Hi everyone, this is My History Page:
The first Jewers Family members who moved to Nova Scotia was John and Mary Jewers in late 1778 or early 1779. I will be looking into their marriage records and birth records to confirm exactly where they came from. I will also be looking for any ship records. When these records are found, I will update these pages.
One thing that I'm doing is contacting any one I find on-line or by snail mail if they would be willing in helping me with this project. Well, one person I e-mailed was a person by the name TIKE, he asked me a question to prove if "I was for real". The question was " What village is the Jewers family famous for???" and he also said that there is only one answer. He was right, there is only one answer and that is ECUM SECUM, Nova Scotia. I hope TIKE will help with this project because his and everyone else's information is very important when a project like this is put together. Everyone has the right to know where they came from and from who. I believe in sharing information.
ECUM SECUM
NOVA SCOTIA
Ecum Secum is located around Ecum Secum Inlet about twenty miles north-east of Sheet Harbour on the way to Cape Breton, on the east coast road. The Indians called it Agwasaagunk or Megwasaagunk which means "a red house" or "a red bank". In 1809 the variation was "Ekemsagen". The 1813 variation was "Ekemsikam" and by 1845, "Ecum Secum" was the spelling used. As eary as 1780 an Englishman by the name John Jure (Jewers) settled in this area. In 1829 there were four families living there, Henry Pye, George, Francis and Robert Jewers all were fishermen. Henry Pye was married to Sarah Jewers, sister to George, Francis and Robert, now thats keeping it in the family.
Saint Barnabas Anglican Church was opened in 1887, the Baptist Church opened in 1877 but was sold in 1930, the school-house was opened in 1876 and a new one in 1829 after the old one was blown down. The post office opened in 1878 with David Fraser as the postmaster. Gold was discovered in 1868. Ira Foster of Mill Bridge, Maine operated a lobster processing factory in 1883. The population in 1956 was: Ecum Secum 253 and Ecum Secum West had 195.
Most of the people who settled the area came from Lunenburg County and may have brought sawn lumber with them since there were no saw mills in or around Ecum Secum. By 1809, John Jewers and sons had erected two houses for their families and three small stables for thier cattle. John Jewers Senior was growing two hundred bushels of potatoes a year. Since it was almost impossible to grow wheat on the Eastern Shore, potatoes were esential to the population that a good crop be harvested every year.
Ship building was another business that a Jewers was involved in. One of John's grandsons, Robert Lee Jewers and Elijah Harvey, both of Quoddy, were building boats in 1897. By March 1897, Robert Lee constructed four boats, and in 1901 he built two large boats. Over the years during the winter months, Robert Lee built more then two hundred boats.
Like I said earlier most of the people came from Lunenburg, some of them were second and third generation French, German, and English settlers. Just to name a few, names like Baker, Atkins, Smith, Hartlin, Barkhouse, Bezanson, Harvey, Hawbolt, Romkey, Whitman and Winter, Lawson, Moser, Pye, Glawson, Classon, Dryden, Dunn, Meyer, Mosher, Fraser, Pace, McDonald, Inglehutt, Smiley, Owen, Shiers, Casey, O'Leary, Wessael, Warren, Young, Nickerson, Battiste, Snow, Turner, Craft, Kirkland, Hilchie, Tidmarsh, Gammon, McDaniel, Barnard, Currie, Rodigoss, Dhar, Stewart, Mason, Worthing, Balcam, Abrel.
of
Nova Scotia
John Jewers, born in the 1750's from where???.
John was married to Mary, and no records found so far gives her last name before they were married, none that I saw so far but I was told it was O'Neil. While looking in English records I found a marriage of a John Jewers and Mary Haycroft on October 13, 1778 at St. Mary's Church, St. Marylebone, London, England. (This information is not confirmed as of this writting. John Jr was born 1782 in Nova Scotia, John Sr must of been 30 yrs old at the time and when looking into English records, I found Daniel and Margaret"s records and also finding a marriage record for John and Mary's marriage for the year 1778 in England. That is my first theory.
My second theory is that John and Mary were born here in North America and married in Nova Scotia because somebody stated "he came to this province upwards of 30 years ago, and has been settled most of the time at or near a place called Ekemsagen river") also know as Ecum Secum.
Here is what I have found so far from records on this side of the big pond. There is a birth record for a John Jewers in the 1720's in the Penn State. There is a marriage record from the Christ Church in Philadelphia, Penn for a John Jewers and a Margaret Cook in 1745. Now if they had a son in the 1750's by the name John, then this person maybe the John that moved to Nova Scotia after the 1776 war. There was a sea Captain by the name of Tobias Jewers who gave away property to relations in England in the 1720's. Tobias could be the father of John Jewers that was born in the Penn State in the 1720's. No records have been found yet to connect all this together.
There is a story about three brothers by the name of Jewers, who were raiders for the Brits during the 1776 war who came to Queens Co Nova Scotia. This is still being looked into.
John and Mary Jewers had nine children:
John, Lydia, James, Margaret,(her grandmother's name, maybe), George, William, Sarah, Francis, and Robert.
Many thanks to for the work that was researched by Wallace Frank Jewers, John Melvin Jewers. And compiled by Wallace Frank Jewers and Daniel Mark Jewers for the information on one son of Robert Jewers. And information from Chris Cray, from Oakville, CT, USA. for her family line information on the second son of Robert Jewers. And David Jewers from New Brunswick who has added his family line here which was on Robert also.
As I receive information on families, I will list all the people here who have helped.
Paul's Personal Notes