This series of articles is dedicated in memory of Dr William “Bill” “Doc” Spray, the St Thomas University Professor who got me excited about researching local history in the 1970’s. Doc Spray passed away on July 11, 2017, after a long illness.
Coal mining in New Brunswick, Canada was discontinued in 2009, about 378 years after French pioneers based at the mouth of the Saint John River began using Grand Lake coal. The long-term mining activities had been centered around Grand Lake (the largest lake in NB) near Chipman and Minto. Short-term coal mining was done in other parts of NB, mostly in Albert, Kent and Westmorland Counties. Many small towns near Grand Lake were hit hard by losing about 500 jobs when the NB Coal Ltd mining operations & office and the Énergie NB Power generating station, which used Grand Lake coal, both closed.
In 2014, I realized the research and paper I had done in the 1970s for Doc Spray’s class could be expanded into something that might help the community. I did more research and uncovered exciting details that had not been written about before, which help to explain how and why coal was mined at Grand Lake in the 1600’s. I planned ways to use this information to honour the miners and to promote interest in the area. In November 2015 I began publicizing the new details and the known history. I started by applying, on behalf of the area, for a Guinness World Record for the First International Export of Coal. The Record attempt was not approved, but the newspaper stories about the application and the rejection definitely caught the attention of many people.
The 12 other ways I have found so far to use that information, and the projects of other local history lovers, are making a difference for the community. A travel writer visited the area and her book is expected to have 5 or 6 pages dedicated to the geology of the Grand Lake area. A local grocery store burned to the ground in 2017, but a heroic effort as the flames approached saved the mural (by celebrated Maritime artist Ron Sajack) of early mining scenes that was attached to the side of the store. People are now giving me suggestions for other ways to use the information, which is how I came to begin sharing coal mining history here on NouZie.com.
My 5 Coal in NB articles and 2 miner profiles were originally published in the Grand Lake Mirror and on Facebook between February 2016 and April 2017. They will be edited and re-published here on a weekly basis, and hopefully enjoyed.
The Beginning
Historically, Grand Lake is very significant for New Brunswick because of the coal that was formed in the area over 290 million years ago and mined since the 1600s. Unfortunately, information about the beginnings of coal mining here is limited. The objective of this series of articles is to bring our fascinating coal mining history to life. I’ll share facts and some educated guesses about the discovery of Grand Lake coal, how it was being used in the 1630s, why it was exported to Boston in 1643, the possible direct connection that two modern, local families have to that 1643 shipload of coal, the Civil War in Acadia and how coal influenced the creation of the Province of New Brunswick.
In the late 1500s, many European counties sent ships westward to search for faster trade routes to India and for new land, timber for ship building, fish, furs and mineral resources.
Samuel de Champlain was the explorer who discovered and named the Saint John River on June 24th (Saint John the Baptist day) in 1604. Champlain was the Navigator and Map Maker on 3 expeditions to the New World for King Henry of France. In 1603 they sailed to Newfoundland, down the Atlantic coast and back to France. Beginning in 1604, they explored the North American coast again for a few years. They chose an island in the St Croix River (the current NB-Maine border) to build a winter settlement, but moved to Nova Scotia after the first winter. Champlain wrote very detailed descriptions of the resources available in the areas they explored, in order to convince the King and merchants to support settlement of the area. The local Indigenous people were friendly and helped Champlain and other explorers to find food, shelter and other resources.
It is possible that Champlain’s men learned about Grand Lake coal when they used Shallops (small schooners) to explore up the Saint John River in 1608. Champlain founded a settlement in Quebec during their 1608 expedition. In 1612 Champlain produced the first “modern” map of the coast of America. This map shows the Saint John River as a easy and valuable route to the interior and a big lake upstream and to the right of the river. In later maps, Grand Lake and the Saint John River are obviously significant in the area.
Information about other explorers can be found on the Explorations of Canada, 1497 – 1650 map. Next, we will look at how coal was used and how it may have caused the Civil War in Acadia.
