HISTORY OF DEAN

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At the headwaters of the Musquodoboit River lies the small community of Dean. Its very location is probably one of the reasons for it being settled as early as it was. Pioneers travelled up the rivers in search of a piece of land which they might call �home�. It was in the year 1795 that John Dean, Senior, a lowly gardener from England first came to Dean. After having lived for a short time in the Upper Musquodoboit area, John Dean with his axe in hand made his way up to that part of Dean now known as the Dean Back Road. It was here that he would make his permanent home in the New World. John Dean lived on what is now the farm owned by Cecil Gammell and his son Gordon. John Dean�s wife, (the former Susan Kirke) died soon after she and her husband had moved to Upper Musquodoboit and although he had apparently taken her one day to see the site of her new home, she was never to live there. We can only assume that the heartache of being shut out of her own family, the long hard trip across the Atlantic and the trials and tribulations of carving out of the wilderness a new home while raising a family of eight children was more than Mrs. Dean could stand. For many years a depression in the ground between the Gammell barns and the end of the School House Road marked the location of John Dean�s buildings. Also nearby stood an apple tree which is thought to have been a remnant of John Dean�s days as a gardener. Further testimony to John�s green thumb were the many English Hawthorn bushes which lined the School House Road for a number of years. Susan Kirke had been the daughter of a wealthy Englishmen. Her father felt that John Dean, who was a mere gardener employed on his estate was not of a high enough station in life to be worthy of the hand of a lord�s daughter. Therefore, John and Susan were forbidden to meet each other, However, much in love and undaunted by her father�s threats to disown his daughter, the two continued to meet secretly. When her father felt obliged to exile Susan from his family, the young family left for America. John Dean�s love of gardening and the soil has carried through for many years. As John�s family grew up much of the area which is now Dean was cleared and the lands were divided among the Dean family. Land grant maps show 1810 as the date of land grants to John Dean and his family. As in John Dean�s day, farming has been for many years an important part in the life of the community. Other industries began to move into the area. One of these which was dependent on both the farms and woodlots of the community was Redmond�s grist and shingle mill. In 1883 William Redmond built a shingle mill on the Musquodoboit River, About 1900 a grain crusher was put in to grind grains for feed. In or near 1910, a grist mill was bought by the Redmonds from George Higgins of Goshen, Colchester County. Wheat was ground and made to flour, whole wheat flour and a cereal similar to Cream of Wheat. The bran was used for feed for livestock. From all over the Valley farmers brought grain to the mill for grinding. Buckwheat was also ground in a separate grinder and made into buckwheat flour. For several years William Redmond and his three sons, Alfred, Alexander, and Rollen operated their mill. Alfred was the shingle maker and Alexander and Rollen were the operators of the grist mill. During the 1920�s the mill fell into ruins. Although most of the community�s needs could be produced at home, some commodities had to be bought. This fact gave several individuals of the community a chance to try their hand at store-keeping. One of the earliest of these local merchants in the Dean area was David Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton�s store was located near his home which is now owned by Leon and Nellie Cox. In addition to keeping the store, Mr. Hamilton was a shoemaker by trade. A later shop was owned by Mrs. Campbell Cox, who started in business by making and selling homemade ice cream. Mrs. Cox later married Colin Gammell and together they decided to expand their business, renovate their home and build on a small section to use as a store. They also bought the former David Hamilton store and attached it to their own building. In addition to the homemade ice cream, they gradually decided to add staple items � one of the first being a puncheon of molasses. Mr. & Mrs. Gammell continued to keep the shop and serve the public for many years until they sold their business in May, 1948 to Clarence & Hazel MacLean, who at that time were living in Halifax. During their many years of serving the community, the MacLeans further renovated the building. Their renovations included sufficient changes to convert part of their shop into a lunch counter and diner. When retirement time arrived, the MacLeans, originally native of P.E.I., decided to return to their native Island. They sold their business to Homer and Mabel Loughead in 1973. The Loughead�s kept store her for about three years, until they closed shop in 1976 and moved away from the area. The building is now used as a summer home by Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Keddy and family of Toronto. Prior to World War I days a small store was also operated by A.F. MacLean. For many years Mackie had his store as part of his home until in later years he built a small separate building at the end of the land which goes to Don Dean�s house now. After the First War, gas pumps were installed. The store was operated by Mackie until his death following a car accident in 1941. After Mackie�s death, his sons Edward and Jack helped with the operation of the store, until the shop closed after the Second War. A short time later a store opened on the opposite of the Dean-Newton Mills Road from where Mackie�s had been. Following his return to Nova Scotia after serving his country overseas in World War II, Walter Carroll of Upper Stewiacke and his war-bride Doris Heley of England opened a small store in 1947. This they continued to run until 1957 when Mr. Carroll became employed at Shearwater Naval Base. Other stores were operated in the area for shorter periods of time. Among these were stores owned by the following people: Seldon Dean, who ran a store from 1959-1962; Lester Dean, who ran a small grocery store and canteen from 1953-1956, also a garage which he ran along with the canteen. In the early thirties, Cal MacLean has an ice-cream shop where he sold dishes of homemade ice cream. Cal lived in the house presently owned by Leon and Nellie Cox and used a part of the house for his ice cream parlour. For three or four summers it was possible to stop at MacLean�s and enjoy your saucer full of ice cream!

In the early days in Dean an attempt was also made to establish a school so the younger generation could have the benefit of some education. It appears there must have been some controversy over the location of the building and consequently the site kept being changed. At one point a school building was erected at the end of the Berry Hill Road. This one was used by students from across the Colchester County line as well as students from Dean. The book named Place Names and Places of Nova Scotia published by the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 1967 states that William Muir was the schoolmaster in the Upper Musquodoboit district of Colchester in 1818. Classes were also held for short periods of time at the homes of William (Bill) Redmond and also William F. (Farmer) Redmond as the school had been burned. The school which finally became known as the Dean School was built prior to 1882. This school was used as a one room school until 1942 when a second room was added. In 1950 the older students became part of the student body of the Musquodoboit Rural High School. Students were transported to the School in Middle by bus with Lester Dean being the first bus driver. Students from Grades Primary to Six continued to receive their education in Dean School until 1962 when the section became part of the consolidated area served by the Upper Musquodoboit Consolidated School. The school and its property were sold to Cecil Gammell and the building is now used to house the blueberry cleaning and packaging facilities of the Dean Produce Co-op. For some years residents of the Dean area attended the church which stood at the crossroads that led from Upper Stewiacke to Upper Musquodoboit. Several meetings were held at the Dean School and the people from Dean and Woodside decided to build a church of their own. An acre of land was bought from Charles Dean at a cost of $20.00. A building committee was named consisting of Joseph and Robert Chaplin, David Brown, David Perrin, Edward and Barry Hamilton, Charles and Alexander Dean, William F. Redmond, Sr., and Timothy P. Dean was named the commissioner of the group. In the spring of 1882, tenders for the construction of the outside of the church were called. The tender of Willard Ellis was the one accepted. On July 20, 1882 the church frame was raised. Everyone in the community came to part of the event � men to help with the work, women to prepare meals and older children to babysit. When the frame of the church, was raised Gammell Henry stood on the roof and named the building �Sharon Church�. In the spring of 1883, tenders were called to finish the inside of the church. Again the Willard Ellis tender was the winner. The church pews were sold at auction on December 29, 1883. The entire cost of building had been $2,100.00. Two tea meetings were held to help defray the expenses of this building. These tea meetings had netted $400.00. On January 27, 1884 this church was opened for service completely free of debt. The minister who officiated was the Rev. J.A. Cairns. The Sacrament of the Lord�s Supper was first served on June 1, 1884. Sharon Church Hall was built in 1903 during the time when Rev. Mr. Murray was the minister. In 1925, at the time of Church Union, the members of the Dean congregation voted to stay Presbyterian and since that time have been the only congregation of the Presbyterian faith in the Valley. In 1952-1953, the church chancel and choir loft were renovated and the church was redecorated. In 1960, the church hall was renovated with a much larger kitchen being built on as well as two rooms added upstairs for use as Sunday School rooms. In 1974, the church was again redecorated and the walls covered with wall panelling. Although maintaining its ties and allegiance to the Presbyterian faith, the congregation of Dean is part of the Upper Musquodoboit Pastoral Charge and is presently being served by the pastor there, the Rev. Donald MacQueen. For many years residents of Dean had their own Post Office which was located in the Charles Dean home and run by Mr. Dean (King Charles) and later by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lewis Dean. Maggie Lew as she was known to local residents, was postmistress here for many years. For over sixty years the Dean family kept the Post Office; first, as a Way Office and later as a Post Office. Mrs. Walter Perrin, Truro a granddaughter of Maggie Lew has the certificate signed to officially appoint Mrs. Dean as the post mistress. The Dean Post Office is believed to have been opened in the 1860�s. During its first years of operation, mail was picked up here and taken by horseback through to Guysborough County. When the Post Office closed its doors in 1934, Dean became known as Rural Route 1 out of the Upper Musquodoboit Post Office. No longer were daily trips to the Post Office made but instead residents patiently awaited their mail�s arrival via Mr. A.W. Cox and his trusty horse. The second utility or public service system to arrive in Dean after the post office was the telephone. In 1914, the first meeting of the residents of the community was held in the Dean Hall to discuss and consider means of procuring a telephone service for Dean and Woodside. At this meeting on November 25, a motion was made to form a rural telephone company to connect with the Maritime Telegraph and Telephone Company�s line at Parker�s Corner. Twelve persons voted in favour of this motion. When a motion was made at the same meeting to connect with the Springside line at John Rutherford�s, only four persons voted in favour of this motion. When the telephone line was erected and in service approximately one year after the original meeting was held the total cost had been $1,165.42. The cost to each subscriber being $37.31. Once there were more than 20 phones on the Dean line it was necessary to put in a �switch�. The first switch was installed at David K. Dean�s. Since this was not in the centre of the area served, it was decided in 1916 to transfer the switch to Mrs. Tena Cox�s home. Mrs. Cox received $1.00 per month for operating the switch. The switch was later removed from Mrs. Cox�s and put back down again at David K. Dean�s. Dean Mutual Telephone Company continued to serve the area until finally in 1963, the Maritime Tel & Tel Company agreed to take over the line and service the area. At the time of the closure of the Dean Mutual, Mrs. David Watson was the switch operator and the Secretary of the Company was Cecil Gammell. In 1931, plans were made to clear a right-of-way for the Nova Scotia Power Commission to erect a power line to provide electrical power to the Dean residents. A crew of local men under the leadership and direction of Alexander Redmond cut the right-of-way and power lines were installed and put in service that same year. It was in the thirties that Jim Dean set up his sawmill to saw lumber which he shipped to D.M. Smith Lumber in Truro. From the local area he got his logs and his crew of approximately 12 men. It was also in the local area that he found sale for the slab wood which he trucked to his purchasers. The mill which was steam driven used wood as the source of its energy. This mill was located first of all out in the area where Clifford Lemmon lives, was moved to the end of the Lemmon Hill Road and then finally to a location near where Harry Dean lives but on the opposite side of the road. In 1939 the mill was destroyed and never was rebuilt in the area. Another business enterprise which was a focal point in the history of the area was the garage owned by Daniel Brown. In the 1930�s Mr. Brown built a garage on the lower side of the highway where he worked for approximately ten years. In the early forties, Dan built a new brick tile garage on the opposite side of the road. In 1953 the garage closed its doors and Dan moved to the Eastern U.S.A. The building was vacant for a number of years until it was bought by a group of local residents to be used as a Community Hall. When the community group who had taken charge of the building decided to dissolve, the property again went up for sale. This time being bought by Norman Cox, Dartmouth. Finally the choice was made to resell the building and this time it was to the Pentecostal Church groups who held Sunday School and services there for about three years. During both of the great World Wars the �boys� from Dean were ready to show their concern for their fellow men and do their part to help with what they felt was right. To these �boys� as well as those who served their country during the Korean War, we are proud to pay tribute to your deeds in this community history. We are grateful that you were granted a safe return to your family and pause to remember Malcolm MacKenzie who paid the supreme sacrifice for his country.

School District No. 52 � Musq. Upp. To 1 Dec. 1828 Teacher � William Quinn

Child�s Name Age Name of Parents

1. William Geddes 8 Robert Geddes 2. Robert Geddes 5 Lavinia Geddes 3. Eleanor Geddes 3

4. Alexander Chaplain 4 John Chaplain Jean Chaplain

5. Susan Dean 9 William Dean 6. James Dean 6 Mary Dean 7. Adam Dean 4 8. John Dean 11 9. Eleanor Dean 13

10. John Ridman 5 John Ridman 11. Elizabeth Ridman 4 Sarah Ridman

12. David Dean 10 David Dean 13. Rebecca Dean 12 Margaret Dean 14. Rachael Dean 8 15. Susannah Dean 6 16. Margaret Dean 4

17. Thomas Dean 12 John Dean 18. David Dean 11 Elizabeth Dean 19. John Dean 9 20. Martha Dean 8 21. Susan Dean 4

22. Alexander Dean 10 James Dean 23. Eliza Dean 8 Elizabeth Dean 24. James Dean 5

25. Eliza Farnell 6 James Farnell Sarah Farnell

26. John Gaston 10 William Gaston 27. Moses Gaston 7 Mary Gaston 28. Mary Gaston 6 29. Andrew Gaston 10

Trustees: Robert Geddes David Dean District No. 52, Upp. Musq., Dean Settlement, List of Scholars, etc. to 31 May 1829. Money for School House mentioned. List to 31 May 1831 List to 5 June 1835 List to December 1835

These list are available at the Public Archives, Halifax, N.S. valuable for family research as extra family names are listed. List of first land grants, Index Sheet 82, Robert Geddes , 600 acres; William C. Anderson , 400 acres vicinity Upper Mill Lake; John Main & family, 250 acres vicinity Cox Lake; Richard Pace, 50 acres; John Dean Sr., 500 acres; John Dean Sr., 100 acres; Richard Pace, 200 acres; John Redmond Jr., 200 acres; Lewis Smith, 500 acres; Daniel Spalding, 300 acres; French Lemmon, 126 acres; John Lemmon, 111 acres; Eugene Dean, 67 acres; David M. Dean, 100 acres; George Esson Sr., 550 acres, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Martin Lake on his grant; William Esson, 500 acres; John Hardy, 500 acres; Francis West, 500 acres; John Porter, 500 acres; William E. Redman, 100 acres; Hugh McKenzie, 100 acres; John Dean 4th, 100 acres; J.H. Chaplin & Robert Chaplin, 100 acres; Henry Lawson, 200 acres, David Lawson, 200 acres in Severalty.

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