Plenty of reasons to meet in Minudie
Historic attractions to celebrate special anniversaries this summer
Minudie may be one of the best kept secrets of the Acadian history of northern Nova Scotia.
It’s something a dedicated group of community members with various organizations are striving to overcome through the work of the Minudie Heritage Association, which is planning a series of celebrations this summer to mark the 175th anniversary of the community’s historical sites including the St. Denis Church, the Amos Seaman School Museum and the King Seaman Universalist Church.
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the school as a museum in the community.
“There are all kinds of reasons to celebrate this summer. We have formed an anniversary committee and we have planned special events for every month of the year,” Michele LeBlanc of the heritage association said.
Much of Minudie’s history following the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755 centres around Amos “King” Seaman, who came to the community in 1796 and later began trading with Boston merchants and to the West Indies in ships built in his own small shipyards.
He became a tenant on the Minudie estate of Joseph Frederic Wallett DesBarres in 1823 and later purchased the 7,000-acre estate and laid claim to the grindstone deposits at Ragged Reef with thousands of high-priced stones shipped to American markets by Seaman’s Atlantic Grindstone Company.
From his mansion, he watched over the mostly Acadian community and soon became known as the “King” of Minudie. He held numerous positions in local government, built the schoolhouse and two churches for the community. Seaman died in 1864 and is buried in the cemetery that bears his name. In 1871, there were 600 people listed as living in the community.
The heritage association celebrating Minudie’s heritage is made of representatives from seven community organizations who come together to assist with fundraising, apply for grants and support each other. Along with the school museum and the St. Denis and Universalist churches, other members include the “King” Seaman Minudie Lake Cemetery, St. Denis Cemetery, the Minudie Community Hall and the Amos Thomas Seaman House.
Association president Sharon Gould said it’s important to recognize Minudie’s heritage and pointed out its historic buildings are getting more recognition as people become increasingly interested in their past.
“People are looking for their roots,” Gould said. “We get emails galore from people whose grandfather or greatgrandfather was this person or that person, asking us to check if he’s buried in the cemetery.”
To preserve information, the association has created the Amos Thomas Seaman House Archives in memory of the late Ruth Symes. The group is registered with the Council of Nova Scotia Archives and is working to archive more than 3,000 letters from the Seaman estate.
The association got online to share the history of Minudie, while also working together to raise money to fix some of the historic buildings that were beginning to show their age.
“We had a lot of help through grants and organizations like the Municipality of Cumberland have been huge supporters since we started 21 years ago,” said Gould.
Gould said it’s the community’s volunteers who make it all possible, including recent projects such as improving signage with big, colourful signs featuring the Acadian flag and pointing out some of Minudie’s sites.
These volunteers also play a prominent role in celebrating the community’s history at events such as Minudie Day on July 9, the Blessing of the Crops on Aug. 6 and Acadian Day on Aug. 13. There will also be quilt and art shows, exhibits, church services and other events to mark Minudie’s heritage.
Earlier celebrations this spring included an open house at the River Hebert Community Centre as well as a volunteer appreciation reception at the Royal Canadian Legion in Joggins.
A key part of the celebrations will be the development of the Minudie Acadian Trail, a special anniversary project beginning near the Nova Scotia border at the former Acadian village of Beaubassin to Minudie.
The initiative had the support of Tony Eaton’s class at River Hebert School, which has cut and prepared pieces of wood that will be painted in Acadian colours and placed on utility poles from Beaubassin to Minudie.
LeBlanc is hopeful it will be attractive to the thousands of Acadians attending the World Acadian Congress in Clare and Argyle, N.S., next August.