and Jerseymen because he did not trust the Acadians. Of course the attack never materialized. The Acadians, like the other settlers there, were too busy earning a good living to be concerned with old world ties. An increase in the Acadian population did occur however as a result of the French Revolution. A number of settlers from the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, many of them former residents of Louisbourg, fled to the area with their priest to escape the revolutionary leaders’ distaste for the old religion.

Macarmack did not have to worry about one small group in the St. Peter’s area: the Loyalists. They were part of a migration heading north after the American Revolution. Some of them, had moved into the Montreal region seeking land. There they heard that Cape Breton was to be made a separate colony and decided to settle here. They left in three ships and in the fall of 1784, two of the ships arrived at St. Peter’s; the other kept on to Louisbourg. Some of the settlers stayed in the St. Peter’s area, the rest moved on to found Baddeck the following spring. In St. Peter’s the Loyalists were given land where eventually they blended with the Jersey and later Scottish Protestant populations.

All indications point toward economic growth and an increasing population in the area at this time. By 1800 there were around 2,000 people in the corridor region, making it far more populous and prosperous than the eastern region near Sydney. The re-annexation of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia in 1820 caused hardly a ripple in these developments. As a matter of fact, the first elections after annexation saw the island’s local representative in the legislative assembly coming from the St. Peter’s area. The larger population of the area ensured the native son, Laurence Kavanagh junior’s victory over the Sydney candidate. As well, though annexation to Nova Scotia was strongly opposed in Sydney the residents of the corridor area hardly reacted since they had their representative in Halifax as well as most of the economic power on the island.

The final addition to the composition of the population of the St. Peter’s corridor came with the mass immigration of the Scottish highlanders beginning in 1802. They arrived directly from Scotland in Sydney that year and began receiving land leases. Between 1802 and 1816 there was a lull due to the Napoleonic Wars that made sea travel dangerous for the immigrant ships. With the arrival of peace in 1815, the flood gates opened and at least 20,000 Scots came to Cape Breton. Whole islands in the Hebrides migrated here, and their inhabitants settling next to each other. Usually people from one island would arrive and word would be sent back to Scotland telling relatives land was available. Soon another boatload would arrive. As a result of this, different areas here tended to be settled by people from the same region of Scotland, depending on what group arrived first. Hence if the area was first settled by people from North Uist the area would likely remain that way. To the deserted south coast of Cape Breton from Gabarus along to Saint Esprit, L’Ardoise, Framboise, and then skipping over to Grand River and Lower River Inhabitants, the first settlers came from North Uist or Lewis and Harris or Skye; hence these areas attracted more and more people from those islands. They did not penetrate Isle Madame whose population was already established and was composed of Acadians or Irish. Worse, it was Catholic. Ironically we now have a Protestant Scottish population living in settlements whose names are French, dating back to the French Regime. The population in these places remained homogeneous since they did not did not marry the Irish or the French because of the religious barriers.

The arrival of the Scottish witnessed an increase in the population of the whole of Cape Breton which signalled the end of the Richmond County’s political domination of the island. As well, the growth of agriculture in the more fertile Inverness County and coal mining and fishing on the eastern side of the island challenged its economic dominance. The St. Peter’s Canal was an attempt to channel the growing trade through the old corridor so that Arichat and St. Peter’s could remain points of entry for goods going back and forth over the Bras d’Or Lakes between the rest of Cape Breton and the mainland.

This failed to happen. The canal was finally completed in 1869, just after Confederation and the beginning of the railway era. The railway was eventually (1891) completed across the island to Port Hastings for the short hop across the Gut of Canso to the mainland. The corridor’s advantage was lost and trade passed it by. Secondly, no matter how often they were enlarged, the locks in the canal were always too small to handle large ships; it was hence quicker and cheaper to ship by rail or by the new steam ships directly out of Sydney or other ports. As the economic growth of the island by-passed Richmond County, Arichat declined; Petit-de Grat held on because of its control over the fishery and later lobster canning industry.

Today, old Port Toulouse or St. Peter’s or Potlotek is growing again as a supply and tourist centre. The old historic mix of peoples however remains: the Mi’kmaq, the Acadian, the Irish, the Jerseymen, the Loyalist, the Scot, making the corridor area a mosaic of the early settlement of eastern Canada.

The chief source of material for the period of the French Regime in this paper is an unpublished manuscript by A.J.B. Johnston, Storied Shores. French and Mi’kmaq in Southeastern Cape Breton.

Other important sources:

Archives Nationales, OM, G1, vol. 466, pièce 58, "Recensement des habitans accadiene et autres residents au Port Toulouse".

National Archives of Canada. Report of the Canadian Archives for the Year 1905. Tour of Inspection made by the Sieur de la Roque.

Pothier, Bernard. "Les Acadiens à l’Isle Royale, 1713 -1734 "La Société Historique Acadienne, 23e cahier. Vol. 3, no. 3, 1969.

Reid, John G. Acadia, Maine and New Scotland, Marginal Colonies in the Seventeenth Century. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981).

Schmeisser, Barbara. "The Population of Louisbourg, 1713 - 1758". MRS 303 (Ottawa" Parks Canada, 1976).

Schmidt, David L. and Balcom, B.A. "The Reglements of 1739: A note on Micmac Law and Literacy." 110 - 27, Acadiensis, Vol. XXIII, No. 1 (Autumn, 1993).