THE MINARDS, A FAMILY OF SAWDUST BARONS.

 

 

            The family name, “Minard”, brings to mind that area in Milton, where the “Potanoc” Bridge crosses the Mersey River, and the area on both the east side and the west side of the river. Immediately above that bridge was once located a dam, the purpose of the dam being to supply power for many sawmills, as many as five such mills eventually operated from this site.

          More’s History of Queens County suggests this name is one created by a Mr. Enoch Freeman who built the first mill at this location before 1800. Mr. Freeman had been in the saw milling trade back in New England, on the Potomac River. Another researcher discovered that an early mill owner here, Eldred Minard, named the area because his grandfather had a sawmill at Montvale, Connecticut, on the river Potanuck.

          The sawmills built here at Milton’s “Potanoc” had many owners, first an entrepreneur built a mill, and others became shareholders. Soon there were five sawmills on this dam. Members of the Minard family were very much a part of this industry, many times as the enterprising entrepreneur.

          Originator of the Liverpool family “Minard” was Elijah Minard (1740-1802), an old soldier from the 1762 Expedition to Havana, (4^th Connecticut regiment) and a veteran of Louisburg. His descendants soon owned large tracts of timberland as well as establishing their homesteads in this Potanoc area.

          Eldred Minard’s mill was on the west bank of the Potanoc dam., his home exists nearby in the year 2000. Alline Minard’s mill was the east side mill. Alline’s son John Houston Minard developed this mill to high production. These two mill owners built a wooden railway as a means of transporting their air-dried, shipping lumber from Potanoc to Tupper flats. This was the head of the tidal waters from the harbor and permitted rafts to transport it to vessels for foreign markets. This was in the mid 1800’s.

          Another group of this family were the sons of another brother, seaman John Minard. He, his wife Hetty, and five boys lived on Simeon Perkins farm at Birch Point, which was located between Milton and Liverpool. John was drowned off Liverpool in 1817. It was the biblical custom for some widower to step forward and marry the widow. Abner Sr. Harlow’s first family was self- supporting by this time; he was a well-organized lumberman, and this marriage proved to be a fine family arrangement. These sons of John and Hetty Minard had the advantage of cousins and uncles of lumbering know-how as well as a stepfather who was an experienced lumberman.

Eldest of Hetty and John’s children was William Sutcliffe Minard. He acquired many acres of land and became a part owner of one of the Potanoc Mills. His home still exists, occupied in 2000 by descendant Gordon Minard.

          Likewise W.S.’s brother Frederick Minard became involved in lumbering. He built his home across Potanoc Street from W.S.’s home. It is now owned and occupied by the Smith family. (Bernard and Tara). That area’s name evolved from Frederick to become Fredrickville.

          The next property south of the Frederick Minard house was that of Levi Minard. He also devoted most of his early life to the lumbering industry. His wife was Grace Watts, daughter of an English doctor who had joined this community. Levi, always interested in medical things, at age 59, a grandfather, himself graduated from a Cincinnati Medical School as a M.D. His practice began in Douglas Township, in Hants County, NS. He had previously developed a patent medicine called Minards White Liniment, and he started to manufacture it seriously in Brooklyn, Hants County. His grave can be found in West Gore, NS.

 Nathaniel Minard also was a Lumber Baron. He was also a ship-owner, and at one time ran for a seat in Nova Scotia’s governmental “Assembly”. It was on one of the journeys with lumber cargo he developed a sickness that caused his death in the West Indies. His two sons and widow emigrated from Milton to the USA.

John Jr. Minard married into the Benjamin Cole family, and his lumbering experiences were as a part of that families’ shipbuilding and lumbering enterprises.

The sawmills of Milton were still operating into the 1920’s. The Milton Pulp mills several miles upriver now employed most of the workforce. The pulp shipments had caused a small railroad to be built for the transportation of its product to the harbor wharves in Liverpool, NS. The railroad was a great boon to the lumbermen; lumber could be offloaded directly from flatcar to shipboard. The last two mills operating at Milton Falls were the Tupper Mill and that which originally had been Freeman’s, and Silvanus Mortons, now operated by L.H.Minard (Gus) in 1931. The Tupper mill had been demolished in 1929, a devasting fire in 1931 burned the remaining relics of the “Good Old Days”, until no mills remain at Milton Falls.

The Minard Mills of Milton may be no more, The Minard heritage is still very much alive, and their descendants take a very important part of the present day community of Milton, NS., and are proud of their heritage.

HHW.