On The Book Shelf...

New Brunswick is dotted with many small communities, far off the main highways and biways. Charlotte County is no exception, for a short drive off of Highway 1, heading north toward the “Ridges”, you will no doubt pass a number of small communities, many of which have long, complex histories. Not all settlers took up areas along the bays or rivers. Some settlers went inland, to work in woods and clear the lands. One of those such areas is the community of Moore’s Mills. Today, a walk through the local cemetery at Moore’s Mills one will notice large, well-decorated headstones, a statement usually reserved for affluent, prominent citizens and not typical of small rural “backwoods” communities. So it is easy to jump to the thought: “this community must have been a happening spot at one time”. To dig deeper on the story of Moore’s Mills, one might need to scour through countless microfilm reels to pick-up the few news items on the area. Or perhaps seek out insight from a few of the area’s “old timers”. So it was a very pleasant surprise to find that all of that work has already been done! Graydon Mitchell grew up in Moore’s Mills but now calls Kinsport-by-the-Sea, Nova Scotia “home”. The transplanted “Millieon” knew that his home village had a wonderful story to share with the world and he was the guy to get it done. Mr. Mitchell has put together a wonderful piece of work in his book “Life in a New Brunswick Village: Moore’s Mills, Voices from the 1890s”. Published in 2008, this book offers the reader a superb insight into this little community. And based on the book’s 200+ pages, one would believe this community is more of a modern town today versus the small rural area that Moore’s Mills actually is. The book is packed full of old photos of its past citizens, a lineage report on the settler William Moore and background on the landmarks of the area. As a local historian, I learned so much on the history of Moore’s Mills… thank you Graydon!! This book serves as a point that every community, no matter how big or small, has a history that is rich and vibrant, and that history should be brought together and preserved for the future generations.

Life in a New Brunswick Village: Moore’s Mills, Voices from the 1890s

Mitchell, Graydon. 2008, Mitchell Consulting. ISBN: 978-0-9810925-0-8